A Patient Urgency
Nov. 2/3, 2002
Intro:
"Everyone seemed confident that the ship was all right," recalled first-class passenger Henry Sleeper Harper. At last, however, the call came for all passengers to come up on deck wearing their life belts, and soon after midnight, Captain Smith directed crew members to ready the 16 wooden lifeboats and four collapsible boats. The noise on deck was horrendous as steam was released to ease pressure on the Titanic’s boilers. Over the din, Lightoller shouted to the Captain for permission to begin loading the boats, and the Captain nodded his agreement.
Many women were reluctant to leave their husbands and the apparent safety of the huge ship for a 70-foot drop down to the dark ocean in the tiny wooden boats. Some had to be forcefully picked up and dropped into the lifeboats by crew members. Very few of the boats were loaded to their capacity with passengers.
At 12:45, Quartermaster George Rowe fired distress rockets as lifeboat 7 was lowered with only 28 people aboard, even though it could have carried 65. Realizing the danger of their situation, many third-class passengers gathered in prayer, and five men jumped into lifeboat 5 as it descended, seriously injuring a woman passenger. By 1:15, the Titanic’s bow had plunged beneath the surface. Even as water was rising in the ship, the band continued to play and the gymnasium instructor was assisting passengers on the mechanical exercise equipment.
After the water closed over the Titanic, hundreds of people remained struggling for their lives in the freezing water. Their screams were unbearable and unforgettable for those who listened to them from the safety of the lifeboats. Nevertheless, as hundreds of men, women and children froze to death during the next hour, none of the boats rowed back to offer help.
It was only after the dreadful cries had died down that Fifth Officer Lowe transferred passengers out of lifeboat 14 and rowed it back to the site of the Titanic’s sinking. Masses of dead bodies, buoyed by the life belts, floated in the sea. Lowe and Able Seaman Joseph Scarrett were only able to pull 14 people out of the water, and only half of those survived the cold and exposure. (source: titanic-online.com)
Context:
We’ve spent the last little while talking about evangelism, and the image of the church as a hospital – a vision for our church based on Jesus’ words: “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.” It is a vision of witnessing to the awesome power of God that has reached us, pulled us from our quicksand, forgiven us, and made us holy children of the mighty God of the universe. We’ve talked about God’s heart for people – His desperate longing for people everywhere to know of the incredible depth of His love for them and His desire to forgive and restore them to right relationship with Him. We’ve talked about God’s part and our part, we’ve thought through the kind of personality God has given us and how we can be ourselves and witness for Christ, and we’ve examined some of the tough questions people ask and how we might begin to respond.
Today is the final sermon in this mini-series on evangelism. I pray today that the Holy Spirit of God would lay on our hearts the urgency of this task – that we would recognize that without Christ people we know and love are on the road to an eternity without God, an eternity in hell. We’ve been talking about evangelism, equipping ourselves to be effective witnesses, now we need to capture again the passion of God for lost people, and live that out. We need to get motivated…
Did we get the whole thing backward?
As I reflected this week on the whole process of the Christian life, I’ve been wondering if we haven’t gotten the whole thing backward. I think most of us have concluded that the thing that matters most is our own spiritual lives – our own personal depth – how much we pray and study and worship. We feel like the most important thing is the state of our individual relationship with God. I’ve decided that is false. It is backwards.
The most important thing is not the depth of our individual experience of God, the most important thing is the mission He has given to us. I honestly believe that. The mission God has given us to be His witnesses is more important than our own individual depth. We’ve gotten it backwards – we think: grow à then get on with the mission. God says grow while living out the mission.
That’s not how we think. We think we need to know more, we need to pray more, we need to experience God more, before we could ever share anything with anyone else. We have to get our own house in order, master our own sinful tendencies, discover and develop our spiritual gifts, and then maybe we’ll think about sharing our faith. We need to go to school and master all the concepts and ideas and skills before ever going out and putting them into practice. We have a “university” mentality. God doesn’t. God has an apprenticeship mentality.
I believe that this reversal of priorities is a lie of the devil. I believe it is a ploy of Satan to distract us from the purpose for which God saved us – to be a light for Him in a dark world – to be a witness for Him in the friendship and colleague and family circles in which God has placed us. To fulfill the mission. The lie is that we have to get it all together ourselves before we reach out to others. That is not God’s way.
Be an Apprentice
Let me demonstrate this principle with a few quick examples from Scripture:
1. Abraham (Gen 12:1-4): God called Him – He said, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
The mission was first – it was the primary thing. I don’t read about God asking Abraham if he is ok with that, or how he feels about the mission. God just says go. And then He apprenticed Abraham along the way.
2. Moses (Ex 3:4-14): I’m not going to read the whole thing, instead let me paraphrase the exchange:
God: “Moses! Get over here, it’s me, God. I’ve seen the misery of my people, and I’m sending you to do something about it.”
Moses: “huh? Me??”
God: “It’s ok, I will be with you.”
Moses: “Wait a minute - who are you again?? I don’t even know your name!”
Moses was a mighty man of God – talked with God directly, so that even his face glowed. Brought down the 10 Commandments from the mountain. He had a deep personal relationship with God. But not until after he had done the first part of the mission, rescuing the Israelites from slavery. God apprenticed Moses along the way.
