Sermon Select

Mary Magdalene: A Commiserate Plodder 10/10/99

Luke 8:1-3

JESUS CHRIST was asked how often a person should be forgiven. In making the inquiry Peter was revealing he was fed up and ready to explode. “Seventy times seven” was not the answer the Big Fisherman expected or wanted. Perseverance was not a strong point for Simon. In answering this question Jesus stresses a principle expedient in the total Christian experience. It is persistence. Plodding is a secular synonym for it. Keeping on keeping on doing the right thing typifies plodding.

Plodders know the four steps to accomplishment to be:

Plan purposefully, prepare prayerfully, proceed positively, and pursue persistently. Hang them on the wall of your mind and refer to them each time your thoughts pass by.

Plodders are people who wanting to do something find a way no matter how difficult while others find excuses. They are willing to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable to achieve their goal. Samuel Johnson, the British author, proved he was a plodder by being one of the first to compile an English language dictionary. Johnson said, “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”

Inspirational plodders can be found in such diverse venues as athletics and academics.

Nolan Ryan is the prototype of a plodder. He is known as one of the greatest baseball pitchers of all times. His emergence marks the path of a plodder.

Most second-graders are asleep at 1:00 AM. Not little Nolan. He was up helping his dad deliver “The Houston” on his 55 mile route. Trying to help the family in their financial crunch he would work until 4:30 AM and get a couple of hours of sleep before school. In the process he was developing the work ethic that would identify him all of his life. Throwing newspapers was a prelude to throwing something of more significance, a baseball.

He once told a reporter, “The type person I am, I deal with today and prepare for tomorrow.”

After a brilliant high school career Nolan joined the Mets late in 1966. His troubles intensified. An elbow injury sidelined him right away and kept him out most of the 1967 season. When he returned he had control problems the next four years. He refused to give up and resolved to improve. He worked hard and studied his fellow pitching great Tom Seaver who advised him to go out and do the job.

In 1971 he was traded to the second rate California Angels. He resolved to make the best of it by working hard and studying the best of the best. His coaches told him he needed to focus and focus he did. Like a telephoto zoom lense.

One of his coaches, Jimmie Reese, would hit line drives to him after practice to help improve his speed and agility. In practice he would concentrate on one spot and throw there over and over until he was certain that is where the ball would go.

In 1979 he became the first million dollar baseball player when traded to the Houston Astros. He knew that to compete against bigger and stronger players he would have to work harder. Day after day he put in two hours more workout time than the others. The work ethic he learned as a second- grader was paying off. The late Gene Autry, former owner of the Angels, said of Ryan, “It’s easy for people to always talk about Nolan Ryan the pitcher. But for me, I’m probably more impressed by Nolan Ryan, the person.”

It was Nolan Ryan’s plodding that enable him to enjoy a 27 year major league career. He pitched more no-hitters, recorded more strikeouts and played more seasons than any player. He holds or shares 50 other major league records. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot with the second highest vote total of all times. He belongs in the “Plodder’s Hall of Fame.”

Inspirational plodders are found in every field of endeavor. “The Sunday Lady of Possum Trot” is a sterling example.

Little Martha sat in her log house playhouse one Sunday afternoon enjoying the beauty of the season when she heard voices of young children at play.

In a soft cultured voice Martha asked, “Do you go to Sunday School?”
In chorus they answered, “No’m.”
“Do you go to regular school?”
“No’m,” they shyly replied.
There was no school in the Georgia uplands for poor children.
“Would you like to hear some stories like children listen to in Sunday School?”
Eagerly they gathered around and listened intently.

The next week they returned bringing their little sisters. The third week they came again bringing their parents. The following week neighbors joined in. The adults listened as intently as the children sang their songs with childish enthusiasm.

She realized that if they could learn the Bible they could do well in school. With parental consent she started teaching them during the week. The numbers grew and Martha’s dad gave her land and built a school house across the road from the plantation. Dormitories became a necessity and were soon built to house the farm boys that were now coming from some distance.

As part of their learning Martha resolved to instill in them a good work ethic. This wasn’t all together easy for these boys thought there was work beneath their somewhat primitive dignity.

One of her first young boarders who was told to wash his clothes told Martha “Ah reckon washin’ clothes is a woman’s work.” Knowing arguing with the boy would do no good Martha washed them her self. Embarrassed by this the boy gently pushed her aside saying, “I ‘low as how I can wash my own overalls.” The other boys decided to follow their leader and each washed his own.

Martha moved into the dorm. At night she would sing with the homesick youth and provided them special biscuits and honey as a treat.

It occurred to her that if she educated the boys and not the girls who would they marry as a peer. This required new girl’s dorms.

Martha invested her own fortune in the school but its growth exceeded her capacity. She chanced to write Henry Ford and tell him of her experiment. His courteous response contained a gift of one dollar. Martha bought seed with it and planted a crop. In the fall she harvested and sold it of a substantial profit. She wrote Ford again thanking him and telling him of her industrious use of the dollar. She included a warm invitation to visit if he were in her part of the country.

Henry Ford was impressed and knowing he was coming through that area consented to visit. He was so impressed that he invested generously and encouraged his friends such as Andrew Carnegie to do the same.

Today you can visit her school, the largest and one of the most beautiful campuses in America near Rome, Georgia, Berry College. There on the crest of the highest mountain is the “House of Dreams,” a retreat built for her by her students. They said she gave of herself too much and wanted to provide for her a personal retreat. She never used it, desiring instead to teach by her example the merits of plodding. In doing so she gave America one of its most beautiful and productive schools.

