1/21/18 Follow up

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich... And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and he saw him, and he said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." ...And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." (Luke 19)

Jesus declared His purpose—to seek and save the lost—and He sends those He has found to go and find others.

A Sermon Appreciation Society

A month before I became the pastor of this church ten years ago, I had the privilege of going to Germany to teach for a month at a small international Bible school. I'd taught there before, in 2004 and 2005, and was invited back at the beginning of 2008. The day my wife Andrea and I were boarding our plane in San Diego—a Saturday morning I remember well—I got an important phone call about ten minutes before we boarded. The elders had just met, and it was decided that when I came back, I would become the pastor of this church.

I believe it was God's providence that He had me leaving on that trip at that moment, because teaching just one class gave me a lot of free time to think, plan, and pray about pastoring. It was also providence that the Bible school's director was a good friend and mentor of mine, Pastor David Guzik, who has taught here before and has written a commentary on the entire Bible. I had a lot of time to ask him questions.

One weekend, several of us drove three or four hours from Siegen to Wittenberg, the hometown of Martin Luther, to see the sites of the Protestant Reformation. As David drove, I sat behind him and kept asking questions. Before leading the Bible college, he had helped plant Calvary Chapel Oxnard and then pastored Calvary Chapel Simi Valley for about fourteen years. So I asked him, "Dave, if you were a senior pastor again, what would you do differently?"

His answer stuck with me. He said one of the things that brought him to the point of stepping away from Simi Valley was realizing that the church he pastored had become a "sermon appreciation society." That wasn't necessarily the worst thing—the Bible was being taught, people were encouraged and equipped—but it felt like every week he worked hard to present the Scriptures to be critiqued and graded by the sermon appreciation society. Afterward a line of people would come up: "Pastor Dave, that one was really good. Better than last week. I loved that illustration." It got to be the same group saying the same thing week after week, and he began to wonder, "Is this really what the Lord wants me to be doing?"

A Conviction in 2011

A few weeks later I became the pastor and stepped into weekly preaching ministry for the first time. If you were here in 2008, God bless you—you were so gracious and patient with a 28-year-old taking over the church. In your graciousness I found I was hearing very much the same things Pastor David described, and I appreciated it. People would come up every week and say, "That was really good. You're getting better all the time." That was kind, much appreciated, and—honestly—my ego liked it. Feedback like that does encourage you to dig deeper and preach stronger.

But a few years later, something began to concern me. It was the middle of 2011. Each week I'd meet new people coming to the church, and they'd often say, "I'm so glad we found this church, because your preaching is so much better than the other church we were going to." Probably nine or ten out of ten new people I met were coming from another church. They were well-intentioned, and I'm not judging that. But I was challenged. Every Sunday I drove across El Norte Parkway through the middle of Escondido, passing dozens and dozens of homes of people who were not part of any church.

I believe the Scriptures can transform our lives—I wouldn't do this if I didn't. But I would see many of the same faces and meet new people who were already coming from another church. We weren't really reaching people who were a lot like Zacchaeus. Whether they realized it or not, they were lost. I don't think Zacchaeus thought of himself as lost—he probably wouldn't have used that word. But Jesus looked up in the tree and said, "Zacchaeus, come down, I'm going to your house."

It's amazing to me that it was the followers of Jesus, the crowd around Him, who were upset that He was reaching lost people. They complained. But Jesus said, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." This is one of His explicit purpose statements. In Mark 10 He says He came to give His life a ransom for many. In John 10 He says He came to give life more abundantly. And here in Luke He says He came to seek and to save the lost. He had a mission statement.

360,000 Lost People Within Five Miles

That reality challenged me deeply. One afternoon I opened Google Earth, found our location at 1675 Oak Hill Road, and drew a circle with a five-mile radius. Within that circle—Escondido, San Marcos, northern Rancho Bernardo, parts of Elfin Forest, Vista, Bonsall, Valley Center—there are 400,000 people. Extend it to ten miles and it's over 900,000, nearly a million people.

In 2010 the Southern Baptist Convention, a group we partner with, researched thirty North American cities they believed needed the church to be active and engaged. San Diego was one of them. They found 3.3 million people call San Diego home, with 114 different languages spoken here. 56.1 percent of the city is not affiliated with any religious organization. And when they asked how many are connected to a gospel-preaching church, the answer was only 9.8 percent—which means that within five miles of this building there are about 360,000 people with no connection to a gospel-preaching church.

So my conviction in 2011 was this: yes, there are people here, and I believe God finds joy in His church worshiping Him through song, the study of Scripture, sacrificial giving, and serving. I think God is pleased with what happens here, at Emanuel Faith, North Coast, Mission Hills, Valley Baptist, Bethel Baptist. What happens week in and week out is a good thing, and God is well pleased with it. But the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost.

