Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is
an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,
with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.
We invite you to connect with us from wherever
you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our
mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed
by this week's sermon. Such a privilege and honor
to be with you all. I've been following your
community online for the last number of years,
so it feels a bit surreal also for me to be here
and to be with you. I bring you greetings from
God's favorite city in Asia, of Hong Kong. It
is true, the truth hurts sometimes. When Jesus
returns, he will not be returning to Jerusalem.
He will return to Hong Kong. That is very clear.
It's in Revelations. I want to start by sharing
a little bit about my story and my background,
like Pastor Phil said. At the age of 25, I worked
for an international investment bank, an American
investment bank, based in our Hong Kong office.
but a lot of my clients were based in Tokyo,
and so I would travel up to Japan quite regularly
to work for a couple of weeks with my colleagues
in Japan. On this one particular trip, at the
age of 25, I show up on this particular day,
and my boss says, oh, your colleague, she's sick
today, so you're going to need to replace her
in this meeting that she was going to take, and
the meeting's in about an hour's time, and the
meeting is with the top four bankers for our
bank in the whole of Asia. Now, I'm 25 years
old. By that point, I knew nothing really about
banking and finance. And here I am going into
a meeting solo representing my department in
front of four of the biggest bankers in Asia.
These men were feared and revered. Everybody
knew them. Everybody knew the kind of lifestyle
they lived, the kind of way that they worked.
Pretty strong, powerful individuals. And suddenly,
in an hour's time, I'm thrust into a meeting
with these people. I wasn't prepared. Have you
ever been in a meeting where you're the dumbest
person in the room? Anyone? If not, you need
a new job. So I'm pretty worried. I'm sweaty.
I'm like, my heart rate is going crazy. I decide
to get to the meeting super early. Like that's
the right thing to do in a meeting like that,
right? You do not want to be late to these men.
So I get there like 10 minutes early and I walk
into the room and it's this massive conference
room. There's only supposed to be five of us
in this meeting. There's this massive conference
room. There's a huge conference table right in
front. And I'm like, where do I sit on this table,
right? Like that's the first challenge. Where
do I sit on this table where when they come in,
everybody, It's going to meet each other. It's
going to be great. So I decide I'm going to sit
in the middle of the table, right? That seems
to be the obvious place. Sit in the middle. When
they come in, we'll all gather around the middle.
So I'm sat there for about 10 minutes. Sure enough,
right on time, the doors open and these four
men walk in. They're chatting to each other because
they know each other super well. They're chatting
in loud voices. They're chatting with the kind
of bravado and confidence that really wealthy,
powerful people kind of talk in. And I'm sitting
there just kind of like looking at them. They
walk in. They totally ignore me. They go to the
farthest end of the conference table away from
where I am. The four of them sit there and they
just keep talking to each other. And so I'm sitting
there kind of feeling like super awkward, right?
And they're chatting for like another couple
of minutes. And then eventually one of them looks
up and it's almost like he notices me for the
first time. And he looks up and he goes, who
are you? Not a great way to start a meeting,
right? Like, who are you? I'm like, I'm Andrew.
I'm Miko's replacement. well today, so I'm in
this meeting with you today. All four of them
stare at me for about that long. And then they
turn together and they start talking again, totally
ignoring me. And I don't know what to do. Do
I butt into the conversation? Do I move up the
seats? I'm not sure what to do. So I'm just sitting
there, super awkward, listening to their conversation.
Now, fascinating. Their conversation had nothing
to do with the meeting at all. But they were
talking about the state of the world. In particular,
they were talking about the state of humanity.
Fascinating. And I realized as I was listening
in that they were debating the state of humanity.
And two of them had one perspective and the other
two had a different perspective. Two of them
were arguing basically that humanity is essentially
sick and in need of a doctor. And that if we
can work out what's wrong with the human condition,
we might be able to kind of work out the ways
in which humanity can get better, and then maybe
the world will thrive more. The other two were
arguing, no, humanity is essentially well. Like,
humanity's fine. We're resourced. We're smart.
