The God Who Gets His Hands Dirty

Posted by David on April 13, 1997 under Sermons

I attended the Tulsa workshop for a day a couple of weeks ago. Among the speakers I heard was Terry Rush who preaches at the Memorial Park congregation in Tulsa. The title of his lesson was, “I want to be where you are.” In his lesson, he made this true, powerful statement that immediately stuck in my mind: “When you work where God is, things get messy.”

That statement struck me because I have found it so very true. Too many of us picture God as the chief inspection officer of the universe. Those of you in the military are vividly aware of the necessity of passing inspection. The officer in charge is not there to compliment you. He is there to uncover all the flaws and mistakes.

Inspections are not confined to the military. Government agencies are notorious for their inspections. So are bank examiners. So are those who audit income tax accounts. The situation is always the same. The inspector has to find something wrong. He has to discover corrections that need to be made. That is his or her job.

Too often we picture God as this always right inspector who is never wrong. His job is to make endless inspections–he inspects everything all the time. As He inspects he wears a bright white suit with bright white gloves. He is constantly searching for dirt.

In this picture, God hates messes. He convulses when he sees a mess. He refuses to touch a mess. His job is to expose the mess, not to deliver from the mess. He will only associate with people who are neat, orderly, proper, and mess free.

I am almost 57 years old. I have spent over 40 years of my life working in God’s behalf as best I know how. From the earliest years of my work until now I have consistently witnessed this fact. God’s work is always messy work. I often have watched as God makes His presence and work obvious in lives that were too messy to describe.

I am not certain how the image of the inspector God who wears white gloves evolved, but that is not a biblical picture of God. The Bible certainly declares that God’s eyes are open to everything happening, that He is totally pure, that He is absolute holiness, and that He despises all evil. At the same time, He is the God who is so concerned, so involved, so merciful that He is always at work helping, always getting His hands dirty.

1. Why should it surprise us that God is not afraid to get His hands dirty as He works with the messes of this world?
   1. God always has involved Himself in messy situations.
      1. Do you recall the very first thing the Bible tells us about God?
         In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters (Genesis 1:1, 2).
         1. Think about that a moment.
            1. What were conditions? Chaos!
            2. Chaos is the mess of all messes–the ultimate form of mess.
            3. No orderliness, no form, no tidiness, nothing but darkness and useless, meaningless waste.
         2. And God, of His own initiative and choice involved Himself, and brought good, order, purpose, usefulness, light, and life into existence.
         3. God got involved where there was chaos; God got His hands dirty.
      2. And then we read about Adam and Eve (Genesis 2,3).
         1. And they took the good creation that God made out of chaos and created an even worse mess.
         2. They created a worse mess by spiritually polluting the good God created with evil.
         3. Genesis said it only took six days to transform chaos into order and life.
         4. But it took all the time from Old Testament Genesis chapter one to New Testament Acts chapter two for God to create order and life in the chaos produced by evil.
         5. I don’t know how long that was because the Bible does not say how long it was; but it is at least several thousands years by human time.
         6. This is what I want you to note: people created the mess, and God involved Himself in creating a solution for the mess–He got His hands dirty.
   2. That is one of the continuing themes throughout the history of the Old Testament: God involved Himself in the messes people made.
      1. The descendants of Abraham were in Egypt in a hopeless situation as they lived in slavery with no chance of being free.
         1. When you read the early chapters of Exodus, the situation was a horrendous mess.
         2. But God got involved, and God did what they could never do for themselves–He freed them.
      2. When you read the rest of Exodus and the book of Numbers, you learn that these delivered slaves became a nation in the Sinai desert.
         1. And the whole situation sounds like an impossible mess!
         2. The problems these people created and perpetuated cannot be exaggerated.
         3. But God stayed involved until enough people of faith would allow Him to lead them into what would become their own land.
      3. In the book of Judges you read about the second generation of this new nation in their new home.
         1. What a mess!
         2. Conditions were at least as bad as they were when they were slaves.
         3. All their evil and all their godless conduct created incredible chaos.
         4. But God remained involved.
      4. If you read about this nation in the time that they were one nation, in the time that they were two nations, and in the time that they were exiled, you see a mess that gets worse and worse.
         1. If you look objectively and honestly at all that happens in each period, the only appropriate comment is, “What an incredible, unbelievable mess!”
         2. But God stayed involved and refused to surrender to the chaos that Israel made.
   3. Then you begin reading the New Testament.
      1. The first four books, the gospels, tell us that God sent a part of Himself as a person named Jesus to be born in, to grow up in, and to minister in the chaos of Israel and the chaos of mankind.
      2. This Jesus was literally God in human flesh.
      3. He so perfectly revealed what God would be in human form that he even told his disciple Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the only access to God the Father. If you know me, you know the Father. When you know me, you know God the Father, and when you see me, you see God the Father” (John 14:6,7).
      4. And in the most personal, direct manner ever, God through Jesus went to work in individual’s lives.
         1. Jesus got involved, and he got his hands dirty.
         2. He did not target the people who belonged to God, the people who in faith, dependence, and surrender belonged to God.
         3. He did not target the religious people who were so filled with their own sense of self-righteousness that they were certain that they had no problems and needed no help.
         4. He targeted and powerfully ministered to those whose lives were in chaos–people who knew that their lives were in chaos, people who felt their worthlessness.
            1. The hopeless.
            2. The demon possessed.
            3. The men and women that the public knew were “the sinners.”
            4. The adulteresses.
            5. The incurables.
            6. The outcasts.
            7. Those who were dishonest thieves.
         5. If you will read the gospels and make a list of all the people whom Jesus helped, many on that diverse list will be those whose lives were in chaos.
         6. And to those who knew their chaos and with faith and trust honestly accepted his help, he brought forgiveness, life, hope, and a new existence.
      5. As always, there were the devoutly religious who deeply resented Jesus working with people in chaos and pointedly criticized him for doing so. And he replied to their criticisms.
         1. Once he replied, “The sick need the doctor, not the healthy. You folks need to learn what God meant when He said this: I desire compassion, not sacrifice. I did not come into this world to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12, 13).
         2. Listen to what he said on another occasion:
            1. “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7).
            2. “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10)
   4. God introduced Himself by telling us that this universe, and earth, and life began because He destroyed chaos and created order and life.
      1. He sent us Jesus to address the chaos in our personal lives, in our marriages, in our families, in our friendships, in our involvement, and to destroy that chaos by giving us forgiveness and life.
      2. He sent Jesus to sustain us after we receive life by continuing to strengthen and forgive us as we learn surrender, commitment, and service.
      3. He is a God who works with us in the chaos of our messes.
      4. He gave us a Savior who works with us in the chaos of our messes.
      5. All God and Jesus ask is for us, with faith, to work with them in the chaos of our messes and allow God’s spirit to live in our lives.
2. Many of us, as Christians, respond by saying, “God, I love what You are doing! I rejoice when I understand that You are a God who willingly gets His hands dirty. I want to help. I want to help You work in people who are in chaos.”
   1. That is wonderful!
      1. That is exactly what God wants to happen.
      2. He wants you to let Him, Jesus, and His spirit work in your life as you, in faith, address the chaos in your life.
      3. Then He wants you to share the good news of what God through Jesus can do to help anyone who is in chaos.
   2. So we make a request: “God, I want you to work with my chaos, and I want you to use me to help other people in chaos.”
      1. And God says, “The greatest victory I had in my war with chaos was when I created the eternal Savior.”
         1. “Because of that Savior:”
            1. “I can forgive any sin.”
            2. “I can give hope to any life.”
            3. “I can liberate any person from evil through redemption.”
            4. “I can give spiritual life to any person.”
            5. “No person is too bad or too hopeless if he or she in faith enters Jesus.”
         2. “Just like I use that Savior, I can use your life to help others in chaos.”
      2. So we respond, “Great! That is just the kind of thing I had in mind.”
      3. God replies: “First, you need to understand how I created the Savior.”
         1. “He understood how much I love people, and he loved people just like I love them.” “Okay!”
         2. “His mind, his heart, and his life were ruled by my compassion and mercy–and he understood what kind of people needed compassion and mercy.” “Okay.”
         3. “He was a servant; he did dirty work; he did not come to be over anybody but to work with everybody–he was never Mr. Big Dog, Mr. Top Dog, or Mr. Prestige.” ” . . . Okay.”
         4. “Because my work is so unusual, nobody understood him–the common religious folks thought he had a demon, and at times his own family thought he was crazy.” Silence.
         5. “Then I took Satan’s work in a betrayal, an arrest, injustice, and execution, and I made Jesus eternal Savior.” After a long pause, we say, “Well, God, that is not exactly what I had in mind.”

There are three things I want you to think about.

#1: God has always specialized in creating life where there was chaos.

#2: Through your faith and the power of Jesus, God can take your chaos where ever it is–in your marriage, in your family, or in your heart and mind–and create life. He can bring light to your darkness.

#3: When God works in chaos, He gets His hands dirty. Helping God is not easy. Many times the process is not even fun. If you surrender your life to help God work in chaos, you will have to get your hands dirty, too.

Do Not Be Afraid Any Longer

Posted by David on April 6, 1997 under Sermons

A wealthy entrepreneur had to make an extensive trip to the region of the Amazon basin in South America. He had an enormous venture investment opportunity in that region, and he needed to carefully investigate the situation. He would be gone an indefinite amount of time. It was impossible to predict when he would return.

He had three separate businesses that were quite successful. He also had three capable business managers in each of those businesses. The largest business had assets of five million dollars. He placed its business manager in charge and gave him these simple instructions: “Run this business as if you owned it, but always run it in my best interests.”

The second business had assets of two million dollars. He placed its business manager in charge with the same instructions: “Run this business as if you owned it, but always run it in my best interests.”

The third business had assets of one million dollars. He placed its business manager in charge with the same instructions: “Run this business as if you owned it, but always run it in my best interests.”

He told each of the three, “You have the ability to take care of my business. I have given each of you a responsibility that you are capable of handling. I will not be in contact with you until I return.”

His trip took much, much longer than he anticipated. Twelve months later he returned home. Shortly after he returned, he met with his three business managers. The first one reported, “When you left, your company had assets of five million dollars. It now has assets of ten million dollars.”

He replied, “Great job! You have handled your responsibility well. As of today, you are the chief executive officer of the company.”

The second one reported, “When you left, your company had assets of two million dollars. It now has assets of four million dollars.”

He replied, “Great job! You, too, have handled your responsibility well. As of today, I you are chief executive officer of the company.”

The third one made this report. “I must be honest with you. When you gave me responsibility for your company, you scared me to death. You are a hard, demanding business man. You live to make money. You especially love to make money where you have made no investment. I was afraid of what you would do if I lost any of your money. So I was very careful to keep your business exactly as you left it. The company has not shown any profit. But I am happy to report that you have not lost one dollar while you were gone.”

The entrepreneur became very angry. “You irresponsible, unmotivated, do-nothing manager! So you knew me, did you? If you were so sure that I loved money, why did you not make a profit and deposit it in a savings account to earn interest? You are worthless, and you are fired! And you can be certain that what you have done will be common knowledge in my business world! Have security escort him out of this building immediately!”

The third business manager was destroyed as the direct result of being afraid.

That is my modern version of Matthew 25:14-30.

