The sermons are the product of over fifteen years spent proclaiming the Word.  I spent seven years in vocational ministry as pastor of churches in Kentucky and Arkansas, and now continue to serve in lay preaching ministry while working full-time as a high school mathematics teacher.  I am grateful that God continues to give me opportunity to teach biblical truth to His people, and am pleased to offer these sermon texts to you in the hope that they might enrich your study— whether that study is for personal reflection and meditation, or for sermon or lesson preparation.  All materials offered here are free of charge, and will continue to be so.

A Note About the Sermons

The full-text sermons found on e-steeple.com were written, not as timeless documents designed to read just as “fresh” years later as when they were penned, but rather as time-bound, Spirit-led exhortations and teachings.  As such, you’ll find plenty of dated references to not-so-current “current events,” as well as specific references to the particular congregations and communities to whom the messages were originally addressed.  As you browse, please do keep in mind that you’re reading words that were prepared for particular audiences, at particular times, in some cases as many as fifteen years ago.

Additionally, the sermons were written with the expectation that they’d be delivered and consumed orally/aurally, not as written documents.  Consequently, you’ll find plenty of language that is intended to “sound” natural, not to “look” proper on the printed page.  Please do excuse those portions of these texts that are grammatically shaky, understanding that they’re simply written records of spoken-word events.

God bless you as you serve Him!

Zeke Moore

In 1968 if you had asked the question, “Which country will lead the world in watchmaking for the remainder of this century and into the next?” the answer would have been a no-brainer to you— Switzerland. By 1968 Switzerland claimed 65 percent of the watchmaking market worldwide, and they made 80 percent of the profits. They were innovative. All of the great watchmaking advances of the 20^th century— the second-hand, the self-winding watch, the waterproof watch? Thank the Swiss for them. They took the position that they were the best and nobody was going to change that.

That was in 1968.

Fast-forward twelve years. In 1980, Switzerland had 10 percent of the world’s watchmaking market share. Of 60,000 professional watchmakers in Switzerland, 50,000— that’s over 80%— had been laid off.

What happened? Well, in 1969, a Swiss watchmaker invented something called the quartz watch, which is the battery-powered watch that every one of us wears today. And, in case if you’re wondering if I made a mistake just now: Yes, I did really say that the Swiss themselves invented the quartz watch. But… soon after doing so, they said to themselves, “This really isn’t what the public is going to want. It doesn’t ‘feel’ the same… It doesn’t have the same intricate design… It doesn’t even tick. This is just crazy. We are going to make good, gear-based, ticking watches just like we’ve always made.” During that same 12-year period, Japan leapt from owning just one percent of the market share in the watchmaking industry to owning over 33 percent.

The pages of business history are filled with stories like this, stories of companies that miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime because it just sounds “too crazy.” Take the story of Chester Carlson, who tried for six years to sell his strange new invention, but was turned down by every major office-equipment corporation in America. Finally, an obscure company from Columbus, Ohio, called Battelle finally agreed to provide funding for his dry-copying process. Thanks to the success of Carlson’s little invention, Battelle would later change its name to the Xerox Corporation.

How many opportunities to impact our world for Christ do we pass over, simply because we decide that they’re “too crazy” or that they’d “never work”?

How many times, when presented with a chance to do something extraordinary in the name of God, or to commit to something extraordinary in His name, or to promise something extraordinary in His name, do we fidget, squirm, and wriggle off the hook, declaring, “That sounds like a good idea, but not here, not now, not me”?

How many men and women in God’s church have lost the ability to pray, “God, help me to ‘seize the day,’” and instead are simply praying, “God, help me ‘get through’ the day”?

To all of us who are tempted to just cruise through the day, following the path of least resistance, going with the flow, even resigning to the fact that not much will change just because of me, God has a startling message: I dare you to do more. I dare you to believe more. I dare you to take some steps of faith. I dare you to roll the dice, to climb out on a limb, to publicly and unapologetically stake your life, your entire existence, on the unbelievable notion that God is able.

[Turn to Jeremiah 32.] The prophet Jeremiah had to make that very decision. In the midst of a chaotic existence, he had to decide: Do I simply go with the flow, and let things happen? Do I simply grit my teeth and try to ‘survive’? Or do I make a bold stand and proclaim with my words and my actions to all who care to hear it that God is at work, even in the midst of trying circumstances, and that God is able to do all things?

The story of that decision is found in Jeremiah 32:1–15…

Have things ever gone badly for you? Financially, emotionally, professionally? Have relationships failed you? Have you ever thought that, the more you try to do what’s right, the more things seem to turn up wrong around you? To use a cliché, have you ever thought that you’d seen the light at the end of the tunnel, only to find that it was really just the headlights of an oncoming tractor-trailer? If so, know that Jeremiah stands right alongside you. Rest assured, if you’ve ever felt that you had a reason to quit trying to make a difference, Jeremiah could sympathize with you.

Jeremiah’s Circumstances

The first reason Jeremiah had to despair, give up, and stop trying to take any sort of faith steps involved his “far” circumstances— what was going on “out there,” in the land of Judah, in the world around him. Verses 1–2 give us the historical setting of the story: “…in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem…” History tells us that these events would have occurred right around 600 B.C. The army referred to here was the Chaldean army. The Chaldeans originally hailed from Babylonia in Mesopotamia— an area that is now part of Iraq— and with the fall of the Assyrians in the 700’s B.C. became the dominant force in the region. When Nebuchadnezzar became king in 605 B.C., he would prove himself to be the equal of all the great Mesopotamian conquerors; he not only fought off attacks by major superpowers such as Egypt and Syria, he also conquered the Phoenicians and— of interest to us— the southern Jewish kingdom of Judah.

The conquest of Judah would happen in 586 B.C., history tells us; these events in Jeremiah are placed, according to verse 1, in “the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar,” which would turn out to be (do the math!) 587 B.C. That’s right, just one year before Judah would fall— which means things would have been rapidly deteriorating in every direction. Using modern imagery, we could say that the enemy tanks had already rolled in, enemy soldiers were already positioned in key locations around the city, and news of the change of rule was all over the media; the only thing that hadn’t happened yet was the actual removal of the Judean king, Zedekiah, and the official announcement that Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans were now in control.

And, if you think Jeremiah’s “far” circumstances were a mess, read on and check out his “near” circumstances! Verses 2–3 say, “Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah. Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: ‘Why are you prophesying…?’” You see, God had revealed all of the things to Jeremiah that we just discussed, regarding the imminent fall of Judah to the Chaldeans, and the deposement of Zedekiah the king— and Jeremiah had passed the information on, and not surprisingly Zedekiah hadn’t been too happy to hear it. So Zedekiah had Jeremiah imprisoned.

Common opinion is that Jeremiah wasn’t treated harshly or even confined to solitude here; it might be more proper to say that he was under house arrest— perhaps just so he couldn’t open his mouth with any more of “that negative talk” about the fall of Judah and so forth. At the very least, Jeremiah was obviously permitted to have visitors while imprisoned; otherwise the subsequent events of this story wouldn’t have been possible. Nonetheless, Jeremiah surely could have found a reason to despair: “All I did was speak the truth, and this is how I am rewarded? This is how God rewards me??”

And next, as if that weren’t enough… In addition to the desperate nature of his “near” and “far” circumstances, I can also imagine that Jeremiah was going ‘round and ‘round with the voice in his own head— the one that said, “You know it’s all true. Zedekiah doesn’t want to believe it; the people of Judah don’t want to hear it; but you know it’s for real. We really are about to be overrun and conquered. And you know perfectly well that, whenever the Chaldeans conquer a nation, the next step is captivity. Exile. Just like God has said.”

In summary: All human logic insists that, as Jeremiah surveyed the chaos around him, near and far, he had every reason to throw his hands up and fall, if not into a state of desperation, then at least into a state of resignation. That place where big plans, big dreams, and big courage all take a holiday; that place where “just hanging on” becomes the main order of business. That place where your relationship with God ceases to be one of risk-taking and becomes instead one of mere rest-seeking.

Have you experienced such a shift? Do these phrases sound familiar to you?… “God just let me rest.” “Just give me strength for today.” “Just let me make it through another day.” “God, just help me keep my sanity today.” “God, just let me take care of business today.”

Can God do these things for you? The answer is, Absolutely. Does God want just to do these things and these things alone for you? The answer is, Absolutely Not.

You see, what we lose sight of so easily in our comfortable, Bible-belt, warm-fuzzy, mass-media-produced Christianity is that God calls his people to take risks. God’s greatest desire today is for you and me to “step up” and “step out.”

The same God who called Abraham to a mountaintop to worship, even if it meant sacrificing his precious son Isaac… the same God who called the prophet Jonah to speak a message of redemption to a city that Jonah would have loved to see judged and condemned… the same God who instructed a ragtag group of twelve to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth… that same God is saying to you and me today, “I dare you to do more than just ‘hang in there.’ I dare you to do more than ‘sit, soak, and sour.’ I dare you to look your circumstances dead in the face and declare, ‘I don’t care what the world says, I don’t care what human logic says, I don’t care what those well-meaning but powerless pew-sitting Christians may say… I will do something today, or I will commit to do something today, or I will promise something today that is so extraordinary that only God can make it come to fruition! I will dare to call out to God and say, “Lord, you know that promise you made about how someone who exercises a little faith can say to a mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move [Matthew 17:20]? God, right here, right now, I’m taking you up on that promise!”

Jeremiah’s Act

In the middle of chaos, in the middle of circumstances that begged Jeremiah to adopt that “just-hold-on-for-another-day” mentality, Jeremiah instead steps up and promises something so bold, so daring, that only God can possibly make it into reality!

What does he do? He buys a field. Now, you might not be impressed. Especially if I were to tell you that the field was probably just a small suburban pasture, and that Jeremiah paid less than 200 grams of silver for it. But what’s truly impressive about this act is the promise Jeremiah makes to go along with it, according to verses 14–15: “Take these scrolls— this purchase agreement with the sealed copy and this open copy [referring to the signed legal documents detailing the purchase of the field]— and put them in an earthen storage jar so they will last a long time. For this is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Houses, fields, and vineyards will again be bought in this land.” Even as the Chaldeans prepared to carry the Jewish people off into captivity, Jeremiah was buying real estate! Even as the Chaldeans sharpened their swords on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Jeremiah was proclaiming with his best Schwarzeneggerian swagger, “We’ll be back! God will bring us back.”

What Jeremiah did was crazy. Not because it wasn’t the “right” thing to do; none of the Jewish people would have disputed that. According to verses 6–9, Jeremiah was approached by his cousin Hanamel, the present owner of the field; and Hanamel himself asked Jeremiah to purchase the field from him. In fact, Hanamel states in verse 7 that Jeremiah even has an obligation to buy the field: “You own the right of inheritance and redemption.” What’s happening here is the Jewish process known as “kinsman redemption.” If a person in the Hebrew nation became so poor that his land and property had to be sold in order to pay his debts, his closest kin (which in Hanamel’s case was Jeremiah) was supposed to step in and purchase the land himself, in order to keep that land in the family. A similar scenario plays out in Ruth 4 whereby Boaz agrees to purchase back Naomi’s land that was probably mortgaged to pay off debts. The bottom line is that it was “the right thing to do” for Jeremiah to buy this field.

But just being the “right thing” didn’t make it any less crazy.

Be honest: Have you ever shied away from doing the “right thing” because that “right thing” just seemed a little crazy?

Jeremiah could have done that. Jeremiah could have pulled Hanamel aside and said, “Listen, man, I understand your predicament. And I understand my obligation as the kinsman redeemer here. But, between you and me, I’ve got an inside line with God here, and I can tell you that in a few months it won’t matter who possesses the legal deed to your field. So let’s just let this one rest, OK?”

Isn’t that what we do?

Isn’t that exactly what we do when we say, “I know that my friend needs desperately to hear about the saving grace of Jesus Christ, but I don’t want to stir things up and besides, I don’t really think she’d be responsive anyway”?

Isn’t it exactly what we do when we read Malachi 3:10, in which God says in the clearest terms possible, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse [and] see if I will not open the floodgates of heaven and pour out a blessing for you without measure,” and then say to ourselves, “I wish it were that easy, but you haven’t seen my checkbook…”?

Isn’t it exactly what we do when a friend, classmate, or coworker begins telling a story or joke that’s offensive or inappropriate, and think to ourselves, “I should really say something…” but we don’t say anything, because, we reason, “It’s really not hurting anyone anyway”?

To all of us who know what’s right— but too often don’t do it because it’s too crazy— Jeremiah says, “Watch this”!!

He buys a field. Not only that, according to verse 10, he “calls in witnesses.” He wants everyone who happens to be there in the palace where he’s under house arrest to know what he’s doing and why he’s doing it! Not only that, according to verse 11–12, he painstakingly wades through all the legal red tape that goes along with the purchase of a piece of land0— again, making sure that there are plenty of witnesses on hand to see it. Not only that, in verses 13–14, rather than just filing the purchase agreement and deed at city hall, he declares that all the documents are to be placed in an “earthen storage jar” and stored away “so they will last a long time.” [“A long time” might be an understatement here, by the way; pottery vessels like the one Jeremiah is describing here have been known to preserve written documents in usable form for hundreds of years. The Dead Sea Scrolls, a set of about 2000-year-old Hebrew manuscripts discovered in an archaeological excavation in a group of caves in Jordan in 1947, were preserved in exactly this way.] Do you see that, by calling witnesses, by signing everything that he could possibly sign, and by insisting that the documents be tucked away for long-term safe storage, Jeremiah is climbing farther and farther out on that limb? He’s putting all his eggs, every last one of them, in the basket of God’s restoring power. He’s saying, “Come on, Chaldeans, do what you will; my God is able! My God is a mighty fortress! My God will redeem and restore His people!”

An act of faith. An act that says, “Circumstances can say what they will. People can say what they will. I will trust God, and I will obey God. I dare to do so.”

I would briefly spell out three elements of Jeremiah’s bold act here that make it a true leap of faith, a true double-dog dare, if you will…

• First, he does it deliberately. There’s nothing wishy-washy about it; there’s nothing apologetic about his tone. I am convinced that, when Jeremiah woke up that morning, he knew what he was doing!

• Second, he does it publicly. He doesn’t care who knows; in fact, he goes to great lengths to make sure everyone knows what he’s up to!

