In September 2007, Lufkin's First Baptist Church started the first African-American, BGCT church in Angelina County. We began this process by entering into a partnership with the church planter / pastor, Stephen Pinkney. For the first year and a half of New Beginnings' existence as a mission church, they have met in our chapel building for Sunday morning and Thursday evening services. We agreed to allow them to meet in our chapel "rent free" for a maximum of two years. Today (Sunday, March 29, 2009) was the last Sunday New Beginnings met in our church facilities. They will begin meeting in their own facility next Sunday.
To celebrate their last Sunday in First Baptist's building, we worshipped together for the second time. We also conducted a "dedication service" to send them out into the community.
My original thought was to call this service a "commissioning service," modeled after the commissioning of a missionary. However, "commissioning" symbolizes a tranfer of authority from one group, which has authority, to someone who has no authority. We chose to call this a "dedication service," because dedication is a word that functions in two distinct ways. On one hand, it is possible to dedicate someone other than one's self, by setting them apart for special service. On the other hand, it is possible to dedicate one's self, by committing to be set apart from the rest of the world.
While New Beginnings Baptist Church will continue to function as a mission of First Baptist for a few more years, we acknoweldge that New Beginnings and her members are brothers and sisters to us at First Baptist. We do not stand over them as an authority. We want to be "fellow workers" with them in the ministry of reconciliation in Lufkin and around the world.
God’s Fellow Workers
2 Corinthians 5: 16 – 6: 2.
I. Introduction.
When I was a child, there was no such thing as a mountain bike. Today, roughly 65% of all bicycles sold in the United States are mountain bikes. But, do you know the story of how mountain bikes were first invented? It’s pretty interesting, considering the fact that mountain biking was a popular sport for over 10 years before any of the bicycle companies ever sold a single mountain bike.
When mountain biking became popular, the only bicycles available for purchase were road bikes. People who wanted to ride their bikes off the paved roads had to make their own modifications. They added fatter tires, bigger brake pads and shock absorbers. Ten years later, the bike companies recognized a trend and started building mountain bikes to sell to their customers. Today, mountain bike sales account for approximately $60 Billion in sales (Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything [New York: Portfolio, 2008], pp. 328 – 329). On one hand, this story illustrates what can happen when businesses listen to their customers. On the other hand, it illustrates the power of collaboration.
Collaboration is a good New Testament word. Of course, you might have a hard time finding “collaboration” in your Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, because it’s not actually listed among the words of the Bible. But just because the word is not mentioned in the Bible does not mean it is not a good New Testament word. “Collaboration” as a concept appears several places in the New Testament.
Our English word “collaborate” is a compound word. It begins with the prefix “co,” which means “together.” It ends with a form of the word “labor,” which means “to work.” Therefore, the concept of “collaboration” is found wherever the Bible tells us that we ought to “work together.”
There is a great Greek word that captures this idea of “collaboration.” It is the word, synergos. This is also a compound word built on the prefix “syn” which means “together” and the root word “ergos,” which means “work.” This is the word which developed into our English word “synergy.”
The Greek word “synergos” appears 13 times in the New Testament, and its verbal form, “synergeo,” appears 5 times. Interestingly, only 3 of the 18 occurrences of these words appear OUTSIDE of the writings of Paul. In other words, the Apostle Paul had a lot to say about “working together.”
The most common way these words are translated is the expression, “fellow worker.” Paul often associated the phrase “fellow worker” with specific men and women in the Bible. Paul named people like Priscilla, Aquilla, Timothy, Luke, Mark, Barnabas and Silas as his “fellow workers.” (The complete list of Paul’s “fellow workers” includes Urbanus, Apollos, Epaphraditus, Aristarchus, Jesus called Justus, Philemon and Demas. A total of 14 people!) These “fellow workers” were the men and women who had studied under Paul’s teachings and accompanied him on his missionary journeys.
It is a safe assumption for us to say that the Christian faith would not be what we know of it today without the teachings and missionary work of the Apostle Paul. However, we often do not think about the contributions made by Paul’s “fellow workers.” Where would we be today if Paul had not been accompanied by these fourteen “fellow workers?”
Paul could not have done it alone. Paul would not have been as successful if he had not been assisted by his “fellow workers.” Paul did not work in isolation from the rest of the Christian community. No. Paul was a “collaborator.” He collaborated with many different people.
We need to learn from Paul’s example. If we try to do the work of the church alone, we will find some measure of success. However, we will be even more successful if we collaborate our efforts with “fellow workers.”
One of Paul’s uses of the term “fellow workers” appears in 2 Corinthians 6: 1. Let’s read 2 Corinthians 6: 1 in its context, beginning with 2 Corinthians 5: 16…
Read 2 Corinthians 5: 16 – 6:2.
There is a lot of good theology in this short passage of Scripture. Paul defends his ministry to the church at Corinth. Paul describes his role as an Apostle of reconciliation. Paul describes the work Jesus accomplished for us in his death on the cross. And, Paul encourages the church at Corinth (as well as the church at Lufkin) to join him in this work of reconciliation…
II. Do Not Judge Others by “Worldly” Standards.
Paul begins this passage with a curious expression about a “worldly” point of view. Literally, Paul says that he no longer views other people “according to the flesh.”
In a place like Corinth in the First Century, the phrase “according to the flesh” was subject to numerous interpretations. Some people would have immediately thought of the dichotomy of flesh and spirit common to the pagan religions. These people thought that everything about human flesh was evil, but it was possible to reject the “flesh” and live by the “spirit.” This view sounds ALMOST Christian, but it is not Christian. It is actually very humanistic, because these people believed there was something inherently good about their human spirit.
The proper way to understand Paul’s words is to interpret them like the New International Version interprets them, “worldly point of view.” There is a godly way to view life, and there is a worldly way to view life. The worldly way is incorrect, because it is in opposition to God’s way.
For example, it is possible for us to judge other people by “worldly standards.” We do this when we do one of three things.
First, the world judges other people by making sinful comparisons with others. Perhaps you have done this when you think about your own sins and shortcomings. You think, I may not be perfect, but at least I am not as bad as Usama Bin Ladan. Or…I have a real problem with gossip…But at least I am not a serial killer. Or…I am struggling with lust…But at least I am not a homosexual. Don’t look down on other people, because you think your sins are not as bad as their sins. They think their sins are not as bad as yours!
Second, we have a tendency to judge a person’s worth based on their outward appearances. We think people are valuable if they are healthy, wealthy and wise. We determine a lot about a person based on how they dress or what color their skin is. Remember what God told Samuel when he was on a mission to ordain David as king of Israel? God said, “You look at outward appearances. God looks at the heart.”
Third, we often make the mistake of judging other people by what they can do for us. We give special treatment to people who have influence over others and can help us. If someone cannot help us achieve our personal goals, we usually have no use for them.
Paul says there was a time when he did this to other people. There was even a time when he thought of Jesus this way. Paul was a Pharisee and a strict, Jewish legalist. He made a false judgment about Jesus, because he didn’t think Jesus could do anything for him. Paul was looking for a Messiah who could re-establish Israel as a political and military power in the ancient world. Jesus did not fit into Pau’s expectations. He didn’t think Jesus could give him what he wanted.
However, Jesus didn’t come to give Paul what he WANTED. Jesus came to give Paul what he NEEDED. Paul wanted to be a citizen of an important political nation. Paul needed to be forgiven of his sins and reconciled in a new relationship with God.
III. A New Creation.
Verse 17, literally reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, a new creation.” That doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense in English, so the English translations have added a few extra words to help us understand it. The NIV adds, “he is.” The NRSV adds, “there is.”
These are two possible interpretations for verse 17. On one hand, if the NIV is correct, there is a personal transformation that takes place within every person who is “in Christ.” If your life belongs to Christ, then you will be a new person. If you live according to Christ’s power, you will be changed personally and individually. If your life is united with the life of Christ, then there will be something new and different about who you are. If you are a member of the Body of Christ (the church), you will be different from the rest of the world.
On the other hand, if the NRSV is correct, there is a worldwide transformation that took place when Jesus died on the cross. This is not a personal transformation. This is a worldwide, cosmological change that reflects a new reality. In other words, Jesus’ death on the cross changed the world and ushered in a new reality. Before Jesus died on the cross, there was the old order of things. After Jesus died on the cross, the old is gone; the new has come; and the Kingdom of God has broken into our world.
To describe a personal change in every person who is “in Christ” is to describe a subjective change that is only possible through faith. To describe a worldwide change in the order of things is to describe an objective change—a change that was accomplished once and for all, never to be changed back to the way things used to be.
I believe both of these changes are real and true. Yes, Jesus changes all men and women who come to him in faith. Yes, Jesus changed the world through his death on the cross. BUT…we still have to live in a world that does not appear to be changed. There is still pain and disappointment. The world continues to be affected and dominated by human sin. Yet, those of us who live by faith believe Jesus more than our own senses. Our eyes and ears tell us the world has not changed. Our faith tells us Jesus has changed the world.
IV. Ministry of Reconciliation.
In verses 18 – 20, Paul makes a subtle shift. He is still talking about what Christ has done. But, he is not talking about what Christ has done for the world. He is talking about what Christ has done for Paul.
Here is where Paul’s theology gets very deep and involved. He is describing what Christ has done for him and what Christ has called Paul to do in response. It all concentrates on the word “reconciliation.”
Reconciliation is a word that describes a relationship. Specifically, reconciliation is what happens when a relationship between two people has been broken or violated. Then, the relationship is restored to its proper order. The relationship in question is our relationship to God.
The Old Testament contains God’s Law. It is the way God wants us to live our lives. God has specifically told us through the teachings of Moses and the prophets how we are supposed to live our lives. Of course, we don’t really want to live according to God’s standards. We would rather live life on our own terms. But, God has told us that things work out better when we live by God’s standards.
Anytime we violate God’s standards and try to live life on our own terms, we break our relationship with God. The Bible’s word for this is sin. And God cannot tolerate our sin. This puts God in an unusual position. God loves you but hates your sin.
As long as you and I have a problem with sin, we cannot be in a proper relationship with God. Because God is perfect and pure, he cannot be in relationship with sin. Therefore, someone has to deal with our sin.
According to Paul, Jesus is the only one who can deal with our sin, because Jesus is the only one who has not sinned. Therefore, Jesus actually BECAME sin and died on the cross. Do not read the footnote in your Bible. Jesus did not become a sin offering. Jesus actually became sin. This was the ONLY way God could maintain his righteousness and perfection while re-establishing a relationship with us. If Jesus did not take away our sins, we could not have a relationship with God.
One way we could think of this is to think of God as the judge and you and me as the accused. We stand before God in his courtroom with two choices. Either we will profess our innocence, or we will acknowledge our guilt. If you claim to be innocent, you cannot be forgiven. If you acknowledge your guilt, then the Judge will say, “You are forgiven.” But there is one problem with this illustration. Judges do not usually have relationships with people they have forgiven. God wants to forgive you so that he can have a relationship with you.
I think a better way to think of this is to think of God as a doctor. This doctor loves you as a person but hates the disease that affects you. This doctor will go to extraordinary lengths to rid your life of disease so he can have a relationship with you.
V. Conclusion: Fellow Workers.
Reconciliation is God’s work. God sent his Son, Jesus, to live a sinless and perfect life. Jesus became sin on the cross so that sin could be separated from our lives. When God separated sin from us, the work of reconciliation is possible.
The work of reconciliation is an objective, accomplished fact. When Jesus died on the cross, he separated sin from our lives. Now it is possible for us to have a relationship with God. But not everyone has that relationship with God. Some people have refused to let go of their sins and be reconciled to God. This is where Paul’s work comes into the picture. Paul preaches about the new creation and the reconciliation available through Christ.
If Paul were the only one preaching reconciliation, he would have experienced some success. But Paul needs you and me to be his “fellow workers,” to join in this ministry of reconciliation.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009: Forgiveness
Forgiveness
Genesis 33: 1 – 11.
I. Introduction.
One of the most frequently asked questions—at least most frequently asked of me—is “How can we know if a child is old enough to understand salvation?” The best answer I have ever found for this came from The Baptist Standard’s interview with a Christian counselor (probably about 10 – 12 years ago, before I thought it was important to cite my sources). This woman said that children are old enough to understand salvation when they are old enough to understand “sin” and “forgiveness.”
This is the answer I give to parents when they ask about their children. And, this is the approach I take when talking to someone—of any age—about becoming a Christian. I always start with a discussion of sin. You see, if we do not think we have ever sinned then we don’t think we need to be forgiven. And forgiveness is the first, important aspect of salvation.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23).” “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still SINNERS Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). These two verses teach us about the very basic meaning of salvation: Because we have sinned, Jesus died on the cross to offer us forgiveness.
But there is an interesting thing about forgiveness… I don’t want you to think that forgiveness comes with a price tag. No, God offers us forgiveness at no cost; it is a free gift, a grace. However, Jesus teaches us that men and women who have been forgiven notice something new and different about our personal relationships.
Because we have been forgiven by God, we ought to forgive others. Jesus teaches us that Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people in the world. In fact, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In BOTH places Jesus said we should pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
As we prepare our hearts and lives for Easter 2009, we should reflect on the forgiveness God offers us through the death of Jesus on the cross. AND, we should strive to become better at forgiving others.
There are several biblical stories about forgiveness. I am going to read one story about forgiveness…and it might surprise you to think of this as a story of forgiveness…
Read Genesis 33: 1 – 11.
The story of Jacob and Esau begins in Genesis 25 with the story of their birth. They were twins who wrestled in their mother’s womb. Esau was born first and got his name from his hairy appearance—Esau means “hairy.” Jacob was born very quickly after Esau, because he was holding onto his brother’s heel. Thus he was named Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel,” or “he deceives.”
We know very little about Esau. We know that he was the oldest son in his family. We know that he should have been the family leader after his father’s death, but he sold that birthright to his brother Jacob. We know that he should have gone off into the world with the family blessing, but that was stolen by the same crafty brother, Jacob. Then we know that Esau took a vow to kill Jacob as soon as their father, Isaac, died.
We don’t know anything else about Esau for the next twenty years. But when we finally do see Esau again…He is different…Esau is a changed man.
During those twenty years when Esau was silent. The Bible tells us a lot about Jacob. Jacob had three encounters with God that changed his life. God made a promise to Jacob. God promised to bring Jacob back to the Promised Land…The land of his ancestors and make him into a great and powerful nation.
But before Jacob could return to his ancestral land he had to do something dangerous. He had to travel through Edom—the land belonging to his angry brother Esau. It is probably obvious to you that this poses somewhat of a problem. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob, what do you think is going to happen as Jacob crosses into Esau’s territory?
We don’t know what might have led to this decision, but Jacob decided that it was time to make peace with his brother. So Jacob sent one of his slaves to go and find Esau and tell him that his brother was in the region and wanted to speak to him. The slave came running back to Jacob and said, “Esau is coming…And he is bringing 400 men.”
Now there are two ways we can interpret Esau’s actions. On one hand, he is bringing 400 men to impress Jacob and show him that Esau has become a very important man in Edom. On the other hand, we know by reading the rest of the Bible that 400 men is the standard number for a military regiment or a raiding party. That is the same number of men that was used throughout 1 and 2 Samuel.