1. The fear that produces anxiety, worry, and distress is one of the most powerful negative forces in human existence.
   1. That kind of fear changes the individual’s focus.
      1. It is the kind of fear that dictates what you look at and interprets what you see.
         1. It gives you a very specific, narrow focus as you look at life and your life situations.
         2. It gives you that same specific, narrow focus as you look at other people, and as you look at yourself.
      2. That kind of fear also totally determines what you see when you look.
         1. All you see is what the fear focuses on.
         2. It determines your view, your perspective, and your perception of reality.
   2. Let me illustrate it in this way.
      1. On a perfect spring day you and a friend take a walk in the mountains.
      2. The trail takes you along a creek flowing through the hills, along some bluffs, to a water falls, and through all the colors of spring.
      3. Your friend is terrified of snakes–he is so afraid of snakes it took a great deal of courage for him just to walk in the woods.
         1. Because of his fear of snakes, he takes each step with his eyes glued to the ground–he literally looks for snakes 100% of the time.
            1. As he walks through the woods, all he sees is rocks, sticks, dirt, and mud.
      4. You aren’t terrified of snakes, but you exercise appropriate caution.
         1. You see blue skies, birds, squirrels, a deer, breath taking scenes, and all the glory of spring time.
         2. You constantly take in the whole scene around you, and love it.
      5. When you both get back to the car:
         1. He is mentally exhausted, physically weary, and relieved that the horrible experience is over–he vows that he will never do that again.
         2. You are refreshed, invigorated, uplifted, and inspired–and you can’t wait to do it again.
      6. The two of you were together the whole time on the same trail in the same woods in the same situation sharing the same experience.
      7. There was only one difference–one of you was controlled by fear, and the other was not.
2. The fear that produces anxiety, worry and distress is a spiritual liability.
   1. Faith can exist and grow where there is such fear.
      1. However, faith exists and grows in the presence of such fear only if the fear drives to person to greater dependence on God.
      2. If the fearful person becomes increasingly prayerful and involved in study as he or she clings to God, faith grows.
   2. As a general rule, two things are true.
      1. As faith grows, fear dies.
      2. As fear grows, faith dies.
   3. The role we allow fear to play in our minds and hearts will directly affect our spiritual strength or weakness.
3. For the first time in my life, I am not afraid.
   1. I was the first one in my family to attend to college.
      1. I attended a very small high school in a rural community.
         1. It had about 100 students in the entire 9-12 grades.
         2. The football team I played on never had enough players to have a two team scrimmage.
      2. I lived on a small farm from the time I was seven years old until I went to college, and had no experience in living in a city.
      3. And I was afraid.
   2. Two years after I received my degree from college, I entered graduate school.
      1. My undergraduate degree was in chemistry, but my graduate work was in Bible.
      2. I had to learn how to do a different kind of research in entirely different ways.
      3. I had to write papers unlike anything I had written before, and I had to write a thesis.
      4. I had to pass an oral test conducted by a panel of three very knowledgeable Ph.D.’s.
      5. And I was afraid.
   3. Joyce and I did mission work in Africa when we had three small children.
      1. Because of some legal requirements that were unknown to our mission group, the government completely closed our work for about six months.
      2. We were not allowed to have any contact with the over 50 congregations that existed or to visit with any of the Christians.
      3. The congregations were forbidden to assemble under the threat of severe penalties.
      4. We exhausted every possibility to resolve the situation and finally could do nothing but pray and wait.
      5. And I was exhausted and afraid.
   4. When you serve as a preacher (as is the case in most occupations), you are always given many, many reasons to be afraid.
      1. Once I worked for a congregation that had a powerful elder who coerced another elder to resign.
         1. He was not a mean man, but he was a controlling man.
         2. And his aspiration was to be the preacher.
      2. I once worked for a small congregation that had no elders; it functioned through a men’s business meeting.
         1. As always seems to be the case even in small congregations, the congregation had two factions that strongly opposed each other.
         2. In one especially tense business meeting, a member of one faction and a member of the other faction got into a standing shouting match and actually doubled their fists.
         3. They were not mean men; they were just inflexibly opinionated.
      3. We were working for another congregation when we were expecting our third child.
         1. We were living in a small house owned by the congregation.
         2. The elders decided to add a much needed room to the house.
         3. I was openly chastised in an adult class for allowing the elders to make that decision.
      4. One of the closest Christian friendships I have ever had disintegrated.
         1. In that congregation, my close friend became my adversary.
         2. I never knew why.
   5. Everyone of those situations were sources of powerful spiritual blessings.
      1. They all provided different spiritual blessings, but they were all blessings for the same reason.
      2. Each situation moved me closer to God by creating the need to move to a higher level of dependence on God.
      3. In each situation, I did not realize that what was happening was a source of blessing.
      4. Only after the situation passed did it become evident that I had spiritually grown, and that I had been blessed by the experience.
4. “You said that for the first time in your life you were not afraid; I don’t understand that statement.
   1. What did you mean?”
      1. I am convinced that in all of our lives there is an ceaseless struggle with fear.
         1. In some of our lives it is a very obvious struggle because we are dealing with very obvious crises, traumas, or problems.
         2. In some of our lives the struggle is invisible to other people–and we work diligently to keep it from ever becoming visible.
      2. In this ongoing struggle, we are commonly more powerfully influenced by our fear than by our relationship with God.
         1. In the context of our struggle, deep within we are convinced that the power of fear is greater than the power of God.
         2. Privately, we are convinced that what we fear can more easily and more quickly hurt us than God can help us.
      3. Rare is the Christian who has such a mature faith that he does not feel the frequent struggle within between fear and faith.
         1. It is common for a Christian to ignore the intensity of the struggle.
         2. Many Christians even deny that the struggle exists.
   2. When I said that for the first time in my life I was not afraid, this is what I meant:
      1. Since I have been with you, for the first time in my life I have realized how often in the past that fear was a significant factor in my life.
         1. Fear is like a chameleon–it is skilled in blending in with your life situations so that you do not recognize it for what it is.
         2. The importance of denying that the fear exists increases as the fear grows more powerful.
         3. So, commonly, we are either unaware of it or we deny that it is there.
      2. Since I have been with you, I have had opportunity to see the role fear has played in my life in the past.
      3. Since I have been with you, I have seen more clearly than ever the incredible ways that God has always been at work in my life.
         1. The most incredible thing I have seen is how powerfully and helpfully God has worked in my life in the most trying times and situations.
         2. Being given the opportunity to be here with you raised my level of understanding and awareness that God is powerfully at work in the lives of His children no matter what their situation or circumstances.
      4. This has produced a new level of understanding and acceptance of two truths I have always believed.
         1. Truth one: 1 John 4:4–…Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.
            1. Intellectually I have known and believe that for decades.
            2. Intellectually I have placed my confidence in that for decades.
            3. But I know it in my heart, I understand it with my feelings as I have never known or understood it before.
            4. No matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstances, no matter how intense the suffering, there is never one moment in a Christian’s life when God is not more powerful than Satan.
            5. The Christian may or may not realize that; he may or may not believe that; but whether he realizes and believes it or not, it is a fact.
         2. Truth two: Romans 8:28–And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
            1. Again, intellectually I have known and believed that for decades.
            2. Again, intellectually I have placed my confidence in that for decades.
            3. But I know it in my heart, I understand it with my feelings as I have never known and understood it before.
            4. Satan can do his worst in my life and my circumstances, and God can use everything he does to help me come home to him.
            5. A Christian may be convinced that his or her circumstances are so evil, so bad that God could not possibly use them to aid salvation, but the God who used a crucifixion to create an eternal Savior can use anything that happens in our lives to help bring us home to Him.

Many people never turn to God because they are afraid. Many Christians never get close to God because they are afraid.

I am convinced that all of us have a ceaseless struggle with fear. In some of our lives those struggles cannot be hidden, and in some of our lives those struggles are easy to hide. In this struggle, it is easy to believe that the power of fear is greater than the power of God. It is easy to believe that fear can more easily hurt us than God can help us.

When we are afraid, we deny our fear, and pretend our faith. We must acknowledge our fear, and grow in our faith.

The Message of Communion

Posted by David on March 30, 1997 under Sermons

When you love someone so deeply, so completely that words simply cannot reveal your love, how do you let him know how much you love him? How do you let her know how much you love her? When love is so great that it cannot be revealed by the power of words, we usually give a gift to the person we love. It may be an expensive gift. It may be a special, personal treasure–a gift that has great meaning and value to the giver. It may be a very intimate gift.

Humanity was in desperate trouble. We were doomed. There was no escape, no way out. And it was all our fault–as always, we were the victims of our own evil. God knew the desperation created by our need. And God responded to our desperation.

God loved us when He made us. God loved us when we failed Him. God loved us when we gave ourselves to evil. God loved us in our desperate need.

God loved us more than words could declare, but not even God’s words could solve our problem or address our need. So God gave us a gift–a gift that was very precious to Him; a gift that would become very precious to us. He gave us His son. He sent him into this world to be just like us–but without sin. He sent him to correct our wrong impressions of God. He sent him to correct our wrong impressions of evil. He sent him to give us the perfect escape route from our doom.

He sent Jesus to live among us, and that was a huge gift from His love, but it was not God’s greatest gift of love. He let Jesus minister and teach among us with power and truth, and that was a huge gift from His love, but it was not God’s greatest gift of love. He let Jesus die. God let His own son to be object, the target of all the evil God despised. God let religious people shame him, abuse him, ridicule him, and taunt him. God let hardened, godless men disgrace him and spill his blood in the dust. God gave us the most precious thing He knew, and He let us, in all our evil, kill him. God loved us enough to let us kill His Son.

Because God loved us that much, we learned who God is. We learned what evil is. We learned what forgiveness is. We learned what life is. Because God loved us that much, we have a Savior. It is because we have this Savior that we are here this morning.

God loved us so much that the gave us the death of His son. In that death, God gave us a Savior. Every Sunday we remember God’s gift. Every Sunday we remember the price Jesus paid to be our Savior.

THE SECOND MESSAGE OF COMMUNION

Suppose that you knew the exact day and the exact moment when the “big one” would hit California. People in California have been told to expect the “big one” for decades. A huge earthquake known as the “big one” is certain to happen. The “big one” will produce destruction and chaos beyond comprehension. Suppose that you knew, with absolute certainty, exactly when the “big one” would occur.

Suppose that you tried to inform people that they needed to make serious preparation for the “big one.” This preparation would take serious time and major effort. Suppose that as you warned them, day after day you watched people living life as usual–they stayed very busy living life as if the “big one” would never come. This thought would scream in your mind: “How can all these people invest life and time in so many things that just will not matter?”

All of us know about investing life and time in things that just do not matter. We know about it. But we permit ourselves to be so distracted that we never think about it. We are so busy, so involved, so committed. Nothing we do can be neglected. Every commitment requires 110% of us 200% of the time. We are slaves to our commitments. It is as though everything depends on us. It is as though the world would stop without us.

And then one day Moma is rushed to the hospital at the point of death. And we stop. And the world goes on. And we wonder, “What is really important?” Or, one day our child is critically injured in a horrible accident and must be flown to specialists in a hospital three states away. In grief and anxiety, we drop everything and go with our child. And all those things that we simply had to do, either someone else does them, or they weren’t urgent enough to be done. And the world kept going. And we think about what is really important.

God knows planet earth has an appointment with a fiery destruction. God knows that physical life, time, and physical realities will end on that day. God knows that all of us, and everyone else who has ever lived, already has an appointment to keep on that day. The appointment is with justice. If we live life and use life in Christ, in God’s forgiveness, justice will have no jurisdiction over us on that day. If we live life and use life for our own earthly purposes and objectives, only justice will have jurisdiction over us on that day.

God knows that day is certain. God knows the precise moment it will come. He has done and is doing everything possible to help us make serious preparation for our “big one.” And He watches as we invest life and time in countless things that just do not matter. From that comes the second message of communion. Invest life and time in the eternal. God did. He invested life and time by investing Jesus. He invested Jesus to give you and me opportunity to invest our lives and time in the eternal.

The Complex Became Simple

Posted by David on March 23, 1997 under Sermons

We human beings have the uncanny ability to take anything that is simple and make it complex. How many times have you said, “It used to be so simple. Why have they made it so complicated?” Or, “In the past, I could make sense of out this. Why is it so confusing now?”

It is income tax season. Many of us are experiencing the “thrill” of filing income tax forms. Every few years we are informed that the process is being simplified. How often has a simplification made it easier for you to file your taxes? How often has the simplification made your taxes more understandable? Generally, do you not find that the harder we try to understand the more confusing it becomes?

As a general rule, we need to follow this principle: “If it is simple, if it works well, leave it alone.” In any endeavor, in any area of life, in any consideration, too often our attempts to simplify just create complexity and confusion.

