A Christ-Centered Recipe for Transforming the City

This morning, what I would like to share with you is a biblical recipe—or rather, I would say, a Christ-centered recipe—for transforming the city. And when I normally speak about transforming the city, in my heart I have a very special concern for the Latino community, the Latino people. Because you know that this is a critical time for our people throughout the United States. Over the last two weeks, we have been seeing the immigration marches; we have been seeing an incredible movement. And it has already been said, hasn’t it, for the last ten or fifteen years, that a giant has awakened—and that giant is the Latino people.

But we are at the point where we, as the church, have to ask a question: in everything that is happening, everything taking place right now, what is the part or role of the church in this whole matter? Do you understand me?

We have a God of love; we have a God of justice; we have a God who cares about the whole world. And we see in the Bible that we have a God with a great heart for those in need. I have three children, and I don’t know whether some of you here are fathers or mothers, right? As a father, I have had the experience of one of my three children being sick—with a fever, vomiting, being fussy, shouting, crying, right? Lord, now you’re giving me the voice. Amen. Right? That’s what happens when they give us the microphone, isn’t it?

But there is one of your children, crying, seriously ill, and do you know what I do and what I have done on occasion? I go and get that child and put the child in my arms. I sit them there even when they are grown, and it doesn’t matter because they are still my children. I sit them there close to me, hugging them, praying for them and showing them love. Then I send for my wife; she comes too, and both of us are completely focused on that sick child. And what about the other two? Well, we love them dearly. It isn’t that we don’t love them or that we love them less, but at that moment, when one is sick and in bad shape, the love of a father or a mother has the capacity to say, “Well, son, daughter, you’re all right. You know that I love you, but right now I have to focus on this one who is seriously ill.”

And that is God’s love toward those in need in this world. That is why, whenever we see oppression—wherever someone is oppressed, wherever someone is suffering, wherever someone is struggling to survive—I want to assure you that God is there. God is there, and you and I can say so not only as a biblical truth but also as a personal testimony. We have been in situations where we have felt as though God leaves everyone else in the whole world and comes to embrace us and show us his love in such a profound and personal way that we do not know what to do.

The only response is to thank the Lord. And after going through that time of sickness, we feel the freedom to receive that healing from the Lord. Okay?

So, this morning I want to talk a little about this God. And I want to give you a biblical, or Christ-centered, recipe—and there are six ingredients that I am going to propose this morning that the church must have in order to impact the world, to impact and touch the life of the neediest person. We may be talking about Latino people, but I believe that everyone has needs. And as Pastor Miranda just said, the Latino is an important and special person in this world because we are a bridge-building people.

We know how to navigate life among Anglos, and we can also get down with the brothers. Do you understand me? We can speak gently with African Americans, we can show respect for the elderly, and we can speak loudly like the Poles. Right? It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter—but the Latino people... we have a heart to love, touch and serve people in need, no matter where they are.

There is a biblical recipe that we are going to share, and there are six ingredients that I believe the Word urges us to keep present in our church. A couple of years ago, I went to a bookstore, Barnes & Noble, one of those big stores, and I was looking for a cookbook for my wife. She cooks well, let me tell you, but I wanted to give her a few more ideas, right? Yes, because if they are recording this, I have to say that. Honey, I love you very much; you cook well—that’s why I’m so chubby. That doesn’t lie. Right? And I found a cookbook called “Fifty Recipes for Making Tasty Salsa.”

Well, I began to look, search and read, and I thought, “Well, how can there be fifty recipes for making salsa?” So I began to see incredible ingredients: nuts, pineapple, vegetables, all kinds of elements and combinations that couldn’t possibly be Mexican, right? Let me put it that way: strange. And in the end I decided not to buy that book because I was already very confused, right? But what we do see in the Bible, I believe, is that there are clearly certain things that must be present in our church. And this morning we are going to do a study in the Book of Luke. We are going to look at several verses and begin in chapter 4, but we will really focus on Luke chapter 5.

In Luke 4:18–19, let me read for us the passage in which we see Jesus’ first public sermon, or the beginning of his public ministry. And this is something quite important for us. It is certainly true that we have a personal faith, do you understand me? You can—or you must—have a personal faith, but it can never be a private faith; it must always be a public faith. Okay? And public not only here within the four walls of the church, but in society, right? Because that is what it means to be alive in Christ: that you can now be light and salt among everyone.

