SERMON: THE ALMOST APOSTLE

14 September 2014

I.  INTRODUCTION

            -- if you have your Bibles, please join me in Acts 1:15-26

Acts 1:15-26 (NIV)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--

17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'

21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs."

26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

            -- how many of you in here know who Albert McMakin is?

            -- let me tell you the story of Albert -- Albert was a normal young man in Charlotte, North Carolina in the 1930's -- he spent time playing baseball with his friends, going hunting and fishing, and in the springtime, he helped tend his neighbor's garden -- but Albert had something in common with Peter and the other apostles we just read about in this passage -- he was a believer in Christ and he felt it was his calling in life to witness to the resurrection of Jesus and to tell all his friends what Jesus had done for him

            -- in that time in North Carolina, there wasn't much in the way of excitement or things to do -- so when something new or novel showed up in town, everyone paid attention -- this is the time in our country when the tent revivals were a really big deal -- the evangelists would come in, set up a tent in the middle of town, and everyone would come to listen -- not necessarily because they were believers, but because it was entertainment -- it was something new to do

            -- well, one day a fiery evangelist named Dr. Mordecai Hamm showed up and set up a tent right there in Charlotte -- so Albert started going to listen to him every night

            -- now in those days, revivals didn't just last three or four nights like they do in our churches today -- they could go on for weeks -- and Albert went every single night -- he kept trying to get his friends to go with him, but they never would -- they were more interested in chasing after the girls after school

            -- all the while, Dr. Hamm just kept on preaching and getting more and more in the town's business -- one day, he pointed out in his preaching that the town had a house of ill repute and then proceeded to name names -- well, this just set off the town folks, and several of those Dr. Hamm had named in his message decided to go to the tent where Dr. Hamm was preaching and publicly confront him

            -- this was the chance that Albert was waiting for -- he went to one of his friends who had been steadfastly refusing to go see this preacher and asked him if we wanted to go see a fighting preacher -- this got the other boy interested -- he said he might just go to see a fighter -- Albert then sealed the deal -- he said, "If you go, I'll even let you drive my truck to the meeting." -- so off they went, Albert and his friend

            -- well, Albert's friend heard the gospel in a new way that night, but he didn't get saved -- so Albert kept bringing him back night after night -- finally, one night, something about the message just gripped Albert's friend and shook him to the core, so he got up, went down front, and committed his life to the Lord

            -- as you've probably guessed, Albert's friend went on to make a name for himself as the 20th century's greatest preacher, Dr. Billy Graham -- but my sermon this morning isn't about the Billy Grahams of the world -- my sermon this morning is about the Albert McMakins of the world -- those individuals who go through life quietly -- never making a name for themselves -- just being content with living out the true gospel message and serving Christ where God had placed them [Previously used on 20020210]

II.  Scripture Lesson (Acts 1:15-26)

            -- in this passage we see the calling of a leader in the early church -- Jesus has already died and risen from the dead -- He has spent 40 days with the eleven apostles and the remaining disciples -- teaching them from the Scriptures and helping them to see and understand how the prophecies about the Messiah had been fulfilled through Him and how His resurrection had reconciled them to the Father

            -- at the end of this forty day crash course in Christianity, Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, leaving the disciples in Jerusalem with the instructions to not go anywhere until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon them, which would happen on the Day of Pentecost

            -- by this time, Peter had been restored by Jesus as the leader of the church -- and as the small group of disciples were gathered to pray and witness to Jesus' presence in their life, Peter stood up to address those gathered and suggested they select someone to take Judas' place as an apostle

            -- look back at verse 15-22

Acts 1:15-22 (NIV)

15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

16 and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus--

17 he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

18 (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

20 "For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'

21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

22 beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

            -- as we begin to look at this passage, I think it's important to note that while everyone who is a Christian is a disciple -- a follower of Christ -- some in the body of Christ -- some in the church -- have been set apart and called to specialized ministry

            -- in Ephesians 4:11 we read that Christ himself gifted the church with individuals called to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers -- and while these are positions of leadership, as Steven Cole points out, these positions are not meant to serve as a base for power or prestige -- they are recognized in the New Testament as specialized ministries¹ -- as specialized giftings and callings by some individuals to serve specific functions in the church

            -- in other words these men and women called to this positions were called as ministers -- as servants -- in the church

            -- in this case Peter is suggesting another apostle be selected to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus to the hands of the chief priests and the Romans -- the main purpose of an apostle was to witness to the resurrected Christ and to plant churches -- to spread the gospel message throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the entire world, so that other communities of faith would spring up and grow under their oversight

            -- it was decided the man they selected to be an apostle had to meet certain spiritual qualifications -- first, he had to be a follower of Christ -- he had to have been with the group of disciples from the beginning -- from the time of Jesus' baptism by John in the Jordan River up to the moment when Jesus ascended from heaven on the Mount of Olives -- and, secondly, he had to be known as a witness of the faith -- someone who was gifted at sharing the gospel and sharing his faith with others

            -- verse 23-26

23 So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

24 Then they prayed, "Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs."

26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

            -- so Peter and the group of a hundred and twenty disciples looked at each other and asked themselves the question, "Who fits these qualifications? -- Who best meets the requirements of being an apostle?"

