“Why We’re Here” | 12/27/2020
12/27/20 | Will DuVal
I want to begin this morning by asking you a question: “Why are you here?”
I have to be careful with my TONE… HOW I ask it, because I don’t want to send the impression that we don’t WANT you at West Hills. “Why are YOU here!?” That’s NOT what I’m asking…
But there could be any NUMBER of motivations for you being here:
-Maybe you grew up in church; it’s just what you’ve always done.
-Maybe you’re still in town from Christmas with family, and they drug you along.
-Perhaps it’s a chance to see your friends, especially with all the isolation due to COVID; church is your SOCIAL outlet.
-Or corporate worship lifts your spirits, joining in praise with fellow saints.
-You just feel better when you attend church; it encourages you, it re-centers you for the week.
-Maybe you feel better about yourself, like a better person, for being here.
-Or the email this past week from the elders encouraging you to be here motivated you.
-If you are a hyper-Calvinist, you might believe that none of us had any CHOICE but to be here this morning; that before the beginning of time, God Sovereignly set in motion a chain of events, a plan, that predetermined that on this very day, at this very time, this very group of people would be in this very place.
Whatever your reason, we’re truly glad you’re here. But let’s forget about CHURCH for a minute; why are you even on this EARTH to begin with?! And why are WE here, collectively, as a church; why does West Hills Church exist? Businesses exist to make money, schools to teach, governments to govern: what is the CHURCH for?
Well, AS a church, our answer to that question is actually very straightforward: “We are a Gospel-centered church who glorify God by living in authentic Christian community with one another, growing in spiritual maturity as disciples of Jesus, and serving the world missionally with the love of Christ.” That’s it. That’s why we’re here. But as we’ll see these next two weeks, that seemingly simple statement is LOADED with meaning. So as we head into the new year, I want to pick that mission statement apart with you in order to remind us why we’re here. And as I said, I realized as I began working on this one, that there’s just too much of importance here, so this will be a 2-parter; we’ll only hit half of your bulletin today.
We typically begin each sermon by standing and reading together our biblical text for the morning. But today, while we will be referencing no shortage of Scripture, the specific TEXT that we’re going exegete - analyze and apply together - is actually our church’s MISSION statement. So I AM going to invite you to stand with me, but to the extent that you’re comfortable doing so - I’d love for us to collectively RECITE our mission statement together. If you’re new and not quite ready to make your public declaration; that’s totally fine. I think what you WILL notice, however, if you’re a CHRISTIAN, is that there’s really nothing unique to West Hills here. Churches may use different wording, but if it’s truly a biblical church, then we’re ALL essentially pursuing the same calling. And here it is...Would you say it with me:
We are a Gospel-centered church who glorify God by living in authentic Christian community with one another, growing in spiritual maturity as disciples of Jesus, and serving the world missionally with the love of Christ.
Let’s pray…
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So, why ARE we here? Very simply, we are here to GLORIFY GOD. We exist - as a church, as believers, as human beings, as creatures - EVERYTHING that was created, ALL of Creation, was made by God, for HIS glory.
Romans 11:36 “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
Have you ever wondered why God bothered to create parts of outer space that we can’t even SEE? We can’t even reach? It’s because Creation isn’t ABOUT us; He did it for the same reason he made everything else: Psalm 19:1 even “The heavens declare the glory of God”
And according to Genesis 1, as humans beings specifically, you and I have been made uniquely in the image of God, for the very purpose of reflecting, of MIRRORING His glory to the world.
God tells us in Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name… I created for my glory… I formed and made.”
And the NT exhorts us: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) That’s why we’re here: to bring God glory.
Now, I think the very FIRST thing we oughta do in response to this MASSIVE truth of the meaning of our existence, is simply pause and give Him THANKS! Like: “God, we WORSHIP you! #1 - because you really ARE so glorious, ALL-glorious; God you alone are WORTHY of our entire lives, ALL our praise, our hearts, minds, souls, and strength - YOU deserve it ALL!
And #2 - we THANK you for revealing our purpose in this life to us so CLEARLY in your word.” Friends, God has not left us to stumble around in the dark, desperately searching for, trying to CONJURE UP for ourselves some sense of MEANING in our lives.
