THE GRAVITY OF OUR RESPONSIBILITY

 

It is easy to give in to the wear and tear of life—to become the professional.  It is another Sunday, and time to deliver a sermon once more.  We have no idea who or how many will show up—or which of those, if any, will give heed to what we say.

Years ago, I heard a story.  The young man was awakened by his mother as she called, “Time to get up and get ready for church!”  He rolled over and said, “I don’t want to go today!”  Her response was, “You have to!”  Burying his head in the pillow, he mumbled, “Why?”  She answered, “I’ll give you three good reasons.  Number one: it’s Sunday and we always go to church.  Number two: I want to go and you always take me.  Number three: you’re the pastor!”

Surely, every preacher can identify with that fellow.  There are times when the alarm clock goes off on a Sunday morning and we would like to throw it through the window!  Honestly, most Sundays I am happy to get up, and charge full speed ahead, but occasionally there are those days I feel like I need to be recharged by going back to bed.  Discouragement is a power drain in ministry and can kill our spiritual batteries if we aren’t careful.  Satan is all too happy to assail our minds with such stinking thinking.

For those moments, I can plug in some truths, which I have stored in reserve in my Bible.  I have written them down across the years when I need to bring out the jumper cables and connect with Heaven.  Here is one of them—a quote by Matthew Simpson:

“His throne is the pulpit; he stands in Christ’s stead; his message is the Word of God; around him are immortal souls; the Savior, unseen, is beside him; the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation; angels gaze upon the scene, and heaven and hell await the issue. What associations and what vast responsibility!”

Read that a few times, reflect on it, and then rejoice that God would call those like myself who are such poor specimens of preaching to such a high position of proclaiming the unsearchable riches of Christ!  Then, tuck your Bible under your arm, lift your chin up, and with a spring in your step, energized by the Holy Spirit, fulfill your responsibility!

It’s a great day to serve Jesus!

RAISING HOPE

 

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.  (Philippians 4:8)

Do we have hearts brim full of hope?  If so, then out of that reservoir, we as preachers will share hope each Sunday—and how our people need it!  They are beaten down daily by the desperate conditions they find themselves in, traveling on Sunday morning—trudging might be a better word—through the desert places of their lives, thirsty souls looking for an oasis.  Brothers, don’t let your message be only a mirage!  We will share from our mouths what our minds have meditated on during the week.  Have we been obsessed with the truth, the things that are majestic, focused on that which is just, morally pure, satisfying to the senses in a way that creates awe, admiring that which inspires, celebrating achievement and concentrating on that which glorifies God and elicits praise?  Paul, imprisoned in body, yet liberated in mind and heart tells us to meditate on these things!  Make God, His glory and His good news your magnificent obsession!

There will always be sins to confront, false doctrines to expose, and a host of demonic evils to battle.  Yet, is that to be the continual subject of our sermons?  Should we focus on the evil or the good?  Do we curse the darkness or light a candle.  Bad news is only meant to set the stage for the good news—and that is what the Gospel is!  Grace-filled and Gospel-focused preaching is demanded!

Our flock faces plenty in the world to depress them.  Do we drive them farther into that mental state?  It is a message that raises hope and inspires hearts that is called for, since God is the God of hope, and Jesus is the bringer of hope—blessed hope He is!

I am not calling for some Osteen-ism—of paste on a smile and think happy thoughts, and “think your way to prosperity” nonsense.  That is worse than nonsense—it is heresy.  Reality must be faced.  The Old Testament prophets surely thundered against wickedness.  But, they didn’t stop there.  God would break the clouds, and send a beam of hope’s light piercing through each time.  If we must use Scripture as a scalpel to cut today because some spiritual malignancy is present, even so, our object is to heal, not to hurt.

Reality is not to be denied by “positive thinking.”  But, I am positive that God is the ultimate reality!  This is what enabled a woman whose darling son was dead to respond in faith to the prophet Elisha’s inquiry about her state, “It is well.” (2 Kings 4:26b) 

Do our sermons lead to worshippers raising their hands, or worriers wringing them?  Let’s go out today and raise some hope!

A SHEPHERD’S HEART

 

God’s people are not cattle to be driven, they are sheep to be led.  If we have no heart for the flock of God, and no understanding for the shepherd’s ways, then we need to repent or resign!  We must ask God to grant us His very compassion to care for His lambs.  While we will not attain to the standard He has set, the Lord our Shepherd shows us the model we are to emulate—or, even better, incarnate as Jesus indwells us and can work through us as we yield to Him.