1. From the moment sin entered this creation, God had a single objective: to reconcile the people to Himself.
   1. Creating that reconciliation, making reconciliation reality was a slow, long process that involved many necessary steps.
   2. In a very condensed manner, we can state the process in this way:
      1. First, God had to find a man who would place his trust and confidence in God and God’s promises.
         1. That man was Abraham.
         2. But it took a long time for God to find an Abraham.
      2. Second, God had to build a nation from the descendants of that man.
         1. That nation was Israel; Israelites are the descendants of Abraham.
         2. God hoped that this nation of descendants would learn to trust God just as the man did.
         3. Unfortunately, they did not learn to trust God as did Abraham, and God spent centuries working with these people trying to bring them to that trust.
      3. Third, God would allow His Son to be born as a human being in that nation.
         1. That Son was Jesus who was born as an Israelite in the nation of Israel.
         2. God’s basic objective in His relationship with Abraham and in His centuries of work with the nation of Israel was to bring Jesus to earth.
      4. In his earthly life, Jesus had specific objectives that were designated by God.
         1. In his earthly ministry:
            1. He was to verify his identity through his teaching, his power, and his deeds.
            2. He was to surrender his life in a sacrificial death.
            3. He was to be raised from the dead through the power of God.
         2. Jesus understood those divine objectives and surrendered himself and his life to them.
   3. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God created the perfect opportunity for reconciliation and the perfect means of reconciliation.
      1. All who place faith in Jesus, repent of their evil, and surrender self and life to Christ will be reconciled to God.
      2. Universally, people could be reunited with God as God’s children.
      3. The redeemed person’s reconciliation and life would be based on the simple.
2. Please think about the contrast between God’s work through the nation of Israel and God’s work through Christians, the body of Christ, the church.
   1. God’s work in Israel was complex.
      1. It was an exclusive work restricted to just one nation.
      2. Because the nation was formed of people who did not know God, God had to gain control of these people.
      3. The nation was rigidly structured–divided into tribes who were located in specific geographical areas with tribal boundaries.
      4. Their public worship was complex.
         1. It was ritualized sacrifice (the right sacrifice had to be offered at the right time in the right place with the right ritual).
         2. It could be offered only by the priests, and only the descendants of Aaron could be priests.
         3. It had to be offered at one geographical site in the nation of Israel, and only within the nation of Israel.
            1. To reveal how important that was, remember that all sacrificial worship ceased when Israel went into captivity.
            2. There was no public sacrificial worship in Babylon.
            3. The priests could not function in their public worship roles.
         4. In Israel, public worship was highly ceremonial with specific procedures, specific priestly garments, specific furnishings, and performed at specific times.
   2. Please thoughtfully consider this.
      1. I want to use two illustrations: the first is the most important holy day in Israel, the Passover worship.
         1. The Passover was instituted and observed immediately before Israel left Egypt (Exodus 12). Listen to the detailed, specific instructions.
            1. Each family was to acquire a lamb on the 10th of a specific month.
            2. The lamb was to be sacrificed on the 14th day of that month.
            3. The age of the lamb was specified.
            4. They were told what to do with the blood.
            5. They were told how to cook and eat the lamb.
            6. They were told what to eat with the lamb.
            7. They were told what to do with the leftovers.
            8. They were told not to eat yeast for the next seven days.
         2. Deuteronomy 16:1-8 gave these additional instructions.
            1. All lambs were to be sacrificed at one site.
            2. All the families of Israel were to cook and eat their lamb at that site.
         3. Numbers 9:1-14 declared:
            1. Who could eat the lamb.
            2. The consequences for an Israelite if he did not eat the Passover.
      2. The day of atonement was the second holiest day in Israel, and Leviticus 16 gives the worship instructions for that day. Read that chapter and you will see:
         1. Detailed procedures.
         2. Specific ways on how to dress the high priest and specific instructions on what he was to wear.
         3. The precise order of the sacrifices and the procedure for sacrifices.
         4. The use of the tabernacle (later the temple).
         5. The specific offerings to be given.
         6. You see detail upon detail, and at one point it declared that the high priest would die if he did not do exactly what he was supposed to do.
      3. In both these examples, the instructions are specific, detailed, and complex–and those occasions could be duplicated today because we are told exactly what to do and what procedure to follow.
   3. God’s work in the body of Christ, the church, is as simple as His work in the nation of Israel was complex.
      1. Through Christ, God reaches out to the whole world, not to a single nation.
      2. There are no approved geographic regions, no tribal boundaries, no tribal structure.
      3. There is no specified or approved site for worship–the place for public worship is not restricted.
      4. In public worship:
         1. There are no ritual procedures.
         2. There are no designated ceremonies.
         3. There are no prescribed formats or methods.
         4. There is no designated group of individuals to preside.
         5. There are no models to follow, no detailed instructions imposed.
         6. There are no holy days and no commemorative dates.
   4. It is appropriate to compare our observance of the Lord’s Supper with Israel’s observance of Passover.
      1. In the Lord’s Supper we remember the death of Jesus which marked the beginning of our deliverance from evil.
      2. In the Passover, Israel remembered their deliverance from Egyptian slavery; it marked the night that their slavery ended.
      3. Contrast our Lord’s Supper observance with their Passover observance.
         1. We use bread and grape juice; they used an entire meal.
         2. We were given no instructions on how to prepare the bread and wine; they were told how to cook the meal.
         3. We are not told “how” to eat the Lord’s Supper; they were told “how” to eat the Passover meal.
         4. Nothing is said to us about leftovers; they were told what to do with the leftovers.
         5. We are not restricted to a place; they were restricted to a place.
         6. We are told to remember Christ; they were given ritual ceremonies to keep.
   5. It is also appropriate to contrast our baptism with their day of atonement.
      1. When we are baptized, our sins are destroyed, permanently removed.
      2. On the day of atonement, their sins were temporarily removed for one year.
      3. Examine the contrast between baptism and the day of atonement.
         1. We were given no instructions about who should perform baptisms.
         2. Their high priest, with detailed instructions, was placed in charge and was governed by those specific instructions.
         3. We were not told how to proceed with a baptism (we were given no ceremony, no ritual, no procedure); baptism is a simple burial in water.
         4. They were governed by detailed ritual and ceremony.
         5. We are told nothing about what the baptized person should wear.
         6. The priests had specific instructions about what to wear.
         7. We offer no sacrifices.
         8. They had specific sacrifices to offer in prescribed procedures.
         9. Baptism is not “place dependent” or “time dependent.”
         10. They had to celebrate the day of atonement at one place on a specific day.
3. The contrast is astounding: you cannot miss it–it is the complexity in Israel versus the simplicity in Christianity.
   1. Please do some more thinking.
      1. In the Old Testament:
         1. We can give many details about what happened at Passover.
         2. We can give many details about what happened on the day of atonement.
         3. We can give many details about various occasions of sacrificial worship.
         4. We know all kinds of laws governing the procedures given for Israel.
      2. But in the New Testament:
         1. We are told nothing about “how” they immersed a person in water; the emphasis is on the fact that it was done, not on how it was done.
         2. We are told nothing about “how” they took the Lord’s Supper.
            1. No account of proper observance of communion is recorded.
            2. No scripture is written to give us instructions.
         3. We are told nothing about how they conducted their worship assemblies.
            1. We do not have a single detailed account of their worship assemblies.
            2. No scripture tells us, “This is how you have a proper public worship.”
         4. There is nothing specific to turn into a ritual, ceremony, or procedure.
         5. There is nothing but silence about those matters.
   2. The laws of Israel were intended for one people, one very small nation; Christianity is intended for all people in all nations in all cultures in all societies.
      1. Christianity, by design, is so, so simple.
         1. Christians in public worship:
            1. Sang songs they understood that praised God and honored Christ.
            2. They observed the Lord’s supper, in a very simple way.
            3. They learned.
            4. They praised God and Christ.
            5. They prayed.
            6. What they did could be done simply at any place.
         2. Christians learned how to live.
            1. They learned how to treat each other.
            2. They learned how to be kind and helpful to those who were not Christians.
            3. They learned how to treat their families.
            4. They learned how to treat their fellow man.
            5. They learned how to be moral and act with integrity.
            6. They learned how to conduct business ethically.
            7. While doing these things is not simple, understanding what they did is very simple.
   3. Consider:
      1. A person approaches us saying, “I want to be a Christian, just a Christian. What must I do?”
         1. First, we sincerely tell the person that is wonderful.
         2. Second, we tell the person all that he or she needs to do is what the Bible says.
         3. Then, we help the person build faith in Jesus, we help the person understand repentance, and on the basis of his or her faith and repentance, we baptize him or her into Christ–being very careful to show the person how plainly the Bible teaches what to do.
         4. The person then asks, “Am I a Christian?” and we assure them, “Yes! You are a Christian!”
      2. Then the person begins trying to learn how we as a church do things , and quickly senses that it is not only important to do what scripture says, but that it is also important that he or she learns to do it exactly like we want it done.
      3. And that is not simple; in fact that is confusing.
         1. When he or she asks why we do many of the things we do, he or she may be told, “This is the way faithful people do it.”
         2. Quickly, it becomes anything but simple.
   4. It is too easy to use the silence of the New Testament to create an unwritten creed that we use to measure faithfulness.
      1. Look at all the rules we have about worship that come from the silence of scripture.
      2. Look at all the rules we have about the autonomy of the church that come from the silence of scripture.
      3. Look at all the rules we have about leadership in the church that come from the silence of scripture.
      4. Look at all the rules about organization that come from the silence of the scripture.

My point is not that all rules are evil and bad. My point is that we make a terrible mistake when we become so devoted to rules taken from silence that we destroy the simplicity of Christianity. When we take what God made simple and make it complex, we do not improve it.

Our rules, reasoned from the silence of scripture, paint a heavy coat of varnish on the church and hide the beauty of its God-given simplicity.

How do we remove the varnish? By each one of us catching ourselves in the act when we do that. By each of us refusing to measure faithfulness by rules that come from silence.

God Reveals His Glory Through Us

Posted by David on under Sermons

Have you wanted to be someone else? As children, we all probably wished we were someone else. A very common fantasy of children is pretending to be their hero or superstar.

As an adult, have you ever wanted to be someone else? Some of us would say, “No, I have never wanted to be anyone but me.” Some of us would say, “Yes, I would like to be someone else every day of my life.” To those of us who say, “No, I have always wanted to be me,” have you ever wanted to swap places with someone else? That is wanting to be “me” in his or her circumstances. That is awfully close to wanting to be someone else.

As a Christian, have you ever wanted to be someone else? Have you ever thought, “Spiritually, my life would be a lot simpler if I could change places with him (or her). Have you ever thought, “I could do what I want to do for the Lord if I had her (or his) life!”

Perhaps more often than we realize we say to ourselves, “If I had her money…,” or, “If I had his voice…,” or, “If I had her talent…,” or, “If I had his education…,” or, “If I had her opportunities…,” or, “If I had his leadership ability…,” or, “If I had her background…,” or, “If I had his speaking ability then I could do something truly significant for God.”

Let me ask the same question in several different ways. What is the most important thing a person can do for God? What is the most significant thing a person can do for God? What is the most valuable thing a person can do for God?

The most important thing you can do for God is to let God reveal His glory through your life. The most significant thing you can do for God is to let God reveal His glory through your life. The most valuable thing you can do for God is to let God reveal His glory through your life.

Nothing we can do brings greater tribute to God, nothing more fully accomplishes God’s purposes than our allowing God to reveal His glory through our lives.