But look at what I read here, beginning in verse 18: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

So, when Jesus begins his ministry, it is obvious that he is going to declare his mission. He begins his ministry, and at the outset, like any effective leader, do you know what he says? Brothers and sisters, this is what we are going to do; this is the focus. Because if we did not know—if you did not know the vision of the church—and I can clearly see that in this church you understand the vision. You already know it; it is clear because you are constantly being told what the Lord has called us to do. Jesus stands up and says, “Look, this is my mission; this is why I came.” And we know that Jesus came to give us salvation, to give his life in order to provide that sacrifice which gives eternal life to every one of us. But we have to look at what he says as he begins his ministry. He says, “I have come anointed by the Holy Spirit.” It is not a social program; it is not something arising from the mind of a human being. He says that the Spirit of God is upon him, and this is what he comes to do: he comes to proclaim good news to whom? To the poor.

I don’t know how you take it, but when you are poor, you do not want to hear all the time that you are poor. Do you understand me? And many times, when we read this kind of passage, people get a little nervous because they say, “Who is he talking about? Is he talking about my neighbor, about someone else, or is he talking about me?” Well, if we start examining each person’s bank account, then I know that many of us qualify as the poor in this passage, right?

But in reality, we know that in this world we are rich; we are rich. You already know that, of the six billion people living in this world, almost two billion have to live every day on less than two dollars a day. And that does not surprise you because some of you have lived it. Okay? But what a blessing that we now have a different experience, another opportunity, in this country. Jesus tells us, “Look, I want to bless you. If you live a Christian life, an upright life, an honest life, you will succeed; you will not live in poverty.” But here he tells us, “Look, for my part, I have come to proclaim good news to the poor.” And some people want to say, “Look, that speaks only of spiritual poverty.” And I believe there is truth in that. We are all spiritually poor. We have nothing to offer God.

But it is also important to know that God does not care only about your soul. God cares about your whole being. God cares about your whole being. That is why we pray, “Lord, give me food for this day. Give me something to eat today,” right? That is why you work and do everything you can to provide for your families, and you ask God. You know that God is a being who provides, but there are thousands and thousands of people in this country and throughout the world who qualify as the poor whom Jesus mentions here. And in his ministry we are going to see examples of these poor people.

But this is what I want to tell you... this is the first ingredient. If a church is going to minister effectively to those in need, it must take Jesus’ mission as its own mission. Because if you do not declare—if we do not declare—if we are not absolutely clear, if we are not intentional about saying, “Look, this church is here to reach everyone—the rich, Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans; the culture or background does not matter; we are here for everyone.” But when we read the Bible and Jesus’ instructions, we see that he focuses on the sick child, on the poor, and we must do the same.

And the church that accepts this mission and takes on the mission to the poor as Jesus did—do you know what happens? It does not see a social program or a ministry to the poor as something off to the side. Instead, it takes it as the heart of its ministry.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is reminding us that there are prisoners, blind people and oppressed people to whom no one else will pay attention. And if we who confess that we have the Spirit of God among us are not going to be the hands and feet of God, who will be?

So, the first ingredient is that we must take the same mission Jesus had as our own mission.

Second: in Luke 5 we see the first place where Jesus begins to call a group of disciples—Peter and his brothers. And it is interesting because these men are busy businessmen, and I believe they are quite successful. They work hard, probably there around the lake, and they are thinking, “Look, we are already saving money for retirement. I want to return to my homeland after I retire so I can have an easy life.” They already have plans. He is a religious person; he is Jewish; he is from Galilee; he is a person whom I imagine everyone respects. But Jesus enters the lives of these businessmen and tells them, “Look, I want you to leave everything you have and come follow me.”

And look at what it says in verse 10, chapter 5, verse 10: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will fish for people,” Jesus said to Simon. So Jesus speaks to this group, calls them and then tells them, “Look, I know what you are going to do. The step you are going to take is a big step.” That is why he says, “Do not be afraid.”

Why is Simon afraid? Because he is considering, “Look, am I willing to leave everything to follow this teacher, this rabbi, this religious leader? Am I willing to leave everything?” And many times, when we read this passage and hear these words of Jesus in which he says, “Look, from now on you will fish for people,” it is a passage that we often use to speak about evangelism. Right?

