Sermon on Philippians 1:12–26: Living for Christ and the call to embrace suffering
A sermon from Latimer Church on Paul's letter to the Philippians, exploring what it means to live with Christ as your singular purpose.
Summary
This is a solo sermon delivered at Latimer Church, most likely by James de Costobadie (Costa), Senior Pastor. Drawing on Philippians 1:12–26, the sermon centres on Paul's declaration "to live is Christ and to die is gain" as the defining pattern every follower of Jesus must imitate. The preacher opens with the story of Haik Hovsepian, an Iranian church leader who was murdered for his advocacy of persecuted Christians, and uses this to challenge Western Christians' deep attachment to comfort and personal advancement. A central and provocative argument is that suffering is not merely something to be endured but is itself a gift from God — because the loss of earthly things drives believers to treasure Christ more deeply. The sermon closes with contemporary examples of persecution, including the ongoing captivity of Leah Sharibu, and issues a direct challenge to the congregation to consider what it would mean, practically, to give their lives to proclaiming Jesus.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
The story of Haik Hovsepian and the cost of following Christ
Haik Hovsepian planted a church in Iran in 1964, in the middle of a Muslim country. In 1982, he was appointed and became the leader of a large network of churches in Iran. He persevered in Iran for many years and through many difficult times, including the tragic death of his firstborn son. He became well known in the region as a man who boldly preached the message of Jesus in the face of persecution, and he advocated strongly for people who had converted from a Muslim faith to a Christian faith and were persecuted for it — for those in prison. He was a voice for them.
In 1993, he heard of a person who had converted from a Muslim faith to a Christian faith and had been in prison for ten years, and at the end of that ten-year sentence was then sentenced to death. And so Haik Hovsepian got to work and he worked tirelessly to raise international awareness so that this Iranian pastor might be released — and he was successful. But then three days later, Haik Hovsepian disappeared. Two weeks later they found his body with 26 stab wounds in the chest. And in the days and weeks that followed, many of the pastors and Christians that Haik Hovsepian had advocated for also disappeared. They were locked away in prison or turned up dead, including the pastor who had spent ten years in prison and then been released.
The comfort-seeking culture and its influence on the Western Church
When I hear stories like that and then think about our world and our culture, I can't help but think that we live in a culture that is deeply, deeply committed to comfort. And I don't think that's surprising, because we live in a culture that has rejected God. Fifty-six percent of Kiwis on the census form say they have no religion. They don't believe that there is any God, that there's nothing outside of this world. This life is it — there's nothing else. And if that is true, then it makes sense, doesn't it, that if this world is all there is, you may as well live to make life as comfortable as possible. You may as well try to have your best life now, because then it's gone and it's over. So why not chase after pleasures and fun and make life happy for yourself? Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. It makes sense.
So it is not that surprising that as we live in a world that has denied God, a culture that has denied God, we live in a culture that is deeply committed to personal comfort. But I think what is surprising — and what is more concerning for us — is the way that culture has influenced me and you. The way that our comfort-seeking culture has influenced the Western Church. So that we want all of the things the world wants. Material things. We want the nicest house we can get. We want our kids to go to the best schools possible. We want high-paying jobs and we want opportunities to move up the corporate ladder. We want to go on the best holidays and we want to travel the world and we want to chase pleasure and experiences and we want to enjoy all that this world has to offer, as though this world is all there is. And many Christians in Western churches have bought into this comfort-seeking culture.
And yet when we buy into that — as so many of us do, myself included — when we live for those things, although we may call ourselves Christians, we are not following the example of Jesus. Jesus, the King who was beaten, mocked and murdered for us. Jesus, who gave up the comforts of heaven in order to endure the suffering of the cross. To follow Jesus and his example is to be willing to suffer, just as he suffered for us.