Jacob was left with no other option…He had to take desperate measures. Specifically, Jacob did three desperate things…
1. He Prayed…He stayed awake all night praying and “wrestling” with God.
2. He divided his family into several camps and arranged them in order of importance—The maidservants and their children went first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph his favorites were last in line so they could be the first to escape and the most likely to get out alive…
3. He sent herds and flocks of animals ahead as gifts…These gifts were divided into five units that were led by a different slave…Each slave was instructed to say the same thing to Esau… “Jacob is sending this to my lord Esau, that I may find favor in your eyes”…Perhaps Esau’s heart would be softened after hearing the same message five different times…
There are a couple of interesting things to notice at this point…First, if you go back and count the number of animals that Jacob sent Esau, it is an astonishing 550 animals…Perhaps Jacob was trying to earn forgiveness from his brothers…Some people wonder if Jacob is trying to restore the family blessing to Esau—If so, it is interesting that Esau did not accept Jacob’s gifts until Jacob pleaded with him to take the flocks…Secondly, the Bible uses a religious word to describe this gift…It is a “present” which was a form of sacrificial offering that was intended to appease the anger of God…This leads us to believe that Jacob was trying to atone for his past sins and restore his relationship with his brother…
Then Esau surprises everybody…Instead of coming to attack Jacob and take revenge for the ways he had deceived him in the past, Esau FORGAVE his brother…
This is really hard for some of us to believe, because Jacob had taken everything from Esau…Of course we realize that is exactly what Jesus told us to do…He told us to pray for our enemies and to forgive the men and women who absolutely hate us and desire nothing but evil for us…He also taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”…That is the part I don’t like…I don’t want God to forgive me like I forgive others, I want God to forgive me better than I forgive others…
II. Be Specific When You Forgive.
Forgiveness cannot be general…It must focus on a specific person and a specific sin…There must be a face…
We cannot say, “I forgive everyone who has hurt me.” We have to name the specific person and the specific sin.
But, forgiveness is NOT something that happens immediately. Usually, forgiveness is a process that begins with prayer.
If there is someone whom you need to forgive, begin by praying for that person. Pray for them specifically…Pray for them by name. Pray that God will help you to forgive the sin they committed against you. Pray specifically. But pray in private. The offertory pray in Sunday morning worship is not the time to pray for someone by name.
III. Remember Your Own Forgiveness.
It is easier to forgive others when you recognize the many ways you have been forgiven by God and by others…
Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind in the Model Prayer…Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…
IV. Sacrifice Your Rights.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of forgiveness…Everyone would understand if you make the offending person suffer for the ways they sinned against you…After all you were right…You ought to show the world that you were right…
Ultimately this is what forgiveness is all about…Forgiveness is when you refuse to make someone suffer for their sins against you…
Christian spiritualist Thomas Merton says that this is the difference between God’s theology and the devil’s theology…The devil likes to exaggerate the differences between right and wrong…The most important thing is to be absolutely right all the time and to prove everybody else absolutely wrong…If you are right, you should punish and eliminate those who are wrong…
But God’s theology includes Forgiveness…It is to act toward others on the basis of mercy…Not giving others the pain or the punishment they deserve…In other words, the offended person can GIVE forgiveness, but the guilty person can never EARN (or DESERVE) forgiveness…Even Jacob could not buy his forgiveness with lavish gifts to Esau…
V. Re-Establish the Relationship.
This is the ideal…It happened in the Jacob and Esau story…It happened in the death of Jesus on the cross…However, it does not and cannot always happen…
There are times when we need to forgive someone without ever restoring the relationship…Forgiving a dead parent or sibling…Forgiving an abuser…Forgiving an unfaithful spouse who has left…Forgiving an unrepentant person…
If what I said earlier is true—No one can earn or deserve forgiveness—then it is also true that the guilty person does not need to repent and apologize in order for us to forgive…Yet repentance and apology IS necessary for reconciliation and restored relationship to occur…
Forgiveness is the responsibility of the innocent person. Reconciliation is the responsibility of the guilty person. Jesus requires us to forgive. Jesus does not require us to reconcile a broken relationship.
VI. Conclusion: Forgiveness = The Face of God.
Read Genesis 33:10… “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
We didn’t read Genesis 32 this morning. But, do you remember what happened in Genesis 32? Jacob stayed awake all night long wrestling with a man…That man turned out to be God…And Jacob renamed that place Peniel—The Face of God—because he saw God face to face and lived…(Genesis 32: 30)
One night, Jacob stayed awake all night looking into the face of God…The next day, he saw his estranged brother extend his hand in forgiveness and said, “To see you is to see the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
That is a tall compliment coming from a man who had actually seen God.
So how can we show the Face of God to others?
The Face of God = Forgiveness of those who have committed the greatest sins against us…And hopefully to bring them back into a restored relationship…
I am sure that each of us can think of at least one person whom we need to forgive this morning…That is human nature…We may forget our anniversary date, but we cannot seem to forget times we have been hurt by someone in the distant past…We may forget all the kind and gentle things our friends have done for us, but we cannot seem to forget the ways these same people have betrayed us…We may forget the many times our brother or sister helped us with our homework, but we cannot seem to forget the day he / she ridiculed us in front of friends…
Genesis 33: 1 – 11.
I. Introduction.
One of the most frequently asked questions—at least most frequently asked of me—is “How can we know if a child is old enough to understand salvation?” The best answer I have ever found for this came from The Baptist Standard’s interview with a Christian counselor (probably about 10 – 12 years ago, before I thought it was important to cite my sources). This woman said that children are old enough to understand salvation when they are old enough to understand “sin” and “forgiveness.”
This is the answer I give to parents when they ask about their children. And, this is the approach I take when talking to someone—of any age—about becoming a Christian. I always start with a discussion of sin. You see, if we do not think we have ever sinned then we don’t think we need to be forgiven. And forgiveness is the first, important aspect of salvation.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23).” “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, while we were still SINNERS Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). These two verses teach us about the very basic meaning of salvation: Because we have sinned, Jesus died on the cross to offer us forgiveness.
But there is an interesting thing about forgiveness… I don’t want you to think that forgiveness comes with a price tag. No, God offers us forgiveness at no cost; it is a free gift, a grace. However, Jesus teaches us that men and women who have been forgiven notice something new and different about our personal relationships.
Because we have been forgiven by God, we ought to forgive others. Jesus teaches us that Christians are supposed to be the most forgiving people in the world. In fact, Jesus taught his disciples how to pray in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. In BOTH places Jesus said we should pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.”
As we prepare our hearts and lives for Easter 2009, we should reflect on the forgiveness God offers us through the death of Jesus on the cross. AND, we should strive to become better at forgiving others.
There are several biblical stories about forgiveness. I am going to read one story about forgiveness…and it might surprise you to think of this as a story of forgiveness…
Read Genesis 33: 1 – 11.
The story of Jacob and Esau begins in Genesis 25 with the story of their birth. They were twins who wrestled in their mother’s womb. Esau was born first and got his name from his hairy appearance—Esau means “hairy.” Jacob was born very quickly after Esau, because he was holding onto his brother’s heel. Thus he was named Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel,” or “he deceives.”
We know very little about Esau. We know that he was the oldest son in his family. We know that he should have been the family leader after his father’s death, but he sold that birthright to his brother Jacob. We know that he should have gone off into the world with the family blessing, but that was stolen by the same crafty brother, Jacob. Then we know that Esau took a vow to kill Jacob as soon as their father, Isaac, died.
We don’t know anything else about Esau for the next twenty years. But when we finally do see Esau again…He is different…Esau is a changed man.
During those twenty years when Esau was silent. The Bible tells us a lot about Jacob. Jacob had three encounters with God that changed his life. God made a promise to Jacob. God promised to bring Jacob back to the Promised Land…The land of his ancestors and make him into a great and powerful nation.
But before Jacob could return to his ancestral land he had to do something dangerous. He had to travel through Edom—the land belonging to his angry brother Esau. It is probably obvious to you that this poses somewhat of a problem. If Esau wanted to kill Jacob, what do you think is going to happen as Jacob crosses into Esau’s territory?
We don’t know what might have led to this decision, but Jacob decided that it was time to make peace with his brother. So Jacob sent one of his slaves to go and find Esau and tell him that his brother was in the region and wanted to speak to him. The slave came running back to Jacob and said, “Esau is coming…And he is bringing 400 men.”
Now there are two ways we can interpret Esau’s actions. On one hand, he is bringing 400 men to impress Jacob and show him that Esau has become a very important man in Edom. On the other hand, we know by reading the rest of the Bible that 400 men is the standard number for a military regiment or a raiding party. That is the same number of men that was used throughout 1 and 2 Samuel.
Jacob was left with no other option…He had to take desperate measures. Specifically, Jacob did three desperate things…
1. He Prayed…He stayed awake all night praying and “wrestling” with God.
2. He divided his family into several camps and arranged them in order of importance—The maidservants and their children went first, then Leah and her children, then Rachel and Joseph his favorites were last in line so they could be the first to escape and the most likely to get out alive…
3. He sent herds and flocks of animals ahead as gifts…These gifts were divided into five units that were led by a different slave…Each slave was instructed to say the same thing to Esau… “Jacob is sending this to my lord Esau, that I may find favor in your eyes”…Perhaps Esau’s heart would be softened after hearing the same message five different times…
There are a couple of interesting things to notice at this point…First, if you go back and count the number of animals that Jacob sent Esau, it is an astonishing 550 animals…Perhaps Jacob was trying to earn forgiveness from his brothers…Some people wonder if Jacob is trying to restore the family blessing to Esau—If so, it is interesting that Esau did not accept Jacob’s gifts until Jacob pleaded with him to take the flocks…Secondly, the Bible uses a religious word to describe this gift…It is a “present” which was a form of sacrificial offering that was intended to appease the anger of God…This leads us to believe that Jacob was trying to atone for his past sins and restore his relationship with his brother…
Then Esau surprises everybody…Instead of coming to attack Jacob and take revenge for the ways he had deceived him in the past, Esau FORGAVE his brother…
This is really hard for some of us to believe, because Jacob had taken everything from Esau…Of course we realize that is exactly what Jesus told us to do…He told us to pray for our enemies and to forgive the men and women who absolutely hate us and desire nothing but evil for us…He also taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”…That is the part I don’t like…I don’t want God to forgive me like I forgive others, I want God to forgive me better than I forgive others…
II. Be Specific When You Forgive.
Forgiveness cannot be general…It must focus on a specific person and a specific sin…There must be a face…
We cannot say, “I forgive everyone who has hurt me.” We have to name the specific person and the specific sin.
But, forgiveness is NOT something that happens immediately. Usually, forgiveness is a process that begins with prayer.
If there is someone whom you need to forgive, begin by praying for that person. Pray for them specifically…Pray for them by name. Pray that God will help you to forgive the sin they committed against you. Pray specifically. But pray in private. The offertory pray in Sunday morning worship is not the time to pray for someone by name.
III. Remember Your Own Forgiveness.
It is easier to forgive others when you recognize the many ways you have been forgiven by God and by others…
Perhaps this is what Jesus had in mind in the Model Prayer…Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…
IV. Sacrifice Your Rights.
This is perhaps the most difficult part of forgiveness…Everyone would understand if you make the offending person suffer for the ways they sinned against you…After all you were right…You ought to show the world that you were right…
Ultimately this is what forgiveness is all about…Forgiveness is when you refuse to make someone suffer for their sins against you…
Christian spiritualist Thomas Merton says that this is the difference between God’s theology and the devil’s theology…The devil likes to exaggerate the differences between right and wrong…The most important thing is to be absolutely right all the time and to prove everybody else absolutely wrong…If you are right, you should punish and eliminate those who are wrong…
But God’s theology includes Forgiveness…It is to act toward others on the basis of mercy…Not giving others the pain or the punishment they deserve…In other words, the offended person can GIVE forgiveness, but the guilty person can never EARN (or DESERVE) forgiveness…Even Jacob could not buy his forgiveness with lavish gifts to Esau…
V. Re-Establish the Relationship.
This is the ideal…It happened in the Jacob and Esau story…It happened in the death of Jesus on the cross…However, it does not and cannot always happen…
There are times when we need to forgive someone without ever restoring the relationship…Forgiving a dead parent or sibling…Forgiving an abuser…Forgiving an unfaithful spouse who has left…Forgiving an unrepentant person…
If what I said earlier is true—No one can earn or deserve forgiveness—then it is also true that the guilty person does not need to repent and apologize in order for us to forgive…Yet repentance and apology IS necessary for reconciliation and restored relationship to occur…
Forgiveness is the responsibility of the innocent person. Reconciliation is the responsibility of the guilty person. Jesus requires us to forgive. Jesus does not require us to reconcile a broken relationship.
VI. Conclusion: Forgiveness = The Face of God.
Read Genesis 33:10… “No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
We didn’t read Genesis 32 this morning. But, do you remember what happened in Genesis 32? Jacob stayed awake all night long wrestling with a man…That man turned out to be God…And Jacob renamed that place Peniel—The Face of God—because he saw God face to face and lived…(Genesis 32: 30)
One night, Jacob stayed awake all night looking into the face of God…The next day, he saw his estranged brother extend his hand in forgiveness and said, “To see you is to see the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.”
That is a tall compliment coming from a man who had actually seen God.
So how can we show the Face of God to others?
The Face of God = Forgiveness of those who have committed the greatest sins against us…And hopefully to bring them back into a restored relationship…
I am sure that each of us can think of at least one person whom we need to forgive this morning…That is human nature…We may forget our anniversary date, but we cannot seem to forget times we have been hurt by someone in the distant past…We may forget all the kind and gentle things our friends have done for us, but we cannot seem to forget the ways these same people have betrayed us…We may forget the many times our brother or sister helped us with our homework, but we cannot seem to forget the day he / she ridiculed us in front of friends…
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009: Survival or Revival
Survival or Revival
Mark 8: 31 – 38.
I. Introduction.
The current economic situation has a lot of people talking about “Survival.” There are some older folks who are reminding us about their experiences surviving the Great Depression. There are authors who are promoting their books on the Internet by encouraging people to begin stockpiling gold, guns and food. There are even entire industries which have made “Survival” their top priority for the rest of 2009.
All of this has caused me to think about my own “Survival” and to wonder how I can “Survive” in the world today.
From the early 1900’s through the 1970’s, there was a world-famous tight-rope walker named Karl Wallenda. Karl grew up in an acrobatic family, known as The Great Wallendas. They were famous for performing their death-defying tight-rope act without a safety net, and they were the first aerialists to master the “7-Man Pyramid.” And, they eventually became a featured act in the Barnum and Bailey Circuses.
In 1968, Karl Wallenda is quoted as saying, “Being on the tight-rope is living. Everything else is just waiting.” For Karl, walking the tight-rope was what made him feel alive. Everyone else thought it was crazy to walk on a wire with no safety net. But, Karl thought this was exciting and what made his life worthwhile.
Karl Wallenda’s life came to a tragic end on March 22, 1978. Karl Wallenda was walking a tight-rope stretched 75-feet above the ground between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when he lost his footing and fell to his death.
Several years after his death, Wallenda’s widow was asked about her husband’s death. She recalled, “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energy into not falling, not into walking the tight-rope (Warren G. Bennis, “The Wallenda Factor,” in An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change [Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1997]: p. 57).”