            -- and as they looked at the talents and the gifts of those around them -- as they considered who had always been there with them -- they came up with the names of two men -- Joseph, who was also called Barsabbas or Justus -- and Matthias

            -- and after they prayed to God for guidance, they cast lots to let God make the decision for them

            -- now just a quick side-note here -- why did the disciples cast lots to determine God's will in this matter? -- is that what we're supposed to do today?

            -- well, the answer is no -- it was a common practice in the Old Testament -- and it continued on until the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost -- without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to lead them and guide them, the disciples didn't have any other way to decide God's will in matters like this

            -- after they had prayed and searched the scriptures for answers, they would ask God to make the decision through lots -- or, as we read in the story of Gideon in the Book of Judges -- by making the fleece wet or dry -- that was just the best they could do

            -- but now that we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit with us, we should not be casting lots to make decisions, but instead relying on God's presence and His Spirit to guide us into decisions in the church and in our individual lives

            -- in this case we see that the lot fell to Matthias and he was made the twelfth apostle

            -- and so the story ends there -- but Luke leaves us with an unanswered question -- what ever happened to Joseph -- or as I'm going to call him, Justus? -- we never hear about him again -- verse 23 is the only verse in the entire Bible where Justus is even mentioned and he's not mentioned in any of the extra-biblical sources of information we have from the early church fathers

            -- we really don't know a lot about him at all -- we know from this passage that "he did all the right things, saw all the right stuff -- [he] knew who Jesus was, and [he] was a faithful guy"² -- if he hadn't of been, he certainly wouldn't have been considered as an apostle

            -- so what happened to Justus? -- where did he go? -- what did he do after he was not selected to this position of leadership?

            -- as we take some time to ponder those questions -- to consider what Justus might have done -- to consider what we might have done if we were in his shoes -- there's some important spiritual principles we can glean from this passage

            -- the first is that not everyone is called to be in a position of leadership -- not everyone is called to be in the spotlight, so to speak -- in our churches today, especially in the larger churches, there is sometimes a distinction made between those in the spotlight -- in the more visible positions in the church -- and those who aren't

            -- a lot of people want to be in front -- they want to be in charge -- they want to be seen -- and sometimes they do that for the wrong reason

            -- I was a member of a church one time where we had someone join who was just like that -- after just a few weeks, this woman decided she wanted to lead worship -- she wanted to be at the front of the church leading the singing -- and so she went to the pastor and told her that God had called her to lead the singing at the church

            -- well, the pastor prayed about it and said she didn't think that was what God was saying -- she suggested that perhaps this woman was being called to help in another ministry behind-the-scenes -- but she didn't want to do that -- she wanted to be in front -- she wanted to lead -- and when the pastor said, "no," this woman left the church

            -- as David Vardaman points out, a lot of times we try to tell God what we will and what we won't do in the church -- we have a list of duties that are beneath us and we kind of ascribe to positions of leadership -- we want to be in a place where we can be seen and recognized for what we do³

            -- this passage points out the truth that not everyone is called to be a leader in the church -- Matthias was chosen to become an apostle -- Justus was not -- so what do you think he did? -- do you think Justus walked off the job? -- do you think he left the church to find another group that would let him lead? -- based on what we're told of his spiritual character in this passage, I don't think Justus did that -- but the bigger question is what will we do when we're passed over for a leadership position we think we deserve? -- will we allow Christ to use us wherever He wishes, even if that is not in a visible role in the church?³

            -- the next spiritual principle we can glean from this passage is that we are all called to be servants of Christ, regardless of our position in the church

            -- Justus was already recognized for his spiritual qualities -- he was considered as an apostle because of the ministry he was already doing -- and I am willing to wager that when Justus was not chosen to be an apostle, he didn't quit doing ministry, but kept right on sharing the good news of Christ and serving in the church where he could

            -- I like what Bob Goff had to say about Justus in his book, "Love Does" -- Goff wrote, "'Justus” sounds a lot to me like “just us.” -- God’s plans are full of just-us kind of people. I would say probably the majority of us are just-us people, folks who don’t get capes or stained-glass windows. We just get the opportunity to do what God wants us to do without a lot of fanfare."²

            -- that's one of the things I really struggled with when I became a pastor -- I quickly discovered that a lot of people don't know they are called to ministry even though they are not in positions of leadership -- in a lot of churches I've been in, the general mood of the congregation is "that's the pastor's job -- that's why we pay him or her"

            -- when I started in the ministry, I was really excited about growing the church and reaching the community for Christ -- I came into the church expecting the people to just follow me into ministry and thinking we would go forth and do great things -- but when I suggested going into some areas in the county and witnessing to people and inviting them to church, I was told, "Oh, yeah, our last pastor went there, but nobody ever came to church" -- I said, "Well, did any of you go and follow up with them or give them a call?" -- "No, that's just something he did"

            -- that's one of the reasons I'm so thankful to be serving here at Koinonia -- people here don't have that mindset -- you see it more in larger, more established churches -- everyone here wants to minister and to serve God where they can -- I would say we certainly have that "Justus -- Just-Us" mindset here -- but we need to help our brothers and sisters in Christ in other communities of faith see that in their own lives and in their own churches -- we are all called to serve Christ, no matter our position or role in the church

            -- which brings me to my final point from this passage -- God places everyone in the body of Christ where He wants them to be -- God chose Matthias over Justus to be the twelfth apostle in the case -- not because Justus wasn't qualified -- he certainly was -- he had the same spiritual pedigree as Matthias -- no, I think God chose Matthias over Justus because He wanted Justus to serve in another position in the church

            -- and I think the message there for us is the old cliche we sometimes hear:  "Bloom where you are planted."

