Most of us are immersed in the cultures in which we live. And that’s as it should be. But there’s a risk for the person who believes in Jesus, in getting to thinking that they’re a local … a citizen of this earth. They’re not – they’re a citizen of Heaven and what’s more, an Ambassador of Christ.

Right now and depending on how you count some of the smaller ones, there are just over 200 countries in this world. One source I read lists 223, another 192. So lets say there are around 200 countries.

Some of them are huge and powerful. China, the USA, some of the European countries and some of them are huge and relatively poor. India, although that’s a country on the move, Indonesia. Many of the countries are in that big middle ground. Medium size, medium wealth but little practical power on the world’s stage.

And then there are lots of tiny little countries, about 30, with a population under 100,000. The Marshall Islands, population 62,000. Nauru, 10,000. Right down to the smallest country in the world. Do you know what that is? It’s the Pitcairn Islands in the Pacific, population, well 50 is the official figure. Imagine one plane load of tourists could overwhelm the place and quadruple the population.

What a huge variation, China population 1.34 billion at one end of the scale right down to the Pitcairn Islands population 50 at the other end and everything you can imagine in between.

Now anyone who’s had brothers or sisters knows that siblings don’t always get on and the history of humanity is a history of wars, invasions, conquests, dominance, exploitation. In fact right now, this very moment there are 30 recognised wars going on around the world not to mention the other, quote “lower level conflicts”. So how do you manage all that? How do countries manage to get on?

Well hopefully these days most of the time when there’s a disagreement or an issue, instead of fighting wars as the first step in the process, countries use a thing called diplomacy. They have diplomats and so they use diplomatic channels to discuss and resolve most of the issues between them.

The head of the diplomatic mission is usually called The Ambassador. So in my country we have an American Ambassador or a Chinese Ambassador, an Indian Ambassador and so on. And here’s the thing, none of those people are Australians. The American Ambassador is American. The Chinese Ambassador is Chinese. The Indian Ambassador is as we would expect, Indian.

So, not only is the Ambassador a citizen of the country which he or she represents. They look like they come from that country, they talk like they come from that country because, you know what, they actually do come from that country.

Now all of that, I would hope, is pretty much blindingly glimpsingly obvious to all of us and the job of the Ambassador of each country is to be his or her country’s representative with a foreign government. The channel through which their country raises issues with other governments and vice versa.

Sometimes, many times, those are difficult issues. You can imagine, for instance, the exchanges that occur between Indian and Pakistani diplomats or, at times, between China and America on trade issues or between the various European countries with other countries in their union. Ambassadors are there to represent their country, the country of their citizenship in a foreign land. Now the Apostle Paul had this to say on this issue. Have a listen:

From now on therefore we regard no one from a human point of view even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view. We no longer know Him in that way. So if anyone is in Christ there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away, see everything has become new.

All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them but entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

So we are ambassadors for Christ. Since God is making His appeal through us, we entreat you on behalf of Christ. Be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

It almost sounds as though Paul is saying, look, he’s not so much a Roman citizen, which he was, but he’s a citizen of God’s Kingdom sent to explain, to share God’s message of reconciliation and forgiveness into a foreign world.

We are ambassadors for Christ. (Writes Paul) Since God is making His appeal through us.

And in fact elsewhere Paul writes exactly that. Philippians chapter 3, verse 20:

Our citizenship is in heaven and it is from there that we’re expecting a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So there it is. Paul sees his role as being an ambassador of Christ, declaring the forgiveness that God has for each and every person on this planet if only we’ll put our faith in Jesus, His Son and the eternal and glorious reconciliation that we can have with God when we take that step. And that, see that’s simply carrying on what Jesus came to do. Jesus said, Mark chapter 1, verse 38. He said:

Let us go on to the neighbouring town so that I may proclaim the message there also for that is what I came out to do.

John chapter 18, verse 37:

Pilate asks Him, ‘are you a king?’ and Jesus answered, ‘you say that I am. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.

Jesus came to tell us the good news. In fact He came to be the good news. The Apostle Paul saw himself as an ambassador of that good news. Even to the point of being an ambassador in chains. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 19:

Pray for me also (writes Paul) so that when I speak a message may be given to me to make known, with boldness, the mystery of the Gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains.

