02-27-22 “Will the roustabout ever find work?”

Scripture    Matthew 20:1-16

 

In the past I have worked as a custodian, a vacuum cleaner salesman, an air conditioner cleaner, a taxi driver, a retail men’s clothing store clerk, a worker then assistant manager in two different tuxedo rental shops, a waiter, a builder of industrial shelving, a professional mime, a youth pastor, a mentor pastor and a number of other odd jobs. Before all those, I knocked on doors to cut grass in the summer and shovel snow in the winter.
 
Twice this winter I had a young teenage boy knocked on our door wanting to shovel our snow to earn money (the first time because he had a friend’s birthday coming up and wanted money to buy them something). The second time he didn’t say why. I didn’t have much cash and didn’t need him to do anything but said if he shoveled my walk (very short) and right in front of the garage I would pay him $5.00. 10-15 mins I paid him the 5 plus 3 for doing a good job.
 
Recently I read a story of how hard it was for people to find work during the depression and for sometime after. A man named Max remembers hanging out with Ben (in his 70’s) every day at the roustabout camps hoping to get hired for the day. Even though they were from different generations, they became friends from their equal need to find work. For work in the oil fields, the boss would call out several names to clean a battery that day, or to put a new line in the south field. Max thought it was a special honor to be chosen for any work and there was also shame at not being chosen.
Roustabout SLIDE The only rung lower on the oil field hierarchy than being a roustabout was the unemployment line. If you couldn’t weld, then you would roughneck, If you couldn’t roughneck, then you’d service wells. If you couldn’t service wells, then you’d roustabout. If you couldn’t roustabout like Max and Ben, then you couldn’t find work at all.
So often, Max and Ben didn’t get hired because they lacked any of the hire level skills needed and Ben’s age didn’t help either. SLIDE off They often felt like they were a lost ball in the tall grass. A day late and a dollar short. One brick short of a load or one fry short of a happy meal. They felt worthless, like they would never get hired.
 

          There is a story in scripture that Jesus shares (a parable) that shows a similar situation with a very interesting outcome and shows how Jesus is ALL IN for us – even as he is about to face the cross. This is the first story Jesus tells at the beginning of his final week, and the last story he tells before entering Jerusalem. That means, the principle Jesus was teaching here was urgent and vital that his followers would understand. Before I share that parable story with you, here is what was written after the story was told…this is the perfect picture showing us that Jesus had jumped off the cliff and was all in – he had not yet hit the water but was on his way down…
Scripture SLIDE Matthew 20:17-19
Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!"  End SLIDE
          Just before Jesus jumped all in for us on this day, he told the following story:
Matt 20:1-16
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
"About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
"He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?'
"'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
"He said to them, 'You also go and work in my vineyard.'
RETELL the story in my own words
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.'
"The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.'
"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
RETELL this part of story in my own words

 
CONCLUSION
          Remember Max and Ben, one day, about 5:00 a black pick up drove past them as they were the only two left in the roustabout camp – they had no where better to be. Then the truck stopped and backed up and told them to hop in that the boss needed them for some work to do.
          Who is still waiting around at 5:00 to find work? Who notices anyone that late still looking for work and who would hire anyone that late in the day?
 
          I wonder if Jesus was the one driving that pick up truck. Let’s consider two other scriptures that shine light on this one.
 
1)    The thief on the cross.
While Jesus hung on the cross ALL IN there were two roustabouts also hanging on crosses with him, one on either side. The roustabout on Jesus’ left complained that he had once again not been hired and left knowing he would not find work that day.
However, the roustabout to Jesus right decided to hang around just in case. No, he didn’t have high hopes of getting hired, but he knew that he could not work if he left. So, this one stayed right there and even asked Jesus to consider hiring him. What was the harm in asking. Isn’t that amazing, he did exactly what we roustabouts can do, talk directly to Jesus. There is no mediator between God and man except Jesus Christ. Without us realizing it, he is the boss, the one who has work to offer – or in this case the one who has forgiveness and eternal life to offer. At that moment Jesus backed up his pick up and told the thief on the cross to get in, that he had more for him to do and he would be doing it with him that day in paradise. The thief jumped into Christ’s pick up and was now also ALL IN with Jesus!
 