Leadership expert Warren Bennis tells this story to describe what he calls “The Wallenda Factor.” Basically, the Wallenda Factor describes what happens when we focus all our energies and thoughts on failure rather than on success. Leaders who fail usually have an unhealthy preoccupation with failure. Leaders who succeed are more interested in accomplishing the task at hand and rarely spend their time thinking about failure. Successful leaders are more like Karl Wallenda in 1968 (Being on the tight-rope is living. Everything else is just waiting.) than in 1978 (preoccupied with falling).
Perhaps this is some good practical advice for us to implement in our uncertain economic times. Perhaps it is a good lesson for us to learn that the more we focus on not failing, the more likely we are to fail. But, does this message fit with the Bible and the teachings of Jesus? I think it fits very well.
Read Mark 8: 31 – 38.
This passage falls at the beginning of a passage I refer to as “the Discipleship Section” of Mark. The section begins in Mark 8:22 with the story of a blind man and ends in Mark 10: 52 with the healing of “Blind Bartimaeus.” Everything in between the two stories of blind men can be described as Jesus’ attempt to open the eyes of his disciples to what it means to be a disciple, or a follower of Jesus.
The Discipleship Section contains three predictions of Jesus’ death and resurrection. After each prediction, Jesus gives a teaching about discipleship and the disciples immediately do something to demonstrate how they still don’t understand. In other words, there are three predictions of Jesus’ death, three teachings about discipleship and three actions that demonstrate the disciples’ failure to understand what Jesus is teaching. Again, Jesus was opening their eyes to the realities of discipleship.
We just read Jesus’ first prediction of his death and resurrection. It comes at a very important time.
Up to this point, Jesus and his disciples had remained fairly close to home. Now, Jesus has pulled them away from home to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Here Jesus asked the disciples a theological question, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples answer, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and some say one of the other prophets.” Then, Jesus made the question personal… “What about ya’ll? Who do ya’ll say I am?”
The question is plural and indicates that Jesus is asking what the disciples as a group have learned and understood about Jesus up to this point in the Gospel. But, Peter is the only one to answer: “You are the Christ.”
You and I have the benefit of two-thousand years of history, so we recognize Peter’s answer as the correct answer. Yes. Jesus is the Christ. We know that, and we know what that means. But, Peter and the rest of the disciples did not know the full meaning of what Jesus had come to accomplish. So, Jesus told them.
Notice what Jesus said about himself first… “the Son of Man MUST suffer (verse 31)…” There is no doubt in Jesus’ mind what he had come to do. He MUST suffer. And, this was no general kind of suffering. It was specific. Jesus would be rejected by the Jewish elders, chief priests and teachers of the law. Jesus would be killed. Then, Jesus would rise from the grave after three days.
For some reason, Peter didn’t like what Jesus had to say. More than likely, this is proof that Peter (and by implication all the other disciples) had a different understanding of what the Christ was supposed to do. They probably thought like the rest of the First Century Jews. They were hoping for a coming Christ who would lead Israel back to prominence in military strength and in political power. But, Jesus did not come to establish an earthly, political kingdom. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, which is something entirely different.
An earthly kingdom focuses on earthly things—politics, power, economy. The Kingdom of God focuses on heavenly things—forgiveness of sin, relationship with God, overturning the power of Satan in the world.
An earthly kingdom can be destroyed by earthly forces. The Kingdom of God can never be destroyed. An earthly kingdom is temporary. The Kingdom of God is eternal.
Peter didn’t understand this, so he pulled Jesus to the side and rebuked him. In Peter’s mind, Jesus’ mission could not survive if Jesus himself did not survive. In Peter’s mind, the disciples themselves could not survive if Jesus was no longer present with them. Peter’s rebuke was his attempt to “save” Jesus and to “save” himself. He was thinking about “Survival.”
Jesus, on the other hand, was not concerned about “Survival.” In fact, Jesus was thinking about something completely different. Notice Jesus’ first words to Peter after the rebuke: “Get behind me (verse 33)…” This is significant, because it describes the proper relationship we are all supposed to have with Jesus. If we want to be followers of Jesus, then we must place ourselves BEHIND Jesus. We can’t go running off to do whatever we want to do. We must stay BEHIND Jesus and follow him wherever he goes. In this particular case, Jesus was on his way to the cross. Jesus was walking on a path toward self-giving love for other people. Jesus was not concerned about his own “Survival.” No. Jesus was more concerned about giving his life away as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
The next thing Jesus said to Peter indicates that there are two opposing ways of looking at life. On one hand, we can think like human beings. On the other hand, we can think like God. Peter was thinking like a human being and NOT like God.
The best way I know how to describe the difference between these two ways of thinking is to look again at Jesus’ words to Peter. In verse 35, Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” In other words, Jesus says that the human way of life is to focus all our attention on “Survival,” and God’s way of life is to focus on “giving our lives away.”
The human way of life is motivated out of fear. It is absolutely normal and natural for us to have an instinct for self-preservation. We want to live. We want to prosper. We will do anything in our human powers to stay out of danger and to protect our human resources. This might be normal and natural, but that doesn’t make it right.
In fact, Jesus teaches us that one important aspect of discipleship is that followers of Jesus ought to resist the normal and natural human instinct to save our own lives. Instead, we must “get behind Jesus” and follow his example of denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus every day. Survival is NOT the most important thing for a follower of Jesus. The most important thing is to be like Jesus: to give your life away for the sake of the Gospel.
The only way we can ever make this shift in thinking is to put FAITH before our fears. Survival is motivated out of fear. Giving life away is the result of faith.
Think of it like this…If this life is all there is, then you and I should do everything in our power to protect our lives and resources. However, if there is something more important than this life, then we should not be afraid to give our lives away in favor of something better. What can be better than this life? We read headlines every day about crime in our community. We worry about our own personal safety. We read headlines about our shaky economy. We worry about our financial future. We witness the effects of rampant sin and selfishness. We worry about the world our children and grandchildren will inherit. If this life is all there is, then someone has played a terrible joke on us. There must be something else. There must be a place called Heaven—a place God has created us to live in.
II. What Happens When We Try to Save Our Own Lives?
There is a story in Matthew 14 about when Jesus’ disciples were on a boat in the Lake of Galilee. Jesus was not with them at this time. Jesus had stayed behind to dismiss the crowd of people he had been teaching. It didn’t take long for the disciples to find themselves in trouble. (Most of the time, the Bible tells us that the disciples found themselves in trouble when they were separated from Jesus.)
The disciples found themselves in the middle of the lake with a storm surging around them. The winds were howling. The waves were crashing into the sides of the boat. The disciples were afraid for their lives. In this moment of great need--their moment of FEAR, Jesus came to his disciples on the lake.
Jesus didn’t have a boat, but he came to their aid. He walked on the water and came to their rescue. When the disciples looked up, they thought they were seeing a ghost. They had never seen anyone walking on the water. So, Jesus called to his disciples, “Do not be afraid. Take courage! It is I.”
Remember how Peter is usually the first disciple to speak, even when Jesus is speaking to the entire group of disciples? Well, it happened again. Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”
When Jesus called him, Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking on the water. But, Peter was different from Jesus. Jesus walked all the way across the lake. Peter only took a couple of steps. After only a few steps, Peter realized what he was doing. He was walking on the water! In the middle of a storm! He was afraid of the wind. He was afraid of the waves and the depth of the water below him. And, immediately, Peter began to sink.
Peter began to sink when he was motivated more by fear than by faith. Faith led Peter to get out of the boat and take his first step toward Jesus. Fear led Peter to notice the dangers around him.
Anytime we focus on the danger around us—we are just like Peter—we will begin to sink and fall. Sure, we might start out in great faith and get out of the boat. But fear is what causes us to sink. Remember what Jesus said, "If you want to save your own life, you will lose it!"
III. What Happens When We Give Our Lives Away?
In Acts 16, we read a story about the Apostle Paul and his missionary companion, Silas. They had preached the Gospel in Philippi and cast a demon out of a young slave girl. The masters of the slave girl didn’t want her to be healed of her demon, because the demon had helped them to earn a lot of money. The girl’s salvation was an economic downturn for her masters.
Paul and Silas were thrown into prison to be watched closely by the prison guard. Instead of focusing on their danger, Paul and Silas spent their time praying and singing. Their behavior was so unusual that the rest of the prisoners noticed there was something different about these men.
At midnight, the prison was rocked by a violent earthquake. All the prison doors were flung open, and all the shackles were broken from Paul and Silas’ hands and feet. The prison guard thought the prisoners would escape and knew he would be killed for allowing them to escape. But that is not what happened.
Paul and Silas stayed in their cells and somehow kept the other prisoners from escaping. The prison guard was so impressed by their FAITH, that he sat down and listened as Paul and Silas told him about Jesus and the source of their faith.
The prison guard gave his life to Jesus and invited Paul and Silas to tell his own family more about Jesus. This family became one of the first members of the Christian church at Philippi.
Remember what Jesus said, "If you lose your life for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it!" And, as a result others will notice your faith and find what is truly important.
IV. Conclusion.
The story of Paul and Silas is the best story in the Bible to demonstrate what can happen when we look at our lives through God’s eyes. Peter demonstrates how trying to “Survive” leads to failure. Paul and Silas show us that giving our lives away leads to “Revival.”
Today, we have two choices: the human way or God's way. Saving your own life out of fear, or giving your life away out of faith. Survival or Revival. Revival is God's way; and it is only possible through giving our lives away for others.
Mark 8: 31 – 38.
I. Introduction.
The current economic situation has a lot of people talking about “Survival.” There are some older folks who are reminding us about their experiences surviving the Great Depression. There are authors who are promoting their books on the Internet by encouraging people to begin stockpiling gold, guns and food. There are even entire industries which have made “Survival” their top priority for the rest of 2009.
All of this has caused me to think about my own “Survival” and to wonder how I can “Survive” in the world today.
From the early 1900’s through the 1970’s, there was a world-famous tight-rope walker named Karl Wallenda. Karl grew up in an acrobatic family, known as The Great Wallendas. They were famous for performing their death-defying tight-rope act without a safety net, and they were the first aerialists to master the “7-Man Pyramid.” And, they eventually became a featured act in the Barnum and Bailey Circuses.
In 1968, Karl Wallenda is quoted as saying, “Being on the tight-rope is living. Everything else is just waiting.” For Karl, walking the tight-rope was what made him feel alive. Everyone else thought it was crazy to walk on a wire with no safety net. But, Karl thought this was exciting and what made his life worthwhile.
Karl Wallenda’s life came to a tragic end on March 22, 1978. Karl Wallenda was walking a tight-rope stretched 75-feet above the ground between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when he lost his footing and fell to his death.
Several years after his death, Wallenda’s widow was asked about her husband’s death. She recalled, “All Karl thought about for three straight months prior to it was falling. It was the first time he’d ever thought about that, and it seemed to me that he put all his energy into not falling, not into walking the tight-rope (Warren G. Bennis, “The Wallenda Factor,” in An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change [Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1997]: p. 57).”
Leadership expert Warren Bennis tells this story to describe what he calls “The Wallenda Factor.” Basically, the Wallenda Factor describes what happens when we focus all our energies and thoughts on failure rather than on success. Leaders who fail usually have an unhealthy preoccupation with failure. Leaders who succeed are more interested in accomplishing the task at hand and rarely spend their time thinking about failure. Successful leaders are more like Karl Wallenda in 1968 (Being on the tight-rope is living. Everything else is just waiting.) than in 1978 (preoccupied with falling).
Perhaps this is some good practical advice for us to implement in our uncertain economic times. Perhaps it is a good lesson for us to learn that the more we focus on not failing, the more likely we are to fail. But, does this message fit with the Bible and the teachings of Jesus? I think it fits very well.
Read Mark 8: 31 – 38.
This passage falls at the beginning of a passage I refer to as “the Discipleship Section” of Mark. The section begins in Mark 8:22 with the story of a blind man and ends in Mark 10: 52 with the healing of “Blind Bartimaeus.” Everything in between the two stories of blind men can be described as Jesus’ attempt to open the eyes of his disciples to what it means to be a disciple, or a follower of Jesus.
The Discipleship Section contains three predictions of Jesus’ death and resurrection. After each prediction, Jesus gives a teaching about discipleship and the disciples immediately do something to demonstrate how they still don’t understand. In other words, there are three predictions of Jesus’ death, three teachings about discipleship and three actions that demonstrate the disciples’ failure to understand what Jesus is teaching. Again, Jesus was opening their eyes to the realities of discipleship.
We just read Jesus’ first prediction of his death and resurrection. It comes at a very important time.
Up to this point, Jesus and his disciples had remained fairly close to home. Now, Jesus has pulled them away from home to the region of Caesarea Philippi. Here Jesus asked the disciples a theological question, “Who do people say I am?” The disciples answer, “Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and some say one of the other prophets.” Then, Jesus made the question personal… “What about ya’ll? Who do ya’ll say I am?”
The question is plural and indicates that Jesus is asking what the disciples as a group have learned and understood about Jesus up to this point in the Gospel. But, Peter is the only one to answer: “You are the Christ.”
You and I have the benefit of two-thousand years of history, so we recognize Peter’s answer as the correct answer. Yes. Jesus is the Christ. We know that, and we know what that means. But, Peter and the rest of the disciples did not know the full meaning of what Jesus had come to accomplish. So, Jesus told them.
Notice what Jesus said about himself first… “the Son of Man MUST suffer (verse 31)…” There is no doubt in Jesus’ mind what he had come to do. He MUST suffer. And, this was no general kind of suffering. It was specific. Jesus would be rejected by the Jewish elders, chief priests and teachers of the law. Jesus would be killed. Then, Jesus would rise from the grave after three days.
For some reason, Peter didn’t like what Jesus had to say. More than likely, this is proof that Peter (and by implication all the other disciples) had a different understanding of what the Christ was supposed to do. They probably thought like the rest of the First Century Jews. They were hoping for a coming Christ who would lead Israel back to prominence in military strength and in political power. But, Jesus did not come to establish an earthly, political kingdom. Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God, which is something entirely different.
An earthly kingdom focuses on earthly things—politics, power, economy. The Kingdom of God focuses on heavenly things—forgiveness of sin, relationship with God, overturning the power of Satan in the world.
An earthly kingdom can be destroyed by earthly forces. The Kingdom of God can never be destroyed. An earthly kingdom is temporary. The Kingdom of God is eternal.
Peter didn’t understand this, so he pulled Jesus to the side and rebuked him. In Peter’s mind, Jesus’ mission could not survive if Jesus himself did not survive. In Peter’s mind, the disciples themselves could not survive if Jesus was no longer present with them. Peter’s rebuke was his attempt to “save” Jesus and to “save” himself. He was thinking about “Survival.”
Jesus, on the other hand, was not concerned about “Survival.” In fact, Jesus was thinking about something completely different. Notice Jesus’ first words to Peter after the rebuke: “Get behind me (verse 33)…” This is significant, because it describes the proper relationship we are all supposed to have with Jesus. If we want to be followers of Jesus, then we must place ourselves BEHIND Jesus. We can’t go running off to do whatever we want to do. We must stay BEHIND Jesus and follow him wherever he goes. In this particular case, Jesus was on his way to the cross. Jesus was walking on a path toward self-giving love for other people. Jesus was not concerned about his own “Survival.” No. Jesus was more concerned about giving his life away as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
The next thing Jesus said to Peter indicates that there are two opposing ways of looking at life. On one hand, we can think like human beings. On the other hand, we can think like God. Peter was thinking like a human being and NOT like God.
