Faith (Romans 4.17-22)

As we were praying last Sunday afternoon, I felt that God directed me to a passage in Romans 4. It’s about Abraham and how God did amazing things in his life. It basically says at the lowest point in his life, at the moment when he felt more hopeless than any other, at the time when his outlook was most gloomy and bleak, something happened that turned his world around. I want to read the passage to you now.

[Abraham] is the father of us all. As it is written [in Genesis 17.5]: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him [in Genesis 15.5], “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Sometimes people say “I haven’t got very much faith,” or “I haven’t got a strong faith.” Have you ever said that? There have been times when I have felt like that especially when I have really big challenges before me. Some people say that they don’t have any faith at all.

But in fact, everyone has faith. Do you agree with that?

Think with me a moment…

· Some people have faith in themselves. They have incredible self-belief and assurance in their own abilities. We call that egoism.

· Some people have faith in human progress. They say that humanity is constantly evolving and improving. We are attaining an ever-increasingly sophisticated level. We call that secular humanism.

· Some people have faith in science and rational logic. They say that everything can be explained by scientific enquiry and some of them ridicule faith in God as childish and superstitious - like belief in Father Christmas and fairies. We call that atheism.

· Some people, believe it or not, have faith in politicians. This is usually strongest during an election campaign or when an election has just been won and optimism is high. Remember the wave of euphoria when Tony Blair and Barack Obama came to power. Look at them now. Faith in politicians usually morphs into cynicism.

Everyone has faith in something. The question is this; is your faith the right kind of faith?

The kind of faith the Bible talks about in Romans 4 is a particular type of faith. In Greek, the word translated “faith” basically means a conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God. A conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God.

There’s a story about a Baptist, a Catholic and an Anglican arriving at heaven's gate, and they ask if they can come in. Peter says, "Yes, you can come in if you can answer one question: I want to know who you think Jesus is."

So the Baptist says, "Well, Paul said in Ephesians 1 that Jesus is..." and Peter interrupts, "I didn't ask you what Paul thinks. I'm sorry but you can't come in."

The Catholic goes next, "Who is Jesus? Well, Papal encyclical of 1598, n°64b says that Jesus is..." and Peter stops him again, "Ah, ah, ah; I didn't ask you what the Pope thinks. Sorry, you can't come in."

So it's the Anglican's turn and he says, "I think that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God..." "Great!" says Peter, "you can come in!" Then the Anglican continues his sentence, "...but on the other hand..."

None of the three had a conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God.

In Romans 4 Abraham is called the father of all who believe. What does that mean? It’s a bit like calling a really bad pile up on the motorway “the mother of all road accidents.” It sort of means that Abraham is the epitome, the essence, the example par excellence of what faith is about.

A conviction about or a confidence in the truthfulness of God means having the kind of faith that God has. Did you know God has faith? Sounds a bit strange doesn’t it?

But when you read Romans 4.7 I think you’ll see what I mean.

Verse 17 talks about the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. That’s God’s faith. God calls into existence things that were not. That means that God speaks out, by faith, and something which didn’t exist, which wasn’t there, comes into being so it is there and does exist.

Let’s think about that for a moment. You could say that the chair you’re sitting on is red. Well, let’s say I call it green. If I did that you’d probably ignore me for a while, but when you realised I was serious, you’d probably get a bit annoyed and say, “Look, John, it’s a red chair. Don’t be silly.” And I could still say, “I don’t care what you think, I am telling you that I call it green, so it’s green.” You’d probably conclude that I needed a long lie down - and you’d be right.

That’s not faith. That’s folly. Faith isn’t the same as folly. But when God calls a red chair green, it is green. His word actually effects change.

Check that out. Remember Genesis 1? God says “Let there be light,” and instantly the universe is born in a spectacular bang. In a fraction of a second there are galaxies forming everywhere in a rapidly expanding cosmos and there really is light.

Here’s another example. In Matthew 8, Jesus looks at a leper, covered in sores and with skin flaking off in lumps, with dirty bandages holding disintegrating limbs together. But when Jesus says “Be clean, be healed” then instantly, by his powerful word, the leper’s skin becomes clean, soft, smooth and healthy.

God’s word, spoken in faith, effects change.

In the story referred to in Romans 4, Abraham, a nobody from a nowhere place at a nothing time in history, was getting on in years when God said these words to him,  

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

When God said that Abraham was 75 years old and his wife Sarah was decades beyond the menopause. And yet he believed that he would start a family with her and that that family would have many, many, many descendants.

What did that faith look like? Well, let me tell you a little story to show what it didn’t look like.

A young woman is introducing her new fiancé to her wealthy parents. After eating together, her father invites the young man to have a private chat.

“Now then,” he says, “what are your plans as you start out together?” The young man says “Well, I really want to go to Bible College for three years and study theology.”

So the father says, “That’s great, but what plans have you made about where you’re going to live so you can provide for my daughter a comfortable home?” “Oh,” he says, “I’ll be too busy studying the Word of God to go out to work, but we’ll live by faith. Don’t worry, God… will… provide.”

“I see,” says the father, “but how are you going to afford to do that if children come along?” “Oh, I haven’t thought about that, but I don’t think that will be a problem, God… will… provide.”

A little later his wife asks him what she thinks of their future son-in-law. “Well,” he says, “he’s got no job, he’s got no money and he thinks I’m God!”

The sort of faith God is looking for is not presumption based on vague hopes. God is looking for faith that is anchored and rooted in the promises of his Word.

Faith is not a feeling either. With Abraham, it wasn’t “I know, it might be nice to be a dad one day so I’m believing God for a miracle.” No, this was a measured, calculated response to a promise from God.

In Genesis 17.5 God says to him “I have made you a father of many nations.” It is interesting that God says “I have made you” because, at that time, his son had not yet been born or even conceived.

For God the promise is so certain, so sure, so guaranteed, that it was as if it had already happened. So Abraham believed. Three times in our short little passage it talks about the reliability and the trustworthiness of what God says.

So faith isn’t presumption. It’s not a feeling. It’s not a fantasy either. It says here that “Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old - and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.”

With faith you don’t close your eyes to the facts around you. You don’t go around saying, “I haven’t got cancer” when the doctor says you have. You don’t say, “My bank account is looking great” when your statement tells you that you’re overdrawn. It’s not mind over matter. It’s not fantasy. You face facts.

Think about an impossible situation in your life...

Julia was saying last week that she had three weeks to find £1,800 to attend a Christian children’s conference in the USA. She felt that God had spoken to her about going so she signed up in faith. She was settled, at peace, and just knew in her spirit that God would provide. Within a week, all the money she needed for travel, for lodgings, for food and for the conference fee had come in – and with no cake sales, bingo evenings, concerts, car washing, sponsored walks or any other kind of fundraising.

It started with a conviction from God, it continued with a step of faith, a practical action that built on what she believed and she was at complete peace about it.

What’s impossible in your life? Could it be about money? Or about a relationship? Or about a job? Or about a health issue? Or about a mess you’ve got yourself into?

The Yorkshire plumber and evangelist Smith Wigglesworth once made a vow to God that he would not sleep at night unless he had won a soul for Christ that day.

One night he couldn’t sleep at all – he just kept tossing and turning. Then it occurred to him that he hadn’t led anyone to Jesus that day, so he got dressed and went out into the night. After a while, he saw an alcoholic man so he walked up to him and spoke to him about Jesus. He told him that Christ has power to deliver men and women from the grip of addiction and the man fell on his knees and gave his heart to the Lord.

Wigglesworth went back home to bed and slept like a log!

But Smith Wigglesworth once said this “Great faith comes only from great fights, great testimonies only from great tests, and great triumphs only from great trials.”

Some of you may have heard of Tom Rees. He was an evangelist. And he was looking to buy a mansion near Tonbridge in Kent for a Christian conference centre. He saw a large house which was absolutely perfect for what he needed. He believed, in faith, that it was for him. He felt that God spoke to him about it and was settled at peace about it.

The owner was a man named Lyle, a sugar millionaire from the company Tate and Lyle. But Lyle held out for £10,000 more than Tom Rees could afford. So Tom Rees said "I can’t go any further" but Mr Lyle insisted on the sum in full.