We're good. What humanity needs to thrive is
opportunity. So they're having this debate, the
four of them back and forth. Humanity is sick.
Humanity is well. Humanity is sick. Humanity
is well. I'm just sitting there listening to
it. After about, and I kid you not, about seven
minutes of this debate, one of them turns to
me and he goes, Miko's replacement. Doesn't even
say Andrew, right? Miko's replacement. He's like,
what do you think? Do you think that humanity
is essentially sick and in need of a doctor?
Or is humanity well and just needs opportunity?
all four of them stare at me. This is about the
worst situation that you could possibly be in.
Because think about it for a second. Because
no matter how I answer them, I'm going to upset
at least two of them, right? Because if I go
with one, the other two is going to go with it.
And so I'm like, I'm backed into a corner here.
I don't know what to do. And so I'm thinking
about this. I'm kind of like catastrophizing
the scenario in my head. As I'm thinking about
it, the Holy Spirit speaks to me. And here's
what the Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit says,
Andrew, How would the Apostle Paul answer that
question? I wonder if you've ever been in a situation
where you didn't want Jesus to speak to you.
Anyone in that situation ever been in one of
those? I'm like, I don't know if I want to wrestle
with this right now. Like, Jesus, could you just
go away for a little bit, please? I'll go back
to being a Christian after this meeting. But
I thought to myself, if I tell these guys, the
four most powerful bankers in our company, if
I tell them what Paul thinks about that question,
they are definitely going to fire me. I will
lose my income and my wife will probably divorce
me. I'm like totally spinning in the head. But
the Holy Spirit doesn't give up. The Holy Spirit
says, Andrew, if you really believe what Paul
taught, then you should say so. So I lean in
on the table. All four of them are still looking
at me. And I said, I think there's a third way.
I actually don't believe that humanity is sick
and in need of a doctor. I don't believe humanity
is well and just needs opportunity. I believe
that humanity is dead and in need of resurrection.
That was exactly their response. They all just
stared at me for like awkward amount of time.
And then they turned back to each other and just
started talking. And for the next 45 minutes,
totally ignored me in the room. I think they
must have thought I was some religious fanatic,
some crazy guy. They just ignored me basically.
And I'm sitting there and I realized for the
first time in my life that I'm actually feeling
what Paul had taught in the scriptures. I knew
at that point that my career was dead and desperately
in need of resurrection. You may also realize
that today I'm no longer a banker. I'm a pastor.
Yeah. That's my story. When I said earlier that
it's an honor to be with you today, I wasn't
just meaning that it's an honor to be in this
room and be a part of this community for the
day. I meant actually that it's an honor to stand
before you today in such a moment of history
as the one that we are in. I don't know if you've
been feeling it lately, but the world is in a
pretty desperate place. I believe that we're
in a time in global society where the world is
more divided, more hostile, more broken, more
wars, more pain, more hurt than perhaps we've
seen in our own lifetimes. And it feels to me
that this grand story that we as Christians hold,
this story of death and resurrection, a story
of life breaking into the most broken of places,
is a story that this world desperately needs
to hear. And I sort of feel that we as the church
in Asia, we're at an inflection point for the
gospel. That I think that if we as the Christians
here are holding this narrative that can say
something to the darkness and the hurting and
the brokenness and the structures of injustice
in our world, then surely now more than ever
is our time to rise. Now more than ever is our
time to shine. But here's what I've noticed as
I've traveled around Asia and speaking in different
contexts. I've noticed that our church in this
part of the world, and I'll put my church into
this category as well. I think our churches are
struggling because we are, as we've emerged from
COVID, I think the temptation is for us to just
kind of stay insular. Just kind of like rebirth
the gatherings and get everything going well
again and just kind of like focus on our healing
and our restoration. And I think church in general
is being very inward thinking and not very external
focused. And I think because of this, what I
would say is that the greatest danger that I
think faces the Asian church today is the privatization
of faith. I think our greatest danger. Is that
we would gather in moments like this and in rooms
like this as wonderful as this is. And have an
amazing time worshipping, an amazing time hearing
the word, amazing time being ministered through
prayer and not bothering to do anything. To bring
anything of that into the places and the spheres
of influence where God has planted us. The privatization
of my faith, just making it something personal
and private and something that's good for me.