            -- God puts us where He wants us -- and if we are serving God where He has placed us -- whether that's as a janitor or a dish washer or a Sunday School teacher -- then we are just as valuable and worthy in His eyes as Billy Graham or the preacher behind the pulpit

            -- my favorite quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., talks about this -- he wrote, "If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry -- Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"

            -- the important thing is that we are serving God where He wants us serve -- God has called all of us to work in His body -- we all have a role to play -- some roles are visible -- some roles are less visible -- but they all are important

            -- as the old saying goes, "there's not any small parts -- only small actors" -- when someone writes a play, they write every role for a reason -- Every role, regardless of stage time or number of lines, is important, otherwise it wouldn't have been written

            -- what this is telling us is that in the body of Christ, there are no extras -- there are no unnecessary parts -- everyone is vital and important to the kingdom of God

[Excerpted from Sermon 20090913 WHAT ABOUT HIM]

III. CLOSING

            -- the key point from this passage is you don't have to a leader -- you don't have to be in the spotlight -- to make a difference for Christ

            -- Albert McMakin certainly made a difference when he introduced his friend Billy Graham to Christ, although nobody knew his name until Dr. Graham wrote about him in his autobiography

            -- I want to close by leaving you with a final thought about someone else the world didn't pay a lot of attention to, especially in death, but who made an eternal difference in the lives of so many

            -- everyone here has probably heard of Mother Teresa -- the saintly woman who ministered to the orphans and lepers in the slums of India -- but not many know her story

            -- Mother Teresa's real name was Agnes Bojaxhiu (boy-AX-ee-oo) -- she left her home in Yugoslavia when she was 18 years old to become a nun, and the church placed her in a middle-class high school as a teacher -- but this was not where God really wanted her -- she was just an average teacher and could have spent her whole career there, but in 1946 she heard God calling her to serve India's poor -- so she requested permission for a transfer and was sent to India to begin her mission there

            -- most of the world had no idea of who she was until she received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 -- she humbly served for 33 years in anonymity until that point, but even the notoriety did not change her position before God -- she continued to serve in the same way -- never once seeking the spotlight -- never once trying to exalt herself -- although she had now become a house-hold name

            -- and despite her remarkable service for the Lord and her somewhat fame as a godly woman, her death was unremarked upon -- most people don't even remember when she died, because there wasn't a lot of media coverage about it -- you would think the death of someone like Mother Teresa would have been the lead news story and sparked countless TV specials about her life and ministry

            -- does anyone here remember where you were when she died? -- do you remember the date? -- what about the year? -- she died on September 5th, 1997 -- no one remembers because the death of this unassuming, humble servant of God was eclipsed by the death of a celebrity, Princess Diana

            -- while television, radio, magazines, and newspapers were saturated with the continuous coverage of Diana Spencer's life -- while the world mourned the passing of someone who lived in the spotlight -- the death of Mother Teresa went unnoticed -- unnoticed, that is, here on earth -- but I would say her life was celebrated more in heaven that day than any other more worldly celebrity⁴

            -- Ray Bolz wrote a song called, "Thank You," that talks about people like Mother Teresa and Justus and us -- we may not be known here on earth and the things we do may not be noticed, but in heaven they will be celebrated -- the song talks about walking in heaven with someone who has just died and how they are being approached by scores of people whose lives they had touched on earth

            -- let me share with you a few of the lyrics:

                        "One by one they came -- far as the eye could see -- each life somehow touched by your generosity -- little things that you had done -- sacrifices made -- unnoticed on the earth -- in heaven now proclaimed -- thank you for giving to the Lord -- I am a life that was changed -- that you for giving to the Lord -- I am so glad you gave"

            -- whatever happened to Justus? -- what did he do? -- where did he go? -- what was the impact of his life and ministry? -- we'll never know, this side of heaven -- and more than likely, no one will ever know the impact of our lives and our ministry and our service for God in this world

            -- we won't be celebrated on the front pages of the newspaper -- our lives won't be the topic of special broadcasts on the TV -- but the impact of our service to God will be recognized and remembered in the one place it counts -- before the throne of God Himself -- if we go forth and serve Him where He has placed us

            -- let us pray

----------------------------------

1 Steven Cole sermon: "Why Christianity is Credible"

http://www.fcfonline.org/content/1/sermons/091700m.pdf

2 Bob Goff -- "Love Does"

3 "Wanted" by David L. Vardaman, Discipleship Journal, May/June 1989

4 Illustration modified from Text Illustration shared by Austin Mansfield, Holy Faith Anglican Church, April 2007; http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-austin-mansfield-stories-32103.asp

SERMON: DOES GOD CARE ABOUT ME?

7 September 2014

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Galatians 4:13-14

Galatians 4:13-14 (NIV)
¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
¹⁴ Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

            -- Do you ever feel like God is not aware of you? -- or if He is aware, that He just doesn't care what you are going through?

