What happens in the lives of people to bring profound change? John remembered the day Jesus called him to follow; what’s more, he remembered it was the tenth hour. [1] He recalled the exact time. What makes a man remember such detail 50 years after the event?
Napoleon said that in every battle there [is] a period of ten or fifteen minutes which decides the issue of the conflict. Certainly in the battle of life there are moments and hours which, so far as we can tell, determine our history: hours when the spirit in which we lived, the step we took, the word we uttered, or what at that moment we thought, resolved, accepted, rejected, did, or did not, gave a complexion to our whole being here, and it may be, hereafter. These are tenth hours when a whole life seems packed into a single hour of revelation and destiny. [2]
Coming to know Jesus Christ is a tenth hour experience. So is sharing Christ with another person. This morning we will look at tenth hours in the lives of two fairly ordinary individuals. Notice what happens...
Mr. Scholar’s Tenth Hour
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Jesus found Philip; I believe that took Philip by surprise. He was the scholar. Shortly afterwards he informed Nathanael that they’d found the Messiah of Moses’ law – the one about whom the prophets had written. Philip was too smart for his own good. He had Jesus identified, categorized, and networked. I wouldn’t be surprised if Philip was the spearhead behind the movement to make Jesus an earthly king.
As with all of us, Philip’s thinking needed some major renovation. All Jesus wanted this thinker to do was follow.
That’s it? That’s all, Lord? Just follow?
Don’t you want me to write some legal brief to present at the Sanhedrin?
Shouldn’t I be calling the legislature to set up a press conference?
What about liaison with the Romans?
Just Follow? But.... Follow --
OK, I guess you know what you’re talking about.
But..... OK, OK! Just follow….sheesh, OK.
The thinker began to follow when he went to get Nathanael. Many of us want to think Jesus to death. He only wants us to share His life with those we care about. Most of us shrink back from that simple activity. We find some way to excuse ourselves from witnessing.
George W. Truett was the beloved Pastor of Dallas’ First Baptist Church for more than 60 years. He tells of a woman who came to him after a service. She was a poverty stricken widow with several children. She said, Pastor, I have never known you to be unfair -- yet you were so in your sermon. He inquired as to why she felt that way. Her reply, You said during your sermon that everybody can win someone to Jesus. Certainly you can’t mean me. I am a poor widow. I work long, long hours just to squeeze out a living for my children and me every day. I cannot entertain, or spend time winning souls to the Lord. I can barely exist. You are not fair in your speaking when you say everybody can win someone. Truett replied, Madam, does anyone come to your house? She said, Yes, a few -- the mailman, the milkman. He ended the conversation -- Then you do have an opportunity. You simply have not tried.
The woman went home troubled, and thought about the conversation most of the night. By dawn she heard the milkman at her front step. Convicted, she threw open the door, and greeted the man. As they exchanged small talk, the woman was nervously trying to think of some small word to put in for the Lord -- but the milkman turned to go. She began to close the door, but threw it open again. Come back, she asked. He did so, and she said, I wanted to ask you something, but I have been afraid. May I ask you a question? He agreed. Stumbling, she began, I just want to know if you know Jesus. Have you been saved? He looked at her with incredulity, What in the world made you ask me that? Oh, woman, said the milkman, I didn’t sleep at all last night worrying about my soul. Do you know how to find God’s light? In a short moment she was sharing with her new friend how to come to Christ. [3]
Winning others to Christ isn’t some mental exercise, with requirements of education and extensive training. Everyone can win someone to Christ. But, if we will not try, there is no hope. Philip the scholar met with the simplicity of the Gospel, and he shared it with Nathanael, a skeptic -- a man who needed convincing. Jesus provided that! And God will supply that in your life as you share with others.
Mr. Skeptic’s Tenth Hour
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
It’s obvious that Nathanael was not a Nazareth fan. Perhaps there was a rivalry between the two close towns. One author [4] shared that in the first century Nazareth jokes were actually quite common. Imagine three guys from Cana standing around the sheep pen. One says, How many Nazarenes does it take to put in a light bulb? One to hold the bulb -- two to turn the ladder!
Nathanael wasn’t a game player; he would not qualify as foreign diplomat. He was accustomed to telling it plain. Jesus called Nathanael an Israelite with no falseness. This is a clear reference to Jacob, the king of deceit.
It is also a statement of what was about to happen in the life of Nathanael. Just as Jacob had had a transforming experience, seeing angels ascending and descending on the ladder to heaven, Nathanael’s life was never going to be the same again. Jacob was a changed man -- from deception to integrity. Nathanael already had integrity -- he was about to embark upon the adventure of eternity with the Lord of all.
Nathanael’s Response?
Simple acceptance. Nathanael had been under the fig tree. This was a contemporary expression for one who had spent much time in prayer seeking God. Jesus recognized this serious seeker, and wanted Nathanael’s faith to be answered with sight. And Nathanael was ready, with a “capital-R”!
There is something about this encounter that instructs all of us Christians about sharing our faith. We need not argue about Jesus -- only present Him.