The best way I know how to describe the difference between these two ways of thinking is to look again at Jesus’ words to Peter. In verse 35, Jesus said, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” In other words, Jesus says that the human way of life is to focus all our attention on “Survival,” and God’s way of life is to focus on “giving our lives away.”
The human way of life is motivated out of fear. It is absolutely normal and natural for us to have an instinct for self-preservation. We want to live. We want to prosper. We will do anything in our human powers to stay out of danger and to protect our human resources. This might be normal and natural, but that doesn’t make it right.
In fact, Jesus teaches us that one important aspect of discipleship is that followers of Jesus ought to resist the normal and natural human instinct to save our own lives. Instead, we must “get behind Jesus” and follow his example of denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus every day. Survival is NOT the most important thing for a follower of Jesus. The most important thing is to be like Jesus: to give your life away for the sake of the Gospel.
The only way we can ever make this shift in thinking is to put FAITH before our fears. Survival is motivated out of fear. Giving life away is the result of faith.
Think of it like this…If this life is all there is, then you and I should do everything in our power to protect our lives and resources. However, if there is something more important than this life, then we should not be afraid to give our lives away in favor of something better. What can be better than this life? We read headlines every day about crime in our community. We worry about our own personal safety. We read headlines about our shaky economy. We worry about our financial future. We witness the effects of rampant sin and selfishness. We worry about the world our children and grandchildren will inherit. If this life is all there is, then someone has played a terrible joke on us. There must be something else. There must be a place called Heaven—a place God has created us to live in.
II. What Happens When We Try to Save Our Own Lives?
There is a story in Matthew 14 about when Jesus’ disciples were on a boat in the Lake of Galilee. Jesus was not with them at this time. Jesus had stayed behind to dismiss the crowd of people he had been teaching. It didn’t take long for the disciples to find themselves in trouble. (Most of the time, the Bible tells us that the disciples found themselves in trouble when they were separated from Jesus.)
The disciples found themselves in the middle of the lake with a storm surging around them. The winds were howling. The waves were crashing into the sides of the boat. The disciples were afraid for their lives. In this moment of great need--their moment of FEAR, Jesus came to his disciples on the lake.
Jesus didn’t have a boat, but he came to their aid. He walked on the water and came to their rescue. When the disciples looked up, they thought they were seeing a ghost. They had never seen anyone walking on the water. So, Jesus called to his disciples, “Do not be afraid. Take courage! It is I.”
Remember how Peter is usually the first disciple to speak, even when Jesus is speaking to the entire group of disciples? Well, it happened again. Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”
When Jesus called him, Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking on the water. But, Peter was different from Jesus. Jesus walked all the way across the lake. Peter only took a couple of steps. After only a few steps, Peter realized what he was doing. He was walking on the water! In the middle of a storm! He was afraid of the wind. He was afraid of the waves and the depth of the water below him. And, immediately, Peter began to sink.
Peter began to sink when he was motivated more by fear than by faith. Faith led Peter to get out of the boat and take his first step toward Jesus. Fear led Peter to notice the dangers around him.
Anytime we focus on the danger around us—we are just like Peter—we will begin to sink and fall. Sure, we might start out in great faith and get out of the boat. But fear is what causes us to sink. Remember what Jesus said, "If you want to save your own life, you will lose it!"
III. What Happens When We Give Our Lives Away?
In Acts 16, we read a story about the Apostle Paul and his missionary companion, Silas. They had preached the Gospel in Philippi and cast a demon out of a young slave girl. The masters of the slave girl didn’t want her to be healed of her demon, because the demon had helped them to earn a lot of money. The girl’s salvation was an economic downturn for her masters.
Paul and Silas were thrown into prison to be watched closely by the prison guard. Instead of focusing on their danger, Paul and Silas spent their time praying and singing. Their behavior was so unusual that the rest of the prisoners noticed there was something different about these men.
At midnight, the prison was rocked by a violent earthquake. All the prison doors were flung open, and all the shackles were broken from Paul and Silas’ hands and feet. The prison guard thought the prisoners would escape and knew he would be killed for allowing them to escape. But that is not what happened.
Paul and Silas stayed in their cells and somehow kept the other prisoners from escaping. The prison guard was so impressed by their FAITH, that he sat down and listened as Paul and Silas told him about Jesus and the source of their faith.
The prison guard gave his life to Jesus and invited Paul and Silas to tell his own family more about Jesus. This family became one of the first members of the Christian church at Philippi.
Remember what Jesus said, "If you lose your life for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it!" And, as a result others will notice your faith and find what is truly important.
IV. Conclusion.
The story of Paul and Silas is the best story in the Bible to demonstrate what can happen when we look at our lives through God’s eyes. Peter demonstrates how trying to “Survive” leads to failure. Paul and Silas show us that giving our lives away leads to “Revival.”
Today, we have two choices: the human way or God's way. Saving your own life out of fear, or giving your life away out of faith. Survival or Revival. Revival is God's way; and it is only possible through giving our lives away for others.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009: Spring Training 4--Play Ball!
Spring Training: Play Ball!
1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 31.
I. Introduction.
Spring Training is all about PRACTICE. For baseball players, this is the time of the year to run and train to get back into shape. It is also a time for them to hone their basic baseball skills—pitching, catching, hitting, fielding, etc… Minor League players are focused on “making the team,” but the Major Leaguers focus on getting to know their teammates and developing a team chemistry that will help them win games. However, none of these activities really describes the purpose of Spring Training.
The purpose of Spring Training is NOT to get more practice. The purpose is to get ready to PLAY BALL.
This can be a great analogy for us as Christians. God has created each of us for a purpose. What do you think that purpose is? As a pastor, I am somewhat tempted to tell you God’s purpose for you is to come to church on Sundays. I am tempted to tell you that your purpose is to read your Bible every day and to join a Bible study / Sunday School class. I am even tempted to tell you that your purpose is to give financially to the church and to support the work of the church. But, this would be a lie.
All of these things are good and important things for Christians to do. Yet, they are not God’s purpose for us. Church, Sunday School, Bible study, supporting the work of the church—these are just like baseball Spring Training. They are practice. They are not our purpose. They are important practices and disciplines that help us “get ready” for our purpose.
Our purpose is to do the work of Jesus on the earth until Jesus returns.
Imagine how silly it would be for a baseball player to practice every day but never play a game. Imagine spending your entire life getting ready for something that never happens. Now, imagine a Christian who spends his or her entire Christian life reading the Bible, going to church and giving money to the church…But they never do anything. This is a life with no purpose.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 31.
This passage of Scripture is not unique. There are several other Scriptures we can compare with this one. On one hand, this is one of three places where the Apostle Paul provides us with a list of Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). On the other hand, this is one of numerous places where Paul used the illustration the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Colossians 1 and others).
The fact that this Scripture is not unique tells me it is important. Important themes in the Bible NEVER appear only one time. They are repeated over and over for us to hear and understand and (ideally) apply to our lives. Therefore, it would be appropriate for us to interpret this as an important Scripture, as it emphasizes (or re-emphasizes) two themes found in numerous places. Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ were important concepts to the early Christians AND should continue to be important for us as well.
II. The Body of Christ = The Church (verses 27 and 28).
What does Paul mean when he uses the illustration the Body of Christ?
I believe that Paul was well educated in popular forms of rhetoric of his day. He writes long and complicated sentences. He employs common metaphors that were popular in the culture of his day. He makes philosophical arguments. And 1 Corinthians 12 fits this pattern.
The illustration Body of Christ appears at the end of Paul’s philosophical argument. He began the passage by describing Spiritual Gifts. He compared the different gifts to different parts of the human body. Then, he makes his final point by telling us he is not referring to a human body. All of this passage describes the Body of Christ. But, what is the Body of Christ?
Our first clue to answer this question is the pronoun Paul used in verse 27. He said, “You are the Body of Christ.” If we were to translate this into East Texas language, we would translate it, “Ya’ll are the Body of Christ.” In other words, this is not a charge to individuals. This is a charge to a group of people.
There are two sides of the Christian life. Christian life would be incomplete if we were to ignore either of these expressions of our life of faith.
The first side of the Christian life is the one we as Baptists are very good about emphasizing. It is the life of personal, individual faith. Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you as an individual. Jesus issues a call to individual men and women to enter into a life of faith with him. As Baptists, we usually talk about how important it is for a person to be “born again,” or to “ask Jesus to come into our hearts.” Both of these expressions mean the same thing. It means every individual must decide what to do with Jesus. Will you be just like the rest of the world and treat Jesus as just another person? Or, will you hand over the controls of your life to live the rest of your days with Jesus as the Lord (the ruler, master, boss) of your life?
The second side of the Christian life is the corporate life. Individual men, women, boys and girls must come together into a Christian community. This community is the Body of Christ. OR, as Paul says in verse 28…the church.
III. God Arranges the Parts of the Body (verse 18).
There are various ways we can interpret the English word “church.” On one hand, we sometimes use the word “church” to describe all believers past, present and future. On the other hand, we often use the word “church” to describe the people who gather here at the corner of First and Bremond Streets in Lufkin, Texas.
The term “Body of Christ” does NOT describe the universal church stretched across the globe past, present and future. I get this from two of Paul’s arguments in 1 Corinthians 12.
First, Paul says there is an interconnectedness within the Body of Christ that can be compared to the interconnectedness of our human bodies. In my human body, my head is connected to my shoulders; my shoulders are connected to my arms and my torso; my torso is connected to my legs; and my legs are connected to my feet. In addition, there are internal connections of vital organs—heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc… The proper functioning of my human body depends on all these external parts and internal organs working together. If one part ceases to function properly, my whole body suffers. This image applies to the local church, but it cannot apply to the universal church.
Second, Paul says in verse 18 that God arranges all the parts of the body “just as he wants them to be.” In other words, God has brought us together on purpose. It is no accident that you are a part of Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. God brought you to this church to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the Body of Christ. If every member of this body functions in the way God intends, then the body will function properly. If just one member of this body is lacking, then the entire body will suffer.
IV. Spiritual Gifts are Given to ALL Christians (verses 7 and 11).
The first half of 1 Corinthians 12 describes why God brings us together. There is no one person capable of doing all the work of the Body of Christ. My eye cannot do the work of my hands. My foot cannot smell—well, I guess there are times when my foot does smell, but not the same way my nose smells. We need each other, because we are each different.
Paul is clear in verses 7 and 11 that ALL Christians receive Spiritual Gifts. Notice that he does not say “some of you.” He says “each one” receives a manifestation of the Spirit.
Did you know there is no one exactly like you? You are unique—even if you are a twin. Science has shown us that there may be similarities in a person’s DNA. However, no two people have the same fingerprints, interests, passions or experiences.
I have three children who all have the same mother and father. But they are different. They have different talents, abilities and gifts.
In the same way, there is no one in this church like you. You have a Spiritual Gift that makes you different and important to this church. Of course, there might be another person with a similar Spiritual Gift, but they do not have the same passion and experience that you have.
God knows what our church needs. God is concerned with the way our church functions. And God brings individual parts together to form a successful body. God brought you here to make this body function properly.
V. Spiritual Gifts are Given for the Common Good (verse 7).
As I said earlier, 1 Corinthians 12 is one of three places where Paul lists Spiritual Gifts (also Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). I used to think that all three lists of Spiritual Gifts were the same. But, then I read the lists. They are not the same. In fact, there is only one gift that is listed in all three places—prophecy. (Incidentally, I believe the gift of prophecy does not describe a person with the ability to predict future events. Rather, prophecy is the gift of “speaking God’s word to God’s people.” We should probably compare it to our modern day definition of “preaching.” The prophets of the Old Testament sometimes predicted future events, but this was only when they “spoke God’s word,” and God’s word was fulfilled.)
The fact that the three lists of Spiritual Gifts do not all list the same gifts leads me to believe these lists are NOT intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive lists. These lists are simply representative lists.
So don’t worry if you cannot find yourself in any of these gifts. A Spiritual Gift is any gift God has given you that can be used to help the Body of Christ function properly. “Prayer” does not appear on any of the lists. But, I believe there are some people who have a gift of praying. “Music and worship” do not appear on any of the lists. Again, I believe this is a Spiritual Gift that can be used to build up the Body of Christ and to help us function properly.
“Criticizing the pastor and church leaders” does not appear on any of the lists either. But this is NOT a Spiritual Gift. It does not build up the Body of Christ or help us function. As you search for your Spiritual Gift, make sure it is truly a Spiritual Gift—a gift that builds up the church and makes the church BETTER.
The key to identifying a Spiritual Gift is to determine if it is “for the common good.” If the church does not benefit, then it is NOT a Spiritual Gift.
A Spiritual Gift makes all of us better. A Spiritual Gift is something we cannot live without. In other words, if you are not exercising your Spiritual Gift in the Body of Christ, then our church will be LESS. What can you do to make our church better? If you know what that is and refuse to do it, then we cannot do what God has called us to do as a church.
VI. Conclusion: The Work of Jesus Becomes Our Work as His Body (John 14: 12 and John 17: 20 – 26).
While Jesus was on earth, he was complete. He did not need anyone else to perform his God-given ministry. But Jesus told us that we would do even more than him after he ascended to heaven. How in the world can this be possible? How can we do more than Jesus did in his completeness?
The answer can be found in the limitations Jesus experienced while on earth. No, I do not believe Jesus was limited in his power or his knowledge. But, I do believe Jesus was limited by time and space. Jesus did not heal everyone while he was on earth. He only healed those he encountered in time and space. Jesus could not teach everyone. He could only teach those who lived near him physically at the same time Jesus lived.
Now, Jesus is no longer limited by time and space! He has left us to complete his work. He has gifted us spiritually as individuals and brought us together as his body to do his work on earth—preaching the Gospel; proclaiming freedom for the prisoners; recovering sight for the blind; releasing the oppressed; and proclaiming God’s favor (Luke 4: 18 – 19).
God has gifted you to serve. You are a unique and necessary part of the Body of Christ called Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. You have a part to play. And, if you play your part our church will be stronger.
However, if you neglect to use your Spiritual Gift, the Body of Christ called Lufkin’s First Baptist Church will have LESS ministry in our community. The impact Christ could have in Lufkin will be smaller if we do not follow through and use our gifts to serve.
We still need practice. But it’s time to PLAY BALL.
1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 31.
I. Introduction.
Spring Training is all about PRACTICE. For baseball players, this is the time of the year to run and train to get back into shape. It is also a time for them to hone their basic baseball skills—pitching, catching, hitting, fielding, etc… Minor League players are focused on “making the team,” but the Major Leaguers focus on getting to know their teammates and developing a team chemistry that will help them win games. However, none of these activities really describes the purpose of Spring Training.
The purpose of Spring Training is NOT to get more practice. The purpose is to get ready to PLAY BALL.
This can be a great analogy for us as Christians. God has created each of us for a purpose. What do you think that purpose is? As a pastor, I am somewhat tempted to tell you God’s purpose for you is to come to church on Sundays. I am tempted to tell you that your purpose is to read your Bible every day and to join a Bible study / Sunday School class. I am even tempted to tell you that your purpose is to give financially to the church and to support the work of the church. But, this would be a lie.