Paul's imprisonment and his one passion: Christ
Since the day of Jesus' death and resurrection, two thousand years ago, those who followed Jesus are those who are persecuted and hated by the world. That includes people like Haik Hovsepian, and it included the great Apostle Paul, who writes this letter to the church in Philippi in the first century. Paul was a man who suffered greatly for the cause of Christ. When Paul met the risen Jesus, it transformed his life, and he gave his life to preaching the message of Jesus — his death and his resurrection. He founded this church in Philippi in 50 AD, and he loves this church. It's obvious when you read through the letter how much Paul loves this church that he planted. And now he writes this letter twelve years later, in AD 62, and he is writing from prison. He's under house arrest in Rome, awaiting trial. And he writes this letter to the Philippian church to encourage them to keep living for Jesus.
The man Paul had one passion in life, one thing he lived for. It's summarised for us in verse 21, which is a well-known verse:
"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Paul's one passion in life is not a thing — it's a person. Paul's one passion is Christ Jesus. He wants to make much of Jesus. That's what his life is all about. He wants Jesus to be magnified, Jesus to be praised, Jesus to be made known. He wants to know Jesus more himself, and he wants more and more people to know Jesus more and more. He wants Jesus to be the centre of everything. If he lives, he lives for Jesus. If he dies, he dies for Jesus.
What are you living for?
Now I want you to think for a moment about your life right now, and just be honest — you don't have to answer out loud. But just think for a moment, and if you're honest with yourself, and you had to finish the sentence, "to live is..." — what would you say? What is it you're currently living for? To live is work. To live is relationships. To live is family. To live is money. To live is fishing — season starts in a week. To live is sport. For Paul it's an obvious answer, isn't it: to live is Christ.
And the challenge for us tonight is that Paul's pattern here is one that every follower of Jesus must imitate. Not should imitate, but must imitate. If we are followers of Jesus, then we must be able to say with Paul, "to live is Christ and to die is gain." We must be able to say that.
Why? Well, because think about what we believe about Jesus. We believe that Jesus is Lord of all creation. We believe that it is by Jesus and by the words of Jesus that this whole world was brought into existence. We believe that the man Jesus is the very Son of God, and that he was crucified for our sin, was raised to life, and is right now seated at God's right hand, and that God has given Jesus the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is what we believe. We believe that all of creation was made by Jesus and for Jesus — that's Colossians chapter 1. We believe that God's plan for our world is for Jesus to rule over it. We believe that Jesus is the very meaning of life, that every person who has ever and will ever live was created by God in order to serve Jesus. And therefore, serving Jesus is where real joy, real success, real health, real happiness, real comfort is found.
And so if you or anyone else finds this life boring, a bit empty, a bit unsatisfying, a bit frustrating — that is because we're not made to serve this life. We're made to serve Jesus. And so because of what we believe about Jesus, we must be able to say with Paul, "to live is Christ and to die is gain," because Christ is everything.
The urgency of proclaiming Jesus
And when Christ is our life, when he becomes everything, our priority in life becomes proclaiming Jesus. Because we recognise that Jesus is our world's greatest need. There is not a person in our world who does not need Jesus. Because without Jesus, the Bible warns us, people will die in sin. Without Jesus, there is no hope in the face of death. Without Jesus, we are dead in our sin and we are enemies of God. And without Jesus, the eternal destiny of every person in our world is eternal destruction. And yet Jesus came and died in order to set us free from all of that. Jesus came and faced the fires of hell so that we might enjoy the pleasures of heaven. The only hope for humanity is Jesus.
Do you believe that? Many of you do. And yet, despite the fact that we believe it, I think it's really hard for us to keep that in our minds, isn't it? Because we live in a world which is full of pleasure and comfort. And so as you look around at Kiwis — the people we live and work and play amongst — people don't seem to be in any real danger. They're happy. They're not crying out for help.
