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When Jesus was baptized by John, it was a declaration-an affirmation-of his identity. In that event, God the Father himself announced, "You and my Son, my beloved; with you I am well-pleased."
Biblically, identity is all wrapped up with calling. One is not really separable from the other. Abram was renamed Abraham because he was called to the father of many nations. Jacob was renamed Israel because he struggled with God; and from that struggle he took away a limp and a calling to be the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. Samuel was named Samuel because God heard the plea of his mother and because he, in turn, would be one to hear God for the people of Israel. Jesus was named Jesus because he came to save his people.
Biblically, even when one's given name does not signify one's calling, still identity is all wrapped up with calling. Who God declares you to be cannot be separated from who God calls you to be.
For those of us who bear the name Christian, identity and calling are all wrapped up in baptism.
When Jesus rose up out of the waters of the Jordan, his identity was declared and affirmed, and his ministry was initiated. At his baptism, Jesus received an invitation to live into and out of his identity as the beloved Son of the Father.
Let me rephrase that. "Invitation" isn't a strong enough word. "Invitation" makes it sound like a gentle suggestion. "Invitation" makes it sound optional.
Try the word "calling." At his baptism, when his identity was declared and affirmed, Jesus received his calling to live into and out of his identity as the beloved Son of the Father. That's better.
Let me try another phrase. At his baptism, when his identity was declared and affirmed, Jesus received his marching orders to live into and out of his identity as the beloved Son of the Father. There wasn't anything optional about it. To be the beloved Son of the Father was to enter into the ministry of the beloved Son of the Father.
For Jesus, the call to ministry that came with his baptism was perhaps even more critical than the declaration of his identity. After all, there was nothing new about his identity. He had been the beloved Son of the Father since before creation was spoken into existence. On the other hand, his baptism did mark the beginning of his earthly ministry as the incarnate Son of God, fully human and fully divine, sent to be Emmanuel-God with us-and sent to save his people.
When the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to fast and to be tempted, Satan directed his attacks precisely at this God-declared identity and God-given calling.
"If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." Turn your focus from God's purpose for you to your own survival need. Turn your energies from entering into God's purpose for you to meeting your own survival need.
"If you worship me, I will give you all the authority and splendor of all the kingdoms of this world." Turn your focus from God's purpose for you for the sake of others to your own glorification. Turn your energies from entering into God's purpose for you for the sake of others to achieving your own glorification.
"If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from this high place so that God will intervene and lift you up." Turn your focus from serving the God who called you by name according to his purpose and plan. Turn your energies to demanding that God serve you according to your purpose and plan.
Jesus knew who he was, and he did not waver. He knew his God-given purpose, and he did not turn. Luke writes that the devil left him until an opportune time.
Then Luke writes that Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside as he entered into his ministry.
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
That day, in his hometown synagogue, Jesus declared the meaning of his identity and the purpose of his ministry.
There are a few things I want you to notice today, in particular, about this mission statement.
1) It's God-given and scriptural. Jesus-the Son of God, the incarnate second person of the Trinity, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, the one for whom and through whom all creation was made-is not free to make up his own mission statement. He is not working freelance. His marching orders come from the Father, in accordance with the Father's plan and purpose from the beginning. He is not free to determine his mission based on his own interests, or his own goals, or his own idea of what he would like to do. His marching orders were written down in Scripture before he, as a little human boy, had opportunity to learn to read them. Jesus' mission statement is God-given and scriptural.
2) Jesus is equipped for this mission statement through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's stated in the mission statement itself: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me…" And Luke emphasizes the point in his own narrative at the beginning of this passage: "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit…" Jesus-the Son of God, the incarnate second person of the Trinity, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, the one for whom and through whom all creation was made-was not sufficient in and of himself to enter into this mission. Having set aside divine glory to enter creation as one of us, Jesus was dependent on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for his ministry. This mission statement is not about Jesus' own abilities, but about the ability of God to work through him through the power of the Holy Spirit.