That stirring began to change my heart, the way I shared the Scriptures, and the direction of our church. We decided to change the name from Calvary Chapel of Escondido to Cross Connection Church, and to change our vision to "life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus"—because Jesus came to bring life through the cross, to reconnect us to God and to one another.

Three Lost Things in Luke 15

Just before the Zacchaeus account, Luke 15 develops this same idea of seeking and saving the lost—and the reason it comes up is interesting. "Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him, and the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, 'This man receives sinners and eats with them'" (Luke 15:1–2). Lost people were drawing near to Jesus, and the found people, the church people, were bothered by it—just like in Luke 19.

In response, Jesus tells three stories. The first is a shepherd with a hundred sheep who leaves the ninety-nine to find the one that strayed. The second is a woman with ten silver coins who turns her whole house upside down until she finds the one that was lost. The third is the prodigal son—a young man who tells his father, in effect, "I wish you were dead," takes his inheritance early, and spends it (the King James says) on "riotous living." Some of you are well acquainted with riotous living from your previous days. In the end the young man comes to his senses, comes home, and finds his father waiting with arms open wide.

In all three stories, something lost is found, and the response is rejoicing. "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:6). "Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost" (Luke 15:9). And of the prodigal: "Let us eat and be merry, for my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found" (Luke 15:23–24). What's the point? Jesus loves to retrieve that which is lost.

Remember That You Were Once Lost

If you're a follower of Jesus, it's important to remember that you were once lost. The most famous hymn of all says, "I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see." We must remember where we came from. Romans 3 helps us:

As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside... There is none who does good, no, not one." (Romans 3:10–12)

Nobody seeks after God. Paul goes on about throats like an open tomb, tongues practicing deceit, the poison of asps under their lips, feet swift to shed blood, no fear of God before their eyes. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). And "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

There's something interesting about being lost. Watch a child who gets separated from their parents in a crowd. For a time they don't even realize they're lost—they just wander, everything seems fine. Then suddenly they realize, "I don't see Mom or Dad," and their whole countenance changes. There was a point in your life when you realized your lostness—whether through a crisis, or because a friend shared the truth of Scripture with you. We all came into this world terribly lost, and it wasn't us who sought after God. We were alienated from God and separated from one another, whether we realized it or not.

I keep that in mind driving here every Sunday, coming north on the 15 past hundreds of homes. I find myself praying, "Lord, how do we reach these people? They don't even know they need You." Last week I went to a conference in Minneapolis, and within a nanosecond of leaving the airport I was reminded why I live here—it was freezing. We live in a beautiful place, and that makes it easy for people to soften over their lostness.

We are here today only because Jesus sought us out, because there is none who seeks after God. What amazing grace.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh... were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:11–13)

We can never forget where we came from, nor the means by which we were found—the amazing grace of God. And this rescue was purposeful: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). It doesn't say automatic; it says should. The right response to being rescued is to walk in those good works.

Jesus Sends the Found to Find Others

What good works does He want us to do? Jesus sends the found to find others. "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost" (Luke 19:10). Each of the four Gospels ends with a commissioning statement. In John 20:21 Jesus says, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Jesus was sent on a rescue mission, and now He sends us on the same mission to retrieve lost things, because He loves to retrieve lost things.

That's why I decided in mid-2011 that I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure this would not just be a sermon appreciation society, but a mobilization place—empowered by the Spirit, equipped by Jesus's Word, to go retrieve the lost. That's the name Cross Connection. That's the vision: life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. The entire church—not just the pastoral staff or elders—has been called by God to seek and to save the lost.

How do we do that? In Mark 16:15 Jesus says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." We share the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done, and we also share the bad news of people's lost condition, which they may not realize until we show them through Scripture. As they turn in response, putting their faith in Jesus, that turning is repentance.

And notice how Jesus applies the three lost stories. After the lost sheep: "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7). Though God is pleased with His church gathering to worship and serve, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to Christ. After the lost coin: "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10)—joy in the presence of the angels, which implies it is God's own joy.

And in the prodigal son, the older brother had done everything right, yet he was angry that his father threw a party for the younger brother who had dishonored the family. He refused to come in. But the father said, in effect, "You've been with me all this time. We should rejoice over your brother who has repented. He was lost, and now he is found." Lost things become found when they turn to Christ in faith, and there is joy over that repentance—the joy of the father, the woman, and the shepherd.

This is why Luke records Jesus's commission: "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46–47). God has called us into the highways and byways to bring the good news of grace that brings salvation to those who are dead, lost, and blind—to bring them back into connection with their Maker and with the body of Christ.