1. Unfortunately, most of us believe we have to be something we can never be before God can be glorified in our lives.
   1. We just do not believe that the life we have, that the abilities we possess, that the life situation we are in can be used by God to bring glory to Himself.
      1. If we were a person that it is impossible for us to be,
      2. If we could do things that it is impossible for us to do,
      3. If we had opportunities that will never exist for us,
      4. Then, if we were that other person, doing those impossible things, and having those impossible opportunities, God could use us to glorify Himself.
      5. But God cannot glorify Himself in us if we are who we are, with our situation, with our struggles, with our problems–or so we believe.
   2. About 2000 years ago some Christians came to that same conclusion.
      1. Listen to what Paul said to them in 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 (read).
      2. If I understand that situation correctly, this was what happened.
         1. Some converted Jews said, “If I had not been born and reared as a Jew, I could really serve Christ–I would not be steeped in all these legalistic, isolationist attitudes and perspectives that hinder me spiritually.”
         2. Some converted non-Jews said, “If I had not been born and reared in a family of idol worshipers, I could really serve Christ–but I don’t know anything about scripture; I don’t even know much about the true God.”
         3. Some converted slaves said, “If I were not a slave, I could really serve Christ–but I am not free, and so many things happen in my life that I have no control over.”
      3. Paul said, “Your thinking is completely misdirected–you miss the point.”
         1. “You can be the Christian God wants you to be just by being who you are where you are.”
         2. “You do not have to change life situations to be able to accomplish God’s purposes in your life.”
         3. “Allowing Christ to live in you in your life situation and circumstances is precisely what God wants to happen.”
   3. What Paul said and the New Testament repeatedly affirms is a message we need to shout in Fort Smith.
      1. Too long we deliberately have created the impression that God’s glory can be revealed only by one particular type of life and distinctive kind of person.
      2. That impression is this: “God can be glorified only by:
         1. “The person who establishes a Christian family and maintains a Christian home.
         2. “The person who has no struggles, has no ‘serious’ personal problems.
         3. “The person who always makes the right decision and does the right thing.
         4. “The person who never had a moral problem.
         5. “The person who never had an addiction problem–greed, alcohol, or drugs.
         6. “The person who never had any financial problems.
         7. “The person who never made any horrible mistakes.
         8. “The person who was ‘good’ before baptism and remained ‘good’ after baptism.”
            1. He did not need to repent of anything serious.
            2. He just need to keep doing what he was doing and living like he was living.
      3. When we affirm that this is the only person who can reveal God’s glory, we automatically affirm these things.
         1. We affirm that if you are not married you cannot glorify God as well as the Christian who is married.
         2. We affirm that if your marriage failed, you cannot fully glorify God.
         3. We affirm that if you experienced moral problems, you cannot glorify God fully.
         4. We affirm that if you struggle with any kind of addiction, you cannot glorify God.
         5. We affirm that if you made bad decisions and choices, if you made serious mistakes, if you struggle with serious problems, then God is limited in the way He can use your life to bring Him glory.
         6. God just cannot be truly glorified in lives like those.
      4. Just who declared that? Is that God speaking, or that us speaking?
2. If you have been a Christian for ten years, and if you are a serious student of the Bible–you regularly study the Bible to understand and learn: and aside from Jesus Christ, there is one person who has spiritually influenced your life more powerfully than anyone else.
   1. This person who influences your life so powerfully was:
      1. A man of violence (Acts 8:3).
      2. An aggressive intimidator who used fear to destroy Christians (Acts 26:11).
      3. A man who called Jesus a liar and impostor who was anything but God’s son (Acts 26:9, 10).
      4. He physically abused Christians and treated them with total contempt (Acts 9:1, 2).
   2. When this man became a Christian, he had the visible appearance and personal presence of a weak man (2 Corinthians 10:10).
      1. He struggled with a problem that prevented him from serving Christ as effectively as he wanted to (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
      2. And there is considerable evidence that a number of Christians had no respect for him (1 Corinthians 4:9-13).
   3. Yet, most Christians today see God’s glory shining through this man’s life.
      1. It is probable that he influences your spiritual thinking and your Christian concepts as much as Jesus Christ.
      2. Unfortunately, when we affirm spiritual truth and declare Christian doctrine, many Christians are more likely to quote this man than our Savior, Jesus.
   4. And just who is this man? In the New Testament, he is the apostle Paul.
      1. And what did Paul say about himself as a Christian?
      2. Read with me 1 Timothy 1:12-17.
      3. Did God use Paul’s life to reveal God’s glory? Yes.
         1. You mean that God revealed His glory through this aggressive, strong-headed, driven, unmarried man?
         2. You mean that God revealed His glory through this man who once helped kill Christians, who once declared Jesus was an impostor and liar, and who once used violence to enforce his religious views?
         3. You mean that God revealed His glory through this man who, as a Christian, was held in contempt by the Jews, who was declared weak and ineffective by some Christians, and who was a target for persecution most places that he went?
         4. You mean that God revealed His glory through this man who spent a lot of time in jail or prison, who was run out of town more than once, and who was executed as a dangerous criminal?
      4. And what did this Paul say about himself?
         1. “God was making a statement through me.”
         2. “God said that He sent Jesus to save sinners–any sinner of any kind.”
         3. “When God saved me, he saved the worst sinner that ever existed.”
         4. “He saved me to declare to all sinners that if God could save me in Jesus Christ, God can save anyone.”
         5. “I am the proof of the perfect patience of Jesus.”
         6. “I am the example of God’s power to forgive anyone who dares place his or her faith in Jesus Christ.”
3. God makes a statement in the life of every man and woman who places faith and life in Jesus Christ–no matter who he or she is, no matter what he or she has done.
   1. When God makes this statement, God uses the person to reveal His glory.
      1. Every time a person repents, God is revealing His glory through that person.
      2. Every time a person fails, then reaches out to clasp God’s hand, God is revealing His glory through that person.
      3. Every time a person lives a life of struggle and hardship in Jesus Christ, God is revealing His glory through that person.
      4. Every time a person burdened with a weakness is sustained by God, God is revealing His glory through that person.
   2. That is not my speculation; that is believing and affirming what the Bible says.
      1. Peter cursed and swore, saying that he never knew Jesus, and God used that to reveal His glory (Matthew 26:69-75).
      2. Jesus struggled in Gethsemane, praying until he sweated, sweating as though he were bleeding, and God used that to reveal His glory (Luke 22:44).
      3. A thief begged for consideration as he died at Jesus’ side, and God used that to reveal His glory (Luke 23:39-43).
      4. Paul, the man of violence, the blasphemer, repented, and God used that to reveal His glory (1 Timothy 1:12-17).
      5. Barnabas with generous and kind heart sold his property and gave the money to help Christians in need, and God used that to reveal His glory (Acts 4:32-37).
      6. Dorcas made clothing for people who had none, and God used that to reveal His glory (Acts 9:36-43).
   3. If you place your faith in Christ and hold to God’s hand, if you from the heart repent of the evil that trips you up every time that evil trips you, and if you draw your life and strength from the goodness and forgiveness of God, God will use you and your life to reveal His glory.
      1. If I am single? Yes.
      2. If I am a single parent? Yes.
      3. If I am divorced? Yes.
      4. If I am in a troubled marriage? Yes.
      5. If I am really struggling? Yes.
      6. If I have made some really dumb moral mistakes? Yes.
      7. If I have a good life, a good home, and few problems? Yes–as long as you place your faith in Christ instead of yourself.
   4. Luke 8:26-39 tells us that Jesus once met a man who was a demon-possessed maniac.
      1. He was violent and uncontrollable as he terrorized the whole area running around naked, screaming–his strength was incredible, and no one dared get close to him!
      2. Jesus cast a multitude of demons out of this man and permitted the demons to enter a herd of pigs on the hillside by the sea.
         1. The pigs immediately stampeded into the sea and drowned.
      3. Everyone came from town to see what happened.
         1. They saw two things.
         2. A herd of dead pigs floating in the sea.
         3. The former maniac sitting quietly at Jesus’ feet, clothed, in his right mind.
      4. And all those people were afraid and asked Jesus to leave their area.
      5. The man wanted to leave with Jesus so badly that he begged, “Please, let me go with you.”
         1. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be for him to continue to live in that place?
         2. Can you imagine how grateful he was?
         3. Can you imagine how much he wanted to be with Jesus?
      6. But listen to what Jesus said: “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.”
      7. Or, “Let God reveal His glory through you right here.”

It takes a whole world filled with every kind of people in every kind of situation to reveal God’s glory.

Do you have a great marriage? A wonderful home? A spiritual life of opportunity? Let God use you to reveal His glory.

Are you struggling? Weak? Do you have problems bigger than you are? Have you made enormous mistakes? Let God use you to reveal His glory.

Are you single? A single parent? Divorced? In a troubled marriage? Let God use you to reveal His glory.

Your ability to glorify God is not based on what you can do to help God, but on what God can do to help you.

Through Jesus Christ, God can work in all of us. It will take all of us in all of our situations to reveal what an incredible, glorious God and Savior that we have.

Is the Church an Institution?

Posted by David on March 16, 1997 under Sermons

If I use the phrase, “blood-bought institution,” what do you think of? I make these predictions. First, I predict that a visitor unfamiliar with the Church of Christ may be wondering, “Whatever is he talking about?” Second, I predict that most of our teens and twenty-year-old adults assign no meaning to that phrase. Third, I predict that many of our thirty- and forty-year-old adults think that phrase has a familiar ring to it. Fourth, I predict that everyone over fifty who grew up in the Church of Christ immediately assigns a meaning to that phrase.

When I was a teenager, the phrase “blood-bought institution” was commonly used in the church. In Acts 20:28, Paul reminded the elders of the church in Ephesus that the Holy Spirit made them overseers to shepherd the church of God which the Lord purchased (or acquired) with his own blood. Clearly Paul said the church was purchased or acquired by Jesus’ blood.

Are elders to be overseers in the church? Yes. Are they to be shepherds in the church? Yes. Does the church belong to God and to Jesus? Yes. Did Jesus acquire or purchase the church with his own blood? Yes. Is the church an institution? We need to think about that question carefully before we answer.

Remember our key illustration. Grandma’s funeral has just been conducted. The adult children and grandchildren are looking around in the attic of the old home place. They see an old table that looks awful–it has so much paint and varnish on it that it looks like a piece of junk. The oldest son takes it home, carefully strips off all the paint and varnish, and finds a priceless treasure. It is hand-crafted by excellent craftsmanship and made of beautiful walnut. This valuable treasure appeared to be junk because it was covered with so much paint and varnish.

The church is like that table. It was hand-crafted by the superb craftsmanship of Jesus Christ. It is one of God’s unique treasures in this world. But to too many, it has the appearance of a piece of junk. It has been varnished and painted so many times they cannot see the divine craftsmanship nor the exquisite material.

We want to remove the varnish to allow the beauty of God’s treasure to be seen.