Spurgeon had this to say about the Lord, our Shepherd:

“He shall gather the lambs with his arm.” (Isaiah 40:11)

Our good Shepherd has in his flock a variety of experiences, some are strong in the Lord, and others are weak in faith, but he is impartial in his care for all his sheep, and the weakest lamb is as dear to him as the most advanced of the flock.  Lambs are wont to lag behind, prone to wander, and apt to grow weary, but from all the danger of these infirmities the Shepherd protects them with his arm of power.  He finds new-born souls, like young lambs, ready to perish—he nourishes them till life becomes vigorous; he finds weak minds ready to faint and die—he consoles them and renews their strength.  All the little ones he gathers, for it is not the will of our heavenly Father that one of them should perish.  What a quick eye he must have to see them all!  What a tender heart to care for them all!  What a far- reaching and potent arm, to gather them all!  In his lifetime on earth he was a great gatherer of the weaker sort, and now that he dwells in heaven, his loving heart yearns towards the meek and contrite, the timid and feeble, the fearful and fainting here below. ^[1]

Such is the nature of sheep.  Such is the duty of shepherds.  May my heart be given to them and for them—the heart of the Shepherd.

---

^[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (2006). Morning and evening: Daily readings (Complete and unabridged; New modern edition.). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers.

BIBLE BLUEPRINT

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.  If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

The architect draws up the design—putting into the blueprint the form and function of the building.  We have a blueprint for the church.  Of course, we are not talking about a building of concrete and steel, but a spiritual building of believers in Jesus Christ.

God set the Apostles of the New Testament as the architects, to convey His grand vision of what the church is to be.  Paul takes this title of architect (we get our English word from the Greek architekton) used here in the third chapter of First Corinthians translated “master builder.”  Now, we who lead local churches might be thought of as contractors who are called to carry out the plan.  The Bible is our blueprint to follow.

The Foundation of the church is solid—and any local church without this Foundation might be many things, but it is not a church—a civic group, a community activism organization, a social club, maybe, but nothing more.  That Foundation is a Person—Jesus Christ.  The church rests in a personal connection with Jesus, grounded on our faith in Him.

Beyond the Foundation, those who work in the construction, are tasked with using the quality of building materials that will endure the test of time—and eternity.  That is what Paul is stressing here to a Corinthian church that was taking the wondrous Foundation that was meant for a glorious temple and instead they were cobbling together a shack fit only for a shanty town.

The fire of Christ’s judgment will test the quality of the work we have done.  No one is more significant in this construction effort than the local project manager who is entrusted with overseeing the work.  The pastor holds the Bible blueprint in his hand.  The apostolic architects have given us a clear design.  That Day of accounting is drawing near.  We have an inescapable deadline for doing our portion of the work and then the inspection that follows cannot be avoided.

This reality should drive us to our knees before an open Bible.  We should pray until the picture is clear—the architect’s design unmistakable and the resources needed to accomplish the task are provided.  The ultimate Resource is a Person—the Holy Spirit.  Thank God we are not left to our own wisdom and ability to do this monumental task!

Dear brother, examine your heart, as I do mine.  Look at the work you are doing.  What do you think the Lord Jesus will say about what we are building on top of His Foundation that was set in place at such a cost—His own blood?

The Inspector is coming.

DOWN, BUT NOT OUT

"when we are knocked down, we get up again." (2 Corinthians 4:9b CEV)

We will stumble.  Not even God's greatest champions make it through the battlefield of this world without being bloodied.  The question is not whether defeat will occur, but how will we respond to it? If you get knocked down, you don't have to be knocked out.

One of the most appealing qualities about the Rocky Balboa movie character was his bulldog tenacity.  He would get up again and again.  Rocky was resilient.  He would not throw in the towel.  Neither must we!  That is what the Enemy of our souls desires.

Noah built an ark, but was also blind drunk and naked in his tent.  Abraham had faith to have an Isaac, but not enough to resist his wife's proposal that brought Ishmael into the world--and we are still paying a price in the Middle East conflict over that one.  Jacob was a scoundrel only a God of amazing grace could choose to found His chosen people.  Moses started his career with the murder of an Egyptian, and ended it short of his life's goal.  Joshua led the Israelis to overcome the fortress of Jericho, only to see the army routed by a few warriors from Ai.  Samson--really, do we have to rehearse his defeats, before he finally "brought down the house"?  David was a man who beat a giant with a slingshot, but would be overcome by lust.  Elijah stood, one man against four hundred false prophets, and then ran like a scared rabbit from Jezebel's wrath.  Jonah was a fugitive from God's will before he led a spiritual awakening--and with a sorry attitude even then!  Peter is the New Testament poster child of defeat--and of recovery and subsequent victory.  If you feel defeated, you are in good company.

We can be bruised and broken, but we don't have to be finally beaten.  If Jesus would restore Simon Peter, then He can do the same for us.  Learn from the past, but don't live in it.  Dwelling in the land of regret is to settle for the shadowlands of "What if?"  It is to miss what can be because of what has been.  Confess your sin.  Pray through Psalm 51, with sincerity, and then get up, dust yourself off and get back into the fray.  God is not through with you.

NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION

We know churches are listed as non-profit organizations, but I heard the late Vance Havner say they are often “non-prophet organizations.”  Where are the men who stand and speak as the prophets of old—confronting sin and calling for repentance?