• Third, he does it confidently. I believe that, to those witnesses who were present in the palace courtyard that day to see and hear Jeremiah, everything about Jeremiah— his tone, his choice of words, the way he carried himself— everything about Jeremiah would have said to them, “Man, he really believes it, doesn’t he!?”

“I dare you,” says God.

• I dare you, not just to do the right thing when it “feels” right, but to deliberately stand for Me and against sin in every little moment of decision you face every day.
• I dare you, not to sit back silently and hope that your life counts for something, but to stand up and declare to all who care to listen, “In Christ I am a new creation!”
• I dare you to do something in My name that you’d never do if you only listened to your Day Planner or your financial planner.
• Church, I dare you to commit yourself to something so “over your head” that only I could make it happen! And then believe that I can make it happen!

Conclusion

In his book The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, Hans Finzel lists ten statements that will paralyze an organization. I believe that these apply especially to the church. If we ever have to admit we hear these statements being tossed around our halls— or if we would admit in repentance that we ourselves have been guilty of saying them— then it is time for us to come to terms with the God of Risks to whom Jeremiah gave himself.

Here they are, ten statements that will paralyze an organization:

1. “That’s impossible.”
2. “We don’t do things that way around here.”
3. “We tried that before and it didn’t work.”
4. “I wish it were that easy.”
5. “It’s against policy to do it that way.”
6. “When you’ve been around a little longer, you’ll understand.”
7. “Who gave you permission to change the rules?”
8. “Let’s get real, OK?”
9. “How dare you suggest that what we are doing is wrong!?”
10. “If you had been around as long as I have, you’d understand that what you’re suggesting is absurd.”

So many of the men and women in God’s word that we venerate as heroes of faith are really just ordinary men and women who determined that they would not be paralyzed by attitudes like these! Thank God for the testimony of men and women— then and now— how rise above the take-it-easy, play-it-safe mentality that ever threatens to choke out the effectiveness of our work and witness in this community and world!

• Thank God for Moses, who didn’t respond by saying, “I wish it were that easy…” when God called him to go to Egypt and plead for the Hebrew people’s release from captivity.
• Thank God for Joseph, who didn’t sink into that “God-just-get-me-through-the-day” mentality when his life turned upside down after he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers.
• Thank God for Rahab, who didn’t use her checkered past as an excuse for not stepping out in faith and trusting that, yes, God could use even her!
• And yes, today, thank God for Jeremiah, who refused to fade into the background and stop doing the things God had called him to do just because circumstances were getting ugly.

God can use you in a mighty way. He can use you to reach friends for Christ— if you’ll just “buy the field” and believe that He can! He can use you as a positive, purifying influence in your workplace— if you’ll “buy the field” and believe in faith that it can really happen! Students, God can use you to turn your campus into a place where God is regularly and unashamedly glorified and praised— if you’ll “buy the field” and become willing to be the first to take a stand! Friend, even though you struggle financially yourself, God can work through you to provide material blessing to others— if you’ll “buy the field.”

The question is not, “Can God…?” The question is, “Will I…?” Do you dare?

He was known as the White House “hatchet man,” a man feared by even the most powerful personalities in the nation’s capital. The media once even referred to him as a man who was “incapable of humanitarian thought.” From 1969-1973, Chuck Colson acted as President Richard Nixon’s special counsel. In an administration already known for its tough guys, Colson was the toughest. He freely admits today that he was guilty of political “dirty tricks” and was willing to do almost anything for the cause of his president and his party.

Then Colson found himself caught up in the Watergate scandal. He had helped to organize the illegal wiretapping of Democratic headquarters, and in 1973 Colson realized he was in big trouble. In 1974, Colson entered a plea of guilty to Watergate-related charges; although not implicated in the Watergate burglary, he voluntarily pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Daniel Ellsberg Case. He entered Alabama’s Maxwell Prison in 1974 as the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges. He served seven months of a one-to-three year sentence.

But, before he entered prison, something else happened.

Realizing that his life was in a shambles, after some hesitation, Colson took a friend’s counsel and turned to God in his moment of distress. He found something in Christianity that changed his life, and in 1973 Charles Colson became a born-again child of God.

Not surprisingly, observers in the media and the political world had a really hard time believing that the new faith of the “hatchet man” was indeed “the real deal.” When news of Colson’s conversion to Christianity reached the press, a writer for the Boston Globe reported, “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.”

That writer was being sarcastic. But Chuck Colson would agree would agree with him 100%.

Do you believe that it’s possible to run so far away from God’s true purpose for your life that all hope for restoration is lost? Do you believe that the decisions you’ve made, the priorities you’ve set for yourself over the years, have rendered you unusable by God? That writer for the Boston Globe believed it about Chuck Colson. But what he meant as a sarcastic comment actually was an echo of biblical truth: “If Mr. Colson can repent of his sins, there just has to be hope for everybody.” Colson’s story is the story of how no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. No matter what you are, no matter where you are, God can restore you and God can use you to make a difference in your world.

In the Old Testament, when we think of that one who has gone so far from God, or the one who has ignored God for so long, that restoration would seem to be absolutely out of the question, we think of Egypt. Egypt obviously is the nation that enslaved the people of Israel, the nation to whom Moses went and demanded the release of the Hebrew people, the nation that God would strike out against in order to set apart the Hebrew people as “His” people, as in Exodus 7:3–4:

“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh does not listen to you, I will lay my hand upon Egypt and bring my people the Israelites, company by company, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.”

We call this “The Exodus,” these events whereby God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, and eventually into a land that they could call their own. All that is bad enough, in terms of what it meant for Egypt’s standing before God. But what’s worse is that, in the generations following the Exodus, Egypt came even more to symbolize rejection of God, rebellion against God. Egypt became the symbol for being so far gone that being even reconciled with God wasn’t even a remote possibility anymore.

· In Isaiah 31:1, for instance, the people of God are told that they are under no circumstances to associate with Egypt: “Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help.”

· Ezekiel 20:1 expands on this theme; the reason, it says, that the people of God are to steer clear of Egypt is that Egypt is defiled, impure, unworthy of God’s mercy because of the choices she has made to turn away from the Lord God of Heaven and serve other Gods. That passage says simply, “Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt.”

And finally, a cryptic yet telling passage from Revelation 11:7–8, describing some future persecution of the people of God: “When [my two witnesses] have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.” Without dissecting all the details and possible interpretations of that passage, which could themselves fill many hours of study, it is clear that Egypt is a symbol here of all that opposes God. Egypt is linked here with the city of Sodom, whose story is found in Genesis 18–19 and whose very name connotes absolute rebellion against God, rebellion so thorough and undoable that God had no choice but to bring the city to utter destruction. Clearly, according to the words of one respected commentator [the Expositor’s Bible Commentary], “By [New Testament days], Egypt had become a symbolic name for antitheocratic [a big word that means ‘opposed to the rule of God’] world kingdoms that enslaved Israel.”

In a simple phrase: We have God [left hand] here … and Egypt [right hand] here … and in between, an unbridgeable gap. The testimony of God’s very Word would seem to suggest that there is no way for Egypt to be reconciled to God, no way for the country of plagues and idols to be redeemed into a positive light.

And it’s against that backdrop that we encounter the prophet’s words in Isaiah 19:19–25 [NIV]…

¹⁹ In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. ²⁰ It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. ²¹ So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD . They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. ²² The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD , and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

²³ In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ²⁴ In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. ²⁵ The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

Are you surprised by these words? If you’re not, then you haven’t been paying attention! We have gone

· from “Alas for those who go down to Egypt for help” to “Blessed be Egypt my people”;

· from “Do not defile yourself with the idols of Egypt” to “The LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD . They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings.”

· from Exodus 3:7, which says that Israel “cried out to the Lord” because of Egypt’s oppression, to verse 20 of this passage, which says that Egypt itself will “cry out to the Lord” and be rescued;

· from Exodus 4, where God performs “signs and wonders” against Egypt, to verse 20 here, which says that an altar to the Lord will be a “sign and witness” in Egypt.

Is it just me, or is this not one of the most amazing reversals of fortune of all time? We have, on the one hand, a people that seemed to be written out of the picture, a nation whose “destiny,” whose “fate,” seemed to be forever one of separation from God … and we have, on the other hand, a God who never ceases to amaze with the reach of His grace. The song is called “Amazing Grace” for a reason! It is stunning to think that God would reach down in grace and heal the same nation that He reached down and judged with plagues of blood, frogs, lice, flies, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and ultimately death of firstborn children. It is stunning to think that the nation that once forced God’s people Israel into slavery would themselves wear the title “God’s people.” But the most stunning part of all is this: If God can transform Egypt, He can transform you. If God can transform Egypt from an outcast of the kingdom to a useful vessel in His service, He can do the same for any one of us. This is the same stunning revelation the Apostle Paul had stumbled upon that prompted him to declare in 1 Timothy 1:12–15, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man… Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” If God can use Egypt, He can use you.

And so, the one whom I’d like to talk to today is

· anyone who would say, “Because of the baggage of my past, because of what I’ve done, I can’t be useful to God”;

· anyone who would say, “I’ve been away for too long; I’ve been lukewarm and ignored the fire of God’s voice for so long that there’s no way He can really ignite me again”;

· anyone who would say, “I don’t fit; I’ve seen what real, vibrant, world-changing Christians look like, and— like it or not— I just don’t fit the mold”;

…and, essentially, anyone who is wondering today, “I know that God wants to take those who have been saved by Christ’s blood and use them in His service; I know that in theory to be true… but could it really be true for me?” I want to answer that with a wholehearted “Yes” and back up that answer by walking through this passage in Isaiah 19 and discovering Six Steps to Becoming Useful for God. Useful for the first time? Useful again, after a long leave of absence? It doesn’t matter; here’s how it happens. Six Steps to making Today a day of usefulness before God…

One: Seek God’s Help!

Verse 20 says that a “savior and defender” will come to “rescue” Egypt… but before that rescuer can come, it will first be necessary for Egypt to “cry out to the Lord.” To be useful to God, we must make the first move! God has done His part. He has laid the foundation for us to know Him, and for us to be known by Him… but beyond that, the ball is in our court. We must turn to Him!

Whether you are wanting to become truly useful in His service for the first time… or whether you are simply wanting to move to “the next level” and become even more useful, and make even more of a difference for God in your world… You cannot expect to just sit back and wait for it to happen! If you’ve moved far away from God and want to know Him closely again… you must act. If you feel that you’re not doing all you could be doing in His service, and want to experience Him and be used by Him more powerfully… you must act. Cry out to God.

· Put aside that “Publisher’s Clearinghouse” mentality that says, “If I sit and wait long enough, my lucky day will come. I’ll wake up one of these days, and everything will be better.”

· Put aside that “pity party” mentality that says, “If I feel sorry enough for myself, God will come and fix whatever’s lacking in my life.”

· Put aside that “prideful” mentality that says, “I’ll figure this out for myself somehow, but I’m not going to come crying to God like a little weakling.”

If you are not where you want to be, seek God’s help. Admit freely, “I can’t make this happen; but I believe that God can; and I’m willing to let Him.”

Two: Worship God

Notice verse 21: “The Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings…” Notice from this verse that the restoration of Egypt takes place in the context of worship. An important step to being usable by God is being in the house of God, being in the presence of God.

Two weeks ago we studied together how the people of Israel were release from exile by King Cyrus, and permitted to return to their homeland. Remember the first task that was set before them upon their return? Rebuilding the temple. Worship is always at the center of true restoration. Understand too that true worship is more than occupying a pew; it’s more than a printed order of service; it’s more than coming to see a show. Worship is not just listening to a sermon, either; in fact, I would say that if you were to just show up for the sermon today, you’ve missed the heart of worship.

A good definition of worship is this: Worship is our response of gratitude to God’s revelation of grace.

Seek God. Cry out to him. Admit freely to him that you want more. Then commit yourself to the discipline of lifting up true worship, thanking him in an audible, authentic fashion for his grace.

Three: Dare to Make Promises (and Keep Them)

This is where things start to get risky, I’m afraid. You see, you can’t truly be useful and usable before God if you’re not willing to “put yourself out there.” Make some commitments. Sign your name on the dotted line, so to speak. Verse 21 says this about the people of Egypt, who are being renewed into a useful relationship with God: “They will make vows to the Lord and keep them.”

A certain man was so afraid of burglars that he filled his house with deadly booby traps— homemade guns mounted on the garage doors, front door, and in many rooms of his house. In all, his home contained nearly 40 such traps.

You can probably guess the end of this story: In November 1996, the man was found shot dead outside his garage, a victim of his own traps.

Too many people in our world— in God’s church— are obsessed with “playing it safe”! They spend immeasurable time and effort avoiding commitment at all costs. Commit to serve on a committee? Share the gospel? Attend a class to be trained to share my faith? Teach a class? Sign on as an assistant teacher? Not on your life! Too much responsibility… too much commitment… I don’t want to put myself out there like that. And then, invariably, these are the very ones complaining that they just don’t feel that “spark” in their Christian lives! Being useful to God requires that we take a chance— be willing to make some promises, make some commitments, and then buckle down and do what it takes to keep those promises. One person said it this way:

“Behold the turtle. He only makes progress when he sticks his neck out.”

You can be used by God to make a difference … if you dare.

Four: Pay The Price

Know that all will not be smooth sailing just because you make a fresh commitment to God— particularly if you’ve run far away from Him, or if you’ve been avoiding such a commitment for a very long time. Chuck Colson had to pay the price of criticism and skepticism; no one believed that his new faith could be genuine. Many of the disciples who formed the early church paid for the faith with their very lives. Understand that turning to God and being restored into a right, useful relationship with Him is not a “magic pill” that removes pain and difficulty from life— but understand also that God is greater than any pain you will endure. Verse 22 says it this way: “The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them.” The “plague” part would be nothing new to Egypt; they would remember well the plagues God sent in the days of Moses. Life would continue to be pierced through with pain, with difficulties, with sorrow. But, there is something new here: It says that God would not only strike them but “heal them” as well!