1. Our concepts are formed and shaped by our known realities and experiences.
   1. Each time we conceptualize something, each time we understand something, each time we picture something in our minds, we combine our knowledge and experience.
      1. That is all that we can do.
      2. We cannot generate concepts and understanding that are based on things that we know absolutely nothing about.
   2. Every one of us is a product of the industrial world.
      1. Those of us who are older have spent most of our lives in the industrial world, and those of us under retirement age have spent every day of our lives in the industrial world.
      2. All of us live in a world created by the industrial revolution.
   3. There was a very different world prior to the industrial revolution, and that world had no industrial concepts.
      1. Some of us love and appreciate the craftsmanship of the pre-industrial world; we value antiques.
      2. We value antiques because we appreciate the creativity of personal craftsmanship.
      3. Consider the differences between the productivity of personal craftsmanship and the productivity of industry.
         1. The product of craftsmanship depended upon the knowledge, skills, and understanding of a craftsman.
            1. He had the “know-how.”
            2. He had the creativity.
            3. He understood the product he was producing, the materials he worked with, and the necessary steps to make the product.
            4. He was involved in each step from beginning to end.
         2. The product of industry depends upon the knowledge of management.
            1. A person is just a part of the labor force that produces the product.
            2. As a laborer, the person does not have to possess creative skills, he does not have to understand the materials being used, and he does not have to know how to produce the product.
            3. All he has to know is how to perform his job well.
         3. A craftsman depended on himself, his mind, his skills, his understanding, and his creativity.
         4. A laborer in industry depends on management–he does his specific job well and with understanding, but that is all that is basically required of him.
      4. Look at the contrast (I am not making a good versus bad comparison):
         1. An individual with talent and experience produces a product that exists as a result of his own creative craftsmanship; he uses but is not dependent upon those who assist him.
         2. A laborer in an industry partially produces a product and is dependent on the industry’s ownership, board of directors, management, and his fellow laborers.
      5. This is the point that I want you to consider:
         1. In the pre-industrial world, our concept of institution did not even exist.
         2. After the industrial world existed, the institution was life’s common reality.
   4. Today our daily world is increasingly complex because of technological revolution.
      1. Now our economic world is marrying skilled, creative jobs to institutional structures.
      2. As a result, creative teamwork is evolving as we watch whole industries become dependent on creative teams and their skills.
      3. And, too commonly, the institution with its layers of owners, boards of directors, and management is a liability instead of an asset.
   5. What is my point?
      1. In the world you and I live in, the institutional concept is a part of the foundation of our thinking.
         1. The institutional concept is a basic concept in all of our lives.
         2. When we think about any body of people working together to accomplish something, we use our institutional concepts.
      2. The church is a body of people working together to accomplish God’s purposes.
         1. Because the institution is basic to our everyday life and world, we automatically think in institutional terms.
         2. We assume that the church is an institution–that assumption is so common that it is accepted as fact.
         3. It is natural for us to form our concepts of the church by using our institutional thinking and understanding.
            1. It is natural to use the institutional concept to decide how the church should do things.
            2. It is natural to use the institutional concept to decide how the church should be led and directed.
            3. It is natural to use the institutional concept to measure success in the church.
2. Let me show you how this is done.
   1. Consider the congregation:
      1. God is the owner.
      2. Jesus is the C.E.O., Chief Executive Officer.
      3. The elders are the board of directors.
      4. The deacons and ministry leaders are management.
      5. Members are the work force.
   2. That is the institutional concept.
      1. Most members of the Church of Christ who either grew up in the church or spent most of their lives in the church think of the church in these institutional terms.
      2. But there is a critical problem with our institutional concept.
         1. We have made a critical assumption for a long time.
         2. We assume that the church is an institution.
            1. All reasoning about the church begins with that assumption in place and unchallenged.
            2. Many of our common concerns about what the church should or should not do are based on the assumption that the church is an institution.
         3. Yet, the truth is this: the church existed hundreds of years prior to the industrial revolution, prior to the institutional concept.
         4. In Jesus’ day and Paul’s day, there had never been a board of directors, a C.E.O., or management and labor as we know them today.
      3. If we are serious about being the church of the New Testament, we cannot base our concepts on the assumption that the church is an institution.
3. The institution of today and the nation of Israel in the Bible have something in common: both used a hierarchy.
   1. We have already noted the hierarchy of an institution: owner(s), C.E.O., board of directors, management (several layers), laborers.
      1. Any idea or problem from labor must go through the layers of that hierarchy.
      2. Any institutional directive must come down through the layers of that hierarchy.
   2. The religion, Judaism, had a hierarchy: God, high priest, priests, Levites, Israelite man, Israelite woman.
   3. Typical government in the ancient world had a hierarchy: king, his counselors or advisors, his officers in charge of specific assignments, the citizen (who existed to serve the king), slaves (the work force).
   4. Just as we naturally think in institutional terms, first-century people naturally thought in hierarchy terms.
4. Both the institutional concept and the hierarchy concept share some common concerns: who has the power? who is in control? who has the right to make decisions and enforce them?
   1. In the church we commonly combine both concepts: we function as a church on the basis of hierarchy and institution.
      1. In both the institution and the hierarchy, we theoretically vest power in the elders.
      2. The number one issue that causes so many problems in the church is the power/control issue.
         1. So many of our problems involve control.
         2. So many of our problems involve struggles for power.
         3. Too often the issue is not what scripture actually says.
            1. An issue may involve reasoned conclusions.
            2. The real issue is not what scripture actually says; the real issue is control.
            3. Control becomes an essential concern because the church is viewed as an institution, and control is the primary issue in an institution.
   2. In both the institutional concept and the hierarchy concept, you create territories or turfs.
      1. Law #1: You shall at all times correctly identify territorial boundaries.
      2. Law # 2: You shall at all times respect those boundaries.
      3. Law # 3: You shall not, for any reason, invade the territory of someone who occupies a position higher than yours.
5. Is the church an institution?
   1. Please consider the evidence for yourself by examining the book of Acts.
      1. The first congregation came into existence in Acts 2.
         1. Verse 42: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread (Lord’s supper), and prayer.
         2. Verse 44, 45: They shared their material possessions and provided financial assistance to those who were in need.
         3. Verse 46: Daily they assembled at the temple courtyard and joyfully ate meals together in their homes.
         4. Verse 47: They praised God and had an excellent reputation in Jerusalem.
         5. Verse 47: Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to them.
         6. Are those the activities of an institution?
      2. Acts 4:32-37 tells us more about their activities (the apostles have been arrested and released.)
         1. Verse 32: They were of one heart and one soul.
         2. Verse 32: They regarded their material possessions as common property.
         3. Verse 33: The apostles were powerfully serving as witnesses of the resurrection.
         4. Verse 34: No one was in need.
         5. Are those the activities of an institution?
      3. In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphira were caught in their lie and immediately died.
         1. Verse 11 says, “And great fear came upon the whole church…”
      4. Acts 8 gives us some very specific insights into the concept of church.
         1. Verse 1 states that on the very day the Christian Steven was killed a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem.
         2. Verse 3 states that Paul ravaged the church by making a house-to-house search, by entering the private homes of Christians, and by dragging Christians out of their homes and taking them to prison.
      5. Acts 9:30 tells us that Christians in Jerusalem helped Paul return home to Tarsus because his life was in danger.
         1. When Paul left, Jerusalem and the area quieted down.
         2. And the church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, was built up, and–in the fear of the Lord and comfort of the Holy Spirit–continued to grow in number.
      6. Acts 11:22 tells us that news about a new congregation in Antioch of Syria “reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem.”
      7. Acts 11:26 states that Paul and Barnabas spent an entire year in Antioch meeting with the church and teaching considerable numbers; and it was here that for the first time disciples were called Christians.
      8. Acts 12:1 states that Herod the king arrested “some who belonged to the church” and mistreated them.
         1. Verse 5 says that the church prayed fervently for Peter when he was arrested.
      9. Acts 13:1, 2 states that at Antioch in the church there were prophets and teachers who ministered to the Lord and fasted.
      10. Acts 14:23 informs us that Paul and Barnabas appointed elders “for them in every church.”
      11. Acts 14:27 states they gathered the church together in Antioch to give them a report–they were the church whether gathered or ungathered.
      12. Acts 15 states:
          1. In verse 3 that Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem by the church.
          2. In verse 4 that when they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church.
          3. In verse 22 that the decision to send letters to Gentile congregations about a controversial doctrinal decision was made by the apostles, elders, and the whole church.
          4. In verse 41 that Paul and Silas traveled through the areas of Syria and Cilicia strengthening the churches.
   2. Does the collective evidence of those scriptures support the idea that the church is an institution?
      1. In my understanding, it does not.
      2. In my understanding, the evidence confirms that the church is a community, a community that places its faith in Jesus, that exists in the love of God, and that loves and cares for all community members as they seek to share Jesus with others.

In your thinking and your studying, I ask you to seriously consider this: is it possible that one of the reasons the church continues to experience so many unspiritual problems is because we are trying to force what God designed to exist and function as a community to exist and function like an institution?

I submit this for your consideration: when we present the church as an institution, we paint a very heavy coat of varnish on God’s masterpiece.

How do we remove the varnish? By each one of us learning how to be a loving part of the community instead of trying to belong to an institution.

God’s Goodness or Our Goodness?

Posted by David on under Sermons

I want you to focus on your relationships. I particularly ask you to focus on your best relationships. Would you please call to mind your three best, most successful relationships? By name and by face, focus on the three people with whom you have your finest relationships. Do you have them pictured? Now answer this question: Are those three people good people?

Let’s use three relationships as examples. “One of the greatest relationships is my relationship with my wife (or my husband).” If I asked, “Is your wife (or husband) a good person?” you would say, “Oh, yes!” and then you would tell me about her or his good qualities. To you, one of the reasons it is such a wonderful relationship is found in the fact that she or he is a good person.

“One of my greatest relationships is with my father (or my mother). Again, if I asked, “Is your father (or your mother) a good person?” you would respond, “Oh, yes!” and then tell me about your father or mother’s good qualities. To you, one of the reasons that it is a wonderful relationship is because your father or mother is such a good person.

“One of my greatest relationships is with my best friend. She (or he) is incredible! You cannot believe how close we are!” If I asked, “Is your best friend a good person?” you would promptly tell me, “Oh, yes!” and tell me about her or him. To you, one of the reasons you two share an exceptional relationship is found in the fact that she or he is such a good person.”

Question: How many exceptional relationships do you have with individuals that you do not consider to be good persons? Certainly, some of us have exceptional relationships with persons who are not considered “good.” That is definitely possible. While it is possible, it is unusual.

That fact clearly distinguishes God from us. We are most likely to have exceptional relationships with good people. God can and does have exceptional relationships with anyone. The prerequisite for a quality relationship with God is not personal goodness. The prerequisites for a quality relationship with God are a heart that will repent and confidence in God’s promises.