So Tom went and prayed about it, and a short time later a farmer from Yorkshire with a small holding phoned and said "Tom, I feel the Lord has been saying you need some money." and Tom replied "Well I do but I’m quite sure it’s more than you could give me"

He knew that property prices are considerably higher in southern England than in the north. And the farmer said, "Well, how would a loan of £10,000 suit you?" And Tom said "That’s just what I need, but I didn’t think you were worth that, are you sure you can?" So the farmer said "Well my brother just died, the farm came down to me, and I’m prepared to lend you 10,000 from the sale of the farm. So Tom said again, it’s incredible it’s the exact sum needed to buy this house.

But a few days later the man rang and said "Tom, the loan is off." Tom said "Well thank you very much for considering it." And the man said, "No, I mean the loan is off because now it’s a gift." So Tom said, "But how? I mean, don’t you need the money?" The man said "my brother’s home has just been sold for £10,000 more than it was valued at. So I feel that’s a windfall from God and I’m going to give you it." So Tom said "How come the house sold for that much more than its value?"

So the farmer replied "Well it was sold to a large firm instead of a private individual so it was easier to get an inflated price." So Tom said "what commercial firm?" And the man said "Tate and Lyle!"

That’s how faith works. God speaks a promise. We hold on to that promise and we don’t let go until we see it accomplished.

“Great faith comes only from great fights, great testimonies only from great tests, and great triumphs only from great trials.”

I believe that God is speaking to us about the outreach to the parish in our vision.

I believe he has spoken to us about blessing the parish.

I believe he has spoken to us about a river of life flowing out from here.

I believe he has spoken to us about praying every Sunday at 5:00pm.

I believe he is saying to us that it is time to enter a season of growth and blessing.

You might say, “Well I can’t see much evidence of that yet.” Yeah? So what? What has that got to do with anything? How much evidence did Abraham have when he was 75 that he was ever going to have even one child, let alone a great multitude of descendants? Absolutely none. Seeing is not believing. Faith in the promise of God is believing.

Verse 19: Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Let’s pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, February 20th 2011

Grander Vision Living (Luke 5.1-11 and 27-32)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 4).  

Introduction

Three weeks ago, we began exploring a new paradigm for sharing faith. We asked the question, what if it was as simple as taking a “walk across the room?”

We were reminded that the single greatest gift we can offer the people around us, is an introduction to their creator and lover of their souls. We explored what it means to “live in 3D.” Develop friendships. Discover people’s stories and discerning appropriate next steps. These three things are what we think about, pray about, and act on when we’re in the Zone of the Unknown. It’s about taking things slowly, giving the other person space to open up and letting the Holy Spirit lead.

Then, last week, we looked at the power of story. How critical it is that we learn to tell God’s story and our own faith stories simply and non-threateningly.

I would guess that for some of us this series has been a wake-up call. Jane Harmer sent me in her 150 word faith story this week and said (and I quote with her permission) “This has been such a good exercise to do; it's moved me from being something of an avoider… to a more confident evangelist ready to share the life saving and heart transforming power of Jesus.” I expect others of us have been similarly impacted. But today I want to address the question, “How do we maintain the momentum?” How do we keep the fire burning so that instead of it being a one-off, this four-week series can serve as a catalyst for long-term change?

Let me try to answer that by taking you on a short fantasy holiday. Anyone in need of a break around here?

Imagine you are transported to the Bahamas. You find yourself all decked out in your snorkelling mask and fins and your swimsuit - which fits perfectly, ladies … this is an imaginary holiday remember!

Once in the water, you relax on your back, floating on the beautiful deep, blue ocean. The sun is high; the sky is cloudless, it’s 25 degrees.

There you are just taking in the serene, lapping of the waves … the bright rays of sunshine bouncing off the ocean’s surface … a bliss that you’ve never known before.

Is there anything wrong with this picture…?

Of course not! You have landed a free trip to a holiday paradise; it’s a beautiful day and you’re unwinding under the warm sun. Sounds good!

But what if I were to tell you that just under your back you were missing out on an unbelievable underwater universe, teeming with vibrant life? You finally put your mask and breathing tube on, roll onto your belly and dip your face into the water. Ahhh … can you feel that?

Where did all these fish come from? Wow! They are this close! Right before your eyes is a huge school of neon blue and yellow angelfish. There are starfish, reef sharks (they’re harmless) and green morays. The bright gold reef below you looks like it’s waving as its fingers reach up from the ocean floor.

The ocean floor! You can see all the way down! Has the water been this clear all this time?

This is life … from a different perspective … discovering that there’s much more than what appears on the surface. This is what I’d like to call “Grander Vision Living.”

I’d like to take a look at Luke chapter 5 perhaps from a point of view you haven’t considered before. I’d like to offer two observations … and an challenge.

We had the story read to us just now: the miraculous catch of fish. Can you just imagine how elated Peter, James, and John that morning? They’d never seen a haul like it! They’d never before had to call in reinforcements to gather in a catch - ever. The nets were tearing. The boat was sinking; it was so full of fish.

There’s nothing wrong with catching fish. But consider what Jesus said.

“Peter. James. John. So far, you have spent all your days as career fishermen. But what I’m inviting you to do - starting today - is to become fishers of men and women. Instead of investing your precious time and energy in catching six-inch fish, let’s go after the six-footers! I’m asking you to give up everything you have and everything you are for the sake of people’s souls. Come with me, and you’ll see what real living is all about!”

Here’s what I think is one of the most crucial aspects of Jesus’ teaching: the idea of small fish versus big fish.

Think about this with me. From the moment he arrived on the scene … all the way up until today, Jesus has been asking not only fishermen …
but businessmen
and bus drivers
and artists
and stay-at-home mums
and hairdressers
and health professionals
and kitchen chefs
and retail managers
and teachers… and all the rest - this one question: Are you going to invest your one and only life into pursuing small fish, or will you throw your net out in anticipation of catching the people-sized ones?

Have you settled for the lesser vision or are you going for the grander one? Here’s the first observation I want to make.

Observation 1) The Priority Is People

Jesus wanted these three career fishermen - as well as the fine people of All Saints’ Church - to understand that this life is all about people.

In Grander Vision Living, above everything else that calls for our attention, the number one priority is always people.

We take walks across rooms for people. Our goal is to care more about other people than about ourselves even if they look different to us, talk differently, act differently and so on.

You can either spend your life catching little fish or, by the grace of God, you can become fishers of men and women.

In Matthew 5:16, Jesus said, “Let your light shine before others in such a way that they may see your good works and then glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Let your light shine in such a way … Let me stop there. “In such a way” implies that there must be more than one way, doesn’t it?

I think what Jesus is saying is that we can choose whether our “light” will impact people or not.

• Our light will either shine on others and point them toward God, or
• We’ll keep it to ourselves, and in essence, as far as we are concerned, deny others the chance of knowing God.
“Make sure your light shines in such a way,” I think Jesus is saying, “so that people can come to know my Father because of how you treat them, how you prioritize them.”

“You can spend all your life catching those scaly, slithery sub aqua creatures and take them to market for a sale. It’s a perfectly acceptable occupation. But you could become fishers of men and women … concerning yourself not with cod and herring but with eternal destinies!”

Letting your light shine is not rocket science; it’s simply doing small things for the watching, waiting world around you.

Let me read a brief quote from Just Walk Across the Room that sums up this idea well.

“You don’t have to be any more talented, any richer, any slimmer, any smarter, any more or less of anything to partner with God. All you have to be is willing to be used by him in everyday ways.”

And when we all let our light shine in a way that lets the people around us know they matter, then the kingdom grows!

But that’s not all. Why is Jesus so concerned that we should get this the Grander Vision thing? Not only because this is how the kingdom grows, but also because this is how our souls become satisfied.

Jesus knows that if you and I build a lifestyle around accepting people, getting to know people, caring for people, serving people, listening to people, befriending people, exposing people to spiritual things … prioritizing people, we would never crave our old ways again.

Here’s how Bill Hybels explains how he’s come to think about this “people priority” in his own life. Let’s watch this brief video segment together.

Video Clip ...

“Never just means ‘no’ for now.” Isn’t that a good perspective to have when sharing your faith? It’s the second vital part of Grander Vision Living.

Observation 2) The Focus Is On Potential

Observation number two is that the focus is always on potential. It didn’t seem to matter to Jesus that his soon-to-be disciples’ first response to his commands was less than promising. Jesus asked them to put out their nets to catch some fish.