My friend, Jesus came to be an ambassador, Paul came to be an ambassador. What did you come to do? Where is your citizenship? Are you a citizen of this world or are you an ambassador in a foreign land bringing the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of reconciliation with God through Jesus into a lost and hurting world?

My hunch is anyone, anyone who calls themselves a Christian, anyone who takes on themselves the name of Christ Himself is called not to a life of comfort so much as a life of following hard after Jesus.

Whoever does not carry the cross (said Jesus) and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Over these coming couple of weeks we’re going to be talking about living out our lives as ambassadors. Ambassadors of Christ. What does that mean? What does that look like?

Well, we’ll figure that out but today the point, I think, we’re meant to get out of our time together, you and I, is that firstly a disciple is a citizen of the country that he or she represents and if we’re to be ambassador’s of Christ, as Paul wrote.

As much as we’re immersed in our culture and as important as that is to reaching out to those around us with the good news of Jesus, we are not citizens of this world but we are citizens of heaven sent into a foreign land and as ambassadors often find the foreign places into which they’re sent don’t always want to hear what they have to say. It’s not always easy being an ambassador.

In fact the reason that countries need ambassadors is, in fact, to deal with the difficult issues. The tensions that could escalate into conflict. Ambassadors yes have to be diplomatic but they also have to tackle with difficult issues.

And if Jesus came as an ambassador of heaven to proclaim the truth and if Paul followed in His footsteps as an ambassador of Christ and if you and I are going to live out our lives in our small corner where God’s put us, as citizens of heaven and as ambassadors of Christ, that’s not always going to be easy.

The world won’t always want to hear but I’m afraid it comes with the territory. The territory of an ambassador of Christ.

Many a Christ follower has this feeling that something is missing. Oh – they may well be warming a pew on Sundays … but is their life really making an eternal difference here on earth? Jesus said something outrageous – He said that we would end up doing things even greater than the things He did while He was on the Earth. Question is: Did He mean that about thee and me? Hmm?

I know of people, people who believe in Jesus, people who go to Church Sunday after Sunday and they sit there in the pews, they sing the songs, they listen to the preacher but they’re not flashy up front performers or musicians or speakers or leaders.

Every now and then perhaps they make morning tea or contribute somehow to the life of the Church. But because they’re not high profile, up front people, because they’re more people who blend into the background, they have decided in their hearts of hearts that they have nothing to contribute.

The worlds been telling them and subtly the Church has been telling them, “You have nothing to contribute”. Lots and lots of people suffer from low self esteem. Lots and lots of people have come to the conclusion they have nothing to contribute.

Lots and lots of people have stopped trying to live out their faith in Jesus, a faith that used to beam so brightly and gradually, little by little, the flame within has grown dim. It’s almost gone out. And yet still, for some reason, they can’t quite put their finger on it, they toddle along every Sunday hoping, no surely there’s no more hope, secretly hoping perhaps, hoping in a way that they wouldn’t even admit to themselves let alone anyone else that Gods going to come along and do something powerful in their lives. I wonder, I wonder if you know anyone like that.

Well if you do, if perhaps there’s just a little, even a lot of that going on inside you, if perhaps you’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for God to do something powerful in you and through you to give you some part to play in His plan, that’s custom made for who you are, I believe then today with all my heart the wait comes to an end.

Today it’s over because He has a word for you, His word not mine, that will set you free to be what He always planned you to be. An ambassador of Christ. Not in the same way as anyone else you know because you’re not the same as anyone else you know. But in a unique way that fits with who you are.

We’re talking this week and next week as well about living our lives out as ambassadors of Christ. That means two things. Firstly that:

Our citizenship is in heaven and it’s from there that we’re expecting a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s Paul, Philippians chapter 3, verse 20.

In other words we may well be in this world but we aren’t of it. We are, when we put our trust in Jesus, citizens of heaven, citizens of the Kingdom of God. And not just citizens but, as Paul also writes, “Ambassadors in a foreign land”. 2 Corinthian, chapter 5, verse 20:

So we are ambassadors for Christ since God is making His appeal through us, we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

And as ambassadors our role is to allow God to make His appeal to this world through us. As I said not the way He does through other people but through us, the way He made each one of us to be. Each disciple of Jesus Christ is an ambassador of Christ with a role to play, a part to play in His plan of reconciling countless people, countless souls to Him, here and now and for all eternity.

