The Call of Jesus - Sermon from OCC

As we get into the Bible this morning I would like you to turn to the Letter to the Ephesians.

This letter to the church at Ephesus is an amazing part of scripture. In it Paul really does grasp, at a high level, the very essence of what Jesus calls us to. Unfortunately Paul is not the clearest communicator. Sometimes when I read his writing my head hurts. Even the Apostle Peter found this so. So what we are going to do today is follow Paul’s high-level structure which essentially answers a series of logical questions.

But first up I want to talk about Jesus.

Firstly, because Paul does. Chapters one and two basically set out what God did and who Jesus is.

Secondly, because I am utterly convinced that the whole Bible is about Jesus. This means every time we open the Bible we want to be talking about Jesus or thinking about how it relates to Jesus. In fact everything we do and say should be pointing to Jesus.

And thirdly, when we don’t talk about Jesus I believe we get into all kinds of trouble theologically and practically.

So let’s talk about Jesus and what we believe according to the teaching of the Bible.

1. There is one God who made this earth and us.
2. He gave us this earth to steward and enjoy.
3. But we disobeyed God. We sinned.
4. The result of sin is separation from God and ultimately death.
5. So God, in His great compassion, came into human history as the person of Jesus.
6. Jesus was born of a virgin, which fulfilled prophecy .
7. He was fully man but at the same time He was fully God.
8. He lived a perfect life. He was without sin.
9. Jesus, being sinless, was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial requirements .
10. He was executed on a cross like a common criminal. Again this was in fulfilment of prophecy .
11. He died thereby:
i. paying the price for our sins
ii. reconciling us with God for all time
iii. and cleansing us from the stain of sin.
12. After 3 days He rose, proving He had conquered sin and death.
13. He appeared for 40 days to tons of people, in one case to over 500 at one time, and then ascended back to heaven.
14. He sent us the Holy Spirit, who makes us Christians, giving us hearts that love Jesus, minds that understand Jesus and wills that are obedient to Jesus. In short the Holy Spirit turns our lives upside-down.

If this is you… if you know this to be true… if Jesus has called you… if you know Jesus… then that is awesome… absolutely awesome! Over the next 3 hours (because it is a nice biblical number) we are going to talk about what next.

If you don’t know Jesus, then you need to.

I was looking back the other day and thought about the things what happened in my life just before I committed my life to Jesus. I think…

• If you have friends who are Christians… or
• If, for some strange reason, you find yourself seeking the truth… or
• If you realise that all the things that our modern culture says will give you satisfaction are a sham… or
• If you recognise that you have to be a complete wingnut to believe that nothing plus nobody made everything (popularly known as the theory of evolution)…

…then there is a distinct possibility that Jesus is calling out to you. Just from personal experience.

If this is your situation, then now is a good time to answer that call. Not a few weeks down the track. Not tomorrow. Now! The reality is that hell is not a nice place and you don’t want to be going there. Not when you are being given the opportunity to know Jesus.

So please… if you feel Jesus’ call on your life, respond!!! We are going to have communion during this service. During this time we remember what Jesus did for us… each one of us. We particularly focus on what he did by dying on the cross. And we thank and worship Him in response to that. This is a really good time to respond to His call.

So we know Jesus and the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our lives. This raises some big questions.

The first big question is:

Why am I still here?
I mean, why does God leave us here to be tempted by sin, to endure suffering, to get sick and to go through death? Why not take us to heaven the moment we call out to Him. Could it be some very funny joke that we don’t get?

Well… arh… no!

Jesus has a plan and a purpose for us and has called us into action. In Chapter 3 of Ephesians Paul waxes lyrically about our purpose. However I think the best, most succinct construct of why we remain here is actually found in the book of Luke 10:25-28.

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"
Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
The man answered, " `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.' "*
"Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"

Simple ha???

Love God. Love those around you.

Ok… So how do we love God? I mean isn’t He all-powerful… He doesn’t need anything from us, does He? How on earth are sinful people like us going to love God?

It mightn’t surprise you that I have been thinking a bit about the parent – child relationship recently. Funny that!

Anyway, I was thinking that a baby is completely dependent on you as a parent. For everything! They can’t really offer you anything. But when they smile at you – show affection – it is apparently something very cool. Well at least Nigel tells me so.

