I’ve been processing the tragedy that occurred Sunday morning. I was about to wrap up my teaching about 300 miles north of Sutherland Springs in the same state of Texas. I remember looking at the clock in the back, hanging on the wall of our sanctuary, to make sure I was on time in my sermon and saw that it was 11:30am.

I had no idea that at that very moment a gunman was shooting up a church, killing 26 people.

It was weird to think that at the very moment of me looking at the clock, not far away, people were being killed in their own service similar to ours.

I thought of what they must have experienced and what it must have been like for them. I guess you could say it hit home for me in a way. I feel so sick for those precious people.

I thought about the pastor and his wife, and how they must have felt hearing the news as they were away. I thought about what it would be like to lose so many in our own congregation in an instant like that.

There is a special connection a congregation has with one another, like family. A congregation goes through life together, shares one another’s burdens, triumphs and griefs. The pastor lost half of his spiritual family, half of his flock, as well as his own daughter. I can’t imagine. This is not something a human can absorb I thought, but by the grace of God.

I remember thinking as I was teaching about heaven that I was glad this world is not all there is.

How sad it must be to have no hope beyond this evil world. I remember looking at the clock, and feeling pressed because the Lord was moving so heavily on my heart, I felt this heavy burden about what I was talking about and wanted to get it all in. I was way off “the script” at the time and felt the Lord was speaking through me, and I was spectating.

We were having communion that morning as well, so time was even more precious. The topic that morning was “Home,” a teaching about where the Christian’s real home is, and how a heavenly obsession has a profound effect on our earthly existence.

I challenged our congregation to take this week and think about, meditate upon, pray, read and apply the fact of our eternal home to everyday life. I challenged them to apply eternity to the present and to live their life in light of eternity.

As I looked at the clock, 11:30, and then looked at the faces in the congregation, I felt myself looking into eyes and not just faces. I’m not sure why, but it was different than normal. I felt like God wanted me to see them like He does.

I remember thinking how badly I wanted everyone of them to be right with God and to be sure that they will go to heaven. I remember thinking how much I loved and cared for each one so much, and yet that was only a drop of how much God loves them.

I remember thinking how important it was to be sure of our eternity now.

That morning it was like God wanted me to know how deeply He loves each one, emphasis on each, and He wanted them to know how deeply He loves each of them. I’m not sure what they saw or felt in me at the time, but God was moving in a certain way that morning.

The message about the Christians real “Home,” which I don’t think was by accident, was taken from Revelation chapter 21. As we looked at some of the aspects of the Christian’s eternity, the Lord was speaking to us and encouraging us as to how short life is, and how this life is merely a preparation for how we will spend eternity.

Like a “mud room,” this life is not a place for comfort, rest and ease but a transition and preparation for our eternal home where there will be eternal comfort, rest and ease, not to mention love, joy and peace. The Lord showed us how death for a believer in Christ is a release into our heavenly existence, and how it is the beginning and not the end.

We looked at some of the aspects of what it will be like in eternity, and how we are to see this life now always in light of eternity; or that we are to keep eternity in view as we live this life. We talked about how, for a Christian, heaven overshadows everything we do; it is our future hope, our present motivation and our freedom from our past.

I saw some tears as I looked into the eyes of the precious people there that day, as well as smiles, nods and a few “amens.” Now in hindsight I know why the Lord was burdening my heart that morning with this particular message, as it was at the same exact time some of our brothers and sisters down south were going home to be with the Lord, that the Lord wanted our congregation to be ready at anytime.

There was a feeling of urgency as I explained that it is by God’s grace that we are saved and not of ourselves.

That no amount of good works, religious activity or whatever else can save us except the precious sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we put our faith in.

I remember looking in those eyes like I was seeing their souls and urging them that one must repent and ask God to forgive them of their sins, that Jesus came into this world to pay the price for their sins on the cross, and that He rose again on the third day just as scriptures said.

