Kainos Movement 2015 Conference Main Sessions: Session 1 with Pastor Bryan Loritts
Previous Kainos Movement 2015 Conference posts:
The following posts will feature my notes from the strong collection of Kainos 2015 pastors, nonprofit leaders, and
sociologists who prophetically spoke into our segregated American
culture. Our prayer, hope, and striving is that Emmaus
City will be a transcultural and multi-ethnic church in Worcester, of
Worcester, and for Worcester. As we move forward, we have much to gain from these men and women who have gone before us and lead the way in Jesus' name.
Kainos 2015 Main Session 1: A Kainos Moment – God Gets His Family Back
Pastor Bryan Loritts
Preaching and Mission at Trinity Grace, NYC
Adjunct Professor at
Crichton College
Author of God on Paper; A Cross Shaped Gospel; Right Color, Wrong Culture
We do not want to just
learn about God's multi-ethnic family, we want to put shoe leather on this
truth we are learning and discovering in the Scriptures. Because it's not just
about "me" and "my" personal relationship with Jesus. It's
more. Philip Yancey describes the story in the Scriptures as "God gets His
family back." As we see in His promise to Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 that all
nations would be blessed through his family, the people of God were never
supposed to experience His love and grace in homogeneity. Through blessing all
nations and bringing them together, God intends to give us a taste of heaven.
And when you get a taste of
heaven - through a Jesus-reigning, Gospel-centered, Disciple-making,
Multi-ethnic church - you want more. And it begins with the ministry of the
gospel, which is reconciliation. We see this in Ephesians 2:
Ephesians 2:1-10: Vertical
reconciliation
Ephesians 2:11-22:
Horizontal reconciliation
The three most desired
phrases for people to hear are:
(1) I love you
(2) I forgive you
(3) What's for dinner?
These questions are key for joining
God in His ministry of reconciliation.
Who are we loving? Who are we forgiving?
And who are we eating with?
We not only see this
dynamic power of the gospel of God to reconcile His people through Jesus in
Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus, we see it powerfully in the gospel of
Luke 19:1-10. Luke writes about Jesus' story with a strong focus on God getting His
family back. And we see the hearts of those who believe this and do this in
Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus lived in Jericho
and Jericho was one of only three cities in the Roman Empire where the customs
tax could be taken. Zacchaeus (ironically, his name means "pure") was
the chief collector, the "head of the cartel" in Jericho of those who
robbed others to fill their own pockets. And Jesus comes calling with God's
Word of "I love you," "I forgive you," and "What's for
dinner?"
And look at this: Zaccheus
is a wealthy, powerful man seeking a poor, homeless man for what he desperately
needs. God is crossing cultures. And where does God find Zaccheus? In a
Sycamore tree. Sycamore trees have big leaves. Zaccheus didn't want to be seen
by the crowd or by Jesus. Zaccheus wanted to seek Jesus on his own terms. But
Jesus exposes us, and then invites us in. He doesn't let us hide in our
Sycamore trees. He doesn't let us stay in our comfortable spaces if we want to
follow Him and what He's doing in the world.
But that is not the
expectation of those around us. The crowd doesn't accept a Rabbi going to
dinner with a tax collector. But how does Jesus show what's going to change
people? How does He put shoe leather to the fact that God gets His family back?
He asks Zaccheus, "What's for dinner?"
When God comes to our
house, He doesn't come to simply rearrange the furniture. Jesus came to change
everything in Zaccheus' home. He came to bring salvation. And in return,
Zaccheus provided gospel restitution to all those he had harmed. From the
overflow of God's grace, Zaccheus was moved. How did he do this?
1) He acknowledged the
injustice he had participated in
2) He provided tangible,
material giving back to those he had wronged
3) He let Jesus' ethic of
love reign
The American church has a history
with the marginalized, particularly in relation to ethnicity, that needs gospel restitution.
We need to learn how to give up power and make equals among people from every tribe, tongue, and race in our local churches.
We need to learn how to give up power and make equals among people from every tribe, tongue, and race in our local churches.
The journey with God is not a cruise ship. It's a battle ship. It's not
about comfort. It's about mission. People will cry "unfair." Let
them. For all of us, Jesus is the scholarship that pays our debt so we can
flourish. There is no merit-based scholarship in the kingdom.
Are we extending tangible, understandable, and incarnational gospel restitution to those we have
separated from and historically taken from?
Who are we loving? Who do we need
to be forgiven by? And who are we inviting to come over for dinner?
– Sully
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