The Tragedy of
SpongeBob Squarepants
(All my sermons use illustrations from sermoncentral.com and all scripture is niv unless otherwise noted)
When I was a young child I can remember coming in from trick-or-treat on Halloween night and hearing Orson Welles “War of the Worlds” and really thinking that we were being invaded by aliens from outer space. Of course my Mom explained it all to me, but for a brief time I thought it to be real, because I trusted the radio as a credible source of information.
John, my eldest son once told me of a 141 point buck that was shot and mounted, he saw it in a magazine thinking “therefore it must be real.” I reminded him that there were also pictures of the world famous jackalope. Of course we know this to be folklore, stories meant to impress us.
Picabo Street, the well known Olympic gold medalist in the Super G, is much more than a famous skier. In fact, between training on the slopes and traveling around the world to compete, she managed to get an education and earn a degree in nursing. Early in her nursing career, she was assigned briefly to work ad an ICU nurse in a large metropolitan hospital. She did outstanding work, but there was one problem. The head of the nursing staff had to tell her to discontinue answering the phone in the ICU because of the confusion it created when callers were connected to to ICU and would hear Picabo answer in her most professional voice, “Picabo, ICU” - True story, of course not, just a myth, but one many would like to believe.
This brings us to the Tragedy of SpongeBob Squarepants - A child is on a cruise ship with his parents. He finishes breakfast and announces he is going to see SpongeBob Squarepants. His parents, thinking he is going to the cabin to watch TV, have no problem with this. But in his attempt to see Spongebob Squarepants, who “lives in a pineapple under the sea,” - the child jumps over the rail fo the ship and drowns.
A terrible tragedy, if it actually happened. This brings us to today’s scripture.
If you have your Bible with you, please turn with me to the second letter of Timothy, chapter 4. Tucked away in this chapter are five verses with a strong warning and a specific set of instructions. A warning that not only still applies to us today, but has become more and more obvious in the world we live in. Perhaps some make light of this warning by using excuses such as “selective hearing” and”some-timers disease” but the cold hard truth of the matter is that Paul predicted this day to come, and perhaps it is here. Unlike the stories I just mentioned, this is the truth from God’s Word and deserves our full attention and acceptance.
2 Tim 4:1-5 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
PRAYER
We must look at the middle of this passage first; the time has come folks, people are NOT always willing to put up with sound doctrine anymore.
I. COMPROMISE IS COMING
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
NO, instead they will turn from the TRUTH and surround themselves with those willing to tell them what they want to hear.
Our world is so full of this terrible tragedy, people are willing to accept (as truth) what fits their needs or desires. They are willing to turn from the ONLY real truth and accept lies. Liberal translations of scripture are put in place to allow just about everything we see in our world today, from Homosexuality to Abortion. Most people agree that the scripture speaks of warnings against homosexual lifestyles, but they explain it away by saying, “that only in the case of a non-committed relationship”. In other words if you are committed to your homosexual partner it is okay with God. So many today will pick and choose the scriptures that fit their needs but ignore the scripture that speaks against the sin they live in. And, I must say that it is not just on a major issues such as abortion and homosexuality, many explain away disunity in the church, gossip and rebellious doctrine with the excuse that there is no other alternative. So many times I have heard the excuse; we want to do it the way that the Bible says to, BUT, there is no qualified people to do what God wants done, so we are just doing the best we can. YES, we must do the best we can, but going against scripture is NEVER an alternative or option.
Now, please hear me when I say, we are all sinners in need of God’s amazing grace, and the sin we may have lived in is forgiven, if we are willing to accept God’s forgiveness and allow the Holy Spirit to change our lives. BUT, turning from the TRUTH and explaining away a lifestyle of sin is wrong.
Mart DeHaan explains in “Daily Bread” devotions:
In an unethical selling technique called the bait-and-switch method, a retailer lures customers into his store by advertising a well-known product at a very low price. When the buyer asks to purchase it, however, he is told that it is out of stock. The salesperson then tries to sell him an inferior line of merchandise, hoping to pocket a bigger profit. The brand name was used just to get potential customers to step inside.