When I worked at the boarding school, in Indiana, I had the idea to host and moderate a series of FACULTY DEBATES. I’d pick a topic - “Does God exist?” or “Are science and faith compatible?” - and then I’d recruit 4-6 teachers, with a wide RANGE of opinions on the issue, to serve on a panel, and let them go at it. It was really fun.
But one year I chose the topic “What is the purpose of LIFE?” And I gave them each 2 minutes to introduce themselves and give their sort of summary, opening argument.
So the atheist chemistry teacher went first: “Hi - I’m Chris Carillo, and I believe there IS no objective purpose in life. Human beings are a happy accident, the product of the Big Bang and evolution. When we die, we are gone forever. But this gives me a greater sense of URGENCY and GRATITUDE for my life, the desire to make the MOST of it, cuz it’s the only life we’ve got. That’s my purpose. To live it up!”
The agnostic athletic trainer went next: “I’m Danny Cowell, and I believe our purpose in life is to discover our purpose. Each of us is here for a different reason, so you’ve got to get out there and find out what YOUR life is meant to be about. Life is about the journey, not the destination. Endeavor to be a life-long seeker.”
The progressivist “Christian”/humanist humanities teacher went next: “I’m Jackie Erwin, and I think our purpose is to leave the world a better place than we found it. Do good to others. Treat them the way you want to be treated. Spread love and hope. And together we can keep progressing as a human species and make the world a little better.”
And finally, because I let him have the last opening word, my buddy, the evangelical Christian physics teacher (I was friends with ALL of them, by the way, but in this case, I was a bit BIASED towards Phil) said: “I’m Phil Blessman, and I believe our purpose in life is to glorify God. I believe everything that exists was created by God, for His glory, but we have all fallen short of bringing God the glory He deserves. So God sent His Son Jesus - the pinnacle of his glory - to die for us, and we are now called to glorify God by surrendering our lives in faith to Jesus.”
Now, to be FAIR, I asked pretty tough follow-up questions to EACH of them.
I asked Chris: “What would you say to the student here who, like you, is ALSO starting to believe that there may be no greater purpose to her life, but instead of filling her life with MORE importance and gratitude, that idea is understandably causing her a great deal of DESPAIR and HOPELESSNESS?”
I asked Danny: “If the whole purpose of life is to find your purpose, then once you SUCCEED, by finding it, haven’t you by definition EMPTIED your life of its purpose?! By that logic, the minute you discover why you’ve been put on earth, you now no longer have any reason to be here! It is axiomatically a lose-lose philosophy of life!”
I asked Jackie: “WHY should I do good? Be good? Who even gets to decide what it MEANS to “be good”? Why should I care about others? About making the world a better place? If I won’t even be around to enjoy it. Why bother?” Can you really derive moral absolutes without a common and objectively authoritative moral law, the Bible?
But here are the 3 questions I asked Phil, that I think as believers we at least have to acknowledge this morning; we could spend an entire sermon on EITHER of these, but:
#1 - “Is it SELFISH for God to create us for His glory? God admits in no uncertain terms in Isaiah 42:8 “I am the Lord… my glory I give to no other”; Does that make God some kind of insecure, narcissistic egomaniac?” And the short answer is “No”. For 2 reasons: first, and most importantly, God really IS, objectively speaking, SUPREME… He is the highest good in all the universe, so for God to be zealous about anything OTHER than, LESS than His own glory - THAT would actually be a deficiency on God’s part. But secondly, it bears mentioning that not only is God’s glory NOT IN-compatible with human flourishing, it is in fact the very KEY to it! God has actually designed us in such a way that, as St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him.” Or as John Piper inversely puts it: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” God designed us to find our most ultimate sense of satisfaction in Him. So it’s not selfish at ALL - it’s actually the most loving thing God could possibly DO! - to exhort us to live for His glory. God might as well command us to “Be eternally happy and fulfilled”; because that’s the end result, of pursuing His glory, instead of my own.
But that brings up a SECOND question: “Is it NEEDY for God to create us for His glory? Does it point us to some DEPRIVATION or LACK on God’s part? Did He HAVE to create us because He needed us to give Him glory, or else he’d be MISSING something?” And once again, the short answer is “No”. And I think I’m gonna SKIP the longer answer on this one - let you go home and ponder and research, theologize on it for yourselves... that would make a good podcast episode for later.