2)    Go in to the highways and byways and compel them to come in.
Luke 14:16-24
Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.' "Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'  "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'  "'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.' "Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'"

02-20-22 2022 Theme Introduction “ALL IN”

Scripture   Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Are you ready to dive “all in” to our 2022 church and preaching theme? The theme is “All in”
Someone diving is a perfect metaphor for being all in with Christ. Title slides

As you stand there getting ready – you may be terrified of the jump, or the water below, but you know, once you step or jump off the ledge – you are all in – there is no going back.
You can’t be mid-air and go, I changed my mind, I want to go back to the diving board or the cliff I just jumped from. Even before you hit the water, your commitment is already all in. That is a scary and beautiful thing. We even sometimes call it what? A leap of faith!
Then when you hit the water there is a new understand to being all in – you can’t dive and just go in half-way. Physics says your whole body is going to get wet and be immersed in the water. You have now gone ALL IN.
          (Example: Mormon Baptism when the girls hand did not go in they had to rebaptize her).
 
So, what does “All in” look like as far as a year for preaching? What will we hear – where will the emphasis lie?
Unlike red letter edition that was based solely on the words or Jesus, or HIStory that always had to contain a story of God working through his people, this theme can take us many places in many different ways: For instance---
1       All in can refer to how God was "All in".  When you think about God as a baby in a manger – God the Father was all in. When you think about Jesus taking 12 people to train so his church could be established after he was gone – the Spirit was all in. When you see Jesus on the cross dying for our sins – Jesus was all in. We can see throughout scripture and throughout church history how God was all in for our sakes and the sake of his church.
2       All in can refer to a person coming to faith - when you turn from the world to faith and Jesus, it cannot be in part but must be with all of your heart, soul, (mind) and strength. Once you leap – the water awaits – there is no turning back.
3       All in can refer to your commitment to Christ’s church - no longer settle for just attending, but making the health and growth of the church a priority in your life - being 'all in'. It means your commitment to loving others as Christ loved you will show itself in real tangible ways of service to others.
 

All in has examples throughout the OT and NT.
          David was all in against Goliath. Peter was all in when he stepped onto the water. The priests were all in when they stepped into the Jordan to cross on dry ground. Jacob was all in when he wrestled with God. Moses was all in when he went to Pharaoh, Stephen was all in when he stood up for Jesus, Paul was all in - always! A centurion was all in when he trusted his servant could be healed just by Jesus speaking a word.
There are examples of Christians “all in” throughout church history: Conrad Grebel, John Huss, Polycarp, Martin Luther, Adoniram Judson, Mother Teresa, etc.
 
          There are many scriptures we can turn to that speak of being all in, but our undergirding text is the single most significant text to the Jewish people and is called the SHEMA! To have any theme, it must be based on scripture, so today we are going to take a close look at the SHEMA.
The Shema is prayed twice daily (morning – rising, and evening when lying down) by Jews and (most of us are familiar with the beginning) but the whole Shema prayer consists of 3 separate texts all prayed at one time. They are Deuteronomy 6:4-9   /  Deuteronomy 11:13-21  /  Numbers15:37-41
Following the example of the scholar-martyr Rabbi Akiba (2nd century AD), the Shema has been uttered by Jewish martyrs throughout the ages as their final profession of faith in the one God of humankind and their love for him. Pious Jews hope to die with the words of the Shema on their lips. This text for Jews means they are all in – it should do no less for us who follow Christ.
THE SHEMA

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
 
Deuteronomy 11:13-21
 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today — to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul —  14 then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil. 15 I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.
 
 
Numbers15:37-41
The Lord said to Moses, 38 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by going after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord your God.'"
 
