We’re on a Mission from God

Scripture: John 15:18-25

Introduction

The Blues Brothers movie begins with convicted criminal Joliet “Jake” Blues paroled for good behavior and collected from prison by his brother Elwood. Jake is displeased, because Elwood has replaced their old Cadillac with a decommissioned police car.

The brothers’ first port of call is the Catholic orphanage where they were both raised. There they meet the janitor who raised them, Curtis, and the terrifying Sister Mary Stigmata who tormented them as children. The orphanage owes $5,000 in property taxes – if they cannot be raised immediately, the building will be closed.

At a nearby Baptist church, the Reverend Cleophus James delivers a sermon. Drawn into the building, Jake experiences a religious vision and epiphany: he and Elwood will reunite their old band, perform a concert, and raise the $5,000 through ticket sales.

Jake and Elwood commence searching for the old members of the Blues Brothers Band.

“We’re on a mission from God” is the catchphrase throughout the movie. The cops won’t catch us because we’re on a mission from God. The rednecks won’t hurt us because we’re on a mission from God. The lady with the rocket launcher won’t kill us because we’re on a mission from God. We can’t be stopped or even slowed down, nothing’s going to get in our way, because we’re on a mission from God.

• As I look for God’s will for our church and seek encouragement, I think about Win Davis
• I think about what he said about us when he spoke to our Wednesday night dinner.
• He said we are doing exactly what we should be doing here because we are doing God’s mission.
• We have been so blessed by the gifts of service that God has given us here.
• We think we know what’s best for us.
• We think we need children and youth and young families to grow this church.
• We think we need to figure out how to get people to come inside here to meet Jesus.
• And then we are reminded that WE are on a mission from GOD!!!
• Times are changing and God is creating a new kind of church and we are part of it.
• We are doing God’s will and reaching people exactly the way HE wants us to
• Here are three points about God’s mission for us:

1. Get the band back together.
2. Why are bands breaking up?
3. It’s not about the band.

1. Get the band back together.

• If you saw the movie, the Blus Brothers were going around recruiting the best players.
• The whole idea was to get the band back together so they could play for money.
• If they could make $5000, they could save the orphanage from closing.
• God is doing the same thing here with us: He is sending just the right people to help.
• Jesus said: “I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
• Jesus is getting the band back together here in a big way.
• But what about this statement Jesus made about the world hating us?
• Do you think the world hates Christianity?
• Maybe the better question might be “Does Christianity hate the world?”
• Jim Sommerville, pastor of First Baptist Church of Richmond, wrote this in his sermon last week:

In a book called unChristian, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons conclude that “Christianity has an image problem.” They came to that conclusion after spending three years talking to young, unchurched Americans between the ages of 16 and 29 and asking them what they thought about Christianity.

What those young people thought is that Christians are hypocritical, too political, too focused on getting converts, too sheltered, too judgmental, and anti-homosexual.

One outsider put it this way: “Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.”

• Maybe Christians don’t hate the world, but it sure seems like the perception is that we do.
• My first inclination is to buy this book and study up on how to reach these people.
• But I think that is wrong. Instead, I need to have faith that God is driving this bus.
• Do you think it would be much of a band if everybody was a drummer?
• How about if everybody was a bass guitar player?
• A band needs a diversity of players that all fit together like puzzle pieces.
• God is putting a band together here at Biltmore with diverse and unique talents.
• Some people have a real eye for decorating – not me, other people.
• Some people have a real talent for organizing things – not me, other people.
• Some people have a real talent for planning events – not me, other people.
• God has sent us the just the right combination of players to get the job done.
• God is sending us the people He needs to send us, in the way He wants to send them.
• God is getting the band back together at Biltmore Baptist church.

2. Why are other bands breaking up?

• Bands break up. Usually, not because of the music.
• Personalities get into conflict; egos take over; drugs and alcohol interfere; the world makes the pressure of success unbearable.
• Just think about the Beatles or for a time, the Eagles, Elvis Presley, the Jacksons.
• The same kind of breakup is happening throughout Christianity.
• All across the world, the large Christian denominations are losing leadership.
• Half of all Christians are Catholics and according to the Center of Applied Research in the Apostolate, the number of priests nationwide is down 60% in the last 50 years.
• This means more than 3,500 churches are now without a resident priest.
• According to the Barna Group, as of March 2022, the percentage of Baptist pastors who have considered quitting full-time ministry within the past year sits at 42 percent.
• The denominations are splintering amidst conflict and controversy.
• In the United Methodist church, more than 5,800 churches have disaffiliated as of June 16, 2023. This means they are independent and can take control of the church property.
• The Methodist split is over the denomination’s acceptance of LGBTQ ministers and same-sex marriage.
• Conservative Methodists have launched a new denomination: Global Methodist Church.
• For similar reasons, the Episcopalians formed the Anglican Church in North America, which has nearly 1,000 congregations and 127,000 members.
• And the Presbyterians joined the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, with 630 churches and 130,000 members, or created the Evangelical Covenant Order, with nearly 400 congregations and 130,000 members.
• Lutherans created the North American Lutheran Church, which now has about 142,000 members and more than 420 congregations.
• In the Baptist realm, the dividing issue is the role of women in leadership.
• The Southern Baptist Convention has disaffiliated churches that are pastored by women.
• Stephen Shoemaker wrote this in Baptist News Global on March 6, 2023 in his article The great breakup in the American church and the political uses of religion

So now we live in the time of the great divide. There are theological issues involved, principally about the way Scripture is to be interpreted and who gets to be the interpreter. But we must examine the political uses of religion that have deepened and accelerated the divisions in the American church.

• Any self-respecting, card-carrying Baptist knows that politics and religion don’t mix.
• Indeed, Baptists were on the frontlines of the separation of church and state in America.
• Jesus never interfered with human politics. Consider Matthew 22:18-21:

But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius,  and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”   “Caesar’s,” they replied.  Then he said to them, “So render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

• So, does politics come from Jesus?   Where does politics come from?  The WORLD
• What did Jesus say about what the world thinks of us? It hates us.
• There is a great breakup in the American church.

3. It’s not about the band.

• Jesus is trying to tell is that it’s not about the band.
• He said: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.”
• Jesus was never about church or denominations or tradition or doctrine.
• If Christians are hypocritical, too political, too focused on getting converts, too sheltered, too judgmental, and anti-homosexual, then they don’t know Jesus.
• Jesus said: “Whoever hates me hates my Father as well.”
• Well, Christ didn’t hate anyone. So, who are these people masquerading as Christians?
• Haters are just going to hate.
• How can people know what Jesus did and what He stands for and be such haters?
• Jesus said: “If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.”
• If we truly claim to be Christians, we need to remember who Christ was and why He came.
• It’s no wonder that so many people of this generation reject church.
• There are lots of churches out there that spend more time hating others than they do spreading the Gospel of Christ.
• There are lots of churches out there that spend more time feeling good than they do spreading the Gospel of Christ.
• We are convicted because we know about Jesus and because we know about Jesus, we are guilty of sin.
• God is getting the band back together here at Biltmore, but it’s a new kind of band.
• It’s not about the band – we’re on a mission from God.