There is a Biblical character with a distinctly different background who provides an admirable profile of a plodder. Her name was Mary and she was from the sea side village of Magdela on the Sea of Galilee.

Magdela means “the tower” and the ruins of the tower and city walls still mark the location of her home town along the shore of the sea. Dye works and textile factories made it a prosperous town. The towns reputation and the location of the introduction of Mary in the New Testament have given her an undeserved reputation. She is a victim of guilt by association and assumption.

The first reference to her in the New Testament follows the account of the anonymous sinful woman caught in the act of adultery. Coupled with the fact she was from a town known for its reputation of women of ill repute there is no Biblical reference to her being such a person. None of the Christian Fathers who wrote in the early centuries attributed such character to her. The church in Naples, Italy established a house for fallen women in 1324 called the “Magdalen House.” Thus, Mary has been given a bad and undeserved rap.

Her identity as a plodder is well established.

She is introduced to us by Dr. Luke as having been possessed by seven demons. Seven is the number for perfection and may have indicated she had many demons when Christ delivered her from their powerful control.

Have you ever wondered how Jesus managed to wander around like a nomad without any visible means of support? In addition to the wealth of certain apostles there were certain wealthy women who were His disciples. Three are distinctly identified: Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Susanna, Mary Magdalene, and “many others who provided for Him from their substance” (Luke 8: 3).

She is thus identified with women of substance. Perhaps it was inherited wealth or from the industry of Magdela. Wealth is both a blessing and a burden. Those who have it have the responsibility for managing it. Mary chose wisely how to use her wealth. She used it in support of Christ. God has placed in the hands of persons the wealth to bless many. Discretionary distribution of it could further the cause of Christ.

Eight of the fourteen times Mary is mentioned in Scripture it is in connection with other women. She always heads the list indicating her position of leadership.

When Jesus freed her from the demons He also set free her spirit of sacrifice, courage, and perseverance. She became an all-star plodder. She lived down the stigma of being demonic and lived up to the standard of a free child of God. To become all she could be she had to be an overcomer. Most plodders do.

God hasn’t promised smooth roads that are wide,
A swift easy journey needing no guide.
God hasn’t promised skies that are always blue,
Nor flower strewn pathways all life through.
God has not promised that we shall not bear
Many a heart ache, many a care.
But God has promised,
Rest for the weary, help from above
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.

Mary is a living example of the reassuring example that “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (I John 4:4).

When Jesus saw her He looked upon her and He did not merely see demons He saw a potential angel of mercy who could be a blessing to Him and others. He always looks upon the best potential of each of us. In His wonderful plan for our lives His design is best to be sought. Her life-long devotion and delight in doing for Him was an outgrowth of gratitude for His deliverance. As she had experienced suffering because of demonism now she found joy in deliverance. There is no possibility of repaying our Lord for all He does for us but it is appropriate to express gratitude through obedient plodding after Him.

Like the other women with her Mary provided from her substance for the support of Christ’s earthly mission. This virtually stealth group of women traveled with Christ just as did the twelve apostles. It was they who provided the nomadic provisions necessary for His itinerant ministry.

Not all who are healed or helped are grateful. Christ healed ten lepers but only one turned back to say thanks. Ingratitude is more often found than endearment. Persons who respond joyously and graciously find almost as much delight in doing so as in their deliverance.

The most difficult grace is the grace of receiving. One of the most delightful ones is the grace of giving by showing gratitude. She who was held by seven demons held back no acknowledgment of thanksgiving. She first gave herself to the Lord and found no boundary for her giving of her substance.

Plodders don’t equivocate or vacillate even when others forsake. Mary and the other women were with our Lord when He made that last journey from Galilee to the city of His death, Jerusalem. Together they had to minister to our Lord as long as possible. However, now in Jerusalem His detractors dominated.

Mary was there to hear Pontius Pilate’s pronouncement of the death sentence even after acquitting Him. She was a witness to the inhumanity of the blood thirsty crowd. The sound of the hammer on nails reverberated in her as the cries of derision resonated in her ears. Plodders offer comfort just by their presence. Thereby they show their perseverance.

Dr. Luke tells us “All His acquaintances and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things” (Luke 23: 49).

What words cannot capture artists have commendably attempted to portray.

I stood transfixed in the Louvre before a painting of desolation and love. It portrays a dramatic moment during the crucifixion. The sky has grown dark but in the darkness can be seen a kneeling form. It is Mary Magdalene holding the blood streaked feet of Christ with her lips pressed against them. Plodders are devotees.

Dr. Luke tells us of an aspect of the burial the artist Rubens attempts to capture in his painting entitled “The Descent of the Cross.” Nicodemus and Joseph having received the battered body of Christ have come to entomb the lifeless form. “The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid” (Luke 23: 55).

The end!

The front end of glory. Life went into an eclipse for Mary and Christ’s loyalists.

Then came Sunday morning. Defeated, disillusioned, and disparing women came to the tomb. Life was hopeless and there was no hope of life. They brought spices for the final processing of the body. They mused who would roll away the stone.

Then all heaven broke loose. “He is risen” was the angelic announcement. Set free from the bonds of death and the limitations of human life Christ was turned loose on the world.

After Peter and John were summonsed to the tomb and had left Mary lingered at the tomb only to have her reverie disturbed by two angels who asked, “Woman why are you weeping?” with a fearful voice she said, “Because they have taken away my Lord.”

As she was about to leave she sensed a presence. Assured Christ was dead and assuming the figure to be the gardener Mary asked where they had laid the body of Christ. “Tell me where you have laid Him and I will take Him away.”

She never considered her weakness only her opportunity.

Then by an unmistakable voice her name was called, “Mary.”