         We will look at just the beginning part of the SHEMA. Deuteronomy 6:4-5. Being a prayer that everyone recognizes, the closest thing to that for Christians, would be the Lord’s prayer which we can’t even agree on all the wording (debts vs trespasses and do you include the extra-biblical part at the end).
The Shema gets its name from the first Hebrew word of the prayer in Deuteronomy 6:4   “Listen/Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” SHEMA in Hebrew is translated “Listen” in English. But like so many words translated, our English word does not give the full meaning of Shema. This VIDEO will say it better than I can. So “Hear, Oh Ashland!”
Play Shema video
The Shema is attributed to Moses before the next generation of Israel entered the Promised Land. Moses challenges them with his wisdom and warning because he doesn’t want these Israelites to repeat their parents’ mistakes. Rather, he invites them to respond to God’s grace and mercy with love, faithfulness, and obedience.
 
Translating the Shema
Bible geeks, you will find this part really interesting. But be warned--it’s kind of complicated! From ancient times, there has been much debate on how exactly to translate and interpret the Shema, due to ambiguity in the grammar of the main sentences. There is no present-tense verb equivalent to the English verb “is” in Ancient Hebrew. There is a word for “was” (Heb. hayah) and “will be” (Heb. yihyeh), but “is” doesn’t exist. Rather, two words are put next to each other and the word “is” is inferred.
For example:     English: “The car is red.” Ancient Hebrew: “The car red.”
Ancient Israelites obviously had a concept of the verb “is,” they just didn’t use a word to express it in their language. The problem in translating and interpreting the Shema arises from the fact that it’s made of two back-to-back sentences that lack the word “is.” In Hebrew, the prayer consists of four nouns in a row.
Hebrew: YHWH ‘elohenu YHWH ekhad English: Lord our god Lord one
Depending on where you place the word “is,” you can end up with different sentences.
1.     The Lord our God is one Lord.
2.     The Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
3.     The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
The meaning between these options isn’t drastically different, but each one has a different emphasis. Is the point that the Lord God is one and not many (#1 or 3), or is the emphasis on the fact that only the Lord is our God (#2)? Does the Shema claim that Israel’s God is one being, or is it highlighting that the Lord alone is Israel’s God and not any other?
This last meaning seems to fit the overall context of Deuteronomy much better. In other words, the Shema isn’t trying to make a philosophical statement about God’s essence or being (that God is “one”). Rather, the Shema is a pledge of allegiance to the Lord God of Israel that excludes allegiance to any other gods. Remember Isa 46:9 “Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” That is clearly stating that God is one but the important here like in the Shema, it is calling for an allegiance to this one God!
Polytheistic Threat
Moses clearly believes that loyalty, obedience, and love to their one true God is the only way to life. One of the greatest threats to Israel’s future was dividing their allegiance between many gods. And so, the Shema is a daily reminder that “The Lord our God alone is our God.” The prayer goes on from here to show the value of passing this conviction on to later generations to spare them the tragic results of idolatry to other gods. (Like the B I B L E song: “I stand alone on the Word of God” NO – it is: “I stand on the Word of God alone”) Allegiance to the word of God only – The Shema – allegiance to YHWH ‘elohenu – the Lord our God!
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
Shema Usage in the New Testament
The Shema became a twice-daily prayer within Judaism. It was so widely practiced in the second-temple period, Jesus himself grew up praying it. This prayer was formative for Jesus and he drew upon it in his teachings.
Mark 12:28-34
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
In other words, this teacher of the law understood the word of God so well, particularly the SHEMA, even with Jesus adding the second greatest commandment to it, that Jesus was saying, you are standing on the edge of the cliff – you clearly see the water below, you are so close but not yet ALL IN. You need to jump, by faith, into the Living Water who is Jesus!
 
 
 
Picnic with the pastor
(Like the B I B L E song: “I stand alone on the Word of God” or it should be “I stand on the Word of God alone”)
The B I B L E, yes that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B I B L E. Bible!
That is wrong, we don’t stand all alone on the word of God, other people stand with us. When we say stand, we don’t mean to literally stand on the bible – it means we believe what it says and live by what it says. Like – “I stand on the fact that my moth loves me” It means you know it is true. We know the bible is true so we say we stand on it. But we don’t stand on it alone. Many stand with us.
How can we say what the person probably meant when they wrote this song?
The B I B L E, yes that’s the book for me, I stand on the word of God alone, the B I B L E. Bible!
That means we don’t listen to what the world says, we don’t have any other writings that are equal to the bible. We believe in (stand on) the word of God (the Bible) and nothing else. We stand on the word of God alone.