All of these things are good and important things for Christians to do. Yet, they are not God’s purpose for us. Church, Sunday School, Bible study, supporting the work of the church—these are just like baseball Spring Training. They are practice. They are not our purpose. They are important practices and disciplines that help us “get ready” for our purpose.
Our purpose is to do the work of Jesus on the earth until Jesus returns.
Imagine how silly it would be for a baseball player to practice every day but never play a game. Imagine spending your entire life getting ready for something that never happens. Now, imagine a Christian who spends his or her entire Christian life reading the Bible, going to church and giving money to the church…But they never do anything. This is a life with no purpose.
Read 1 Corinthians 12: 1 – 31.
This passage of Scripture is not unique. There are several other Scriptures we can compare with this one. On one hand, this is one of three places where the Apostle Paul provides us with a list of Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). On the other hand, this is one of numerous places where Paul used the illustration the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Colossians 1 and others).
The fact that this Scripture is not unique tells me it is important. Important themes in the Bible NEVER appear only one time. They are repeated over and over for us to hear and understand and (ideally) apply to our lives. Therefore, it would be appropriate for us to interpret this as an important Scripture, as it emphasizes (or re-emphasizes) two themes found in numerous places. Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ were important concepts to the early Christians AND should continue to be important for us as well.
II. The Body of Christ = The Church (verses 27 and 28).
What does Paul mean when he uses the illustration the Body of Christ?
I believe that Paul was well educated in popular forms of rhetoric of his day. He writes long and complicated sentences. He employs common metaphors that were popular in the culture of his day. He makes philosophical arguments. And 1 Corinthians 12 fits this pattern.
The illustration Body of Christ appears at the end of Paul’s philosophical argument. He began the passage by describing Spiritual Gifts. He compared the different gifts to different parts of the human body. Then, he makes his final point by telling us he is not referring to a human body. All of this passage describes the Body of Christ. But, what is the Body of Christ?
Our first clue to answer this question is the pronoun Paul used in verse 27. He said, “You are the Body of Christ.” If we were to translate this into East Texas language, we would translate it, “Ya’ll are the Body of Christ.” In other words, this is not a charge to individuals. This is a charge to a group of people.
There are two sides of the Christian life. Christian life would be incomplete if we were to ignore either of these expressions of our life of faith.
The first side of the Christian life is the one we as Baptists are very good about emphasizing. It is the life of personal, individual faith. Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you as an individual. Jesus issues a call to individual men and women to enter into a life of faith with him. As Baptists, we usually talk about how important it is for a person to be “born again,” or to “ask Jesus to come into our hearts.” Both of these expressions mean the same thing. It means every individual must decide what to do with Jesus. Will you be just like the rest of the world and treat Jesus as just another person? Or, will you hand over the controls of your life to live the rest of your days with Jesus as the Lord (the ruler, master, boss) of your life?
The second side of the Christian life is the corporate life. Individual men, women, boys and girls must come together into a Christian community. This community is the Body of Christ. OR, as Paul says in verse 28…the church.
III. God Arranges the Parts of the Body (verse 18).
There are various ways we can interpret the English word “church.” On one hand, we sometimes use the word “church” to describe all believers past, present and future. On the other hand, we often use the word “church” to describe the people who gather here at the corner of First and Bremond Streets in Lufkin, Texas.
The term “Body of Christ” does NOT describe the universal church stretched across the globe past, present and future. I get this from two of Paul’s arguments in 1 Corinthians 12.
First, Paul says there is an interconnectedness within the Body of Christ that can be compared to the interconnectedness of our human bodies. In my human body, my head is connected to my shoulders; my shoulders are connected to my arms and my torso; my torso is connected to my legs; and my legs are connected to my feet. In addition, there are internal connections of vital organs—heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc… The proper functioning of my human body depends on all these external parts and internal organs working together. If one part ceases to function properly, my whole body suffers. This image applies to the local church, but it cannot apply to the universal church.
Second, Paul says in verse 18 that God arranges all the parts of the body “just as he wants them to be.” In other words, God has brought us together on purpose. It is no accident that you are a part of Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. God brought you to this church to be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the Body of Christ. If every member of this body functions in the way God intends, then the body will function properly. If just one member of this body is lacking, then the entire body will suffer.
IV. Spiritual Gifts are Given to ALL Christians (verses 7 and 11).
The first half of 1 Corinthians 12 describes why God brings us together. There is no one person capable of doing all the work of the Body of Christ. My eye cannot do the work of my hands. My foot cannot smell—well, I guess there are times when my foot does smell, but not the same way my nose smells. We need each other, because we are each different.
Paul is clear in verses 7 and 11 that ALL Christians receive Spiritual Gifts. Notice that he does not say “some of you.” He says “each one” receives a manifestation of the Spirit.
Did you know there is no one exactly like you? You are unique—even if you are a twin. Science has shown us that there may be similarities in a person’s DNA. However, no two people have the same fingerprints, interests, passions or experiences.
I have three children who all have the same mother and father. But they are different. They have different talents, abilities and gifts.
In the same way, there is no one in this church like you. You have a Spiritual Gift that makes you different and important to this church. Of course, there might be another person with a similar Spiritual Gift, but they do not have the same passion and experience that you have.
God knows what our church needs. God is concerned with the way our church functions. And God brings individual parts together to form a successful body. God brought you here to make this body function properly.
V. Spiritual Gifts are Given for the Common Good (verse 7).
As I said earlier, 1 Corinthians 12 is one of three places where Paul lists Spiritual Gifts (also Romans 12 and Ephesians 4). I used to think that all three lists of Spiritual Gifts were the same. But, then I read the lists. They are not the same. In fact, there is only one gift that is listed in all three places—prophecy. (Incidentally, I believe the gift of prophecy does not describe a person with the ability to predict future events. Rather, prophecy is the gift of “speaking God’s word to God’s people.” We should probably compare it to our modern day definition of “preaching.” The prophets of the Old Testament sometimes predicted future events, but this was only when they “spoke God’s word,” and God’s word was fulfilled.)
The fact that the three lists of Spiritual Gifts do not all list the same gifts leads me to believe these lists are NOT intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive lists. These lists are simply representative lists.
So don’t worry if you cannot find yourself in any of these gifts. A Spiritual Gift is any gift God has given you that can be used to help the Body of Christ function properly. “Prayer” does not appear on any of the lists. But, I believe there are some people who have a gift of praying. “Music and worship” do not appear on any of the lists. Again, I believe this is a Spiritual Gift that can be used to build up the Body of Christ and to help us function properly.
“Criticizing the pastor and church leaders” does not appear on any of the lists either. But this is NOT a Spiritual Gift. It does not build up the Body of Christ or help us function. As you search for your Spiritual Gift, make sure it is truly a Spiritual Gift—a gift that builds up the church and makes the church BETTER.
The key to identifying a Spiritual Gift is to determine if it is “for the common good.” If the church does not benefit, then it is NOT a Spiritual Gift.
A Spiritual Gift makes all of us better. A Spiritual Gift is something we cannot live without. In other words, if you are not exercising your Spiritual Gift in the Body of Christ, then our church will be LESS. What can you do to make our church better? If you know what that is and refuse to do it, then we cannot do what God has called us to do as a church.
VI. Conclusion: The Work of Jesus Becomes Our Work as His Body (John 14: 12 and John 17: 20 – 26).
While Jesus was on earth, he was complete. He did not need anyone else to perform his God-given ministry. But Jesus told us that we would do even more than him after he ascended to heaven. How in the world can this be possible? How can we do more than Jesus did in his completeness?
The answer can be found in the limitations Jesus experienced while on earth. No, I do not believe Jesus was limited in his power or his knowledge. But, I do believe Jesus was limited by time and space. Jesus did not heal everyone while he was on earth. He only healed those he encountered in time and space. Jesus could not teach everyone. He could only teach those who lived near him physically at the same time Jesus lived.
Now, Jesus is no longer limited by time and space! He has left us to complete his work. He has gifted us spiritually as individuals and brought us together as his body to do his work on earth—preaching the Gospel; proclaiming freedom for the prisoners; recovering sight for the blind; releasing the oppressed; and proclaiming God’s favor (Luke 4: 18 – 19).
God has gifted you to serve. You are a unique and necessary part of the Body of Christ called Lufkin’s First Baptist Church. You have a part to play. And, if you play your part our church will be stronger.
However, if you neglect to use your Spiritual Gift, the Body of Christ called Lufkin’s First Baptist Church will have LESS ministry in our community. The impact Christ could have in Lufkin will be smaller if we do not follow through and use our gifts to serve.
We still need practice. But it’s time to PLAY BALL.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009: Spring Training 3--Teamwork
Spring Training: Teamwork
Romans 12: 1 – 8.
This is the third in a series of four sermons focusing on the baseball theme of "Spring Training." I began this series of sermons by interviewing Trey Hearne, a young man who works on our church maintenance staff during the off-season and pitches for a minor league baseball team in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Trey was scheduled to begin Spring Training with the minor leagues on March 9. On Thursday of last week, Trey was called by the "big leagues." The Cardinals have three injured pitchers and needed some additional help. He left on Friday to pitch in "big league" Spring Training.
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090226&content_id=3886712&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl
I. Introduction
There are two basic reasons why we are emphasizing Spring Training for four weeks in our Sunday morning worship. First, I want to start using more creative elements in our worship—video, drama, interviews, themes, series, etc… Second, there are some people who believe the months of February and March are prime months for church attendance. I’ve never heard a good explanation why.
The first week of Spring Training, we focused on “Conditioning.” I interviewed Trey Hearne, who told us that baseball players can’t go back to Spring Training out of shape and expect to regain their position on the team. Conditioning is something that should take place every day and all year long. In the same way, Christian men and women should not expect to get in a good, spiritual condition one time a year—or even one day a week. Spiritual conditioning must be an every day, year long effort.
The second week of Spring Training, we focused on “Basic Skills and Mechanics.” Again, Trey told us that professional baseball players go back to the basics during the two months of Spring Training: throwing, catching, hitting, even spitting and scratching… As Christian men and women, the basics of our faith involve how we use our hearts, souls, minds and bodies to love God and other people.
Today, we are going to focus on an element of Spring Training that is not personal and individual. Conditioning is all about individual will power and training. Basic skills and mechanics relate to an individual player’s willingness to put in the practice time and repetition necessary to master techniques. But teamwork…On one hand, this is about an individual’s willingness to get along with others. On the other hand, a lot of teamwork depends on other people…
A baseball player in the minor leagues does not care about teamwork during Spring Training. He is more concerned with his own status. Players who get cut from the team before the season begins, simply do not care about the team. But the Major League players who know they are already on the team…these players want to use Spring Training as a time to get to know and trust their teammates.
For Christian men and women, the word “Team” ought to make us think of the church. Membership in this team does not depend on our ability. Membership is something God gives us when he saves us by his grace. Christians do not have to "make the team" to be accepted at church. No. If we expected people to be good enough to be a part of our team, our church buildings would be empty. There wouldn't even be a pastor!
The Christian life is both individual and corporate. There is an important, individual aspect of Christian life—we call it FAITH. There is also an important, corporate aspect of Christian life—we call it CHURCH. As individualistic Americans, we tend to emphasize FAITH and overlook CHURCH. But the Bible has a lot to say about CHURCH.
Exodus 20: 8…Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…
Matthew 18: 20…For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them…
Hebrews 10: 25…Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching…
Then there is Romans chapter 12…
We believe that the book of Romans was written close to the end of the Apostle Paul’s life and ministry on earth. By this time, he was an old man. He was at a point in his life that he could look back and evaluate his work of ministry and evangelism. He also looked back at his teachings to the new Christians and fledgling churches. He was also evaluating his own relationship with God as well as his theological beliefs about the Christian life.
This leads some New Testament scholars to describe the book of Romans as Paul’s Magnum Opus—his greatest achievement. Because the book of Romans contains Paul’s most complete theological treatise on the Christian life.
In this sense Romans is different from Paul’s other writings. It is his longest and most complete. Yet in many other ways, Romans is very similar to the rest of Paul’s writings. For example, Romans begins with the same kind of greeting found in the rest of the New Testament… Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God…Grace and peace to you…I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you…
Romans is also similar to Paul’s other writings because it can be neatly divided into two sections. Paul begins with a theological section and ends with an ethical section. Another way to describe this is to say that Paul begins with theory—this is what we believe about God and why we believe it. Then he moves into a practical section—since we believe thus about God, this is how we ought to live our lives.
Our Scripture passage for today is sort of the bridge between these two sections. Romans chapters 1 – 11 contain Paul’s theology and why he believes as he does. Romans 13 – 16 contain Paul’s practical advice on how Christians ought to live in light of what God has done for us in Christ. Romans 12 is the bridge between the two sections…
Read Romans 12: 1 – 8
This is all I am going to read from chapter 12, but I want you to know that all of this chapter applies to what we are talking about today.
In my interpretation of this chapter, there are three natural divisions. Verses 1 and 2 make up the first division…Verses 3 – 8 make up the second division…Verses 9 – 21 make up the third division… I came to this interpretation based on the way Paul uses the word Body or Bodies in the chapter.
Read Romans 12: 1…Offer your Bodies as living sacrifices…Notice how Paul uses the plural form of the word Body. This plural form tells me that Paul is speaking to a group of people but he is giving us individual advice. In other words, Romans 12: 1 – 2 describes something that every man and every woman must do for himself or herself…Give your life to God daily as a sacrifice that God can use for his purposes in the world…
Read Romans 12: 4 – 5…Just as each of us has one Body with many members…In Christ we who are many form one Body…Notice how Paul uses the singular form of the word Body…
By using the same word in each of these sections, I think Paul was trying to communicate that Christians are supposed to have both an INDIVIDUAL life with Christ (Faith) as well as a CORPORATE life with Christ’s people (Church).
How can we satisfy the command that Paul gave us earlier—Offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God? I believe it is very simple. Paul is saying…Take your BODY and become a part of the BODY of Christ. In other words, Take your BODY to church.
II. Two Extreme Views of Church
Again, we ask ourselves the question we asked at the beginning…How important is it for people to go to church? There are two extreme answers to this question.
On one extreme we find the people who say, I don’t need the church!
There are some people who say, I don’t need the church, because I have something better that takes the place of church…Usually, these people are members of a Bible Study group or some “half-way” Christian organization that they think better serves their spiritual needs than the church is capable of doing. To these people I would respond that they need to remember the 4th commandment in Exodus 20: 8, Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy…
There are some who say, I don’t need the church, because I can worship God better in a deer stand, on a creek bank or on the golf course…To these people I would respond that they need to take note of Jesus’ words in Matthew 18: 20, Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them…Jesus clearly teaches us two things about worship…We need to worship in a group of more than one…And we need to gather in the name of Jesus—Deer stand, creek bank and golf course do not fit Jesus’ description…
Then, there are some who say, I don’t need the church, because I do not believe in organized religion…To these people I would respond that I have been in ministry since 1991 and served in churches as a youth minister, college minister or pastor since 1991…After years of experience, I don't believe in organized religion either…I believe in disorganized religion!