But the THIRD, and most important follow-up question, that we ought to ask ourselves, once we’ve concluded biblically that we are here for God glory, is:
3) “How DO we bring him glory?” And the Bible’s ANSWER… to THAT question, is what drives the REST of our mission statement as a church. There are 3 explicit, overarching ways God outlines in His word. And before we unpack the FIRST in our remaining time this morning, I’ll just remind us again that we are called to glorify God in ALL that we do. 1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” According to God, it’s possible even to EAT, to DRINK, to do the most MUNDANE things in life, unto God’s glory. Or not. But there are 3 specific callings, by which God is always glorified. You may or may not glorify Him in the way you eat or drink. But to the extent you’re doing THESE 3 things, you ARE glorifying Him. And if you’re NOT doing these 3 things, then you’re NOT bringing Him glory. So I want to give you not only the Scripture to back each of them up, but some practical, take-home application points as well.
#1 - We glorify God through Community (John 13:34-35; Hebrews 10:24-25).
At West Hills, we “glorify God by living in authentic Christian community with one another”
“Community” might be the hottest buzzword in the church world of the past 20-30 years now. I’d be willing to BET that there have been more churches planted or rebranded in America in the past 3 decades under the name “COMMUNITY”, than those named after the “Bible”, “the Gospel”, “Christ”, “Baptist”... that includes our OWN church, West Hills “Community” Church, that we eventually just simplified to West Hills Church. But that was a popular, STRATEGIC, marketing decision in the church world for a long time: the Bible is OFFENSIVE today. The GOSPEL is a stumbling block. “Baptist” has a lot of historical baggage. But you know what EVERYONE longs for? COMMUNITY. The hope of being truly known, and yet truly loved.
Scripture affirms that God made us not only for his glory, but also for community. To be in relationship not only with HIM, but with one another as well. We are made in God’s inherently relational, Trinitarian image. The first thing in Creation that God identified as being NOT good, was Adam being ALONE in the garden, in Genesis 2. So God made a “helper fit for him”. But God’s vision for “community” for us goes far beyond the husband-wife relationship. God wasn’t content in the OT to just call Abram and Sarai to himself; he promised to make of them a “great nation” (Gen 12:2), a “people for his own possession” (Dt. 7:6). Even in His LAW, the 10 Commandments, SIX of the 10 regulate our horizontal, human-to-human, community interactions. God really cares about the way we treat one another. You flip over to the New Testament, you’ll find 100 “one another” exhortations there: “Honor one another”, “Pray for one another”, “Forgive one another”, “Instruct one another”, “Be kind to one another,” “Welcome one another”, “Submit to one another”, “Encourage one another”... and most importantly, and most frequently: “LOVE one another”. The call to LOVE makes up one-third of all those NT’s “one anothers”.
Why? Why does God put so much emphasis on loving, Christian community? Couldn’t I glorify Him just as much by forsaking all human relationships and just living a life PURELY devoted to God alone, as a monk somewhere out in the woods all on my own? “I’m an introvert! God - you should know; you’re the one who made me this way!” Well, introverts, I would say that I’m sorry to break it to you, but I’m NOT, because God knew what He was doing when he called you to “authentic Christian community” despite your introvertedness, and the Bible’s clear answer here is “NO; you CANNOT glorify God to the fullest, outside of community.” For 2 reasons:
1) God absolutely loves watching his children love one another. You know, I thought it was great being a parent, when we had Ellery. But then we adopted Elijah. And to watch her love on him; to watch him smile and light up when she comes in the room. There is no greater JOY for a parent. God’s the same way with us, friends. 1 John 4 says: “Beloved, let us love one another… he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (vv7-11) If that person sitting in the row behind you, who annoys you EVERY Sunday by singing at the TOP of their lungs completely off key… if that person in your life group, who brings the SAME prayer request every single week - Like: “I don’t CARE about your neighbor’s SCIATICA; I don’t even KNOW your neighbor” - if that person, I’ll preach to myself for a minute, who never has a SINGLE positive thing to say about ANY of your sermons, the minute I see her name in the inbox, my heart already sinks because I KNOW it’s NEVER a word of encouragement - if Jesus loved HER SO much that he laid down his LIFE for her, he DIED for her, then how much MORE so, regardless of her sins, how much MORE so should I love her! Our God LOVES it when his blood-bought children love one another, warts and all; he HATES it when we don’t. God warns, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot[a] love God whom he has not seen.” (4:20) It’s that simple.