That promise is real for you as well. If you decide to do what it takes to move to a new level of commitment and usefulness in your faith today, you can look forward to difficult moments; for me to declare otherwise might make me more popular, but it would be a distortion of biblical truth. But know that you can also look forward to God’s healing in the midst of whatever difficulties come! Like Paul, you can look forward to “thorns” in your flesh… but like Paul, you can also take absolute comfort in God’s words that he spoke to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 in direct reference to Paul’s thorn in the flesh: “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Five: Join The Team

One of the most surprising verses in this entire surprising passage is verse 24, where Egypt is placed alongside Israel, and alongside Assyria (hated by both Egypt and Israel) as fellow recipients of God’s grace. Together, the verse says, the three will be “a blessing on the earth.” If you want to be useful to God, know that your efforts will be greatly multiplied if you join forces with other believers— stepping across cultural lines, generational lines, social lines, and working together as fellow children of God. Don’t try to go it alone! Get involved in a class; seek and find the support of other believers; be willing to share with them your feelings, your struggles, your dreams. Vance Havner said, “Snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them get together they can stop traffic.” Make use of the community of faith God has placed around you.

Six: Hang In There!

In Verse 25 God speaks about this unlikely alliance of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria: “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” To me, the particular choice of words in this verse emphasize the long-term nature of God’s plans.

· “People”— present tense. We are God’s people today.

· “Handiwork”— past tense. It emphasizes that God made us, formed us, knew us before we took our first breath.

· “Inheritance”— future tense. It emphasizes that our future destiny is wrapped up in who we are in relation to the God of Eternity.

God’s plans are long-term, and so if you desire to be restored or elevated in your usefulness to Him today, understand that you’re making a long-term commitment. Jesus, speaking in Luke 14:25 about the importance of this very fact, said, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” Know that when you dare to commit your works and ways to God, God will hold you to that commitment. So hang in there! Hang in there, knowing that God’s commitment to you is long-term, too. You are His “people,” His “handiwork,” His “inheritance.”

I admit freely that there is nothing original about these six steps. No rocket science here. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that it works. In the few minutes we have remaining, let me tell you briefly how it’s worked for me.

Four-and-a-half years ago I was the pastor of a Baptist church here in Pine Bluff. I had been pastoring churches for more than six years, going back to my time as a student at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. And at that time, four-and-a-half years ago, I walked away. You might say, “No big deal; lots of pastors get burned out.” But, when I say I walked away, I don’t mean I just walked away from being a pastor; I mean I walked away from all of it. From church… from serving God… from wanting to know God or have anything to do with God. For the next three years, I spent a major portion of my energy running as far away from God as I could get. My behavior became self-absorbed and self-destructive. I rarely attended church; and when I did, it was with a sense of detached curiosity more than anything (sort of like visiting your old neighborhood: you don’t have any plans to move back there; you just want to have a look around for old times’ sake).

I became convinced that I would never again play a useful role in God’s church or in God’s kingdom again. Oh, I figured that I might eventually drift back into the “routine” of church again at some point… But teach? lead? preach? serve? make a difference? No. Those days were gone, and there was no way to get them back.

Then, about a year-and-a-half ago, Ruth and I felt led to this place. I’m not sure why… There must have been some reason why we chose to drive all the way across town to attend Central Baptist Church, but it honestly has escaped me. I understand now that it was God at work. But I do remember deciding, in the first real conversation I’d had with God in many months, that if this was where God wanted us to be, I was willing. The walls of the self-absorbed life I’d chosen for myself were falling in on me, and I was willing to concede that, if there was a solution for me, it lay in God’s hands and not in my own. I was willing to put my heart into it… and just see. Just see if He might have something else planned for me after all.

The last year has been the best year of my life. God has opened doors that I thought had been closed to me forever. He’s allowed me, in His amazing grace, to become useful to Him once again. I’m proud, honored, and grateful to be part of this church, part of this team, serving alongside each of you… and I extend this challenge to you today as a fellow recipient of God’s great grace: If you are not where you’d like to be today, if you’d like to know God more intimately and be used by Him in a more powerful way, are you willing to believe that it can happen, that God can make it happen? Get with God in the quiet of these moments… Come before Him at the altar if you wish, or just meet Him one-on-one in your pew… And pray, “God, I want to be used by you. Not for my glory, not so that people can applaud me, but so that lives might be changed and your name might be lifted up and honored. Here I am, Lord; take my life, Lord; lead me, Lord; make my life useful to Thee.”

Sam Turner saw an opportunity and grabbed it. In 1951, Turner was a young man, 29 years old, serving an 8-year prison term near Atlanta, Georgia, for voluntary manslaughter and burglary. One day, while working on a road gang, a security lapse gave him the opportunity to “just walk away”— and that’s exactly what he did.

It took 46 years, but authorities finally caught up with Sam. In 1997, a routine search of driver’s license renewal records turned up the man who had been a fugitive for nearly half a century— all the while raising a family, working as a machinist, serving as a deacon in his church, and by all appearances living a normal life, barely 100 miles from the spot where he’d fled captivity. He’d gotten a driver’s license, he’d applied for Social Security benefits, he’d even been stopped by police for traffic infractions— yet his secret had never been discovered.

He never even bothered to change his name.

When authorities caught up with him in December 1997, Sam was sitting in his den watching TV, just like any other citizen in his little town of Lincolnton might have been doing that evening. After 46 years, he was a prisoner once again.

On this day that we celebrate our freedom as Americans, Sam Turner’s story reminds us that freedom is not to be taken for granted. It’s elusive… not everyone gets to experience it… those who do experience it can, and do, lose it…

And if we can count ourselves among the fortunate ones who have freedom today, we ought to ask ourselves: Are we making our freedom matter?

As we consider the dual application of that question today— first, whether we as citizens and as a country are making our hard-won American liberty matter; and second, whether we as children of God are making the freedom we know in Christ count for something— let us look at an Old Testament story from the book of Ezra that illustrates what our response to freedom should be.

Ezra 1:1–5: ¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: ² “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: “‘The LORD , the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. ³ Anyone of his people among you-may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD , the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. ⁴ And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’” ⁵ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites— everyone whose heart God had moved— prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.

The setting of the story we just read is as follows: The nation of Israel, with the blessing of God, had grown in influence and power and had even attained the status of something of a superpower in the Near Eastern part of the world. Because of the continued disobedience of the people, though, God permitted the nation to be conquered by invading armies and carried into exile for seventy years. After the exile period ended, the people were permitted to return to their homeland… and they were thrilled to return, but also a little scared about the prospect of being on their own again. This is the story of people who have just been handed freedom, and now must decide what to do with that freedom.

As we consider a story like this, on a day like this, our thoughts run naturally to the story of how our own nation was birthed into freedom. We remember from our history studies how the seeds of freedom were planted by the Pilgrims, who came to the New World in search of religious liberty. We recall how thousands of early settlers were brought to these shores in search of all kinds of freedom– religious freedom, civil freedom, and just plain personal freedom– and how the nature of this new independent country almost by definition guaranteed that it would eventually seek to be free from external European rule. We remember how England attempted to strengthen its hold on this “wayward child” called America with instruments like the Stamp Act, the Tea Tax, and the Boston Port Bill. And we remember how the colonists’ desire to break away from the reactionary and oppressive rule of George III would culminate in the drafting and signing of the document whose spirit we celebrate today, the Declaration of Independence.

The seeds for that Declaration were planted through the beginnings of a union that were established at the First and Second Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1774; watered by persuasive rhetoric from thinkers like Thomas Paine, who won thousands to the cause of independence with his pamphlet Common Sense; and brought to life by the Congressional resolution of Richard Henry Lee, which declared on June 7, 1776, that “these United Colonies are … free and independent states, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown.” Sparked by the Lee Resolution, 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson began work at once on the Declaration; within 3 weeks, the completed document was delivered to Congress. All day on July 2 and 3, and through the morning of July 4, the document was debated; and late in the afternoon of the Fourth, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by unanimous vote.

That’s the story of this day; and I’ve shared nothing with you that’s not readily available in any history textbook. The part of the story that’s most intriguing to me today, though, is that, when night fell on July 4, 1776, nothing had really been done yet. Freedom had been declared, but not yet won… and, for that matter, not yet announced. It would be

· another day before copies were sent out to governors of the colonies and generals of the army,

· another 3 days before the first public reading of the Declaration was held in what’s now known as Independence Square in Philadelphia,

· another 4 weeks before a copy would be prepared on parchment and signed by the members of the Committee, and

· another 5 years and 3 months before General Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown would historically seal the new America as an independent nation.

It’s one thing to declare freedom. It’s something else entirely to take action and make that freedom count.

We find a similar situation in our story from Ezra 1. The Babylonians had conquered Judah and carried the Hebrews people into exile; after that, the Persians, led by King Cyrus, had defeated the Babylonians and “inherited” the Hebrews. Now, Cyrus has declared in a written document that the people are free to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem and its temple. We suspect from history that Cyrus never became a follower of the Lord God of Israel; nonetheless, the text is clear here that God used Cyrus to carry out His will. (Verse 1 states that God “moved [his] heart.”)

So what we have here is a people who have been stunned by the surprise gift of freedom. Just like the colonists who heard the Declaration of Independence read aloud on July 8, 1776, accompanied by the ringing of the bell we now call the “Liberty Bell.” And… just like all of us who have ever, at some point in our lives, come face to face with the reality that Christ has given freedom to us.

· Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free.”

· 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

We are free. The important question is, “What are we doing with our freedom?” July 5, 1776, is an interesting day to me; it fell after freedom had been declared but before anything concrete had been done with that freedom. I am convinced that too many are living out their lives stuck in a “July 5 forever” cycle. Like Phil Connors, Bill Murray’s weatherman character in the movie Groundhog Day who must live February 2 over and over and over, they cycle endlessly through the same sequence. Today let us consider the question, “What can we do— as Americans and as believers— to make our freedom matter?”

Acknowledge God

The first way to make your freedom count for something is this: Acknowledge God. In verse 3 King Cyrus announces, “Anyone of his people among you— may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD.” The first step to really laying hold of the new freedom the king has granted the former exiles is, simply, that they must step forward and count themselves as “God’s People.” Step forward out of the crowd that’s made up of Persians, Babylonians, and people of any other nations that Cyrus’s army might have conquered and absorbed, and declare without shame, “I’m one of the ones of whom you speak, Cyrus! I’m one of the people of the Lord God of Israel and Judah!” The apparent meaning of this text is that no one who was unwilling to make that basic acknowledgement would enjoy the privilege of being able to return to Jerusalem. They’d still be free… but what for?

Does your freedom lack real meaning today, because you’ve refused to acknowledge that God is your God?

We have three very striking pictures of the disciple Peter in the Gospels. The first is from Matthew 16, where Jesus asks Peter point-blank, “Who do you say that I am?;” Peter responds, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God;” and Jesus replies, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Here Peter is willing and ready to acknowledge the Lord Jesus, and he reaps great benefits as a result; Jesus promises him that he, Peter, will be instrumental in building Jesus’s church.

The second picture is the precise opposite of the first. We see Peter pressed in by the crowd, waiting to hear the outcome of Jesus’s trial. Three times we hear voices in the crowd singling out Peter, questioning him: “Weren’t you with him? Aren’t you one of ‘His’? Don’t you know him?” and each time Peter lobbing back the desperate answer, “No! No! No!” And we see Peter filled with grief, weeping bitterly, when he realizes what he’s done. He’s now the outcast, the betrayer. We know from Scripture that Judas hanged himself in the aftermath of his betrayal, and I wonder if perhaps Peter’s mind flickered at least momentarily in the same direction as the events of that night and the next day played out.

The one whom Jesus had named “The Rock” had crumbled because he refused to acknowledge his God.

Our call today is to celebrate and use our freedom by acknowledging God as our Lord when we have the opportunity, as 1 Peter 3:15 says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” And… our call as citizens is to lead our nation to acknowledge God as Lord once again. To encourage those around us to give honor, reverence, worship, and glory to God. To speak out in favor of the works and ways of God. (Did you know, by the way, that surveys of Congress show that as few as 20 letters or emails to a Representative, or 50 to a Senator, is usually enough to be a decisive attention-getter and to compel him or her to act on a given issue?

The third picture we have of Peter in the Gospels is of the scared, defeated Peter sitting beside the resurrected Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, waiting for the moment Jesus rebukes him for his denial and betrayal, and instead hearing Jesus probing him with the tender question, “Do you love me? Feed my sheep.” Restoration is real— freedom is real— and the path to rediscovering true liberty begins with the simple acknowledgement, “You are the Lord, the Messiah. I will feed your sheep.”

Build

The second way to make your freedom meaningful is this: Build. The second half of verse 3 states that the reason the people of God are to return to Jerusalem is so that they might “build the temple of the LORD.” Through the words of King Cyrus, God is calling his people back home to work in His name. To use their abilities and skills in His service, so that His kingdom might be built up once again. Elsewhere in the Old Testament we read about other building projects that needed to be taken up in post-exile Jerusalem. In the book of Nehemiah, for instance, we read how the walls of the city needed to be rebuilt. We also know from history that bridges would also be built in the city around the temple. All these projects required all the skills and abilities that the people could muster.

And they came to build. Not because they were forced; there were no labor camps, there was no slavery. They came to build because they could. Because, simply, free people should want to be productive people. (You know, that “American entrepreneurial spirit” we always hear about?) Part of making your freedom mean something is using your brain, using your muscles, using your heart to build.

I know it’s not polite to offend on a holiday… but I know that I am speaking to some of you when I say this: You know Jesus as your Lord… You know that he has given you gifts and abilities with which to build his kingdom… You know what those gifts and abilities are (or have a pretty good idea, anyway)… And you are doing absolutely nothing with them. Friend, are you free or what? Maybe you can teach. Maybe you have the gift of encouragement. Maybe you have a musical talent. Maybe you are skilled at building in the literal sense. Maybe you have the gift of entrepreneurship combined with a vision for a business that will be centered around God in every way. Maybe you have opportunities to help your community and nation through volunteer service. Whatever the case, no one’s going to force you; that’s not how freedom works. But if you sit on your talent… If you hang back there at the rear of the crowd while the call is sent forth for people who will build the temple of the Lord… that’s not how freedom works either. If you want your freedom to mean something today… Build.

Care for One Another

A third way we can make our freedom count for something is this: We can care for one another. Take a look at verse 4: “And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.” King Cyrus has just called out those who will return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple; now he encourages those who will be staying behind to help out the travelers by providing for them with gold, silver, food, and offerings.