Seriously, I would remind these people to read Hebrews 10: 25, Do not give up meeting together…Togetherness is an important part of church, and you cannot get a feeling of togetherness by watching church on TV, the Internet or by jumping from one church to the next church to the next church…
Several years ago, my mother attended a Sunday School class at FBC, Canton, MS that I was teaching. In the class discussion, she shared a story that I had never heard before. During my high school years, my mother was not able to work or attend church because of a physical problem. My father, brother and I attended church every week while my mother stayed at home to watch Adrian Rogers on TV. In Sunday School in Canton a few months ago, she told the class that there was one thing that she missed more than anything else. She missed being touched by other people. That is why I still believe in the church whether it might be organized religion or disorganized religion. Because when we come to church we shake hands, we hug necks, we pat each other on the back, and we feel a sense of togetherness that cannot be found anywhere else.
On the other extreme we find the people who say, You cannot go to heaven if you don’t go to church! (Usually this statement takes a form like: You cannot go to heaven if you don’t go to MY church!)
In church history this position was stated most clearly in the year 249, by Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage. (Now, that is Carthage as in North Africa and not Carthage as in East Texas.) Cyprian was famous for two things. As Bishop of Carthage, he claimed to have as much authority as the Bishop of Rome. In other words, he challenged the authority of the Pope. When he challenged the Pope, Cyprian claimed to have the same ability to grant salvation as did the Pope. That led to Cyprian’s famous statement, There is no salvation outside of the church!
There are still some modern-day Catholics and some entire Protestant denominations that teach the same thing today. If you are not a member of MY church, you are not saved. And even then, you had better remain in good standing with MY church if you don’t want to lose your salvation.
To these people I would respond that Romans 12 teaches something entirely different. Romans 12: 1 teaches us that we are saved as individual bodies with no reference to the church. But Romans 12: 3 – 8 teaches us that the service and ministry God calls each Christian to perform must take place as part of the church as the Body of Christ…
III. Conclusion
The best way I know to describe the proper relationship between individual Christians and the church is to use an illustration I read in the book Leadership Is an Art by Max DePree.
Max DePree is married to Jim Kaat’s sister. Many of you may remember Jim Kaat as a baseball pitcher. I remember him playing for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1980’s. But in the 1960’s Jim Kaat pitched for the Minnesota Twins and even pitched a World Series game against Sandy Koufax.
Sandy Koufax was a left-handed pitcher who spent his entire 12-year career pitching for the Dodgers. From 1962 – 1966, Sandy Koufax was the most dominant pitcher in professional baseball. In these five years his record was 111 wins and only 37 losses. No one has ever gotten close to this kind of domination in any five period in baseball history.
Jim Kaat told his brother-in-law about Sandy Koufax’ fastball. His fastball was so fast, that it actually hummed. Batters could literally hear the ball as it approached home plate. And as Koufax took his warm-up pitches, the opposing players would sit quietly in the dugout and listen to the ball hum.
Max DePree asked Jim Kaat what made Koufax such a dominating pitcher. Kaat gave him three answers…Koufax was unusually talented…Beautifully disciplined…and Well trained.
DePree said, “I know how to take away all of his talent, all of his discipline and all of his training…Take away his catcher…You can’t have a successful pitcher without a great catcher!”
The same thing is true for Christians…Your knowledge, discipline and training mean nothing without a catcher—And every Christian needs a great church…A place to grow…A place to serve…A place to use the gifts that God has given each of us…
Romans 12: 1 – 8.
This is the third in a series of four sermons focusing on the baseball theme of "Spring Training." I began this series of sermons by interviewing Trey Hearne, a young man who works on our church maintenance staff during the off-season and pitches for a minor league baseball team in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Trey was scheduled to begin Spring Training with the minor leagues on March 9. On Thursday of last week, Trey was called by the "big leagues." The Cardinals have three injured pitchers and needed some additional help. He left on Friday to pitch in "big league" Spring Training.
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090226&content_id=3886712&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl
I. Introduction
There are two basic reasons why we are emphasizing Spring Training for four weeks in our Sunday morning worship. First, I want to start using more creative elements in our worship—video, drama, interviews, themes, series, etc… Second, there are some people who believe the months of February and March are prime months for church attendance. I’ve never heard a good explanation why.
The first week of Spring Training, we focused on “Conditioning.” I interviewed Trey Hearne, who told us that baseball players can’t go back to Spring Training out of shape and expect to regain their position on the team. Conditioning is something that should take place every day and all year long. In the same way, Christian men and women should not expect to get in a good, spiritual condition one time a year—or even one day a week. Spiritual conditioning must be an every day, year long effort.
The second week of Spring Training, we focused on “Basic Skills and Mechanics.” Again, Trey told us that professional baseball players go back to the basics during the two months of Spring Training: throwing, catching, hitting, even spitting and scratching… As Christian men and women, the basics of our faith involve how we use our hearts, souls, minds and bodies to love God and other people.
Today, we are going to focus on an element of Spring Training that is not personal and individual. Conditioning is all about individual will power and training. Basic skills and mechanics relate to an individual player’s willingness to put in the practice time and repetition necessary to master techniques. But teamwork…On one hand, this is about an individual’s willingness to get along with others. On the other hand, a lot of teamwork depends on other people…
A baseball player in the minor leagues does not care about teamwork during Spring Training. He is more concerned with his own status. Players who get cut from the team before the season begins, simply do not care about the team. But the Major League players who know they are already on the team…these players want to use Spring Training as a time to get to know and trust their teammates.
For Christian men and women, the word “Team” ought to make us think of the church. Membership in this team does not depend on our ability. Membership is something God gives us when he saves us by his grace. Christians do not have to "make the team" to be accepted at church. No. If we expected people to be good enough to be a part of our team, our church buildings would be empty. There wouldn't even be a pastor!
The Christian life is both individual and corporate. There is an important, individual aspect of Christian life—we call it FAITH. There is also an important, corporate aspect of Christian life—we call it CHURCH. As individualistic Americans, we tend to emphasize FAITH and overlook CHURCH. But the Bible has a lot to say about CHURCH.
Exodus 20: 8…Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…
Matthew 18: 20…For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them…
Hebrews 10: 25…Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching…
Then there is Romans chapter 12…
We believe that the book of Romans was written close to the end of the Apostle Paul’s life and ministry on earth. By this time, he was an old man. He was at a point in his life that he could look back and evaluate his work of ministry and evangelism. He also looked back at his teachings to the new Christians and fledgling churches. He was also evaluating his own relationship with God as well as his theological beliefs about the Christian life.
This leads some New Testament scholars to describe the book of Romans as Paul’s Magnum Opus—his greatest achievement. Because the book of Romans contains Paul’s most complete theological treatise on the Christian life.
In this sense Romans is different from Paul’s other writings. It is his longest and most complete. Yet in many other ways, Romans is very similar to the rest of Paul’s writings. For example, Romans begins with the same kind of greeting found in the rest of the New Testament… Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God…Grace and peace to you…I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you…
Romans is also similar to Paul’s other writings because it can be neatly divided into two sections. Paul begins with a theological section and ends with an ethical section. Another way to describe this is to say that Paul begins with theory—this is what we believe about God and why we believe it. Then he moves into a practical section—since we believe thus about God, this is how we ought to live our lives.
Our Scripture passage for today is sort of the bridge between these two sections. Romans chapters 1 – 11 contain Paul’s theology and why he believes as he does. Romans 13 – 16 contain Paul’s practical advice on how Christians ought to live in light of what God has done for us in Christ. Romans 12 is the bridge between the two sections…
Read Romans 12: 1 – 8
This is all I am going to read from chapter 12, but I want you to know that all of this chapter applies to what we are talking about today.
In my interpretation of this chapter, there are three natural divisions. Verses 1 and 2 make up the first division…Verses 3 – 8 make up the second division…Verses 9 – 21 make up the third division… I came to this interpretation based on the way Paul uses the word Body or Bodies in the chapter.
Read Romans 12: 1…Offer your Bodies as living sacrifices…Notice how Paul uses the plural form of the word Body. This plural form tells me that Paul is speaking to a group of people but he is giving us individual advice. In other words, Romans 12: 1 – 2 describes something that every man and every woman must do for himself or herself…Give your life to God daily as a sacrifice that God can use for his purposes in the world…
Read Romans 12: 4 – 5…Just as each of us has one Body with many members…In Christ we who are many form one Body…Notice how Paul uses the singular form of the word Body…
By using the same word in each of these sections, I think Paul was trying to communicate that Christians are supposed to have both an INDIVIDUAL life with Christ (Faith) as well as a CORPORATE life with Christ’s people (Church).
How can we satisfy the command that Paul gave us earlier—Offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God? I believe it is very simple. Paul is saying…Take your BODY and become a part of the BODY of Christ. In other words, Take your BODY to church.
II. Two Extreme Views of Church
Again, we ask ourselves the question we asked at the beginning…How important is it for people to go to church? There are two extreme answers to this question.
On one extreme we find the people who say, I don’t need the church!
There are some people who say, I don’t need the church, because I have something better that takes the place of church…Usually, these people are members of a Bible Study group or some “half-way” Christian organization that they think better serves their spiritual needs than the church is capable of doing. To these people I would respond that they need to remember the 4th commandment in Exodus 20: 8, Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy…
There are some who say, I don’t need the church, because I can worship God better in a deer stand, on a creek bank or on the golf course…To these people I would respond that they need to take note of Jesus’ words in Matthew 18: 20, Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them…Jesus clearly teaches us two things about worship…We need to worship in a group of more than one…And we need to gather in the name of Jesus—Deer stand, creek bank and golf course do not fit Jesus’ description…
Then, there are some who say, I don’t need the church, because I do not believe in organized religion…To these people I would respond that I have been in ministry since 1991 and served in churches as a youth minister, college minister or pastor since 1991…After years of experience, I don't believe in organized religion either…I believe in disorganized religion!
Seriously, I would remind these people to read Hebrews 10: 25, Do not give up meeting together…Togetherness is an important part of church, and you cannot get a feeling of togetherness by watching church on TV, the Internet or by jumping from one church to the next church to the next church…
Several years ago, my mother attended a Sunday School class at FBC, Canton, MS that I was teaching. In the class discussion, she shared a story that I had never heard before. During my high school years, my mother was not able to work or attend church because of a physical problem. My father, brother and I attended church every week while my mother stayed at home to watch Adrian Rogers on TV. In Sunday School in Canton a few months ago, she told the class that there was one thing that she missed more than anything else. She missed being touched by other people. That is why I still believe in the church whether it might be organized religion or disorganized religion. Because when we come to church we shake hands, we hug necks, we pat each other on the back, and we feel a sense of togetherness that cannot be found anywhere else.
On the other extreme we find the people who say, You cannot go to heaven if you don’t go to church! (Usually this statement takes a form like: You cannot go to heaven if you don’t go to MY church!)
In church history this position was stated most clearly in the year 249, by Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage. (Now, that is Carthage as in North Africa and not Carthage as in East Texas.) Cyprian was famous for two things. As Bishop of Carthage, he claimed to have as much authority as the Bishop of Rome. In other words, he challenged the authority of the Pope. When he challenged the Pope, Cyprian claimed to have the same ability to grant salvation as did the Pope. That led to Cyprian’s famous statement, There is no salvation outside of the church!
There are still some modern-day Catholics and some entire Protestant denominations that teach the same thing today. If you are not a member of MY church, you are not saved. And even then, you had better remain in good standing with MY church if you don’t want to lose your salvation.
To these people I would respond that Romans 12 teaches something entirely different. Romans 12: 1 teaches us that we are saved as individual bodies with no reference to the church. But Romans 12: 3 – 8 teaches us that the service and ministry God calls each Christian to perform must take place as part of the church as the Body of Christ…
III. Conclusion
The best way I know to describe the proper relationship between individual Christians and the church is to use an illustration I read in the book Leadership Is an Art by Max DePree.
Max DePree is married to Jim Kaat’s sister. Many of you may remember Jim Kaat as a baseball pitcher. I remember him playing for the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals in the early 1980’s. But in the 1960’s Jim Kaat pitched for the Minnesota Twins and even pitched a World Series game against Sandy Koufax.
Sandy Koufax was a left-handed pitcher who spent his entire 12-year career pitching for the Dodgers. From 1962 – 1966, Sandy Koufax was the most dominant pitcher in professional baseball. In these five years his record was 111 wins and only 37 losses. No one has ever gotten close to this kind of domination in any five period in baseball history.
Jim Kaat told his brother-in-law about Sandy Koufax’ fastball. His fastball was so fast, that it actually hummed. Batters could literally hear the ball as it approached home plate. And as Koufax took his warm-up pitches, the opposing players would sit quietly in the dugout and listen to the ball hum.
Max DePree asked Jim Kaat what made Koufax such a dominating pitcher. Kaat gave him three answers…Koufax was unusually talented…Beautifully disciplined…and Well trained.
DePree said, “I know how to take away all of his talent, all of his discipline and all of his training…Take away his catcher…You can’t have a successful pitcher without a great catcher!”
The same thing is true for Christians…Your knowledge, discipline and training mean nothing without a catcher—And every Christian needs a great church…A place to grow…A place to serve…A place to use the gifts that God has given each of us…
Sunday, February 22, 2009: Spring Training 2--Basic Skills / Mechanics
Spring Training: Mechanics
Mark 12: 28 – 34
I. Introduction.
For those of you who were with us last week, I want to remind you of something Trey Hearne said in our interview. Trey is a member of our church who plays professional baseball with the Saint Louis Cardinals’ organization. Trey and I sat down up here and talked about Spring Training and what he can expect to happen when he goes back in two weeks.
Trey said something very important, but it went by very quickly. I asked Trey if professional baseball players have to go over the basic skills of playing baseball. He said that is one of the most important things that happen during Spring Training.
Some players go to Spring Training to “try out” for the team. Spring Training is the last time some players will ever wear a professional uniform. They give it their best shot, but they have to go home if their best shot is not good enough.
Other players go to Spring Training to get back into shape. Maybe they ate too much during the off season. Or perhaps they didn’t spend enough time working out. For these players, the most important thing they get during the two months of Spring Training is conditioning and exercise, exercise, exercise.
But ALL the players go back to the very basic skills of playing baseball. Pitchers practice throwing the ball. Catchers practice catching the ball. Hitters practice hitting the ball.
One example Trey gave about basic skills was a brief mention of Albert Pujols. For those who might not know Albert Pujols, he is the first baseman for the Saint Louis Cardinals. He won a World Series in 2006, and won the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award in 2005 and 2008. He is known as one of the best hitters in professional baseball. But Trey said during Spring Training, Albert Pujols can be seen hitting baseballs off of a tee—like a 5 year old playing tee-ball.
Hitting balls off a tee is a basic skill. It teaches hand-eye coordination. It trains the hitter to keep his head down and his eye on the baseball. When it comes to hitting a baseball, it just doesn’t get any more basic than that.
What about for Christian men and women? Is there something we should do to hone our basic skills? Is there a discipline we should not neglect?
The most basic description of the Christian life can be found in the words of Jesus, when he was asked about the most basic commandments in all the Bible.
Read Mark 12: 28 – 34.
This story appears at the very end of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem for the last time. Jesus has intentionally traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. And the controversy surrounding Jesus has reached its highest level.
This story is one of several stories that occurred in the Jerusalem Temple. Notice that Jesus is stationary throughout these final chapters of Mark’s Gospel. The religious leaders are coming to Jesus to ask him questions. Most of the questions have a ring of hostility. The Pharisees and Scribes are trying to trick Jesus by asking him political, theological and legal questions. They are hoping Jesus will say something that can be used against Jesus. Maybe they can get him to say something against Israel, God or the Jewish Law that will turn the crowds of people against Jesus. But Jesus is too wise and wonderful to fall into their traps.