Now, I know, I know without any shadow of any doubt that there are countless people listening to this message right now today who simply can’t believe that this could possibly be true. Because the flame, the flame’s almost gone out.

That’s why I’m going to share with you a powerful word from God, in fact from Jesus own lips. Anyone who’s spent just five minutes reading any one of the four Gospel accounts of Jesus life in the 1st century, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, you’ll be able to recount a string of powerful miracles that Jesus performed.

He healed the sick. He raised the dead. He made water out of wine. He fed thousands with almost nothing. He did so many amazing powerful miracles, miracles that were witnessed by lots and lots of people. It was this power that in the end got Him crucified.

Not only did He preach with power, He acted in power and people flocked to Him. It was because of the preaching and the deeds of power and miracles that the Pharisee’s and the Sadducee’s, the religious leaders of the day, became so threatened by Him they had Him crucified. And ultimately, just in case anyone had any doubt, He Himself was raised again from the dead.

You and I, we look at Jesus, He is after all the Son of God, He is someone that you and I can never, ever, ever be. We look at Jesus and we think to ourselves, “Wow, no one, no one could ever minister that powerfully again here on earth”. Have a listen to what Jesus said to His disciples just before He was crucified. John chapter 14, verses 11 and 12:

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. But if you don’t then believe in me because of the works that I have done. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father.

See Jesus didn’t say that we’d be able to do just the things that He did. No, He said that we’ll be able to do those things but anyone who believes in Jesus will, in fact, not only do those things that He was able to do but they would do, “greater works than these”. In fact, we’ll do greater works than these, He said, because I am going to my Father.

Now it seems to me that we have a choice here. We can sit there quietly in the third pew from the rear on the left hand side, you know where we always sit week after week for what seems like it’s been an eternity. We can sit there. We can believe in the world’s lies.

We can believe the devil’s deceptions that you and I, we have nothing to contribute, no role to play in Gods great plan of redeeming and saving and reconciling this world to Himself. And you know, as I look back on my life I had every reason to believe that about myself. We can believe that rubbish.

But if we do that, if we continue doing that the flame in our hearts for Jesus, the one that’s growing dimmer and dimmer, that flame will eventually go out. Or we can believe God and what He has to say in God’s Word.

So often faith is believing God’s apparently outrageous claims and promises square in the face of the mundaneness of life. Square in the face of a world that squeezes us into its mould. Mundaneness verses majesty. Poverty of the spirit verses power of the spirit.

Well let me tell you something, I have made my choice. I was a man whose life was broken in a terrible mess when I accepted Jesus with the simple faith of a child. Just on face value. And still today I’m accepting what He has to say, really simply, not in any complicated theological sense, just on face value and Jesus said:

Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and in fact, will do greater works than these because I am going to my Father.

I’m taking that. I don’t know about you but I’m taking that. You see He really means it. I think He means it. Just as Jesus came as God in the flesh to bring the Kingdom of God near to us, I believe He’s calling me and He’s calling you to take up our cross to follow Him and to be His ambassador and to do just the things He always planned for us to do. Not in our own strength but in the power of the Spirit. Works greater than His because He has gone to the Father and His plan is to involve you and me in bringing His love to those who need it. That’s what I think. But you know what, it doesn’t really matter what I think. Question is, what do you think?

Most of the people who believe in Jesus have a sense that part of that involves sharing their faith – sharing their Jesus – with other people. That somehow we’re meant to be Ambassadors of Christ. But you look around at the culture in which we live, and you have to ask yourself – does anyone really want to know? How do I share the Good News of Jesus in a world like this?

Over this week and next we’re chatting about what it means to live out our lives as ambassadors of Christ. The idea’s a really simple one, God’s Word makes it clear. That whilst we are in this world, we’re not part of it. We aren’t of it. We aren’t citizens of this world, we’re citizens of somewhere else. Philippians chapter 3, verse 20 says:

Our citizenship is in heaven and it is from there that we’re expecting a saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And not only are we citizens of heaven in a foreign world, we’re ambassadors too. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20:

So we are ambassadors for Christ since God is making His appeal through us.

And through us, through you and through me, God’s intent is to make His appeal to the people of this world. That’s the role of an ambassador, that’s an ambassador’s job. To be an emissary of the land which he or she represents. The land of which he or she is a citizen and in our case that’s the Kingdom of God.