02-13-22 The call of God or indigestion!

Scripture      Ephesians 4:11-16

   So, Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors, and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

          This is a stunning idea. A description of the leadership of the church, the members of the church and the maturity of the church. It is stunning because it is not describing a single local church, it is describing how Paul saw the church growing throughout space and time. Over more than 2000 years and reaching nearly every inch of the globe. How could any organization fulfill that? It can’t! But the church is not an organization, it is a living dynamic organism, just as our bodies are. And it dramatically changes over time. Is your body the same as it was 20 years ago? Some are better, some are worse. So too, some parts of the body of Christ are better than they were 2000 years ago, and some parts are worse.
          Because Kim and my children have dedicated most of our lives to my call (our call) to full-time vocational ministry, and because of alarming statistics combined with what I have observed among clergy colleagues, and because of my new work of assisting other churches find pastoral leadership, I want to speak to that part of this text that talks about called vocational leadership in the church and what that means for you.
          Let’s state the problem. Let’s look at some solutions. Let’s hear from several people in full-time ministry. And finally, let’s see what this means for all of us.

 

From the time I was in seminary in the early 80’s I have seen people struggle with the call to ministry. Kim and I were astounded at how many young married men in seminary dropped out or found themselves in a constant debate between ministry and family as so many wives wanted little to nothing to do with their husbands seeking full time ministry. I have seen that struggle often since seminary as well.  Unless you are single, a call to full-time vocational ministry is never for one person in a marital relationship. I was called to pastoral ministry and Kim was called to be a pastor’s wife. They were individual calls that had to parallel one another if that call was to be fully realized. The spouse of a pastor (husband if the pastor is the wife) does not have the same calling but must have their own sense of call from God or they will be a miserable person indeed.
The reason I said young married men is because I do not remember any of the females in seminary who were married at the time. I saw call struggles their as well. I struggled to see the women I went to seminary with actually pastoring a church because most seemed to carry a huge chip on their shoulders feeling they had to prove something more – in their position I would have likely felt the same way. The problem was that caused a conflict with a call to ministry. Once out of seminary I worked with several female pastors who did not have that chip on their shoulder and were as confident in their call as any man and they didn’t have to prove anything because they walked in a humble confidence that God had called them into ministry.
There are several things that can cause a struggle for a clear call to ministry. Financially, pastors are paid less than their educational equals. The former minimum education requirement was 7 years of college with a bachelor’s degree followed by a Master’s of divinity degree followed by an arduous ordination process. Then and only then could you have been considered for a full time ministry position. Anyone have a clue as to how much 7 years of full time college costs while you are working as a part time youth pastor or a restaurant server?
There are other struggles with a call to ministry like each persons own moral failures. There are pastors who would like you to think they are squeaky clean but we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Some people believe they are called to ministry when in reality they are trying to escape working in a secular job or are fulfilling expectations because my dad and grandpa were preachers. Many are not theologically or practically prepared for ministry. One 30-something pastor said it this way: “I had this idea that I would have all this free time and short work weeks. Ministry seemed like a piece of cake compared to the world I was coming from. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It is unbelievably demanding. I am on call 24-hours a day whether I admit it or not.”
Pastoral and other forms of vocational ministry can be the most rewarding of any job in the world. When you see lives changed for the better, your church being a positive influence in the community, people destined for hell finding forgiveness of sins and eternal life in Jesus Christ can’t be compared to any other vocation. In our church we have 3 former pastors (Gary, Merry, Pete) and families with pastors in them (Camick’s Harris’s). They understand first hand the struggles and many joys of vocational ministry. The reality is, many pastors don’t experience those things enough compared to the negatives.
Newly Revised Statistics

• 84% of pastors feel they are on call 24/7.

• 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Many pastor's children do not attend church now because of what the church has done to their parents.