In 2004, a man named John Croston, who was a scientist from Scotland, took his family on holiday to Thailand. He was on the beach with his family when the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004. And being a scientist, he watched as the water drew back and receded. And immediately, John Croston recognised that it was the sign of a tsunami. He knew everyone on that beach was in grave danger, and so he started yelling, "Get off the beach! Get out! There's a tsunami coming!" But nobody knew who this guy was, and so nobody listened to him. He saved himself and his family and a few other people, but in that tsunami five thousand people died.
Friends, make no mistake — that is what life is like for people all around us, all over New Zealand and all over the world. They are in great danger. Hell awaits humanity. It may not look like it. We might think we're safe. But the Bible tells us that one day the resurrected Jesus will return and he will judge the living and the dead. And the only reason Jesus has not already returned in judgement on a world which laughs at him and mocks him is because he is giving people time to turn to him. He's giving people time to receive forgiveness and life in him.
God is in the business of saving people — saving people from hell for heaven. And that is what is on offer in the message of Jesus. It is an offer to every person in the room today and is on offer to every person in the world. Because anyone who puts their trust in Jesus and follows him receives salvation. So if you're here tonight and you're not sure what you make of Jesus, that is the decision before you. What you decide to believe about Jesus will change your eternity. If you reject him, you will stand before him as judge on your own. But if you trust him, believe him, follow him, you will receive forgiveness and eternal life. That's the decision in front of you.
And for those of us who have already made that decision and have trusted in Jesus and received salvation ourselves, then making sure that other people — and as many people as possible — hear this offer of salvation will become the thing we live for. Nothing in the world will be more important to us than Jesus and people hearing about him so that they might be saved. That is what Paul lived for. To live is Christ.
Paul's response to imprisonment: rejoicing in gospel advance
He's in chains because of preaching Christ. He's under house arrest in Rome, but he doesn't write this letter to the church in order to grumble and complain — "It's so cold. This is so unfair. I don't deserve to be here. I'm a little bit lonely. Please write me a letter. I need someone to talk to. Poor me." He doesn't do that at all.
What does he say? Have a look down at chapter 1, verse 12. Here's what he writes:
"I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ."
He writes from prison to tell them that as a result of him being in prison, the whole palace guard have heard about Jesus — and so he rejoices. If he hadn't gone to prison, maybe the soldiers guarding him — this group of Praetorian soldiers, imperial troops that guarded prisoners awaiting trial — they may never have heard of Jesus. But because he's there, they know he's there for Jesus. So praise God. He's glad to be in chains because it gave him another opportunity to speak of Jesus.
And not only that, but in verse 14, he says that because he's in prison, other Christians have been encouraged to preach Christ even more courageously and fearlessly. Now, I think that's a little bit unusual, isn't it? Because you might think that when other Christians hear that Paul's in jail for preaching Jesus, they would say, "Well, I'm not preaching Jesus then. Look where it got Paul. I'm not doing that. He's in jail. I'm going to keep my mouth shut or I'll be in jail with him." That's how you might think they'd respond. And yet he says it's the exact opposite. They see Paul in prison for Jesus and they say, "I'm encouraged by that. I'm emboldened by that."
You know that famous movie — Braveheart? William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, and that famous scene where he's leading the Scottish army in battle against the English, and they're all a little bit scared because there's a mighty army coming, and he's got the blue face paint on, and then he yells, "Freedom!" And then everyone charges with him. The thing that emboldens this army is Mel Gibson riding out in front. They see William Wallace leading the charge. And that's a little bit like what is going on here. Paul is leading the charge. He's willing to go to prison for Jesus. And he's not yelling "freedom" — he's yelling "Jesus" everywhere he goes. And people see him and they're inspired by it. They're emboldened by it.
And I wish we'd be encouraged like this, church. As we hear of our brothers and sisters who have given their lives for the gospel — history is full of their stories — I wish that we would follow their example and proclaim Christ with everything we have.
Paul's indifference to his own comfort and circumstances
Paul just doesn't care about the circumstances of his life or his own comfort. He is concerned about Christ being preached. That is his priority. We see it in two other places in the text.
