Life in Connection with the World

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 he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. So he ran ahead and climbed into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:1–10)

When the King of Kings comes to seek the lost, he sends the found to go and find others.

A Conversation in Germany

A month before I became the pastor of this church ten years ago, I had the privilege of going to Germany to teach at a small international Bible school for a month. I'd taught there for a year in 2004 and 2005, and was invited back at the beginning of 2008. My wife Andrea and I went over for that month.

The day we were getting ready to board the plane in San Diego, I was waiting for an important phone call. It came about ten minutes before we boarded, from one of the elders here. The elders had just met and decided that when I returned the following month, I would become the pastor of this church. I believe it was completely by God's providence that he had me leaving for Germany at that moment—it gave me a month to think, plan, and pray about taking on this role.

It was also God's providence that I was there with a very good friend, Pastor David Guzik, the director of that Bible school. He's a great Bible teacher who has written a commentary on the entire Bible and has been a mentor of mine for years. On one of the weekends, my wife and I, Pastor David, and a group of students drove a few hours to Wittenberg, the hometown of Martin Luther, to see the sights of the Reformation.

"A Sermon Appreciation Society"

On that drive, sitting right behind David as he drove, I kept asking him questions. One of them was this: "Dave, if you were a senior pastor over a church again, what would you do differently?" He had planted and pastored churches before leading the Bible college—he helped plant Calvary Chapel Oxnard and pastored Calvary Chapel Simi Valley for about fourteen years.

His answer stuck with me. He said that one of the things that brought him to the point of stepping away from Simi Valley was the realization that the church he was pastoring had become a "sermon appreciation society." He said that's not the worst thing—the Bible was being taught, people were being encouraged and equipped. But every week he would work hard to present the Scriptures, and afterward a line of people would come up: "Pastor Dave, that one was really good. That was so much better than last week. I loved that illustration." He started to realize it was the same people saying the same things week after week, and he began to ask, "Is this really what the Lord wants me to be doing?"

A few weeks later, I became the pastor of this church and stepped into a weekly preaching ministry for the first time. If you were here in 2008, God bless you—thank you for being so gracious and patient with a 28-year-old taking over the church. In your graciousness, I started hearing the very same things Pastor David had described: "Miles, that was really good. You're getting better all the time." That was kind, and my ego liked it. Feedback like that does encourage you and stir you to dig deeper. But on the ego side, it's not necessarily a good thing.

The People I Was Driving Past

A few years later, in the middle of 2011, something began to concern me. Every week I'd meet new people, and nine or ten out of ten of them would say, "I'm so glad we found this church—your preaching is so much better than the church we were going to." Those people were well-intentioned, and I appreciated it. But I was challenged by it.

Every Sunday morning I'd drive across town, passing dozens upon dozens of homes belonging to people who were not part of any church. I'd come here and preach the Scriptures—which I absolutely believe can transform our lives—but I kept seeing the same faces, and the new people were coming from other churches. We weren't really reaching people who, like Zacchaeus, were lost whether they realized it or not. Zacchaeus probably wouldn't have applied that word to himself. But Jesus looked up into the tree and called him down, and it was the crowd—the followers of Jesus—who were upset that Jesus was reaching a lost person.

"The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." This is one of Jesus's purpose statements. There are several in the Gospels where he explicitly says why he came: in Mark 10, "to give His life a ransom for many"; in John 10, "to give life, and that more abundantly"; and here in Luke, "to seek and to save that which is lost." He had a mission statement, and I was deeply challenged by it.

360,000 Lost People

That afternoon I opened Google Earth and found 1675 Seven Oaks Road—right where we are—and drew a five-mile circle. Within that radius live places like Escondido, San Marcos, the northern part of Rancho Bernardo, parts of Vista, and Valley Center—along with about 400,000 other 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're connected with, researched thirty cities in North America that they believed needed an active, engaged church. San Diego was one of them. They found 3.3 million people call San Diego home, 114 different languages are spoken here, and 56.1% of the city is not affiliated with any religious organization. When they asked how many are connected to a gospel-preaching church, the answer was only 9.8%. That means within five miles of this building there are 360,000 people with no connection to a gospel-preaching church.

I do believe God is pleased with his church gathering to worship him in song, in the study of his Word, in sacrificial giving and serving. I think he's pleased with what happens here, and at North Coast Church, Mission Hills, Valley Baptist, Bethel Baptist, and many others. But the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost. That stirring in 2011 began to change my heart, the way I shared the Scriptures, and our church. We changed our name from Calvary Chapel of Escondido to Cross Connection Church, and adopted our vision: life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus—because Jesus came to bring life through the cross, reconnecting us to God and to each other.

Three Stories of the Lost

Just before the story of Zacchaeus, in Luke 15, this same theme appears, and the reason for the teaching is striking. "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.'" Lost people were drawing near to Jesus, and the church people were bothered by it.

In response, Jesus tells three stories. A shepherd with a hundred sheep leaves the ninety-nine to find the one that strayed. A woman with ten silver coins turns her whole house upside down until she finds the one she lost. And a father has a son who says, in effect, "Dad, I wish you were dead," takes his inheritance, and spends it—as the King James Version says—on "riotous living." Some of you are well acquainted with riotous living from your previous days. Eventually that son comes to his senses, comes home, and finds his father waiting with arms open wide.

At the end of each story, there is rejoicing. The shepherd says, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost." The woman says, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost." The father says, "Bring the fatted calf... for my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found." Point one: Jesus loves to retrieve that which is lost.

Remembering Where We Came From

If you're a follower of Jesus today, 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, because it's easy to forget.

Romans 3 reminds us of our lost condition: "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside... Destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes." Verse 23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." And Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death." Nobody seeks after God.