“But we’ve been fishing all night! And we’ve caught … nothing!” (By the way, how useless were these guys? Not once in the whole Bible do we ever hear of them catching one fish without Jesus doing a miracle).

But I think their insinuation was, “Who do you think you are? We’re the experts! We were the ones slogging it out all night at sea, while you were in bed counting sheep! And now you want us to take a lesson from you about fishing?”

These men were hardly challenging for the Obedient Disciple of the Year award. They weren’t the most promising candidates for the one and only Messiah’s inner circle. But Jesus saw what these guys could be like once they got hold of the Grander Vision.

This same ability to see beyond someone’s “no” or “never” and dream of them coming to Christ one day is what the video clip was alluding to just now.

To look past self-centeredness … and see the potential for serving
To look past rebelliousness … and see the potential for righteousness
To look past a quick temper … and see the potential for peacemaking

Aren’t you glad Jesus did this with you? I am.

We looked at our before-and-afters last week … I wonder, what was your “before” like? What was it that Christ looked beyond in your world to accept you and enfold you in grace?

Before I was a Christian, for example, I was pretty self-absorbed and self-seeking. God has removed the apathy and indifference I once felt toward other people, especially those of a different background to my own.

And this is just one example. I could give you dozens … all from my own personal life.

I hope we all approach people with the same eye for potential that we are so grateful God had for us.

Let me give you an example of what I’m talking about. Luke 5.27 says that Jesus went out one day, saw a tax collector sitting at his booth - someone obviously outside the family of faith - and said, “Follow me.” Why would a successful businessman ditch his career and tramp around with a itinerant rabbi?

Well, Matthew soon discovered that choosing the Grander Vision over lesser visions leads to wealth that the world only dreams of.

“Follow me!” And in a flash, that crooked tax collector left everything - including his open cash register - to go after Christ.

What did following Jesus mean to Matthew? Walking away from his comfortable routine … and his financial security. But what else did it mean? It meant that Matthew would be prizing - and prioritizing - the people he once swindled.

I promised you a challenge in addition to my two observations today. And here it is: start small!

The Challenge: Start Small … But Start!

When Matthew was newly converted he had a deep desire to expose his friends and family to the grace that he’d found in Jesus Christ.

He hadn’t had time for any official Evangelism for Beginners Course. But all of his old mates were sitting there in their tax-booths - where he had worked … just days ago.

Their lives would be so blessed by knowing Christ, but how do you go about it practically? There he stood in his new Circle of Comfort with Jesus and the other 11. And then, he decided what to do. You won’t believe what he decided to do!

Keep in mind that Matthew was a brand-new Christian. And remember that “giving” isn’t exactly a taxman’s natural impulse. He may not have had the whole Christian thing sorted yet. But Matthew was good at one thing: throwing parties!

Matthew hatched a plan to throw a party: a party where he could stick the old rat pack from the tax office in a room with his new Christian friends and just see if some of the good stuff might rub off on those who had yet to experience grace.

“What if a few of my new friends actually take a walk across my living room and stretch out a hand to my old colleagues?” thought Matthew. What if seeds are planted in minds and hearts? Wow! What if some actually come to faith as a result of one, simple party? That would be amazing!

As I read this fascinating story in Luke 5, here is what occurs to me: Matthew could have got so enamoured with how much of his own life was changing for the better that he just left everyone else behind. He could have ditched his old friends and clung to his new ones. Remember that place we visited four weeks ago, the “Circle of Comfort?”

But Matthew chose differently, didn’t he? He chose to see the potential in his tax-collecting friends … the same way Jesus had spotted potential in him. I mean, really, who would have given Matthew half a chance of ever coming to faith in Christ? Probably made the front page of the Capernaum Chronicle.

You might sum it up this way: Matthew knew that Jesus had chosen him for a purpose … a purpose that included more than his own salvation. A purpose that included being salt and light in his world. A purpose that centred around having a Grander Vision … by making people his priority and their potential his focus because people were the only thing he’d be taking with him to heaven one day. The same is true for us.

Can I share one story from Just Walk Across the Room that was especially impactful to me as I peeked ahead at this week’s reading?

Bill describes a time when he was sitting in a meeting and all of a sudden the speaker unfurled a roll of stickers in his hand.

“There is something we must all understand,” the speaker said as he walked along the front of the platform. Periodically, he would stop and put a red sticker on a tiny replica of a house, and a red sticker on a Hot Wheels car, and a red sticker on a dollhouse-sized desk that represented career pursuits.

“You may not be able to tell from where you’re sitting, but each red sticker has a single word on it,” he said. “The word is ‘temporary.’ And these things I’m putting them on are all temporary. They will fade away, turning cartwheels like leaves in the wind when this world ends.

“If you are living for these things, then you are living a life of temporary pleasure, temporary satisfaction, and temporary fulfilment.”

The speaker continued walking around the room, the audience now completely silent as he labelled everything in sight with red stickers. Bill watched the man’s hands declare the fate of the very best this world has to offer as those stickers made their way to the goods in front of everyone.

Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary. Temporary.

“There is only one thing in this room that is not temporary,” the speaker continued. “There is only one thing that you can take with you into the next world.”

He called someone up to join him on the stage, and he placed a blue sticker on her lapel. “When you get to the end of your life and take in your last breath,” he said, “what do you want your life to have been about?”

And in that moment, Bill says, his heart stilled as one thought stemmed all others in his mind.

It really is all about people, he thought.

He continued on in his thoughts: No earthly commodity is going to make it from this world into the next. Not land, not homes, not bank accounts, not titles, not achievements. Only souls.

Jesus taught that every human being will be resurrected to spend an eternity in community with God in heaven or in isolation from God in hell. And because Jesus understood these eternal realities, he focused his attention on the only thing that will extend into the next reality: people.

Ending

Will you opt into Grander Vision Living, or have you settled for your lesser visions?

The way I understand things, Jesus came to bring abundance … salvation … transformation … to anyone who will accept his way of living. He came to bring not tranquillity, but utter upheaval to the world!

And this, friends, is why we take walks across rooms … in order to share this beautiful upheaval with people who don’t yet have the hope or assurance of heaven.

What a magnificent gift we have to give a waiting world! The gift of a relationship with the One who is like no other. The One who saw faithful disciples in the smelly clothes of a band of fishermen. The One who saw a passionate follower in the booth of a wretched tax gatherer.

Here’s my challenge to you: throw a party!

What might happen if, as a congregation, each one of us threw a “Matthew party” before the summer holidays? Just put a few of your Christian friends in a space with some of your unconvinced friends … and trust God with the results.

Let me give you a few tips.

First, keep it simple. Your “Matthew party” does not have to be elaborate or expensive.

Next, do what makes sense for you. A barbecue, a bloke’s beer and curry night, or a fancy dress or a dinner party… think about what works best in your environment.

Finally, get the ratio right! Be sure there are fewer Christians at your “Matthew party” than nonbelievers … otherwise, your unbelieving friends will feel ganged up on and no one likes to feel like that.

Get into people’s lives, and trust the Holy Spirit to navigate. Once you start living the Grander Vision I don’t think you will never go back to little fish and small visions again.

Let’s stand to pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 13th February 2011

The Power of Story (Acts 26.1-32 and Luke 5.12-16)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 3). 

Introduction

Good morning! Is everybody awake? Is anybody awake? Good! Because we’re going to start with a little word association brain-stretcher.

Here’s what we’re going to do. I will say a word or phrase, and then you just tell the person sitting next to you the first thing that comes to mind. Your response can be anything… anything that comes to mind. But the key is to go quickly. You don’t give this a lot of thought. The idea is to capture what immediately comes to mind when prompted. Are you ready?

All right, here’s the first word …

Mona! …Any “Lisas” here today? Okay, so some of you are getting the hang of it. Are you ready for the next one? How about … FA Cup! … Ready for the next one? Holiday … And the next one; Diet … And the next one; Strictly … And the next one; Prime … And the last one; Born-again Christian …

Okay, let’s stop there for a moment. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could display everything that was said after “born-again Christian” appeared on the screen? Personally, I think the results would be fascinating.

And what do you think would happen if we showed the same screen to a hundred people who are not believers and have never set foot inside a church? If we said, “Do you know any born-again Christians? If so, what are they like? What are your general impressions of them?”