It may not be good for anyone else, but it's
kind of me. I'm going to do me. You do you. That
kind of approach is desperately hurting a world
that is desperately hurting. Are you with me?
And I think we're at this inflection point for
the gospel in Asia. And I think the Holy Spirit
is asking the church in Asia some pretty strong
questions right now. Are we going to be the bold
and central voice of faith, hope, and love to
a world that desperately needs it? Or are we
going to shrink back into the safety of our own
self -preservation and self -concerns? Will the
church stand up and stand out? Or will we shrink
back and fade out? Or I think most importantly,
Will the church be bold to live out the gospel
as it was always called to be? Or will we settle
for a compromised version of the gospel that
might keep our lights on in our buildings, but
diminishes our light in the public square? Some
challenging thoughts. And it's because of this
that Pastor Pablo and the team here have come
up with this new sermon series for you over the
next number of weeks, Jesus in all of life. Because
we desperately need Jesus for Christians to be
in all of life and not just for 75 minutes on
a Sunday. I don't know about you, but when I
wake up in the morning, man, I take a deep breath
before I open up my social media or look on the
news sites. That sense of, man, this world is
just kind of spinning out of control right now.
And when we're living in a time like this, I
think the Lord asks us personally. A very important
question, the answer to which I think not only
sets the direction of the global church for the
future, but also sets the direction of the world.
Here's the question. What should we do as Christians
when the world has gone crazy? I wonder if you
feel like the world has kind of gone crazy lately.
What should we do as Christians when the world
seems to be spinning out of control? Now, while
I think that this is the most important question
that faces the global church right now, it's
interesting because this is not the first time
the church has had to wrestle with this question.
In fact, if you look through history, you'll
see that the church, through its own history
for 2 ,000 years, has had to wrestle profoundly
with this question. What do we do when the world
seems to be spinning out of control, when the
world has gone crazy? I want to suggest to you
this morning that through church history, we've
seen largely four responses from the global church
over 2 ,000 years to answer this question. The
first one would be this, escape. What do we do
when the world's going crazy? Let's just pray
and hope that we can get out of it. The idea
here is that the world represented by this box
is dark and sinful and broken. And we Christians,
we're here. But here's our one great hope. that
one day we will be out of this all. That one
day we might bungee jump out of here and reconnect
with God on a cloud somewhere singing Kumbaya.
Like we do not want anything to do with this
place. The second response that I think we've
seen in church history is one that I would call
insulate. This is the one where we look at Jesus'
word and we take it seriously. And what did Jesus
say? He says, I want you to be in the world,
but... Come on ECB. Not of the world. And so
here we are. We are in the world. Our great hope
is not to escape this place. We've been planted
in this world. But here's what we need to do.
We need to insulate ourselves from the nastiness
that's around us. We need to retreat from the
world. We're in it. But we just need to insulate
ourselves. Kind of wall ourselves away from that
sin and that brokenness and the culture around
us. And so this is what we do. We Christianize
everything. We go to church as much as possible
because church is the only place that's holy.
We then create Christian movies and Christian
music and Christian clothes. I will only put
on this piece of clothes in the morning if somebody
has prayed over it. And we wall ourselves off
from the nasty world around us. The third response
is one that I would say is called control. In
this response, the world is dark, horrible. Terrible.
But here's the great Christian hope. We're going
to Christianize everything in the world. Now,
on the surface, that sounds like a great thing.