It’s a great plan, this plan that God has to take every man, woman and child who believes in Jesus Christ, His Son, and who therefore is a citizen of heaven and appoint them as ambassadors in their little part of the world so that, through them, God can make His appeal, an appeal of grace and of love to people so that they’ll be reconciled to Him. The question is, does anyone want to hear what we have to say?

So many people shy away from being ambassadors of Christ because they somehow imagine that it’s the guy with a smooth voice on the radio. It must be his job. Or the one they see on TV or maybe, ah it’s the youth pastor at Church, it must be his job being an ambassador of Christ.

We imagine somehow that being an ambassador is this great, up front role. Someone with a great public speaking style. Someone with a presence. No, that’s not me. It can’t possibly be my job.

Let me ask you, pretty much whatever country you live in you have ambassadors from foreign countries living in your land, performing their roles as ambassadors. So let me ask you, how often do you see them on TV or hear them on the radio or read about them in the newspaper? How often?

The answer is almost never. Sure, every now and then an ambassador might be quoted or have a short clip on TV but I know if I tripped over the ambassador of China or the ambassador of the USA in the street, I wouldn’t know them from a bar of soap.

Why? Because most of the time being an ambassador isn’t about being up front in the public eye, most of it is about quietly building influence one on one or with small groups so that when there is a difficult issue to be dealt with between two governments, there’s a bridge already in place over which the parties can travel and talk.

When there’s a sensitive trade issue or a border dispute or a difficulty with a foreign national in the country, the diplomats will talk quietly, mostly in measured tones, mostly unseen and unheard by the rest of us to resolve the issue. Diplomacy, as it turns out, is much more about individual relationships and trust than it is about overt brinkmanship or a media presence.

I wonder if we apply that model of diplomacy to our roles as ambassadors of Christ whether it doesn’t cast a whole new light on the job description. We all have family and friends at work and colleagues. People with whom we already have relationships of trust.

And I wonder whether being an ambassador of Christ isn’t a whole lot more about letting our goodness shine into their lives than it is about standing up on a soap box on a street corner in the mall or at a weekend crowd at the market, as I saw recently, screaming out words supposedly from God to a whole bunch of people with whom we don’t have a relationship and who, therefore, don’t want to listen to us.

I wonder whether it isn’t a whole bunch more about quiet diplomacy than beating someone over the head with a Bible. The people whom I allow to influence me are the ones who I trust. And the ones I trust are the ones I’ve known for a while. I’ve watched them, I’ve observed them, they’re good people. Honest, decent, have their lives together, they’re faithful.

They’re the ones I open my heart to. Why would we expect that it’s any different in being an ambassador of Christ? Jesus put it this way, he said, Matthew chapter 5 beginning at verse 12. He said:

Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the Prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth but if salt loses it’s taste how can it’s saltiness be restored? It’s no longer good for anything but it’s thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world, a city built on a hill can’t be hidden.

In other words, anyone who steps out into the world, who loves God, who believes in His Son, Jesus, anyone who’s prepared to share that love and that faith with other people is going to be persecuted. Just look back through history, that’s what you’ll find, that’s what Jesus is saying. That’s what’s going to happen. They persecuted Him so of course they’ll persecute us.

Now where I live persecution simply means maybe people reject you or they make fun of you or maybe they just keep their distance from you. Most people I know, know who I am and they know what I do, they know what I believe and even then I don’t get much of that sort of stuff and even if I did it’s not much of a price to pay.

But in other parts of the world persecution is very real. Prison, torture and even death. Very real. I mean look at Jesus, He was nailed to a cross but what He’s saying here is be the salt of the earth anyway. Add flavour to this world, be my light anyway. Shine light into dark places. Be those things, shine my love and my truth into the hearts of the people around you.

And if you’re some up front preacher, great, do that but if you’re not, if you’re quiet, unassuming, if you’re a relationships oriented person, my oh my, what a great ambassador you’re going to make.
Go and build the bridges and build the relationships and build the trust and let people see the goodness that’s in your heart and in what you do. Shine light, add flavour. People like light, people want flavour, go and do that, be Gods ambassador, His emissary.

Sometimes we’re so worried about whether people want to hear about Jesus or not. Sometimes we’re so concerned with how they’ll react. I imagine being an ambassador involves a lot of subtlety, I imagine the role involves a lot of timing, knowing when to quietly build relationships, knowing when to speak out over the hard things.