The inflection, the intonation, the resonance, that voice was the same one that commanded the demons to leave her. All the glory of heaven was in that voice. With elation she replied, “Rabboni!” This was the strongest expression of respectful, rather reverential, love. Rabboni means “my great master,” and He was.

To whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Mary loved very much because she knew she was forgiven much. If we were to inventory His grace applied in our lives we each would love Him more dearly.

Plodders know who to follow and in what direction.

As a reward for her sacrifice, courage, and perseverance Christ appointed her the first herald of His resurrection.

As the first to have seen the resurrected Lord she must have been the fastest to have shared it. Having personally been set free from seven demons she, of all people, believed Him to have been set free from human kinds most dreaded detractor, death.

What such liberation means is illustrated by John Bunyan in his “Grace Abounding.”

“I find to this day these seven abominations in my heart. Pride, envy, anger, intemperance, lasciviousness, covetousness, spiritual sloth — these were Dante’s seven scars on his sanctified head ….It is better to enter into Heaven with seven devils excavated out of our hearts as with a knife, than to have them gnawing in our hearts to all Eternity.”

There are scars in heaven, but not on Dante, Bunyan, or Mary Magdalene. The scars on Christ obtained at Calvary purged, healed, and made perfect all saints.

Lydia: A Consummate Plodder 8/22/99

Acts 16:13-15

Jesus Christ had resolute determination. In the hour of pending crisis it is said of Him: “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

Colorful speech depicts Him as having fixed His mind on going to Jerusalem where crucifixion awaited Him. That means He was a plodder. Plodders are people who know what they need to do and stay on course getting it done. The word “quit” isn’t in their mental dictionary.

Plodders rank among the greatest contributors to society.

Thomas Edison, considered by many the greatest inventor of all times, wasn’t always successful. As a youth he was inquisitive and tried juvenile experiments. He observed a hen sitting on eggs and hatching them. He tried unsuccessfully to sit on eggs and hatch them. He was told balloons fly because they have gas in them. He convinced one of his friends that if he took a triple dose of Seidlitz powders he could fly. This too failed.

Two dejected assistants to Thomas Edison commented regarding a project on which they had been working with no apparent progress: “We’ve just completed our 700th experiment and we still don’t know the answer. We have failed.”

“No, my friends, you haven’t failed,” replied Edison, “It is just that you know more about the subject than anyone alive. And we are closer to finding the answer, because now we know 700 things not to do. Don’t call it a failure, call it an education.”

Because Edison was a plodder he patented more than 1,100 inventions. He achieved this by working days at a time stopping only for short naps. Of this man who had only three years of school Henry Ford said the period of Edison’s life should be called the “Age of Edison.”

Edison, the plodder, defined success as “1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

Failure never discouraged him. As a youth he was trying to catch a ride on a freight train. A well-meaning conductor trying to help caught him by the ear and pull him aboard. It caused him deafness later. He considered even this an advantage in that it made it easier to concentrate.

After over 10,000 experiments with a storage battery a friend spoke discouragingly to him. He said, “I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work” as he pursued his project. He was a plodder.

Plodders produce because they persist.

Charles Schultz had his hopes of becoming an artist dashed by a discouraging teacher. As an awkward kid with a bad complexion he barely graduated from high school. Schultz submitted cartoons to his high school annual all of which were rejected. His teacher told him he lacked the ability to draw children. This plodder continued until he and his best known character, Charley Brown, and his little friends became some of the best known people in the world.

Louis L’Amour wanted to be a writer. Publishers nearly bashed his dreams. He received approximately 350 rejections before his first sale. He plodded along until one of his books was published. Ultimately this plodder had over 200 books published which sold over 200 million copies.

William Tyndale aspired to translate the Bible into English. His idea was such an affront to the established church of his day they put a bounty on his head. He plodded along teaching himself Hebrew in order to translate the Old Testament. Feverishly he worked from dawn to dark, six days a week, for eleven years until he completed the translation of the Bible into English. He was a plodder.

Now venture with me into the life of the admirable Bible personality Lydia, a plodder.

The setting is Philippi a city of historical importance. Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great gave the city his name. Here, Caesar Augustus won the battle that gained for him the emperorship of the Roman Empire. However, it is none of these who strutted on the stage of history for a short season that demands our attention. It is a woman with a hospitable nature who captures our imagination.

This story is a graphic illustration of God guiding in our lives. If Lydia had not been brought by her profession to Philippi she would not have been where she could hear of God’s love. Paul was also drawn there at that moment. He was turned back from where he wanted to go. He was shut out of Bithyania and silenced in Mysia. Human nature would have caused him great disappointment. God had him on a divine appointment. It is essential that we pray for God’s timing in our lives.

In a small group one day in the city of Philippi she heard the Apostle Paul speak and for her life took on new meaning. She and Paul both were where God wanted them. The Scripture exhorts us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together for worship. Neither did.

Jews living away from Jerusalem normally had no synagogue in which to worship. In those cities where there was a river they would gather at the river. That would have been the coolest place. Knowing this to be the place of gathering Paul went there to meet with them.

Lydia was a Jewish woman in the group. She was an enterprising business woman from Thyratira, a city known for its trade guilds. As a merchant seller of purple (Acts 16: 14) she was doubtless on a selling trip to Philippi.

Purple was a dye collected drop by drop from a certain shell-fish. It was discovered by accident. A dog that had been eating Conchilis or Purpura was seen to have purple lips. This led to its discovery as a costly dye. At one time it was more valuable than gold. Garments dyed in it were worn only by sovereign princes. However in the affluent Roman society the very wealthy noble class wore it. Its scarcity made it costly. The value of her product made Lydia a wealthy woman.