Like, isn't that really what Jesus wants? Everybody
to come to know Him. But in the control model,
what happens is that the church goes about that,
Christians go about that, in ways that I would
argue are not gospel. Gospel being this beautiful
idea of a ground up, this organic work of being
yeast and dough. But the control method is how
do we run this thing from the top down? So we
just need to get Christian presidents, Christian
prime ministers, Christian politicians. We need
to have Christian government. If we can just
legislate the kingdom of God, everything would
be alright. And in its worst expressions, this
becomes worldly power dressed in Christian clothes.
The last one is this idea of conform. So the
world is dark and bad and horrible. And yes,
I'm a Christian and I have my views on things.
But ultimately, I don't want to upset people.
I don't want to push my views on anyone else.
I'm actually willing to try to serve everybody.
So I'm just going to kind of conform to the culture
around me. I'm just going to try to play my part
and hope that everything's all right. And so
we conform. The beauty of the gospel to this
standard of the world. So I want you to take
a look at all four of these things right here.
And here's a couple of reflections for us. The
first one is this. I don't know about you, but
I recognize myself in all four of these things.
Like I know what it is to be tempted to want
to escape the darkness. I know what it is to
want to insulate myself, to want to try to control
my environment, to wanting to try to kind of
conform to the things around me. I see myself
in all of these. And here's the challenge I want
to bring you right at the start here. I want
you to think about in your context, in your part
of the world right now, as you see the world
spinning out of control, which of these four
perhaps represents your kind of default position,
the one that you might find yourself falling
into? The second thing I want us to reflect on
is that three quarters of these, three of the
four, are actually about the privatization of
faith. Escape, insulate, conform. It's about
how do I get away from this horrible, nasty world
and how do I begin to just kind of like, you
know, insulate myself, kind of cut it all off,
be private with my faith and not be the very
thing that Christ has called us to be, bringing
our hope and our love to the world. And when
you see these four responses, I think the challenge
is that through church history, this has marked
us as a church in not a very nice way. Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, that great Christian theologian and
pastor, writing at a time of Nazi Germany, seeing
the church escape, insulate, and conform, and
at times even try to control. he writes these
prophetic words. He says, any community of Jesus
which wants to be invisible or dominant is no
longer a community that follows him. And when
we sit in that reality, here's what we should
be asking ourselves. There has to be a better
way. Like there's got to be another way that
we think about this, what it means for us to
live in this world. It can't be the four things
that we've seen. There's got to be a better way.
There is this moment in Jesus' ministry where
I think he offers us one. And in this moment,
he's got his disciples around him and he's teaching
them. And he's teaching them about this idea
of faith in all of life. And I think what Jesus
says in this moment has something significant
to say about all areas of our lives. But particularly
about the workplace. About the very place that
most of us in this room are planted in. Whether
that's a school. or education institution, whether
marketplace, whether business, whatever it might
be. But what Jesus says in this moment shapes
something about how we consider our work environments.
To understand that, let me just step back a little
bit. Work has always been central to God's plan
for the flourishing of His creation. You go to
Genesis 1 and 2 to see the way in which the Holy
Spirit, the way that the Lord has created work
for humanity. And in the creation narrative of
Genesis 1 and 2, you see the pinnacle of that
creation being the creation of us. Humanity made
in the image of God. And you see in Genesis 1
and 2 that God creates two rhythms for human
flourishing. These are the rhythms of work and
the rhythms of rest. Interestingly, we often
think about it as like we work and then we rest.
But when Jesus creates, or when God creates in
Genesis 1 and 2, here's what happens. Night happens
first. Then day, the first day. Then there was
night. Then there was day, the second day. In
other words, rest precedes work. Most of us work,
work, work, work, and then we exhaust ourselves
or fall exhausted into vacation. But the way
that God has created it is that work should be
the place that we launch ourselves from. Sorry,
rest should be the place that we launch ourselves
from. We work out of rest, not into rest. But
this important idea of work becomes a stable
part of what it means for the human flourishing
of life. Let me actually read to you how the
scriptures put it, because I think this is really
key for us. Notice in Genesis 1, it says this,
Then the Lord God said, So God created humanity,
or man, in his own image. In the image of God
he created him, male and female he created. This
is fascinating because right here in the moment
of our creation, God immediately gives us our
purpose. Our work, if you will. To go into creation.
