You can listen to a recording of today's worship gathering at [THIS LINK]. but be warned that the recording didn't come through very well today.
The message is connected with The Dangerous Kind series that we're doing, using the chapter of Graeme Sellers' book as our series outline. The title of this chapter in the book is "RECKLESS."
God's peace to you in Jesus' name.
March 8, 2015
Praise and Worship
(beginning early at 10:00)
(beginning early at 10:00)
Church Family Time
(Prayer • Scripture • Sharing)
(Prayer • Scripture • Sharing)
Offering & Praise
Judges 7:1-8; Hebrews 11:29—12:2
God Sense ≠
Common Sense
(Scripture • Prayer • Message • Conversation)
(Scripture • Prayer • Message • Conversation)
Prayer, Song
Judges 7:1–8
So
Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the
spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley
near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord
said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight
the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by
their own strength. 3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is
timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’ ” So 22,000 of them
went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
4 But the Lord
told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I
will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” 5 When
Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord
told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup
water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other
group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” 6 Only
300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees
and drank with their mouths in the stream.
7 The Lord
told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over
the Midianites. Send all the others home.” 8 So Gideon collected
the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he
kept the 300 men with him.
The
Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.
Hebrews 11:29–12:2
29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right
through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians
tried to follow, they were all drowned.
30 It was by faith that the people of Israel marched
around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.
31 It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not
destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had
given a friendly welcome to the spies.
32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long
to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David,
Samuel, and all the prophets. 33 By faith these people
overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised
them. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of
fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to
strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. 35 Women
received their loved ones back again from death.
But
others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They
placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36 Some
were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained
in prisons. 37 Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,
and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep
and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. 38 They were
too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves
and holes in the ground.
39 All these people earned a good reputation because of
their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised. 40 For
God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach
perfection without us.
12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every
weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And
let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We
do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects
our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding
its shame. Now he is seated on the right hand of the throne of God.
[title slide]
[pause] – [put up Heb. 12:1b-2 slide, then begin…]
Jesus endured the cross. [pause] [add highlighting]
We’re coming up on that season of the year when Jesus died
for us. It was in the spring of the year when Jesus died… long about March or
April in the Middles East when lambs are born.
God’s people were celebrating Passover at the time…
At the Passover it was a lamb that bled and died.
But at the cross it was the pure and innocent beloved Son.
[slide with the cross and “endured the cross”]
Jesus endured for us. The suffering. The pain.
And he endured the feeling that he was rejected… The feeling
we know when we say My God, my God, why
have you rejected me…
But the truth is that neither Jesus nor any of us are
rejected… [fade in Ps 22:24]
“…
He has not despised nor rejected the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He
hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.”
On the cross Jesus felt like we do when we think all
hope is gone. Yes… he went through torture and physical pain. He felt rejected.
Jesus endured the cross. And then, praise God, he rose
again. [fade out Ps 22:24]
But there is something else in this verse—in Hebrews 12:2
that we sometimes don’t focus on…
And those are the next words: Let’s read together the verses
on the screen together [add whole verse]:
… Let us run with endurance
the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes
on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy
awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated on
the right hand of the throne of God.
He endured the cross…disregarding
its shame.
The word “disregard” means to think nothing of it…
And “shame” [RED] … there was the idea back then that if you
were hanged… if God let you die like Jesus did –
you were cursed! (Deuteronomy 21:23,
Galatians 3:13)
You get a little sense of this as you remember how the men
who hanged Jesus made fun of him… “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t
save himself.”
That’s the SHAME of the cross … and Jesus recklessly disregarded it. He looked it in the
face and laughed.
God Sense ≠ Common Sense
|
Jesus went to the cross on purpose…
to pierce the darkness with His love. He did it to save US…
Not just “us…,” as in us who are here… but all of us…
He went to the cross not only for people who are ready to
believe in him and trust him, but to save the ones who put him to death… to
save the ones who have little or no chance of being changed.
For God so loved the world… and especially us human
beings who are such a POOR investment.
Back in the beginning… God turns the creation over to us and
we turn it over to the devil in like two days.
And then he decides to save us and we reject him. We throw
him to the wolves.
God Sense ≠ Common Sense
|
Why would we follow him in reckless love?