            -- I think all of us have had that thought at some time in our lives -- we go through life trying to be a good Christian -- trying to do what is right -- we don't steal -- we don't cheat -- we don't do bad things -- we try to help others -- we go to church -- we read our Bible -- we pray -- but it just seems like things always go wrong

            -- the more we help others, the more it seems like we suffer -- the more we give, the worse our financial situation -- the more we try to do right and go to church and be good people, the worse our lives get, while others, who seemingly aren't living good lives, just skate through life without a care in the world

            -- it's almost like it doesn't matter what we do -- things are going to go wrong -- we are going to suffer

            -- it just doesn't seem fair -- it just doesn't seem right -- Does God even know what is going on? -- why is He letting all this happen to us?

            -- or, to put it another way, why do bad things happen to good people?

            -- let me give you a case in point -- a few years ago, a friend contacted me and asked me to pray for some dear friends of his, Todd and Jane -- you see, Jane was three months pregnant with their second child when she was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer, and the only way she would survive would be massive treatments of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant

            -- without this treatment, she would die, and it needed to be started immediately if she was to have any chance of survival -- but, if she started the treatment, her baby would either be killed or severely damaged by the chemotherapy -- so the doctor recommended they abort their baby and start the treatment immediately

            -- However, Jane and Todd were strong Christians, and they replied, "No, our only choice is to let God save our child." -- They made the decision to not have an abortion -- instead of starting the whole-body chemotherapy as recommended, Jane had a mastectomy and began limited, targeted chemotherapy so they could minimize the risk to the developing baby and extend Jane's life until the baby was born

            -- so my friend contacted me and asked me to help pray for them -- we had no doubt God would act -- that He would save Jane and allow their baby to be born healthy -- I mean, Todd and Jane were good people -- good Christians -- missionaries -- they served God -- and with hundreds, maybe thousands of people praying, surely God would intervene

            -- here was a Godly woman who was choosing life for her unborn baby over medical treatment for herself -- just think of the example of this family -- just think of how their life and their struggles witnessed not only to those who were praying for her, but also to the doctors and nurses that treated her -- we just knew God was going to heal her

            -- and then a miracle of sorts did happen -- Todd and Jane's story was picked up by the national media and Focus on the Family interviewed them on a radio show for their act of sacrifice and Godly witness in this situation -- and what that meant was that no longer were there hundreds of Christians praying for them, but millions of people praying for Todd and Jane and their baby

            -- And in May 1997, Jane and Todd's second child, a healthy daughter, was born -- Jane immediately underwent a bone marrow transplant and the doctors started massive chemotherapy, but it was too little, too late -- Jane died two years later, leaving behind a grieving husband with two small children and millions of Christians asking, "Why?"

            -- "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  -- Why did God allow Jane to die? -- Why didn't God heal her? -- We had prayed. -- We had pleaded. -- We had asked God to save her life to glorify Him on earth. -- Why didn't God do something? -- does He not even care?

II.  Theodicy

            -- these questions are not unique to us -- as the Bible shows, ever since the dawn of time men and women have looked to the heavens and asked these very same questions as they sought solace for the pain and suffering in their lives -- as they sought answers for the devastation of natural disasters and war and crime and violence in their lives

            -- the theological term for questions such as these is "theodicy" -- it comes from two Greek words that mean "God" and "justice" -- but it comes down to this -- how do we reconcile the presence of evil in this world and in our lives with a God who is good and right and just and loving?

            -- or, to put it another way, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" -- How can an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God stand idly by and allow pain and suffering in the lives of His people?

            -- this question inevitably leads us to one of four possible answers:

            1.  There is no God

            -- that is, of course, the answer of the world -- the answer of the atheist -- they would tell us that both good and evil exist and occur at random times and in random places for no reason at all -- it's just part of life -- and since there is no God, there is no one who can stop evil from occurring

            -- of course, as Christians -- as those who have experienced the living God in our own lives and in the world -- as those who believe in God's word -- we reject this answer to the question of theodicy as invalid -- but you still hear this as the reason why pain and suffering happen in life

            2.  God is not all-powerful and can't stop the evil from happening

            -- in other words, God only has a limited ability to affect other people and this world -- He can't prevent people from doing evil things any more than He can prevent nature from sending hurricanes into communities or wildfires into our forests -- all He can do is watch as it happens and cry with the victims who have been affected

            -- of course, this vision of a limited deity -- of a God who is not all powerful -- does not square with the message of the Bible -- surely a God who can create the universe and all that is in it in six days can control a hurricane or stop a wildfire -- surely a God who created man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life would be able to control what he does

            -- a God who is not all-powerful would not be able to create this universe or save the world from their sins -- so we cannot accept this answer to the question of theodicy as valid either

            3.  God does not care or, to put it in a different way, God is not actively involved in the lives of the people on earth

            -- you will hear people say that God is not invested in His creation -- that He made the earth and the universe and put everyone and everything here, but then He just stepped back and let it unfold as it will

            -- some people say He's not in control of our lives or this universe -- not because He can't be -- He just has chosen to let it happen naturally, without His interference

            -- but I think it's safe to say the Bible and our experiences clearly demonstrate the opposite -- God is actively involved in the life of His creation -- God does care for us

            -- the entire message of the Bible -- the entire message of Christ -- is that God loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die on the cross in our place -- to offer Himself as an atoning sacrifice for our sins -- God intervened in our lives to bring us salvation, and He intervenes in our lives every day

            -- whether you realize it or not, God blesses us every day -- the Bible says He makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust -- He puts breath in our body and gives life to our souls -- He has promised to never leave us or forsake us -- He has even placed His own presence within us who believe in Him for salvation -- He is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path -- He cares for us -- He loves us -- He intervenes in our lives

            -- so that is not the answer to the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?"