And the words here we struggle with as Christians,
subdue and rule. It sounds very kind of control
-like from the top down. But actually, if you
read this verse in the broader context of the
creation narrative of Genesis 1 and 2, you can
see it in a slightly different light. Throughout
the narrative creation story, what you see is
the Holy Spirit involved in creation, taking
something that is formless, giving it form. And
bringing it into fullness. So the Holy Spirit
hovers over the formlessness and the darkness
of creation. Jesus speaks the word. Let there
be light. And light comes. Formlessness to form
to fullness. This is very much the creation narrative
for us as humanity. God takes the formlessness
of the dirt. Creates the shape of man. The form
of man. And then breathes the spirit into man.
Bringing man to life. His fullness. And now,
in the primary purpose of what humanity has been
called to, God now takes that same process and
now puts it in our hands. He says, I want you
now to go into creation and create and grow and
flourish that creation in the way that I have
created you. I want you to take things that are
formless, give them form, and bring them into
fullness. I want you to take all of the creation
that I've given you and enable it to be a place
of wonderful flourishing. I love the video from
Tool. Taking old, broken down buildings and bringing
them to new life. That's Genesis 1 and 2. That's
the call that is on humanity to go into this
world and help it to flourish. So much so that
on the seventh day, God rests and he looks over
creation. He says, this is the way that I've
made it to be. Everything, shalom. Just the way
it was intended to be. What an honor it is for
humanity to work in order that creation would
flourish. Are you following this? Now, then Genesis
3 happens. And then sin comes into the equation.
Adam and Eve choosing to take of the fruit that
they should not. And what happens to work? It's
immediately cursed. And actually God speaks over
Adam and he says your work now is going to be
toil and hardship and suffering. It's going to
feel like you're sitting as a 25 year old in
front of four very powerful men and you're an
absolute nobody and you want to die. Or in whatever
context that might resonate with you. Work becomes
a place of toil and struggle and hardship. But
we Christians have a better story. We have a
story of redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ,
that through his death and resurrection we enter
into our own. That because of our sin we are
dead, as Paul says, but now we have been made
new, new creations. The old is gone, the new
has come. So for Christians, our story is a story
of redemption, not just about the redemption
of our relationship with Jesus, but also the
redemption of all of the broken narratives from
Genesis 3 about Genesis 1 and 2. Think about
it this way. When we're saved, we're not just
saved back into right relationship with Jesus,
we're saved back into right relationship with
work. So, could it be that the way in which we
now work as Christians might be the greatest
way that we can reveal the saving gospel of Jesus
Christ? Isn't that a beautiful thought? All that
is the background to this moment in Jesus' ministry.
Where he offers us another way. A way that if
we live like this, our workplaces might see the
beauty and the wonder of the resurrection of
Christ within it. So let me read these words
to us. This is found in the Sermon of the Mount.
Right towards the beginning of it. Where Jesus
says a powerful thing about what it is to be
followers of him in this world. Matthew 5, starting
in verse 13. You are the salt of the earth. But
if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be
made salty again? For it is no longer good for
anything except to be thrown out and trampled
on by people. But you are the light of the world.
A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do
people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.