• 65% of pastors feel their family lives in a "glass house" and fear they are not good enough to meet expectations.

• 78% of pastors report having their vacation and personal time interrupted with ministry duties or expectations.

• 28% of pastors report having feelings of guilt for taking personal time off and not telling the church.

• 66% of church members expect a minister and family to live at a higher moral standard than themselves.

• 90% of pastors report the ministry was completely different than what they thought it would be like before they entered the ministry.

• 85% of pastors report the use of the internet and other resources have improved their study time compared to when they first started their ministry.

• 50% of pastors state they spend 1 hour in prayer each day.

• 57% of pastors believe they do not receive a livable wage.

• 75% of pastors report significant stress-related crisis at least once in their ministry.

• 54% of pastors find the role of a pastor overwhelming.

• 40% report serious conflict with a parishioner at least once in the last year.

• 80% of pastors expect conflict within their church.

• 35% of pastors battle depression or fear of inadequacy.

• 28% of pastors report they are spiritually undernourished.

• Over 50% of pastors state the biggest challenge is to recruit volunteers and encourage their members to change (living closer to God's Word).

• 70% of pastors report they have a lower self-image now than when they first started.

• 57% of pastors feel fulfilled but yet discouraged, stressed, and fatigued. 

• Over 50% of pastors are unhealthy, overweight, and do not exercise.

• The profession of “Pastor” is near the bottom of a survey of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman”.

• Many denominations are reporting an "Empty Pulpit Crisis".

• Only 1 out of every 10 pastors will actually retire as a pastor. 

      Improvements:

• 250 pastor’s a month leave the pastorate, many without giving a cause. That number is much lower than it was 10 years ago, but there are now a lower % of pastors currently in the vocation.

• 73% of churches are treating their pastors better.  This statistic has improved due to the advent of clergy appreciation, better education on the role of the pastor, and denominational awareness to better supporting their pastors.

• 77% of pastors, especially millennials are spending 20 or more hours with their families each week.

• 90% of pastors feel they are called and in the place where God has called them.

Having said all this, why would we want to encourage anyone to consider full-time vocational ministry? Simple – Jesus and his church are still God’s answer for the world’s struggles, and the church needs qualified called leadership now and in the future.
Let’s hear from a few people who have been called into vocational ministry – our former pastor followed by some other local church and ministry leaders.
VIDEO: “Call to Ministry”
 

           What does this have to do with you? Let’s look at the first part of the text again:
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 
apostles,      Person sent to share the message of Christ.
prophets,    Person inspired by the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s Word to others.
evangelists, Person intentionally sharing the gospel for the outcome of salvation.
pastors,       Person who shepherds – cares for – a local congregation.
teachers,     Person who accurately handles the word of truth and imparts it to others.
          Today, all five of those are functions of the local church pastor. That does not mean the pastor is the only one who does those things but is the one person who is responsible for all those things which means the church needs to pray for their pastor A LOT because that is a heavy burden and you want your pastor to be invigorated by the Spirit of God in all 5 areas of ministry. Why? So that your pastor can:
¹² equip God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
           My call is to elevate Christ and His word. Your call is to receive that and elevate the body of Christ to unity in faith, knowledge of Jesus, and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  That’s all! So simple! We share in the highest calling on earth. To be all that God designed us to be from the moment of creation. Therefore we mutually build each other up to honor God by becoming all He has designed us to be.
 

           We must pray for our day and the future of the church that young men and women will hear and respond to God’s call to full-time vocational ministry. What if no one had been praying when Adoniram Judson received His call form God? You will hear much more about him during this year because he epitomizes our new theme.

When Adoniram Judson graduated from college and seminary, he received a call from a fashionable church in Boston to become its assistant pastor. Everyone congratulated him. His mother and sister rejoiced that he could live at home with them and do his life work, but Judson shook his head. “My work is not here,” he said. “God is calling me beyond the seas. To stay here, even to serve God in His ministry, I feel would be only partial obedience, and I could not be happy in that.” Although it cost him a great struggle, he left mother and sister to follow the heavenly call.
Judson’s churches in Burma have had fifty thousand converts, and the influence of his consecrated life is felt around the world.

