Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
September 12, 2004 - W0437

People usually relate church to a building or location. Actually, the people are the church. And though we come and see all that happens on stage, however wonderful it is, it is not the extent nor should it be the essence of our Christianity. It’s meant to inspire it because the most important part of the services is not what happens inside this building. Remember the devil doesn’t care what we do within these four walls, just as long as when we leave, we return to the way we were. That’s why Jesus says we are “…the salt of the earth…” (Matt. 5:13). This will greatly determine whether or not we influence our world.

John, the author of Revelations describes what the end times will be like. The seven seals or signs in chapter 6 act as mile markers for us signaling what time we are in -- much like a 26.2 mile marathon. And according to the Bible, we’re a church at the 24-mile marker; a “last days” church. So what do we do? How then shall we live? What should we pray for? Well as Jesus reveals, a lot of what we’re to do is not going to be for ourselves:

“And He was saying to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Luke 10:2).

God is saying the potential for harvest is great in the last days. That’s why we must be praying that the Lord will send laborers into the harvest. In fact, Revelations says one sign of the end times will come in the form of a huge harvest. “Then I looked and behold a white cloud and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.’”  (Rev.14:14-15).

In other words, there will be many people looking for their way home. The harvest is ripe and the Lord will send laborers into the fields. Therefore, we have to get into the harvest like we’ve never done before because…

1.     THE CHURCH IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN IT GETS OUT OF THE CHURCH.

We become ineffective if we can get cloistered up together at a service and think that we’ve done our Christian duty by coming to church. However, Jesus is exhorting us to…

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NASB).

Jesus never said “world, go into the church” but “church, go into the world” and He promised He’d already be there. If we are to be followers of Christ, we need to be in the harvest where He is. People in our community don’t like our church because we meet in a building; that doesn’t impress them at all. Therefore HOW OTHERS DEFINE FAITH is…

·        “WE LIKE NEW HOPE IN OUR COMMUNITY BECAUSE THEY…”

People have got to say about our church that: “We like New Hope in our community because they (for example) tutor our kids, cleaned up our school, painted lines in our parking lot, put air conditioners in our auditorium, or hold an athletic banquet for our students every year because it doesn’t come in the budget.” The only way that others can define our faith as credible is not what we do inside the church, but rather what we do outside in our communities. You see in the past, the church used to think they had to separate themselves from the world, unless they become “stained” but…

·        THE LAST DAY CHURCH IS DEFINED NOT BY WHAT IT SEPARATES ITSELF FROM, BUT BY WHAT IT GIVES ITSELF TO.

We used to think the farther we got from the world, the holier we’d be, yet the Lord never advocated that. He said to get in the world not to be influenced by it, but to influence the world, to be salt and light. Jesus prayed to the Father:

 “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one” (John 17:15 NLT).

Jeremiah asked for something similar when he prayed for us not to be influenced, but to be influencers:

“Therefore, thus says the LORD, ‘…if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman. They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them’” (Jeremiah. 15:19-20).

I was once at a wedding with an interim pastor from the mainland. People were drinking alcohol and having a good time. While I sat there with club-soda and ginger ale the other pastor came up to me and said, “We should go. They’re drinking and it’s making me sick.” I had to remind him that they weren’t there for us and we didn’t have to be like them, but just to like them enough to guide them on their way home. If we’re not there how are they going to find their way home even if they wanted to?

The Bible says that Jesus was a friend to sinners and immoral people. Do you think that in order for Jesus to be seen as their friend he had to compromise his soul, his morals, or his faith? It can be done. We’ve got to be willing to be there. We’ve got to be people of the harvest. That’s why…

2.     WE DETERMINE THE SIZE OF THE HARVEST FIELD FOR OUR GENERATION.

The harvest will not self-reap but it will self-destruct. The more we get into the harvest field, the bigger the harvest. If we’re going to be a “24 mile” church, we have to get involved in the world or how else is it going to be reaped? If we decide to overlap into the world just a little bit, our harvest will be small. That’s New Hope is into all kinds of stuff. That’s why we have canoe teams racing, soccer clubs in the city leagues, a hiking ministry, etc. If we don’t want to be involved at all, that’s how big the harvest will be. We are reminded again…

“Then He said to them, ‘The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Luke 10:2 NKJV).