No, instead they put it on its stand and it gives
light to everyone in the house. So in the same
way, let your light shine before all that they
might see your good deeds and praise your Father
in heaven. Jesus speaking to the crowds and the
disciples around him says these beautiful metaphors,
your salt, your light. Now, preachers have tried
to make great, fantastic sermons out of what
it means to be salt. And a lot of them pick up
on more of the modern context of it than in its
original context. I think when Jesus said that
the disciples were salt, he really only was thinking
about three things. Let me share these with you
because each of these are important for us. Because
salt in those days was really predominantly used
in three ways. So when Jesus says this, this
is what his context in the first century would
have thought. First. Salt is incredibly valuable,
inherently valuable in the first century. In
fact, it was so valuable that quite often Roman
soldiers were not paid in money, they were paid
in salt. That was known in the Greek as salarium,
which is where we get the modern word salary
from. And I think when Jesus says to the disciples,
you are salt of the earth, the first thing he
wants them to understand is that there's an inherent
value within them. That there is something that
has been placed within them through the gospel
that is inherently valuable to the world. I don't
know about you, but there have been many times
in my marketplace ministry where I never felt
valuable. That I sat in those conference rooms
and I was like, what am I doing here? Like, am
I actually helping anyone? There can be this
kind of thing that I think the enemy puts over
us to make us think that when we're in the workplace
that we don't have much value to bring. Jesus
starts by saying, no, no, you are inherently
valuable. That the same, Paul would write this
later, that the same spirit that raised Jesus
from the dead now is in you. You have resurrection
power. There is nothing more inherently valuable
in the world than that, than the saving message
of Jesus Christ. And it's in us. So the starting
point is that value. Now, notice this though.
There's also a challenge in this. Because that
value is useless unless it is seen and shown.
salt itself, if it wasn't used, well, kind of,
what is the point? And I think when Jesus was
saying, you are the salt of the earth, what he's
saying is, don't just understand the inherent
incredible value within you, but recognize that
that value is nothing unless it is seen, unless
there is action, unless people know. It's almost
like, imagine receiving a massive salary, putting
that salary in your bank account, never drawing
on it ever, and then complaining that you're
poor. See, in the same way that salt that only
exists in a salt shaker is useless, so is a Christian
that only exists in the church. I don't know
about you, but I find that deeply challenging.
That actually this incredible value that has
been placed within us needs to have some expression.
God has planted you in a sphere of influence
in your workplace where you can bring that expression
of that hope to him. What an incredible privilege
it is to partner with him in the flourishing
of the earth. The question we should be asking
ourselves is, well, what was the use of salt
then? Because how can I then be used in my workplace?
Well, in the first century, there were two primary
uses for salt. First was that it was a flavor
enhancer. Much like it is for us here today.
You order some french fries, you add some extra
salt on them. It was the same in those days as
well. Salt brought those tasteless fishes to
a bit of life. Salt brought the tasteless lamb
to a bit of life for them. And it is the same
in the process here as well for us. So when Jesus
said to the disciples, you are the salt of the
earth, what he's also saying is you've got to
understand that you are those that I've called
to bring flavor to the world around you. That
you call to through your life and your actions
and your behavior and your values and the commitment
that you have to the gospel. That I've placed
you in something that is tasteless unless you
are there. Something that doesn't have the vibrancy
unless you are there. And I've placed you in
your work, in your school, in your industry because
there's something there that I want to bring
to life. I had lunch yesterday with Vinny and
Emmy, as Pastor Phil spoke about them earlier.
And Emmy was telling me, she's a lawyer here
in Thailand, and she was telling me that two
years ago she had suggested to her big boss that
their law firm should do pro bono law work. Now,
law firms generally do not do pro bono law work.
That's almost the antithesis of what they're
all about. And for two years, it felt like for
her that she was pushing water uphill. But slowly
she began to shape and change people's hearts
and people's minds. Just this week, her boss,
the big boss of the company, sent out an email
to all the employees and praised Emmy and said,
we now are the number one law firm in the whole
of Thailand that offers pro bono work for the
communities that desperately need it. That, my
friends, is adding flavor. That is taking the
gospel. And saying I'm not just here to make
profit as important as that could be. I'm here
to actually bring something of the beauty and
the wonder of God's kingdom. Into the people
of this place. That we might see justice and
hope and life and equality. And that people might
be changed. We are flavor enhancers. So follow
this. If it's true that salt enhances flavor.