The Bible talks about speaking the truth in love and that’s what diplomacy is. I read an interesting Proverb this morning in my own personal time with God. Have a listen, Proverbs chapter 27, verse 6:

Well meant are the wounds a friend inflicts but profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

See sometimes that’s a friend’s job to speak the truth in love and sometimes it’s hard and sometimes it hurts. But the thing I know is this, being an ambassador of Christ is the job of every disciple of Jesus. Sometimes that involves just living a good life and shining out that light. Sometimes it involves dealing with difficult issues and doing it in love. Sometimes it involves embracing your enemies.

It involves all sorts of different things at different times but each one of us who believes in Jesus is called to be, not just a believer, not just a pew sitter but an ambassador of Christ. In our own way, in our own neck of the woods.

Imagine having a job where you had to try to convince people of something you yourself didn’t really believe. That’d be a tough gig don’t you think. And yet that’s how many a Christian feels about telling others about Jesus. Because they themselves haven’t been convinced that He really makes a difference in their lives – on the inside – how can they tell others about Him?

One of the things that we know is, that you and I we are what we eat. So if what we do is pig out on chocolates, man I love chocolate, but we know that too much is bad for us. And fatty foods and sweet and sugary drinks and lots of cakes and sweets, all that stuff, if we pig out on that stuff then who we are on the inside is going to change.

We’re going to put on weight. Our emotions will take a down swing, that’s what too much sugar does. We become lethargic and tired and won’t be able to cope. Our heart will have to work harder to get the blood around the larger body and our coronary arteries are going to get clogged up and the sugar will go up in our blood. On and on and on the list goes.

The impact is that we have less of life to live now because we’re always tired and not feeling well and our life expectancy is going to be reduced. On the other hand, if we get a great mix of healthy cereals and grains and brightly coloured vegetables and lean meat, all that stuff which actually tastes fantastic, the complete opposite is going to happen.

What happens on the inside has a huge impact on what happens on the outside. Who we are on the inside, whether it’s physically, emotionally or spiritually, has a huge impact on who we are on the outside. And the up shot of it all is we simply can’t be one thing on the inside and try to be something else on the outside. You know what? It just doesn’t work.

This week and next week on the program we’re having a bit of a chat about living our lives out here on earth as ambassadors of Christ. Because that’s what anyone who believes in Jesus is called to be. We are citizens of heaven, not of this earth and as Paul the Apostle writes, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 20:

We are ambassadors for Christ since God is making His appeal through us.

But as I said, you can’t be one thing on the inside and pretend to be another thing on the outside. You can’t be Swedish on the inside and pretend to be the Indian ambassador on the outside. We can’t be the devil on the inside and pretend to be an angel of light on the outside. Well maybe we can for a while but I suspect it’s incredibly hard work carrying on that sort of a deception and it doesn’t take long for who we really are to make it’s way to the outside. As Jesus Himself said:

It’s out of the heart that evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness and slander actually come. (Matthew chapter 15, verse 19)

So if we’re going to be ambassadors of Christ then first we have to be citizens of heaven on the inside. Just as the Indian ambassador has to be Indian and not Swedish on the inside. Interesting how God talked about this through His Prophet Ezekiel to His people. He talked to them about what was going on in their hearts. Have a listen, Ezekiel chapter 18, verse 31:

Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die O house of Israel?

A new heart. I think we know what God means but that’s not so much an expression that we use these days. The expression we might use is a change of heart. You and I know what that means. Unless something happens deep inside our hearts on the inside we can’t change on the outside.

But you know there have been issues, transgressions, sins in my life that try as I may I couldn’t change my heart myself. I’m guessing you’ve had that experience too, we all have. And that’s why God made this promise too to His people through Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26. He says:

A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

In fact, perhaps you want to be an ambassador of Christ but there’s something, right now, going on in your heart. Something that you can’t change for yourself that you need God to do for you. If you have that why don’t you pray this prayer with me right now.

Our Father God
This word of yours well you’re putting your finger right on one of the deepest needs in my life. You and I both know what that is and you know how I’ve struggled to change my heart. I’ve tried my hardest but I can’t and so I come to you in faith and I pray for your will as Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 26 for a new heart, a change of heart.