We might get quite a reaction, don’t you think? What if their perceptions included things like these:

“I’ve come across a few Christians, and the ones I know are … hmmm, how do I describe them … they’re … a bit intense … they need to loosen up a bit.”

Or “I don’t know any. They probably wouldn’t rub shoulders with the likes of me.”

Or what about … “I know one born-again Christian at work… No thanks!”

I hope those opinions are rare. But in just in case they are widely held views, why don’t we think of ways to reverse the trends and give the watching world something good to say about Christians.

I wish that whenever I asked someone to tell me what they think of the Christians they know, the first thought that would come to mind would be something like, “Christians? Can’t say it’s true for them all, but the ones I know are good, trustworthy people.”

Or “The Christians I’ve come across are just so kind!”

Or “Christians? They tell you the truth … they are always straight with you.”

Or “Christians? They have concern for the poor - no one cares for the disadvantaged like Christians do.”

And I wish that whenever Christians talked about their faith, they were clear and credible - and interesting. Am I alone in this or is this what you wish for too?

I hope your answer is yes. Because that is what we’re devoting our time to this week. Primarily, we want to answer two questions:

• How do we talk about God with clarity and passion?
• How can we share our personal faith stories in a way that’s both modest and engaging?

1) Stories Are Powerful

The power of story - and of words - is undeniable throughout the Bible. Let me remind you how supremely useful and supernaturally empowered, words can be.

Psalm 119:130 says that words can actually give light. They can give insight to those who don’t yet understand.

Proverbs 16:24 says that pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Isn’t that a beautiful image?

Ecclesiastes 10:12 says that although a fool is consumed by his own lips, the words from a wise person’s mouth are … gracious.

Deuteronomy 32:2 says words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

Humble words. Healing words. Grace-filled words. Aren’t these the types of words you want to speak and be known for?

If your closest friends or the family members who live under your roof were polled anonymously about this, would they say that in the course of normal, everyday life, you can be counted on to speak words of encouragement and grace?

Think about the last thing you said before you left for church today for example. Do you remember who you were talking to? Do you remember what you said?

Were the words you spoke life-giving and grace-filled? Or were they, well … not?

Interesting, isn’t it, that God allows such power to inhabit our words - for good and for ill? I think there are two areas where effective words could massively improve the way people see Christians:

1. The first area is how we talk about God … explaining who he is and what he does.

2. The second is how we explain our personal experience of God … the main thing he’s done in our lives.

What is God’s story? What is your story? And how can you tell them well? (So well that your listeners walk away saying, “Now that I understand! That I enjoyed listening to! That I long for in my own life!”)

2) God Has a Story - Learn to Tell It Well

Last week, we discovered that it’s important to focus on developing a friendship instead of just using people as an evangelistic project. It’s really important to discover the other person’s story instead of imposing your own agenda. And it’s absolutely critical to listen for the Spirit’s promptings about suitable steps you might take to meet a need for the person you’re talking with.

I have a hunch … I have a hunch that once you commit yourself to engaging with people, living in 3D, the whole bit - God is going to blow open some doors, spiritually speaking. He is going to give you opportunities to speak about him or tell someone how your faith journey started.

For example, Deb Hird shared this with me this week and I quote this with her permission:

“I had a kind of Just Walk Across the Room experience last week. I was steered out of my comfort zone in a conversation that ended up about faith, with a bloke whose standing with God has been a mystery to me! What I found amazing was how he told me his story, where he's at with God and the church and why he feels the way he does! Not only has God put me into this situation but he has blessed me with a conversation that has now inspired me as to what to pray about for this man. It was amazing that once this person started talking and I just listened, giving him my whole attention, his story just 'poured out' in conversation. Praise God for that 10 minute encounter out of my circle of comfort last week. I'm keen for the next one now! Bring it on!”

God has a story. A powerful story. And part of your job - and mine - is to learn to tell it well.

Let’s just test your current comfort level for telling this story.

What would you say if someone you know were to come to you today and say this: “You know, Joe (assuming your name is Joe), we’ve been friends for a long time. And you’ve been really good not to force your God-thing on me, even though you probably think my life would change hugely for the better if I’d give it a chance. Well, anyway, you could say things have gone a bit pear shaped in my life, and … well, I was thinking about maybe trying out church … Basically, it’s my last resort. So I just wonder if you could sort of explain the whole God thing to me.”

That is what we call, in sophisticated theological terms, a wide-open door.

Can you feel a lump forming in your throat, your shoulders tightening, your palms getting sweaty and your heart starting to thump?

There are many ways you could set about explaining God’s story. One is called “The Bridge” - some of you may be familiar with it. It’s simple, really, but it is an effective and visually compelling way to illustrate precisely what Jesus has done.

If ever you find yourself in a conversation where the person you’re talking to really does want to understand more about your faith, grab a piece of scrap paper and ask their permission to sketch this out. Here’s how it goes.

All right, for starters, we have to establish two realities: people and God.

Between people and God is a great chasm - a division that exists because of people’s inclination to prefer their ways to God’s ways. The Bible calls this chasm “sin.” The dilemma we face is that whenever we want to get to God we can’t just leap over the chasm. It’s too big. That’s why people often say that God seems far away.

So people try to build bridges. They try to be as good as they can be, donating money to charity, giving up chocolate, visiting an elderly neighbour or lighting a candle in a church. There’s nothing wrong with those things – but they just can’t get you to God. The chasm is too wide.

All the effort in the world is not enough to build a bridge that gets us to the other side. But thankfully, God saw our dilemma and he did something about it. Because he loves us so much, he provided a way of getting close to him. His solution was to send his Son, Jesus, to be the bridge.

If you remember nothing else about this illustration, remember this: Christ came to earth to be our bridge, and whoever makes the decision to cross the bridge will live with God forever. John 5:24 puts it this way, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”.

You may choose to use a different way to explain this, and that’s fine. But please find one, good explanation of who God is and what he has done, so that when someone asks you, you’re 100 percent ready to give a clear answer.

Whatever illustration you use, keep in mind the types of words we looked at earlier. Humble words. Healing words. Grace-filled words. Let your speech be well-seasoned with these things.

You are not responsible for transforming a human heart … that is the role of the Holy Spirit. But you are responsible, when prompted to do so, to open your mouth and give a loving, clear, and humble account of who God is, and what he’s done for the world in Christ. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.

1 Peter 3.15 puts it this way: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

3) You Have a Story – Learn to Tell It Well

Not only does God have a story, but you have a powerful story as well. And your job is to learn to tell it well!

Do you believe what I just said … that you have a powerful story to tell as well?

You do. If you have come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then you have a wonderful, inspirational story to tell. Here’s why that’s true … Regardless how old you were when you came to faith, hopefully grace and mercy and love have made a difference to your life.

Take the man from Luke 5 who once had leprosy. It says that “one day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, ‘If you want to, you can cleanse me.’ Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, ‘I want to. Be clean.’” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.

Can you visualize what that must have looked like? What do you think he told every single person who would listen from that point forward? “I was a leper, an outcast. But then I met Jesus! And now I’m totally and completely new.” How did he feel in the hours following his healing?

“This is unbelievable! Just this morning, my skin was so flaking off in lumps. But now look at it! It’s clean. It’s smooth. It’s healed! Everything about me was rotting, mouldy, diseased … but I’ve been recreated. It’s as if I were never sick! This is unreal. Where did my despair go? It’s vanished. Jesus fixed all of that. I want to live! I finally feel … alive.”

Do you see a before-and-after here?
I was sick. But now I’m well.
I was diseased. But now I’m healthy.
I was an outcast. But now I’m accepted.
I was defiled. But now I’m good as new.
I was tarnished. But now I’m clean.
I was left for dead. But now I have … a future.

But here’s the point: for the vast majority us here today, we also have a before and an after.

What were you like before you came to Christ? What was the experience of embracing faith in Jesus like? And what you are like now?

“I was striving … but now I’m grateful.”
“I was self-destructive … but now I’m healthy.”
“Guilty, but now liberated.”
“Fear-stricken, but now confident.”
“Despairing, and now hopeful!”

Your own before-and-after story doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. It just has to be clear, easy to understand and most of all… real.

1 Corinthians 14:9 says, “If you speak in a way no can one understand, what’s the point of opening your mouth?” I like the way God says it as it is.