Most scholars agree that, as with the previous verse, there is no command given here; no one is to be required or compelled to perform these actions. Rather, this too is to be done on a voluntary basis; quite simply, it ought to be the people’s natural response to the new freedom King Cyrus has just granted them!

When we care for one another, it validates our freedom; it shows the world how we value our freedom; and it points the world to God as the ultimate source of freedom.

Take, for instance, the story of Commander Chaplain Doyle Dunn. Dunn lead the spiritual ministry on board the USS Harry S. Truman last year at the beginning of the war, but it isn’t the first time he has served in a war against Iraq. During the Persian Gulf War, Dunn spent his days living and ministering to Marines deployed to Kuwait.

One evening, Dunn was speaking with a group of twelve Marines, mostly enlisted but a couple of officers as well. As Dunn talked with the men he suddenly asked a young lance corporal, the most junior man in the group, to have a seat. The young soldier’s eyes grew wide with surprise as the chaplain slowly knelt down in front of him with a rag and began to wipe the arid desert sand and dust from one of his boots.

Suddenly there was a sound behind him, and a hand touched Dunn’s shoulder. It was one of the commanding officers. Taking the rag out of Dunn’s hands, he tore it in half, handing back a piece to Dunn but keeping the other half for himself. Bending down, he began polishing the other boot of the lance corporal.

That’s how free men and women ought to act.

Or, take the story of an Iraqi man who gave a quote to the press that you won’t hear in the mainstream news: “Americans are angels.” Both this man and his brother had had their arms injured badly in a welding accident. They were taken to an American military hospital in Baghdad, and since then the man has recovered and his brother is close to doing so himself. This man reports that, if he had been in an Iraqi hospital, the “treatment” for his condition would most likely have involved cutting his arms off. He expresses the highest gratitude for the American doctors and nurses who took care of them.

That’s how free people act. They care. They take care of others.

I notice in this verse three particular ways that we are to care for one another. First, there’s “silver and gold.” That’s material. We care for one another by pooling our financial resources, by giving sacrificially, by bringing to God that bare minimum of the tithe and then bringing more over and above that as God blesses us. Next, there’s “goods and livestock.” That, in a way, is material too, but I see it as more up-close and personal. Think of it as the difference between giving your neighbor a gift certificate to Red Lobster on the one hand, and personally delivering a meal you cooked yourself, and taking time to share that meal with your neighbor, on the other hand. We care for one another when we give… but we also care when we go, and get up close, and take time to listen, learn, get to know one another. Third, the verse talks about “freewill offerings.” Freewill offerings were spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment offerings, gifts that simply flowed from a grateful heart. To me, this symbolizes being ready to do whatever the situation requires. Placing no predetermined limits on our capacity to care and demonstrate compassion. Throwing the rulebook out from time to time, and just loving one another in that same crazy, over-the-top way that Jesus loved the people he encountered.

The Bible tells us [Luke 12:48], “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” We, America, fit that bill. When it comes to “silver and gold” and “goods and livestock,” we must admit that we have hit the jackpot. Many of our poor would be honored as wealthy men and women elsewhere in the world. That’s one of the blessings that freedom has brought us. Now our task is to go, one by one, into this world and use those resources to care for others— care for their bodies, their minds, their souls.

Conclusion

Once again, there can be no arm-twisting here. No overly emotional call to action, no manipulation. That would defeat the purpose. The whole point is that, for those who are truly free, these responses should be voluntary. They should flow freely. Notice that our passage ends with a description of those who responded to King Cyrus’s call. Verse 5 gives a couple of specific examples, but then says more generally that the ones who responded were the ones “whose heart God had moved.” We’ll have a time for response shortly, and I’ll say just this about that time: If God has moved your heart today, respond. By praying at the altar in private conversation with God, or by coming to make public a decision you’ve made privately. That decision might involve joining this church family, or getting to know Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, or simply resolving to be more mindful of the great freedom you’ve been given.

But before we get to that, you might be interested to know that Sam Turner became a free man once again. One month after he was recaptured, the Georgia state parole board granted him an official pardon and allowed the 75-year-old man to finish out his life with the freedom that he had, admittedly, unjustly taken for himself 46 years earlier. I can only imagine that, if Sam Turner’s life hadn’t been filled with gratitude before, it surely must have been so after he was recaptured, then released, then granted a full pardon. When we realize that our freedom has been simply handed to us, through no merit or accomplishment of our own, a thankful spirit should overtake us!

For someone like me, who has never put on a uniform, picked up a weapon, and fought to protect American freedom, my response to those who have can only be one of gratitude.

And for people like all of us, who can never hope to earn the favor of a perfect and righteous God but who stand justified before Him and known by Him anyway…

Are you making your freedom matter?

I met Dr. Clyde Smith for the first time when I walked into his freshman physics class at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana. As we took our seats, Dr. Smith asked us to take out a sheet of paper, then directed our attention to three questions he had written on the board. The first question read, “In your understanding, what is physics?” The second read, “Why did you choose to take physics?” The third question, though, was the real eye-catcher:

“Who do you believe is the greatest person who has ever lived?”

Well, I thought, here is a challenge. Glancing around, I could tell that the minds of all of the other thirty students in the class were spinning, each one trying to come up with a “perfect” answer, an answer that would really impress this man, our first physics professor. So my mind began to spin as well: Whom shall I choose as the greatest ever? Perhaps Isaac Newton, who taught us how gravity works. Or James Maxwell, who unlocked the mathematics of electricity and magnetism. Or Galileo. Feynman. Maybe I’ll just play it safe and choose Albert Einstein. And so it went.

Honestly, I don’t remember how I actually ended up answering that question. But what I do remember is that, when all of the papers were collected and turned in, Dr. Clyde Smith faced us with the most authentic smile that I’d ever seen on the face of any professor, and said, “Your answer to Question #3 will depend on your opinion of a Man who lived in Judea 2000 years ago. If you reject his claim, then the race for ‘Greatest Person Ever’ is wide open. But if you believe that he was, and is, who he claimed to be, then certainly there should be no doubt for you that Jesus is the greatest person who has ever lived.”

I was floored. Not because I’d just a physics professor who openly spoke of Jesus Christ— this is the Bible Belt, after all— but because I realized that it had not once occurred to me to answer Question #3 in the way that Dr. Smith just described. I’d just spent 10 minutes turning over in my head all the possible candidates for “Greatest Person Ever,” and the name “Jesus” never entered my thought stream.

At that moment, God spoke to me, saying, “You’re active in your church. You’ve surrounded yourself with Christian friends, immersed yourself in Christian music, filled your schedule with Christian activity. You’re studying to try to know everything you can about Me— but the fact remains that I’m not Everything to you.”

How many times do we each have opportunities like the one I had that day— opportunities to show the world around us through our words, our answers, our actions, and our reactions that Jesus Christ is Everything to us?

And, how many times do those opportunities slip right past us— unnoticed, perhaps, because we’ve not truly made the Lord God our Everything?

Can you say today that the greatest desire of your life is to count yourself as a servant of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He Everything to you today?

Look with me at Psalm 84. If ever there was a biblical author who understood what it meant to make God his Everything, it’s the author of this Psalm…

Psalm 84 (NIV):

1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, O God of Jacob.

9 Look upon our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.

10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

In the life of Old Testament Israel, one of the important regular events in the life of every devout believer was the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple. Periodically throughout the year, the people of God would come together at the Temple in the city of Jerusalem for Feasts or Festivals to celebrate the goodness of God. This psalm expresses the emotions of one of those devoted, committed believers as he travels from his hometown to the city of Jerusalem to worship at the Temple. Psalm 84 expresses the longing of a pilgrim for the joy of participating in the worship of the Temple! (Consider, for example, verse 2: “My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD”!) The “courts of the Lord”? That’s the Temple. This is a fellow who can’t wait to get there! Many of us, especially those of us with small children, would confess in honesty that getting ourselves to church on Sunday morning can be more of a chore than a joy— and we have air-conditioned vehicles to bring us here. The writer of this psalm, on the other hand, has been trudging across the desert plains of Judea toward Jerusalem for who knows how long, and the only thought on his mind is not about being hot or tired, but rather, “I can’t wait to get there!!” In this psalm of pilgrimage he expresses the simple fact that coming near to the presence of God is the greatest joy and greatest desire that he could know. To this writer, God is Everything.

The psalms are filled up with this kind of intense longing, a yearning for God that exceeds every other emotion and devotion in life. For example…

· Psalm 27:4: “One thing I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.”

· Psalm 42:1–2: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?”

· Psalm 122:1: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD!’”

Nowhere else, though, do I believe we find the intensity and the depth of devotion that we find here in Psalm 84. It’s an intensity that ought to convict us to the core, if we have dared to walk before God in a manner that’s indifferent, half-hearted, or part-time. May God deal with our hearts today if we dare suggest that our lives can be truly pleasing in His sight if we have not made him our absolute Everything.

As we walk through the verses of this psalm, I want you to notice some benefits of making God your Everything, some wonderful things that will happen in your life if you begin to seek and know Him today with the intensity described in these verses.

You will be secure in your identity (vv 1–4)

Have you ever declared, “I just don’t know who I am anymore!”? Circumstances and changes in our lives can threaten to rip our identity away—

· you might be experiencing a drastic career change;

· you may be transitioning from high school to college, or from school to the workplace;

· you may have just suffered the loss of a loved one, a spouse or a child.

· you may be newly married, or newly un-married.

In some cases, the change might even be a positive one! Whatever the case, when our circumstances change drastically, we can find ourselves wondering who we are, where we truly belong. If you’ve ever wondered just that— “Where do I belong?”— the writer of this psalm replies, Take a look at the birds. Look at verses 3–4…

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.

When I read these verses I think of our old basset hound, curling up in the yard with our old, tattered pink blanket, not because that blanket provides warmth or physical comfort, but because it smells like us. It reminds her of where she belongs, and to whom she belongs.

That’s the image we are given when we read Psalm 84:3–4! The psalmist declares that even the sparrow and the swallow make their nests “near the altar” of the Lord, because that is where they find the security of knowing who they are, in terms of their relationship to God the Creator of all life. How much more, then, is it true that we human beings— the “crowning glory” of creation, according to Scripture— are able to be secure in our identity when we come near to God and make Him our Everything! Whatever changes around us— for better or for worse— we’ll know who we are, because we know Whose we are.

The psalm teaches two facts about your identity.

· You are a child of God’s creation. In verse 2 the psalmist declares that his “soul,” his “heart,” and his “flesh” all cry out for the presence of God. To me, these three terms represent his entire created being, his whole identity. He acknowledges with great joy that everything about him belongs to God, because everything about him was made by God. He is a created child of God! When you and I make a daily commitment to the Lord God as our “Everything,” then we can find complete joy in knowing for a sure fact that He has uniquely created us for special purposes and special relationships. Not only that, as children, we can be secure in the fact that, even though we may not have everything (or anything) figured out today, God our Heavenly Father is in control, as 1 John 3:2 states: “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.”

· You are a citizen in God’s city. Verse 4 reads, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house.” The Hebrew word translated “dwell” (yashav) literally refers to a citizen, one who resides in a particular city. In many places in Scripture, the image of a “city” is used to describe the perfect presence of God; the most familiar passage is Revelation 21:2–3: “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.’” And, Revelation 3:11–12: “I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”

Wouldn’t you like to know that your name is on the citizenry list of that city? You can know it—you can be secure in that knowledge—if only you will declare today that your number one “burning desire” is to follow Jesus in all your works and ways.

“Identity theft” has become one of our culture’s hottest new crimes. If a thief gets his hands on your social security number of other vital information, he can pretend to be you. CBS News reports that, every 79 seconds, a thief steals someone’s identity, opens credit accounts in the victim’s name and goes on a buying spree.” Just last week the news broke about an employee of a Kinko’s store in New York City who tracked what people typed at the store’s computer terminals, and used the usernames and passwords he collected to access the bank accounts of nearly 500 people. The world around us seeks to rob you of identity in many ways, but God wants you to be singularly secure in Who You Are. If you will only come to Him and make serving and knowing Him your Everything, then He will give you a place to hang your hat, your heart, your soul, and your entire being.

You will be Safe in Uncertainty (vv. 5–7)

In verse 6 the Psalm describes the pilgrim, who is on his way to worship at Jerusalem, passing through a place called the “Valley of Baca.” That Hebrew word baca’ is one of those words with a wonderful double meaning. There were two different contexts in which this word was used in the Hebrew language. Used one way, baca’ means “weeping.” Used another way, baca’ refers to a particular kind of balsam tree that grows in the hot, arid, parched places around Jerusalem. So, scholars have argued over which of these two meanings the word ought to have: “Valley of Weeping” or “Valley of Dry Places”? I am of the opinion that such an argument is meaningless, that God in His sovereignty has given us a word with a wonderful double meaning.

This Valley of Baca is at once both a place of tears and a place of thirst. A place of physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dryness and distress.

Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a place I’ve seen before in my travels. And, realistically, it’s a place I’ll see again before my travels are through. Tears and thirst.

But, as you think about times when you too have traveled through this Valley of Tears and Thirst, sorrow and dryness, notice verse 6: “As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” Not only does the Valley of Baca not slow down this traveler, not only is it true that this traveler continues on undaunted toward the Temple in the holy city of Zion; the Valley actually becomes a place of blessing, with “springs” and “pools,” as well as a place of “strength.”

The burning question is: How? How is it possible to pass right through the valley of sorrow and stress, the place of trials and tears, and turn it into a place of “springs,” “autumn rains,” “pools,” and “strength [upon] strength”?

The answer is just one verse back, in verse 5; and it ought to leap off the page at us: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” The Hebrew phrase might literally be translated, “…who have the way [or the highway] in their hearts.” The one who will be able to endure the Valley of Baca (and not only endure but actually thrive in the midst of it) will be the one who has set his or her heart on encountering, knowing, praising, and offering sacrifice to the Lord God—the one who has already determined, “My greatest desire is to walk in the presence of Jesus my Lord.” When God is your Everything, then instead of being destroyed by the Valley of Tears and Thirst, you will learn the wonderful lesson that the Apostle Paul learned when God declared to him in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for [My] power is made perfect in [your] weakness.”

You will be satisfied with your destiny (vv 8–12)

The portion of Psalm 84 that is probably most familiar to you is verse 10: “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.” I don’t think that there is a better, more powerful picture in Scripture of a person who is completely satisfied with the life he has been given!

