Pastor Todd Coget tells the story of a small-town church in upstate New York who had had a rector (or pastor) in that church for over thirty-five years. He was loved by the church and the community. After he retired, he was replaced by a young priest. It was his first church; he had a great desire to do well.
He had been at the church several weeks when he began to perceive that the people were upset at him. He was troubled.
Eventually he called aside one of the lay leaders of the church and said, "I don’t know what’s wrong, but I have a feeling that there’s something wrong." The man said, "Well, Father, that’s true. I hate to say it, but it’s the way you do the Communion service." "The way I do the Communion service? What do you mean?"
"Well, it’s not so much what you do as what you leave out." "I don’t think I leave out anything from the Communion service." "Oh yes, you do. Just before our previous rector administered the wine to the people, he’d always go over and touch the radiator with his hand. And, then, he would—
"Touch the radiator? I never heard of that liturgical tradition." So, the younger man called the former pastor. He said, "I haven’t even been here a month, and I’m in trouble." "In trouble?” “Why?" "Well, it’s something to do with touching the radiator. Could that be possible? Did you do that?"
"Oh yes, I did. Always before I administered the wine to the people, I touched the radiator to discharge the static electricity so I wouldn’t shock them." Cognet goes on to say, ‘for over thirty-five years, the … people of his congregation had thought that was a part of the holy tradition. He concludes, ‘that church has now gained the name, "The Church of the Holy Radiator."
This morning we are going to take communion as we usually do the first Sunday of the month but I don’t think that we will get shocked with the plastic cups!
Football season is now in session and passionate fans are flocking to their favorite team’s stadium. Some go as far as to paint their faces and parts of their upper bodies in their team’s colors. We see them in the stands, in person and on TV really getting into the game.
An e-mail that I recently received was entitled, I believe, ‘The Bible and Our Cell Phone.’ I cannot quote it word-for-word but the jest of it was that we seem to treat our cell phones better than we do our Bibles and we seem more preoccupied with our cell phones than we do our Bible.
To me these are illustrations about the various kinds of passion we have these days. What are we passionate about these days? Are we passionate about God? Do we have a heart for the Lord, as we should? What are you passionate about?
Other people tell me that I am passionate about my family, my community, my friends, baseball, airplanes, and my faith. I also admit to having a passion for Starbucks, Best Buy, books, and chocolate.
(1) However, I need to ask myself from time to time a very important question, ‘Do I have a heart for God? Do I have a passion for God?
I think that I do have a heart for God, but I am also very aware that sometimes my passion for God wanes and is not as important as it needs to be.
For these 4 September Sundays we are going to look at four people in the Bible who illustrate how to, and in the case of one, how not to, have a heart; a passion for God. (2) They are Joseph, Judas, David, and Jesus.
(3) As I think about having a heart for God, there is one characteristic in Joseph’s story that is foundational to Joseph being an example of passionately embracing God in one’s life. It is the foundational characteristic of obedience.
We need to ask ourselves, ‘Am I passionately obedient to God?’
Can you relate to Joseph’s story? I can. Unfair treatment, discouraging circumstances, and harsh rejection by people are themes in the story of his life that we all face.
I wonder how many people have read Joseph’s story over the years and thought that he never got mad, bitter, or lonely because of how his story ultimately turns out. Well, if they had, they skipped our main text for this morning because when he became a dad, his sons’ names (and names meant a lot back then) described his life circumstances.
‘Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and the family of my father.” Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my suffering.”
‘Troubles’ and ‘suffering’ indicate life is not easy for Joseph. Yet on the other hand, there are some key indicators that indicate that Joseph chose to live through those circumstances and do so by his passionate pursuit of and having a heart for God.
(3A) Indicator number 1: The comfort of forgetfulness. According to one of my Bible sources, Manasseh ‘sounds like a Hebrew term for ‘causing to forget.’ Now ‘causing’ seems to indicate a process that in the birth of his first child, God is causing Joseph to forget about his troubles at a time when the birth of a child, something that evokes strong emotions about family, could only serve to remind him about his father’s family.
How can you forget the terrible injustice of being sold by your own brothers into slavery and taken away from your parents, your family and friends, and your country? How can you not but look into the face of your first child and think about his grandfather and all his uncles and have a mixture of anger and grief as you wish that you could have them see him as well as hold him?
I think that what Joseph was saying is ‘the past is past. I have a family of my own. God has been good to me. I now look forward to the future with my family and God.’ The birth gave him hope.
(3B) Indicator number 2: Fruitfulness from obedience. Ephraim is similar to the Hebrew term for ‘fruitfulness.’ I think that we could make a case that at this point in his life, Joseph had become very fruitful. The births of the boys come during the seven good years of crops that Joseph had interpreted in Pharaoh’s dream of the seven fat cows and seven plump heads of grain as we read in verse 28.