In the next section, in verses 15 to 17, we read of some people who preach Jesus out of rivalry and envy. We're not told exactly how they do it. Perhaps they think that because Paul's now in prison and not around, they can build churches themselves that are better than Paul's. So they start preaching about Jesus, but their motives are wrong. They're trying to cause trouble for Paul. Now, if I'm Paul, I'm in prison, and these Christian leaders — they should be caring for me, praying for me. But instead they're out causing trouble. I reckon I would call them out for it. I'd rebuke them. But Paul doesn't. He says, "I know their motives are wrong, but..." — look at what he says in verse 18 — "but what does it matter? Whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice."
We see it in one more place. Look down at verse 22. Paul says, "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me." So he says, if he's going to keep living, it's going to be fruitful labour. What is this fruitful labour? Verse 24: "It is more necessary for you that I remain in the body" — that is, that he remain alive. "Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith."
You see what he's saying? To live is Christ. If I live, I live for Jesus. And that means fruitful work, fruitful labour. And it is the fruitful labour of helping other Christians make progress in their faith and rejoice in Jesus.
For Paul, his priority in life is proclaiming Jesus. That's what he lives for. He lives to see people know Jesus and to see people rejoice in Jesus. And in Paul's mind, there is no other reason to live in this world — not just to kind of get swept up to heaven right now — but to remain here in order to proclaim Jesus so that people would be saved and Jesus would be praised. And Paul is willing to suffer for it.
Suffering as a gift
One of the things that stands out as you read these verses is Paul's lack of concern for his own suffering. It just stands out. There's no self-pity or complaint. He knows he could receive a death penalty. But instead he's rejoicing. Verse 18: "Yes, and I will continue to rejoice." He rejoices because he knows it will turn out for his salvation, his deliverance. Paul knows that in the end he will be safe with Jesus, whether in life or in death, and therefore he rejoices even in the face of suffering. He knows that suffering in this life is temporary, and in the light of eternity, it is therefore somewhat insignificant.
But he actually goes even further in his view of suffering in the way that he speaks to the Philippians in verse 29. Paul says, "It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him." It has been granted to you — given to you — to believe in Jesus. Now I get that, right? Because believing in Jesus is a gift. If you believe in Jesus, God has given you the gift of faith. He's given you the gift to believe, and by believing in Jesus, you have the forgiveness of sins. You have a hope everlasting. You've got salvation. Believing in Jesus is a great gift. And Paul says God has given you the gift of belief.
But there's another gift that God has given you as well. Did you notice that? It is the gift of suffering.
Now imagine I finish tonight's sermon with an altar call. I call people to the front and I say something like, "Friends, I want to invite you up the front tonight because I believe that God has a great gift to give you. It is a free gift, and I want you to come tonight and receive it. You want a free gift from God? Come forward this evening." And then you come forward, and the gift is — you're going to suffer. Who's coming forward now? You just kind of think, what are you going on about, Paul? How on earth is suffering a gift?
Well, let's think about that for a moment. Suffering, simplified, is this reality: when we lose something precious to us, things that are dear to us, we suffer. That's a simple view of suffering — it's the loss of something we treasure. We lose someone we love, we suffer. We lose our health and receive a terrible diagnosis, we suffer. We lose our money, our homes, our jobs, we suffer. We lose friends, we suffer. When we lose our comfort and our security, we suffer. Our suffering is caused by the loss of something we love.
But, friends, when Christ is your life, suffering becomes a gift — because the taking away of the things that we love drives us closer to Christ. We lose the things we love and it hurts. Of course it hurts. It's suffering. But it's a gift because it drives us to love Jesus more, whom we will never lose. And so the loss of things we love drives us to a deeper love for Christ. When Christ is our greatest treasure, suffering becomes a gift because it drives us to the one we love.