Evidently she was an astute and successful business woman. This is ascertained by the fact she had a spacious house large enough to entertain guests and servants to accommodate them.

When she came to faith in Christ she stayed in her profession and served Him therein using her resources for kingdom causes.

A business man from Louisiana who has been richly blessed by our Lord recently sent a significant sum of money to a church in Russia. Upon being told it came from a wealthy American Christian business man the people responded in disbelief. “A business man who is a Christian? Such is virtually unknown in Russia.”

Going to a distant land to serve our Lord is the admirable calling of some. The call to stay home and serve is just as commendable.

Bill Shipp was a young medical student in New Orleans. He shared that all of his life he wanted to be a foreign missionary. His desire was heightened when the Lord called his best friend to be a missionary. Bill’s desire was never supported by God’s call of him to mission service. He then dedicated his life to serve the Lord in a different way. Through study he sought one of the most lucrative professions he could find and pursued it. He believed his calling was to make as much money as possible and give as much of it as possible to support missionaries such as his friend who had been called. He has spent his life fulfilling his “calling.”

Lydia used her profession to the glory of the Lord. She not only redeemed the time but her profession also.

She decided to bloom right where she was planted.

Occasionally I am told by an admiring of someone who has sold everything and moved to a distant place to serve the Lord of the act as one of great devotion. It is. However, it is no more so than one who knows it to be God’s will to serve Him right where they are.

Lydia didn’t have a distant mission field nor a vast congregation but she had a ministry like each of us. Her mission field, her congregation was her household. Evidently she shared her faith with them because when she trusted Christ she was baptized and so were they (Vs. 15).

Lydia was a seeker. She was religious but not a Christian. Her home town was a city devoted to worship of Apollo, the sun- god, under the name Tyrinnus. There was also a strong Jewish element in the city that maintained faith in Jehovah.

She was among them in that she is depicted as one “who worshiped God.”

Various surveys indicate the vast majority of Americans believe in God. So does the devil. Lydia went beyond mere belief in certain facts she sought the full truth. Often we think we know all we need to know and fail to listen, to be open.

Lydia was converted in a home Bible study and became the first European converted to faith in Christ. She listened and comprehended.

President Franklin Roosevelt abhorred reception lines. Once he decided to try an experiment. To everyone who came through the line he softly said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People, assuming they knew what was coming responded with such comments as, “Wonderful,” “Keep up the good work,” “We are proud of you Mr. President.” Apparently not until the representative from Bolivia came through the line did anyone apparently actually hear what he was saying and he diplomatically responded politely, “I’m sure she had it coming.”

“Faith comes by hearing.” Are you listening?

When we like Lydia are seekers we find God is the revealer. “The Lord opened her heart to heed…” (Acts 16:14).

Jesus counseled us to “Seek first the kingdom of God…”

After His resurrection it is said “He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend Scriptures” (Luke 24: 45). He still does for those who seek. Him.

Many fail to understand life because they don’t take time to know God’s way to live it.

A ski instructor met one of his students at the bottom of the course and said, “The good news is that you reached the bottom of the course faster than any competitor. In fact your time was the fastest ever on this course. You likely beat the world record.” The student beamed as the coach continued, “The bad news is that you missed nearly every flag.”

The young skier replied, “Flags? What flags?”

Experienced skiers know the route one takes to get to the finish line is as important as how fast you get there.

“Study to show yourself a workman approved unto God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15).

After Lydia learned of Christ’s love for her she responded to Him in love. The natural subsequent step of obedience was baptism. She and her household were baptized (Acts. 16: 15). She publicly professed and told her family and they were converted. Christ asked those who profess faith in Him to be identified with Him through the public, often humbling, but always joyous, act of baptism. We are not baptized to be saved but because we have been saved by Jesus Christ.

Our creative Lord, knowing our nature, realized we need visuals. We think visually. Therefore, he ordained baptism as a visual to picture the cleansing from sin. Throughout the Old Testament era persons participated in ritual cleansing, baptism. Christ elevated the act to depict the cleansing of sin.

In heaven the robes of this seller of purple were not purple but they had been “washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.”

She aspired to be judged “faithful to the Lord” (Acts 16:15).

Two self evident facts stand out in the Biblical account of Lydia. She didn’t let her business interfere with her worship. She used her resources for the Lord.

Character like hers is depicted as “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11).

Like Lydia, once wrong is known it is no longer treated with courteous civility. Once that which is right is embraced casual Christianity is no longer an option. When Christ becomes Savior and Lord we become His follower and servant.

The text says “The Lord opened her heart…” (Vs. 14).

Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44).

Jesus in speaking of the Holy Spirit said, “When the Spirit of truth is come He will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13).

The Lord takes the initiative in persons being saved. The Father draws, the Spirit guides, the Son seeks but the individual has of his own free will respond. It is your option.

Lydia receptively responded and obediently was baptized. Baptism is initiatory and introductory. By it we are identified with Christ and introduced into the church.

Like Lydia once we have expressed confidence in Christ as Savior we should evidence our submission to Him as our Lord by obedience. It is proof of sincerity and gratitude.

If Love Makes the World Go Round: What’s Your Spin on Life? 2/14/99

John 13: 34, 35
Page 1578 Come Alive Bible

JESUS CHRIST placed great value on relationships. He not only taught principles related but He was a role model evidencing how important it is to build good relationships.

His teachings were filled with examples of how to befriend people and who to befriend. Little children, beggars, rich young rulers, sickly women, prestigious national leaders, and the poor were all recipients of His acts and expressions of friendship.