This particular question does not sound very hostile. In fact, I would argue that this particular Jewish Scribe is so impressed with Jesus’ wisdom that he is actually approaching Jesus as a genuine seeker. The Scribe has come to Jesus seeking the truth about the Jewish Law as well as the truth about the character of Jesus.
In fact, this is the only Scribe who actually agrees with one of Jesus’ answers. He is also the only religious leader in the Gospel of Mark to receive a favorable response from Jesus. Notice how complimentary verses 32 and 34 are… “32. Well said teacher, the Scribe replied. You are right in saying…” “34. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
The difference between this story and other confrontations of Jesus and the Scribes, can be found in the nature of the question asked. This Scribe did not ask a rhetorical question. This Scribe asked a question that was often discussed and debated among the religious leaders. He wasn’t trying to find out which parts of the Jewish Law were expendable. He was asking Jesus to help him manage and interpret the Law.
In the Old Testament, we discover there are 613 commandments—248 positive commands and 365 negative commands, usually stated as “Thou shalt not…” The Scribe was asking about an interpretive principle. What is the one commandment which explains all 613 commandments? Jesus didn’t give him one commandment. Jesus gave him two commandments, Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18.
These two commandments serve as a kind of summary for the entire Old Testament. In a very specific way, these two commands summarize the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments deal with a person’s love and relationship with God. The second six of the Ten Commandments deal with a person’s love and relationship with other people. Just as the Ten Commandments teach us to love God and love others, so the entire Old Testament teaches us to love God and love others. Now Jesus says these are the two basic skills required of all Christians.
II. Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.
This is the second of the greatest commandments Jesus gave us. There is a very good reason why it is second. It is not enough for us simply to love other people. Our love for others must be rooted in something greater than ourselves and greater than other people. We must love others as an expression of our love for God.
There are a lot of good humanitarians who do good deeds for the people of the world. A couple of years ago, there were some American multi-millionaires who made headlines by donating millions of dollars to the United Nations to address hunger, clean water and HIV issues around the world. These are the kinds of love expressions Christians ought to perform in the world. However, Christians are supposed to do this kind of work as a response to God’s love for us.
I would also add that any Christian humanitarian work is incomplete if it is not also accompanied by the spiritual work of sharing the Gospel with the same people we are serving. The difference between the way Christians love the world and non-Christians love the world is the way we serve both physical and spiritual needs. Christians should never offer physical salvation without spiritual salvation.
III. Love God with All Your Heart.
The Greek word for “heart” is the word kardia. It is the root of our English words cardiac. The ancient world used the concept of “heart” in the same way we use it today. It is a symbolic way of expressing the center of our emotional lives. A very practical way to think of the heart is to think of a person’s desires and passions. What are you passionate about? What is the most intense desire of your heart?
In Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a man who had two sons. The younger son left home and squandered his inheritance among the Gentiles. The older son stayed home and remained faithful to his father. Since the older son stayed home, he thought he deserved a greater reward from his father. But when the younger son returned home, we saw the older son at his very worst. He refused to celebrate when his younger brother came home. He refused to accept his own brother as a part of his own family. Yes, the older brother stayed home. However, his heart and desires were not in the right place.
It is possible for us be just like the older brother in the parable. We can do the right things, with a heart that is not totally devoted to Jesus. Jesus wants your whole heart…All your desires and your greatest passion should be focused on Jesus.
IV. Love God with All Your Soul.
The Greek word for “soul” is the word psyche. It is identical to our English word psyche. In English, psyche defines a person’s internal life. The ancient world associated the psyche with the eternal aspect of life—the part of life that leaves the body at the point of death. The Hebrew people taught that the soul was what brought Adam and Eve to life when it was breathed into them by God himself. A body without a psyche is motionless, lifeless and dead. Therefore, we can say that to love God with all your soul is to love God with all the vitality, power and motivation of life. What brings vitality to your life? What is the single greatest motivator for you on a daily basis?
In the New Testament we meet a man by the name of Paul. In the Book of Acts, Paul was a tireless missionary and evangelist. He preached the Gospel in the most dangerous, pagan lands. He later wrote almost half of the books of our New Testament. In one of Paul’s writings, he described for us his greatest motivation. “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1: 21).” The greatest motivator for Paul was his love for Jesus Christ.
V. Love God with All Your Mind.
This is the only category Jesus added to the Old Testament commandment. The original quotation says to love God with your heart, soul and strength. Jesus added “mind.” It’s OK that this does not appear in the Old Testament Scripture. It was added by Jesus, not by a mere human. Since it was added, I think we should take it seriously…Even more seriously, since Jesus is the one who mentioned it.
Christian faith is not supposed to be without intellect. The early Christians used their minds to engage the culture around them. They read the great philosophers; they studied their culture; and they wrote on the same intellectual level as the world. Paul tells us in Romans 12: 1 – 2… “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and well pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
VI. Love God with All Your Strength.
The Greek word for strength is a word which usually refers to a person’s physical capacity. It is the root word for the Greek word for “health.” In other words, love God with all your health. I think this is an obvious reference to the human body.
Some ancient religions did not think very highly about the human body. They were only concerned with the spiritual side of life. That is not the case with the Christian faith. Paul told us to present our “bodies” to God as living sacrifices in Romans 12. In 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 – 8, he tells us to get control of our bodies—including our sexual desires.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 – 8.
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Girls of grace is a 12 week program designed for 8th thru 12th grade girls for the purpose of learning what God says about purity through studying his word and engaging one another thru thoughtful discussion.
This ceremony marks the end of this study as we celebrate with them their decision to live a life of purity and deep committed discipleship. These girls have acknowledged The Lord Jesus as their savior and they understand how important it is to grow in their faith by staying connected with a body of believers. We celebrate with them along with their families today.
Girls..may the ring you're about to receive be a reminder of your commitment to God and your future husband. Remember that on your wedding night you will give this ring to your spouse as a sign of promises made and promises kept. May today be the start of the best days if your life.
Girls...do you commit to God, yourself, your family, your friends, your future mate and future children, to a life long journey with Jesus towards purity and to sexual abstinence from this day until the day you enter a biblical marriage relationship? (I do.)
Parents place ring on daughters finger.
Parents...do you honor and support your daughters commitment here today and promise to correct her when needed and lovingly guide her to become more like Jesus? (We do.)
Congregation...will you join these girls in a committing to a life long journey with Jesus towards purity and to supporting them with your thoughts and prayers? (We do.)
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VII. Conclusion.
If we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, what is left out? Nothing! Jesus tells us the most important thing for a Christian to do is to love God with ALL we have. God loves ALL of you. God saves ALL of you. Anything less than your ALL is inadequate.
Mark 12: 28 – 34
I. Introduction.
For those of you who were with us last week, I want to remind you of something Trey Hearne said in our interview. Trey is a member of our church who plays professional baseball with the Saint Louis Cardinals’ organization. Trey and I sat down up here and talked about Spring Training and what he can expect to happen when he goes back in two weeks.
Trey said something very important, but it went by very quickly. I asked Trey if professional baseball players have to go over the basic skills of playing baseball. He said that is one of the most important things that happen during Spring Training.
Some players go to Spring Training to “try out” for the team. Spring Training is the last time some players will ever wear a professional uniform. They give it their best shot, but they have to go home if their best shot is not good enough.
Other players go to Spring Training to get back into shape. Maybe they ate too much during the off season. Or perhaps they didn’t spend enough time working out. For these players, the most important thing they get during the two months of Spring Training is conditioning and exercise, exercise, exercise.
But ALL the players go back to the very basic skills of playing baseball. Pitchers practice throwing the ball. Catchers practice catching the ball. Hitters practice hitting the ball.
One example Trey gave about basic skills was a brief mention of Albert Pujols. For those who might not know Albert Pujols, he is the first baseman for the Saint Louis Cardinals. He won a World Series in 2006, and won the Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player award in 2005 and 2008. He is known as one of the best hitters in professional baseball. But Trey said during Spring Training, Albert Pujols can be seen hitting baseballs off of a tee—like a 5 year old playing tee-ball.
Hitting balls off a tee is a basic skill. It teaches hand-eye coordination. It trains the hitter to keep his head down and his eye on the baseball. When it comes to hitting a baseball, it just doesn’t get any more basic than that.
What about for Christian men and women? Is there something we should do to hone our basic skills? Is there a discipline we should not neglect?
The most basic description of the Christian life can be found in the words of Jesus, when he was asked about the most basic commandments in all the Bible.
Read Mark 12: 28 – 34.
This story appears at the very end of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry. Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem for the last time. Jesus has intentionally traveled to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. And the controversy surrounding Jesus has reached its highest level.
This story is one of several stories that occurred in the Jerusalem Temple. Notice that Jesus is stationary throughout these final chapters of Mark’s Gospel. The religious leaders are coming to Jesus to ask him questions. Most of the questions have a ring of hostility. The Pharisees and Scribes are trying to trick Jesus by asking him political, theological and legal questions. They are hoping Jesus will say something that can be used against Jesus. Maybe they can get him to say something against Israel, God or the Jewish Law that will turn the crowds of people against Jesus. But Jesus is too wise and wonderful to fall into their traps.
This particular question does not sound very hostile. In fact, I would argue that this particular Jewish Scribe is so impressed with Jesus’ wisdom that he is actually approaching Jesus as a genuine seeker. The Scribe has come to Jesus seeking the truth about the Jewish Law as well as the truth about the character of Jesus.
In fact, this is the only Scribe who actually agrees with one of Jesus’ answers. He is also the only religious leader in the Gospel of Mark to receive a favorable response from Jesus. Notice how complimentary verses 32 and 34 are… “32. Well said teacher, the Scribe replied. You are right in saying…” “34. When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
The difference between this story and other confrontations of Jesus and the Scribes, can be found in the nature of the question asked. This Scribe did not ask a rhetorical question. This Scribe asked a question that was often discussed and debated among the religious leaders. He wasn’t trying to find out which parts of the Jewish Law were expendable. He was asking Jesus to help him manage and interpret the Law.
In the Old Testament, we discover there are 613 commandments—248 positive commands and 365 negative commands, usually stated as “Thou shalt not…” The Scribe was asking about an interpretive principle. What is the one commandment which explains all 613 commandments? Jesus didn’t give him one commandment. Jesus gave him two commandments, Deuteronomy 6: 5 and Leviticus 19: 18.
These two commandments serve as a kind of summary for the entire Old Testament. In a very specific way, these two commands summarize the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments deal with a person’s love and relationship with God. The second six of the Ten Commandments deal with a person’s love and relationship with other people. Just as the Ten Commandments teach us to love God and love others, so the entire Old Testament teaches us to love God and love others. Now Jesus says these are the two basic skills required of all Christians.
II. Love Your Neighbor as Yourself.
This is the second of the greatest commandments Jesus gave us. There is a very good reason why it is second. It is not enough for us simply to love other people. Our love for others must be rooted in something greater than ourselves and greater than other people. We must love others as an expression of our love for God.
There are a lot of good humanitarians who do good deeds for the people of the world. A couple of years ago, there were some American multi-millionaires who made headlines by donating millions of dollars to the United Nations to address hunger, clean water and HIV issues around the world. These are the kinds of love expressions Christians ought to perform in the world. However, Christians are supposed to do this kind of work as a response to God’s love for us.
I would also add that any Christian humanitarian work is incomplete if it is not also accompanied by the spiritual work of sharing the Gospel with the same people we are serving. The difference between the way Christians love the world and non-Christians love the world is the way we serve both physical and spiritual needs. Christians should never offer physical salvation without spiritual salvation.
III. Love God with All Your Heart.
The Greek word for “heart” is the word kardia. It is the root of our English words cardiac. The ancient world used the concept of “heart” in the same way we use it today. It is a symbolic way of expressing the center of our emotional lives. A very practical way to think of the heart is to think of a person’s desires and passions. What are you passionate about? What is the most intense desire of your heart?
In Luke 15, Jesus told a parable about a man who had two sons. The younger son left home and squandered his inheritance among the Gentiles. The older son stayed home and remained faithful to his father. Since the older son stayed home, he thought he deserved a greater reward from his father. But when the younger son returned home, we saw the older son at his very worst. He refused to celebrate when his younger brother came home. He refused to accept his own brother as a part of his own family. Yes, the older brother stayed home. However, his heart and desires were not in the right place.
It is possible for us be just like the older brother in the parable. We can do the right things, with a heart that is not totally devoted to Jesus. Jesus wants your whole heart…All your desires and your greatest passion should be focused on Jesus.
IV. Love God with All Your Soul.
The Greek word for “soul” is the word psyche. It is identical to our English word psyche. In English, psyche defines a person’s internal life. The ancient world associated the psyche with the eternal aspect of life—the part of life that leaves the body at the point of death. The Hebrew people taught that the soul was what brought Adam and Eve to life when it was breathed into them by God himself. A body without a psyche is motionless, lifeless and dead. Therefore, we can say that to love God with all your soul is to love God with all the vitality, power and motivation of life. What brings vitality to your life? What is the single greatest motivator for you on a daily basis?
In the New Testament we meet a man by the name of Paul. In the Book of Acts, Paul was a tireless missionary and evangelist. He preached the Gospel in the most dangerous, pagan lands. He later wrote almost half of the books of our New Testament. In one of Paul’s writings, he described for us his greatest motivation. “For me to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1: 21).” The greatest motivator for Paul was his love for Jesus Christ.
V. Love God with All Your Mind.
This is the only category Jesus added to the Old Testament commandment. The original quotation says to love God with your heart, soul and strength. Jesus added “mind.” It’s OK that this does not appear in the Old Testament Scripture. It was added by Jesus, not by a mere human. Since it was added, I think we should take it seriously…Even more seriously, since Jesus is the one who mentioned it.
Christian faith is not supposed to be without intellect. The early Christians used their minds to engage the culture around them. They read the great philosophers; they studied their culture; and they wrote on the same intellectual level as the world. Paul tells us in Romans 12: 1 – 2… “Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and well pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
VI. Love God with All Your Strength.
The Greek word for strength is a word which usually refers to a person’s physical capacity. It is the root word for the Greek word for “health.” In other words, love God with all your health. I think this is an obvious reference to the human body.
Some ancient religions did not think very highly about the human body. They were only concerned with the spiritual side of life. That is not the case with the Christian faith. Paul told us to present our “bodies” to God as living sacrifices in Romans 12. In 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 – 8, he tells us to get control of our bodies—including our sexual desires.
Read 1 Thessalonians 4: 3 – 8.
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Girls of grace is a 12 week program designed for 8th thru 12th grade girls for the purpose of learning what God says about purity through studying his word and engaging one another thru thoughtful discussion.
This ceremony marks the end of this study as we celebrate with them their decision to live a life of purity and deep committed discipleship. These girls have acknowledged The Lord Jesus as their savior and they understand how important it is to grow in their faith by staying connected with a body of believers. We celebrate with them along with their families today.
Girls..may the ring you're about to receive be a reminder of your commitment to God and your future husband. Remember that on your wedding night you will give this ring to your spouse as a sign of promises made and promises kept. May today be the start of the best days if your life.