God had been with Joseph during some very, very difficult years and more important, Joseph continued to obey God even when life was not going well.
It’s easy to follow God when things are nice and easy. But when difficulties come, it gets hard. We begin to question God and His time, His purpose, and His plan.
Anxiety sets in… I wonder, if Joseph had moments sitting in prison when he felt doubt and discouragement?
Fear sets in… I wonder, as Joseph ran out of Potipher’s house that he feared for his very life and wondered how long he would be free all because he did what was right in that circumstance?
I think that what Joseph was saying is ‘God again has blessed me in this place where I have faced so much difficulty. Thank you God!’
Then came the big test… seeing his brothers again. This time, he was in the position of power. He had his family’s lives in his hands and his decision to share the grain that was stored could spell life or death to them.
What would you do? Your family has mistreated you, you have been falsely accused, you correctly interpreted two dreams that cause the freedom and restoration of one man and the death of another, and you are forgotten about in prison. Then you are remembered at the last minute and by again interpreting successfully the most powerful man of that day’s dreams, you are now in a position of tremendous power where your decisions have far-reaching implications. What would you do?
If we take his words that we have just read at face value, then it seems that Joseph had emotionally let go of, forgotten about, his family. He had moved on, with God, and continued to obey God. God had indeed blessed him.
Yet now his brothers show up and we read in chapters 42 - 45 of the emotional upheaval that Joseph goes through and the actions that he takes which force his brothers to face the consequences of their actions from years earlier. Yes, Joseph did say, ‘you meant it for harm, but God meant it for good’ but not before he struggled during his dealings with them.
What was he going to do? Was he going to help them? Was he going to tell them he could not help them and make them leave? Was he going to arrest them at once or perhaps toy around with them (he does somewhat do that) and then arrest them?
What makes the difference for Joseph? His passion for God, His heart for God, which is challenged repeatedly as we read in Genesis. But, (4) He chooses obedience, he chooses to follow God, even when it is hard.
Joseph trusted God, even during the difficult and painful times in his life because his passion; his heart for God ran deep within him and was expressed in his obedience to God’s way. Obedience then, is a key way to develop a heart for the Lord.
As we prepare for communion, I want to tell a story from Pastor Rick Pendleton about a Religion professor named Dr Christianson.
Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year regardless of his or her major. Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going on to seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor’s class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. He asked Steve how many push-ups he did each night. Steve told him 200.
He asked Steve is he could 300 push-ups in sets of 10. Steve thought about it and said, ‘Sure, I can do that.” Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of
donuts. These weren’t the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.
Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson’s class.
Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?" Cynthia said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" "Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia’s desk.
Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes." Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.
And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle he went, till he came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve.
When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Scott’s reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?" Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well, I don’t want one then." Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked,
"Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?" With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn’t want one!"
Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it." And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?" Steve did
ten....Jenny got a donut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut.
There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn’t bear to watch all of Steve’s work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely. Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.
The bell rang and Dr. Christianson told all of the students to stay in their seats. Some students in the hall saw Steve doing pushups and wandered in and sat down on the steps and along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room.
He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Yes. You must pay the full price for each donut." And Dr. Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don’t come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn’t know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."
Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?" Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut." Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I’ll let you get Jason’s out
of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
Jason, new to the room hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said, "give me a donut." "Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve’s arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. His back was swayed, not straight. His waist barely cleared the floor. Sweat was profusely dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was no sound except his heavy breathing, there was not a dry eye in the room.
Finally, Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan who was a popular student and a cheerleader at the school. "Susan, do you want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Christianson, why can’t I help him?" Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.
When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve, here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes.
Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?" As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, pleaded to the Father, ’into thy hands I commend my spirit’ with the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten." Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. "Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor.
I simply remind us this morning that Jesus Christ has given us a gift. His passion, His love for us is so deep, wide and rich that nothing, nothing in the world can compare to it.
He is passionate about us because He died for us because He loves us very deeply. His obedience to God’s plan made our salvation possible. He made the choice to obey God the Father so that we might be able to surrender our guilt and shame; our heartaches and fears; and look forward to a life of peace and purpose.
Where is God in your life right now? It is here or here or here…or here? Do you have a heart for God? Is it an obedient heart?
As we prepare for communion be open to the Lord this morning and by faith reach out to Him in confession and obedience. Amen.
Cognet illustration is at www.sermoncentral.com.
Pendleton illustration is at www.sermoncentral.com
Power Points for this sermon are available by e-mailing me at pastorjim46755@yahoo.com and asking for ‘090306slides’ Please note that all slides for a particular presentation may not be available.