·        THE HARVEST IS HARVESTABLE WHERE LABORERS ARE PRESENT.

We determine how big it can be when we find creative ways to meet the world’s needs. It’s the only way our faith is credible, otherwise we’re just a bunch of religious kooks that meet on the weekend, do weird stuff, but go home and become like every other neighbor.

We may sometimes complain, for example, about the tight parking situation outside but what we don’t realize is that God is doing it…he’s answering our prayers for the harvest. Would you rather go to a church with no cars in the parking lot? It’s going to require a little more character exercise on our parts to see what God wants to do.

What God wants us to catch about the end times is that it’s not about us, but about the harvest and we’re at mile marker 24. There are people trying to find their way home and even if we aren’t there for them there will still be problems in the harvest. They will perish or become bitter, but if we’re there we can help to answer, resolve, and point them to the One who restores and gives hope again.

Now we’re amongst many, many people who don’t know the Lord or don’t want to know the Lord, but when we’re out there, overlapping in the world when God opens doors.

Case in point, a couple weeks ago there was an incident that happened at one of our outrigger canoe races. The women were heading around Makapu’u, which is a pretty treacherous area, when one of the other canoe clubs went in too close and capsized. The waves were bashing the canoe up against the rocks and the ladies from that team were crying for help in this dangerous surf. Their escort boat was too far out to go in and get them, but our boat wasn’t. Our boat saw what was going on and zipped into action. They came close to the jagged rocks and our coaches dove in the water to bring the stranded paddlers back to our escort boat. One lady was injured, so our guys put some ice on it and made sure she was okay. Some other people from our church went out to try to save the canoe. Just last week one of the ladies from the rescued canoe wrote us a letter that really touched our hearts:

“To all our heroes at New Hope:

            Thank you so much for reaching out and rescuing us Sunday at the race. We know that this jeopardized your crew but we truly believe that your efforts saved our lives. You shared your drinks with us, your food, and your ice for one of our injured paddlers, but most importantly, you shared your love. You will always stay in our hearts and we hope to learn from your example of selflessness, kindness, and love for other people. …”

Sometimes we think it’s just about us. One of the most poignant scenes in the movie Titanic was when the Titanic sank and there were lifeboats out in the waters, some of them only half full, there was still room. Some refused to go and help the stranded or injured because they didn’t want to get involved. And we too can sometimes get: comfortable in our lifeboat. All the while, thousands are dying in frigid Atlantic waters. When I saw that, shivers went up my spine and I remembered thinking and praying this in the theater: Lord, may I never be a part of a church that feels that way to those that need your help.

Maybe the Lord saved us so that we could reach out to those that are perishing? We’ve got an assignment on our hearts and it’s not about just getting comfortable…it’s to open up a rescue mission. That’s why New Hope exists; in order to give new hope to others. But, we’ve got to be in close enough proximity to give it to them so they can take it.

In space, even in the darkness, there is light but the only way to see it is if there’s a surface to reflect it off of. If there isn’t anything to reflect the light off of there is an illusion of darkness. The Bible has something very similar to say:

 “And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

God wants us to be that reflective surface and the more “surfaces” there are, the better others can see God and plot their way back home. We have to remember that each of us is the church. We’re more effective when we get out of the church. Sometimes the only Jesus people see is our lives. As God inspires our faith here at church, when we close here, the most important part of church is about to begin. Let’s answer one of Jesus’ prayers to send out laborers. Amen? Let’s do it.

Discussion questions:

1.      Can you recall a time when it was easier to stay in your “lifeboat” then to reach out?

2.      As God’s children each of us has gifts that are from the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12). Have you discovered what yours are? If so, what are they?

3.      Although we know that our faith is not based on our works, we do know that God has called each of us to go out and make disciples; to be laborers. In what ways are you apart of being the effective body of the church to those around you? If not, in what ways can you be?

4.      How might you be able to use your gifts to be a laborer for in the harvest? What steps might you take to get closer to using those gifts?

Mahalo to volunteer writer Liz Texeira for this week's summary -- a laborer immersed in the harvest!