Now, if you give your life to proclaiming Jesus and you join God on his mission, it will always bring suffering. I don't know what kind of suffering, but it will always bring suffering. Perhaps it'll be the suffering of having less money because you give up some hours at work in order to serve the work of the gospel. Or perhaps you'll have less money because you give generously to support other people who proclaim Jesus. Perhaps it'll be the suffering of losing friends or family because they can't understand why you make certain decisions in life and they just think you're nuts — a bit of a religious freak. Perhaps it'll be the suffering of less leisure time because you work hard to serve God's people. Perhaps it'll be the suffering of moving away from home and comfort because you go to a new place in order to help start a church or to proclaim Jesus. Perhaps it'll be the suffering of being hated by the world and mocked by those around you. But giving your life to proclaiming Jesus will always bring suffering.
But remember — it is a gift. Suffering for Jesus will never steal your joy from you. Quite the opposite. Suffering for Jesus will give you more and more joy because it will drive you and teach you to treasure Jesus more and more, and Jesus is our greatest joy.
The danger of comfort — and the witness of the persecuted church
Now when we understand this — that suffering is a gift — we begin to understand that the most dangerous place to be is not in prison like Paul. The most dangerous place to be is actually in comfort, like most of us. In prison, we are more likely to cling to Christ because he's all we've got. But in comfort, we are more likely to cling to the things of the world. And the things of the world don't last. But the things of Christ do. Our greatest danger, friends, is that we treasure the wrong things and we miss out on the joy of knowing Jesus and his salvation.
I remember a story that a pastor from the UK, Vaughan Roberts, told at our Equip conference many years ago. He was our speaker and he told a story of a moment in his ministry where he gathered with Christian leaders from around the world at a conference. They spent some time sharing what ministry was like in different parts of the world and praying for each other. And he was in a room with a number of Nigerian pastors. Our Christian brothers and sisters in Nigeria are being persecuted radically for their faith in Jesus. And this Nigerian pastor spoke of the awful things that he'd seen and that people in his church had faced because of persecution. And so Vaughan prayed for them. And it was something like, "Father in heaven, please bring an end to the persecution that our Nigerian brothers and sisters are facing." And as he was in the middle of the prayer, this Nigerian pastor stood up and said, "No, Lord, stop! Don't answer that prayer. Pray for our Western Christian brothers and sisters, that you would wake them up from their complacency."
Isn't that amazing? To the persecuted church, their prayer is that us — this group, our sleepy, Western, comfort-seeking culture — that we Christians will be snapped out of it. That's what they're praying for us. We have a lot to learn from the persecuted church.
The greatest danger is comfort and complacency. Now, as Christians, it doesn't mean that we should therefore go and chase suffering or try to find a bit of persecution — that would just be dumb. But nor do we shy away from it. The more suffering takes things away from our lives, the more we will be drawn to Jesus. And friends, Jesus is the only treasure in your life that can never be taken away. No cancer, no imprisonment, no poverty, no ridicule, not even death can rob our joy of Christ. And that's why Paul speaks about his imprisonment in the way he does. It's not easy — he never says it's easy — but he does say it's good. It's good because it draws people to Jesus.
If there are things that we are not willing to let go for Jesus — if there is some suffering or some hardship that we're not willing to embrace for the sake of Jesus — what does that say about how much we treasure Jesus? That he's not worth suffering for? That he's not worth giving your money to? That he's not worth more than your career? That he's not worth sacrificing your popularity or your comfort or your dreams for?
But if we embrace sacrifice and we willingly suffer for the sake of Jesus, we become living testimonies to the suffering of Christ. People see us suffering, they see the sacrifices we make, and they see us rejoicing — glad about it, happy about it. And so they're drawn to Jesus because they see that Jesus is our life. And they think, "Wow, Jesus must be precious to you. You must really love Jesus, that you'd be willing to sacrifice those things for him, even to the point of death."
