Commissioned

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Sermon Notes

Passage

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. (Exodus 19:3-8)

  1. Vision Recap: A family of churches learning to live free.

    1. Our name and the Exodus

      1. Slavery

      2. Deliverance

      3. A Promise

      4. A whole life between deliverance the complete fulfillment of that promise

      5. The journey of that lifetime is learning to live in the freedom that we have been given.

    2. Definition of freedom

      1. Claimed by God

      2. Commissioned into His purposes

      3. Covered by His Spirit

    3. This is not just their story; this is our story

      1. We can relate with their journey

      2. Jesus is the true Israel

      3. Through faith, we are in Christ, and every word God spoke over Israel is amplified over us in Jesus.

  2. “Commissioned” in three phrases

    1. “My treasured possession”

      1. Speaks to the affection with which God holds His people.

      2. If this is true of them, how much more of us

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

      1. Not simply possession but daughters, sons, and heirs of His glory.

    1. “A Kingdom of priests”

      1. Kingdom = a space ruled by a king

        1. Different than a democracy where the will of the people is what matters

        2. In a kingdom, the will of the king is supreme.

        3. In our culture we prize democracy only because we have never seen a good king.

        4. In the Bible, however, the opposite is true. The pictures of “democracy” or self-rule are always negative (Judges 17:6)

        5. The hope of the world is the Kingdom (such a different picture than the picture offered us by the world today)

        6. If we are citizens of a Kingdom, that means that our wills, our plans, our dreams, our purposes, our lives, are all subject to the will of the King

        7. Whatever follows “Kingdom” becomes our identity and purpose.

      2. Priests

        1. 1/12 of the nation of Israel (the Levites)

        2. Mediators between God and people

          1. Create environments for people to meet with God

          2. Remind them who God was and who they were in relation to Him.

        3. Have this job as their only priority

        4. Accomplished it in a myriad of ways from glamorous to mundane (mostly mundane)

        5. To do for all nations what the Levites did for Israel.

      3. When we combine kingdom and priests: people who exist to serve the will of God and see their lives’ work as creating an endless variety of environments for others to meet with God.

    2. “A holy nation”

      1. We all know that “holy” means “set apart.”

      2. But let’s not forget that “set apart” is always for a purpose. Think of it in terms of “reserved.”

      3. I’ve heard so many people talk about holiness, but I rarely hearing that paired with mission.

    3. God has made us His very own, and in that relationship has reserved us for the special calling of creating environments for others to meet with Him.

  1. How does this lead to freedom? In a world where living our dreams is the ultimate expression of freedom, how do we find true freedom in pursuing His dreams above our own?

    1. Pursuing His dreams gives us the opportunity to work from identity rather than working our way into identity

      1. We are first children of God, and from that place, we serve

        1. We won’t find ourselves by pursuing our identities (who am I?)

        2. We have been claimed by Him, so we find out who we are by finding out who He is (who are you?)

      2. This gives us the freedom to do just about anything and find it meaningful (story of the three wall builders).

        1. The first man says he’s making bricks

        2. The second man says he’s building a wall

        3. The third man says he’s building a cathedral

    2. Pursuing His dreams frees us from the futility

      1. After the fall in Genesis 3, work becomes difficult and meaningless

      2. This is the picture in the book of Ecclesiastes; all of our pursuits end in nothing.

      3. But, when we partner with God in His work, all of our work (regardless of how mundane) has eternal significance.

        1. To quote Maximus, “What we do in this life echoes in eternity.”

        2. We are building His Kingdom

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