Most people over 50 years will remember how a student protest in Tehran in 1979 went awry and the U.S. Embassy was invaded. Fifty-two American hostages were held for 444 days in a horrifying breach of international law. The nation feared for their safety. The State Department managed to keep quiet, however, that six American staffers who had been outside the Embassy during the attack, had not been seized. The six managed to find their way to the Canadian Embassy in Tehran where they were quietly housed for three months. There are debates about who did what but Ambassador Ken Taylor was certainly at the heart of the scheme to issue Canadian passports to the Americans and smuggle them out of Iran with the rest of the Canadian delegation in 1980. It was a brave act in turbulent times. When the plane with the six Americans touched down on American soil, the nation rejoiced. Taylor was lauded by American politicians and media outlets. He was later made an Officer of the Order of Canada and awarded the American Congressional Gold Medal. What an ambassador for Canada he was.
It is indeed strange that I had chosen this sermon topic a month ago and even then planned to use Mr. Taylor in Tehran as my opening illustration. We were all saddened to learn of his passing some ten days ago. It is an even greater coincidence that his memorial service is going to be held here at Eaton Memorial this coming week.
Let us think for a few moments of the role of ambassadors. Most countries send an ambassador and staff to other major countries of the world to maintain diplomatic relations. The ambassador represents the monarch, the president, or the parliament of the country that sends them. In host nations, they are to be extended all the honours and privileges of the one(s) in whose place they stand. Their duty is to be the voice of their nation in an international relationship. An American government website describes their duties as interacting “with host governments, local business and non-governmental organizations, the media and educational institutions, and private citizens to create positive responses to U.S. policy and the U.S. in general.” The ambassadorial office is a high office and an ambassador has a significant role in international relations representing his/her country.
It is intriguing then that the apostle Paul states in II Corinthians 5, “We are ambassadors for Christ.” The Apostle knew exactly what he was saying when he wrote these words. The original Greek term that he uses often translates the Latin word, legatus. Paul would have known that the Roman legate had great significance and power. He would have known that the legate was direct representative of the Emperor in Rome to a province. So when Paul says, to the Christians in Corinth, “We are ambassadors for Christ,” he is intimating that same relationship between Emperor and legate/ambassador exists between God and Christian. Christians thus have the high office of representing the kingdom of heaven in the world.
What does it mean to be an ambassador for Christ in the world? It struck me first that for ambassadors to fulfil their obligations and speak for their own country, close ties and communication must be kept with the government that sends them. The Vienna Convention On Consular Relations specifies that ambassadors be allowed direct access to their government and that it be unimpeded. Diplomatic mailbags, messages of various kinds are inviolable. They are not to be opened, looked at, tampered with in any way so that when the Canadian Foreign Office sends out a communiqué to their ambassador, it is a direct message, a message only for the ambassador that will guide them in their dealings with host nations whether they be in London, Moscow, Tehran, or Buenos Aires.
Communication is important and it is also important for the ambassador of Christ. When God calls us to be his representatives, he does not leave us alone but provides access in the form of prayer. It is something that is unbroken no matter where we are. We can be out on the street, God hears us. We may be in a workplace or in our homes, God hears us. It may seem that we are far away from our home nation at times, the kingdom of heaven, yet, wherever we are God hears us and sometimes speaks.
When I lived in Ottawa a number of people in my congregation were members of the military. There was a base in Ottawa, CFB Uplands, and a number of office buildings downtown related to National Defence. I became quite friendly with several but particularly with one man who was in the intelligence wing. He was a strong Christian but he always found that it wasn’t easy being a Christian in the military and we had a few chats about it. Sometimes he’d be ridiculed about his faith. The lewd habits and attitudes of other soldiers would sometimes get to him. He said that it was difficult, particularly at first. Overall, he felt that he was living in a foreign land. The values of his co-workers were different, the “ribbing” from some was relentless. I asked him how he got through. He said, “it’s prayer, prayer is the thing. If I can get away every once in a while, if I can spend a little time talking to God and listening, it strengthens me. It helps me. It reminds me that God is with me.”
If we ourselves want to be ambassadors of Christ in the world, we are going to need that sort of strength and to be in regular communication with the one who sent us. Among other things, prayer will keep us grounded, it will keep us strengthened, it will keep us close to the mind of the one who sent us. Just as ambassadors maintain close ties with those who send them, we must maintain close ties with God through prayer.
Second, it struck me about ambassadors that the embassies and the official residences they keep are essentially little outposts of the nations which establish them. They are like sovereign territories. No one can enter them, no matter how high up in the host country, without an invitation. The laws and customs of the sending state govern them. It may have been an ordinary Monday afternoon in Rome on the twelfth of October but inside the Canadian Embassy, it was Thanksgiving. A Canadian embassy, even though it exists in a foreign land, operates under Canadian custom and law and no other.
Thus, I wondered about the ambassadors of Christ, can it be said that our embassies and residences function like little bits of the kingdom of heaven that we represent? Do God’s guidelines and customs prevail in our homes and our churches?
The children in Sunday School have learned a very catchy song to help them remember the list that we call “the fruit of the Spirit.” In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said that “the fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?” I myself never memorised the list until I heard the children’s song. The song is a big help, but what the children are memorising are not mere words, they point to ways of being, ways that reflect life in the Spirit of God and the question arises, “If we are ambassadors of Christ, are our homes places where“ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” are lived out?” Our Church is supposed to be a place where “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” guide all our interactions. Can we say that our homes and churches, like an ambassadors residence and workplace are governed by the laws and customs of the kingdom we represent?