Why did Jesus and why does the Bible put such emphasis on friendship? Because friendships fortify life. To love, and be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence.

Living in a community with others makes us part of them and them part of us. Jesus Christ, in eternity past, co-existed as a member of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the perfect example of living together in community with one another. They are Exhibit A of friendship.

On earth Christ chose twelve disciples with which to associate in a small community of traveling companions. These were His friends. Thus, in heaven and on earth by His example He has taught us the importance of friendship.

Christ knew proper relationships are good for us. A number of years ago two brothers, Will and Carl Menninger, started an institution on the Kansas plains based on the therapy of love. Today the Menninger Foundation Hospital reports one of the highest incidents of recovery of mental and emotional patients treated with the technique Christ commanded. In a word “love.”

Studies show that persons who share love have a tendency to live longer and enjoy better health. Anything our Lord urges us to do is good for us physically and emotionally as well as spiritually.

Let’s unfold our text like a three petaled flower and look at each. Petal number one:

I. THE COMMAND “THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER” vs. 34
This is an appeal to – – –

A. REACH OUT
Proverbs 18:24 says, “He who would have friends must show himself friendly.” It is a simple fact.

The Roman Seneca almost 2,000 years ago wrote: “If you wish to be loved, love.”

For Christ’s sake we must reach out. That is for the sake of reaching people for Christ we must aggressively express ourselves. Friendship evangelism is one of the most effective ways of attracting people to Christ. Week after week, people walk these aisles as a result of some friend who has capitalized on their friendship to share what a relationship with Christ can mean.

Love must have an object.

If you are not a Christian and have a friend who is that is trying to share Christ with you please be patient with your Christian friend. Here is why that person is doing so. Your Christian friend has had a pleasant experience with Jesus Christ. Loving you as he or she does there is a natural desire for you to enjoy a pleasant experience with Jesus Christ. It is the highest way of saying, “I love you.”

Now to the Christian community a question. Have you ever noticed why new converts are often the best soul winners? The reason is most of their friends are lost and they know where to find them. Most Christians have withdrawn into the church so completely that they don’t know any lost people. Go out and get to be friends with some. We must socialize before we evangelize. Build bridges out of acts of love.

B. RECYCLE
The Apostle John must have had this command of Christ in the back of his mind when he wrote I John 4: 20 — “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?”

What this verse means is that love must have an object and if it can’t relate to the nearest object it can’t relate to a more distant one. There is no other medium through which to demonstrate your love for God than people — all people. People give us an opportunity in an objective way of demonstrating our love for God.

If a radio station in Marietta can’t reach Alabama it surely can’t reach Tokyo. If we can’t love the people near us, we evidence we don’t have the ability to love the One in whose image they were created.

Littering and pollution are not confined to the world of paper, glass, metals, and plastics. Look into the landscape of your mind and you will see a junkyard of people you have discarded. They are there because they did not come up to your expectation for them.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. As soon as you once come up with a man’s limitations, it is all over with him…Infinitely alluring and attractive was he to you yesterday, a great hope, a sea to swim in; now, you have found his shores, found it a pond, and you care not if you never see him again.”

Count the number of people you have dumped recently while looking for the perfect one.

You can end people-littering once and for all by using the percentage method of acceptance. On a scale of 1 to 100, quickly determine how much you like a certain person. You likely will be delighted to find you like most persons at least fifty percent, some sixty or seventy. Perhaps some eighty five percent. All the time you have been thinking you hated them. Actually it is only part of them or perhaps an isolated incident you don’t like. You can accept that just like you accept a rattle or scratch on a new car. You don’t discard it because it isn’t perfect.

How many people do you suppose like you because you grade out 100% with them at all times? If others forgive you and overlook your limitations you can do the same for them.

People go to great lengths to recycle and get the maximum value from various products. For months I saved aluminum cans. I found it to be a great way to release frustrations. Stomp each one flat and they require less room. For six months I saved them and took them in to collect my fortune. My big bag of squashed cans brought $4.00. If we will go to that effort for such a small return it surely is worth an effort to recycle friends after you have found their limitations.

In Franklin, Ohio the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set up a large machine called a “hydropulper.” An unimaginable assortment of garbage is fed into it. This mess would be impossible for persons to sort out and separate, but the hydropulper by using magnets, water, wind and other means sorts the mess and divides every bit of it into reusable products. You may have a former friend you need to put in your mental hydropulper and recycle the good in this person. Thus, a thrown away person can become no longer a thrown away piece of debris but a recycled usable friend.

That is a technique that can help us obey Christ’s command and “love one another.”

C. RESPECT
The Greek word used by Christ and translated “love” is AGAPE. It carries the connotation of unselfish regard for the welfare of another. Their language was rich with meaning. They had several words for “love.” One was our word for “lust.” The entertainment media has chosen to depict virtually all love in this light. The advertising media has elected to utilize lust to sell products. The internet is now a major market for lust.

A basic difference in love and lust is,
LUST CAN NEVER WAIT TO GET,
LOVE CAN ALWAYS WAIT TO GIVE.

Sexual purity has been sacrificed on the altar of greed. Purity is still the appeal of Scripture. Parents I want to appeal to you to pattern purity for your family. It begins as it did with the teenager Daniel who “purposed not to defile himself.”

Resolve with the Psalmist: “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me” (Psalm 101:3).

One of the most secretive moral sink-holes is a tool that otherwise offers great advantages —- the internet. Parents need to set a guard for themselves and their families.

II. THE COPY “AS I HAVE LOVED YOU”
Christ has given us a pattern. His love for us is the type love we are to show one another. What kind is that? Unconditional! That is, love without limits. That is the way He loves us. He doesn’t love us because we are perfect. He doesn’t love us because we are so lovable. He has found our limits and loves us still.