A sense of satisfaction is an elusive to most. Various statistics report that 50% of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs, 80% are unhappy with their physical appearance, 75% are dissatisfied with the state of our country’s political process… In general, so many are not satisfied with the directions life has taken them. So many want to cry out, “Is this all there is?” “Is my life not destined to mean anything more than this?”

Compare that despairing outlook with the satisfied joy found in the second half of verse 10, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God [and have ‘nothing’] than dwell in the tents of the wicked [and have ‘everything’].” He’s found his destiny! He is satisfied with where God has brought him, and he is satisfied with where God is taking him. Does that sound good? The good news is that all who make God their Everything can know the same satisfaction and contentment with the destiny God has for them!

What is God’s destiny for you? Well, while God’s plan is unique for each one of us, there are some common elements. Note with me three things that are included in God’s destiny for every one of His children:

· Purpose. In verse 9 the writer prays, “Look with favor on your anointed one.” The Hebrew word for “anointed one” is masiah, a very powerful word— so powerful that we use it to refer to Jesus: “Messiah.” It reminds us that God wants each of us to be instrumental in His plans for delivering and saving the lost in His world! The wonderful truth here is that none of us— no matter how young or how old— is here simply to “take up space.” We each have a purpose, an anointing, from God. Only as we make God our Everything can we know the satisfied joy of living out that God-given purpose.

· Power. The beginning of verse 11 states, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield.” Two interesting terms—sun and shield. “Sun” reminds us that God is the source of all light and illumination in the world. “Shield” reminds us that He is the source of our deliverance and victory as well. To declare that God is our “sun and shield,” then, is to say with absolute confidence, “Whatever power I lack as a human being—whether it’s power for wisdom, power for understanding, power for deliverance, or power for victory—God is that power!“ We can’t all be athletes; we can’t all be movers and shakers in the world; but God’s destiny is for every one of us to be spiritual heavyweights, full of power at all times. What a fantastic destiny, to know that we will never cease to have spiritual power at our ready disposal!

· Prosperity. Verse 11 continues, “No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” God is a generous, gracious God who wants to give His committed children every good thing! Now, that doesn’t mean that God will necessarily give you a fancy house, an exotic car, and a fat bank account. The prosperity of the Father will look radically different from the “prosperity” touted by the world; you can be guaranteed of that. God wants to prosper you by giving you good relationships, a good reputation, a good legacy. And He wants to prosper you to such an extent that you cannot help but cry out as Paul did (Romans 11:33), “O the depth of the riches … of God!”

Existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre wrote this on the subject of destiny: “Man can count on no one but himself; he is alone, abandoned on earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this earth.” If that’s how you feel about your lot in life today, isn’t it time to consider whether God is truly Everything to you?…

“God Is Not My Everything. What Should I Do?”

…Which brings us to the all-important question, “What do I do if today I realize that God is not Everything to me?” “What do I do if I realize that I’m missing out on all these blessings because I’ve not given God first place in my life?” Perhaps you’ve never made any sort of decision to let God into your life, to let your sins and shortcomings be covered and forgiven by the redeeming work Christ did on the cross. If that’s the case, then I urge you to make today the day you give your life wholly, completely, to Him.

But perhaps you’re frustrated today because you’d say, “I know that I’m saved. I know that I belong to God. But I also know that He’s not #1 in my life— and I don’t know what to do to change that. What practical steps do I need to take to make God my Everything, beginning today?”

I have two important suggestions for you…

Communicate With Him (vv. 2,8)

Verse 2 declares, “My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God,” and verse 8 states, “God of hosts, hear my prayer.” The writer of this psalm understood that communication— two-way communication— with God was absolutely essential if God was to be his Everything. Even Jesus himself had to maintain daily communication with his Father, as in Mark 1:35: “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” If you would say today that God is not Everything to you, make a fresh commitment to communicate with Him— every day— through prayer and through the reading of His Word.

That one’s fairly obvious. The next one may not be so obvious to you…

Communicate With Others About Him (v. 10)

If you want God to become more real to you, get busy telling others about Him! In verse 10 the psalmist makes the wonderful statement about being a “doorkeeper” in the house of God. Think about the image of a doorkeeper. When you see a business establishment that has a doorkeeper, a doorman, doesn’t that tell you that there’s something very important behind those doors? (Or, at least, that someone thinks so?) We, too, are to convey the message to the world— with words and deeds— that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is of utmost importance. We are to tell. It’s not an option, nor is it a job reserved for a select few. We are to tell. In Mark 13:34–35 Jesus “It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Therefore, keep awake— for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn.” These verses remind us that the job of the doorkeeper is not optional. We are to tell.

The wonderful side effect is that, when we tell the story of the Gospel to others, that story becomes more real to us. God himself becomes more real, more important, as we communicate with others about Him.

Arcelia came to my school and joined my 10^th grade Geometry class in mid-year. She spoke very broken English, and it was clear from day one that she understood little of what I said as I taught. Her grade average quickly, predictably, went to the bottom of the class.

A few months later, Cinthia came to our school and joined my class. Whereas Arcelia spoke little English, Cinthia spoke no English. Not one single word. The only solution our administration could suggest was to seat her next to Arcelia and hope that, between the two of them, some level of comprehension could be attained.

So the weeks passed. I would teach; Arcelia would listen, then translate into Spanish for Cinthia. And, eventually, Cinthia did understand a little.

But, more significantly, Arcelia began to understand. She began to “get it.” Her grade average rose from the bottom of the class to near the middle. I realized that, through the act of translating and retelling all of the concepts to Cinthia, those concepts were becoming more real to Arcelia herself.

She was “getting it” because she was “telling it” to someone else!

In the same way, I promise you that, if you commit to telling others around you about the Lord God as you have the opportunity, He will become more real to you. Day by day, He will become Everything to you.

Conclusion

During a revival meeting, George W. Truett, the famous pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, noticed that a particularly brilliant student from Baylor University had been attending and listening with great interest. Truett became greatly interested in the conversion of this young man, so he arranged for a private meeting.

After Truett had spoken earnestly about the Savior, the student asked Dr. Truett a simple question: “Is Jesus Christ real to you?” He added, “Please don’t give me a theoretical or theological answer.” Tears came to Dr. Truett’s eyes, and he replied, “Son, Jesus Christ is more real to me than the skin that covers my bones.”

Anything of eternal value you’ll accomplish in this life hinges on your answer to the question: Is God your Everything?

Radio Shack developed that slogan as part of its attempt to maintain its market share of the $16 billion personal computer industry, which had become overcrowded in recent years by “superstore” chains like Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City. The “You’ve got questions … We’ve got answers” theme highlights Radio Shack’s great strength: knowledgeable staff. Radio Shack has always had a reputation for hiring sales associates who are a bit “nerdy,” if you will. (And, I am allowed to pick on them because, as a math teacher and a web designer, I’m a nerd myself!) Their personalities notwithstanding, though, you cannot deny one reality: Ask a Radio Shack sales associate an electronics-related question, and you will get an informed answer.

You can’t always say that about the employees of the “superstore” electronics chains. There, you might find a larger selection, a snappier display, or a lower price … but you won’t always find the information you need.

The “superstore” phenomenon underscores one ever-growing trend in our society. People seek “truth” and “meaning” in terms of the “biggest,” the “glitziest,” and the “trendiest.” That which is accurate and correct often gets edged out by that which is prettiest and most popular.

This trend is even true spiritually! Words about faith, spiritual wholeness, and the afterlife are commonplace—but many of those words are geared simply toward political correctness, popular opinion, and pretty packaging. Accuracy often becomes a secondary concern. Oprah Winfrey frequently airs episodes of her popular talk show which revolve around the theme, “Remembering Your Spirit,” yet these episodes seldom sport an accurate or healthy version of spiritual “truth.” One recent “Remembering Your Spirit” episode, for example, centered exclusively around the theme, “How to Love Yourself.” An excerpt from Cameron West’s book First Person Plural formed the show’s centerpiece:

Love your own self. Love your own body. Love your own face. Love your own mind. Love your own inner self. Honor yourself.

Sit in a solitary corner and look at yourself. Say to your body, “How beautiful this body is.”

It is endowed with such wonderful capabilities. It has eyes that can see things in such a beautiful manner. God himself dwells in it. The in breath and out breath flow in it. It has a mind that can think. It is the seat of bliss and gladness.

How blessed I am! What more could I need? Is there anything that I could want when I have such a perfect system?

This is the best kind of love. [Source:  Oprah, 2/14/1999.]

Unfortunately, the “love” of which West writes (and upon which Winfrey heaps unmitigated praise) falls short of the love described in the Bible—love which is rooted in a surrendered relationship with the sovereign God of heaven. In general, this is true of most of the world’s answers to spiritual questions. The world’s “answers” are rooted in self-love, self-exaltation, and self-sufficiency—not in the Lord God of heaven, nor in the salvation of Jesus Christ which comes through repentance.

Admittedly, this “superstore” brand of spiritual truth is prettier, easier-to-swallow, and sweeter-sounding than the “Radio Shack” brand of spiritual truth described in the pages of Scripture. But … is it accurate? Will this brand of truth really lead to peace, security, and wholeness? Does it really constitute an “answer” to the spiritual questions which echo in the heart of every human being, in the soul of every man, woman and child?

“You’ve Got Questions.” Where will you get your answers?

In John 3 we read about a man who had questions, and who wasn’t afraid to seek answers. Nicodemus’ mind and spirit were filled with urgent questions about spiritual truth and spiritual meaning, and he went to Jesus seeking answers.

John 3: 1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Now, to many of the Jewish people, Jesus’ message was something of a spiritual “Radio Shack.” His message wasn’t pretty … it didn’t tickle the ears or the eyes, the way the message of the Pharisees did … it wasn’t backed by a big budged or a fancy facade, the way the message of the religious leaders and scribes was. It wasn’t wrapped up in a pretty package, like the “love your body … love yourself” message of Cameron West’s First Person Plural.

But Nicodemus recognized that, nonetheless, Jesus’ message was “The Answer.” Nicodemus declared, “I’ve got questions … and He has the answers.”

Our world is full of people with questions. Believers and unbelievers alike thirst each day for spiritual truth.

Will you recognize that Jesus is the One with the answers? And, will you proclaim that reality to your friends and neighbors? Your call as a disciple is to live a life which declares, in the words of the popular chorus,

Jesus is the answer for the world today /
Above him there’s no other / Jesus is the Way.

Consider a couple of the burning questions which people are asking today. Questions which you, too, may be asking. Questions for which Jesus has the answer.

What About Tomorrow?

In verse 1 Nicodemus asks a question which begs answers about the future.

John 3:1–3: Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Even though Nicodemus’ words in verse 1 are not phrased as a question, he nonetheless is seeking answers about the future. Remember, as a Pharisee, Nicodemus was in the business of dishing out answers and wisdom about righteousness, eternal life, and eternal security. Yet, here he inquires of Jesus: What can you tell me about the presence of God?

And Jesus tells him! “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God [and truly know the presence of God] without being born from above.” And, in the verses that follow, Jesus makes it clear that “being born from above” must necessarily include the repentance of which John the Baptist spoke.(for it was John who preached the “rebirth of water” to which Jesus refers in verse 5). In verse 14 he refers to the events recorded in Numbers 21, where the Lord provided a bronze serpent as a way of delivering the Israelites from the venom of the flesh-and-blood serpents which had entered their camp. Just as repentance was a necessary prerequisite for that deliverance—in Numbers 21:7 the people declare to Moses,

“We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you; pray to the LORD to take away the serpents from us”—

so also is repentance necessary for one to receive the salvation offered through the Son of Man. Repentance and cleansing through Jesus Christ—that is the real answer for the question, “What About Tomorrow?”

It’s not necessarily the answer which Nicodemus expected to hear, or wanted to hear—and it’s certainly not the answer which most folks want to hear today. But it’s the truth.

“What About Tomorrow?” The world has several “pretty-package” answers for that question, including:

• Prepare yourself financially for tomorrow—that’s all that really matters. Make the right investments … make the right career moves … and you’ll be ready for tomorrow.

• Fate rules—you can’t influence tomorrow. Just live for today.

Jesus’ answer to the question, though, is:

Tomorrow will bring an appointment before the throne of God. And, “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above” (verse 3).

Honestly, that’s a pretty nerdy answer. A “Radio Shack” answer, if you will. And, if you go around reciting that answer to folks, you’ll likely get pegged as a nerd yourself. A religious nut. A fanatic. Maybe you’ll even get pegged, like Paul and Silas, as a menace to society (Acts 16:20–21, “These men are disturbing our city . . . and are advocating customs that are not lawful”).

But that doesn’t change the basic fact. It is the Answer. “No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”

Will you hear it? Respond to it? Proclaim it? Live by it?

What About Yesterday?

3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Nicodemus’ question in verse 4 seems to be tinged with regret: Jesus, I have grown old now. How can I do what you are suggesting? How can I be “born again”? In verse 6, though, Jesus declares, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” The truth of that declaration is that, whatever marks of weakness your flesh may exhibit—from old age, or from physical frailty, or from sin—the redemption of Jesus Christ does not depend on the flesh!

Three senior golfers were griping continually. “The fairways are too long,” said one. “The hills are too high,” said another. “The bunkers are too deep,” complained the third. Finally one of the 80-year-old men put things into perspective. “At least,” he noted, “we’re still on the right side of the grass.” [Source: Reader’s Digest, 5/1994, p. 68.]

That fellow recognized correctly that, no matter how many “yesterdays” we have seen, Jesus can still work in our lives today to transform our “tomorrows.”

“What About Yesterday?”

• Whether your “flesh” has grown exceedingly old,

• or bears the marks of extreme wickedness,

• or has proven itself to be utterly frail and weak,

Jesus declares that your redemption, peace and security do not hinge on the flesh! Whatever marks your “yesterdays” have left on your life, they have not—they cannot—rob you of the possibilities which your future can hold, if you will commit your future “tomorrows” to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The world has plenty of answers to the question, “What About Yesterday?”…

• Your past determines who you are. If your life is messed up because of yesterday, too bad.

• Yesterday is all you’ve got! Cling to those “Good Old Days”—live in the past—because life’s only going to get worse, not better.

Jesus, though, has the real answer to the question, “What About Yesterday?” That answer is, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” “Don’t let the past determine your destiny. Give me your flesh today, and let me give you the new birth of the Spirit.”