Could it be that one of the reasons why the world
is so hurting right now is not because evil abounds,
but because Christians don't? See, when Christians
remain silent, all people are left with is the
tastelessness of the world. And one of the great
joys that we have as Christians in the workplace
Is to say tomorrow morning. How might I add some
flavor. Some beauty and wonder of the gospel.
To the people that God has graciously planted
me within. The third thing that salt did. The
second primary use for it in those days was.
It was a preservative. In an age before refrigeration
and ice. Salt was taken to preserve fish. And
preserve meat. To stop it from decay. So when
Jesus says to the disciples, you are the soul
of the earth, they would have thought that Jesus
is basically saying, you are like the preservative
agents of the world. Like I've given you the
gospel so that you would go into this world and
not hope that the world would decay, not hope
that you could escape, not hope that you would
insulate yourself from the badness of it. No,
I've actually put you in it to preserve the wonder
and the beauty of the thing that I have created.
That through relationship with me and death and
resurrection within people, we can come to know
the beauty of Shalom that was always the purpose
and the hope for which I have created this world.
You are the preservative agents that I've sent
into this place to see the world flourish and
the world become all that I long for it to be.
The story of that hope is in you. And so anytime
that we step into our workplaces, And we have
this heart to want to bring life away from death.
To bring hope where it feels like there isn't
any. To bring an idea that might raise profit
rather than slump into a bad economy. We show
the world a different narrative. A hope that
there is found in the wonder of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. When Christians decide to keep
their faith private. we contribute to the decay
of the world. Have you ever thought about that?
When we decide to keep our faith private, just
personal to me, doesn't really impact anything
around me, we're contributing to the decay of
the earth. Now, light, the next metaphor is very
similar to this. Light is this idea that light
shines into darkness and does one of two things.
It illuminates the things that are dark. It shows
what is there. It illuminates the bad that is
there. It also illuminates the good that is there.
And what might it look like for us as Christians
in our workplaces to illuminate the injustices
that we see, to illuminate the inequality that
we're aware of, to illuminate the practices that
are happening within our businesses that we know
are not right. And for some of us in this room,
we're the bosses. We're the leaders. What does
it look like for you to think, hang on a sec,
I'm perpetuating some of that darkness, some
of that injustice, some of that inequality. What
does it mean for me to shine a different light?
And light doesn't just shine and tell us what's
there. It also reminds us of what isn't. It calls
forth for justice. It cries out for the healing
and the restoration of people. It invites us
into a better story. I love how Craig Blomberg
has put this and the way in which he operates.
He's one of my favorite New Testament scholars.
Let me read to you this from him. You are the
salt of the earth. He says this, but both metaphors
of salt and light raise important challenges
about Christian involvement in society. We're
not called to control secular power structures.
Neither are we promised that we can Christianize
the legislation and values of the world. Instead,
we must remain active, preservative agents, indeed
irritants, in calling and revealing to the world
God's heart of love. If you've ever wanted a
framework for what it means to be a Christian
in the workplace, I don't think there's a better
one than that. That we are to remain active,
preservative agents, even irritants, in calling
and revealing to the world God's heart of love.
What a beautiful call and mandate. That is for
all of us. But the question that finally remains
is this. How do we do that? Like, what are the
acts that we do? Like, is there something that
we should do? Like, tomorrow when I get back
into the workplace, like, Andrew, help me here.
Be practical. What is the next step? Well, interestingly,
Jesus shows us the next step in the passage here.
Notice what he says right at the end. He says,
in the same way, let your light shine before
people that they may hear. See your good deeds.
And praise the Father in heaven. Our question
should be, what are these good deeds? These good
deeds. Now in the Greek, the word good there
is actually translated to be lovely and beautiful.
It's not talking about good as a moral standard.