Apologetics (the defense of religious doctrine) has its’ place. Generally, defending the faith only means you’re preparing to have an argument. We have the task of sharing the faith. Like the man said, Witnessing is like picking fruit. If it is green, it is hard to pull loose, and you leave it alone for a while. But if it is ripe, give just the slightest tug and it falls into your hands. [5]
EPILOGUE
Once you have truly met Jesus Christ, like Andrew, your search is over.
like Simon Peter, you have found the greatest love;
like Philip, your intelligence pales next to the simple Gospel;
and, like Nathanael, your doubts and questions all fade into secondary positions.
You have come to the 10th hour, and your life will never be the same. You must decide. What will happen if you decide to be a believer, and do what believers do? This is what Jesus told Nathanael:
50 Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."
There is in Washington D.C., a sign over the entrance to the U.S. Patent Office -- where new things are the order of the day. The sign proclaims: The Past is but prologue. One day a tourist asked a cab driver what the sign meant. Said the cabbie: It means, Brother, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
To all those who will know Christ by accepting Him, and then do what believers do -- become His witnesses, answer the call -- the Lord says, You haven’t seen the least part of it yet!
Fawnie Poupore called me to share her experience last Sunday night. Fawnie has been plagued by a severely-inflamed sciatic nerve for weeks. She told me that even the pain of 5 childbirth events were tame by comparison with the unruliness of her lower back. Lately the spasms have debilitated her so much that she has hardly been able to get out of bed. Like the woman in the gospels, she has consulted about every kind of doctor known to man. That she has “spent all” in search of a cure goes without debate (considering the current state of the medical industry).
The pain had been so intense Sunday afternoon and evening that the nighttime promised only another sleepless round of tossing and turning. By bedtime the pain was great enough that praying to God for relief became hysterical cries of agony. At one point Richard appeared in the doorway, and (with typical Yankee sympathy [6]) admonished, Well, Fawnie, get a grip on it; you’re not doing yourself any good.
Fawnie realized that she had been tossing and turning like a contortionist in the bed, laying crossways with her head hanging off the side. She allowed that maybe Richard had something there, so she began to counsel herself to “calm down”.
While doing so, with eyes closed, she began to see a white circle right ahead of her, with other circles of dark color moving in and out of the white one. In a moment she began to see
“…the most awful of images; it was the typical image you’ve always seen of a drawing of Satan. He was red and had a withered face and his eyes were a bright yellow. He was surrounded by like beings…his followers. And I began to holler out loud at him, Get away from me, get away from me; you can’t have me.”
“About that time, off to the right side I saw another face. It wasn’t your typical old-style painting of the traditional Jesus, but I knew instinctively it was him. He was a young man, and beardless; he had the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen. And he looked at me and nodded. He didn’t say anything, just nodded; it was as if to let me know that it’ll be all right.”
Both images faded out, and although there was no instantaneous healing, there was a lessening in its intensity, and sleep eventually came.
In the morning Fawnie awoke and faced what has become her routine mountain-climbing of daybreak – the mental duel of convincing herself that there is sufficient eternally-justifiable reason to get out of bed. When she finally attempted to stand she was amazed to find she stood straight up, and with little pain. When she took a step she also found she could do it without despising the process. The pain was still in-residence, but it was only annoying, not debilitating.
I asked Fawnie if she’d ever thought-of, or planned how she would act if she was in such a situation. She replied that she hadn’t. My conclusion is that her immediate response to the image/person of Satan to “get away from me; you can’t have me” was the Holy Spirit’s prompting…a sign of the seal of His Spirit. [7]
My counsel was to understand that this experience as a gift from God. It is not just to bless her with relief from her back pain, or even rescue from the danger of Satan’s attack (I believe she was under demonic oppression), but rather that, like the parable of talents [8], God has placed in her hands a valuable tool with which she can praise God, and also share her faith with others. Her response to my words, “God has placed a nickel in your bag of talents” was: “It’s time to turn it into a dime”.
Another caution/counsel was that, like the 16 pounds she lost during the past few weeks due to the trauma/sickness ordeal (which would gladly come back once the ordeal is over), evil spirits come back, but they come back in seven-fold strength. [9] It is time to fill the house with strong soldiers that will protect the house. Among these are increased prayer life, strong commitment to worship, faith-sharing, and all aspects of discipleship. This is the kind of investment that “turns the nickel into a dime” (applying the metaphor to blessings the Lord has placed within our lives). We are blessed in order to be a conduit for those blessings – never a stagnant pool of hoarded gifts from above.
That’s how to live life if you’re going to answer the call.
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ENDNOTES
1] John 1:39
2] Clarence Edward Macartney, Sermons From Life, (Nashville, Cokesbury Press, 1933), 159
3] George W. Truett, A Quest For Souls, (NY, George H. Doran Co, 1917), 58-59
4] Frank Pollard in The Baptist Hour Broadcast (021196/BH07-96TB) quoting Elton Trueblood, The Humor of Christ.
5] Dr. Frank Pollard on The Baptist Hour, 060394 BH22-94 Radio
6] Fawnie’s description
7] Ezekiel 9:4, John 6:27, 2 Cor 1:22, Eph 1:13, 4:30, Rev 7:3, 9:4, 14:1, 22:4
8] Matthew 25
9] Matthew 12:43-45