Take out the heart of stone O God and replace it with a heart of flesh. Take out of me the spirit that is causing me to sin and fill me with your Holy Spirit. I come to you in faith; I believe that what I’ve asked you, you will give me because I’m asking you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I encourage you, if you prayed that prayer with me to believe, just simply to believe that God will give you the good thing that you have asked for. And He will, that’s what He says He will do and He never, ever, ever fails on His word, ever.

When the Apostle Paul was sharing the good news about Jesus with the folk in Athens he quoted a poem about a Greek god and applied it to Jesus. This is what he said in Acts chapter 17, verse 28. He said:

For in Him we live and move and have our being.

You know, for me that says it all. It’s about being totally, totally immersed in Christ, about being drenched in Him. That’s actually the literal meaning of the word ‘baptised’ or ‘baptism’. The original word is baptidso. When a boat was lost in a storm and it went under and sank it was said to have been baptidso’d.

When a fabric was dyed in new colour it was plunged into the dye and completely drenched and completely changed to a new colour when it came out. It was said to have been baptidso’d. That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul writes to his friends in Rome. Romans chapter 6, beginning at verse 3:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ were baptised into His death? Therefore we’ve been buried with Him in baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

It means death to the old life and living a new life, literally to be born again. A whole new heart filled with a new spirit, the spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. It means that goodness replaces evil. Not so much because we work hard at it but because we’ve had a change of heart and now we want to honour God and that’s a gift from God.

We want to live a life that brings glory to Him and it’s that new life that we’re going to talk about a bit more tomorrow. It’s that new life that wins people over to Christ. It’s that new life that shines a light and brings flavour into people’s lives like salt. But just as a well is dry it can’t bring forth water, so a life that is empty of Christ, His very Spirit, His very presence within us, so that life simply can’t be an ambassador of Christ.

If there are things that you’ve been struggling with in on the inside, things that are holding you back from taking up your commission as Christ’s ambassador in your little petunia patch then here’s what I encourage you to do? Get with God. Get in prayer. Open His Word. Ask Him to fill you to overflowing with His Holy Spirit. Ask Him again and again to give you a new heart.

And just as we prayed before, just as I said before, He surely will. Because He wants to. Because as you bear much fruit in your life, it will bring glory to God. A new heart, a change of heart filled with a new spirit, His spirit. That is God’s will for my life and that my friend is God’s will for your life.

There’s nothing worse than a hypocrite. One of the things we’re called to be, if we believe in Jesus, is Ambassadors of Christ. But if how we live our lives – what we say, what we do – if our lives don’t measure up – then what sort of Ambassadors are you and I going to make? When people look at us – what do they see? An Ambassador, or a hypocrite?

Let me ask you a question, if you’re someone who believes in Jesus and who drives a car, do you have some sort of Jesus bumper sticker? One of those fish stickers on your bumper bar. Maybe, maybe not. It’s okay even if you don’t, that’s okay, I don’t either.

But if you had to put one on your car, let me ask you, does your behaviour on the road as a driver match up to the message of the sticker? I mean, are you a courteous driver who obeys all the road rules or do you break the speed limit, honk your horn at people and yell at them from the inside of your car?

I guess if you’re a courteous driver it will be okay to have a fish sticker or a Jesus sticker on your car because your behaviour is a good advertisement for God. In effect because what you advertise on the sticker and how you behave, they match up and so the message works.

On the other hand, can you imagine a rude impatient driver who’s constantly breaking the road rules, identifying themselves as a Christian by some sticker they put on their car. Not a very good ad for God is it? And it turns out that who we say we are, who we hold ourselves out to be and who we actually are, in what we say and what we do, if those two don’t match up, well there’s a name for that. We call those people hypocrites.

Over this past week on the program we’ve talked about living our lives as ambassadors of Christ. The key Bible verse that I’ve been quoting and forgive me if you’ve been with us each day and you’ve heard it before but I’m assuming some people haven’t. The key Bible verse I’ve been sharing this week is 2 Corinthians chapter 5; verse 20 where the Apostle Paul writes:

We are ambassadors for Christ since God is making His appeal through us.