Just a couple weeks before this message in Revelation 20, we learned about the Great White Throne Judgment, and how all those who aren’t written in the book of life will appear there to be judged by God and sent to the lake of fire (hell) for all eternity. That after this life there are no more chances, and now is our time to determine our eternity; that all our eternity hinges on putting our faith in Jesus Christ.

As I finished the sermon I felt this assurance in my own heart that God was ministering to me more than I was to them, that heaven is so near, and that to live is Christ and to die is gain. I remember thinking that the best gift a person can have in this world is knowing where they will spend the next.

Our brothers and sisters in Sutherland Springs are now experiencing their home, the place where their Lord and Savior is, the place where there are no more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain. They are home.

Like all of us, we don’t know when our time is up, but we can know where we will be when that time comes.

We want you to know, Sutherland Springs, we love you. We are so sorry for your loss. We are heartbroken. We are grieving with you and praying for you. May the Lord pour out His love and peace in this horrible, unimaginable time, and for those of you who went home Sunday, we can’t wait to meet you when our time comes to go home.

May God bless each and every one of you with the assurance of eternity.

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me,“Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:1-8).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned living in a massive city like Paris, it’s that distraction is often times an attractive means to hide uncertainty.

When we were hit with the terrorist attacks, there was a time of grief and shock, especially as the media constantly reminded us of the horrors of what happened. After the initial shock of the terrorist attacks of November 13th, everyone longed for the day we would wake up, and life would go on. Our conversations would vacillate between what we had all just been through, while trying to keep up in this increasingly busy world. First there was the COP 21, the ecologists new hope for protecting the earth. Though people were touched by the historic treaty, and it struck with the world’s leaders, there was still an atmosphere of uncertainty. Then, we moved into the Christmas season. It took some time for people to feel safe in shopping centers, but steps were taken to ensure public safety. In the end, it worked, and the holidays were celebrated a little more quietly than years past. Now, we are back to work, and there is much uncertainty: politics, world economy, immigration, new laws, and more protection. So, the train of life moves forward, even over a road of new distractions that masks uncertainty and covers fear.

Uncertainty can help us seek the only One who is constant no matter what we face.

Fear can even be a gift. I’m reminded of that when I’m on a high place, and I feel dizzy apprehension. Fear can actually protect me and send me into fight-or-flight to get me out of a threatening situation. Fear and uncertainty can also be crippling. That’s why the world’s answer of distraction is so attractive. What can be a better way to forget than to watch the Force Awakens in 3D a fourth time or more refreshing than to expend nervous energy in a gym? At least we’re not immobile; at least we are not letting the terrorists win!

At the same time, I’ve seen something else happening. Many churches are spending time praying, praying together, and praying for each other. As we’ve taken the occasion to reach out, we’ve seen that people on the street are receptive to the Gospel. Yet I also noticed the temptation to give into fear and live in distraction. There are still some people who are afraid to go out, and there are others who purposely haven’t slowed down. These very different movements are present in daily life, both hoping to shape our days, and in the end, our tomorrow’s. This is what brings me again and again to the voice of Paul at a dark time in his life when he was writing his last letter to his dear friend Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

As I look back to this verse, I’m reminded of what I’ve been given. It’s done. In fact, it happened long before I was born. The day Jesus rose again, He went to visit His disciples who were also facing uncertain times and fear. He appeared in the midst of them, breathing on them, and giving them the Spirit. I can’t help but notice He didn’t first say, “Yeah, things are pretty bad, but just try to think about something else. Go to the gym or go watch a movie, and by the way, here’s the Spirit!” No, it was more like, “Peace be with you; receive the Spirit.” I feel that’s a message for us in this time.

Jesus knows the difficulty, and I rather think He is more interested in filling us with peace than letting us flow in the wave of distraction or sink in the pit of fear.

God surely didn’t give me a Spirit of fear, so why should I hold on to it?

What He gave, though, is everything I want to cling to, and really, what we need today! The verse says power. Power to live in such a way that glorifies Jesus in a rapidly changing world that is seeking its solutions in the glory of man. It’s not an election year in France, but many of the same issues are being brought up that I see in the US news. We are looking for someone who can lead the way to better international relations, a more prosperous economy… Many are pessimistic about what they see, but I’m not. God has the power to open doors for the Gospel, and He’s doing it in many unexpected ways.