1. When you and I measure human goodness, we base our measurements on human-to-human comparisons.
   1. When we determine a person’s goodness, we do not use an absolute standard; instead, we make relative comparisons.
      1. How good the person looks depends on the context of the comparison.
         1. To whom or to what is he or she being compared? Or, he or she is good as compared to what or to whom?
         2. It is possible to look very good in one comparative context, quite average in another, and bad in still another.
      2. “I don’t understand that. Can you help me understand?”
         1. This is the description of the person: He uses a lot of curse words and vulgar expressions when he talks and those words have no significance to him; he does not have much patience with people; and he possess poor relationship skills. So it is easy for him to argue, easy for him to be offensive, and easy for him to hurt other people’s feelings.
         2. If you compare this person to a group of godly people, he does not look like a good person.
         3. If you compare him with a group of non-religious people in the community, he is no worse than average and may even be better than most.
         4. If you compare him with a group of violent criminals in prison, he looks like and sounds like a really good person.
      3. I think that illustrates relative or comparative goodness.
   2. When most of us rate the goodness or the badness of a person:
      1. We typically rate the person’s goodness by the way his or her life and deeds impact other people.
         1. “These are the good ways that his or her life influences other people’s lives.”
         2. “This is the good that is produced through his or her deeds.”
      2. We typically rate the evil of another person’s life in the same way.
         1. “This is the bad influence he or she has on others.”
         2. “These are the bad deeds he has done and their consequences.”
      3. In our human view, it is the good or bad impact of a person’s life on other people that determines if the person is good or bad.
   3. What we seldom consider is the impact of a person’s life on God.
      1. We seem to think that humans have impact on humans, but humans do not have impact on God.
      2. A lot of testimony from scripture declares that is not true.
         1. Humans totally corrupted God’s creation–God made it very good, but now the creation is in such ruin that it waits for its destruction (2 Peter 3:10). That had an enormous impact on God
         2. Humans destroyed the ideal, unrestricted relationship between God and people (Genesis 3). That had an enormous impact on God.
         3. Humans have caused God centuries of grief (Genesis 6:1-8). That has enormous impact on God.
         4. Humans placed God in internal conflict by placing God’s justice and God’s love in conflict (Hosea 11). That had enormous impact on God.
         5. If you want to see the reality of the impact human evil has had on God just remember that it was necessary for God to allow His Son to die because of human failure.
      3. And these are just the obvious ways that human evil impacted God.
   4. This is the way that we tend to evaluate evil in human life:
      1. Position one: Attitudes and emotions are not evil if they do not physically harm someone else.
      2. Position two: If your deeds do not immediately, visibly hurt someone else, your deeds should not be called evil.
      3. Position three: If the people involved in an activity are involved by personal choice, it is their business and that should not be called evil.
      4. Why? Because we evaluate good or evil by evaluating the impact that one person has on other persons.
2. Let’s use an illustration that grabs our minds and shakes our thinking.
   1. If you made your own list of the ten worst evils, what would be on your list?
      1. How many of these things would be on your list?
         1. Homosexuality.
         2. Adultery.
         3. Prostitution.
         4. Rape.
         5. Murder.
         6. Abortion.
         7. Child abuse.
         8. Child abduction.
         9. Random violence.
         10. Criminal injustice (when innocent people are victimized by deliberate criminal injustice).
      2. 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, and Revelation 21:8 give lists of evils that will prevent a person from inheriting the kingdom of heaven.
         1. The list in 1 Corinthians 5:10, 11 includes six things, and two of them are verbal abusiveness and swindling.
         2. The list in Galatians 5:19-21 includes fifteen things and three of them are greed, swindling, and verbal abuse.
         3. The list in Revelation 21:8 includes eight things and one of them is lying.
      3. Would your list of the ten worst evils include verbal abuse, swindling, greed, and lying?
   2. It is obvious that we do not define evil as God does–we are certain that there are much worse evils than verbal abuse, swindling, greed, and lying.
      1. We do not determine evil as God does because we do not determine good as God does.
      2. This is the difference:
         1. God is absolute goodness.
            1. He is pure good.
            2. There is a total absence of evil in God.
         2. We have never seen or experienced absolute good.
            1. If we saw absolute good, I doubt that we would recognize it.
            2. You and I are so far removed from absolute good that we cannot recognize all the evil in our own lives.
         3. When God determines good or evil, He compares a person’s heart, mind, and actions to absolute good.
         4. When you and I determine good or evil, we compare imperfect people to imperfect people.
   3. “Is it important that we understand that difference?” It is not only important; it is critical.
      1. Let me illustrate the importance by using something I taught in the past.
      2. Question: How much divine grace does it take to save a person?
         1. Here is a devout Christian; he is 65% good; God adds 35% grace.
         2. Here is a struggling Christian; he is 40% good; God adds 60% grace.
         3. Here is a weak Christian; he is only 10% good; God adds 90% grace.
         4. Here is a Christian who has entered Christ, but is completely without goodness; if he can be saved, God must add 100% grace.
         5. Conclusion: if you, with genuine faith and repentance, are as good as you can be, by whatever % you miss the mark, God will add that much grace.
      3. I pray that I did not do serious damage to anyone’s life with that teaching.
         1. I was sincere, but I was sincerely wrong.
         2. That whole concept is a personal insult to the goodness of God.
         3. How much grace does it take to save us?
            1. It takes the same amount for each and every one of us; 100%.
            2. It takes all of everything God did when He let Jesus die and when He raised Jesus from the dead.
            3. It takes all of His forgiveness and all of His mercy.
3. Please let Jesus emphasize that point in Luke 15:11-32.
   1. A wealthy man had two sons, and the younger son was rebellious and unhappy.
      1. He told his father, “I want my inheritance right now.”
         1. Within days of receiving his inheritance, he was out of there–went as far as he could get from father and older brother.
         2. He went so far away from home that absolutely nothing reminded him of home–no synagogue, no Sabbath day, no prayers, no readings, and no reminders of any kind that he was a Jew or a part of God’s nation.
         3. Whatever he felt like doing, whatever he wanted to do, he did, and he wasted every bit of his money–he had nothing.
         4. He spent it all having fun in any way he wanted to pleasure himself.
         5. When he was broke, hard times hit the country he was in; everyone was having hard times.
         6. He had no place to stay, no food, no friends, and the only job he could get was slopping hogs.
         7. He was so hungry that he would have eaten the hogs’ food had it been digestible.
         8. One day, in the hog pen, dirty, tired, and hungry, he came to his senses–with real courage, he decided to go home, confess to his father what an evil fool he had been, admit that he had sinned against his father and God, and just maybe his father would let him work as a servant.
      2. Every day his father looked down the road, hoping his son would return.
         1. He never gave up.
         2. And one day he saw his skinny, ragged, dirty son in the distance and recognized him.
         3. He ran to him, hugged and kissed him, and welcomed him home.
         4. In honor of his return, the father immediately threw a big party for the neighborhood because a son who was dead to him had come home.
      3. The older brother was working out in the field when he heard the celebration.
         1. He asked someone, “What is going on?” and was told that it was a celebration because his brother had returned home.
         2. He was angry! Angry that a wonderful greeting was given his worthless brother! Angry that he had always stayed home and worked hard and never received such attention!.
         3. He was so angry that he refused his own father’s pleading to come join the celebration.
   2. This parable makes a powerful statement about God’s love and a powerful statement about God’s goodness.
      1. We often have discussed God’s love to be seen in the father’s forgiveness of his wayward son.
      2. But I want you to consider the statement about God’s goodness to be seen in the angry son.
         1. The older brother was so impressed with his own goodness that he could not see his father’s goodness.
         2. The older brother’s concept of goodness was comparative or relative goodness.
            1. He was good because his brother was bad.
            2. He was good because his brother left home but he stayed.
            3. He was good because his brother behaved wickedly and he behaved responsibly.
         3. But his father was good because he loved his son, loved beyond failure, loved because he valued his son.
            1. He did not value his lost son more than his son that stayed home.
            2. Nor did he love one more than the other.
            3. The truth is simple: in his goodness, he loved both completely.
            4. When you compare the goodness of the oldest brother to the goodness of the father, the oldest brother looks mean and heartless.
            5. It is only when you compare the older brother to the failure of the younger brother that the older brother looks good.
         4. This is the tragedy: the older brother was so concerned about being rewarded for his own goodness that he forfeited his relationship with his father who loved him.
   3. The tragic irony is this: it is very common for the goodness of God to “turn off” and “leave cold” those Christians who are impressed with their own goodness.
      1. We don’t like to remember what Jesus said in Luke 17:10:
         When you do all the things which are commanded you, say, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.”
      2. We find it painful when we realize that every one of us is saved by the goodness of God.
      3. We find it painful to understand that when we are compared to the absolute goodness of God, all of us are without true goodness.

Will it make you mad if our sovereign God, our father who loves all people completely, saves someone you think should not be saved? Or will you rejoice in the goodness of God, knowing that it is His goodness that makes your salvation possible?

The Church Must Get the Credit!

Posted by David on March 9, 1997 under Sermons

In December, close to Christmas, Joyce and I were tired physically and emotionally. In a period of about 2 months, we moved out of a house that we had lived in twenty-two years; we prepared that house to be put on the market; we bought a house here with much less storage space; and we moved in. We needed to relax.

One Friday night we decided to eat out and go to a movie. After eating, we arrived at the theater early. We were among the first people there, but soon three ladies came and sat two rows in front of us.

Joyce and I were talking, so I hardly noticed them. They seemed to be talking about an acquaintance whose behavior confused them. I only heard two statements, but both caught my attention. One of the three said, “She’s Church of Christ.” Another responded, “Oh! That explains it.” From their tone, it was obvious that they were not impressed. The image projected by her being “Church of Christ” was not a positive image.

Please remember the primary illustration from last week. Grandma died and left an old table in the attic. It has been varnished and painted so many times that it looked like a piece of junk. Only when her oldest son stripped all the paint and varnish off did he discover the table was a treasure, not a piece of junk. When he removed the paint and varnish he found a beautiful walnut table handmade by a skilled craftsman.

The church is like that table. It was made by the skilled craftsmanship of Jesus, and it is made out of Jesus. It is unique and incredibly beautiful. But it has been painted and varnished so many times that it appears to be a piece of junk to many, many people.

We want to remove the paint and varnish without damaging the craftsmanship or marring the wood.

1. I ask you to do something that is very difficult for many of us to do.
   1. I want you to look at the Church of Christ through the eyes of a person who has never belonged to any church.
      1. There are a few of us who can do that with relative ease.
         1. A person who can do that with relative ease did not become a Christian until he or she was an adult.
         2. He or she has actually looked at the church through those eyes.
      2. However most of us find it very hard to look at the Church of Christ as though we have never been a member of any church.
         1. Most of us have families that have been members of the Church of Christ for two, three, or four generations.
         2. We have always looked at the church from a very specific perspective and have a hard time understanding that other people can not see it as we see it.
         3. It comes as quite a shock to many of us to learn how others look at the church.
   2. If a person has never been a member of any church, it is highly probable that his or her concepts of church, any church, are negative concepts.
      1. Common negative concept one: churches intensify and perpetuate people’s pain.
         1. A church is not a place to get help if you have a problem causing you to suffer.
         2. A church will intensify your guilt feelings but will do little to help you resolve the problem or deal with the emotional pain.
         3. If you tell a church that you have the problem, they will tell you how evil you are for having that problem, and they will limit their association with you.
         4. People in a church want you to know that they don’t have your problem, they don’t like your problem, and that you are inferior because you have the problem.
      2. Common negative concept two: churches intensify hopelessness.
         1. If you are determined to stay even though you have a problem, a church still does not give you any real direction or hope.
         2. If you openly declare: “I am struggling with ‘x’ problem. I want to recover my life and redirect it. What do I need to do?”
         3. If your problem is one that churches do not deal with, they will tell you:
            1. “You have a very serious problem.”
            2. “Beyond repenting and accepting God’s forgiveness, we don’t know what to suggest.”
            3. “We don’t know what God will do or can do in a case like yours.”
         4. Christians need to understand how easy it is to make people who struggle with guilt and pain conclude that their situation is hopeless.
   3. We need to understand that to those who do not belong to any church, churches are a dime a dozen.
      1. While we are convinced that we are unique and distinctive, they are not.
      2. From their vantage point:
         1. Many churches are dedicated to evangelism.
         2. Many churches seriously study the Bible.
         3. Many churches acknowledge the Bible to be God’s word to people.
         4. Many churches regard the Bible to be God’s authority.
         5. Many churches are dedicated to prayer and to dependence on God and Christ.
      3. While it may come as a surprise to us, there are numerous churches that are committed to the concept of restoration.
         1. Right at this moment, there is probably more concern in more American religious bodies for returning to the Bible than there ever has been in America.
         2. There is more concern than there ever has been about accepting the Bible as the exclusive divine guide.
         3. In this shared desire to restore Christianity, there will be basic disagreement about how to pursue restoration and what to restore.
         4. But there will be little difference in the shared concern for the importance and necessity of returning to the Bible and Jesus Christ.
   4. By far the largest segment of our American society is those people who belong to no church.
      1. We must understand that our declarations and claims do not make us distinct as far as those people are concerned.
      2. To us, in our own opinion, our declarations and claims make us distinct.
      3. But to them, our declarations and claims give us no distinction.
   5. When we fail to understand that, when we preach and teach, we just talk to ourselves.
2. Throughout this century we have placed a major emphasis on preserving the distinctiveness of the church.
   1. That is a valid concern.
      1. We need distinctively to belong to Jesus Christ.
      2. We need distinctively to have the purposes that Jesus Christ gave us.
      3. We need distinctively to be God’s family.
      4. We need to establish and preserve that distinctiveness.
   2. However, in our desire to preserve the distinctiveness of the church, we have reasoned ourselves to a set of different concerns. Our reasoning has gone something like this:
      1. Position one: To preserve the distinctiveness of the church, it must get credit for anything that happens religiously or spiritually.
      2. Position two: We must advance and preserve the image of the church by being careful to do only those things that will give credit to the Church of Christ; we must not take part in any cooperative efforts.
         1. Cooperative efforts endanger our distinctiveness.
         2. Cooperative efforts run the risk of compromise.
         3. Cooperative efforts might appear to endorse error.
   3. Personally, I am very familiar with this line of reasoning because, in the past, I held that perspective strongly.
      1. “Why don’t you still hold that perspective?” That is a fair question.
      2. It was not a quick or sudden transition, but a slow process that took several years.
      3. The process began during my mission work in Africa.
         1. I quickly discovered that some of my concepts were American concepts, not Bible concepts.
         2. If Christ is the Savior of the world, a person does not have to be an American, or learn to think like an American, or reason like an American, or understand religious concerns in America to become a Christian.
      4. As my Bible study proceeded to deeper levels, I began to understand that some of our concerns about the church did not match the concerns of Jesus or the epistles.
      5. As I studied and interacted with people who are not Christians, I learned:
         1. They did not see us as distinctive but as confusing.
         2. They actually thought that the Church of Christ was a closed society that did not welcome visitors and did not want new members–they thought that we wanted to exist in isolation.
         3. This was a common question: If we want to reach out to others, why do we isolate? How do we expect people to understand us if we never associate with them?
      6. I learned this: what I thought were efforts to preserve the image of the church was seen by others to be a deliberate attempt to isolate the church.
      7. Thus the things I thought preserved the image of the church actually created a false image of the church.
3. In our concern and our reasoned approaches to preserving the church’s image, we painted another thick coat of varnish on the church that actually hides Jesus and the beauty of his craftsmanship.
   1. I want to share two scriptures that are, to me, very insightful.
   2. Please turn to Philippians 1:12-18 and think with me.
      1. We first must begin with some background of this letter from Paul to the Christians at Philippi.
         1. Paul started this congregation (Acts 16:12-40).
            1. Among its first converts were two very unusual persons–Lydia, a businesswoman, and a jailor who likely was a soldier in the Roman army.
            2. Paul was not in Philippi long, and during his short stay he was beaten, placed in jail, and begged by the city officials to leave town–he was a very unpopular visitor, and many were relieved when he left.
         2. Though he was there only a brief time, Paul formed a powerful bond with this new congregation; they had an unusual relationship.
            1. Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote this letter.
            2. This congregation already had sent a man named Epaphroditus to Paul bringing monetary help and personally helping care for Paul’s needs (Philippians 2:25).
            3. This was perhaps the only congregation that Paul allowed to financially assist him in his evangelistic travels (Philippians 4:15).
            4. The gift they sent him in prison was a generous one (Philippians 4:18).
         3. These Christians were so involved in Paul’s life and work that his imprisonment likely discouraged them.
         4. One of his reasons for writing the letter was to encourage them.
      2. Listen to the unusual way that he encourages them in Philippians 1:12-18.
         1. Verse 12: I want you to know that my being in prison has actually produced greater progress in spreading the message of the gospel.
         2. Verse 13: Because I am in prison, everyone is talking about Jesus Christ–the entire elite Roman guard and everyone else is talking about Jesus.
         3. Verse 14: My being in prison has actually been a blessing to the Christians here.
            1. They have placed their trust in the Lord.
            2. Instead of being afraid, they have found courage.
            3. They speak the word of God without fear.
         4. Verse 15: Surely, some of them are talking about Jesus with wrong motives and with evil goals.
            1. Some are talking about Jesus out of envy and strife.
            2. Some are talking about Jesus from their hearts in dedication to good will.
            3. Verse 16: Those who do it out of good will do it out of love; they know that I am going to take my stand on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
            4. Verse 17: Those who are preaching Jesus out of envy and strife have selfish ambitions and impure motives–they think that they are going to intensify my distress in prison.
         5. Verse 18: But what happens to me really is not important.
            1. The wonderful thing is that Christ is being proclaimed, and the motives of those who are talking about him do not matter.
            2. I rejoice in the fact that everyone is talking about Jesus and I will continue to rejoice in that.
      3. Think about Paul’s statement very carefully.
         1. Ask yourself how his statement fits our typical concerns about the image of the church.
         2. When compared to our typical concerns about preserving the image of the church, everything about this situation and Paul’s statement seems to oppose the image of the church.
   3. The second scripture is Luke 7:18-23.
      1. John the baptizer is in prison.
      2. His disciples were keeping him informed about Jesus and his activities.
      3. John sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one?”
      4. They came to Jesus at a time when he was very active in doing miracles.
      5. Jesus’ answer is terribly insightful: Go tell John what you see and hear:
         1. The blind receive sight.
         2. The lame walk.
         3. Those with leprosy are cured.
         4. The deaf hear.
         5. The dead are raised to life.
         6. The poor have the gospel preached to them.
      6. Those activities are the fulfillment of prophecies about the Messiah in Isaiah 35:5 and 61:1.
      7. Note what Jesus did not say: He did not say, “Go tell John:”
         1. “How I am exposing the scriptural error of the Pharisees.”
         2. “How I am exposing the doctrinal error of the Sadducees.”
         3. “How I am revealing how established religion in Israel has missed the point.”
         4. Jesus did all those things, but none of that was primary, and none of that proved he was the one.
   4. If we are Christ’s church, we will think like Jesus, we will feel about God and people as did Jesus, and we will emphasize the things Jesus emphasized.
      1. We will be concerned about the things he was concerned about–because we are his church, he is our Lord, and he is our Savior.
      2. It is too easy to be more concerned about the church than we are about the Christ.
      3. Championing the church and championing Jesus Christ are not the same thing.
      4. It took a lot of time and a lot of earnest Bible study before I understood the difference.
      5. I do not demand that you see what it has taken me so long to see and understand; that would be unfair and unkind. I only ask you to think about it.