To die is gain
Paul's words in verse 21 are incredible, aren't they? "To live is Christ." And to die? He says, "To die is gain." He says it even more strongly in verse 23: "It is better by far to die." That's an outrageous thing to say, isn't it? Since when is death better than life? Well, when you are in Jesus, that's when. Because when you are in Jesus, we depart this world only to be with Jesus. Death to Paul is gain, because then he will be with his Saviour.
I've been away this week — I've been at a conference up in the North Island. I never enjoy being away from home. I'm a softie. I miss my family, I miss my wife, I miss my kids. And so I text them during the week — "Miss you, can't wait to get home." I just long to be away from wherever I am and back home. I long to be away from Auckland — who doesn't — and to be back in Christchurch, home with my family. And that's a sense — although much more seriously and much more strongly — of what Paul is saying about how he feels about Jesus. He's away from him in this world. He doesn't belong in this world. But he can't wait to see Jesus. To die will be so much better. He'd be with his Saviour. He'll see the one who laid down his life and died for him, face to face. He'll be completely happy when he sees him. And he can't wait. Death is much better.
And so here's the question we need to ask ourselves. Do you love Jesus that much? So that if you lose everything — even in death — in order to be with him, you'd be happy? You'd view it as gain?
Knowing Jesus is better than anything else. It's better than falling in love. It's better than getting married and having children. It's better than a successful career, making a name for yourself. Knowing Jesus is better than finishing your career with a dream home and a dream retirement. Knowing Jesus is better than travelling the world and enjoying dream holidays. Knowing Jesus is better than life itself. That's a pretty radical thing to believe, isn't it? It's pretty counter-cultural. Jesus is worth dying for. To leave this world and be with Jesus is gain, because Jesus has more to offer than anything in this world.
And if that is true for you and me — which it is — it is also true for every other man, woman and child around us. When we give people Jesus and offer them Jesus, we are giving them the greatest gift we can give them. If we love people, there will be nothing more we want for them than that they come to know Jesus as we have done.
The only reason to remain
When Christ is your life, to die is gain. You long to depart, you long to be with him. But God says there's one reason to remain. And the only reason for Paul is to remain in order to proclaim Jesus.
There are billions of people in our world engrossed in the worship of false gods, and the Bible says that their end is destruction. There are hundreds of thousands of people like that in our city and millions of people like that in our country. There are approximately two billion people in our world in places considered unreached with the gospel, meaning that they have very little chance of ever hearing about Jesus. Most of them live in really hard-to-reach places in the world where our brothers and sisters are being persecuted, imprisoned and killed as they seek to proclaim the name of Jesus.
And friends, the job of taking the message of Jesus to the world is given to us — to believers. There's no cavalry coming. We are God's plan to proclaim Jesus to the nations. Renee reminded us of Matthew chapter 28, where Jesus, before he ascends to heaven, says to his disciples, "Go and make disciples of all nations." And friends, that means we cannot afford to let our lives be consumed with comfort and pleasure when the world is dying separated from Christ. It's all hands on deck. We must spend our lives spreading the gospel of Jesus.
The reality and cost of living for Christ
And I want to remind you as I finish that it is not just theory — it is reality, and it is costly. Because it is one thing to preach about, it is one thing to talk about, it is another thing to live like it.
A then fourteen-year-old girl, Leah Sharibu, was abducted by the Islamic group Boko Haram, along with a hundred of her classmates. Leah was the only Christian to be abducted, and she is the only girl to still remain in captivity — now at the age of twenty-three. The others were released, but Leah is still held captive because she refuses to renounce her faith in Jesus.
When Leah realised that she would not be freed with her friends, she quickly scribbled a message to her mother and sent it home with a classmate. And this is what it said:
"My mother, you should not be disturbed. I know it is not easy missing me, but I want to assure you that I am fine where I am. I am confident that one day I shall see your face again — if not here, then there, at the bosom of the Lord Jesus Christ."