So testimonies go wrong for several reasons. Firstly, when Christians just won’t shut up. They go on and on and on … and even when the victim who’s listening sends all sorts of warning signals of disinterest and irritation, they just keep wittering on. Please don’t bore people by talking too much!

Secondly, testimonies go wrong when Christians are fuzzy about their story’s main point. They get all tangled up in a dozen story lines and leave their listeners frustrated and confused. Please don’t bewilder people with tortuous details and rambling sidetracks!

Thirdly, testimonies go wrong when Christians pile on the jargon. Please don’t baffle people with language from Planet Zion or obscure Bible quotes that no one normal would understand. Like this exaggerated example… (25 second video exerpt)

And fourthly, testimonies go wrong when … please hear me on this … your testimony will derail, blow up, and leave a trail of smoke if you play the superiority card. If you claim you have your act together and the listener is somehow inferior to you, you’re heading for the ditch … and fast. Please don’t belittle people. Here’s a flesh creeper for you… (15 second video exerpt)

Closing

Yuck! If that posture is ever true of me, I hereby give you all permission to take me out the back and put me out of my misery.

Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do as a congregation this week: we’re going to write down our individual before-and-after faith story… in 150 words or less.

But wait, there’s more! If you’re thinking “I need somebody to read my testimony and give me some feedback” … then this is your lucky day!

Because not only do you have the opportunity to write it down but you also have the opportunity to email it to the address that’s up on the screen … and receive a candid thumbs-up or thumbs-down, courtesy of me! The address is also on the bottom of your pew sheet. There’ll be a box on Sandra’s desk over the next three weeks if you haven’t got e-mail.

How does that sound? Something brief, (no eighteen-page epics please), something clear and straightforward, jargon-free and humble. I am looking forward to hearing from you and I hope you have an open heart toward a little constructive feedback.

Wouldn’t you love to have a simple testimony, all ready to face the world, and to go and tell it confidently as often as God gives you opportunity?

Once again, can I encourage you to read chapters 6 to 8 of the book in order to apply this to your own life? There are some great examples of well-told faith stories, there’s more on the bridge illustration, there’s another one called the ladder illustration which is really good - and a lot more too. Karen Snowden was telling me on Friday how inspirational she found it those chapters. She gets extra points for doing the reading before the sermon! There are still a few copies available on the bookstall if you want to buy one.

We might not manage to reverse all of the negative perceptions that are out there about Christians, but we can do our part to ensure that as far as this church is concerned, we have our act together on God’s story and our story.

And I would love the people of this parish to say, “The Christians over there at All Saints’ - when they talk about God it’s actually really interesting. It’s crystal clear and, you know what, there’s zero cringe factor. And when they start to talk about what God has done in their lives … it’s amazing really, it makes you want to know more!”

Is that what you want too?

Let’s stand to pray…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 6th February 2011

Living in 3D (Acts 16.6-15 and Mark 3.1-6)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 2). 

Introduction

Last week, if you recall, we said that the single greatest gift we can give people is an introduction to the God who created them and loves them.

The reason we want to point people to faith is because this is what the father heart of God beats for. God gave the gift of his one and only Son so that lost people could become found people.

We talked last Sunday about being willing to enter the Zone of the Unknown; leaving our Circles of Comfort so as to engage with people we don’t yet know. We explored the art of listening for the Spirit’s promptings as we do this. It is vital to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit and not our own clever ideas.

And we saw that, at the need of the day, we need to just walk, remembering that Jesus too left the ultimate comfort zone of heaven to meet us where we are.

Today, I want to talk about what happens immediately after you decide to “just walk.” In other words, what should you be thinking about, praying about, and talking about in that Zone of the Unknown once you step into it? Because if you’re like me, deciding to “walk” is one thing. But knowing what to do once you’ve left your comfort zone is quite another.

I think these are valid questions for us all to ask: After I make the decision to walk across a room … what do I think about? What do I pray about? What do I say?

This week, we’ll explore what we’re going to call “Living in 3D.” It’s a framework for operating effectively (and perhaps over months and years) in the Zone of the Unknown.

1) Develop Friendships

Walk-across-the-room people live life in “3D.” What does that mean? It means that, first of all, they constantly look for ways to: Develop friendships.

If we’re going to reflect the Father’s heart, we need to make a habit of opening up new friendships. That is what Jesus did. And, since Christians are basically called to follow Jesus, this lies at the heart of being a true Christ-follower.

But there’s a problem here that I suspect that most of us will have encountered.

Let me see if I can explain what I mean with a story about an imaginary believer called Jane. Jane has been a Christian for ten years. She comes to Christ, is accepted and redeemed and filled with the Holy Spirit. She thinks it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to her.

She is buzzing. She has a newfound care and concern for people around her. She wants everyone to experience what she has discovered. And so she is highly motivated to encourage them on their own journeys of faith in Jesus.

Jane is walking with Christ … and experiencing a corresponding increase in her love and acceptance of the people whom Christ loves. All is just as it should be!

Over time, Jane sees some of her friends and family come to faith in Christ - the change she sees in their lives is simply astounding! These new believers and Jane start meeting with greater frequency, just to chat about how much they love the Lord … how much their zest for life has increased as a result of God’s grace.

But as time goes by, Jane’s life becomes almost completely absorbed by her Christian friends. That part’s good … I suppose … except that Jane no longer feels that initial enthusiasm she had for sharing Christ with her unconvinced friends … mostly because there aren’t any left in her warm, safe Circle of Comfort.

Jane is still walking with Christ. But simultaneously, her love for others who do not yet know God declines. Seems hard to believe, doesn’t it - that this could happen in the life of someone who is maturing in her faith in Jesus?

If you think about it, this is what makes the Circle of Comfort so comfortable. All of us find it easy to love some people - maybe a soul mate or a spouse or friends at church. As soon as we see them, our initial emotion is warm. We love spending time with them. Our faces break into a smile when they come to mind.

Almost every human being has a loving heart toward some people. But almost every human being also has a secret list of people they just can’t stand.

It might be a business partner who took some of your money and broke up your partnership twenty years ago. It might be an ex who walked out on you. It might be someone who wounded you with harsh and unfair words. You might have really sound reasons for not liking a certain number of people.

We don’t talk about this very often because it’s uncomfortable. But it remains true: some of us have a mental “list” … and on that list are the names of people we wish we could put on a ship headed permanently out to sea.

But my firm belief is that unless Christians are determined to eradicate this from their lives, they will fear and avoid the Zone of the Unknown.

Developing friendships means acting on an impulse of the Christian heart that says, “Whoever you are, whatever you have done, whatever you believe life is all about … I’m open to accepting you, understanding you, journeying with you.”

That’s where it all begins.

No question, lots of us Christians are growing in Bible knowledge, in worship, in character, in serving, in giving. All the research shows that. But how much are you growing in your capacity to simply accept and welcome whoever is standing on the other side of the room?

Developing friendships. This is where living in 3D must begin. Once you are willing to view every interaction as the first step in developing a new, God-honouring friendship, you will find that some interesting doors open up.

Look at our first reading from Acts 16. It just so happened that Paul and his companions walked over to a group of women who were meeting together in a certain place and got talking with them. They had already spent several days in that place and had probably spoken with many people. But that deliberate, intentional walk along a riverbank and conversation with Lydia was how the church got started in Philippi.

I was thinking about the growth of the church in the Acts of the Apostles this week. Every now and then Luke gives a progress update like in Acts 5.14: “More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” And Acts 6.7: “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” And Acts 9.31: “Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria… was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.”

On each occasion that didn’t just happen on its own. Each time it was the cumulative effect of dozens of ordinary Christians leaving their circles of comfort, entering the Zone of the Unknown and developing friendships.

2) Discover Stories

If you live life in “3D”, you are constantly watching for ways to:

• Develop friendships … in order to
• Discover stories

When Kathie and I were first married and living in London, we got a letter from a friend of a friend of a friend called Gillian. We didn’t know her at all. It turned out she was an 18 year-old student who had been accepted to do three month’s work experience at the Ritz Hotel. Would we be able to put her up during that time?

We agreed that we would. Gillian was not a Christian and her values were a bit different to ours but we decided not to judge her or make comments about her choices but just accept her as she was, take a real interest in her and in what she was doing and live our Christian life as authentically as we could.