It's talking about something that's beautiful
and wonderful and lovely and attractive. Jesus
is saying, you need to be doing attractive deeds
as salt and light in the world. So what are these
attractive deeds? In the context, Jesus has already
told the disciples what they are. In fact, if
you just jump back to the few verses before the
salt and light statement, you'll read about some
of these deeds. Let me read this to you. So beautiful.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who
mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are
the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called
sons or daughters of God. Blessed are those who
are persecuted because of righteousness, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
you when people insult you, persecute you, falsely
say all kinds of evil against you because of
me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your
reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you. And then he
says, you are salt of the earth. You are light
of the world. So there's this beautiful list
that we call the Beatitudes. And it's challenging
for us Christians because when we read the Beatitudes,
here's so often what we think. We think we need
to be these people in order to receive the blessing
of God. So I want to put myself in the place
of being the receiver of the blessing. So I need
to be poor in spirit. I need to work toward my
humility. I need to be somebody who mourns. And
if I mourn, then I know God's going to bless
me. We often read the Beatitudes that way, but
let's read them now in the context to which they're
brought when Jesus says, your soul and life.
I think Jesus is saying to the disciples that
these are the lovely deeds that you get to go
into the areas of all of your life and be a blessing
to the poor in spirit. A blessing to those who
mourn. A blessing to the ones who are struggling
for justice in the workplaces but are finding
it hard. A blessing. Could you imagine what it
would look like if us Christians went into our
workplaces and we decided we're going to bless
the colleague that no one talks to and no one
ever takes out for lunch? What would it look
like if we were to bless the person in our team
who made a mistake that cost us a chunk of money?
What would it look like to bless our boss when
he passes us over for promotion? Like these are
the counter -cultural, counter -intuitive ways
of the kingdom of God. And when people bless
in that way, it reveals something of the wonder
of the gospel so that Jesus would say, when you
do that, you are salt, you are light. In other
words, salt and light is not a command, it's
a response. As we do the lovely, beautiful work
of blessing the environments in which we are
planted in, we become the salt and light of the
world. So, what should Christians do when the
world has gone crazy? Well, it's not to escape,
insulate, control, or conform. It's not to privatize
our faith and keep it all to ourselves. No, you
are salt. You have inherent value. You are a
flavor enhancer. You preserve the decay of what
is around you. And you are light, shining for
the glory of God and illuminating in your workplaces
the wonder and the beauty of what is there and
what isn't there. And you are all of those things.
That, my friends, is Jesus in all of life. What
a beautiful call it is. What a wonder it is that
we get to stand for that gospel. And I want to
pray that into you and over you here this morning.
And maybe we could just close our eyes, quieten
our hearts, and just come before the Lord in
this moment. Father, I thank you that in this
room are these beautiful people that you have
saved, redeemed, and renewed. And that you have
planted in spheres of influence here in Thailand.
In companies, education, institutions, schools,
family businesses, entrepreneurial structures,
perhaps even governments and local council. Father,
as we stand before you, we're grateful that you
have called us to work. Called us to partner
with you in the flourishing of the creation that
you have made. And Father, I want to pray for
my brothers and sisters here this morning. That
you would light a fire within them in this time
of our history to be carriers of the gospel to
a tired and weary world. I want to pray, Lord,
that we would be salt and light. I want to pray,
Lord, that we would recognize our tendency to
want to escape, insulate, control, and conform.
Would you forgive us, Lord? Where we try to shut
the world out. When you, through your incredible
wisdom, has decided to use us as carriers of
the gospel. How beautiful are the feet of those
on the mountaintops who carry the gospel. Lord,
I want to pray for a spiritual anointing over
every person for tomorrow when they wake up.
The Lord, they would step into their work. renewed
energy, renewed spirit, and renewed hope. That,
Lord, you would remind them the value, the flavor,
the preserving, the shining that truly can change
a city. Father, we thank you for this. In Jesus'
name. If God is calling you to support our ministries,
you will find giving options on our website.
And remember to join us next week. God bless
you.