            -- which leaves us with one other possibility -- if we concede that God does exist and that God is all-powerful and that He loves us and cares about us and actively intervenes in our lives, then the presence of pain and suffering in our lives -- the presence of evil in this world today -- means one thing:

            4.  God has chosen to allow pain and suffering to occur for His own reasons

            -- this answer, while the hardest to accept, is probably the closest to the truth that we will ever arrive at as humans

            -- there are just some things about God and His ways and His purposes that we will never understand -- as He told the prophet Isaiah -- " "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways -- As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

            -- there are just some things that we can never know or understand about our God -- why does God allow evil to exist? -- why does God allow natural disasters to come upon us? -- why does God allow good people to suffer and get sick and die?

            -- I think part of the answer to this question lies in the mystery of free will -- God has given us freedom -- freedom to choose how we will live -- freedom to choose whether we will respond to His offer of love or whether we will reject Him -- freedom to choose to walk in obedience or to walk in sin -- freedom to choose our own path

            -- it was this freedom that allowed Adam and Eve to disobey God in the Garden of Eden -- and it was this freedom that allowed them to repent of their sin and turn to God in their darkest hour

            -- it's not that God doesn't care about us -- it's that He has given us freedom to make our own choices -- and with those choices, come consequences

            -- some of the pain and suffering we experience in our lives comes because of the consequence of sin -- either our sin or the sin of others -- without a doubt, we are affected by the actions of people around us

            -- if a drunk driver kills someone in an automobile accident, it wasn't that person's fault that caused them to die -- it was the consequence of the actions of the drunk driver -- the drunk driver's sin affected another person -- this is all too common in our world today

            -- some of the pain and suffering we experience in our lives comes from just living in a fallen world -- a world that is not right any longer -- a world where natural disasters and sickness and death exist contrary to God's original intent

            -- and just as we have free will to choose our own course, so God has free will to choose what He does -- in some cases, God reaches down and protects us from evil and pain and suffering -- we will never know how often God worked in this way in our lives until we go to heaven

            -- just this week, on the way home from a meeting, I happened on a wreck that had just occurred -- a vehicle on its side -- broadsided in the middle of the street -- if I had been in that intersection one minute earlier, could that have been me? -- did God slow me down at a red light to protect me? -- I don't know -- I can't know -- this side of heaven

            -- but, there are times when God chooses not to act on our behalf -- to not protect us from evil or pain and suffering -- when God chooses to allow mothers to die of cancer even after making a Godly choice to save her baby -- when God chooses to let our loved ones die even after we pray and beg Him for healing -- when God chooses to let us get hurt or sick for some reason of His own

            -- sometimes we can guess God's reason -- but sometimes we go through life never knowing why we suffer and experience pain in our lives even though we are trying so hard to do right

            -- look back at this passage in Galatians and lets try to bring this home -- Galatians 4:13-14

Galatians 4:13-14 (NIV)
¹³ As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.
¹⁴ Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

            -- now think about what you just read -- Paul got sick while he was in Galatia -- and evidently it was a serious illness -- Paul says it was a trial to the Galatians -- it wasn't easy -- he may have even been at the point of death -- some scholars have suggested that maybe Paul had malaria or some other serious life-threatening illness -- but regardless of what happened, the fact remains, Paul got sick

            -- before you gloss over that, think for a moment what this meant -- this is Paul -- the Apostle Paul -- the man single-handedly responsible for carrying the gospel of Christ throughout Asia minor and Europe -- the man who started churches from Jerusalem to Rome -- who reached out to the Gentiles -- to us -- with the message of the cross -- the man who wrote the majority of the New Testament under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit

            -- now we all get sick from time to time -- it's part of life, whether we understand it or not -- but why would God allow Paul to get sick? -- why would God allow His chosen servant Paul to be bed-ridden when there was so much work to be done -- so many people to reach? -- why would God allow Paul to suffer in this way when he was such a Godly man doing such a Godly work? -- why do bad things happen to good people?

            -- how do you think Paul felt when he got sick -- when he was hampered in his evangelistic efforts? -- what do you think passed through his mind -- through his prayer? -- what would you have thought?

            -- "God, what is going on? -- why am I getting sick? -- I was headed to Rome -- I was going to carry your word to the people in the capital of the empire -- I was doing good things for you -- why did I get sick?"

            -- "I am surrounded by all these pagans walking around in perfect health -- they don't know You -- they don't care about You -- why am I suffering when I am trying to do good and they're just getting by without a care in the world?"

            -- you ever thought that? -- you ever prayed that?

           

            -- look what Paul says in verse 13 -- "it was because of an illness I first preached the gospel to you" -- do you see what he's saying there? -- could this be the reason God allowed Paul to get sick? -- to preach the good news to the Galatians? -- to reach them with the truth of God's word?

            -- could God have been more concerned about the spiritual destination of the Galatians than Paul's temporary physical comfort on earth?

