Good Bye

Jimmy’s Sermon

Numbers 6:24-26

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon to our young people as they were preparing for school. I told the congregation then that even though this message was intended for the young people I hoped that they would listen very intently because there was sure to be a Mustard Seed somewhere. And you did listen and you were very gracious.

Tonight I am going to ask if you will do the same thing. Tonight we come to celebrate and mourn. We are mourning the loss of a man who has given his time and talents to this body. Tonight is the last night that Jimmy will lead our voices in song and today was the last time that he was able to mold and shape the young men and women that we are blessed to have as a part of this family.

But tonight is also a time of celebration. Last summer as my family floated around looking for a congregation to serve with I remember how frustrated I felt listening to others preach the message and taking their message apart and reconstructing it in my mind. If you have the desire to preach and you are not preaching it is very frustrating indeed. Jimmy will tell you, as he has told me that he wants to preach and not being able to do that has left him frustrated at times. But like I said this is a time for rejoicing because stating in the next two weeks Jimmy will have the opportunity to stand before a body and do in my estimation the greatest job ever given to mortal man.

You have heard me say that today is the day that we will have our funeral service for Jimmy. And I think that is what we are doing. You have funerals as a way of saying good bye, but they are also a reminder that for those of us who have been born again this is not the final good bye. So tonight I think that it is appropriate that we spend this time telling Jimmy good bye, wishing He and Mary good luck with their new congregation and marriage and sending them off in prayer.

Jimmy tonight I am not going to tell you anything new, you know all of this but I want to remind you of a few things and challenge you as you begin this new work.

First look for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Paul tells the young preacher Timothy exactly what his job description is in 2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

We are to preach the word or the truth, with complete patience and teaching. Now you know that this is not always easy. There will be times where people won’t want to hear the truth.

They would rather hear what they are comfortable with, and the truth doesn’t always make us comfortable.

People would rather hear what makes them happy but when truth exposes error in our lives we are not very happy.

It might not be easy, but it is our job. There are going to be times when it is going to be easier to let things go, to hope or pray that they will just go away but ignoring the problem only traps us in that problem.

Do you remember at the Men’s Retreat a few weeks ago we talked about how King David knew that there was sin in his household and chose to do nothing? Remember that story? It starts in 2 Samuel 11 where we read that when the kings go out to war David stayed home. Instead of doing what was right he did what was easy.

We’re told that he got up and walked around the roof of the King’s house. As he looked around he saw Bathsheba, who was bathing. The Bible tells us that David sent for Bathsheba. He was told that she was married to one of David’s soldiers, Uriah, but despite that, David sent for her and committed adultery with her.

Well Bathsheba gets pregnant and David tries to do the easy thing and cover up his sin. He has Uriah brought from the battle field to spend some time with his wife to make it appear the baby was Uriah’s. But Uriah refused to go home while his fellow soldiers were dying on the battlefield.

So David once again did the easy thing by having Uriah put in the front battle line were he is killed. He was then compelled to admit the child by Bathsheba was his and finally married Bathsheba.

Doing what was easy led David to become an adulterer, a murderer. The baby that was born to him and Bathsheba died. For a year his intimacy with God was broken. Turmoil was constantly in David’s house. 1 of David’s sons by 1 wife, seduces his half-sister Tamar. In fact, he rapes her. One of David’s other sons kills Ammon for what he did. Another of David’s sons, Absalom, the one he loved so much, doubled-crossed his father and tried to take the throne away from him and also publicly disgraced his father in a way I won’t mention. You start adding it up and you will find that David paid a tremendous cost for taking the easy way out.