What is sin? Is it breaking one (or more) of the Ten Commandments. Is it doing something that hurts yourself and/or someone else? It is all of that and more. Sin is actually so pervasive that it is difficult to avoid, even when we are doing what we perceive to be good things. Rob Bell found this out when, as the pastor of a dynamic, growing church he discovered that a significant amount of his time was spent trying to please other people and he was crumbling under the load. As he describes in his book “Velvet Elvis”, he started going to a therapist for counseling. The therapist helped him to see that he was overreacting to an experience in his early teens that created a need in him to prove his worth to himself and others. His issue was a simple one: sin. Then the therapist said, “Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it.”

Wow! Talk about pervasive. That covers a lot of ground – anything that keeps us from the relentless pursuit of who God has made us to be. Or, as I like to put it, that would be anything that hinders us from accomplishing our purpose in life, or in other words from fulfilling our God-ordained destiny. So to avoid sin we need to discover our purpose in life, the destiny that God intends for us and we need to passionately pursue it. And that means nothing short of our salvation; not only the forgiveness of our sins, but also our reconciliation with God and one another. God intends for us to learn to live more and more in harmony with him and all of his children. Our salvation then is part of his larger plan to restore the whole of his creation, of which we are an integral part. As the author of Ephesians says,

“{God} has made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…” (Ephesians 1:9-11 NIV)

Or, as Rob Bell says,

“Salvation is the entire universe being brought back into harmony with its maker.”

In light of this understanding it is incumbent upon us to make sure we are doing nothing that hinders God from accomplishing his purpose in us and through us for his whole creation. The relentless pursuit of who God has made us to be means leaving all else behind and following Jesus wherever he leads us, rather than following our own agenda, however good we think it to be. Anything that hinders us in that pursuit is sin. Consider what is at stake, for

“All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8:21-22 NLT)

Our pastor reminded us today of the responsibility we have as followers of Christ. After his resurrection, and just before his ascension into heaven, Jesus charged his disciples with what has come to be known as the Great Commission. He said,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

Jesus had spent some three years preaching about the kingdom of God, ministering to the poor, the sick and the outcasts, and teaching his disciples in the process, grooming them to participate in his ministry. Having alienated the religious authorities, he was arrested on trumped-up charges, ridiculed, scourged and then put to death on the cross. However, three days later he rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples on several occasions, on the last of which he gave them this charge. He also instructed them,

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:5,6,8 NIV)

The he was taken up to heaven and a cloud hid him from their sight. They waited as he had instructed, and then forty days later

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:1-4 NIV)

Hearing the noise, a large crowd gathered. Peter, who not many days before had denied knowing Jesus, stood before them and preached a powerful sermon declaring that Jesus, whom they had seen crucified, had been raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of God, where he had received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and had poured out what they now saw and heard. He urged them,

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 2:38-39, 41 NIV)

The Holy Spirit had passed the baton of ministry from Jesus to the Body of Christ, the Church. What began some two thousand years ago is still happening today. As followers of Christ, we are tasked with carrying on his ministry. As our pastor said today, we are writing the next chapters of the Book of Acts. And as Watchman Nee says in his book “The Release of the Spirit”:

“The people of God should know the ultimate purpose of the church, and also the inter-relationship among the church, God’s power, and God’s work. There came a time when God committed Himself to human form – in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Before the Word became flesh, God’s fullness knew no bounds. However, once the incarnation became a reality, His work and His power were limited to the flesh. Will this man, Jesus Christ, restrict or manifest God? The Bible shows us that, far from limiting God, He has wonderfully manifested God’s fullness. The fullness of God is the fullness of this flesh.

In our day God commits Himself to the church. His power and His work are in the church. Just as in the Gospels we find all God’s work given to the Son, so today God has entrusted all His works to the church and will not act apart from it. From the day of Pentecost up to the present, God’s work has been carried out through the church. Think of the church’s tremendous responsibility. God’s committal to the church is like His committal previously to one Man, Christ -without reservation or restriction. But the church may restrict God’s work or limit his manifestation…”

It is our responsibility to see that this does not happen. We must yield ourselves to God to allow him to work through us unhindered. When we do, as Jesus said,

“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 NIV)