Have you used it that way? Look, everyone out there has the privilege of fishing for people... we are going to go evangelize. As I reflect a little on this passage, do you know what else I believe is important? We have just heard Jesus’ mission, which is to minister to whom? To those in need, to the poor, to the oppressed, right? He declares his mission and, like any good leader, do you know what he does next? He begins to gather a group, to recruit a team, to look for men and women who can work with him. Because do you know what a good leader knows? That he cannot do anything alone. We cannot fulfill God’s plans as one person alone. The Lord has given us the body, the family of God, the church, so that all of us together may each take our specific place and position, right? We all have gifts, abilities, talents and passions, and God needs all of us.

But what we see here is that Jesus declares his mission: “I am here to minister to the person to whom no one else wants to minister, but to do that, to fulfill that mission in this world, I need a team.” So this is what Jesus does: he immediately begins to assemble a team. For what? Only to evangelize? I don’t think so, but rather to carry out and fulfill his purposes in this world. And at the center of his purpose is ministering to those most in need.

The second ingredient the church must have is that it must lead and send its people—teams of people—to focus on ministering to those most in need. That is part of what it means to transform society. We come out from within the four walls of the church and say, “Look, we come here, we are filled with the joy of the Spirit of God, we prepare ourselves, we are anointed, we love one another, we encourage one another, so that we can go out into the world and transform every person, every system and every situation of injustice, because if we do not do it, no one will.”

The mission to the poor, a team, and then we move on, and the next story we see is the story of a man who has leprosy, whom Jesus heals. Look at what it says in verse 13, after an encounter—something interesting—it says that the man with leprosy comes looking for Jesus, and then he gets down and kneels on the floor, on the ground, in the street, in humility, and says to him, “Lord, can you heal me? Do you want to heal me? Do you feel like healing me?” And look at what Jesus says: “Jesus reached out his hand, touched the sick man, and said to him, ‘Yes, I am willing. Be healed.’ Immediately the man was completely healed.”

There are two miracles that I see in this example, in this story. The first miracle is the obvious one. God heals this man who is sick with leprosy. He heals him, it says, completely. That is what we want, right? We want to be healed completely, and many times that takes time, that takes..... because the Lord does his part, and we always have to keep surrendering our lives to him. The first miracle is that he heals him completely.

The second miracle I see in this passage, which is key to what we are talking about this morning, is how he does it, how he does it. Instead of keeping his distance from this man who had this ugly disease, instead of saying to him, ‘Look, stay there, because I don’t want to become unclean. I don’t want to get too close. Be healed.’ He had the power to do it that way, right? But instead of doing that, what the Bible says is that he seeks out the man with this horrible, contagious skin disease, touches him, and says to him, ‘Brother, you know that I want to heal you. Be healed.’ The second miracle is how he does it.

And, brothers and sisters, this is the third ingredient the church must have: a clear mission, a strong team, and we must have a personal ministry to people in need. Because don’t you know that people do not need programs; they need ministries, they need people..... because when someone goes to the line or the public assistance office, do you know what they do? Do they know you by name or by number? You are a number. When we go anywhere where they are there to serve us, they make us feel like less; they do not treat us with dignity or look us in the eye. We are not human beings; we are their job, we are what they have to do to receive their paycheck.

But Christians and the church that follows Jesus’ example—we are completely different. We have the compassion and love to touch people in a personal way; we have a relationship, we offer encouragement, we are not afraid, we are not afraid to embrace them, to encourage them, to say, ‘Look, if you need anything, I am here, I am willing.’ Something so simple, but it is an ingredient that I believe we often do not have in the church.

A very clear mission to the poor, a team, and then the way to minister is this: we must make sure that everything we do is done in a personal way. That does not mean there is no organization, because the pastor here is a little worried: ‘Look, we need to have order, we need to know who is.....’ I am not calling for disorder, but I am urging us to have compassion and touch people in a personal way. Because that is what has transformed their lives. Do you understand?

If you are here, someone probably came and touched you in a tender, personal way, with a great deal of love, and you responded to the Lord’s love.

We see the next ingredient in Luke 5, which is the story of the paralytic. The next person to encounter Jesus is a paralyzed man, and he has four friends who bring him to the place where Jesus is preaching, and the passage says that the power of God was with Jesus. And that is as true now as it was then. The power of God is ready; it is present to heal, to give new life to everyone.