AGAPE is the form of love He has for us. Agape love is selfless love. It is love which has the welfare of its object in mind. You may not like a certain Christian or even agree with his or her ways but you can and must love that one.

Of all close friendships marriage is the closest. Conflicts occur in all relationships including marriage.

After years of research it has been determined there are only two primary reasons for marital conflict: husbands and wives.

Agape is the answer to wounds in relationships. This love has the capacity of scaling any wall of rejection. It is never deflected by unlovable behavior. It heals and blesses in practical ways. Most relationships are at the mercy of fluctuating emotions. Agape love imparts stability. It is the solution for relationships comprised of imperfect human beings.

How is it He has loved us and that we are to love?

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4: 30 – 32).

Have you ever been discarded by a person or persons you love? Perhaps pastors as much as any persons in society know what rejection by people you love is. At a time in my ministry I was discarded and attempts were even made to destroy me by people I love. It is bewildering! I resolved to respond in the spirit of this text. As a result I love those persons to this day as though they had never discarded me.

You know why? Two reasons. That is the way Jesus loves me and that is the way He has told me to love others. How about you?

HOW ARE WE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER? HOW DOES HE LOVE US?
1. Aggressively. “Herein is love; not that we loved Him, but that He loved us.” He didn’t wait for us to love Him before He loved us. We must not wait for others to love us before we are willing to love them.

2. Practically. His love did not consist of flowery speech or syrupy sentiment. His love expressed itself in deeds: “He went about doing good.” He did the greatest good in that He died for our sins.

3. Consistently. The love of our Model is everlasting. The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but His love abides. We are not to love with a passive feeling but with a practical affection.

John said, “…this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God MUST love his brother also.” (I John 4:21).

III. THE CONSEQUENCE “BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW….”

LOVE FOR GOD IS THE ROOT —- LOVE FOR PEOPLE THE FRUIT.

LOVE FOR GOD IS THE FOUNTAIN —- LOVE FOR PEOPLE THE STREAM.

Such love commends itself to others. It is a dead give away that something supernatural is at work. By this kind of love, which isn’t natural, the world can tell you are His disciple.

Only when the love inside the church exceeds the bitterness and hate outside the church are those outside going to want to come inside. The body of believers known as the church must maintain a loving environment if it is to please Christ and attract the lost world.

Christ wants to be your friend. He wants to establish a relationship with you. This friendship is called salvation. He wants to become your best Friend for eternity.

President Abraham Lincoln is one of the best known and loved of former presidents. One little known fact about him is that he often attended the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church on Wednesday nights. Life then was so simple he could slip out the side door of the White House and in the side door of the church without an entourage of secret service personnel. He chose Sunday nights so as not to disrupt Sunday morning worship. The pastor would leave his study door open when he knew Mr. Lincoln was coming so he could sit with the door slightly open and listen. He enjoyed the preaching of Pastor Phineas Gurley.

One evening as he walked home, his aid asked Mr. Lincoln for an appraisal of the sermon. The president, thoughtfully as always replied, “The content was excellent … he delivered with eloquence … he had put work into the message…”

“Did you think it was a great sermon?” questioned the aid.

“No,” replied the president.

“But you said that the content was excellent … it was delivered with eloquence … it showed much work.”

“Yes,” said the president, “but Pastor Gurley failed to ask us to do a great thing.”

I want to ask you to do a great thing.

If you have never trusted Christ and professed it publicly do it now.

If you have such faith in Him as Savior but have never experienced New Testament believers baptism come and let it be known you want to obey Him in this regard.

If you are a Baptist but do not have the right church home come by transfer of your membership today.

Do a great thing!

A Matchless Master to Model – 7/18/99

John 13:1-5

JESUS CHRIST is our intended model. His mission in coming was to do the will of Him who sent Him in seeking and saving. Those saved then are to allow Him to be their role model. Christ is the prototype of what God the Father wants us to be.

All that the Son was to the Father we are to be to the Son.

All that the Father was to the Son the Son wants to be to us.

Most folks have at some time enjoyed playing any one of many types of games where items are hidden and persons try to find them. Often the best hiding places are those where hunters would least expect to find the item. It is so easy it is overlooked. Practically everyone is looking for happiness, a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and joy. Where they are found is so obvious it is overlooked.

Francis of Assisi, son of a wealthy merchant, gave up his inheritance to live a life of poverty serving among the poor. He distilled principles leading to happiness and fulfillment in this verse:

Lord make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred let me sow love.
Where there is injury – pardon.
Where there is doubt – faith.
Where there is darkness – light.
Where there is sadness – joy.
Oh, divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console.
To be understood as to understand.
To be loved as to love.
For it is giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we pardon.
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

The unsuspected place where life finds meaning is in being a servant. We tend to think that is the last place it can be found. Instead of looking there we tend to turn to celebrity hood.

One reason so many people, especially youth, don’t have a sense of purpose and fulfillment is they have material things they know they don’t deserve and didn’t earn and deep down they feel guilty. Knowing the material things haven’t satisfied they perceive more material things will satisfy. Unfortunately that only deepens the sense of emptiness.

Life only has meaning when it has a purpose and the more challenging the purpose the more meaningful the life. Serving Christ in your daily life affords that gratification.

Let’s engage in a case study of Christ cast in the role of a servant to better understand our role as servants. John 13:1-7 reveals a very special ministry Jesus performed to His own. Contained in this account are found secrets to fulfillment and happiness.