Third, I was thinking that there are always dangers for ambassadors living in a foreign land. One of them arises when an ambassador stays too long in one place. Immigrants know this as well but when one stays too long in one place, one loses touch with what is going on back home and some of the nuances of one’s own culture. One tends to absorb the atmosphere of wherever it is you live, its culture and values and an ambassador can, therefore, become less effective as a voice for the country and government that sent him/her. A Canadian ambassador, for instance, not only needs to keep communicating with the Foreign Office, he or she needs to come back to Canada regularly to imbibe Canadian culture, Canadian values, interact with Canadian friends and colleagues if he/she is truly to represent Canada in a different place. You have to actually be here to know that “the six” means Toronto or that “Come Together” is not just a Beatles song but shows support for the Blue Jays. The changes, the influences, the nuances can be much more significant, however, and ambassadors need to spend time at home to know how their nation and its people think.
That would be equally true for those who would be ambassadors of Christ in the world. The influences of the world can be subtle, flashing before our eyes, direct or subliminal messages. They invite us to certain lifestyles, ways of thinking and being. It’s so easy to accept a different standard, to lose a sense of godly values and so the ambassador of Christ must “go home” regularly to the person and the “kingdom” he/she represents. For the ambassador of Christ “going home” might mean spending more time in God’s word, doing it regularly and being reminded of the culture and values of the kingdom of heaven. “Going home” might mean maintaining a regular practice of worship in Church, being among other citizens of God’s kingdom who are trying also to keep in tune with God’s values.
I know for me personally, when I was in the early days of dabbling with Christianity, I wasn’t that interested in worship services or church. I had disliked Church when I was a child and had stayed away from it for some years. But some things happened in life and I became interested in “the whole God thing.” I started reading about it in books and I started to read the Bible as well. It had an impact but you might say that my life wasn’t really in tune with it and I didn’t really change. I was struggling with it and remember one night talking to God and it was as if God said to me, “If you want help being a Christian, you need to get among some Christian people, get some Christian friends, go to Church.” I remember fighting it for months but eventually surprised my mother one day and went to church with her. There were a few people there that I had known from school. They invited me to go out with them for a meal after and it started friendships that took me to a different level in my Christian walk. Being among God’s people was like “being home.” Worshipping with them, interacting with them is so important for the ambassador who would go out into the world as Christ’s representative. Ambassadors need to take steps to maintain their ties with their own culture and kingdom.
The last thing that I would suggest to you comes directly from that American website quoted earlier about the role of ambassadors. The website indicated that ambassadors were to interact with the host country at all levels “to create positive responses to U.S. policy and the U.S. in general.” Think of what would happen if every Christian went out and interacted with the world in such a way that they create positive responses to God’s policies and values and to God and Christianity in general.
In the Western world, for complex reasons, we have been going through a massive decline in Christian faith. Just a couple of weeks ago, again the news media picked up on the closure of grand old churches, particularly in Quebec. I believe it was CTV News that carried a story of a lovely Church building that had been sold and currently was being used by a trampoline sports club. The high vaulted ceilings were great for trampolines. In this difficult environment we need more ambassadors who will go out and create positive responses to God’s policies and values and God?
In our Church, the 2015 Long Range Planning Committee just produced a five year plan for Eaton Memorial. It’s not yet published but as a preview, the committee is encouraging us in the right direction. They’ve said that we all need to think about turning the tide and growing the Church. They’ve put membership development at the forefront of what Eaton Memorial is about. That seems like a job for ambassadors. In preparation for this sermon, I did a quick read through II Corinthians noting key elements. In chapter 2 I found some lovely words describing the Christian’s role. It says that Christ leads us and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved.” In chapter 5, more concretely, Paul writes, “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others.” Again in chapter five Paul writes of us having a ministry of reconciliation … ambassadors for Christ, through whom God makes his appeal to others.
It’s a consistent theme. It means that its up to us! Yikes! That’s not easy thought. As a generation we’ve been taught not to talk about things like religion to our neighbours; it’s considered a private matter. As a generation we’ve been taught not to proselytise, it demeans the beliefs of others. As a generation we’ve been taught in the liberal church that evangelism is for the “biblical literalists” and “fundamentalist” wings of Christianity. But what if it is true? What if the broad story of God in the Bible is really true? What if God really is going to judge the world? What if Jesus really did die for the sins of the world? What if he really did rise from the dead? What if there really is an eternity? What if the good news actually is good news? It would be a shame not to share those things and we must ask ourselves whether we will follow the teachings of the generation, or step out, perhaps, as liberal evangelicals, as ambassadors of Christ in the world? When called upon, Ken Taylor, at great personal risk, stepped up to the plate in Tehran. Are we equally willing to step up and represent God?
In my former church in Markham, above the main doors of the church, on the inside, large letters made up the words, “You are now entering the mission field.” So every Sunday as people left the church, they would see these words, “You are now entering the mission field.” They are important words. Useful words. Words that remind us that in some ways our citizenship is in another kingdom and we go out to share news of that wonderful kingdom with others. And it is such a wonderful kingdom, marked by love and good will, peace and joy, a place where kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are ways of life. It is a place of light, where sins are no more and grace abounds in forgiveness. It is a beautiful place where the presence of God is palpable. Here and now, we are called to keep God’s kingdom before our eyes, to live as if it were already here, and to represent Jesus in this world. So let us be faithful ambassadors. Let us draw strength and direction from the communication we can have with God through prayer. Let us set aside our residences as embassies of Heaven where God’s values, God’s ways are lived out. Let us not forget to “go home” regularly to ensure that our ties to our homeland remain strong and that it be the main influence in our lives. And then let us go forth, into the mission field with good news. Ambassadors wanted. Charles Wesley said it well when he wrote, “Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim, and publish abroad his wonderful name.”