Being lost is interesting. Watch a child in a crowd separated from their parents—for a while they wander around, perfectly content, not realizing they're lost. Then suddenly the realization hits and their whole countenance changes. There was a point in your life when you came to that realization, maybe through a crisis or a friend sharing the truth of Scripture. Point two: we all came into this world terribly lost. It wasn't us who sought after God; he sought us out.

Ephesians 2 says, "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." We can never forget that we were lost, and we must never forget the means by which we were found—the amazing grace of God.

Sent to Find Others

This rescue was purposeful. Ephesians 2:10, just before "therefore remember," says: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." It says should, not that it's automatic. The right response to being rescued is to walk in these good works.

Point three: Jesus sends the found to find others. Each of the four Gospels ends with a commissioning. In John 20:21, Jesus says, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Jesus was sent on a rescue mission to seek and to save the lost—and now he sends us on that same mission, because he loves to retrieve lost things.

That's why, in 2011, I decided I wanted to do everything I could to make sure this would not just be a sermon appreciation society, but a place of mobilization—empowered by the Spirit, equipped by the Word, to go retrieve the lost. That's the meaning behind the name Cross Connection and the vision: life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. We've all been commissioned to this purpose—not just the pastoral staff or the elders, but the entire church.

The Joy of Heaven Over Repentance

How do we do this? One of the most obvious ways is in Mark 16:15: "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 share the bad news of people's lost condition, which they may not realize until we tell them through the Scriptures. As they turn to put their faith in Jesus, that turning is called repentance.

Notice how Jesus applies the three lost stories. After the lost sheep: "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." Though God is pleased with his church gathering, singing, studying his Word, giving and serving, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to Christ. After the lost coin: "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents"—God's own joy. And in the prodigal son, the older brother who did everything right is angry that the father throws a party for the lost son who came home. The father says, "We should rejoice, for your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found."

Lost things become found when they turn to Christ in faith, and there is joy over that repentance. That's why Luke's commissioning, in Luke 24:46–47, says "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." God has called us into the highways and byways to bring the gospel of grace to a world that is dead, disconnected, and blind—to bring them back into connection with their Maker and with the body of Christ.

Compassion, Charity, and Evangelism

How do we bring this connection? Point four: in three ways. First, we connect with the world through compassion—loving your neighbor. Jesus said in John 13:35 that they will know we are his followers by the love we have for one another. This is love expressed in practical, tangible ways. In Matthew 25, Jesus says, "I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed 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 through charity—giving of what we have to those in need. As Jesus said in Acts 20:35, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

But we can never neglect the most important aspect: we connect with the world through evangelism—sharing the good news of who Jesus is and what he did on the cross to deal with our sin, so he could say, "It is finished," and pardon us, making us right with a holy God. For some reason we get skittish and embarrassed about this. But Paul said in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes."

Empowered by the Spirit

You may say, "I could do the compassion and charity, but I'm no evangelist." In your own strength, you'd probably be right. But in Acts 1, just before Jesus ascended, he 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"—beginning where you are and moving out.

The conference I attended in Minneapolis was all on the empowering work of the Holy Spirit. (Why hold a conference in Minneapolis in January? Probably a good deal on the convention center—within a nanosecond of leaving the airport I knew this place was cold.) But it was a good reminder that what we're called to do is "not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the LORD." In our own strength we can't do this; by his grace, God empowers us.

Ephesians 4 says he gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers "for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry." The work of ministry is the work of the church—not merely of the ministers. The job of the ministers is to equip the church to do that work. So we gather to be equipped, encouraged, and to ask God to empower us by his Spirit to fulfill the mission Jesus has given us. Point five: Jesus empowers and equips us to reach the lost.

Strategically Placed

There are 360,000 lost people within five miles of this building and over 840,000 within ten miles who need Jesus—and many don't even know it. 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's placed you like a web around this community to extend the grace of Christ through compassion, through charity, and through sharing the good news—for how shall they hear without someone to tell them?

I believe that in 2018 God wants to expand our reach and bring us into a fuller experience of being his ambassadors in San Diego County. The need is huge. Sadly, all the research shows that over the last twenty-five years the greatest majority of church growth in America has been transfer growth—people moving from one church or denomination to another. God desires that we reach the lost, because Jesus came to seek and to save that which is lost.

Planting Haven City Church

One way we're seeking to fulfill this mission this year is on the mission field. We have partnered as the sponsoring church to plant a church in Baltimore, Maryland. My friend Josh Sharansky, whom I've known about ten years, was a pastor at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. A couple of 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 the Fells Point area of downtown Baltimore, not far from Washington, D.C. After spending most of his life in Hawaii and Southern California, he's now freezing in Baltimore—so God bless him. We're the sponsoring church for Haven City Church.

Please pray for Josh and his family. 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

Father, I 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. So God, help us to experience the empowering of the Spirit this week. You've gifted every single person here who has put their trust in you, and you have called every one of us to be a light to a dark world.

Every one of us is connected to people—in our neighborhoods, on a school campus, at an office, on a construction site, on a basketball court—people who need you. I pray you would be with our lips and our tongues; give us boldness to speak up and 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 own lives, or giving an invitation to come to church this weekend. First open our eyes to see the lost as we drive home, as we go to lunch, wherever we go today. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus saw the multitudes and was 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 as they minister and prepare to plant Haven City Church. Encourage and strengthen them, give them vision, boldness, and your strength, and keep them warm in the cold. If you would call any of us to be part of that, even in prayer, stir our hearts. And we lift up San Diego County—the 3.3 million people who call this place home, the greater part of them far from you. We don't want anyone to die in their lost condition. So stir our own spirits and pour out your Spirit afresh. In Jesus' name, amen.