Over the time she was with us, unknown to us, she had borrowed a book off our shelves and had started reading it. It was called “Basic Christianity” by John Stott. By the end of her stay with us she had prayed the prayer at the end of the book and given her heart to Christ. In her last week with us she burst out “I’ve become a Christian, thank you so much!” We were startled. I can’t really remember ever really having a proper evangelistic conversation with her.

This story intrigues me because there have been many times in my life where I’ve been around someone for weeks or months or even years, and things always seemed to stay at a superficial level.

But if you take time to discover another person’s story … if you neither hide nor push your Christian faith, often the other person opens up about their heartfelt needs when the time is right.

If you are looking at me with glazed eyes, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, maybe it’s because you haven’t stepped outside your Circle of Comfort for a long, long time.

If that’s you, you really need to strike up a relationship with someone who is far from God and start getting to know their story, start praying for them.

Reconnect with the real world. Take an interest in someone who may be just waiting for someone to care. See what God might do.

Discover stories. Discover stories of people far from God who may be one prayer away from encountering the God you know. Be the one person in their world who takes a real interest in their story so that you will know how best to serve them … which leads us to our third “D.”

3) Discern Next Steps

Walk-across-the-room people live life in “3D”. They constantly look for ways to:

• Develop friendships in order to
• Discover stories then
• Discern appropriate next steps

Once you’ve risked walking across a room to stick out a hand of friendship and spent time unearthing what another person’s journey has been like so far, the best thing you can do is look for the nudgings of the Holy Spirit. During every single second of your conversation with the other person, simultaneously ask the Holy Spirit for direction, for guidance, for insight, for wisdom, for creative ideas, for appropriate next steps to take.

Ask! I need badly to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance and inspiration when I’m in the Zone of the Unknown. If left to my own devices I will completely foul it up.

I once asked a woman how many months pregnant she was. She was not pregnant, just overweight. That was not inspired by the Holy Spirit. Nicky Gumbel tells about the time he wanted to persuade a young woman of her spiritual need. “Hi” he said. “You look terrible. You really need Jesus!” That was not inspired either.

I want to show you a short clip that illustrates well this idea of taking appropriate next steps. Meet Dave, from Bill Hybels’ sailing crew; a man who knows what it was like to have someone take appropriate next steps in his life. See if you can notice any appropriate next steps…

If you are using the material in your home group, you’ll get to see the whole story of an 8-year journey towards faith and how each step along the way was negotiated.

In the video clip, Bill took several “next steps” in the life of his friend Dave - steps that added up over time and led to changes in Dave’s outlook.

What about simply asking about Dave’s week? Asking about his wife, Beth. Asking about his work. That simple step honoured Dave. It made him feel accepted and cared for. It opened the door for further dialogue because Dave didn’t feel threatened or intimidated by the nature of the conversation.

Or what about giving Dave a copy of a book? Not everyone you know would appreciate this exact book. But they might be helped by a book. That simple step was exactly what Dave needed, at that time, in order to process the questions he had about science and faith. And because Bill was staying tuned into the Spirit … and tuned into Dave’s needs, was able to supply that need.

How about telling Dave that he was going to pray for him every day that week? There’s power in a commitment like that.

I want us to spend a few moments thinking about some of the “next steps” that helped us come to understand God’s grace-filled love for us. In other words, the “next steps” that really mattered to you!

Perhaps someone lent you a book or a DVD or a worship CD? Maybe they offered to pray for you – or with you. It might be someone’s act of kindness at a difficult time in your life. Possibly somebody invited you to their home for a meal and you were touched by the Christian welcome or to a church service that blew your mind. Perhaps someone challenged you to give them a reason why not believing in God was better than believing in him? Maybe you can think of different things.

You’ll never believe this but the truth is that, for me, a nun called Sister Anna coming into my bedroom at 11:00pm and winking were absolutely key “next steps” in me giving my life to Christ at the age of 17. God does indeed move in mysterious ways! If you want to know more about that you can ask me afterwards…

Closing

Our Gospel story in Mark chapter 3 about a man with a withered hand says that Jesus was preparing to teach in the synagogue one day when the Pharisees had an idea. They were upset with Jesus and so they started plotting for how they might catch him out on a Sabbath technicality, which was an absolute no-no in those days. You weren’t supposed to work at all on the Sabbath, no exceptions including, it seems, healing injured people.

The Pharisees drag this poor guy with a shrunken hand into the synagogue and then stand back to see if Jesus will take the bait. Think for a moment what this handicap means. He cannot work. He cannot write or draw. He cannot embrace his wife or hold his children. He cannot shave, bathe, get dressed or relieve himself with dignity. Try living with a hand tied behind your back for a day and you’ll see how frustrated you become.

Jesus sees these religious leaders standing in front of him and just gets irate.

The text from The Message paraphrase says he was angry and “furious at their hard-nosed religion.” He couldn’t believe that they were putting their rigid laws above showing love to someone in need.

Jesus makes no apologies as he asks the crippled man to step forward and receive his healing. He can’t not heal the man. Jesus’ whole mission is about healing people and making them whole again.

And if there’s one thing I want to leave you with today it is this: You have the profound privilege of reaching the people around you with the same extraordinary love and irrepressible acceptance that Jesus himself showed wherever he went.

The same extraordinary love that was extended to you at some point along the way, if you are a follower of Christ.

Just take a look at all of the evidence right here this morning. All of us were spiritually withered in one way or another when people around us chose to take a “next step” or two and help move us a bit closer to God.

Here’s what I want you to remember: We are surrounded by people with withered hearts and withered minds and withered bodies, people with withered dreams and withered hope. I wonder if perhaps God will use you to start to bring healing to them in the next few weeks.

I want to encourage those of you who have the book to read the next section before next Sunday. You will get so much more out of this series if you do.

A new week is about to unfold in your life and in mine. And like all new weeks, we can choose to invest it in things that glorify and satisfy us … or we can choose to invest it in things that glorify and satisfy God. Here’s my challenge to you … my challenge to me.

This week, let’s “live in 3D”:

• Develop friendships … with all sorts of people, withered in all sorts of ways
• Discover stories … remembering to keep the focus on the other person
• Discern next steps … letting the Spirit guide our every action

This week, let’s be alert to the Spirit’s promptings, asking him to lead us toward the people with whom we’re supposed to build bridges of friendship.

Your prayer - “lead me, Holy Spirit” - is so vital! Wherever it takes you, if you choose to be obedient to God’s leading, I think you’ll look back on your week and say, “That was seven days well-lived.”

Let’s stand to pray...


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 30th January 2011

The Single Greatest Gift (Philippians 2.5-11 and John 4.4-42)

This is my adaptation of Bill Hybels' teaching series "Just Walk Across the Room" (week 1).

Introduction

If you’re a Christian, isn’t what you want most to touch the lives of the people you know - the people you love - who are far from God?

Sharing your faith should be as simple as taking a walk across a room. And that is something we can all do, isn’t it?

This “just walk across the room” metaphor comes from a true story about one person who was living really far from God until one day, his entire world got upended because a Christian touched his life by walking across a room and starting a conversation with him. You can read about that in chapter 1 of the book. It’s an amazing and exciting story.

The single greatest gift Christians can give to the people around them is an introduction to the God who created them, who loves them, and who has a purpose for heir lives. 

This is what sharing faith is: it’s watching for ways to give this single greatest gift to someone else. Today, we are going to try to understand how God can use us to do that. What does it take in order for us to give this “single greatest gift” to someone we know?

1) Enter the Zone of the Unknown

Think about this with me for a moment. A Christian in a social setting is standing in a conversational “Circle of Comfort.” It is easy and unthreatening. There is every reason to continue talking in that little circle. You have been in situations like that haven’t you? Across the room you notice someone standing alone, who needs a little encouragement or friendship.

Something inside you says, “What if you went over and extended a hand of friendship on the other side of the room?”

You see the situation. You sense a prompting - apparently from the Holy Spirit. Then you actually say to the people in your Circle of Comfort, “Excuse me a minute.”

Now remember, you have no idea what is going to happen once you cross the room and greet this stranger. You don’t know what the reaction will be. But once you have left your Circle of Comfort there’s no turning back.