In a similar way, a false teacher uses biblical words to capture interest and gain a hearing. He may talk about Christ, redemption, the cross, and the resurrection, but these "trusted terms" amount to nothing more than a come-on. The "seller" uses them to advertise truths that, as far as he is concerned, are "out of stock." When an interested person responds, he is confronted by beliefs that are completely contrary to God's Word.
So many churches today are willing to replace God’s Word with “what fits their needs” and this exactly what Paul is preaching against. He sees that the churches are willing to compromise the truth and change things to fit their needs, this is not what we are charged to do. So he tells Timothy:
2. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction.
II. WE MUST PREACH THE WORD!
This is a charge to timothy that applies to everyone of us Christians sitting in this room today. We are “preaching” God’s Word with every action we take. Sometimes the greatest sermons in the world have absolutely no words used.
His name was Timothy, he was a first year college student, who had just accepted Christ, and was typically late for everything. Sunday morning was the same as usually, he woke up late and grabbed whatever he could find for clothes from the floor, put on his flip-flops and ran down the block to the church where he now attended. When he arrived it was very crowded, he walked slowly up the aisle but could not find a seat anywhere, and to make matters worse the preacher was already mid-way through his sermon. He continued to walk slowly toward the front and when he got all the way up there and could not find a seat, he simply sat down and crossed his legs, Indian style, all alone at the front of the church and listened to the preacher, who eyed him a little but continued on. People were whispering to one another and then, the oldest of the elders, in his three piece suit, shiny shoes and cane, began to walk toward the front. People were really whispering now, some could be heard saying “now that young whipper- snapper is going to get lined out.” Even the preacher feared what was about to happen but he just kept preaching. When the elder arrived at the front, as was if the entire church was watching and holding their breath. But the elder just handed his cane to the young man, and carefully sat on the floor next to him. The preacher stopped preaching and said, “Folks, the words I am giving to you this morning you may never remember, but the act of love you have seen this morning, you will never forget.”
PREACH THE WORD - and if necessary use words!
But remember to be prepared to preach the word when the opportunity presents itself. Be prepared in season and out of season, to me, says that we need to walk with Christ at ALL times. It is fairly easy to “walk the walk and talk the talk” when we are with each other in the church building or at a function for the church. It is another thing to be ready to witness and preach God’s word when we are in an environment that is less than welcoming to the Christian lifestyle. I think that this also tells us how important it is that we read and study God’s word. Nothing would be more frustrating then be afforded an opportunity to share God’s Word and not knowing what to show another who needs a scripture or a passage or a direction from God’s word.
Correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. See how important it is to KNOW the Word, we cannot correct or rebuke anyone if we ourselves do not know the truth. AND yet this command comes with a sub-set of instructions. We are to correct and rebuke and ENCOURAGE and do all of this with great patience and carful instruction. How many times we get a little over zealous to do what is right but do it the wrong way, that is exactly what paul is warning against.
Richard Dunagin writes this; At their school carnival our kids won four free goldfish (lucky us!), so out I went Saturday morning to find an aquarium. The first few I priced ranged from forty to seventy dollars. Then I spotted it - right in the aisle : a discarded ten-gallon display tank, complete with gravel and filter - for a mere five bucks. SOLD! Of course it was nasty dirty, but the saving made the two hours of clean-up a breeze. Those four new fish looked great in their new home, at least for the first day. But by Sunday one had died. Too bad, but three remained. Monday morning revealed a second casualty, and by Monday night a third goldfish had gone belly up.
We called an expert member of our church who has a thirty gallon tank. It didn’t take him long to discover the problem; I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute NO-NO. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect. Sometimes in our zeal to clean up our own lives and the lives of others, we unfortunately use “killer soaps” - condemnation - criticism, nagging and fits of temper. We think we are doing right, but our harsh, self-righteous treatment is more than others can bear.
