The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

Unfinished Agenda

You could have heard a pin drop. It was mesmerising. We were spellbound. An eighty-five year-old man, almost totally blind, got up to speak to 1,500 people of all ages on our church holiday. He had no notes, of course, because he could no longer read. He gave two talks, each of them an hour long.

In the first talk, he gave a breathtaking summary of the entire Old Testament. In the second, which was equally brilliant, he gave a summary of the whole of the New Testament. There was no hesitation, no stumbling and not a word was out of place. It was the distilled wisdom of a man who had followed the Lord wholeheartedly all his life.

Bishop Lesslie Newbigin had one of the most remarkable ministries of the twentieth century. At the age of thirty-six he was elected as one of the first bishops of the new Church of South India. When he returned from India, later on in life, he wrote several books that aimed to help the church in the West fulfil its mission in a world that was rapidly changing and felt no need for God.

His writing and speaking influenced thousands of Christian leaders around the world. Yet this astonishing man, who had achieved so much in his lifetime, entitled his autobiography Unfinished Agenda. For him, there was always still so much to hope for and so much to be done.

I love John Stott’s definition of vision: vision is a combination of ‘a deep dissatisfaction with what is and a clear grasp of what could be.’ If we have vision, we will always have unfinished agendas. In today’s passages we see the unfinished agendas of David, Joshua and, indeed, Jesus.

Psalm 52:1-9

1. The unfinished agenda of a visionary

How do you react in the midst of tragedy and opposition? It is tempting to panic, withdraw or lose hope. David’s response is exemplary.

David was a visionary. He achieved so much in his lifetime. No king in Israel was as successful as David. During his reign (and that of his son, Solomon), Israel enjoyed a period of unparalleled prosperity and peace. Yet, David’s agenda was never totally finished.

David had to deal with the reality of opposition. This psalm was written after a devastating setback. David had been on the run from Saul, but his location had been betrayed to Saul by ‘Doeg the Edomite’. Although David had moved on by the time Saul’s men arrived, his friend Ahimelek, and almost all of Ahimelek’s family, had been killed (see 2 Samuel 21–22).

In this psalm we see how he had to deal with those who were trying to destroy him by ‘deceit’ (Psalm 52:2c), ‘falsehood’ (v.3b) and ‘harmful word[s]’ (v.4a). We may wonder whether David was thinking of Doeg in particular when he wrote that description. He was like the man described in verse 7 ‘who did not make God their stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!’ This has a very contemporary ring to it.

Yet, even in the midst of such tragedy and opposition, David still turns to God. What can we learn from his response?

• Trust in God’s love
  ‘I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever’ (v.8b).
• Praise God’s deeds
  ‘I will praise you forever for what you have done … I will praise you in the presence of your saints’ (v.9).
• Hope in God’s name
  ‘In your name I will hope, for your name is good (v.9b).

Lord, thank you for the dreams and visions that you put into my heart. As I face all the challenges ahead and the opposition, may I trust in your unfailing love and put my hope in you for the future. May I be ‘like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God’ (v.8a).

Luke 24:36-53

2. The unfinished agenda of Jesus

Do you realise that you can have the privilege of playing a part in completing the unfinished agenda of Jesus?

Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. God had raised him to life. In spite of the fact that Jesus completed the work his Father had given him to do, there is still an unfinished agenda of Jesus.

In this passage we see that Jesus appears to his disciples and says, ‘Peace be with you’ (v.36). They still seem ‘troubled’ and have their ‘doubts’ (v.38). Jesus gives them very solid proof that he really is alive.

‘Look at my hands; look at my feet – it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this’ (v.39, MSG).

Jesus is more than a historical figure who was born and died 2,000 years ago. He is alive. He is here and present today.

When the disciples realise that Jesus really is alive, they are overcome with ‘joy’ and ‘amazement’ (v.41). Having eaten a piece of leftover fish (v.42) he says to them, ‘Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled’ (v.44–47, MSG).