And so you walk … inwardly praying every step of the way. You walk all the way across and enter what we’re going to call the “Zone of the Unknown.” Have you ever been there - the Zone of the Unknown? It’s where God often does his best work! Here’s the question I want us all to ponder: what would happen if we were all to enter the Zone of the Unknown more often?

Is it possible that we could actually impact someone’s eternal destiny and even that of their family?

I took some time to read through the book this week, and here’s a quote that should stop all of us in our tracks: “The day Christians like you and me stop taking walks across rooms in this manner, the day we stay glued to our Circles of Comfort, refuse to make the walk, refuse to enter the Zone of the Unknown … the day Christians like you and me stop doing that sort of stuff, it is lights out for the kingdom of God here on earth. It is the beginning of the end of redemptive history. It’s the slow defeat of the church - the bride of Christ. It’s the end of the dream of Christ that people on earth would come to know him.”

If you’re a living, breathing Christian, then the Holy Spirit is asking you to walk. He’s asking me to walk. He’s asking us to make a difference in the lives of the people we see each and every day! At work. In social settings. At the gym. At our kid’s football game. Wherever. Whenever.

If you’ve submitted your life to Christ but wonder why you’re not surging ahead in your spiritual development or your spiritual maturity, could it be that, for too long now, you have clung to your Circle of Comfort, and avoided that Zone of the Unknown?

If you have made the choice to follow Christ - if you have found him to be truth, if you have found what the Bible says to be truth - then why would you - why would any of us - think that other people wouldn’t be interested in knowing about what we have discovered to be the most life-changing, heart-stimulating, eternity-altering encounter of our lives?

2) Listen for the Holy Spirit’s Promptings

In order for us to be effective in the Zone of the Unknown, we need to learn to listen to the Spirit’s promptings every step of the way.

Before you get the wrong idea about what this looks like, let me tell you that being available to the Holy Spirit doesn’t always work out the way you think it might. Sometimes we hear about these evangelist types who travel abroad and on their journey they lead everyone they come across to Christ - the taxi driver, the airline agent, the flight attendants, the poor victim sitting next to them on the plane, the family across the aisle - the whole plane becomes a church before they land! Stories like that make us feel like we’ll never measure up don’t they? But it’s actually possible for ordinary people to do this.

About two years ago, when Benjamin was at Preston Primary, I noticed someone new waiting at the school gate. She was always on her own and seemed to know anybody at all. After a few days I felt prompted to just walk across the playground, offer a hand of friendship and welcome her to the area.

It turned out that her name was Sohini. What I discovered was that Wendy and Kathie had already walked across the playground when they were waiting for the children on other days. She was surrounded by Christians! Soon after, she brought her son along to Fuse.

A few months later I invited her to do the Alpha course and she said “no.” But a few months after that I invited her to do the Journeys Course with her husband and they said “yes.” They loved Journeys and it really helped them think more deeply about faith. Then Sohini said she was interested in the Bible so Kathie and I bought her one. When we gave it to her, her face lit up! By that time she’d got to know Julia as well and was volunteering as a helper at Fuse. Every time she came she just drank in what Julia was saying about Jesus. Recently, she has started to come to the Wednesday Communion service and this week, for the first time, she called herself a Christian. Praise God! But if Wendy, Kathie, Julia and I hadn’t left our Circle of Comfort and followed the prompting of the Spirit I wonder if it ever would have happened. I asked Sohini if I could tell her story today and she agreed very enthusiastically.

The key is this: fundamentally, being walk-across-the-room people means that we walk when the Spirit prompts us and we don’t walk when the Spirit says not to. Frankly, it’s what keeps the edge and the adventure in the Christian life.

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said this about his followers: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.”

You’ve got to have savour. You’ve got to be enthusiastic about the Lord. But, more than that, salt needs to be where the food is. I can be the strongest, most salty salt the world has ever seen but salt is useless unless it actually gets on the meat! I won’t make any impact unless I get close to the people who need Jesus.

Based on the law of averages, there are some of you sitting here this morning who are thinking, “I agree with this. But I think this is for spiritual superstars. I don’t have the right training, the right skills or enough confidence. I don’t have a quick mind or a way with people.”And if you’re in that camp, I understand you. I know what it is like to walk across the room and think, “I’ll be so glad when this is over.”

I dread the Zone of the Unknown. I get nervous inside when a normal conversation shifts gear into spiritual territory. But I want to grow old with no regrets. I’ve said this before but I’d much rather spend my life being scared than bored. In the Zone of the Unknown I’m scared. In the Circle of Comfort I’m bored.

I want to walk by faith and not by sight. There is something a lot like Jesus that is going on in you and in me when we leave a Circle of Comfort and take that faith-walk across the room and reach out a hand.

Last Sunday night I had a sensation in my left shoulder as I was praying and I just had a hunch that God was saying someone had pain in that part of their body and that he wanted to heal it. So I said so in the 6:30pm service. At the end of the service, someone came forward who I have never seen ask for prayer ministry.

And she said, I’ve had a pain in my shoulder for about 15 years and the doctors can’t do anything. Last night it was particularly painful. We prayed and she said it started to twitch and feel strange. So we guessed that might be God a work. We kept praying and blessing what God was doing. She looked astonished, saying the pain was completely gone. What is true in prayer ministry is surely true for personal evangelism. As we tune into the whispers of the Holy Spirit and step out in faith God will lead us into the exciting things that he's doing. 

This is something anyone can do. You can learn this. You can be equipped for this. You can become more effective at sharing your faith.

But, bottom line, what’s the reason we want to get better at all this?

3) Just Walk!

Romans 5.8 is familiar to some of you. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Let me push the Pause button here for just a moment.

I spent some time this last week reflecting on what this reality means in my own life … God took hold of me as an annoying, self-centred, slightly geeky 17 year-old, wondering if I’d ever find a job, despairing that I’d ever find a girlfriend, (everyone else probably wondering if I’d ever get a life!) and God extended grace to me through Jesus Christ. He took hold of me and changed my life forever.

And how was it that Jesus demonstrated the love of the Father? What was the radical move he made to prove to you and me that he really does love each one of us? He took a walk.

The verses from Philippians you see on the screen say that at a specific point in history Jesus left the ultimate Circle of Comfort - heaven itself - walked across the universe and reached out his saving hand to people like us. And because of that one walk, humankind was able to be saved and secured in the family of God forever.

Every person who has ever inhaled air has been (or is) in dire need of being rescued.

And these days - right here in our everyday lives - what God tries to do with us between now and heaven is to say, “What I did, leaving that circle, making that trip and reaching out to you… is what I want you to do. I want this to be characteristic of my followers whenever I give them opportunity to do so.”

If you will stay open, with an eye focused on people and an ear tuned to God’s whisper, I think you will be amazed by what unfolds.

God says to us all today, “I am going to ask you to walk across the street; across a restaurant; across an office... I am going to ask you to take that walk, leave whatever Circle of Comfort you are in and enter the unknown - and then something exciting is going to happen. That is what I want you to do.”

And that’s the third point: Just walk!

Why? Because Jesus “just walked” for you. For me. For us. And for every, single person on planet Earth today.

This is why we’re setting aside an entire month of our calendar to this. Our vision is that every home in our parish will know we are a vibrant Christian community ready to pray for them serve them and lead them to Jesus. That’s why we’re doing this.

So that we can all get better about hearing the Spirit’s promptings, but also so that we will start taking action with a sense of confidence … and in the process, become more like Jesus!

One of the most dramatic occurrences of Jesus taking action in this way is found in John 4. Jesus and his disciples had been travelling all day and had come to a well.

It’s the middle of the day, and these men are hot, hungry, and thirsty. They see a woman standing by the nearby well. We learn later that she had been through five divorces and that she was now living with someone unmarried. In highly-spiritual terms, that’s what you call having a lot of tread worn off your tyres.

Make a note to take a closer look at this story this week - again. When you review it, you’ll notice that all thirteen men - Jesus plus his twelve disciples - come up to Jacob’s well. The disciples size this woman up, think she’s not the kind of company they want to be seen with and head off somewhere else for lunch.

Jesus turns around, sees the woman, and simply walks from one side of the well forecourt to the other - which catches the woman off guard.

Because of the customs in that region, she’s not expecting him to have anything to do with her. In their society, Jesus wasn’t just walking across a typical “room” - he was walking through barriers of gender, race, culture and religion.