3. Peter (Matt 4:18-19): “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Once again, the mission comes first. Studying the Gospels we see this method over and over with the disciples – Jesus apprenticed them while they ministered together. He didn’t pull His disciples off to a remote hillside for a couple of years of extensive Bible study and personal examination. They learned and grew as they worked towards the mission.
4. Last one: Paul (Acts 9:19-20, 22) You remember the story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, and how Ananias was sent by God to heal him. Acts finishes the story with these words: “and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God…. Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.”
Paul didn’t mire in despair at how much his sin had harmed God’s Kingdom. He didn’t sit in guilt as he realized how much he had persecuted Jesus. He didn’t immediately seek out the twelve apostles to get all the facts of Jesus’ life and teaching straight. “At once he began to preach that Jesus is the Son of God.”
Do you see the pattern? Go. Do it. Get busy. God says, AND I WILL BE WITH YOU AND EQUIP YOU AND DEEPEN YOU AND MEET YOUR NEEDS AS YOU DO.
God calls us to apprenticeship – to dive right in, roll up our sleeves, start doing what He has told us to do. And He’ll walk with us, answer our questions, teach us the skills, demonstrate His power, and equip us. But only as we obey, only as we walk with Him in His great mission to rescue humanity from sin. God doesn’t run a boarding school, where He plucks new Christians out of life as we know it for a few years of safe retreat in an ivory tower. Instead, He plucks soldiers from the opposing army, throws on a completely new uniform and hands out new weapons, and puts us back on the front lines. That would be a terrifying thought were it not for the fact that He puts us on the front lines right beside Him.
What is the great purpose? What is this grand mission?
Let’s go back to Scripture. Remember these verses:
1 Cor 9:24-27 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Familiar verses, right? One’s we have heard, and which we have always applied to our own spiritual growth. After all, Paul is saying that we have to train, we have to run with purpose, we have to subdue our own sinful desires so that we can make it into heaven. (“not be disqualified…”). But I have a surprise for you – Paul is not talking about personal spiritual growth here. Here are the verses immediately preceding those ones:
1 Cor 9:19-23 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
See, Paul is talking about the Mission. The central place of evangelism. And he is explaining how he will go to any length so that some might be saved. Then he talks about running to win the prize, going into strict training, beating his body. He is not talking about personal spiritual development, he is talking about evangelism. That is the race. So what, then, is the prize – what is the crown Paul refers to? We’ve generally thought that the prize is our entrance into heaven – our salvation. But it isn’t; the prize, the crown, is those whom God saves.
1 Thess. 2:19For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? 20Indeed, you are our glory and joy.
Caveat…
I don’t want you to hear a message that our own personal spiritual lives are not important here – that is not what I am saying. Of course they are important! What I am saying, however, is that they are not the most important. God’s mission is more important. You see, the thing we have missed is that the purpose behind our own growth in depth is to make us more effective in the pursuit of the mission. The pursuit of that mission is the central thing. We have thought it is about us, about a deeper walk with Jesus for our own comfort, for the meeting of our own needs, for our own blessing. And we have been wrong.
Luke 19:10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." That was Jesus’ mission. That was the mission He left for us.
Paul continues this theme a little later in 1 Corinthians 10:33-11:1 “even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
The Urgency of Evangelism:
I worry that the today’s church is more concerned with survival than advancing the Kingdom. That we as God’s people are more concerned with ourselves than with others. I worry that there is very little fishing going on – oh, if a fish jumps into the boat, and if it is the same color and likes the same things as the rest of us, we might not throw it back – but to pursue fish? To make that the goal of being out in the boat?? Fishing is hard work; unless of course we are only fishing for fun. In which case, we just don’t catch much…
In a small church on the U.S. East Coast a pastor delivered a sermon on abortion, and after the service a German man who lived in Nazi Germany told of his experience: I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because, what could anyone do to stop it?
A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!
Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to the death camp. Their screams tormented us.
We knew the time the train came past our church and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.
Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians and yet did nothing.... (source: Jonathan McLeod, sermoncentral.com)
There are people all around us in a similar situation as those Jews in the train cars, as those passengers on the Titanic that did not have a seat in a lifeboat and that floated screaming in the freezing waters. But their destination is an even worse one: they are on their way to hell. As Christians, we have the one thing that is able to save them from destruction: the gospel.
Will we sing louder to drown out the cries as the trains drive by? Will we sit in our half-full lifeboat having Bible studies and thanking God that we aren’t like those 3rd class passengers?
Or will we be the one boat that returns, will we pull people out of the water, cuddle up beside their shivering bodies and share our body heat even though it will make us shudder and shiver, make us wet and cold with them? Will we open the doors of the hospital, reorganize our priorities, recognize that we are called to a Mission first, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us as apprentices in His work of redeeming mankind?
If we believe in the vision of the church as a hospital, it means great cost. It means helping the critically injured first, rather than the Christian brother or sister with a painful blister on their toe. It means re-organizing our priorities of time, and reorganizing our financial priorities as individuals and as a church. It means sacrificing our likes and dislikes, our desire to be comfortable and be fed, so that those starving can eat.
And it means that lives and eternities will be changed. It means God’s Kingdom will be established the way He desires it to be. It means that orphans will have families, the unloved will know peace, the guilty will be pardoned, and the sick will be healed.
Matthew 9:36-38 says: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Paul wrote: “For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 1Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”