III.  Closing

            -- why do bad things happen to good people? -- why do bad things happen to us?

            -- I don't know -- I can only offer you this -- in Romans 8:28-29 we read, "In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose"

            -- "in all things" -- the good and the bad -- "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" -- it doesn't say He necessarily works for the good of us in every circumstance and situation -- it could be God sometimes chooses to allow us to go through pain and suffering to reach someone else, just like He apparently did with Paul in this passage

            -- so what do we do with this question? -- what do we do with the question of why bad things happen to good people?

            -- our only response to pain and suffering and evil in our lives and in this world is to trust in Him in all things -- to know that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving -- to trust that He cares about us and to trust that He has allowed this trial into our life for a reason that we may never understand

            -- James tells us in James 1:2-4, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

            -- we can only rejoice in our trials when we trust God in all things and believe in His promises -- when we believe that God will remain true to His word and bring us safely home to His presence

            -- and we must remember that God's focus is always eternal and not temporal -- as Paul said in Romans 8:18, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us"

            -- we are always more concerned with what is happening to us now rather than what will happen to us in eternity -- but that's not God's focus -- and we need to learn to see our lives in the light of eternity rather than focusing on our temporary sufferings in this world

            -- let me leave you with this thought from Joni Eareckson Tada that speaks to this subject -- if you don't know, Joni was injured in a diving accident when she was 17 and has been a quadriplegic ever since -- but instead of getting bitter about being totally paralyzed her whole life and blaming God for her accident, she has continued to praise Him and to thank Him for all that He has done and made possible in her life -- and God has used her to touch the lives of so many people in this world in a way that would not have been possible if she had not been afflicted in this way in the first place

            -- Joni wrote: “Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well.”

            -- let us pray

SERMON: REDEEMING THE TIME

31 August 2014

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Ephesians 5:15-16

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)

15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,

16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

            -- last year, Nancy Borowick's mother and father underwent treatment for cancer at the same time -- as her mother was struggling through ongoing breast cancer treatment and the continuing ravages of chemotherapy, her father was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer and joined his wife in the cancer ward of their local hospital

            -- a professional photographer, Nancy "set out to record the pain and challenges of her parents' shared experience of cancer treatment, while also focusing on their bravery in the face of mortality"

            -- as she documented their lives through a series of stunning photographs, Nancy made this statement:  "Cancer gave my family a harsh, yet valuable gift:  an awareness of time"¹

            -- there is that about cancer -- I have heard others make that same statement

            -- an article from Newsweek several years ago told the story of Vicki and Jim -- when Jim was diagnosed with lung cancer, the couple had to make a decision about accepting treatment for his cancer -- both of them had stated in the past they opposed cancer treatment -- they had seen the ravages of the treatment on their friends and family and agreed that, in this case, the cure was worse than the disease itself

            -- but when given a life expectancy of two months without treatment versus two years with treatment, Vicki and Jim reconsidered their earlier declarations -- yes, the treatment would be horrible -- yes, there would be pain and nausea -- sickness and weakness -- no, it would not cure him -- but it would extend his life and give him extra time with the family -- two more Christmases -- two more birthdays -- two more anniversaries -- two more years of walking through life with his family -- and Vicki and Jim decided it was worth it

            -- in her article, "The Horror is Worth It," Vicki wrote: "For one of the gifts that cancer treatment gives is time for the discovery that as the length of life is shortened, the feeling for life is heightened -- Experiences and emotions that are taken for granted in normal times are telescoped so that each stands out in clear, vibrant detail."²

            -- in other words, when time is short, it makes each moment of every day that much more precious

            -- apparently, this is a lesson God is trying to teach me -- and what God gives me, I usually pass on to you

            -- a couple of months ago we talked about the idea of seeing our lives as a story within a story -- of learning to see our lives -- not as a series of days randomly strung together -- not as individual moments in time -- but as a whole -- of learning to look at where we are today in light of God's hand in our lives and of learning to see how God is shaping and writing His story through us

            -- the trick, I said, was to view each day as the next progression in your story and to decide, before the day begins, what story you want to write -- what you want your story to say at the end of your life -- and then to live that day in light of the entire story of your faith and your walk with God

            -- but looking back on that message, I realized it was only part of a whole -- and as God led me to this passage from Ephesians this morning, it became evident He wanted us to answer the question, "Yes, but how?" -- how do we live each day in light of the awareness of time? -- how do we live each day as if it were our last?

II.  Scripture Lesson (Ephesians 5:15-16)

            -- in this chapter of Ephesians Paul has been contrasting those who walk with the Lord versus those who do not -- he counsels us to abandon the ways of the world -- to stop mimicking the world and living for what the world says is important and to instead imitate Christ -- to follow His path of righteousness as we write a new story with Him

            -- he references the behavior of a Christian with the behavior of a nonbeliever -- he used the analogies of good versus evil -- of light versus dark -- of those awake versus those asleep -- and now he continues his thoughts on this subject by using yet another analogy -- the wise versus the foolish -- as he talks about how to live our lives daily in Christ

            -- let's look now at these two verses from Ephesians 5 and see what we can learn about walking with Christ in our daily lives