I pray that this congregation as Christ’s church will grow away from the image of being “that church with the great big building,” or being “that church who does not believe in music,” or being “that church who thinks they are the only ones going to heaven,” or being “that church who fights everyone,” or being “that church who exists to argue.”

I pray that as Christ’s church we will grow into the image of being “that church who really loves God,” “that church who really follows and serves Jesus Christ,” “that church who is so caring and kind,” “that church who is so compassionate–they really help people,” and “that church who really blesses Fort Smith.”

How do we remove the varnish? One person at a time; each person from himself or herself. Let the real Jesus shine through you!

A Seat on the Pew:  Life or Death?

Posted by David on under Sermons

In November, 1992, I was invited to speak at the Technical Institute located in Kalinningrad, Russia. The English Department invited me to present a series of lectures in English. It was permissible to speak from the Bible as long as I did not “evangelize or sermonize.” I could challenge the students to think as long as I confined my teaching to sharing information. The largest lecture hall in the institute was made available to me, and the Dean of the English Department served as my translator.

I have taught in several different countries, but the Kalinningrad experience was my most fascinating and insightful experience. It was also one of my most enjoyable teaching experiences.

The city has over 400,000 residents. At that time, most of the residents of the city were living without hope. I had never been in a city filled with people who had lost hope. They were not depressed; they were not angry; they were not enraged; they were not even protesting. The people in the city were calm and accepting. My hosts in the institute and the students were very gracious and kind. The people simply had no hope. Their hope had died because their confidence had been destroyed.

How did that happen? For sixty years they sincerely believed that conditions in Western Europe were worse than their conditions. Then one day television signals brought them pictures of life in Western Europe. They saw the prosperity of Western Europe. Hope became terminally ill.

For sixty years they sincerely believed that the only true hope for their economic recovery was communism. Communism would save the economy and stabilize the Soviet Union. Then on a specific day communism collapsed. The communist government ceased to exist. And terminally ill hope died.

In 1992, everyone was powerless. They faced extremely stressful conditions, and there was no opportunity for improvement. There was no correct thing to do, no correct way to improve your situation, no correct means of creating opportunity. No matter what you did, it made no immediate difference. In 1992, nothing held the promise of an improved future. There was no hope.

I was the guest of very gracious, considerate people who had no hope. That was the most unusual circumstance I have ever experienced.

1. When there is no hope, there is only a mindless, spiritless, physical existence.
   1. Without hope, life has no purpose.
      1. Without purpose, there is no reason to exist.
      2. People without hope physically survive each day by going through the necessary motions.
      3. Except for immediate family, there is almost no interaction with people.
      4. Why? When there is no hope, any other person is a threat, a competitor in the ruthless game of survival.
         1. No one is a blessing.
         2. In fact, without hope, there is no concept of blessing.
   2. None of us can physically survive without hope.
      1. When we lose hope, we get depressed.
      2. When our depression becomes severe, we either get sick and die, or we kill ourselves–suicide is the act of a person who is without value to himself or herself because he or she has no hope.
2. Is it surprising that a major theme of Christianity in the New Testament is hope?
   1. Someone asks, “David, are you sure about that? Can you really say that hope is a major New Testament theme for Christianity?”
      1. “We Christians don’t talk much about hope.”
      2. “We don’t preach much about hope.”
      3. “We don’t study much about hope in our Bible classes.”
      4. “How can hope be a major theme in Christianity when we place so little emphasis on hope and talk so little about hope.”
   2. I will let you decide for yourself: Is hope a major Christian theme in the New Testament?
      1. First, there are three primary, internal forces that sustain spiritual life in a person while he or she lives in this world.
         1. God gives us spiritual life through Jesus Christ.
         2. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the source of spiritual life–anyone who is in Jesus Christ is spiritually alive, and anyone who is not in Jesus Christ is not spiritually alive.
         3. The proper way to respond to the gift of spiritual life is to allow these three forces to be the dominant forces in our lives.
         4. What are those three forces?
         5. The New Testament writer, Paul, identified them:
            But now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13).
            1. Of the three, love is the greatest because it is eternal.
            2. But all three are essential to spiritual life in this world.
      2. There are so many statements in the New Testament that declare the importance of hope that we cannot mention them all, but consider a few.
         1. The Ephesian Christians were told that “you were called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4).
         2. The non-Jewish Colossian Christians were told that God had revealed the riches of His glory to non-Jews through this understanding: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
         3. Timothy was told that “Jesus Christ (is) our hope of glory” (1 Timothy 1:1).
         4. The author of the book of Hebrews declared, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast . . .” (Hebrews 6:19).
         5. Peter wrote that God in His great mercy “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
   3. If you can, take a Bible and look at Romans chapters 4 and 5 with me.
      1. Look at Romans 4:18: In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which has been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.”
         1. Paul is writing about Abraham–all of Romans chapter four discusses Abraham.
         2. Paul is teaching the Christians in Rome a basic lesson about faith by using Abraham’s faith.
         3. God assured Abraham when he was ninety-nine years old (and his wife was eighty-nine years old) that he and Sarah would have their first child, and the descendants of that child would become many nations.
         4. There was no physical hope that Abraham and Sarah could become parents–they were too old, and they had never had children.
         5. But Abraham hoped because God promised it would happen, and only because God promised it would happen.
         6. He literally hoped against hope.
         7. And Isaac was born when Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old.
         8. Only because Abraham could hope could Abraham believe.
      2. Romans 5:1-5 is Paul’s application statement.
         1. After devoting all of chapter 4 explaining faith and hope, Paul made several application points.
         2. You have been justified by faith, just as Abraham was justified by faith.
         3. Because you were justified by faith, you are at peace with God.
         4. Jesus Christ made possible both your justification and your peace.
         5. This same faith has introduced you to grace, and it is grace that enables you to spiritually stand.
         6. The end product of faith, justification, peace, and grace is hope–a hope that makes you feel triumphant.
         7. Understand this: severe hardship teaches you how to hang in there; hanging in there develops character, and developing character generates hope.
         8. That hope will never disappoint you–once you find hope in Christ, you will never regret having it, and you will never regret the price of finding it.
         9. Why? Because when you find hope, you also find the love of God, and the Holy Spirit pours your heart full of that love.
   4. Hope is a cornerstone message about Jesus.
      1. A cornerstone was a genuinely square stone used to start the foundation of a house.
         1. If the stone was truly square, the foundation of the house would fit together at the corners.
         2. If the stone was slightly out of square, the corners of the house would not meet.
         3. Without a proper understanding of hope, the foundation of Christianity will not come together in your life–the corners will not meet.
      2. Hope is a cornerstone message.
         1. The first message of the cross is the reality of God’s love; the second message of the cross is the reality of your hope.
         2. The first message of the resurrection is the power of the God who loves you; the second message of the resurrection is the power that guarantees the hope that God gives you.
         3. Jesus’ compassion is the message of hope.
         4. Jesus’ forgiveness is the message of hope.
         5. Jesus’ mercy is the message of hope.
3. We believe the Bible is God’s word and is inspired by God, and we believe that the message of that word comes straight from the mind and heart of God.
   1. During the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, how many people do you think that Jesus healed and forgave?
      1. I would not dare to try to guess–that number would be at least in the tens of thousands if not the hundreds of thousands.
      2. Chapter after chapter in the gospels reveals people Jesus healed and people Jesus forgave.
   2. In guiding the writing of the Gospels, how many examples did the Holy Spirit have to choose from? How many examples of forgiveness or healing were available to the Holy Spirit for use as examples in the gospels?
      1. More than you and I can count!
      2. The Gospel of John ends with the statement, “There are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books which were written” (John 21:25).
   3. With all the examples that the Holy Spirit had available, have you considered the examples the Holy Spirit chose?
      1. In Matthew:
         1. He told a paralyzed man, “Take courage, my son, your sins are forgiven” (9:2).
         2. He spent personal, meaningful time associating with and eating with tax collectors and people everyone knew to be evil people (9:10).
         3. He cast demons out of people who were possessed by those evil spirits (9:32).
      2. In Luke:
         1. An uninvited, sexually immoral woman just walked in a home where Jesus was guest for a meal (7:36-50).
            1. Her behavior was totally unacceptable–she entered without asking; she let her hair down; she washed Jesus’ feet with her tears; and she repeatedly kissed Jesus’ feet.
            2. And Jesus told this woman, “Your sins have been forgiven.”
         2. He told a story, a parable, about a son that deliberately left home to live a wasteful, disgraceful, wicked life (15:11-32).
            1. When he came to his senses and returned home, his father welcomed him with love and total forgiveness.
         3. He told a story about a sick beggar who died and went to live with the blessed, and a wealthy man who died and went to live with the condemned (16:19-31).
         4. He told a story about a very religious man that God refused to listen to and a very wicked man that God heard and forgave (18:9-14).
      3. In John:
         1. Jesus offered the living water of salvation to an outcast woman who had been married and divorced five times and was presently living with a man to whom she was not married (4:7-26).
         2. He told a woman captured in the very act of adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more” (8:1-11).
         3. He healed a blind man that the religious leaders declared to be a sinner who was born blind because of sin (9).
      4. Of course you have to include Peter who cursed and swore that he did not know Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75) and the thief who died beside Jesus whom Jesus forgave as he was dying (Luke 23:39-43).
   4. So what’s the message in all these examples? Why did the Holy Spirit choose so many of these examples?
      1. The message is clear: “There is hope, hope for anyone with any problem, hope for everyone controlled by evil.”
      2. The message of Jesus is this: “God can help you where you are. I will forgive you where you are. Where you are is where you and I begin.”