Compassion, Charity, and Evangelism

How do we do this? There are many ways, but consider three. We connect with the world through compassion. This is loving your neighbor. Jesus said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). It's love expressed in practical, tangible ways, meeting people's needs—and everyone has needs. In Matthew 25 Jesus describes the day we stand before Him: "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was alone and you visited Me." When did we do this? "Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to Me."

Second, we connect with the world through charity—giving of what we have to those in need, "for He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive'" (Acts 20:35). These are good, but we can never neglect the most important.

We connect with the world through evangelism. Evangelism is sharing the good news of who Jesus is and what He did—that you were once lost and now you're found, once blind and now you see. It's sharing the work of the cross, where Jesus dealt with my sin and yours and said, "It is finished," pardoning and forgiving us, making us right with a holy God so that we are no longer His enemies but brought near by His blood. Sometimes we get skittish, fearful, or embarrassed to share this, but Paul said, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

He Empowers and Equips Us

You may say, "I could do compassion and charity, but evangelism? I'm not an evangelist. That's for the pastors." In your own strength, you'd probably be right. But just before He ascended, Jesus said, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). You begin where you are and move out, empowered by the Spirit.

The conference I attended in Minneapolis was all about the empowering work of the Holy Spirit—a good reminder that what we're called to do as ambassadors of Jesus is "not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord." In our own strength we can't do this, but God by His grace empowers us. And Ephesians 4 says He set pastors, teachers, apostles, prophets, and evangelists over the church "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry." The work of the ministry is the work of the church, not merely the work of the ministers. The minister's job is to equip the church to do that work.

So, Jesus empowers and equips us to reach the lost. Within five miles of this building there are 360,000 lost people who don't even know it, and over 840,000 within ten miles who need Jesus. God has strategically placed every one of you in this room among those people—at work, in your neighborhood, at the ball field while your kid practices soccer, among family members who don't know Jesus. He has placed you like a web around this community to extend His grace through compassion, charity, and the sharing of the good news, "for how shall they hear without a preacher?"

Reaching the Lost, Not Just Transferring Sheep

I believe that in 2018 God wants to further expand our reach and bring us into a fuller experience of being His ambassadors in San Diego County. There are many great churches trying to reach lost people, but the sad reality—shown in all the research over the last 25 years in America—is that the greatest majority of church growth has been transfer growth: people moving from one church or denomination to another, from Catholicism to Protestantism, from mainline to evangelical, from Presbyterian to non-denominational. God desires that we reach the lost, because Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost.

One way we're seeking to fulfill this mission this year is on the left side of your bulletin, under "On Mission." We have partnered as the sponsoring church to plant a church in Baltimore, Maryland. My friend Josh Teranski, whom I've known about ten years, was a pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Two years ago he felt the Lord calling him to plant a church in Baltimore. He and his family moved there a little over a year ago, to downtown Baltimore—Fells Point, not far from Washington, D.C.—and God is preparing to plant Haven City Church there. He lived most of his life in Hawaii and Southern California, and now he's freezing in Baltimore, so God bless him.

I want you to pray for Josh, his wife, and their three kids. Maybe the Lord would have you go on a trip with us to pray for the city, or stir your heart to be involved in some way. God desires that we reach lost people. That's the mission we're on—not just to be a place where we gather and say, "That one was a good one."

Closing Prayer

I'm going to pray that God would remind us of the power He's given us in Christ Jesus. Read Ephesians 1—we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. That means we have all of the Holy Spirit. The question is, does He have all of us?

Father, we pray that You would remind us again of the empowering You have given us when we became Your children. First Corinthians 12 says we were all baptized in the Spirit, and so, God, I pray You would help us experience the empowering of the Spirit this week. You've gifted every person here who has put their trust in You, and You've called every one of us to be a light to a dark world. We are connected to people in our neighborhoods, on school campuses, in office buildings, on construction sites, on basketball courts—people who need You. I pray You would be with our lips and our tongues; give us boldness to share the good news of who You are and what You've done. Maybe it's as simple as sharing what You did in our lives, or as easy as inviting someone to church.

First open our eyes to see the lost—as we drive home, as we go to lunch, wherever we go today. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus, You saw the multitudes and were moved with compassion because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Help us to be moved with compassion as we see as You see. We pray for Josh and his family in Baltimore today, getting ready to plant Haven City Church. Be with them, encourage and strengthen them, give them vision and boldness and Your strength, and keep them warm in the cold. If You would call any of us to be part of that, even just in prayer, stir our hearts.

And Lord, we lift up San Diego County—3.3 million people who call this place home, the better part of them far from You. We don't want anyone to die in their lost condition. So, God, stir our hearts. Pour out Your Spirit afresh and anew upon Your church. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.