But look at what it says, beginning in verse 18. It says, “Then some men arrived carrying a paralytic on a mat. They tried to enter and place him before Jesus, but they could not because of the crowd, so they went up onto the roof and, removing the tiles, lowered him on the mat until they placed him in the middle of the people, in front of Jesus.”

So, the story is very interesting because it tells us nothing about the owners of the house, how they felt, or what was happening with them, right? But the young guys arrive—and I say they are young guys because those of us who are older, grown men, no longer have the energy to do this, to climb onto the roof of the house. Do you understand me? Well, except for Pastor Miranda and me; the two of us would be up there, right? But the men arrive and cannot get in, and this is what many of us do.

The Lord has given us a calling to take up the mission of serving those most in need. We have a team of four; we already have a relationship with that paralytic. We already have a personal touch, but in the process of trying to help them—not merely putting a Band-Aid on it, but helping them have a new life in every area of their lives—do you know what happens? We encounter difficulties, barriers; it is hard, there is no room, there are crowds, and we decide, well, that is all I can do. The program is over. There is nothing more, and thank God that at least we took you on an outing to see Jesus, right, to where he is. But they do not do that. Filled with passion to get this man there, right into the midst of where Jesus is, they do something crazy, something incredible, to make sure it happens.

And I believe that the next ingredient we need in the church is that we must be creative. We have to be crazy. We have to be free to say, ‘Look, I have to think outside these lines, I have to think in different ways, I have to do whatever it takes to help people, to bring them into the presence of Jesus.’

And let me ask you: when was the last time we did something like that? Right? When everyone says, ‘Look, what are they doing? They are crazy; that cannot be done. That is impossible. It is not possible to do what...... no.’ And normal people do not have the energy, do not have the love, do not have the passion, do not have the ability to persevere in order to fulfill a mission. But we, who have embraced Jesus’ mission to those most in need, who have a great team, who already have relationships with people, you know—that gives us the courage to say, ‘We are going to do whatever it takes to help people.’ Okay? That is a vital ingredient. We must have it.

And now that we are feeling a little encouraged, we see the next ingredient. And we find this one in the following story, where Levi, a tax collector, has an encounter with Jesus and then says to Jesus, ‘Look, I want to have a party at my house.’ And let me tell you that it is not a Christian gathering. That is not what we see here, as we think of it in the church. It is a party; it is a party with all his worldly friends, and the disciples and the religious leaders go to see what is happening. When they arrive, everyone is nervous except Jesus and Levi and the friends who are farthest from God. They feel good, they feel comfortable, they are living their lives. They are showing their true faces: this is who I am; I am a sinner, I am a tax collector. Jesus has no problem with that. Because he knows that he came to reach those kinds of people.

And after a little while, he sees that everyone is having far too much fun, and Jesus, the disciples, and the others begin to talk, and they say to him, ‘You know, why is Jesus here with these sinners?’ And do you know what Jesus says to them?

Let’s read: “....but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to the same sect complained to Jesus’ disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’” And look at what Jesus says: “‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick,’ Jesus answered them. ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”

So, the next ingredient we need if we are going to take up Jesus’ mission to those most in need is that we must expect to encounter criticism, barriers, and great challenges. If we focus on reaching people who have everything, only the educated, the people I relate to well, do you understand me? If we do not make the effort, if we do not make the effort to go and seek out the people no one else wants, our work may be a little smoother, a little easier, but not more biblical.

Do you know what I love about the church? It is that there are many people here who are still not perfect. How wonderful that we have problems in the church! How wonderful that there are clashes and conflicts! Do you know why? Because within the church you have the ability to resolve those things, because the Lord can change you. The Spirit of God is transforming you. And if we wait until everyone cleans themselves up and gets everything right outside before coming in, forget it; this church will not reach anyone. But if we open the doors of the church and say, ‘Look, if... some of these foolish people.....’ We have to be patient with them, but it does not matter, because God is great. God is good. Do you understand this? It is part of the process.