2) And the SECOND reason that community is so important to God, is that it’s one of the most powerful WITNESSES to God’s love and power that Christ has left us. In ANY OTHER community, I wouldn’t put up with those emails, or the person sending them. Ya know, there’s a guy that used to be in my volleyball circle that always criticized the way everyone else played… notice I said “USED to be in the circle”?! That annoying brother or sister in your life group: you wouldn’t put up with them in your book club, would you? You’d just go find another club. But we don’t DO that in the church. Because not only is God glorified when his children love, and forgive, and confront, but also bear with one another; but it also speaks VOLUMES to those OUTSIDE the Christian community. When they see US - Republicans and Democrats, white and black, rich and poor, nerds and jocks, complementarians and egalitarians, when they SEE us, in the church, holding hands (pre-COVID), HUGGING, singing and worshipping together, breaking bread in one another’s homes, living out “authentic Christian community”, in Jesus’ name, for God’s glory, despite ALL our differences - the world is FORCED to ask: what IS it that KEEPS this group of people together?! And the ONLY possible answer is the GOSPEL - the reality of God’s love for us; that we just celebrated together at Christmas: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and “to all who received him, who believed in his name - the name of JESUS - he gave the right to become children of God”. We’re all God’s family, and JESUS is the glue that holds THIS ragtag family together. And he’s stronger than ANY alternative the world has to offer.
The world’s answer for that relational longing in us is TRIBALISM: go find the folks who look and think exactly like you. OTHER rich, white Republicans. Then retreat to your echo chamber. And if you’re STILL exposed to too much that THREATENS your tribe, if you’re a liberal, then go find a “safe space”; if you’re a conservative, leave Facebook and join Parler instead. Because the world’s cheap substitute for community is identity politics. But GOD says, in MY family, “There IS neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave[g] nor free, no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28)
The world doesn’t have a category for that kind of RADICAL, tribe-defying unity. So they’re forced to RECKON with the POWER of Christ’s love, to UNIFY otherwise irreconcilable, incompatible people, under the banner of the gospel. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”” (Jn 13:34:35)
So my challenge to you, brothers and sisters, on this point of community, comes straight from Hebrews 10: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Some folks think “the Day is drawing near”. The world may just come to an end here in 2020. Guess we’ll know in 4 days. :) But even so, what has God left us to do until then? Encourage one another. Stir one another up to love. Meet together. Gather. That’s what the word “church” means, after all, in Greek: Ekklesia means “assembly, gathering”. We are by definition, a gathering people. Some argue that “virtual church” is a contradiction of terms. I want to assure those of you stuck at home, that we really do love and miss and LONG to be with you again, as soon as humanly possible. Because as you are hopefully, painfully aware by now, whether you can call it “church” or not, this virtual thing is not even CLOSE to the real thing.
So challenge #1 - is gather with the church. You know, typically this last Sunday heading into the new year, for the past few years now, we’ve passed out little cards to encourage you to make this challenge tangible, by putting a NUMBER with it, like a New Year’s Resolution: “I, ____________ (name) resolve, with the Lord’s help, that in 2020, I will...
CHURCH: worship ____ Sundays (of 52).
SCRIPTURE: study ____ books of the Bible.
PRAYER: devote ____ min /day to prayer.
GIVING: give ____% of my income.
serve ____ hrs / week.
WITNESS: tell ____ people about Jesus.
disciple ____ people.”
If that’s helpful for you, just between you and the Lord (unless you’re looking for some accountability with it, you can turn it in) but if you WANT to make that kind of a commitment, I’ll leave the slide up and let you copy those categories down and think and pray through them on your own… but I’m not gonna push it this year. I didn’t print off a bunch to hand out this year. It feels like maybe part of what God was teaching us in 2020 is Proverbs 16:9 - that “The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” God was just constantly laughing at OUR plans in 2020… but the other reason I’m not passing out the pledge cards this year, frankly, is because I think the Bible has already GIVEN us pretty clear answers on most of these:
How many Sundays should you gather with the church for corporate worship? “Do not neglect to meet…” ALL of them. Why would you ever miss? What could you possibly be doing on a Sunday morning that would be more important than gathering with God’s people to worship Him? Even if that means virtually, for a brief season. Even if it means visiting another church when you’re on vacation. Don’t ever miss being with the church.