Girls...do you commit to God, yourself, your family, your friends, your future mate and future children, to a life long journey with Jesus towards purity and to sexual abstinence from this day until the day you enter a biblical marriage relationship? (I do.)
Parents place ring on daughters finger.
Parents...do you honor and support your daughters commitment here today and promise to correct her when needed and lovingly guide her to become more like Jesus? (We do.)
Congregation...will you join these girls in a committing to a life long journey with Jesus towards purity and to supporting them with your thoughts and prayers? (We do.)
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VII. Conclusion.
If we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, what is left out? Nothing! Jesus tells us the most important thing for a Christian to do is to love God with ALL we have. God loves ALL of you. God saves ALL of you. Anything less than your ALL is inadequate.
Sunday, February 15, 2009: Spring Training 1--Conditioning
Spring Training: Conditioning
Romans 5: 8 and Galatians 2: 20.
I. Introduction.
Do you know the difference between Truth and Fiction? It’s really quite simple…Fiction has to be believable. The Truth—on the other hand—doesn’t have to be believable at all. Take for example the story about a church in England that removed a statue of the crucifixion from the outside of the church.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/06/crucifixion-church-vicar-sculpture-copnall
The statue in question was a 10 foot statue of Jesus on the cross—what we might refer to as a Crucifix. Typically, we associate the Crucifix with Roman Catholic churches. And as Baptists, we do not adorn our sanctuary with images of Jesus. We do this as a matter of theology and “what we are accustomed to” as Baptists. But the church in England did not remove the Crucifix for theological reasons. Rather, the church decided the statue was “too scary for children and non-Christians.”
The statue had been on the front of the church for over 45 years! But in December 2008, the church chose to remove the cross in favor of a more “uplifting” and “inspiring” image. Their reasoning was that by removing the cross, they could attract more people to their church.
Can you imagine a church without a cross? Can you even begin to think of replacing the cross of Christ with something more “uplifting” and “inspiring?”
As Christians, the cross represents the suffering and death of Jesus. The cross is central to our faith. But the cross is not the whole story. Yes. Jesus died on the cross. But the grave could not hold him. Three days later he was raised to life.
These two events ought to be held together as the single most important event in human history. Jesus died to save us from sin and rose again to give us the hope and the promise of new life.
Removing the cross is the last thing we need to do! Removing the cross could possibly attract more people to the church, but it reduces the church to nothing more than a social club. Removing the cross removes the life changing power of the Gospel.
That leads me to ask a question. Would it have been possible for us to celebrate the Resurrection if there had not been a Crucifixion? Of course not! The Resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot stand alone. In order for Jesus to be Resurrected he first had to be Crucified. This is not to say that he went through the motions of Crucifixion. Jesus had to literally and actually die before he could be Resurrected.
What about the opposite of that? Would it have been possible for us to celebrate the Crucifixion if there had not been a Resurrection? No! Crucifixion without Resurrection would have been the greatest religious failure the world had ever known. It would have been incomplete. Easter Sunday morning would be nothing more than a funeral service for a humiliated and unsuccessful religious person, who was no different from you and me.
What about Crucifixion and Resurrection together? What do you get when you place the Crucifixion and Resurrection side by side? Good News! It is like the Paul Harvey news program…Now we know the “Rest of the Story.”
II. God Loves You Just Like You Are.
Read Romans 5: 8
I cannot think of anyone greater than the Apostle Paul to write these words. Paul had a story just like your story and my story…He thought he needed to “Clean Up His Act” for God…
And he worked hard at it…He had a pedigree that most Jewish young men would have loved to have had for themselves…He was born into a good Jewish family, Hebrew of Hebrews, Hebrew ancestry and Paul even spoke Hebrew…His family obeyed the law and taught Paul to love and obey the law as a child…When Paul grew up, he took on the highest religious rank available to a Jewish man, he became a Pharisee…As a Pharisee, Paul out performed all the other Pharisees his age…Every religious man in town wished he could be as religious as Paul was…
But one day Paul discovered that none of these things mattered…Because as much as he might try to be good or righteous or holy or like God, Paul could never be as good as God is…He could never become righteous, because even if his actions were good his motives were questionable…Paul discovered that it is possible for a person to sin even while they are keeping the law…It is possible to do the right thing so other people will notice you and brag about how spiritual and religious you are, and that is sin…It is the sin of pride…
Paul realized that he was caught in a trap that he could never get out of…As a human being, Paul was sinful and could not stand in the presence of a holy God…
Did you know that? If you have sin in your life, you cannot be in the same place with God. Another way to say that is to say, God cannot allow you into Heaven if you have sin in your life. It doesn’t matter how big or small you perceive your sins to be. Sin deserves death and Hell…Eternal separation from God.
And that is where we encounter the Good News…God loved you so much that he sent his only begotten Son to live here on the earth and to die for your sins…Jesus died for sinners…Jesus did not die for good people…Jesus did not die for saved people…Jesus died for sinners…
As a good Jewish man, Paul understood the death of Jesus in terms of Jewish religion…He thought of it as a sacrifice…Jewish religion taught Paul that if he had sin in his life he would have to go to the synagogue and offer sacrifice to God…Sacrifices were offered on behalf of sinners, not for the righteous…
There is Good News today…You do not have to “Clean Up Your Act” for God to love you…God loved sinners, and he demonstrated it in the death of Jesus…
Jesus taught this to his disciples…One day he ate lunch (in broad daylight) with a man who was known in the community as a bad sinner…And the Pharisees confronted Jesus about this…And do you know what Jesus said?...“Healthy people do not need doctors. Sick people need doctors. And sinners need a Savior.”
God loves you just like you are…A sinner who needs a Savior…
III. But, God Loves You too Much to Leave You Like You Are.
If God loves me just like I am, does that give me a license to live any way I want to live? No! There is a second part of this Good News! Remember, I told you to keep Crucifixion and Resurrection together!
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a testimony that Jesus has conquered death and Hell…That Jesus really is the Son of God…That there is something for us to look forward to if we put our faith in Jesus…
But the Resurrection is also the beginning of a new kind of life for Jesus…No longer is Jesus confined to his human existence…While Jesus lived on the earth, he was limited in time and space…As a human with a literal and actual body, Jesus could not be in two places at the same time…Now, however, these limitations have been lifted…Jesus can be in all places at all times…
And do you know where Jesus lives? He lives in me!
Read Galatians 2: 20
There are 2 things in this verse that I want you to notice…The first I have already pointed out…Because Jesus Christ has been Resurrected, he lives in me…
But there is a second point here…It can be found in the answer to the question, “In whom does Jesus live?” Does Jesus live in every person on the face of the earth? No!
Look at the second line of that verse…The life I live in the body, I live by FAITH in the Son of God…That is the key…Jesus lives in those who have placed their FAITH in him.
When Jesus lives in you it will be noticeable…Remember, Jesus Christ is fully divine, he is God…Remember, God is holy and perfect…Remember, a holy God cannot stand in the presence of sin…Therefore, if Jesus is in you and you are a sinner, there will be a conflict…Conflict between righteousness and sinfulness…
Who will win that conflict? Righteousness…Jesus Christ will prevail…That means, when Jesus Christ comes into your life, some noticeable changes will take place…
1. Sin is no longer comfortable…Conviction of Holy Spirit
2. Your desires begin to change…Rather than pleasing yourself, you want to do what is pleasing to God…
3. Your character begins to change…When Jesus is in you, he works to mold you and to shape you into his own image and likeness…The best way to think of this is to think of family resemblance…Just as a child looks like his or her father, your life will begin to resemble the holiness of God.
IV. Conclusion.
Today I want to declare the Good News. Jesus Christ was Crucified so that you might be saved. Jesus Christ was Resurrected so that you might be changed into his image and his likeness.
God loves you just like you are…But God loves you too much to leave you like you are.
Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God?
Romans 10: 9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
This verse tells us that a person must do two things in order to be saved. You must BELIEVE that Jesus died and was resurrected for you. And you must confess (tell the truth) that Jesus is your Lord. This makes it personal. You cannot just say, “Oh yeah I believe.” You actually have to do something. You have to make it personal. You have to acknowledge, “Jesus is my Lord.”
Romans 5: 8 and Galatians 2: 20.
I. Introduction.
Do you know the difference between Truth and Fiction? It’s really quite simple…Fiction has to be believable. The Truth—on the other hand—doesn’t have to be believable at all. Take for example the story about a church in England that removed a statue of the crucifixion from the outside of the church.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/06/crucifixion-church-vicar-sculpture-copnall
The statue in question was a 10 foot statue of Jesus on the cross—what we might refer to as a Crucifix. Typically, we associate the Crucifix with Roman Catholic churches. And as Baptists, we do not adorn our sanctuary with images of Jesus. We do this as a matter of theology and “what we are accustomed to” as Baptists. But the church in England did not remove the Crucifix for theological reasons. Rather, the church decided the statue was “too scary for children and non-Christians.”
The statue had been on the front of the church for over 45 years! But in December 2008, the church chose to remove the cross in favor of a more “uplifting” and “inspiring” image. Their reasoning was that by removing the cross, they could attract more people to their church.
Can you imagine a church without a cross? Can you even begin to think of replacing the cross of Christ with something more “uplifting” and “inspiring?”
As Christians, the cross represents the suffering and death of Jesus. The cross is central to our faith. But the cross is not the whole story. Yes. Jesus died on the cross. But the grave could not hold him. Three days later he was raised to life.
These two events ought to be held together as the single most important event in human history. Jesus died to save us from sin and rose again to give us the hope and the promise of new life.
Removing the cross is the last thing we need to do! Removing the cross could possibly attract more people to the church, but it reduces the church to nothing more than a social club. Removing the cross removes the life changing power of the Gospel.
That leads me to ask a question. Would it have been possible for us to celebrate the Resurrection if there had not been a Crucifixion? Of course not! The Resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot stand alone. In order for Jesus to be Resurrected he first had to be Crucified. This is not to say that he went through the motions of Crucifixion. Jesus had to literally and actually die before he could be Resurrected.
What about the opposite of that? Would it have been possible for us to celebrate the Crucifixion if there had not been a Resurrection? No! Crucifixion without Resurrection would have been the greatest religious failure the world had ever known. It would have been incomplete. Easter Sunday morning would be nothing more than a funeral service for a humiliated and unsuccessful religious person, who was no different from you and me.
What about Crucifixion and Resurrection together? What do you get when you place the Crucifixion and Resurrection side by side? Good News! It is like the Paul Harvey news program…Now we know the “Rest of the Story.”
II. God Loves You Just Like You Are.
Read Romans 5: 8
I cannot think of anyone greater than the Apostle Paul to write these words. Paul had a story just like your story and my story…He thought he needed to “Clean Up His Act” for God…
And he worked hard at it…He had a pedigree that most Jewish young men would have loved to have had for themselves…He was born into a good Jewish family, Hebrew of Hebrews, Hebrew ancestry and Paul even spoke Hebrew…His family obeyed the law and taught Paul to love and obey the law as a child…When Paul grew up, he took on the highest religious rank available to a Jewish man, he became a Pharisee…As a Pharisee, Paul out performed all the other Pharisees his age…Every religious man in town wished he could be as religious as Paul was…
But one day Paul discovered that none of these things mattered…Because as much as he might try to be good or righteous or holy or like God, Paul could never be as good as God is…He could never become righteous, because even if his actions were good his motives were questionable…Paul discovered that it is possible for a person to sin even while they are keeping the law…It is possible to do the right thing so other people will notice you and brag about how spiritual and religious you are, and that is sin…It is the sin of pride…
Paul realized that he was caught in a trap that he could never get out of…As a human being, Paul was sinful and could not stand in the presence of a holy God…
Did you know that? If you have sin in your life, you cannot be in the same place with God. Another way to say that is to say, God cannot allow you into Heaven if you have sin in your life. It doesn’t matter how big or small you perceive your sins to be. Sin deserves death and Hell…Eternal separation from God.
And that is where we encounter the Good News…God loved you so much that he sent his only begotten Son to live here on the earth and to die for your sins…Jesus died for sinners…Jesus did not die for good people…Jesus did not die for saved people…Jesus died for sinners…
As a good Jewish man, Paul understood the death of Jesus in terms of Jewish religion…He thought of it as a sacrifice…Jewish religion taught Paul that if he had sin in his life he would have to go to the synagogue and offer sacrifice to God…Sacrifices were offered on behalf of sinners, not for the righteous…
There is Good News today…You do not have to “Clean Up Your Act” for God to love you…God loved sinners, and he demonstrated it in the death of Jesus…
Jesus taught this to his disciples…One day he ate lunch (in broad daylight) with a man who was known in the community as a bad sinner…And the Pharisees confronted Jesus about this…And do you know what Jesus said?...“Healthy people do not need doctors. Sick people need doctors. And sinners need a Savior.”
God loves you just like you are…A sinner who needs a Savior…
III. But, God Loves You too Much to Leave You Like You Are.
If God loves me just like I am, does that give me a license to live any way I want to live? No! There is a second part of this Good News! Remember, I told you to keep Crucifixion and Resurrection together!
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a testimony that Jesus has conquered death and Hell…That Jesus really is the Son of God…That there is something for us to look forward to if we put our faith in Jesus…
But the Resurrection is also the beginning of a new kind of life for Jesus…No longer is Jesus confined to his human existence…While Jesus lived on the earth, he was limited in time and space…As a human with a literal and actual body, Jesus could not be in two places at the same time…Now, however, these limitations have been lifted…Jesus can be in all places at all times…
And do you know where Jesus lives? He lives in me!
Read Galatians 2: 20
There are 2 things in this verse that I want you to notice…The first I have already pointed out…Because Jesus Christ has been Resurrected, he lives in me…
But there is a second point here…It can be found in the answer to the question, “In whom does Jesus live?” Does Jesus live in every person on the face of the earth? No!
Look at the second line of that verse…The life I live in the body, I live by FAITH in the Son of God…That is the key…Jesus lives in those who have placed their FAITH in him.
When Jesus lives in you it will be noticeable…Remember, Jesus Christ is fully divine, he is God…Remember, God is holy and perfect…Remember, a holy God cannot stand in the presence of sin…Therefore, if Jesus is in you and you are a sinner, there will be a conflict…Conflict between righteousness and sinfulness…
Who will win that conflict? Righteousness…Jesus Christ will prevail…That means, when Jesus Christ comes into your life, some noticeable changes will take place…
1. Sin is no longer comfortable…Conviction of Holy Spirit
2. Your desires begin to change…Rather than pleasing yourself, you want to do what is pleasing to God…
3. Your character begins to change…When Jesus is in you, he works to mold you and to shape you into his own image and likeness…The best way to think of this is to think of family resemblance…Just as a child looks like his or her father, your life will begin to resemble the holiness of God.
IV. Conclusion.
Today I want to declare the Good News. Jesus Christ was Crucified so that you might be saved. Jesus Christ was Resurrected so that you might be changed into his image and his likeness.
God loves you just like you are…But God loves you too much to leave you like you are.
Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God?
Romans 10: 9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
This verse tells us that a person must do two things in order to be saved. You must BELIEVE that Jesus died and was resurrected for you. And you must confess (tell the truth) that Jesus is your Lord. This makes it personal. You cannot just say, “Oh yeah I believe.” You actually have to do something. You have to make it personal. You have to acknowledge, “Jesus is my Lord.”
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