 

02-06-22 PRAYER: God’s love language

Scripture   1 Corinthians 1:1-13
 

DRAMA: half of an old phone – first 2 people talk in to it frustrated that it doesn’t work. 3^rd person listens and is pleased with what God has said to them.

“Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God. The Lord is one.”
 
How often has God’s communication with you been clear; beyond the shadow of a doubt?
 
For me? A few times. My call to faith in Him.
My ordination to the preaching ministry.
Who I would marry. (summer of 1981) [today is our 40^th wedding anniversary]

 
If those kinds of times are rare, and I do believe they are, why would we pray so often?
I don’t believe those large revelations, when God is speaking loud and clear, can be heard unless we have been listening for His still quiet voice.
 
When you watch the Olympics and someone turns in a world record gold medal performance – it is not because they woke up that day and said, I am going to the Olympics today. It is because they spent hours and hours in training and practicing. Those big moments in prayer and revelation don’t happen because you wake up one day and say today is that day God will answer my prayer. It is because you have already spent hours and hours in prayer training and practice – if you will.
 
I don’t mean you have “said” a lot of prayers. I mean you have been in constant communion with the one you love and the one who loves you more than anyone else ever has or will, and God does know all your faults and loves you still.
 
Instead of not praying, in hopes of hitting the lottery of prayer, pray in the presence of God’s love daily. After all:
Moses only got one burning bush.
Jacob only got one ladder with angels ascending and descending.
Mary only got one angelic announcement that she would be the mother of Jesus.
The apostle Paul only got one Damascus road experience.
Peter, James and John only got one Mount of Transfiguration experience.
 
I have no doubt that all of them, and many more, spent a lot of time in prayer, so that when God spoke so loud and clear, they recognized His voice.
John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
 
Since God only speaks loud and clear on rare occasions, maybe we need to change our view of what prayer is all about.
 
Currently, most of us would say our prayer life consists of talking WAY more than listening.
That makes prayer like social media comments. Email and Twitter and most social media are designed to make comments – not to have communication. By nature they are one way communication and not conversations. Kind of like our old fashioned phone – people want to use it the wrong way.
           Not only do our prayers need more active listening, even when we speak, God wants the ability to respond – not just have us say something and walk away.
 
           The bible makes it clear that we are to pray for the sick. However, praying for the sick is a biproduct of our relationship with God and not the primary purpose of prayer.
 
           There are only 3 things we need to know about prayer and if we get these right on a regular basis, it will revolutionize our prayer life. Those 3 things are found together in scripture but are not connected to “praying” even though they have everything to do with prayer.

 

1 Corinthians 13:1-13      If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
 
In a nutshell: No matter how loudly we try to communicate, without love it means nothing. In fact without Faith, Hope, and Love (Love being the greater of the 3) there is no reason to pray and we have not been in communion with God the ways He desires.

 

           Let’s reframe prayer and say that everything we do in prayer always has to do with faith, hope and love.
 
FAITH – as a grain of mustard seed. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith must exist before we ever think about praying.
 
HOPE: “Faith is the assuance of things hoped for – the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) “Hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?” Rom 8:24. When we pray, how often do we wish something will happen? We must HOPE a thing will happen which means we are certain it will.
 
LOVE: If there is no love – prayer does not exist.
If there is no love, communication with God does not exist because the Bible states that God is love. At age 15 and later, my communication with Kim was not about relaying information (that is not prayer) it wasn’t even about having conversations (that is closer to prayer, but not prayer), our communion – our hearts becoming intertwined because we were growing in love with each other is what mattered – when our hearts begin to be intertwined with God – then we are truly praying – and often times that is done without words.
 
Remember this above all things: PRAYER IS GOD’S LOVE LANGUAGE!
 
Let’s do a training exercise in love as a prayer language.
God’s Love is patient, God’s love is kind. God’s love is not easily angered.
God’s love keeps no record of wrongs. 
God’s love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
God’s love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
God’s love never fails.

 

COMMUNION
 
Sing: Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.