Her mother, in an interview with the Open Doors Organisation, having received the letter, then said:
"I am so proud of my Leah, because she did not denounce Christ. And because of that, I know God will never forsake her."
In the last two thousand years since Jesus' resurrection, an estimated seventy million Christians have been killed for their faith. More Christians were martyred in the twentieth century than in all previous centuries combined. Right now, two hundred million Christians in over fifty countries are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus. More men and women are being persecuted for following Jesus today than at any other time in human history.
But friends, when Christ is your life, you will give yourself to proclaiming the gospel. And if it means suffering, you'll be glad. And if it means death, you'll see it as gain.
The harder calling: living for Christ
Now I know that perhaps this talk of dying for Jesus seems so far removed from comfortable little New Zealand. I don't know if you ever did this as a kid — maybe you still do, and that's okay — but I used to imagine: if someone kidnapped me and held a gun to my head, would I deny Christ? You ever done that? You ever had that question? I know some of you have. And I've often thought that in that moment, I reckon I'd take a bullet. I don't think I'd deny Jesus. Because it's a moment to kind of be a hero.
Do you know what I think is much harder? Not dying for Christ, but actually living for Christ. What's much harder is actually giving up my life for myself and living for Jesus. Because that just keeps going, doesn't it? Death is an incident and then I'm with Jesus. But living for Jesus — that's ongoing. And so for most of us, I imagine the question we need to ask is not "Will I die for Jesus?" but rather "Will I live for him?" Will I give my life, my money, my energy, my gifts, my time to proclaiming and serving Jesus? Will I deny myself comforts and pleasures and riches because I treasure Jesus? And will I be able to say with Paul, "To live is Christ and to die is gain"?
What would it mean for you to live like that?
A practical call to action
Let me give you some examples of what it might mean. For some of you it might mean leaving your jobs, stepping out of your career, and being trained to teach the Bible and giving yourself to full-time gospel work. One of the greatest needs in the Church of New Zealand is men to lead the church — men who will be willing to step away from high-paying, influential, comfortable jobs and instead use their gifts to proclaim Jesus, and who will be willing to embrace sacrifice for the sake of doing it. Not just young men, but older men as well. All you need to be able to do the job, or at least get started in the job, is to love Jesus deeply and to be willing to do it. And there may be some men and women in the room today for whom that is exactly what you need to do — give up your jobs and be trained for gospel work.
For many others, it may mean that you keep working but you reduce your hours at work so that you can invest your time in serving God's people. For some of you it may mean leaving the place you are in currently to help plant a new church somewhere else. For some of you it may mean leaving New Zealand and going to another part of the globe to proclaim Jesus there. For some of you it may mean giving time to be trained so that you can teach the Bible and proclaim Jesus. For some of you it may mean being more bold in your evangelism. For some of you it may mean that you start reading the Bible one-to-one with another Christian so that you can help them grow and rejoice in Jesus. For some of you it may mean being more generous with your money in order to support apprentices or other gospel work. For some of you it may mean stepping up and serving the church family in some way. For others, it may mean giving more time to pray for gospel work.
But friends, whatever it means for you, please do not hear this word tonight and be unchanged by it.
The challenge: sugar water or changing the world?
In the 1980s, Steve Jobs — the founder of Apple — wanted to recruit the CEO of Pepsi to come and be the CEO of Apple. A man named John Sculley. A number of people tried to persuade John Sculley to jump ship and leave Pepsi and come and work for Apple, and they couldn't convince him. Steve Jobs met with him and really convinced John Sculley with one line. Do you know what it was? He said, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water? Or do you want the opportunity to change the world?" And that was it. And John Sculley was like, "Yeah, well, Pepsi's not going to make much difference, but Apple might."
Now, Apple hasn't really changed the world — not that much. But friends, Jesus has. And Jesus always will. Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water? Or do you want to change the world and give your life to proclaiming Jesus? There is nothing more important than him. To live is Christ and to die is gain. Do you believe that?