You might wonder, Can it really be possible? Like Nicodemus, you have your doubts: How can anyone be born after having grown old? Remember, though, that Scripture teaches us that “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Even if you’ve got a thousand yesterdays stacked against you, and only one or two tomorrows still ahead of you: Give God today, and prepare to be amazed at what He can do with just one day!

“You’ve got questions … He’s got answers.”

We can’t stop here, though. Now that you’ve asked questions of Jesus, He has a question for you:

What About Right Now?

Jesus concludes his conversation with Nicodemus on an urgent note:

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

In verse 18 Jesus confronts Nicodemus with the question: “What About Right Now?” The Greek verb krino (”to judge or condemn”) is common in the New Testament, but is usually used in some future sense—and never is used elsewhere in the sense of already-completed action (“are condemned already”; perfect passive usage) as Jesus uses it here (except in John 16:11, where it is used to refer to Satan, the “ruler of this world,” not to a human being). The idea is one of absolute urgency. Jesus calls Nicodemus to respond—at that precise moment—to the truth which has now been revealed to him.

“What About Right Now?” Again, the world has its own set of answers to that question:

• Live for today—statistically speaking, you’ll likely have plenty of tomorrows. You can worry about such weighty matters then.

• Don’t make any rash decisions. Take time to weigh all the pros and cons. Better safe than sorry!

Jesus’ answer, though, is: “Now is the day of salvation!” (2 Corinthians 6:2). “Those who do not believe are condemned already.”

You’ve got questions … and He’s got one, too. “What About Right Now?” Before this day is out, will you wrestle with the answer which you have given to that question?

Conclusion

There’s a story about a volunteer working with young children at a summer Christian camp. All the kids had grown up in church, and they all knew inside-out all the church songs, church cliches, and religious words.

Now, there’s a long-time running joke about young people’s church camps like this, that if you’re ever asked a question that you don’t know the answer to, just answer “Jesus” and you’ll be right most of the time. Well, this group leader decided that he would loosen up his group of kids on the first day and get acquainted, so he said, “I’m going to ask some questions and you answer them.” The kids didn’t flinch. They had heard all the questions before, so they were ready.

So the leader glanced outside at a tree, and then blurted out, “What’s small and gray, has four legs, climbs trees, has a big bushy tail, and hides nuts for the winter.?” Not a word came from anybody in the room. Nothing. A few frowned, looked at each other, but no one responded. He asked the same question again. Again, no answer.

Finally, one brave little girl in the back raised her hand, and in all seriousness answered, “I think it’s a squirrel, but I’ll go ahead and say ‘Jesus.’”

[Source: Charles Swindoll, Growing Wise in Family Life]

It’s no joke—”Jesus“is the only meaningful answer to the questions which really matter. Not necessarily the most popular answer … or the prettiest answer … but the right answer.

What About Tomorrow?
What About Yesterday?

If you have asked these questions before, and come up with a plausible-sounding answer, yet the questions still burn in your heart and mind, it’s likely that you’ve not heard the right answer.

Jesus has the answers.

Jesus is The Answer. “In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me” (Psalm 86:7).

Isaiah 60 (NRSV): 1 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. 3 Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 4 Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. 6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

It’s 5:15 a.m. The first rays of sunlight are peeking in through the bedroom curtains. As the soft light strikes your eyes, gently awakening you from slumber, your mind gradually gears into conscious thought. You reflect upon the full schedule of events which fill the day ahead. Will you roll over, pull the covers over your head, and ignore the light? Or, will you allow the light to propel you out of bed and into useful activity?

Isaiah 60:1 says, “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” Isaiah’s words are addressed to the people of Jerusalem and, more generally, to the people of Israel. Even a cursory reading of the Old Testament’s prophetic books reveals that Israel had fallen into a slumber. The people of Israel had fallen far away from their original purpose as God’s “treasured possession, a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5–6). God spoke to them through the prophets to remind them that they had a divine imperative to respond to God’s light and reveal that light.

We might take the prophet’s words to heart as well—for the Light has come. According to John 1:4–5, Jesus Christ was and is that perfect Light about which the prophet spoke.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Have you heeded the call to “Arise and Shine“? It’s an urgent call, especially in light of the words of John 2:18 which declare, “Children, it is the last hour!” It’s no longer 5:15 a.m.; it’s nearly noon. The first rays of sunlight have long exited; now, the full heat of the noonday sun strike urgent chords through the bedroom curtains. The useful hours of the workday are quickly slipping by. “The last hour.”

Today is the day we celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. “Epiphany” is a day that suggests light breaking in. In modern society, we tend to celebrate Christmas Day (December 25) as the culmination of the holiday season. Throughout the history of the Christian church, however, Christmas Day has traditionally marked the beginning of the Christmas season—the first of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.” This day—January 6, the twelfth day after December 25—is celebrated as “Epiphany,” in observance of the fact that, in Christ, the light of God has broken into the world in a way that’s visible to all people. In many traditions, the Gospel story of the magi’s visit is studied on this day, because the fact that the magi saw the Light from afar is indicative of the reality that God’s light powerfully broke into the world through the Incarnate Christ.

Are you shining forth the light of Christ in a powerful way, such that people might come to His light in the same dramatic fashion as did the Magi?

Consider some of the characteristics of the Light which make it such a life-changing force…

Intro: The Nature of the Light

The Light brings Renewal. In verse 2 the prophet declares, “Darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.” The Light moves people from darkness into the presence of the glory of God. For those whose lives have shifted away from the presence of God, the light of Christ can be the vehicle whereby they come back into the presence of God’s glory.

The Light brings Redemption. Isaiah states in verse 3, “Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” The Old Testament usage of the word “nations” (Hebrew goyim) specifically denotes the pagan nations, people who worship gods other than the Lord God of heaven. Isaiah declares that the true Light of God is powerful enough to draw even these nations to God! The story of the Magi in Matthew 2 is a prime example of this reality.

The Light brings Reconciliation. The second half of verse 4 states, “Your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses’ arms.” This verse portrays a reunion between the people of Jerusalem and their kinsmen who have been scattered afar throughout the region. It predicts a time during which the people of God can know true unity. Even though strife and conflict continue to mar the lives of people today—believers and unbelievers alike—the Light of Christ holds the power to effect reconciliation.

The Light brings Rejoicing. Notice verses 5–6: “Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice, because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.” These verses describe the state of true joy that is possible thanks to the true Light. That rejoicing takes the form of “thrilled hearts”; it also takes the concrete form of generosity and sacrifice. (Consider the gifts described in verse 6, which clearly point to the gifts borne by the Magi in Matthew 2.)

We see, then, from Isaiah’s words that the Light (which is Christ) has tremendous power. Power for renewal, redemption, reconciliation, and rejoicing. If that’s true, then how can we not heed the prophet’s words to “Arise and Shine,” so that all people might come to the Light?

Consider the two halves of the prophet’s command to “Arise” and “Shine“…

“Arise!”: Respond to the Light

The Hebrew qum suggests the act of “coming into power” by an appointed monarch or ruler. It’s a word that describes the process whereby one who already possesses power determines that he or she will rise up and act in that power. And, it’s a word that suggests that the one with the power has fallen asleep at the helm! In Isaiah 51:17 the prophet cries out, “Awake, awake! Stand up [the word qum], O Jerusalem!“; his words there ring like the pealing of an bedside alarm clock on which the Snooze button has been pounded repeatedly. He uses the word in the same manner in 52:2: “Shake yourself from the dust, arise; Sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!”

The message? The light is here! Your opportunity to ‘light your world’ is upon you. Wake up, before the opportunity passes you by.

One commentator says about Isaiah’s word: “This is not a mere admonition, but a word of power which puts new life into [Jerusalem’s] limbs, so that she is able to rise from the ground, on which she has lain . . . The night, which has brought her to the ground, mourning and faint, is now at an end” [Keil & Delitzsch’s Commentary on the Old Testament: Isaiah, p. 409].

Arise from apathy. If the light of Christ really is present with us, it ought to shake us out of the apathy which easily grips us—apathy which permits us to stand by while sin wrecks lives; apathy which permits us to ignore the dying spiritual state of our neighbors.

Remember the story of Phinehas from Numbers 25? According to that account, the people of Israel had begun to intermarry with the Midianites, despite the Mosaic Law’s prohibitions against such behavior. Not only that, the people had begun to bow down to the idols of the Moabites. As a result, God became angry with the Israelites. At God’s command, Moses came before the people and essentially said to them, “Stop it—now—or you’ll be sorry.” Just then, one of the Israelites came into the camp with a Midianite woman and brought her into his tent—in plain sight of Moses and all of his neighbors. When Phinehas saw it, he was outraged. According to Scripture, he grabbed a spear and attacked the man and the Midianite woman! And, God’s response to Phinehas’s action is very telling. Notice the Lord’s words in Numbers 25:11: “Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by manifesting such zeal among them on my behalf that in my jealousy I did not consume the Israelites.”

What Phinehas did was shocking, and in the eyes of many of his neighbors it was even repulsive. And, if you truly “arise” with zeal and passion, your actions will be perceived by many as “extreme.” Are you willing to be perceived as a “zealot” by others, if that’s the price you must pay for pursuing God’s will with true passion?

Arise from fear. In 2 Timothy 1:6–8 Paul writes:

“Rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord.”

Fear has the power to paralyze even the most well-intentioned soul. Just ask Simon Peter! Fear paralyzed Peter on the night of Jesus’ trial, when Peter had the opportunity boldly to declare his allegiance to Christ but instead chose to deny him. Fear paralyzed him on the night when Jesus allowed him to walk on water, causing him to sink instead. You might even say that, paradoxically, fear was working to “paralyze” Peter when he drew his sword and struck the ear of the soldier who was trying to arrest Jesus; even though Peter knew that (in Jesus’s words) Jesus must “drink the cup that the Father [had] given [him]” (John 18:11), he was afraid to embrace that reality.

Fear can paralyze us, too. It can keep us from accomplishing the Lord’s will. Yet, the Light of Christ can (and has) overcome our human spirit of fear, replacing it with a “spirit of power.” “Arise!”

Arise from sin. In Romans 6:18 Paul rejoices that we, “having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Because of this, Paul wonders (verse 2), “How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” Yet, instead of “arising from the ashes” of sin, too many of God’s people instead elect to make their home in the “ashtray.” We cannot say that we have truly responded to the Light of Christ Jesus if we continue willingly to live in sin.

“Arise.” Have you responded to the Light? Beyond that: Have you begun to “shine” and reveal the Light?

“Shine!”: Reveal the Light

In physics, one learns that an object’s color is actually determined by the degree to which that object either reflects or absorbes the different wavelengths of color in the visible spectrum. For example, an object that is green to the human eye appears that way because it reflects green light (and, therefore, absorbs all other colors); an object that is red actually reflects all color wavelengths except red; and so forth.

Here’s the interesting part: An object that is white appears that way because it reflects all wavelengths of light. Conversely, an object that is black appears that way because it absorbs all wavelengths of light, reflecting none.

Here’s the moral of that story: If white is the color which Scripture uses to denote the redeemed, doesn’t that imply that we should be reflecting the Light with the totality of our lives, not simply absorbing it? If the redemption of Christ truly has made you “white as snow,” how can you refuse to “shine” His light to the world around you?

Shine with his message. If you are a “new creature” in Christ, you have “absorbed” the message of the Gospel. You have internalized it; you have personalized it. Have you reflected it? We know from 2 Corinthians 5:18–20 that we have a responsibility to do so.

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.“

It is easy to convince ourselves that we cannot adequately present the message of reconciliation in a way that others can understand. Yet, how many of us were won to Christ by a great orator? On the contrary, most of us were persuaded of the truth of the gospel because of the witness of an ordinary person who spoke using ordinary words. It’s essential that we remember that we are not the source of light, but rather simply the ones who reflect the light. Even a broken mirror can reflect light—and even imperfect vessels can be ambassadors of God’s light.

Shine with his love. In 1 John 2:9 we read, “Whoever says, ‘I am in the light,’ while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.” We reflect God’s light by ministering in His name, after Jesus’ example. And, as long as we’re speaking in terms of colors and wavelengths, we might recall the enduring (if not wholly “politically correct”) children’s song: “Red and yellow, black and white / they are precious in his sight.” Just as “white light” contains all the colors of the spectrum, so also is the pure love of Christ incapable of color-favoritism (or any other brand of favoritism or prejudice, for that matter).

Are you reflecting Christ’s light by ministering in love, not just to a select few, but to all of those with whom you spend time each day? Have you taken off the blinders which permit you only to perceive the needs of those who are just like you? Are you ministering in a way that’s more than “good,” more than “charitable,” truly Christlike?

Conclusion

The hours of daylight are ticking away; night is approaching. For those who do not know the Lord today, that night will be permanent and irreversible. Yet, many of those some persons are seeking. Like the Magi, they are looking in haste for the One who was born as King of the Jews. Perhaps they know his name; perhaps not. All they know is that they need some source of light to point them to the true Light.

The light is on! Dawn has broken. Put on a pot of coffee … do some calisthenics … take a brisk shower … rub your eyes … do whatever you need to do to shake off the lethargy, apathy, plurality, negativity, slavery, and complacency which the darkness of the world can cast upon you; and put back on the urgency, immediacy, potency, and bounty which the light of Christ brings—so that, through you, “nations” might come to His light. Arise! Shine!

Particularly within the church, history has witnessed many great absurdities as a consequence of Christians’ insistence upon “having it both ways.” Sin, rationalizations, watered-down doctrines, and a loss of holiness have all resulted from Christians’ refusal to make unapologetic choices.

Here is one example:

“I believe in God but I also believe in evolution.”

Some Christians, weary of being viewed as religious “fanatics” or as being “ignorant” of science and higher learning, have assented to the claims of the evolutionary camp by declaring, “Well, surely there must be a way to fit it together…” Even the Vatican has declared that “evolution is the way God created.” Yet Isaiah 43:7 plainly states that God has “created [us] for [His] glory”! What a tragedy that some believers are willing to compromise the uniqueness of human life, the trustworthiness of Scripture, and the goodness of God’s created order, just to “keep the peace” with the intellectual and scientific communities, just to “have it both ways.”