When Jesus showed them ‘how to read their Bibles this way’ (v.45, MSG), he set the pattern for us. This is why we should always try to read the Old Testament scriptures through the lens of Jesus.

Jesus had totally fulfilled this part of his mission, which had been foretold in the Old Testament. Yet, the agenda of Jesus was unfinished.

His disciples had a task: ‘Repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem’ (v.47). Now, you and I, his disciples, have the task of telling ‘all nations’ about Jesus – speaking about repentance and forgiveness of sins (v.47). For this part of his agenda you are going to need the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promises that you will be ‘clothed with power from on high’ (v.49).

Having set out his new agenda, he ‘lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven’ (vv.50–51). It is interesting that after he had been taken up to heaven and he was not physically present they then worshipped him (v.52a), knowing that he was still with them. They then returned to Jerusalem, ‘bursting with great joy’ (v.52b, MSG). The end of Jesus’ time with them was also a very exciting beginning.

On the day of Pentecost, they received what Jesus had promised. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to take on this new agenda of Jesus. All over the world Jesus’ agenda is being carried out by his disciples today. It is far from finished. You and I can play a part in completing Jesus’ unfinished agenda. One day it will be finished and then Jesus will return.

Lord, may I give my life to serve your great unfinished agenda. Thank you that the Holy Spirit equips me and empowers me for this task.

Luke 24:36-53

3. The unfinished agenda of those who ‘finish well’

Those who finish well will always have an unfinished agenda.

Again we see this theme of the ‘unfinished agenda’ in the life of Joshua: ‘When Joshua had reached a venerable age, God said to him, “You’ve had a good, long life, but there is a lot of land still to be taken” ’ (v.1, MSG).

It is encouraging that this is true of Joshua, who had followed the Lord wholeheartedly. It must have also been true of Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, John Wesley, Martin Luther, William Wilberforce and all the great Christians who have finished well in the past. They reached the end of their lives knowing that their agenda was unfinished. This will always be the case until the name of Jesus has been preached to all nations.

Meanwhile, be inspired by Joshua’s example. He followed the Lord wholeheartedly. So did Caleb, who was able to say, ‘I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly’ (14:9). ‘He gave himself totally to God’ (v.14, MSG).

Not only did Caleb follow God wholeheartedly at the age of forty (v.7), he still did so at the age of eighty-five (v.10 – the same age that Lesslie Newbigin was when he gave those astonishing talks). This is the challenge – to finish well, not to lose your first love but to keep your eyes on Jesus.

The result for Caleb was ‘strength’ – for him it was physical strength as well as inward strength of character (v.11). But for all who give themselves totally to God there is the inward strength of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus promises to you and me. You need this inner strength of the Holy Spirit if you are to finish well and fulfil your calling to seek the fulfilment of Jesus’ new agenda.

Lord, help me to finish well. May I be able to say at the end of my life ‘I have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly’. Please strengthen me by your Spirit so that I may be as strong today as the day when you first called me. May I have the inner strength of the Holy Spirit as I seek to see Jesus’ new agenda fulfilled and the gospel preached in his name to all nations.

Pippa Adds

Luke 24:39

‘Look at my hands and my feet.’

On one of our trips to India we were asked to speak to some of the staff from the Oberoi and the Taj Mahal hotels. Both hotels had been the target of terrorist attacks in November 2008. Many had died; others were injured. Many of the staff had endured trauma – hiding during the siege and seeing their friends and hotel guests shot in front of them.

As I stood up before them, I felt overwhelmed by their pain and the trauma that they had been through. As I searched for words, I recalled this passage – that Jesus stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you’ (v.36) and showed them his hands and his feet. Even after his resurrection he still carries the scars of his suffering into eternity.

Notes:

John Stott, Issues facing Christians Today, (Zondervan, 2006) p.368

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

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