How much Scripture should you study in 2021? Again: As much as possible! Joshua 1:8 “meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it”; Psalm 119:11 “store [it] up in [your] heart, that [you] might not sin against [God].” Acts 17:11 “receive the word with all eagerness”. As much as possible!
How often should you PRAY? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing”. Romans 12:12 “be CONSTANT in prayer”; Ephesians 6:18 “Pray at all times in the Spirit”
How much should you GIVE? As much as God prospers you, 1 Corinthians 16:2; as much as you’re able. As much as you’re cheerfully able - 2 Corinthians 9:7. 10% seems to be a good recommended minimum - Numbers 18:26.
How much should you SERVE? As much as JESUS - Matthew 20:27-28 “you must be [a] slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He DIED for you; you can handle some crying babies in the church nursery once a month.
How much should I evangelize? Disciple others? Are you sensing a theme? As much as possible! “Go make disciples of ALL nations! ...teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus is kind of an all-or-nothing guy; he wasn’t very good at compartmentalizing off a portion of your life for him; it was “sell EVERYTHING and give it to the poor, then come follow me…”, “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, mind, soul and strength.”
So to bring us back to community - I’m not gonna try and tell you how often you can miss church before it becomes a “SIN”. I’m just gonna say: “As much as humanly possible, you NEED to be with the church.” That means Sundays, but that ALSO means, #2: mid-week, in a life group. There’s a reason that every church in the world, that’s larger than 20 people, DOES life groups. They might call it “small groups”, cell groups, community groups, call it what you want; but it’s impossible for 300 people on a Sunday to practice all the “one anothers” of the NT. It just won’t work, practically. You need an outlet, a smaller group of folks who can truly KNOW you, and you can know THEM, to the point that you’re ACTUALLY able to “confront” them, “admonish” them, the less popular “one anothers”, but ALSO: pray with them, to “bear burdens” for them. This is the BEAUTY of God’s design for us in Christian community. You WANT it. The Bible says you NEED it. We invite you to come GET it, in 2021, at West Hills.
Sunday morning worship, mid-week life group. And finally, get in a “Discipleship Group”. As the name suggests, this one, like really ALL the others, fits in the discipleship category for next Sunday as well; none of our ministries here are exclusively about “community” for the sake of community; we’re never JUST a social club; we’re ALWAYS gonna gather together around God’s WORD. HE is the center and the ultimate aim of all our community. But even as we launch these “D Groups” in 2021, the goal is so much more than just “growing in godliness”. That alone would be a worthy pursuit. But you can watch John Piper sermons online and grow in godliness. You can listen to podcasts and “grow in spiritual maturity as a disciple of Jesus”. But there’s a REASON Jesus didn’t just hand out airpods in every town he visited. There’s a REASON he invited 12 guys to come follow him. Walk in his dust. Watch how he lived, and follow his example. This is life-on-LIFE discipleship. That’s what we want to offer you in the new year, here at West Hills. The opportunity to learn from and grow alongside others, in authentic Christian community. Last day to sign up, if you want in, gotta let me know today.
But here’s your conclusion, for this week AND next week, spoiler alert: the only possible way to be a growing, missional community, is to be a GOSPEL - CENTERED CHURCH. That’s why our mission statement confesses, “We are a Gospel-centered church who glorify God by…” living in these ways; because the ONLY way to live out our calling Christ has left us with is by BEING a “gospel-centered church”. That means recognizing TWO things in closing:
#1 - We really do need each other - that’s the “church” part. There’s no such thing as “lone wolf” Christianity because EVERY believer is both too sinful and too weak to make it in this world on her own, devoid of Christian community. Jesus DIED to establish the church; so we don’t spit in his face by neglecting the gift of community, or treating it as “optional”. But even more importantly…
#2 - We need HIM. We need JESUS. That’s the “gospel-centered” part. Our community will NEVER hold together unless we remain unified around the CROSS of Christ. If we take our collective eyes off him for even a second, this whole community thing unravels at the seams.
So brothers and sisters: may we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our collective faith, and may HE get all the glory, delighting in His children’s love for Him… AND for one another. Amen? Let’s pray...