Merredin Uniting Church

Texts – Jeremiah 29:10-14; John 10:11-18

As we continue to speak about vision, or a clearly intended future, we realize that we serve and worship the God who has a vision for His people. He has a plan and a purpose to fulfill His gracious promise to restore His people back to Himself – Plans to prosper and not to harm, plans with a hope and a future.

When Jeremiah wrote these words to the exiles in Babylon he was confirming God’s continuous intention to bring hope into the hearts of His people. They had been sent into exile at God’s express intention because of their sin, but He still loved them and He still had plans for them. God is like that – He is often “holy discontent” with us but He still wants to bring us back into relationship with Him.

You will remember that I said last time that often visions will arise from a situation of “Holy Discontent” – Times when we find ourselves unhappy with what we see and a passion begins to stir up inside of us to do something about it. Indeed, most of the major figures and significant scenes of history have sprung from such situations of “holy discontent”. I think of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, William Wallace (of Braveheart fame), Joan of Arc and so many others who have become heroes because they chose to do something heroic about a situation.

Even God’s visionary purpose for His people sprang up from a situation of “Holy Discontent”.

From the moment of original sin in the Garden of Eden God has acted to direct and redeem mankind, and so to restore and implement His vision for His creation. This reached a climax in the coming of God in Christ as He entered into His creation to take ownership of His vision and so to establish His Kingdom.

All of man’s history – every single part of it, as individuals, community or nation, tells the story of God’s passionate endeavour to win mankind’s love by graceful acts – the calling of Abram and of Moses, the anointing of David as King, the challenge of prophets and countless other acts of redeeming love.

But “Holy discontent” must move forward into action – its easy enough to be dissatisfied and to simply complain or mutter about something, or even to walk away.

The world is full of people who winge but who do nothing. Vision takes form when the discontented man, or woman, takes ownership of an unhappy situation and sets out to do something about it.

I was chatting with Gloria Banks on Friday about the services soon to be held at Berringa Lodge. And here we see something of that process. When her mother was there she found that there was no facility for those elderly people to gather together as a community of Christ. She was concerned about that. So she took ownership of the situation and on Sunday 20^th September we will have the first service there. She found herself sad that her mother could not attend a service and so the passion stirred up inside of her. She took ownership of a vision to have services there and she did something about it. She spoke to people, she gathered supporters, she arranged the venue and knows how she wants that service to be for those folk.

Nothing … nothing, matters more than the ownership of the vision! It creates in someone a desire to turn a dream into reality. Ownership means that the person has been, and is willing to pay the price.

In John’s Gospel, Jesus explains this by telling a story. Its one of those stories which is at one and the same time, a parable – an indirect teaching; as well as being a completely direct explanation of His purpose on the earth. He says, ““I am the good shepherd, I lay down my life for the sheep. I am not a hired hand, who, when he sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away.”  

For the hired hand, caring for the sheep is only a job – he can take it or leave it. The hired hand can complain and he can decide to give up. But for the owner the sheep are a passion – he knows and cares for his sheep, he makes sacrifices and risks his life for the sheep. To complain would be meaningless; to give up would be a loss. And so Jesus defines Himself as the good shepherd – the one who lays down His life for the sheep.  

He demonstrates this passion for His design by the laying down of His own life – God is very serious about His intention.

He leaves heaven behind and comes to earth.

He foregoes the majesty of glory to be born as a baby.

He goes to the Cross as the victim of our sin in order that He may win our salvation.

That was not an easy price to pay – and certainly no hired hand would have gone to those lengths to win back a self-satisfied, smug bunch of hypocrites.

But there was Jesus on the Cross – in His last breath, He says, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

And then He rises from the dead and He passes instructions to those who are the heirs of His grace – Feed my sheep, tend my lambs.

Those who choose to follow Jesus will have the same desire for the fulfillment of His purpose as He has. They have inherited the Kingdom, they have become owners of the purpose of God, they have been caught up in His passion.

In the end, the vision for which we are prepared to die – must be God’s vision. It must be to live the life which He gave us through His death.

It must be to share His love with all those for whom He died.

It must be for His glory.

And as I said last time, the Mission Statement of this church does accept all those things – “Living the Gospel to radiate the love of Jesus”.

Living the Gospel – being a people of the Good News.

Celebrating hope in Christ Jesus.

Declaring God’s purpose to the world.

To radiate the love of Jesus – to have an inner drive which radiates from within us.

A drive which knows that we are loved by God in Christ

A drive which loves others because we are loved.

A drive which looks to Jesus and sees in Him the purpose of God for the world and which becomes driven by the same purpose and vision.

A vision for which we are prepared to lay down our own lives because we own it for ourselves.

We have been saved by grace, and by grace, we will live for the glory of God in everything we do, think or say.

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