3) This mission statement is all about making a difference in the lives of others for the glory of God. Jesus-the Son of God, the incarnate second person of the Trinity, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, the one for whom and through whom all creation was made-came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many. He emptied himself, humbled himself, and became obedient, even to the point of death on a cross. It is part of God's overall purpose and plan that Jesus be glorified and raised up as King of kings and Lord of lords. Even so, when it came to his own ministry on earth, Jesus' mission was about giving himself away so that others could receive good news…giving himself away so that those in bondage could receive freedom…giving himself away so that those blinded by the darkness of this world could receive sight in the light of his truth…giving himself away so that the goodness and mercy of God the Father would be made manifest.
Have you been baptized? That baptism is a visible sign of the invisible wonders of God's grace acting upon you. When you are bonded to Christ, you are given a new identity. You were born as one created in the image of God. But when you are bonded to Christ, the Father himself adopts you as one of his own and declares you to be his beloved son or daughter, and marks you with the seal of his promised Holy Spirit. With that new identity you are given a calling. When God declares you to be his beloved child, he gives you marching orders to live into and out of that identity.
For a Christian, identity and calling are not separable. To be a beloved child of Father is to enter into the ministry of a beloved child of Father.
For Jesus, the initiation of his ministry came out of a declaration of his eternal identity.
For us, the initiation of our ministry comes out of a declaration of our new identity. We are not who we were before. We are new.
Paul puts it this way: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come."
Peter puts it another way: "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Of all the various and tricky ways that the devil comes after us, it usually comes down to an attempt to make us doubt our God-given identity as a beloved child of God or an attempt to make us distort our calling from God's purposes to our own purposes.
Of all the tips and strategies for avoiding the devil's snare, let me just encourage you to remember who God declared you to be and remember who God calls you to be.
Don't ever believe that you don't have a calling from God. If you are bonded to Christ, than you do have a calling.
Calling is not just for pastors, and preaching is not the only calling. Calling isn't primarily about your job. Calling is about entering into the ministry of Jesus Christ where ever you are, at work or at home or at play.
If you are a parent or a teacher or a businessman or a pilot or a clerk or a homemaker or whatever vocation you have, you are called to enter into the ministry of Jesus Christ. In the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, you are called to do your part to share the love and mercy of God. In the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, you are called to shine just a little bit of the light of the Kingdom of God into the darkness of this world. In the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, you are called to be a little Christ in whatever situation you find yourself.
Calling isn't just for individuals either. Calling is for churches.
Calvary is a local expression of the body of Christ. We are the people of God in this place.
Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God. Once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
God has declared us to be (one part of) the body of Christ. God has called us to live into and out of that identity, to continue the incarnate ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord in this place.
There are lots of ways to spell that out.
In the Great Commission, Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded us.
The Great Commandments call us to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Paul exhorted us to shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the words of life.
Jesus proclaimed that we were salt and light.
Samples from other churches:
- To glorify God by making disciples and meeting human needs.
- To know Christ and make Christ known.
- In love and obedience to God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, our mission is to reach past ourselves to those whom God has placed around us. Draw them into the adventure of the Christian faith. Learn together to follow Jesus with joyful devotion. And go out as changed people changing our world for Him!
- To grow in our commitment to the Triune God. To grow in our commitment to the Body of Christ. To grow in our commitment to the work of Christ in the world.
- Sharing Jesus Christ with others and growing as his disciples.
- Called together by God to make disciples and release them for service in our broken world.
The exact wording is perhaps not all that critical.
What is critical is that Calvary's mission is God-given and scriptural. We are not free to make up our own mission statement without constraint. We are not working freelance. Our marching orders come from the Father, in accordance with the Father's plan and purpose from the beginning. We are not free to determine our mission based on our own interests, or our own goals, or our own idea of what we would like to do. Our mission statement, however we choose to write it down, must be God-given and scriptural.
What is critical is that we recognize that we are equipped for this mission through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are not sufficient in and of ourselves to enter into this mission. We are dependent on the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for our ministry. Our mission statement, however we choose to write it down, is not about our own abilities, but about the ability of God to work through us through the power of the Holy Spirit.
What is critical is that we understand that our mission is all about making a difference in the lives of others for the glory of God. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. So must it be with us. Our mission is about giving ourselves away so that others can receive good news…giving ourselves away so that those in bondage can receive freedom…giving ourselves away so that those blinded by the darkness of this world can receive sight in the light of Christ's truth…giving ourselves away so that the goodness and mercy of God the Father are made manifest.
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