            -- verse 15

15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,

            -- growing up, one of the shows we always watched on TV was Hill Street Blues -- a cop show set in New York -- and every show always opened the same -- the police would gather in the morning for their daily briefing and be told what crimes had been committed the night before and what, and who, to look out for as they went about their patrols -- and on every episode, as the sergeant in charge finished his briefing and the cops began to gather their supplies to walk out the door, he would always stop them and get their attention and say the same thing -- "hey, and be careful out there"

            -- that's exactly what Paul says right here in this verse -- he's been talking about being light and not dark -- of being good and not evil -- of following Christ and not the world -- and he pauses here before he begins his next thought and says, "be careful out there" -- he actually says, "be very careful"

            -- that's an interesting phrase -- more than most, Paul knew the dangers of walking with Christ -- he tells us in 2 Corinthians about being beaten by the Jews -- about being shipwrecked three times and spending a night and a day in the water -- about being in danger from rivers, from bandits, from his own countrymen -- about being in danger in the city and the country and on the sea -- Paul knew about the dangers of life -- but I don't think that's what he's talking about here

            -- when Paul says, "be very careful," he's talking more than physical danger -- he's talking about our souls -- he's talking about the subtle lure of this world -- of the enticements of temptation and sin -- of what's going to happen when we try to walk with God and imitate Christ and His righteousness -- he's talking about our natural tendency to follow the world and not God

            -- so Paul says be careful -- be very careful -- in how you live -- don't live as the foolish -- live as the wise -- choose every day how you will walk and what you will do and what story you will write, because this is of eternal significance

            -- and by telling us to be careful, Paul makes it clear this is a choice -- we have a choice in how we live -- we can't blame anyone else if we give in to sin -- we can't blame anyone else if we do that which we should not do -- it was a choice we made -- we always have a choice -- and Paul's whole point in this chapter of Ephesians has been to choose rightly -- to choose to follow Christ -- to choose to walk in righteousness -- to choose to be light -- to choose to be awake -- and, now, to choose to be wise

            -- as George Eliot wrote, It is never too late to be what you might have been," -- it is a choice

            -- look back at verse 15-16

Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)

15 Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise,

16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

            -- "making the most of every opportunity" -- I really like the way this reads in the KJV better -- "redeeming the time" -- let's think about that for a moment -- "redeeming the time"

            -- Why the word "redeem?" -- that's an interesting word to use -- to redeem  means to buy up -- to ransom -- to rescue from lost

            -- since the passing of Robin Williams, we have seen many reminders of his work on stage and in film and on TV -- and watching the many clips -- hearing the many remembrances of his life, I realized just how deeply he had touched me through several of his works -- and it wasn't until I saw a clip from the Dead Poet's Society that I was reminded of why this is still one of my favorite movies

            -- early in the movie William's character John Keating engages his class of pupils with the classic line -- "Carpe Diem -- Seize the Day" -- but they don't get it because they're young and they're dumb and they have their whole life ahead of them -- time seemingly stretches out forever beyond them -- they have all the time in the world

            -- but when a classmate commits suicide because he looks at his future and doesn't like where he is heading -- where he is being forced to go -- what he is being forced to do -- by his father -- the young men in that class realize the wisdom of Keating -- life is short -- time is precious -- so Carpe Diem -- Seize the Day -- make the most of every opportunity -- don't let time pass you by -- choose what you will make of your day

            -- so writing from prison -- knowing his time is short -- Paul writes to the Ephesians and tells them, "redeem the time" -- Paul knew how fragile time was -- how quickly it passed away -- how our days can be taken from us if we are not careful -- wasted on trivial matters -- wasted in temptation and sin -- wasted in good things, but not great things -- so Paul writes "redeem the time" -- rescue your days before it is too late

            -- redeeming the time means you are purchasing out of slavery the fleeting opportunities you are presented with

            -- I don't know if I have shared with you yet that I am going to be serving on a Kairos Ministry team this fall -- Kairos is like the Walk to Emmaus or the Chrysalis weekends -- it's a three day spiritual retreat, but the difference is the Kairos is held in a prison

            -- many people don't know where this ministry got its name -- it turns out there are actually two terms in Scripture that are used for our English word time -- there's chronos and there's kairos -- chronos is what we normally think of when we talk about time -- it's chronological time -- it's time measured in seconds and minutes and hours -- it's time measured in days and weeks and years -- chronos -- chronological time

            -- but the Bible also uses the term kairos -- which is defined as God's time -- God's time is not measured chronologically -- it's not a matter of seconds or minutes or hours -- kairos is an indeterminate measure of time and it refers to the right moment -- the perfect moment -- that moment in time when you have the opportunity to achieve a notable success for God

            -- this is the word Paul uses here when he talks about redeeming the time -- Paul is trying to get across to his readers the idea that we need to look for God's special time in our day -- to seek the opportunities that God makes available -- and to choose to make the most of those moments when they are put before us

            -- now that's not to say that every moment of every day is a kairos moment -- certainly there are times in our day when we don't have the opportunity to interact with God or with others in a truly meaningful way -- but the concept here is to seek out those moments -- and when they present themselves to you -- to redeem them -- to rescue them out of all the other seconds and minutes and hours of your day -- and to use them to do something momentous -- something significant -- something eternal