In other words, God, just as He used the Apostle Paul, wants to involve you and me in the business of making His appeal to the rest of the world. Now, what we’ve seen over the course of the week is that we don’t all have to be Paul’s to do that. Diplomacy, which is the role of an ambassador, mostly happens in one on one relationships where trust is built, so governments have relationships and a place and a forum to resolve difficult issues. That’s the point of diplomacy and it’s the role of an ambassador. I think sometimes we’re mislead into thinking, “Oh wow, an ambassador of Christ, well that would have to be the Pastor’s role, not me ’cause it sounds like flashy up front kind of title’.

And yesterday we saw that in order to be an ambassador for say India, we have to be Indian. If we’re Swedish no one’s going to believe we’re the Indian ambassador, right? Who we are on the inside really counts, that’s why God promised us something new. Ezekiel chapter 36:26:

A new heart, God said, I will give you. A new spirit I will put within you. I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Now we can’t change who we are on the outside until we’ve had a change of heart on the inside. I’ve tried it, you’ve tried it, it doesn’t work. If something first happens in our hearts to change us on the inside, then changing on the outside is kind of a natural progression of that, it’s much easier.

That’s what we talked about yesterday. Today we’re going to follow on with a natural continuation of that. Today we’re going to look at how important it is, who we are on the outside is consistent with whom we say we are on the inside. And that’s why I kicked off with that story of the bumper sticker.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it? Now I’m not suggesting that you or I are ever going to live a perfect life. I pretty much make mistakes every day, you probably do too and no one expects us to be perfect. But either how we live declares that our heart and our life has been changed by God or it doesn’t.

And if it doesn’t then without putting too fine a point on it, we’re being hypocrites. That’s something that Jesus identified in the religious leaders of His day. They pretended to be O so holy on the outside but on the inside, well have a listen to what Jesus said to them. Matthew chapter 23, verses 25 and 26:

Woe to you Scribes and Pharisee’s, you hypocrites. For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate but inside they’re full of greed and self indulgence. You blind Pharisee’s, first clean the inside of the cup so that the outside may also become clean.

Pretty in your face isn’t it? But you know, I’m comforted by that. I like it that Jesus is concerned about both our hearts, who we are on the inside, and our hands, who we are on the outside.

If someone came to me and said to me, “You know Berni, I’ve heard what you’ve been saying, I’ve decided I want to be an ambassador of Christ, what do you think is the most important thing?” Well, this is how I would answer.

“The first thing is your heart and your relationship with God, being completely sold out to Him. If you don’t have that then you can’t pretend.”

“And the second thing is how we behave because if you say that you’re one thing and you do completely the opposite, people will pick you as a phoney (Berni clicks his fingers) like that. And then, instead of shining Gods light into the world, you’ve just turned people off.”

Let me give you an example. My country, Australia, has a strong relationship with the United States, has had for a good many years. Now imagine that the US government appoints a new ambassador to Australia and sends him across the pond to our country and within a few months we discover he’s a lecherous drunk who can’t keep his hands off women, whether or not he happens to be any good at his trade of diplomacy.

And scandal after scandal involving this new ambassador hits the news and the press. How do you imagine such a person would influence the view that we Australians have, not only of the US government but of the American people? It wouldn’t be good for the relationship, it would be devastating wouldn’t it? Not only would this so called ambassador hurt the people around him but he’d bring his nation and his people into disrepute.

And that’s why the lives we lead as Christians are so important. Come on, let’s get real. Does hypocrisy display the glory of God? No, it brings God and Gods people as a whole into disrepute. ‘Oh those Christians, they’re just a bunch of hypocrites.’ And God, God doesn’t like hypocrites. Listen again to Jesus, Matthew chapter 23, verse 25:

Woe to you Scribes and Pharisee’s. You hypocrites for you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate but inside you’re full of greed and self indulgence.

People talk about missional living, living out our lives as missionaries in this world. You know, I think the biggest thing that we can do to live missionally is to live a holy life. What’s a holy life? It’s a life where the cup and the plate are clean on the inside first as well as the outside. Peter the Apostle sums it up like this. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 14-16:

Like obedient children do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead as He who called you is holy be holy yourselves in all your conduct. For it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I am holy’.

My friend, there is something wonderful and utterly sublime when we roll up our sleeves with God and we get to clean the inside as well as the outside and here’s the thing, people notice. People sit up and take note and think to themselves, “You know, there’s something different about that person. Something good. Something I trust. Something I want.”

And there, right there in that place, clean on the inside, clean on the outside we have an ambassador of Christ.