But, there is one case in which God’s desire is for us to “have it both ways”—yet, as is typical of human nature, in this case there are many who don’t want it both ways. Instead, they insist on making a choice. The issue I am referring to is:

• Is the Gospel really all about grace, forgiveness, and the love of God…

• or is it all about repentance, confession, and the judgments of God?

It is crucial that we realize that here is a situation in which we need to “have it both ways.” To make an “either-or” choice here is to water down, even wash away, the eternally-redeeming power of God’s salvation plan.

Without grace, the Gospel becomes just a retelling of the Old Testament covenant of Law. And, without repentance, the Gospel is reduced to universalism, where the irresistible love of God ultimately brings all persons into His flock.

The Gospel which the New Testament discloses is built on the twin foundations of grace and repentance, and so also must the person who desires to know God intimately, fully and radically also build his or her faith on these twin foundations. “You must have it both ways.”

In Matthew 11 Jesus confronts those who have attempted to excise on or the other of these essential elements from the Gospel…

Matthew 11: 16 “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Now, the two major prophetic figures of the Gospels—the individuals who brought the message of salvation from God to humanity—are John the Baptist and Jesus himself. We might say that John’s message was built upon the proclamation of Matthew 3:2:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus echoed John’s proclamation in his own public ministry (in fact, John’s words formed the core of Jesus’s earliest preaching; see Matthew 4:17). However, Jesus added another crucial piece to the message—so crucial that most know it as the Bible’s most familiar verse:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

“For God so loved…” and “Repent…” In Jesus’s day, as in our own era, people attempted from the very beginning to trim down this “full Gospel” to a more logical, more palatable, more human form. Some did so by embracing Jesus’s “God so loved…” message to the exclusion of the very real call to repentance which both Jesus and John emphasized. Others did so by declaring John, not Jesus, to be the true prophet. In Matthew 11:16–19 Jesus reveals the fallaciousness of such arguments.

Verses 17–19a of this passage have been crafted by God’s inspiring hand into a beautiful poetic pattern, which might be analyzed as ABB’A’. Line-of-thought “A” is found at the beginning (17a) and the end (19a), and forms brackets around line-of-thought “B” (17b–18). In this little set of divine “brackets,” we find two essential truths about the Gospel which we proclaim, live, and trust…

There Is No Gospel Without Radical Grace
(”outer bracket”—vv. 17a, 19a)

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance’ … The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

Steven Spielberg’s movie, Saving Private Ryan, tells the story of an Army captain named John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) who in the aftermath of the World War II D-day invasion at Normandy Beach is ordered to find a solitary private among thousands of displaced soldiers. He must return Private James F. Ryan home to his mother, whose other three sons have just been killed in action.

Captain Miller and the small group of men assigned to him successfully locate Ryan, but then are forced to defend a strategic bridge against enemy tanks and troops. Captain Miller is fatally wounded. In his dying moments, he reaches out to Private Ryan, and with great emotion says, “Earn this! Earn this!”

Many years later as an old man, James Ryan stands in a veteran’s cemetery tearfully looking at the tombstone of the man who saved his life. He wonders aloud if he has indeed earned the great gift he received. [Source: Michael Lester, via the Internet.]

If there were no radical grace in the Gospel, then we too would be left wondering for all our days whether we have really earned the blessings and mercies of God.

Here in Matthew 11 Jesus encounters a tragic scene: God has played His flute of grace, yet the people are not willing to dance! Instead, they critically dissect Jesus’s actions (and, no doubt, the actions of others, and even their own actions), with just one question in their minds: How has this person proved himself or herself unworthy of God’s mercy? They concluded that Jesus’s free association with tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, and other “unclean” elements of society proved that Jesus himself was “unclean” before God.

No grace! And, as Jesus would tell them on numerous occasions: No grace, no peace! No grace, no salvation! No grace, no Gospel.

There is no Gospel, no possibility of right standing before God, no peace, no security, apart from the radical grace of God that was manifested in Jesus Christ!

• Galatians 2:21: “If justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.”

• Romans 5:17: “If, because of the one man’s trespass, death exercised dominion through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercise dominion in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

A 15-year-old boy who lay bleeding from a head wound just steps away from a Chicago hospital could not be rescued— because rules stated that only ambulances were allowed to bring patients to the hospital.

Frustrated police officers finally carried the fatally wounded Christopher Sercye into Ravenswood Hospital, but he died a short time later.

Witnesses at the scene said hospital emergency workers refused to come to Sercye’s aid despite pleas, quoting hospital rules.

A hospital spokeswoman simply stated that emergency room personnel were barred from dispensing care outside the hospital.

What a fitting picture of life lived without grace! If it were not for the grace of God, we would all be lying, even right now, bleeding and broken outside the gates of the presence of God, with no hope of healing, deliverance, or a future. But, thanks be to God that we can sing about His “Amazing Grace … Marvelous Grace … Grace Greater Than Our Sin” … radical grace!

There Is No Gospel Without Genuine Repentance
(”inner bracket”—vv. 17b–18)

“‘We wailed, and you did not mourn’ … For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’”

Others who knew about Jesus’s ministry took a different approach. Instead of attempting to excise grace from the true message of God, they instead embraced grace to the exclusion of repentance. Jesus states, “for John came neither eating nor drinking…” The reason why John came in such a matter was to emphasize the true godly sorrow which should accompany genuine repentance. The people’s reaction? “Who needs that??” In the words of the rich fool in Jesus’s parable (Luke 12:19), the people insisted that the goal of ‘godly living’ shouldn’t be sorrowful repentance but rather a commitment to “relax, eat, drink, be merry.” Their answer to Paul’s rhetorical question in Romans 6:1— “Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”— was, “Oh, yes! Why not?”

No repentance—and, so, no power. No peace. No blessing.

In Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Jim Cymbala writes,

“The first step in any spiritual awakening is DEMOLITION. We cannot make headway in seeking God without first tearing down the accumulated junk in our souls.

“Rationalizing has to cease. We have to start seeing the sinful debris we hadn’t noticed before, which is what holds back the blessing of God. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit and quenches His power among us.”

In 2 Timothy 3:2–5 Paul describes those who would attempt to rid the Gospel of any notion of repentance:

“…lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power.“

Truly, there is absolutely no power in a ‘Gospel’ which denies the call to confession, repentance, and the pursuit of holiness.

There Is No Godliness Without this ‘Real’ Gospel
(v. 19b)

The end of verse 19 states, “Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds” (NRSV) or “But wisdom is proved right by her actions” (NIV). To paraphrase, Jesus says here, “Just look at yourselves. Need I say more?”

Jesus’ critics had tried to live under the authority of just one of the two aspects of the Gospel which we have seen today in this passage. Jesus simply tells them here, “Look at your own life. See how devoid your life is of godliness and righteousness? Can you not see that your version of the ‘Gospel’ is powerless? How can you honestly believe that your impotent version of the ‘Gospel’ is really the message of the God who declared Himself to be ‘mighty to save’ [Isaiah 63:1]?”

It was true of those who emphasized grace and love to the exclusion of confession and repentance; and it was true of those who emphasized judgment and repentance to the exclusion of forgiveness and grace: There was no godliness present in their lives. The same is true today of all who attempt to “pare down” the Gospel to just one of these two essential elements.

I am not suggesting that, if you have excluded either grace or repentance from your understanding of the Gospel, then you don’t truly belong to God. Nor am I suggesting that you do truly belong to God. All I know is that, if God is powerful enough to redeem me and count me as one of His own, despite my own shortcomings and ignorance, then there is no limit to how His power can flow.

What I am suggesting, though, is that you will never be all that God wants you to be—in terms of usefulness, obedience, testimony, and power—if you attempt to live out your days under a Gospel which doesn’t include the divine grace of God. The same is true if you attempt to live under a Gospel that doesn’t include an unapologetic, daily call to confession and repentance.

The issue at hand is more than “doctrine.” You can’t be all that God wants you to be until you come to terms with the Full Gospel as presented by Scripture.

Conclusion

One Sunday on their way home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, “Mommy, the preacher’s sermon this morning confused me.” The mother said, “Oh? Why is that?” The little girl replied, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?” The mother replied, “Yes, that’s true honey.”

“And he also said that God lives in us? Is that true, Mommy?” Again the mother replied, “Yes.”

“Well,” said the little girl, “if God is bigger than us and he lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?” [Source: James S. Hewett, ed., Illustrations Unlimited, p. 303.]

Well, yes, He’d better show through. But He can’t and won’t if you insist on ignoring the reality of grace, clinging instead to legalism, ritualism, and a vain belief that only you can make yourself ‘good enough.’ He won’t show through you if you ignore the reality of repentance, using your freedom in Christ as a license to live selfishly, foolishly, and sinfully.

God is bigger than you. Or me. He is bigger than all of humanity. Yet He has “come near” to us, in the person of Jesus Christ, so that we might have the opportunity to know Him, to walk in the new righteousness which He has made available to us, and to live in the power which flows from His presence.

Whatever life holds for you, God is big enough. Are you big enough to let Him in?

It used to be that if you wanted to see the great architectural wonders of the world–the Eiffel Tower, the ancient Pyramids of Egypt, the Chartres Cathedral, the Washington Monument, the Tower of London–you had to travel to far-off places. No more. All you need to do now is open a book; or surf through the picture files on the Internet, or drop by the nearest library and see detailed photos, descriptions, even scale-model reproductions. It used to be that if you wanted to listen to the great music of the Western World, you had to schedule trips to concert halls and hear the compositions performed by live orchestras. No more. Radio, television, CD’s, cassettes–you pick the medium, you can have the music whenever and wherever you want it. It used to be that if you wanted to experience the different cultures and customs of the world, you had to travel across the world. Again, no more. Every major city in America has a Chinatown, a Germantown, a “Little Italy,” and little alcoves of every other culture you can imagine.

It turns out that in so many ways, “You don’t have to go far” to see and experience the world. It’s true for the wonders and breathtaking features of the world; and it’s true for the traumas and tragic realities of the world as well. You don’t have to go far to see a whole world of hurt and need around you!

I’m nearsighted. That means I have trouble seeing things that are a far distance away. It’s a common physical condition; and it’s a common problem in human relations; to be able to focus clearly on things right around you (your family, your job, your home, your finances and health) while not paying much attention to the things far beyond your own circle of existence. But did you know that an even more prevalent problem in the church of Jesus Christ in America is the opposite afflliction–farsightedness? Farsightedness, the ability to see things clearly at a distance while being unable to focus on the things that are literally “right under my nose.” Consider Sally Christian, who goes to her church, and hears some information about physically disabled individuals and the special needs they face. She wonders if perhaps her prayers might touch the life of some such individual somewhere far away. She prays for physically challenged individuals all over the world. Then, later that day at the supermarket, she fidgets impatiently, sighs loudly, and rolls her eyes as the disabled gentleman ahead of her struggles to maneuver his shopping cart down the asile.

Or, consider Jeffrey Churchgoer, who reads on this particular day about all the people in the world who are hungry, even starving; or perhaps homeless, cold, sick. He drops a few extra coins into the offering plate to help some hungry family in a Third World country, perhaps; or to provide shelter for a homeless family through some missions organization somewhere. Then, he later finds himself turning his eyes away, pretending not to notice as he drives past homeless individuals, persons whom he knows are currently without jobs, persons whose gaunt expression belies a diet which is severely lacking in the essentials for healthy life.

Farsightedness. That’s what we’re talking about. The ability to get so starry-eyed about what our missionaries are doing “over there” that we overlook what we could be doing right here!

Jesus gives us a challenge in this passage from Matthew 25. [READ.] Jesus says, in so many words, whenever you look right underneath your very own nose, and take note of the work that can be done right there, and do it, you are doing work that is fitting for a member of the body of Christ! You have put into practice the words of Christ himself, who said in Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” I’ve mentioned on other occasions that the word “serve,” or “servant,” as it’s used in the NT, is not a picture of a “household servant,” or a “butler” as we might picture today. You see, a hired servant like that is one who is at liberty to pick and choose when and where they will serve, and to set the hours during which they are available for service. The kind of “servant” Jesus calls you and me to be, by contrast, is more closely related to what we would call a “slave“: Someone whose whole life is consigned to meeting the needs of another, without picking and choosing the time or the place, without setting hours of availabilty, without any expectation of repayment. What does it take to get us to serve? What does it take to motivate you, to motivate me, to “get our hands dirty” and work in the life of another? It should take nothing more than the simple realization that “a need exists.” If it takes more than that, then I’m not being a real “servant” like Christ wants me to be. Instead, I’m just being farsighted!

How many times have you stepped over–literally, “stepped over”–a homeless person in order to get into a building? How many times have you been approached by someone asking for money for food, and you do the charade of fumbling in your pocket for a few seconds before shaking your head and saying, silently, “Sorry, I can’t help you”? How many times have you slipped quickly past migrant workers and their families at the store, despite the obvious fact that they need Jesus just as much as anyone else? How many times have you said you’ll do anything to further the work of the Kingdom of God in the world–and then looked the other way when that work came your way, up close and personal? If you’re serious–really serious–about the words of that song which say “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” then realize that where God is leading you might just be across the street into the life of someone with a real, immediate need.

Jesus is our example here–in word and in deed. He’s our example in word because of stories he told like the Parable of the Compassionate Samaritan, in Luke 10. Remember how the priest and the Levite saw the man in need, but passed over to the other side of the road and strolled on by? That was because they were farsighted: They knew from the study of their own chosen professions that (a) there were plenty of needy people in the world, and (b) that God’s people needed to be out there helping them; but the sight of a real need up close and personal scared them away! …especially in light of the fact that the individual with the need was not a little bit unsavory and unpleasant to them! Don’t ever make the mistake of juding the priest and the Levite in the story too harshly–for there’s a little bit (quite possibly a big bit) of that in every one of us. We know what God would like for us to do in that ideal situation, that perfect scenario, the one where we’ve got plenty of time and energy, and the other person is nice, clean, and able to repay us handsomely. But the situations of real life are seldom “ideal”; so we quickly make excuses; and we too “pass over to the other side of the road” and move on. The Samaritan, though, was the one who was truly willing to get involved. He was the one who realized that, if you’re really, really serious about being a compassionate bearer of the message of hope and fulfillment in Christ, then “you don’t have to go far” to find ways to get involved.