Such a bad investment. Better to build a church building or
a bank account. Anything else makes no sense.
But here’s the thing:
·
God will leave the 99 to go
after the 1. We build institutional
churches and make ourselves comfortable.
·
God the Father stands waiting for the wasted child to come home. We
grumble when too much effort is expended on people who aren’t a part of our
group.
·
Jesus invests his life teaching men and women who had no hope of really
amounting to anything or even understanding what he was teaching them… you know the list of his
followers… We think it’s wise to spend our resources keeping our own people
happy.
We’re calculating. We’re cautious. Our favorite parable is
the one about “counting the cost”… Luke 14:28… We think
it’s about making sure we’ve got enough money… or the one in Luke 14:31 that we
think is about being strong… When what it’s really about is Luke 14:33 giving up
EVERYTHING we have and not relying on our finances or strength at all.
God Sense ≠ Common Sense
|
us. Even after the Holy Spirit comes and fills
us we leak and have to keep being filled,
over and over again… Ephesians 5:18 is written to Christians!
The first disciples understood something about completely
relying on God once the Holy Spirit came… but soon enough the people fell to
arguing and bickering all over again. Read it in Acts.
And God sent correction… God inspired letter writers and
preachers… but God’s people still fell out into groups and misunderstandings.
Honestly, the
investment of God in us… it makes as little sense as giving a $20 bill to a
drunk.
Honestly, if you read through the scriptures and notice the
kinds of people God invests in, you’ll see that the comparison isn’t that far
off.
But still, that’s what he does. He invests. Not just by
handing out money… that’s too easy… that’s sometimes a way to get RID of
people… including drunks…
He invests his LIFE…
And he says to us—through His Word and through His Spirit—He
says to us—as the Father has sent me, so I send you.
He calls us to invest our time, and our lives, not on those
who are already doing okay… not on those who are strong in faith and who are
understanding and obeying…
He calls us to invest in the LOST ONES.
[pause] There is so little chance of success in that.
It doesn’t make sense to keep on going after the lost. Or to
keep on investing in God’s people the church. It makes no sense at all.
Except to our absolutely loving God.
Our God… he keeps plunging into the darkness in order to
rescue those who were trapped in darkness. And he keeps failed disciples on his
team. Restoring them over and over again.
Here’s the cross. The cross is a sign of recklessness.
It’s not a sign of abandonment. [Fade in Ps 22:24]
It’s a sign of hanging in there no matter what.
Will we follow that sign? Will we do as Jesus did? [out]
Will we come alongside those who are suffering? Will we be
with those who feel rejected? Will we advance into the darkness? That is the command and
blessing of God.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Don’t worry about your own
life or your own well-being. Invest in OTHERS… not in yourself.
We think that’s
crazy. Truth is, we Christians value caution more than we value obedience
to God.
Instead of just doing what
God says, instead of just doing what Jesus did, we explain away radical
and life-giving ways God would call us to have as our normal life style. We
take the Sermon on the Mount and ignore the parts that seem to crazy. And we
say that the example of the Christian community in Acts—we say it was a fluke.
We say “There’s no way we can live like that.” Better to build an institution.
Better to build a building.
Caution has become our god. We bow to it. It’s our idol.
I have to say the same thing of myself. So often I check to
see if I have the funds or the strength… I make sure I have a reserve… and a contract… a comfortable life.
There’s no way I would ever understand Judges 7 in real
life… or, perish the thought, actually believe it… that when we are weak… then
we are strong…
When we have no strength of
our own to rely on, then God moves. God sometimes, in his mercy, he’ll pare us
down like he did with Gideon’s army… he’s always concerned that we not think we
have any strength on our own. He always is calling us to depend on him.
But when I push worldly wisdom aside… when I ignore hundreds
years of cautious “common sense” teaching, when I abandon our own strength and
trust God completely, when we trust God’s sense instead of common sense… then
the Holy Spirit moves in me and among us with supernatural power and
love. Then I follow Jesus in all of
life, doing things His way… that pierces the darkness and makes us dangerous
in the hand of God—that builds God’s kingdom in His truth… in His way.
Will we respond? In ALL our decisions? Will we look to the CROSS?
Will we give in to God’s sense, surrendering common sense? Let’s surrender to
Jesus. Let’s do it now.
God Sense ≠ Common Sense
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