So we have seen that Paul warns of a time when people will no longer put up with sound doctrine and the truth, they will place others around them to say ONLY what they want to hear. I think we can safely say that this time has already arrived and has been here for quite sometime, BUT it is the duty of those who serve Christ to preach the TRUTH, to speak it with words and without words, to be prepared ALL the time and to remember that although we are to speak the TRUTH, which includes giving correction and instruction, we are to do so with love and careful direction.
III. WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF YOUR MINISTRY?
5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Timothy leaves more instruction on the other end of the warning, and he starts with “KEEP YOUR HEAD.” There is a lot of discussion about what he meant here, the original text is saying “stay sober” which could mean many things, but it agreed that it is saying “stay in control.” How many times we see people who have the right idea, take it to a place that damages the cause? Abortion clinics being bombed and abortion doctors being shot in the name of fighting against the sin of abortion. But to combat a sin with a sin is just as wrong and makes things harder then God would have them to be. Hate crimes against homosexuals do nothing more than prove the ignorance of people. God hates the sin of homosexuality, but He still loves the homosexual.
Keeping our head is not the easiest thing to do in a world that is so full of wickedness, but to combat sin with sin is wrong. Reminds me of the Quaker who owned an ornery cow. Every time he milked her it was a clash of two wills. This particular morning she was unusually irritable, but he was determined to endure the sessions without so much as a cross word. As the farmer began to milk her, ole Bossy stepped on his foot with all her weight. He struggled silently, groaned a little under his breath, pulled his foot free, then sat back down on the stool. She then swished her tail in his face like a long string whip. He merely leaned away so it wouldn’t be able to reach him. Next she kicked over the bucket, by then half-full of warm milk. He started over, mumbling a few words to himself; but he never lost his head. Once finished with the ordeal, he breathed a sign of relief, picked up the stool and the bucket and as he was leaving she hauled off and kicked him against the barn wall twelve to fifteen feet away. That did it. He stood to his feet, marched in front of his cow, stared into those big eyes, and he shook his long bony finger in her face. He shouted, “Thou dost know that I am a Quaker. Thou dost know also that I cannot strike thee back . . . but I can sell thee to a Presbyterian.”
Keep your head, endure hardship! Perhaps the one thing you will hear me talk about more than anything else is endurance. So many people just GIVE UP. So many churches are closing in our world today simply because people are unwilling to fight the good fight and do things God’s way. There are churches that just give up completely, and there are many more that are trying to do things differently from the Bible, and both of them will close, because this is not what God wants. It is our mission to endure the hardship and make an impact on our world.
Endurance is what makes us grow, it is simply THE testing that helps us get stronger. Each time we endure hardship we get a little stronger.
Paul also tells Timothy and all of us to do the work of an evangelist, and discharge all the duties of our ministry. The great commission says that we are to GO into all the nations and make disciples, it is the task of everyone sitting here today to evangelize the lost. Now many of us think that we are not equipped to lead someone to Christ, but nothing could be further from the truth. Each of us is capable of building a friendship, a personal relationship with someone we care about that does not yet know the Lord and leading them to Christ. It takes time, and in some cases a lot of time to build a relationship where a person trusts us enough to come to church, and then we have to believe that our church is where we want people to come to hear the word and see the example of what God’s church looks like. But each of us can lead people to Christ through our church body.
Folks, I am here to tell you that the time has come when many people are either finding churches that operate outside the scripture, or they are attempting to change their own churches to fit their own needs. They will NOT put up with the TRUTH that is in the Bible and they are unwilling to listen to the TRUTH. BUT, we are to PREACH the truth, we are to be prepared to do so whenever the opportunity presents itself and we are to correct those that are wrong and rebuke the ones who stir trouble BUT to do so with love, and patience and careful instruction. We are to keep our head about us, endure the hardship we will face and do our work.
This morning as we prepare to give an invitation . . . .
INVITATION