So, this is what we see: criticism, criticism. We cannot enter into this work, this undertaking of transforming the world and impacting the community, of having an impact throughout the city of Boston, throughout the entire country, without having someone criticize us. Because do you know what they are mainly going to tell us? ‘Look, that is not the church’s job.’ What you should do is only pray or preach or whatever, or have a potluck down there in the basement. That is fine, but going out into the streets to seek justice, to minister to those most in need—forget it. That is the job of educated people or politicians, and we have to say, ‘No, no, Lord; that is why the Lord has filled us with the Spirit of God: to go out and minister and make an impact.’

And this is the final ingredient. Mission, a team, a personal touch, being creative, expecting this kind of criticism, and the last one is—and we find it in this passage. Look at what verse 37 says: “And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the new wine will burst the wineskins; the wine will spill out, and the wineskins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.”

Jesus was teaching the disciples that when God begins to do something new, the church or the system we have can almost never withstand or hold the new wine God is pouring out. What does that mean? That if we begin to take this mission seriously—to go, to be a church that will extend its efforts to touch those most in need—we are going to have to change. We are going to have to adjust; we are going to have to be willing to ask, ‘Lord, will what we are doing right now be effective when we begin opening the church’s door to receive those most in need, or have we already reached the point of being so rigid that you can no longer do anything new among us? Are the only people we can reach with the system we have respectable people, those everyone wants, but not the rejected?’ And I believe that this is the final ingredient: if we are truly going to have the ability to impact those most in need, gang members, people who have nothing, people who are suffering in prisons, we cannot wait for them to come to us. We are going to have to change and go out to where they are.

And I will close with this. When I started my church in Chicago, in La Viita, we had a Christmas party, and I asked everyone to bring a dish of food to share—a potluck, right?—after the service. And I made a Christmas salsa, and it was a very strange salsa. Walnuts, pineapple, all kinds of strange ingredients, like in the recipe book I told you about. And I brought my special salsa to the La Viita party, and it sat there on that table, and no one wanted to touch it. And finally, one of my friends—this big brother whom I met when he was in an alcohol rehabilitation program—became a good friend, became a Christian, began to follow Christ, a good friend of mine. He comes over, shows me a great deal of love, and says to me, ‘Pastor, you cannot make salsa without tomatoes, because it is not real salsa if you do not put tomatoes in it. You are crazy....’ No, he did not tell me I was crazy. But that is what I want to tell you this morning: if the six ingredients I have just shared with you are not present in your church, you will not impact those most in need, and we cannot make salsa in the church without those tomatoes, which are essential.

But the good news this morning is that you are a church that is ready, and you are so excited to make a difference for Christ in this city. I thank the Lord, and I will be praying for you. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be with you, and may God bless you.

Amen. I believe that this call to have a clear mission, to be creative, among other things, to work as a team, to touch people in a personal way, and the other points Noel mentioned are key for us as a church. That is why it is so important to have people like Noel, who travel throughout the nation, who know the pulse of the church in different parts of the United States, come and fertilize us with their experience and reinforce the things God has already told us as a church.

I believe there is a spiritual aspect that a church has, which is important—and in fact, ultimately everything is spiritual, as we can see—but sometimes we identify the spiritual only with praising, reading the Bible, and praying. Yet serving others, transforming society, and being like salt that mixes with other substances to impart its flavor are also part of it. That is part of the church’s calling, and that is what I believe our brother Noel inspires and reinforces in us as a congregation. In the same way, we were very active in the immigration issue recently, and God used this church, and He used Damaris and Patty in that regard, to inspire and encourage us to get involved in this. That is part of the church’s calling, and that is why it is important to know those ingredients that will shape the way we engage with the world. So we thank God for that.

Let us stand now. Let us say amen to what we have received from Noel, and then Gonzalo and the others will lead us in a closing chorus. Father, thank You. We say amen. Thank You for the calling You have given this church. Continue to reinforce that calling, Lord. Help us to be humble people, but also people filled with the Holy Spirit, encouraged people, people possessed by a clear vision that comes from Your Word and from Jesus Christ Himself. Help us to be an agent of transformation, Father, in every dimension of the life of this community. We bless our preacher and ask that You fill him with Your Holy Spirit, Lord, and that each day You take him further and further, using his gifts, Father, to inspire and strengthen Your church throughout this nation. Thank You, Father. This morning we embrace Your vision and give You all the glory and all the honor, in the name of Jesus. Give the Lord a great round of applause this morning. Glory to God. Amen. Amen.