Jesus contrasts the faithful prophet with the false prophet in Luke 6:20-26.

Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.  Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.  Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.  “But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger.  Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep.  Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

It is true that these words have a general application to all disciples (v.20), but in context there is a specific application to those who claim to speak for God.  Jesus has prayed all night before strategically selecting twelve men to be His apostles (read Luke 6:12-16).  He has begun to show them the nature of their ministry by His own example of healing the hurting, delivering the demonized and now teaching the truth.  At the outset, He will paint the contrast in stark hues with these words.

The faithful prophet is marked by:

• Humility—as they admit their bankruptcy.  They are “poor” possessing nothing of themselves to enrich a congregation.  Such men will beg God to give them His power.  They bow in submission to the King for they know their ministry is about “the kingdom of God” and not building their own kingdom.  It is all for the glory of His name and not their own.  They are not concerned with their bank account but with having “the unsearchable riches of Christ” to share (see Eph.3:7-8).
• Hunger—for the message of God to proclaim and the might of God to preach it.  Faithful prophets “hunger now.”  But, the promise of God is that those who empty their souls of self will be full of the Spirit, “you shall be filled.”  As John the Baptist, we will make much of Jesus by making less of us. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)
• Brokenness—as we grieve over that which grieves the heart of God.  The man of God takes sin seriously and will “weep now.”  He mourns over its affront to Holy God and consequence to man.  The faithful prophet is contrite concerning his own wicked heart first and then weeps over the evil of others.  God plows his servant with the sharp harrow of Scripture, to make him receive the seed of the Word—and the result of this will be a harvest of holiness in his ministry.  That will give cause then to wipe away the tears in celebrating the goodness of God and “you shall laugh.”
• Rejection—for the servant is not greater than his Master.  If Jesus was rejected then we may expect no better treatment.  “Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.  Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.”  Prophets are honored by few, and hated by most.  If you expect other than bearing a cross, then don’t bother answering the call to follow Christ.

The false prophet is contrasted by:

• Prosperity—as they are “rich.”  They have an abundance of this world’s goods by fleecing the sheep rather than feeding them.  No mansion awaits them in eternity for they have built one on earth.  They are a “hireling” who is about getting benefits rather than a “shepherd” who is about giving blessings (read John 10:11-15)
• Passion—in being “full” of all that their flesh craves.  They are like those Paul warned about:

For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.  (Philippians 3:18-19)

• Pleasure—as the false prophet will “laugh now.”  He can be entertaining—a clown in the pulpit.  He is a party animal in shepherd’s clothing.  The hireling laughs all the way to the ank.  Does he not know that everlasting sorrow awaits?
• Popularity—as a Christian celebrity is his delight.  Such are religious rock stars.  Is God impressed with their notoriety?  “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.”  They receive accolades because they tell people smooth words.  Such are ear-ticklers who tell others what they want to hear, so that the congregation will tell the preacher what he wants to hear—about how wonderful he is.  His name may be noted in man’s media, but there is no record of it in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  You can have the applause of humans or the approval of heaven—which would you choose?  You won’t have both.

My prayer is that I am a genuine man of God who stands in the wondrous company of the faithful prophets of old like Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, and most of all like Jesus.  Do not let it be said of the church you serve that it is a non-prophet organization.

LABOR AND DELIVERY

It is Saturday as I pen these words, and every pastor knows what that means: it’s approaching Sunday’s sermon time!  Like a pregnant woman, the sermon has been conceived, developed and now with labor must be delivered.  We do not want our church family to experience the tragedy of anticipation, only for the message to be stillborn!  Our prayer is for a living Word for the people of God to celebrate!  The big difference is that our sermon doesn’t have nine months to mature.  The due date comes once a week—even multiple times during the week!  Not even the Duggars can claim that!

That’s a pressure pastors must live with—but it is also a privilege they enjoy.  Mothers certainly have some problems and pains in pregnancy—more pronounced and intensifying exponentially as the infant makes its debut.  But, how quickly that is forgotten when the wee one arrives—with joy the child is embraced!

So, my brother, I pray that you are almost ready for the trip to the delivery room that we call the auditorium, and tomorrow afternoon will find you exhausted, but exhilarated.  Once more God has enabled a miracle of life we call preaching to be birthed.  Having been in the delivery room as our children have arrived, it can be described in no other way.  You are caught up in the moment, lost in wonder, heart racing, and I don’t know how the human body can do what it does as a woman delivers a child—or a man delivers a sermon—but new life is ushered into the world.

For almost forty years, I have gone through this cycle.  I wish I could say that none of the sermons were stillborn, but I can say that few have been.  The Father has been faithful to implant the seed of Scripture in my mind, fertilize it by His Spirit, and then the remarkable creative act is completed as the labor and delivery of the message brings another living Word into the world.  To God be the glory!