            -- Henry Blackaby wrote that each day we are "bombarded with opportunities that entice us to invest our time and energy -- each day the voices of urgency cry out for every available moment"³ -- knowing that, Paul counsels us to be wise -- to look for God's moments -- and to take advantage of them -- to make the most of them -- when they occur

            -- Paul says do this -- live this way -- because the days are evil -- that thought carries it with a sense of purpose -- a sense of calling

            -- if you remember, a few months ago a VSU student was killed crossing Patterson Street because both the driver and the student were not paying attention -- so when I drive past VSU I'm always very careful -- I try to watch for students darting out into traffic -- not paying attention to what they are doing

            -- I was driving past there one day when two students were standing at the sidewalk -- both of them had their phones out and were texting or looking up something -- and one of them started to step out into traffic -- his friend swung his arm across and blocked him and kept him from stepping into the street

            -- that's what Paul is talking about here -- that's what a kairos moment is -- it's having our eyes opened -- and when we see someone walking into danger -- when we see our friends and our family -- when we see Christians and nonchristians heading into danger -- to throw out our arms and stop them at the right time -- in the right moment

            -- this world is a dangerous place -- and it eats people up -- as Paul says here, "the days are evil" -- and it's our job to walk through this world aware of that -- not only rescuing ourselves, but looking at the danger and pulling other people to safety in Christ -- redeeming the time -- rescuing the moment -- saving lives for eternity

III.  Closing

            -- wisdom is having knowledge and knowing what to do with it -- Paul tells us in these verses to be wise and not unwise -- to be very careful in how we live -- knowing the days are evil and choosing not to live in that evil -- but instead to live by redeeming the time -- by living for Christ instead of ourselves

            -- how do we rescue our time from these evil days? -- how do we live on kairos time instead of just chronos?

  1. Choose how you are going to spend your time each day

            -- Don't do anything you have doubts about -- if you're not sure if you should be there or not -- if you're not sure if you should be doing something or not -- that's probably a good indication this is something to avoid

            -- Don't procrastinate -- don't put off till tomorrow something that needs to be done right now -- something that God is calling you to do -- you may never get the chance to do it again

            -- one of the biggest regrets in my ministry occurred because of fear and procrastination -- in a church service I had a little girl come to the altar and ask to be baptized -- her parents were not believers -- they did not go to our church -- and I didn't think I should baptize her without their knowledge or their permission -- so I told her I would do it, but it had to be later -- I told her I would make a time to get with her parents to discuss it -- but later never happened -- her parents were never available -- they didn't want to talk to me -- and a kairos moment passed me by -- a kairos moment with eternal significance -- this little girl started walking a dark path as a teenager -- and has never come back to the church or to Jesus -- and I have to wonder what might have been if I had not procrastinated a moment through fear

            -- Don't waste your time -- don't wish away your life -- think about those people with cancer I talked about in the opening of this message -- what they wouldn't give for one of those moments we casually toss away in meaningless and trivial matters -- Carpe Diem -- seize the day -- redeem the time

  2. Make sure what you are doing does not hurt your influence with anybody -- we are called to be light in this dark world -- to be salt that seasons this world with the righteousness of Christ -- would someone look at us and condemn all of Christianity because of what we are doing?

            -- R.A. Torrey told the story about a young Christian lady who was dancing at a place she shouldn't have been -- but as she was dancing, she was convicted in the moment and tried to witness to her partner -- she asked her partner, "George, are you a Christian?"

            -- "No," he said. "I am not.  Are you?"

            -- "Yes," she replied, "I am"

            -- "Then," George retorted, "what are you doing here?"

            -- think about the young Christian woman in pastor Torrey's illustration -- what influence did she have on her dancing partner George at the moment she tried to witness to him?

  3.  Consider if you would be still be doing what you are doing at this moment if Christ was present, because He is -- if Jesus was to come back today, would you want Him to find you doing what you are doing?

  4.  Open your eyes to the presence of Christ -- pray for wisdom to see the kairos moments in your day and to know what to do with them -- one thing I thought of as I was studying this passage is prayer -- what we do when we want to get rid of someone we're talking to? -- we tell them we'll pray for them and that ends the conversation -- rather than doing that, what if we see this as a kairos moment -- what if we actually stop and pray with them at that moment rather than putting it off till later

 

5.  Learn to say "no" -- to be honest, it's "often not evil pursuits that rob your time" -- instead it's sacrificing "what is best for what is good"³ -- we are busy people -- all of us -- even our kids -- we stay so busy we don't have time to turn around -- and that's not to say what we are doing is not good -- but it could be our lives are so filled with good that we miss out of the better stuff God has for us -- it could be our lives get so filled with good that we miss the kairos moments and opportunities to redeem the time in our or someone else's life

            -- as we close, let me say the words once again -- Carpe diem -- Seize the Day -- Redeem the Time -- Live for Christ and make the most of every opportunity presented to you -- choose today how you will live the rest of this day and every day that follows -- don't substitute best for good, but seek to glorify God in every moment of every day you have on this earth

            -- let us pray

1 Matthew Tucker, August 2014, "A Daughter Documents Her Parents' Heartwrenching Journey Through Cancer Treatment," http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewtucker/a-daughter-documents-her-parents-brave-journey-through-cance#46l9uqx

2 Vicki Williams, "The Horror is Worth It," Newsweek, 10/4/1989

3 Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God Daily Devotional, 26 August