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
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