Is a seat in the pew the opportunity for life or the curse of death? If you find the hope God created in Jesus Christ, it is the opportunity for life. If your hope is destroyed, it is death. Hopelessness kills us physically, and hopelessness kills us spiritually.

If it is my struggling son sitting in the pew, help him find hope in Jesus. If it is my struggling daughter, help her find hope. If it is my struggling wife, help her find hope. If it is my struggling husband, help him find hope. If it is my struggling parent, help him or her find hope. If it is my struggling friend, help him or her find hope.

Why? When you find hope in Jesus, you find life and love. And the corners of your spiritual house will fit together.

In Here or Out There?

Posted by David on March 2, 1997 under Sermons

Grandma died three days ago. She was 94. The whole family gathered for the funeral. It was the first time since Grandpa died ten years ago that the whole family was in one place at one time.

The funeral is over. By mutual agreement, it was a celebration. A celebration was the only appropriate way to remember Grandma. She was a loving, kind, godly woman who used life well. She was a blessing to her family, to the church, to her neighbors, and to the community. The way she used her life to bless others earned her a reputation that anyone would be honored to have.

Until the last two weeks of her life she lived in the home that she and Grandpa built the year after they married. All their children grew up in that home. It was filled with a lifetime of furnishings and memories. It had a huge attic.

After the funeral, the whole family gathered at Grandma’s house. It just sort of happened that all the brothers and sisters and all the adult grandchildren found themselves together in the attic taking mental strolls down memory lane.

Sitting against a far wall in the attic was an old, old table. At first no one noticed it. Finally someone asked, “Does anyone remember that old table?” It looked awful, but it was sturdy and in good repair. As they examined it closely they could tell that it had been heavily varnished and several coats of paint had been placed on top of the varnish. Slowly, they began to remember. The oldest could remember when it was just varnished. Others began to recall when it was white, or yellow, or black.

Someone wondered if it was worth anything. Someone said perhaps they need to throw it out with all the rest of the junk. But the oldest brother decided he would take it and strip all the paint and varnish off to see what was underneath.

It took a lot of work, a lot of patience, and a long time, but finally he got to the wood. He could hardly believe what he found. It was handmade by an excellent craftsman. And it was made of such fine walnut that such wood is not even available today. The combination of craftsmanship and quality wood made it a magnificent piece of furniture that would grace the finest home with its elegance. It was worthy of any food that could be served on any occasion.

But this magnificent table would have been discarded as junk unless someone successfully removed the paint and varnish.

1. The church is like that table.
   1. To anyone who looks at in its present condition without bias and with honest eyes, it looks terrible.
      1. Because of its appearance, it is valued only by members of the family.
         1. The church is sturdy and well built, but it is ugly to all who do not love it.
         2. Those who love it value the church more for their past memories than for its present function.
         3. If those who love it were to say what they think in their hearts, they would admit that sometimes they wonder if the church is a junk piece.
      2. The majority of the people in a state or in the nation would not have it.
         1. When they look at it, they find it ugly and offensive.
         2. They do not see any need for it–it is just something that sits around and gets in the way.
      3. Those who love the church and value it are a minority.
         1. They look at it through different eyes.
         2. They see it “in a light” and with an affection that few others can.
      4. Most people think that they would not like to be served in any way at any time by the church.
         1. Just looking at it turns them off; the sight of it causes them to lose their appetites.
         2. It looks downright unsanitary to them.
            1. They see the fighting and arguing about concerns that make no sense to them.
            2. They see bickering, resentments, and ill will among members.
            3. They witness the obvious power struggles as people grasp for power and control.
            4. And they see and hear what they regard to be downright arrogance.
   2. The church has been varnished and painted so many times that it looks like something out of the past that is useless in the world today.
      1. When the people who have belonged to it for years talk about it, they often begin by saying, “I remember when . . .”
      2. It has been painted so many times that most people can’t tell what it really is.
         1. In the 1800s there was a lot of concern over the denominational concept of church, so it was varnished with undenominational varnish.
         2. In the 1900s issues were constantly arising, and with each new issue, it was painted again.
            1. Each debate over issues such as paid preachers, premillennialism, congregational cooperation, and worship issues resulted in it receiving a new coat of paint.
            2. Most recently it has been painted striped–white stripes were applied with conservative paint; gray stripes with progressive paint; and black stripes with liberal paint.
   3. The magnificence, the beauty, and the value of what God brought into existence will never be seen unless we carefully and lovingly strip away all the paint and the varnish.
      1. If we take the time, the patience, and do the necessary hard work to get all the way down to the original table, we will discover a magnificent piece of spiritual furniture hand-crafted by Jesus Christ.
         1. And it is the most unique piece of furniture that has ever existed–there has never, never been anything like it, and there never will be anything to equal it.
         2. This one of a kind, hand-crafted piece of furniture is not only made by the hands of Jesus Christ, but made from Jesus Christ!
         3. Jesus is both the craftsman and the spiritual material–that is why there will never be anything else like it.
      2. When we strip all the paint and varnish off and get down to Jesus Christ, this is what you see.
         1. You see acceptance of any person who accepts Christ no matter what his or her past is, no matter what he or she is or has been.
         2. You see love as it exists nowhere else.
         3. You see kindness as it exists no where else.
         4. You see compassion that surpasses all other expressions of compassion.
         5. You see mercy and forgiveness.
         6. You see joy, and hope, and gladness of heart, and purpose in living.
         7. And you see power, a most unusual power.
      3. Then and only then will the world see the magnificence and the value of the church.
   4. But how do we identify the paint and the varnish to be removed?
      1. We identify the paint and the varnish by allowing the scripture to advance our education instead of assuming we already know everything.
      2. We identify the paint and varnish by holding our basic concepts up to the full light of Jesus Christ.
      3. We identify the paint and the varnish by carefully going all the way back to Christ ‘s teachings.
2. Let’s begin that process tonight by asking the question, “Did Christ build the church to have an ‘in here’ focus or an ‘out there’ focus?”
   1. As we are studying in the Wednesday night auditorium class, before the church existed, Jesus gave those who would open his kingdom both an “in here” and “out there” focus.
      1. Christians as God’s family are basically committed to evangelism.
         1. We understand that we are to share our Savior and his good news with all people in all nations, and that most assuredly includes all people within our own nation.
         2. We are to go to all nations to make disciples who follow Jesus as Matthew 28:19 encourages us to do.
      2. Christians as God’s family are basically committed to nurturing.
         1. The basic purpose of each New Testament epistle was nurturing.
         2. The epistles were not evangelistic in design or intent.
         3. They were written to help nurture and mature Christians.
         4. We must be just as committed to teaching the baptized to “observe all things” that Jesus commanded as we are to evangelism–that is Jesus’ specific instruction in Matthew 28:20.
      3. I must confess that personally I fear that our discussions of evangelism and edification tend to be more theoretical than practical, more theological idealism than spiritual realism.
   2. Let’s ask the question in a way that reveals a layer of the varnish that has been painted on the church: Which does God love the most:
      1. The church, which is nothing more than those people who have accepted salvation in Jesus Christ?
      2. Or the ungodly world, those people who have not accepted salvation in Jesus Christ?
   3. The answer to that question reveals an important answer to many questions.
      1. For example, should the church have the “defend the fort” mentality or the “yeast in the world” mentality?
      2. What is the “defend the fort” mentality?
         1. This is the thought that Christ intended Christians as the church to isolate themselves from all ungodliness in every place and every form.
         2. We gather up the saved within the church, and we do all that we can to isolate ourselves from the “real world.”
         3. Christians protect the church and each other by creating their isolated community and confining all possible meaningful contact to each other.
         4. We are to be friends only with each other, we are to spend meaningful time only with each other, we listen only to each other, and as best we can we restrict life to Christian contacts.
         5. We keep the church “in here” and we keep the world “out there” and we search for ways to force the world “out there” to conform to our standards and principles whether they believe in Christ or not.
      3. What is the “yeast in the world” mentality?
         1. In Matthew 13:33 Jesus said:
            The kingdom of heaven is like leaven (yeast), which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened.
         2. The woman took a small amount of yeast and put it in a huge ball of dough, and in time the whole ball of dough rose.
         3. The yeast mentality says, “I cannot have a positive influence on people who do not know or have not accepted Christ by refusing to have any contact with them.”
         4. “Jesus has placed me on this earth as a Christian for me to have contact with unchristian society.”
         5. “They need to see Christ living in me.”
         6. “That is the only way they will understand the value of being a Christian.”
         7. “They need to see the kind of life and relationships built by belonging to Christ.”
         8. “They will never look at the church differently unless they are touched by the lives of those who live in Christ.”
         9. “Therefore, I will have meaningful fellowship with Christians, but I will also have meaningful interaction with people who do not even understand Christianity.”
      4. The “defending the fort” mentality has been very popular since the 1950s.
         1. We painted the church with a thick coat of that varnish.
         2. We made the varnish with a very special blend:
            1. “Evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33, King James translation)–what was our message to Christians?
            2. “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22, King James translation)–what was our message to Christians?
            3. A strong, reasoned teaching on never doing anything that would give anyone else a wrong idea.
            4. That made a thick, durable varnish, and we put a heavy coat of it on the church.
   4. Jesus said:
      1. We are to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).
         1. He said “we” are the light of the world–not our preacher, not our sermons, not our printed material, not our radio broadcast, not our television lessons, but “we.”
            1. All of those teaching approaches are desperately needed and very important–I have used and will use all of them.
            2. But our teaching is believable only if “we” are the light as “we” live in the darkness of the world.
         2. If we confine the light to inside the fort, how will the world ever see it?
         3. Jesus said we put the light up high like a city on a hill where all can see it.
         4. If we are not going to be light in the darkness, what is the point of being light?
      2. We are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).
         1. Again, he said “we.”
         2. If we put all the salt in the fort, how will the salt preserve the rotting world?
         3. Again, the salt is not what we teach; it is what we are in our lives, our actions, our relationships.
   5. So we return to our original question: Does God love the church more than he loves the ungodly world?
      1. If we give our reaction answer, we say, “He loves the church more than the world.”
         1. “He loved the church enough to die for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
         2. “He loved the church enough to purchase it with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
         3. “He loved the church enough to call it his body on earth” (Ephesians 1:22, 23).
      2. But Jesus himself said:
         1. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son” (John 3:16).
         2. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
         3. “Come unto me all you who are burdened and weary, and I will give your souls rest” (Matthew 11:28-30).
         4. There is not one single person in the ungodly world that he does not want as a part of his body (2 Peter 3:9).
      3. And what did Jesus himself do?
         1. He ate with tax collectors and sinners, and was criticized for it (Matthew 9:10,11).
         2. He forgave and encouraged the religious outcasts of his day.
         3. Among those he selected to be his special disciples were some pretty rough fellows.
         4. He even died between two thieves (Matthew 27:38).
         5. Jesus was light in the world; the light did not merely come from what he taught; it came from what he was, what he did, and how he interacted with the ungodly world.

Why did we apply the varnish of our fort mentality? Because we were and are afraid. For at least the last 40 years, the church’s mentality has been formed more from our fears than from our faith. Fear builds forts. Faith is yeast, and light, and salt.