The moment at hand was one of great stress. Christ knew He was to die the next day. At times of stress and difficulty most folks want strokes and warm fuzzes. Instead, Christ sought solace in service. By observing His responses to stress we can see how we too can handle it. He —

I. SHOWED COMPASSION
His disciples had followed Him about three years and still had not caught on to what He was truly trying to do in their lives. They were still arguing over their positions of order in His kingdom (Luke 22:34).

Privately the mother of James and John, an earthly aunt of Jesus, had tried to gain a family favor by asking that her boys be allowed to sit on his right and left in His kingdom. This upset the disciples. They weren’t disturbed because she did but because she beat their own little Jewish mothers to the point. They were still concerned about status not servanthood.

Customs of the day help us understand the true teaching of our test. Guests normally bathed before going to a special dinner. Sanitation and dusty roads caused persons walking to get their feet dirty. Therefore, hosts had servants to wash the feet of the guests. The towel was a symbol of servanthood. Jesus, Himself, laid aside His robes, took the towel and washed their feet. This is a picture of Philippians 2: 5 – 8.

This took commitment. If we are going to follow our Teacher and Lord, we must also have commitment. There are ten different Greek words in the New Testament for commitment. A look at two of them will aid our understanding.

First Peter 4:19, “There fore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit (PARATITHESTHOSAN) their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” This word for commitment means to lay down something for another. It is an appeal for the kind of commitment that prompts one to lay down their life in service for Christ.

John 2:24, A great group of people sought Christ because of His popularity and near celebrity status at the moment. “But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men.” This word means to entrust. We are to commit, that is, entrust ourselves to Him because He is trustworthy.

Being committed doesn’t mean you will be victorious at all times. It does mean you will always be successful by God’s standard. Some loss and failure is part of life.

There is a commercial featuring Michael Jordan. It pictures him striding on the court where he helped lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. The crowd is chanting his name. As he pauses in the commercial, we hear his thoughts: “I’ve missed 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost over 300 games. Twenty-six times I took the winning shot and missed….and because of this I’m a success.”

Any achiever “misses” and “loses” on occasion. They achieve because they are committed and consistent. Any person who consistently serves Christ is a winner by the standard of our Lord.

II. SPOKE A COMMAND “Do as I have done” (Vs. 15)
Foot washing has often been misunderstood and on occasion practiced with the wrong spirit. There is a rural church in Tennessee with its name on the sign out front: “Left Foot Baptist Church.” The church was a split off from the mother church. There a dispute arose over which foot should be washed first, the left or right. Being unable to resolve the conflict an element withdrew and started the new church giving it the name of their preference; “Left Foot Baptist Church.” It would have to be Baptist!

This is not a command to engage in foot washing. We know this because:

Foot washing was a very common practice and Jesus said He was giving us “A new commandment” (vs. 34).

If it were merely foot washing about which He spoke, He would not have said, “What I am doing you do not understand…” (vs. 7). They understood foot washing, BUT they sure didn’t understand loving servanthood.

If it were merely foot washing He would not have asked, “Do you know what I have done unto you?” (Vs. 12).

If it were foot washing He would not have said, “you should do as I have done to you” (Vs. 15), but would have said, “you should do what I have done to you.”

The “new commandment” related to:
A. Humility. Christ was — Appealing to His followers to set aside rank. Assuming even the lowest rank for “one another.”
B. Cleansing. He was picturing for us our role in stopping to help others enjoy spiritual cleansing. Galatians 6:1, “brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of gentleness, considering yourselves lest you also, be tempted.”
C. Love. In verse 13 He said, “You call me Teacher (Master) and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.”
“Teacher” one from whom to learn.
“Lord” one to follow.
In essence He was saying, “I have taught you humility and love now follow my example.”

III. STRESSED CLEANSING
Verse 10 teaches a great spiritual truth. Christ used two words of significance: “He who is bathed (LOUO) needs only to wash (NIPTO) his feet…”

“Bathed” refers to salvation in which a person is totally forgiven of all sin.

Christians walk in the world and unfortunately though they are saved they sometimes yield to temptation and commit a sin. Though this sin doesn’t rob the sinning Christian of salvation, it does rob such a one of the joy of their salvation and clouds their effective witness. Therefore, such Christians need spiritual cleansing. I John 1:9 is a short course in HOW TO.

Peter went from one extreme to another. Before he understood what Christ was teaching, he said, “You shall never wash my feet.” Once he caught on, he over did it and said, “Lord not my feet only, but also my hands and my feet” (Vs. 9).

Some persons confuse the issue and say they want to be saved “again.” If they were ever once saved what they need is spiritual cleansing, that is, I John 1:9.

If you want to be a happy servant, get cleansed and help others get cleansed — “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (Vs. 17).

Let’s go back to the word COMMITMENT. According to the Word of God to make a commitment is to turn something over to someone. I want to appeal to each of you to turn your life over to the Teacher/Lord and become His servant.

Revelation 19 tells us that Jesus Christ comes back, He is going to have “on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Will you today by your actions say, “He is my Sovereign, the One I obey?”

Do You Have a Living Trust? 11/14/99

Genesis 22:1-14

Jesus Christ said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6: 19 – 21).

Question: Where is your heart?

In dealing with Abraham God went right to the heart of the issue. Knowing Abraham’s treasure to be his only son Isaac, God tested Abraham. Keep in mind as the story is summarized the purpose is for God to let Abraham establish his loyalty and devotion.

God instructed Abraham to take the pride of his life, his son Isaac, to the land of Morian and offer him as a living sacrifice. Give it up, Abraham, give it up!

Early the next morning Abraham and Isaac set out to the mountain of sacrifice. When the altar was completed Abraham put Isaac on it and prepared to obey God by sacrificing him. As he lifted the knife God spoke: “And He said, ‘Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me’” (Genesis 22:12).