In the same way, we need love to live out the Gospel in a time when many denounce hate, and yet, can hatefully marginalize their political opponents or professional rivals. There is a real social debate that has opened up with the presence of our new immigrants and our efforts to increase security. Love is what I need when I want to share with nationals that feel invaded, as well as refugees fighting to find a new way of life and many that are returning back to where they came from. Love that is stronger than fear; love poured out in my heart by the Spirit.

Lastly, we need to keep our wits about us. We need a sound mind to keep it all in perspective as the world continues its spin out of control. Having a sound mind is a strength as it answers the unreasonable questions fear and uncertainty use to cripple us. This is why I’m so thankful for Jesus’ solution. It’s much more healthy and hopeful – His Spirit, bringing a new hope for a new day.

The term “relevant” is one of those hot button words in modern church culture. When most people talk about being relevant they are generally thinking in terms of how we must never be found irrelevant in our efforts to communicate the Gospel to fallen culture. For most Christians and for many in ministry that is a factor of conformity to the vocabulary, style and lifestyle. Without a doubt, those are important components to the advance of the Gospel. Hudson Taylor shocked his contemporaries when he set aside traditional British dress and style and began to dress like the people he desired to win to Christ on the mission field. A decade ago my two older children told me I needed to “lose the Hawaiian shirts!” At the time there were hundreds of young adults and teens coming to a Monday night Bible study I was teaching and it didn’t feel un-relatable or “irrelevant.” My kids understood culture better than I did. They saw where it was headed and that was their way of letting me know that I was not as “connected” with the people I was ministering to as I thought. This is what I believe is the really big idea wrapped up in our concern for relevance.

As I began to write this, the first thing I did was look up the definition of “relevant.”

relevant |ˈreləvənt|

adjective

closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand

Then I looked at a thesaurus and found a specific word that really brought clarity to the whole idea of relevance: related.

Relevance is not primarily about being “relatable.” It is about being “related” — it’s about being connected! The most “relevant” church is not necessarily the one that most resembles its culture — or is most “relatable” — it is the one truly connected to the culture it desires to reach. The ultimate example is Jesus. Jesus is God become man. In His desire to reveal Himself to man and redeem man, Jesus did not merely go out of His way to “resemble” man. He literally became related to man. God incarnate had a genealogy!

He was on every level “connected” with the men and women who desperately needed to know about the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

So if relevance is not just resemblance; not just about being relatable, where do we begin to move towards being relevant? First let me say this, you are probably way more relevant than you think! Britt Merrick framed it like this:

All of us have people that are “our people.” The people in your home, your neighborhood; your office, your class room; where you shop, where you hang out; where you work out — those people are your people. There is nobody better to reach your people than you. You are with them. You get them! You understand them! You speak their language.

In other words — you’re connected to them. All of that is by God’s doing. And by God’s plan you are perfectly suited to tell them about Jesus.

That being said, it’s also possible (simultaneously) to be living in segment of culture and have zero connection with it. Or, God can move you into a new city, or send you into a totally foreign culture, and you can find yourself very unconnected within it. Here are THREE THINGS drawn from the life of Paul in Acts 17 that can serve us well in understanding “relevance.”

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols (Acts 17:16 ESV).

1. Paul wasn’t self-absorbed, engaging Athenian culture only as it might benefit him.

Neither was he a casual observer, Paul had a passion to reach people with the Gospel. If we really want to be “relevant” we need to know the people we desire to reach. We will never really be connected or related to our cities until we get to know them. We need to get to know about the people in our cities.

I came across an article with a list of helpful questions we should be asking about our cities:

– What’s happening in my city?

– Who’s moving into my city?

– What buildings are going up in my city?

– What buildings are coming down in my city?

– How many schools are there in my city?

– How many people are here in my city?

– What is the crime rate like in my city?

