Expanding our Missional Mindset
A Missional Mindset Pt. 4
Phil Schaefer
6/14/09
Key Scripture: Jeremiah 29:4-7
Introduction:
We have relieved three prophetic scriptures for us as a church.
Isaiah 49:6 “Indeed He says, “It is too small a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles (nations), that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Kaylen Lakebrink- It is too small a thing that CF should be busy raising up believing families, although that is great. It is too small a thing that CF should be restoring those who have fallen from faith, although that is great.I will give you as a light to the unchurched, lost, hungry, sinning neighbors of your community; that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth. God wants us to take us beyond where we are.
“Luke 5:37-39 “And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, “the old is good enough.” Why? Verse 38-“ Because new wine must be put in new wineskins.” Why? because “if he puts new wine into old wineskins, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be of no use.”
When God wants to create a new context for us, He gives us a new paradigm, so we can be ready to receive the new type of wine, so we can have a new heart to receive the new thing He is doing.
“We are to love our city. It is as we love our city one person at a time that our efforts will bring a great harvest.” Rose Williams
I. Living In Exile
- Jeremiah 29:11-13a “ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for peace and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come to me, and I will hear you. You will seek Me and find Me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you declares the Lord…”
- We miss the entire meaning of this verse if we don’t understand it in it’s context
- This is a prophetic letter written by the prophet Jeremiah to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. (Jer.29:1) Jeremiah remained in Jerusalem as part of the remnant would did not go into exile.
- False prophets were saying, “Just wait, you will be delivered. You will not be here long.” But Jeremiah was telling them to settle down and live in the place of exile.
- Jeremiah 29: 4-7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. But seek the peace and the prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on it’s behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.” NKV-“for in it’s peace, you will have peace.”
- It is saying, Do verses 4-7 and then I will hear you when you pray verses 12-14. Settle where God has placed you and then He will give you the future and the hope.
- The exile took place in two stages:
- The king and the leaders of Israel were carried off to Babylon in 598 BC.
- 11 years after the first exile, Babylon returned and destroyed Jerusalem and all but a remnant of the people were carried off into exile to Babylon. Jeremiah was a part of the remnant that remained behind.
- The people traveled 700 miles away, leaving behind everything that was familiar. We like the things that are familiar to us.
- All of life is an exile- (Eugene Peterson- Run With Horses: A Quest for Life At Its Best)
- Exiled from the womb
- Exiled from home to school
- Exiled from singleness to parenthood
- Exiled from parent to single again (children gone)
- Exiled from familiar values to changing values
- Exiled from familiar bodies to changing bodies
- Exiled from familiar emotions to changing emotions
- Exiled from familiar family and marriage to changing family and marriage
- Exile means that we are where we don’t want to be. But it is in settling our hearts before God, in the midst of where we don’t want to be, that we can come into new freedom of who we are as the people of God. God says if you plant, build, marry, and seek the prosperity of others in your city, I will prosper you in that place where you don’t want to be.
- How did these people in exile feel? How did they respond?
- It was expressed in a complaint: “I’m in a terrible place. Get me out of here. This isn’t fair. What I’m going through isn’t fair!”
- They wallowed in self-pity. They had religious leaders who nurtured that self-pity. They were comforting them in their exile-attitude. “Give me that old-time religion. It’s good enough for me.”
- The leaders were saying, “Hang on a little longer. We’ll get back to Jerusalem.” We want to get back to the familiar, but the Spirit of God keeps moving on. See the book of Acts.
II. Become Productive
- Jeremiah says, “No, Build houses in Babylon and live in them.”
- Live where God places you.
- Put down roots where you are.
- Don’t live for someday. Don’t wish your life away. Enter into the seasons of God.
- Make the commitment to where God has you and leave the future to Him.
B. “Plant gardens and eat their produce.”
- Enter into the rhythms and seasons of life.
- Become productive not parasites. Contribute more than you consume.
C. “Take wives and have children.” ( that you may be increased and not diminished)
- You cannot be the person God wants you to be if you keep yourself aloof from others.
- Engage with the people God has placed in your life. You cannot be a good missionary if you separate yourself from others.
- Participate in the culture you are in
- Bless them and seek their welfare. Encourage them.
- We will prosper as we move beyond our own walls, as we seek their welfare.
D. Jeremiah’s letter is saying: “Quit sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself.”
III. Live In Faith
A. Faith means – we are not called to live as comfortably as possible, but we are called to live as deeply and thoroughly as possible. Don’t just try to get along in life. Live to make a difference
- The only way to live in faith is to live fully in the circumstances that we are provided this very day, in this moment in time.
- Faith is not about living for some day. Faith is about how we live now.
- When we accept God’s place for us, our whole disposition can change.
- We can be set free from captivity in our thinking and in our spirit.
- We become creative.
- We see things differently.
- Mark Driscoll- Having a Missional mind-set is to understand the culture I’m in, to hear what’s being said, what’s going on in people’s lives. He says to purposefully:
- Watch t.v. See what is going on in the culture.
- Surf talk radio. Hear what’s being said.
- Walk the mall. Pay attention to the people, look for those in need.
- Pay attention at the grocery store, look at people.
- Go to the movies- be aware of cultural issue, what others are experiencing.
- Pay attention to what teenagers are into.
- Talk to people. If you’re young, talk to older people. Learn from them.
- If you’re old, talk to younger people. Learn from them.
- Listen to learn from others. It is easy to dismiss someone older or younger than you. But when we listen to learn, we gain wisdom.
IV. Engage With The Culture
A. Being missional uses movies, book clubs, t.v., music, Youtube, blogs, magazines etc. both to converse with those in our culture and to learn where the thinking of our culture is.
B. It is an engagement with the culture, not for escape, but for wisdom.
- In our society for the 1st time in ages more people are single than married with kids. They are the never married, the married before, the widowed, the divorced, the married without children.
- What are the implications of that for the church, if it wants to love the people of our city?
C. Missional means working to understand the people God has sent us to.
- It prays to see how the gospel is truly the only answer to people’s longing for security, for love, for friendship, for hope
- The gospel becomes effective for changing lives. The last word of God is not judgment but redemption.
Discussion Questions
Is there any area of your life where you feel like you are in exile? How are you responding to it?
What was God’s purpose for the Israelites in exile? What is His purpose for us, as His church, living in the world right now?
Do you feel that you are living for ‘someday’ or ‘living to make a difference’ right now? Give a personal example.
Why is it necessary for the church to engage our culture and the people in it rather than separate from it? Has your thinking on this changed over the years?