God didn’t want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. He did want to see his willingness to sacrifice him. God at no time has sanctioned human sacrifice. Once Abraham evidenced his sacrificial heart God had accomplished what the experience was intended to achieve. Abraham had proven his devotion and loyalty.

What is your Isaac?

What would you find difficult to put on the altar and sacrifice to God? Tough question isn’t it?

In the world of finance there is a process used by some persons. All of the individuals wealth is put in a living trust which is managed for them. One form is called an irrevocable trust. Meaning once given it is not possible to take it back. Technically it then belongs to someone else. The individual continues to manage it and have the use of it through out life.

That’s the relationship Abraham had with God. That’s the relationship we need with God also. It means to put everything on the altar of sacrifice and give it to God. That includes such things as your car, your house, your bank account, your friendships, your family, and all favorite items. Make it an irrevocable trust belonging to the Lord.

Then if something happens to your car you can say, “God, this car I gave you isn’t working. It is yours and if that is the way you want it that’s OK with me. Bless me as I seek your solution to this need.”

“God this job I gave you is over. I’ve been terminated. If that’s the way you want it OK. I look forward to your replacement. Bless me as I seek your replacement.”

That helps avoid bitterness when things go wrong.

What is the Isaac you don’t want to put in that living trust?

We gain sweet release when we transfer ownership of every possession to God. Every! That means our time, family, education, material possessions, finances, and every earning potential.

This is basic to experiencing the Spirit-filled life. God, the Creator, retains ownership to everything but He gives us the joy of managing it with Him.

“You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:6).

God has given us “dominion” over things, which means He has entrusted operative power over them. Meaning we are to manage them for Him.

If you believe you are the owner of even a single possession, then the events affecting that possession are going to affect your attitude.

God will not reveal His perfect will for our life until we first surrender our will to Him.

Once you make a total transfer of everything to Him then He demonstrates His managerial ability.

God’s instructions given His people through Moses gives the conditions of His control:

“Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:32, 33).

For those who have not made this transfer of everything to God doing so is a challenge. Though difficult it is the right thing to do and once it is done life takes on a totally new dimension.

Having long considered ourselves as owning things it becomes challenging to transfer them. Being accustomed to self-management and control it is found difficult to rearrange our thinking.

Freedom comes from knowing God is in control.

Financial freedom, which all too few people know, is dependent upon letting God be in control of your finances. That means turning them over to Him and following His guidelines for managing and using them. That is financial freedom.

Are your finances the Isaac in your life you find difficult to put on the altar of sacrifice? Is it difficult to put them in a living irrevocable trust? Once begun it soon becomes a life-style. When it does the style of life resulting is a joyous one. It isn’t free from trials and adversities, but there is then an invisible guiding force working on our behalf —- the Lord.

Mark these simple but significant facts regarding finances.

I. THE CONDITION
1. To control a person’s finances means to control the individual. It literally means to govern that person. In the Great Tribulation spoken of in the Bible the anti-Christ will control all money. Thus, he will govern the people.

If we let the Lord control our finances that indicates He governs us. That’s ALL of our finances. That includes our debt profile, or investment portfolio, our purchasing habits, or giving regimen, and God’s tithe.

He who controls our money controls our life. He who controls our life controls our money.

2. Financial problems are symptoms not causes. If a person is a slave in financial bondage that is a symptom of God not being allowed to govern in the matter of finance. It is a symptom that we want more than God intends at a given time. If we can’t manage well what He has gives us He isn’t going to give us more not to manage well. Simple isn’t it?

3. Financial practices affect all of our priorities, our inter-personal relations, within and without our family, and our goals.

II. THE CHALLENGE AND CONSEQUENCE
Let’s take a thing that is a challenge for some persons to put on the altar of sacrifice, the tithe.

Our “What’s in it for me?” mentality evokes some questions.

1. If I tithe, will God increase my income? Perhaps not. Let’s even change that “perhaps” to a likely not — but He may. In Malachi 3: 11 He promises to bless us if we do. That blessing might not be in the form of money. It might be even more valuable. It might be with health, friends, joy, or any one of many other more valuable properties.

2. If I increase my giving will God give me even greater wealth? Perhaps not, but He will give something even more valuable.

“… without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Having proven your faith by trusting Him with the tithe you are in position to be blessed with even more faith. Faith is the quality in life that enables us to venture and achieve.

An Alabama business man who had given generously to the cause of Christ lay dying. A friend visiting him asked when he trusted Christ as Savior. He replied, “Do you remember that first time I gave a significant gift to the cause of Christ? Well, I traced that money and I ran right into Jesus.”

He had faith enough to give and was given more faith.

III. THE CONCEPT
1. Identify the thing you love most. What is your Isaac.

2. Do as Abraham and present it to the Lord.

3. Die to it emotionally. Abraham had to die to his loving devotion for Isaac to evidence his undying love for the Lord.

4. Once you have done this prepare for a sincerity check. Inevitably an opportunity will present itself for you to show your’s is an irrevocable trust of the Lord. That’s what God did for Abraham. Early the morning after God told Abraham what to do he set out on the road to the land of Moriah. When he lifted the dagger he proved his sincerity and God stayed his hand. Again I say, God didn’t want him to sacrifice Isaac. God wanted to see his willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

Tests like that come to us.

5. Next, expect God to provide what you haven’t been able to provide. Once Abraham evidenced his willingness to make the sacrifice, God spared Isaac and provided a lamb for sacrifice. He always provides what is needed once we evidence a willingness to sacrifice what He wants.