– What are the goals of my city?

– What are the values of my city?

– What are the beliefs of my city?

– What is the history of my city?

– How long has my city been a city?

– At what times and days does everything come alive in my city?

– What do the people in my city love about my city?

– What do people despise about my city?

– What’s the media saying about my city?

– What do people in my city put their hope in?

– Who’s hurting in my city?

– Who’s succeeding and thriving in my city?

If you want to know the answers to those questions don’t isolate yourself from your city — engage it — get connected to it! Your neighbors are a microcosm of your city — watch and engage! The teller at your bank, the person ringing you up or bagging your groceries at your grocery store, or your hair stylist, will tell you a whole lot about your city because they are the city; they’re in it, they know what’s going on in it. There’s one young lady in our church who came to know Jesus (and is now a dear friend of our family), because my wife, Valerie, got to know her while this young woman would cut and color her hair.

2. Paul saw Athens for what it was — a city of idols.

Do we see our cities as fallen culture sees them or do we see them as God sees them? No doubt, if the internet existed at the time of Acts 17 (c.50 A.D.) we would find something like this at the official website of Athens.

Athens — the city of Pericles and Demosthenes, Socrates and Plato and Aristotle, Sophocles and Euripides. Socrates taught in the Agora of this great city. It was the home of the Academy of Plato, the Lyceum of Aristotle, the Porch of Zeno, the Garden of Epicurus. Today men still talked about philosophy, poetry, politics, religion, anything and everything. Athens is still the art center of the world and home of the Parthenon, the most beautiful of temples which crowns the Acropolis.

–A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament

Paul no doubt walked around this famous city like any first-time visitor. But he didn’t see Athens like a tourist. Paul saw past the learning, the literature and the philosophy. Paul saw past the artistic-beauty of the best that Greek sculptors and architects could offer. Paul saw Athens through the lens of the Gospel.These statues were beautiful, but Paul was not deceived by the mere art for art’s sake. The idolatry and sensualism of it all glared at him.

-A.T. Robertson, WordPictures in the New Testament

3. Real relevance begins with being related to; connected to Jesus.

Follow me here. Paul not only saw Athens for what it was — a city of idols; Paul was wrecked by what he saw. He saw and he felt! It was a powerful response and reaction. He was provoked. A form of this Greek word ultimately found its way into the medical world in relationship to seizures and epilepsy. The word paroxúnō (provoke) is listed as the prefix pará, meaning “at the point of, unto”, implying movement toward a certain point. The suffix oxúnō means “to sharpen, incite, or irritate”. Thus, the word provoke is defined as “to urge on, stimulate” to a point of action.

I believe Paul was very connected to the heart of Jesus in this. Jesus is God who became man. God Incarnate saw and felt! God Incarnate looked at the city Jerusalem and wept for it.

And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:41-42 ESV).

The Book of Acts teaches us that the relevance we need most be concerned with is first and foremost vertical in nature! Relevant church and relevant ministry, is relational — it flows from relationship to Jesus. Acts is the record of Jesus continuing to work through the agency of the church. Paul looked at Athens and was provoked because he was connected to the heart of Jesus who looked at Jerusalem and sobbed convulsively.

Paul looked at the city of Athens and was provoked by it. Jesus wept because they knew the truth, but they didn’t want it. Paul was provoked because they wanted the truth but didn’t know where to find it. Think about this: Athens was home to men and women who had 800 years of Greek Mythology and 500 years of philosophy — and they were still searching!

TWO CLOSING POINTS OF APPLICATION:

1) As we live on and participate in Authentic Mission we are going to engage those who know the truth but don’t want it — and we will also engage those want the truth, but don’t know where to find it. Which best describes your city, your family, neighbors, classmates and co-workers?

2) I think that it’s safe to say that if weren’t provoked by what we see, we probably aren’t seeing things through the lens of the Gospel.

But if we are seeing the world as Jesus sees it —we will be urged on, to the point of action, as Paul was. Paul was provoked to tell men and women about the true and living God.