Likewise as the child gets older, I am told that when you teach them something – let’s say something manly like hammering a nail into a 4 by 2 with 3 blows or less – and they follow what you have shown them – this is very cool as well.

Parents – is this right????

Well this is analogist to our relationship with God. When we recognise our dependence on our Heavenly Father – when we respond to His gracious love – when He teaches us and we learn and follow his ways… we bring glory to Him. And He loves it.

And that is what Paul was getting at in Chapter 3 of Ephesians.

So what are these “ways” that God is trying to teach us? Well interestingly they all revolve around the other half of the great commandment. What Jesus wants us to learn is to love others.

Paul spends basically the rest of this letter to the Ephesians telling us some things to focus on. And there is a really consistent theme that comes out of this teaching.


• He says to live by the power given to us by the Holy Spirit. Rely on Him. The Holy Spirit will train us in taking the focus off ourselves and put it onto others.

• He talks about being unified. We do this by being humble and gentle with one another. Making allowances for other’s faults. Not exerting our own ‘rights’.

• He talks about using the gifts Jesus has given us to build up and serve the church. Not build up ourselves – rather build up the church.

• He talks about growing in maturity. This doesn’t mean age or bible knowledge as such. It means growing in our love for Jesus, our love for others and reducing the focus on ourselves.

• He talks about turning away from sin. Sometimes you hear this referred to as repenting of your sins. This is difficult. When you look at the sin Paul mentions they fall into two groups… one which is against others and one that is against God. Paul is straight up… he says “stop it”. This stuff is not from Jesus.

• He then talks about various relationships… husbands and wives… parents and kids… workers and bosses… and he gives us guidance on how to take the focus off ourselves and to put it onto others in these situations.

I guess the theme that leaps out to me is… we are all servants.


But we have a choice…

Are we a servant for Jesus to others?

Or are we a servant to sin… focusing on ourselves and not what God wants?

This is our challenge as we live life!


Being cool with the fact that we are servants is tough in this world. It is not particularly popular because the vast majority of the world expends a lot of energy denying the fact that one way or another… we all are servants. People who are quite happy being servants are put down… viewed as inferior… because of this. It is a real battle.

Paul gives us some final words of advice in this battle. He uses the analogy of armour.

He says we should know the truth and rely of God’s righteousness or justice. I cannot emphasise just how important this is.

We should be peaceful (not pacifists but more meaning content in our own place in life) because we already know the good news of Jesus. In essence, because we are assured about who has won the war and we know we’re on the winning team, we are freed to give up everything.

We have faith, salvation and the Bible as weapons and defensive gear. Our faith protects us from attacks from the devil. Our salvation helps to protect our mind when worldly knowledge attempts to pollute us. And the Bible is the message we bring to the table as we engage with the world.

So why are we still here on earth?

To love God and love others!

Why does God want us to love others?

Some of Jesus’ last words before He ascended to heaven provide an answer to this question. Luke 24:47-48

With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: `There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.' You are witnesses of all these things.

What Jesus was saying was that the absolute best way we can love others… be a servant to them… is to tell them about Him. Starting at home. Then our friends. Then our community. Then our nation. Then all the way to Siberia…

That was a shameless plug for anyone who is interested in coming to Siberia next year!!! Come have a chat.

Seriously though… are we comfortable with our family, our friends, our community, our nation, the world going to hell? For eternity? I hope not! We need to love them enough to tell them about Jesus. I mean, how on earth are they going to know about Jesus unless we tell them?!

It doesn’t matter how we tell them. E-mail. Blogs. Letters. Buying bibles. Supporting missionaries. Becoming a missionary. Running Christianity Explored courses. Being friends. Skywriting. Holding verses up at rugby games. Inviting them to church. Inviting them to dinner. Helping them when they are stuck or sick. Listening to them when they have no hope. Celebrating with them when beautiful things happen.

Maybe even asking the simple question… “do you know Jesus?” Whatever it takes! Just don’t let them slide into hell through ignorance.

Jesus has called us to be His hands and His feet in sharing the amazingly good news that there is forgiveness of sin for all who repent and turn to Him. And He has called us to share this good news in action and in words. This is an amazing privilege and responsibility to serve others in this way. It is life changing, death-conquering love we have to share.

So… my final question…

How are you doing?