Jesus put this message into practice with his own life, too. In Mark 6:34, we read about how Jesus came ashore from the sea and was met by a great crowd; and Mark says that Jesus was “moved with compassion” toward them, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Some translations of the Bible say that Jesus simply “had compassion”; but it’s really more correct to say that Jesus was “moved with compassion.” For you see, it’s one thing to have compassion. When you watch television reports of families who have been displaced and rendered homeless by natural disaster, it’s easy to feel compassion. When you hear reports of people in your own community who are having a very difficult time of things because of financial hardship or physical problems, it’s not hard to feel compassion welling up within you. But how often are we truly moved by compassion: specifically, moved out of our own chairs and moved into the lives of those who have the needs? Remember, “you don’t have to go far” to find people who need the compassionate touch of a friend in their lives. If you were to allow yourself today to be “moved” by compassion, you could find yourself making a difference today in the life of someone else.

There are three things, then, that we really need to recognize about the needs of the world that lie around us. The first is what we’ve already talked about; that is, we must recognize how easy it is to reach out to those with such needs. It’s easy because “we don’t have to go far” to see the needs of the world; they lie all around us–possibly next door to you, or across the street; possibly in the halls of the office or bank where you spend your days, or behind the counters of the businesses you frequent each week. The needs are all around us if we simply have eyes to see. The second thing we need to recognize about the needs in the world is how essential is is to reach out when we see these needs. We’ve touched on that point, too; but for further advice we need only to look again at the words of our main passage, Matthew 25; with special attention to vv. 41-45. The earlier verses, vv. 35-40, present the happy side of the picture; that is, when we reach out to those in need, when we reach out with compassion and serve others, we are emulating our Lord Jesus Christ and doing his will. But the following verses present the other side of this picture: READ vv. 41-45. How essential is it that we reach out with compassion whenever human needs appear before us? According to these verses, it’s absolutely non-negotiable; any failure on my part to reach out and serve my fellow men and women in the world constitutes a denial of Christ’s Lordship and an absolute refusal to do his will!! …and furthermore, according to v. 46, I’m no better than those who never come to Christ for salvation at all! Quite simply, Christianity without service, Christianity without compassion, is hollow Christianity, a mere “shell” of faith that has no substance with which to answer the realities of this world!

In the spirit of the Boy Scouts: Have you done a good deed today?…

It’s easy, then, to reach out to the needs of the world. It’s essential that we do just that. And the third point is, we must recognize how extraordinary the reward is to those who show compassion in this way. Look once more at the verses we read initially, vv. 34-40. On one level, these verses challenge us to look all around us and see those who are hungry, thirsty, lonely, needing clothes or shelter, and to serve them; but on another level, this verse is a promise to all of God’s people that says, Take heart when you’re giving of yourself and seem to be getting nothing in return. Take heart when you’re serving, helping, reaching out, reaching in: Know that your reward is coming. V. 34: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you…” Who’s he talking to? Precisely the people who have been faithful in reaching out with compassion in these ways! There’s no greater reward in the Kingdom of Heaven than the reward that awaits those who have devoted their lives to reaching out with compassion to all those who are considered “least,” “little or nothing” in the eyes of this world.

You don’t have to go far to find ways to “give to the Lord” today. Look around your own life this morning; see what God might be leading you to do. Pray. Give. And go. Do it today.

But Larry never forgot about flying. And finally, one day in 1982, he decided to do something about his dream. He went on a little shopping excursion that day. His first stop was the local Sears store, where he bought a sturdy aluminum lawn chair. He then rode over to his local Army-Navy surplus store and bought a heavy-duty 50-foot cable and forty-five heavy-duty weather balloons. (Each of those balloons would measure six feet across when inflated.) Finally, he bought several tanks of helium.

With the help of several friends, Larry planned his “flight.” The next morning, one week before Christmas, after tethering his lawn chair securely to the ground and to his Jeep, he and his friends inflated the 45 balloons with helium and attached them to the lawn chair with the 50-foot cable. Then Larry gathered together some unusual “supplies”–a parachute, a large bottle of soda, a camera, a pellet gun, several gallon jugs filled with water, and a portable CB radio–and climbed aboard the lawn chair which he had now named “Inspiration One.”

You see, Larry’s plan was for the helium balloons to carry him slowly up into the Long Beach sky, to an altitude of a couple hundred feet, where he would drift around for awhile and enjoy the cool, crisp December air, take some photographs, and fulfill his dream. The gallon jugs of water were for ballast, to keep the craft steady; and Larry figured that, when he was ready to end his flight, he would use the pellet gun to pop the balloons, one at a time, until he started to drift down again. So, after securing himself in his Sears lawn chair, Larry signaled to his friends to release the tethers.

Minutes later, he was calling for help over his CB radio.

You see, instead of drifting up lazily into the air, Larry Walters streaked into the Los Angeles sky as if shot from a cannon. Instead of leveling out at a couple hundred feet, he continued to climb until he 16,000 feet–more than three miles–above the ground. Oh, he tried to do what he originally planned–shooting out some of the balloons with his pellet gun–but he only got through a couple of them before he lost his gun overboard. So there he was, scared and cold (even though December is mild in Los Angeles on the ground, it tends to be a little chilly three miles up in the air)–and, to make matters worse, he soon drifted into the approach corridor of Los Angeles International Airport. He was spotted first by a Delta pilot, and soon thereafter by a Trans World Airlines pilot; these pilots had the “interesting” task of radioing LAX and informing the tower of what they had seen. (The FAA would later try to bring charges against Larry for violating the Federal Aviation Act, but they weren’t really successful because they could never decide exactly which part of the Federal Aviation Act he’d broken.)

Well, anyway, after a couple of hours the helium in the balloons began to dissipate, and Larry’s contraption slowly floated down to earth–where his adventure continued, as he drifted right into a set of power lines, knocking out all the power in Long Beach for half an hour. The chair dangled some six feet above the ground, and Larry jumped down, and of course was promptly led off by law officers.

A reporter stepped in and asked Larry Walters, “Why did you do it?” His answer was a classic: “Well, you can’t just sit there, can you?”

“Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations and will settle the desolate towns.“

These words of Isaiah were written following the return of the Jewish people from exile. Years earlier, the nations of Israel and Judah had been overrun by the Babyonians and the Assyrians; the Jewish people had been uprooted from their own land, their standing as a strong nation (indeed, as a budding world power) had been knocked out from under them; and for many years, they lived in captivity.

Finally the people had now been allowed to return to their homeland. But the people of Israel and Judah needed encouragement–and lots of it. Long removed from the days when they enjoyed prosperity as God’s chosen, blessed nation, the Israelites had now endured conquest, captivity, and–in a word–darkness. The fearless days of the kingdoms of David and Solomon were long gone; now, fear seemed to pervade every decision the people made. Fear of making a mistake that would make their situation even worse. Fear of looking even sillier in the eyes of other nations who already saw them as defeated and helpless.

The people had returned to Jerusalem, their main city, after being released from captivity. But that was as far as they had gone. When the people had gone into exile years earlier, the result had been that most of the towns and villages were left abandoned. Gradually, over the years, those towns and villages had been taken over by squatters from neighboring nations. And, because of the fear which now pervaded their attitudes, the Jewish people had taken no steps toward reclaiming their land.

Yet God used the prophet Isaiah to call the people right out of their comfort zones, so that they might begin reclaiming their land! In these verses Isaiah uses a “tent” as an analogy for the remnant of Israel and Judah, what was left of the once-great nation; and in this passage Isaiah exhorts the people to enlarge and stretch out that tent! He encourages them to “not hold back” as they step out once again, reclaiming that fearless, we-are-more-than-conquerors attitude that the nation of Israel once enjoyed, and reclaiming their nation in the name of the Lord. For many years the Israelites had been worrying simply about survival. Here God encourages them to stop worrying so much about preservation and start thinking again about proclamation, so that their nation and their world might once again be ruled by the God of Heaven.

Do you have the same wish for your world? God is issuing the same challenge to us today. In a world where the church as a whole gets ridiculed and attacked, and where individual churches have to struggle to hold their own, God challenges us not to worry so much about preserving ourselves, but rather to be concerned with proclaiming our Savior so that our world and our nation might once again come under the rule of the God of Heaven. God is calling us to make sure we “don’t just sit there” while the opportunity to proclaim and present the light and the love of Christ to the lost world lies right before us!

William Carey is recognized by church historians as the founder of the modern missions movement. In 1792, he preached a sermon from this text in Isaiah 54 that God used to change the course of history for Christian missions in the world. William Carey was a cobbler by trade and a bivocational Baptist pastor in Moulton, England. So great was the burden that God had given William Carey for lost people around the world that he made a world globe out of leather in his shoe shope, and hung it up as a prayer reminder. Whenever he looked at it, he saw a dark world that could only be lit up by Jesus Christ.

As he worked on shoes and prayed over his homemade globe, God gave William Carey a dream of taking the light of Christ to the faraway country of India. He had no money or means to go, and there would be no one there in India to meet him or assist him. Yet it became increasingly clear that it was indeed God’s will for him to undertake this extraordinary challenge. Against incredible odds, and despite the admonitions of many friends and even fellow ministers to “forget all about it,” William Carey went before the annual Baptist pastor’s conference and appealed for their support in missions to India. He read the same text from Isaiah 54 that we just read: “Enlarge the site of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back … For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your descendants will possess the nations…” The theme of that message was: “Expect great things from God … Attempt great things for God.”

When William Carey preached, “Expect great things from God,” he told of his dream of “breaking forth on the right hand and on the left,” as the Scripture reads, and of thousands being saved and added to the kingdom of God. This was a dream of God being able to honor our willing efforts by bringing forth a harvest of new, redeemed souls into his kingdom, and by transforming human lives in an unparalleled way with the all-surpassing love of Jesus Christ.

And then, when Carey preached, “Attempt great things for God,” he shared his own willingness to take seriously the words of Isaiah, to “enlarge the place of his tent,” to refuse to “just sit there” and instead to go beyond the confines of his comfortable, familiar surroundings. He knew that a move to India would cost lots of money and stretch his resources and abilities to their limits, yet he insisted that “we must spare not” in our response to the Gospel call. He demonstrated what God meant when he spoke through Isaiah to the people to “enlarge the site of their tent” by enlarging the boundaries of “his world” and realizing that he had a responsibility to stand up, step outside of the familiar, and reach the unsaved people of India. He pleaded with the pastors and the churches in this way: “There’s a gold mine in India … I will go down into the mine, if you will hold the ropes.”

At first, the pastors opposed William Carey’s goals and rejected his plans. They seemed satisfied to do “church as usual.” But soon God changed their hearts. They and their churches eventually began to support the Careys until the conditions were right for them to set sail for India. Since then, literally thousands of missionaries have been sent around the world by churches being willing to “enlarge the site of their tent,” to look beyond their own backyards, their own familiar surroundings, and see the multitudes of lost people who need Jesus Christ’s light in their lives.

That dark leather globe which William Carey set up in his shoe shop is a fitting image for our world today as well. The world today is still very dark. Yet God still calls us today to “enlarge the site of our tent,” to “not hold back,” to claim God’s promise of “spreading us out to the right and to the left.” Just as God spoke to William Carey, leading him to expect great things and attempt great things, so also does He speak to us. He speaks to church leaders; He speaks to Sunday School classes; and, of course, He speaks to individual believers, regardless of age, gender, or social standing. God leads all of us to expect great things from Him, and to attempt great things for Him. We cannot “just sit there” while all the opportunities in the world to reach people with the Gospel flutter all around us.

If anything’s holding you back, it’s probably not laziness. It’s probably not a genuine lack of knowledge of any opportunities to reach out to people. If anything’s holding you back, it’s probably the fear of failure. The fear of taking a wrong step, making an ill-advised decision at some point, and looking foolish. You might be saying, “Larry Walters sure made a mess of things when he stepped out on a limb and tried to fly; and I just know that if I stop ‘just sitting here,’ and step out and do something new, something risky, I’ll also make a mess of things somehow.” Well, of course you will! At some point, all of us will. That’s the whole point of taking risks! It’s a very real possibility that, whenever we stand up and step out and reach out in a new way, we’ll overlook some detail or underestimate some obstacle and end up looking a bit silly. That can be scary. But Larry Walters decided that it was even scarier to think about the possibility of going all the way through his entire life without ever seeing his dream become a reality.

What scares you most? Does it scare you more to think about the possibility of taking a risk, reaching out in a new way with Christ’s love, and looking a bit foolish or awkward? Or, does it scare you more to think about the possibility of getting all the way to the other end of your life and realizing too late that you’ve literally passed up “all the opportunities in the world” God does grant dreams and visions to His people; chances are that you have some dream or some vision in your own mind about what you’d like to do for the Lord using your own gifts and your own situation. Does it scare you to think of the possibility of going all the way through your life without ever pursuing that dream?

Fear can paralyze us, if we’re not careful. Black Bart was a professional thief whose very name struck fear as he terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line. From San Francisco to new York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. Between 1875 and 1883 he robbed 29 different stagecoach crews. Amazingly, Bart did it all without firing a shot. Because a hood hid his face, no victim ever saw his face. He never took a hostage and was never trailed by a sheriff. Instead, Black Bart used fear to paralyze his victims. His sinister presence was enough to overwhelm the toughest stagecoach guard. The presence of fear can overwhelm us, too, if we’re not careful. It can hold us back from pursuing the dreams which God has given to us. Yet we must realize that plunging forward, while scary, is never as scary as the alternative, “just sitting there.”

Two explorers were on a jungle safari when suddenly a ferocious lion jumped in front of them. “Keep calm” the first explorer whispered. “Remember what we read in that book on wild animals? If you stand perfectly still and look the lion in the eye, he will turn and run.” “Sure,” replied and his companion. “You’ve read the book, and I’ve read the book. But has the lion read the book?” We, too, can convince ourselves that the way to deal with fear is to “just stand there,” or “just sit there.” What scares you most? Never messing up … or never trying?

There’s one dream that God has given to every single one of his children. It’s the dream Jesus presents to us in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go … into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them … teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” It’s the dream of personally bringing other men and women to a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ through your personal witness. Is fear holding you back from pursuing that dream today? Is there some other dream that God has tailor-made specifically for you which you’re also holding back from, out of fear, today? Will you decide today that you cannot, must not, “just sit there” any longer while the opportunity to “enlarge your tent,” spread your wings, “light your world,” lies before you today?