Because of her lifestyle, this woman would’ve been labelled a “sinner” by the religious establishment. She was a Samaritan. Most Jews wouldn’t have walked through this town because they believed they would have become “unclean.”

But despite all of the protocol and sensitivities, Jesus left his Circle of Comfort anyway.

Moreover, he directs the conversation from the everyday topic of drawing a cup of water from the well to something much deeper … “living water,” and this catalyzes her eventually coming to faith.

The text says that she leaves her basin, runs into town, and drags half of her friends and neighbours out, telling them that they just have to come meet this man who knew all about her past but who accepted her and showed her… grace.

And for the next two days everyone listens to Jesus teach. It says in the text that many people from the town crossed the line of faith and joined God’s family during that timeframe. All because one man took a walk across a room - okay, a well forecourt - to reach out to someone living far from God.

But here’s the picture I want to leave with you from this story: Imagine fifteen or twenty years later when all these people’s kids and grandchildren are sitting around enjoying the beauty of Christian community.

Imagine that they begin to tell stories about where their faith journey began. One of them says … “How did all of this start?”

I know that, like the disciples, we can be tempted into staying in our safe circles. We too can make a habit of rushing off to our lunch appointments or family gatherings instead of engaging with the people standing in front of us. But hopefully, the longer we keep company with Jesus, the more our eyes will be opened to seeing the things that he sees; people around us who need love, friendship, community … and hope.

Ending

As we close, I want you to think about how you ended up as a Christian. I want you to think about how some of your friends did. Almost every Christian I know can think of somebody - it might have been a mum or a dad, it might have been a colleague or a teacher, it might have been a friend or a neighbour - who walked across a room for them.

And so if you are a Christian, then probably someone took a risk for you along the way and did something that interested you in the possibility of knowing the love of God and the opportunity to be freed from your sins.

If this is true for you, thank God today for the person who “took a walk” to hand you the single greatest gift you’d ever receive in your entire life.

I hope you’ll become the kind of person for whom others will thank God at times like this.

I close by reminding you that, if you want to get the most out of this teaching series, you have an assignment this week to read the Introduction and chapters 1 and 2 of the book. There are still copies available from the bookstall and in the library to borrow.

Those who actually do the reading were probably the ones in school who asked the teacher for more homework! I know that. But if you do the reading you will become better at all this than if don’t.

Over the next three weeks, we are going to get very practical. We will learn in detail how to excuse ourselves from our Circle of Comfort. We’ll learn to look across whatever room we are in and open our eyes and use our ears and discern from the Holy Spirit if there is someone on the other side that God is drawing our attention to.

If you’re in a home group and your group has decided to use the material offered you will get even more out of this. Our staff team are doing this as a group over the next four weeks.

And as we learn together I offer you a few predictions about the month ahead:
• Firstly: we will all grow in our relationship with Christ.
• Secondly: those looking at this in groups will grow in relationship with one other.
• Thirdly, we will get better at pointing people to faith.
• And finally, we will have an absolute ball doing it!

Let’s stand for the closing prayer…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 23rd January 2011

How to Win the Biggest Prize (Matthew 13.44-46)

Introduction

Jesus used just 66 words to tell a couple of complete stories.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.” “When he found one of great value” says Jesus, “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

A Twitter tweet can have a maximum of 140 characters. The story of the treasure hidden in a field has 125 characters and the story of the pearl has 128.

Jesus tweeted. Or at least he could have done.

The two short stories are quite similar. Both feature a man. Both men discover something of great worth. Both appreciate the enormous value of their discovery. Both are willing to pay whatever it takes to obtain what they had found. And both end up giving everything they have to possess their prize.

But there’s one big difference. Did you spot it?

In the first story, the man stumbled across his find by chance. But in the second one he was actively searching for pearls when he found a truly exceptional one.


Treasure in a Field

Sometimes you make a spiritual discovery out of the blue. You weren’t looking for anything – but suddenly the answer to all your longings is staring at you in the face.

CS Lewis, who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia had an experience just like that. He wrote a book called Surprised by Joy about how he went from Atheism to being a Christ follower almost overnight and with little warning.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

Notice what the man thought his discovery of treasure was worth. To him, it was worth more than “all he had” because that is what he traded to get hold of it.

The Cullinan diamond is the largest ever found and is worth about $400 million. How excited you would be if you were digging around in your garden and you found a gem bigger than the Cullinan diamond?

Listen, being a Christian isn’t just a lifestyle choice. Some people like to go the gym, others collect beer mats, others spend time on the allotment and still others call themselves Christians and go to church.

No, no it’s not like that. Following Jesus is not a hobby. It affects everything you do because it changes the very heart of who you are. Jesus becomes the most important thing about you. He redefines all your values. He turns your life upside down and pulls it inside out.

Jesus said that the man who finds the treasure “in his joy he goes and sells everything that he has.” I’ve looked up that word “everything.” It means everything.

This man doesn’t just sell all he has; he does so with joy. No regrets. He doesn’t complain about the sacrifice he has to make. In fact, he probably doesn’t even consider it a hardship. He gives a lot for the field, but he gets so much more in return. What a discovery!


The Pearl of Great Price

But for others, becoming a Christian is not a chance discovery, but the conclusion to a long search.

Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.” He’s looking out for something truly exceptional.

He’s got a magnificent collection.

“Here it is; my pride and joy” he says. “My whole life I’ve built up this portfolio of precious pearls. It has become one of the world’s most valuable collections.

And he starts to give a little presentation of his collection. “This one,” he says, “is where it all started. It was handed down to me by my great, great grandfather the day I was born. It’s been in the family for generations.

“This one was given to me by my mother on her deathbed; she pressed it into my palm, smiled, and then breathed her last. I was just a boy when she died. It is only worth about £2,000 but it has incalculable sentimental value.”

And he continues to show you dozens of pearls on velvet cushions; of all sizes, some perfectly round, some more milky white than others – some with a silvery sheen… He is a pearl nerd. He could bore you for hours.

“This one has a strange glittery shine on it. That’s because it was subjected to great heat (perhaps from an underwater volcano) when it was being formed. It’s the only one like it in the U.K.

“Here’s one that was recovered from a locked safe on board the Titanic. For insurance reasons I’m not allowed to tell you what it’s worth.

“This one was given to me as a retirement present from my work colleagues. For 30 years I worked with those guys – happy days.

“This string of pearls are my wife’s favourite; it was worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang for President Kennedy. I bought that one for £2 million in an auction.

And so he goes on…

One day, his broker calls. A new and rare pearl has come on to the market. In fact, it is not just rare, it is utterly unique. It’s the size of a golf ball, it has an incredible, pure shiny hue, it reflects light in the most glorious ways and it surpasses everything else in his collection.

“When he found one of great value” says Jesus, “he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.”

Why is a pearl especially fitting as a symbol of the kingdom of God? What do you think? I think it’s because it is the only gem that cannot be improved by human craftsmanship. God’s kingdom, like a pearl, is conceived, designed, created and perfected by God from beginning to end.

Think about it. All other gemstones have to be cut and honed by skilled artisans before they have any beauty. But a pearl is flawless when it is found and it can’t be improved by cutting. In fact, once cut by a human hand a pearl is worthless.

Any human attempts to try to improve the kingdom of God take away its perfection. Salvation comes from God – you can’t add to it at all - otherwise it’s not salvation; it’s just self-help.

Pile up everything in this world on one side of the scales and put salvation on the other side and it still doesn’t balance. The salvation of your soul, knowing Jesus and eternal life in the glorious presence of God are worth infinitely more.


Conclusion

That’s what Jesus wants you to understand about these two stories about the kingdom. (1) What you have to be willing to give up in order to get into it, and (2) what you stand to gain when you do.

For you to know the joy of God’s kingdom, everything must come after it.

I was talking to Steph Ferguson and Ray Black before the evening service last week. They attended the Alpha course last term and I met them on the first night. They started coming along to All Saints’ after the awayday in November and I noticed that their faces had changed. They were full of joy. They have found the pearl of great price.

So for those of you who have yet to meet them, I thought I’d introduce them to you this morning.

There followed an interview with Steph and Ray; why they signed up for Alpha, what their lives were like before the started the course, what happened during Alpha and what have been the changes in their lives since then.

This is what our vision is all about; people discovering Jesus and being added to the community of faith.

Let’s pray for them both…


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 16th January 2011