Sunday, March 22, 2009
A MAN I ONCE KNEW
Intro: It’s wonderful to hear about and strengthen ourselves on the lives of biblical heroes. Their stories never get old & perhaps they are more inspiring as we grow older. Some suggest they are outdated and some even suggest that they are fictitious. They conclude these great events recorded in God’s word could never happen anyway. After all it takes some imagination to believe that a supernatural power could have achieved such great notoriety.
In the scripture I read to you today, Paul stops for a moment to reflect on a man he once knew, one of those unnamed heroes that seldom get the respect they deserve. Paul tells us that he doesn’t mind glorying or bragging on someone so great…someone who inspired his life in a time when he desperately needed a fresh infusion of strength, and courage.
I told you last week that God had spoken to my heart and told me to focus on some of the men and women whom I have known during my life. Does God have heroes today? Yes, God still has heroes today. The heroes didn’t just suddenly stop at Calvary, or in the Garden, or on Resurrection day. Even today, God still manufactures heroes which live lives in front of us each and every day. Of course, we fail to see their value or the good that they accomplish, but as long as there is a heaven and an earth, God will have men and women who will confront evil, who will be faithful and still rejoice when someone suggests “Let us go into the House of the Lord.”
These men and women may not be flashy; they may be quiet and require little or no attention. But believe me they are out there in every church and in every community around this globe.
As a young man sitting in my father’s church (Pine Mountain Valley Church of God), I witnessed many who came through those doors of the small country church and all of them, as each of you do today, had the same opportunity to be a hero for God. The qualifications are simple, confront evil and accept the responsibility given to each of them. Did they? OF COARSE NOT.
I saw my share of hypocrites who confessed one thing, but lived something totally different. Yes, as a child, I was watching and I was very aware of what was going on as God was molding my young life. Indeed, the enemy used them in an effort to influence me to make the wrong decisions.
I’m glad my story does not end there because as a young man I also witnessed dedicated men and women who had been changed by God’s power, and ran the race the best they could. Even in my own eyes, as that young man sitting and watching, I knew something had touched their lives.
So with that being said, and the foundation laid, I present to you today a man I once knew. He lived right here in and around Manchester, Georgia. He came from a good family, and I was acquainted with his father, his mother, and all his brothers and sisters. He had all the opportunities of anyone else, but one day, after years of riotous living (similar to the prodigal son in Luke 15) he discovered himself. It’s important for a person to know who he is, but it’s impossible to know who you are until you know WHOSE you are.
An admitted alcoholic, a drunk, a real nobody, who had lost his way, he had no light even though he lived in a world that was dark. He struggled to stay focused, but daily the mires of sin were absorbing his life like a sponge absorbs water. He reached, at times, but like many in his condition, found nothing worthwhile to hold onto. His wife and young children must have suffered greatly; just to be second on daddy’s list of importance behind a bottle could damage a child for life.
The community all knew him well, he was the alcoholic of the community, and in most folks’ minds would never amount to anything. But one night (do you remember the night when something got hold on you?), passed out in a ditch in the wee hours of morning, God made a house call…a final call according to his own later testimony.
You see, this man was in and out of church from time to time, and had had the privileges of being raised in church, but this night God would make him his last offer. You never know when that will come, but according to God’s word, “My Spirit won’t always strive with man.” This man’s time had come, God had him on the carpet, this was it…a decision was required tonight.
In the ditch, he was awakened by a bright shining light, and instructed what to do. Now I know the Bible says, Believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth, and you shall be saved. But the circumstances here were a little different. There in the ditch with him was a rock, just a common, round, flat rock. There was nothing different about it, I know, because I personally saw the rock. But there that night, he was instructed by God to start pulling that rock, and for six miles he pulled, and pulled, and pulled.
You say, that’s absurd, so is the fact that God opened the Red Sea to let his people escape, so is the crowing of a rooster three times in the middle of the night. The Bible is full of absurd things. His ways, according to God, are not my ways, and He certainly does not explain his actions to me, nor does He seek the approval of some committee. So after moving the rock for six miles, most of the night, this man emerged and told his story about his encounter with God, and how it had changed his life.
Of course, the community had heard this before, and only time would tell the tale. I was watching, the church was watching, and his family was watching. It was Sunday morning, and expectations were high, waiting, wondering if this was indeed just a sensational story brought on by a sensational feeling, or had this man really experienced a relationship with God.
But then right on time, in walked Arthur with his family, wife Nancy, and two children. Well Arthur, had passed the first test. Every Christian knows that responsibility to attend church. Someone said, we’re glad to have Brother Arthur with us today. Boy that was strange (“Brother Arthur”).
Well that was not the only Sunday Brother Arthur came to church, he was there every Sunday, every Sunday night, and, yes, every Wednesday night. Everyone was wondering, when will this stop. I was watching, and it never did.
The story of Arthur did not stop there. Sometimes in a small church we didn’t have a song leader in every service, nor at times, a piano player. We sang without either one. In one of those services, my dad asked Brother Arthur to lead singing. “Is he crazy? I’ve heard Brother Arthur sing, and he is no mockingbird,” I was thinking. Yes sir, Brother Arthur got his song book, and led the singing, continuing for some time thereafter. One time, I remember Brother Arthur said, “Let’s turn to page 248, and sing ‘Just Over in the Glory land way.’ ” My, my, I thought, Brother Arthur would beat the back off that red hymnal.
Brother Arthur’s eyes would close, his head bend slightly forward, and he was in a world of his own, created especially for him by God. It was then I knew, Arthur was no hypocrite, he was genuine.
Later Arthur was called to preach, and when there was no church available, he bought his own. Yes sir, the old Presbyterian Church, now known as Grace Family Church, right here in Manchester, was purchased by Brother Arthur. He stayed there for years, and never had too many folks, but one thing he had as a story to tell, and a life to back it up.
Later God blessed him and he purchased a local dry cleaning store, which still operated in Manchester, Georgia, today. His life had been changed, and he had influenced others incredibly, including a young boy named Sanford, who himself would later on become a pastor.
Yes, he was a hero, quiet, occupying, and never forgetting the night he and God got it all together. Yes, that night Brother Arthur finally knew who he was, because he found out for sure WHOSE he was.
The rock, yes, the rock, sat on Arthur’s mantle until the day he died, just a reminder, somewhat, of his experience with an awesome God. So this morning, along with many others, I salute the life of Brother Arthur and his wife…a real hero who was never in the big lights of the city, but was welcomed home by God some years ago.
I challenge all of you here today and all of you that may read this tribute to remember that in the pews of that little church sit young boys and young girls that are watching each of you. You may think they are too young to notice, but I assure you, their lives are being molded into the future generation.
God bless you and be with you.
Pastor Sanford Colquitt
Abundant Life Worship Center
Manchester, Georgia 31816
