Intro: The purpose of my sermon this morning is to lay before you the joy of Christians being in right relationships with one another.
One of my favorite Christian leaders is Dr. Frank Page, President elect of the SBC Executive Committee. He said this week, “even though "pessimism, fear, defeat, negativism are pervasive" across the nation, there is hope for an attitude change because God ultimately is in control.” It’s easy to say, “God is in control” when things are going your way. It’s a bit tougher to live that way in the midst of great changes taking place in America and throughout the world. There is much anger, division, uncertainty in the land today. Is there any hope for resolution? Church leaders are asking, “Can God bring spiritual awakening to our families, cities, churches?” Families are asking, “How can I have more peace in the home? I’m at my wits end trying to get everybody happy!” There is a deep hunger in our souls for Christians to come together and live out the peace of God in the midst of a troubled world.
* This past Sunday night, 5 churches in our association came together under the theme
of God is doing a new thing. The house was packed at Bethany Baptist Church. Even though the service lasted 2.5 hours, no one complained, because God’s Spirit was helping us to focus on the most important thing – Christians coming together to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Though we had different worship styles and we worship at different churches, there was joy because we had our focus right where it needed to be – on God and enjoying one another!
Let me share five principles from God’s Word on how to become the kind of person that constantly experiences the joy of right relationships.
I. You experience the joy of right relationships as you focus on what is right with others over what is wrong. 22:1-4, 6
My dad showed this special skill when he was the coach of our little league baseball team in Malvern, AR. Dad inherited the baseball team with little talent and low in morale. Losing game after game eventually takes its toll on you! My dad had a choice, focus on our weakness or try to work with our strengths. Because my dad believed in each child, some of the kids on our team improved dramatically over the season. Games we never would have won early in the year, we won in the end of the season because he emphasized our strengths.
*Principal Margaret Ackerman has this skill. I was impressed with her leadership watching her share with parents concerning Patrick’s mission and values. She and her staff are fully devoted to helping kids grow and learn on a higher level than they ever thought possible.
*Nondi calls her kids in Sunday School, “Excellent kids.” She has the gift of focusing on what is right with them over what is wrong.
Joshua knew the importance of giving credit to others when that credit was due. Before parting company with the 2.5 tribes of the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half tribe of Mannasseh, Joshua speaks of their faithfulness.
Max Anders states, “What a great tribute to these soldiers from the eastern tribes. For seven years they had sacrificed themselves to stand with their brothers and fight for land that they would not possess themselves. They had been away from their families and risked their own lives. They deserved to be commended for their work – and Joshua did just that.”
Are you a better person when you are griped at or when you feel appreciated? Are you motivated to be a better spouse through nagging or praise? Are you ready to do a better job at work when your boss constantly points out your weaknesses or motivates you through constructive criticism? *Nothing improves peoples hearing more than praise!
Recently, I read about a man who had nothing but complaints about life, the future, the church. He consistently voiced his disapproval to one of his co-workers and to all who would listen. The more he griped, the more she talked about the goodness of God. The more he bemoaned, the more she boasted on the powerful, mighty Risen Savior. Eventually, the man gave His life to Jesus Christ because his friend focused on what was right about Jesus over what was wrong with life, church, etc.
Joshua could have condemned this group because they were moving away from the original crew, instead he pointed out their faithfulness, loyalty to the Lord and others, he sends them away with the blessing of the Lord.
II. You experience the joy of right relationships when your walk with the Lord is growing stronger. 22:5
* Recently I came across this question, “Would you do for GOLD what you would do for
GOD?” What does this mean? The answer is clear. If you’re not attending prayer services now, would you do so if you were paid for it? Would you witness for Christ more zealously if you were given some monetary compensation for your efforts? Would your contributions to the work of Christ be more generous if such “investments” brought guaranteed financial return? If these questions disturb you because they call for a reluctant “yes,” it is apparent that you’re more willing to do something for gold than for GOD!
No true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ wants their walk with Him to grow weaker over time, rather the desire is to grow stronger in the Lord. Not many people like to hear this, but a relationship with the Lord does take effort. How could a husband and wife have a great marriage if each talked to each other, but didn’t take time to listen to each other? You want God to listen to you, but do you want to listen to Him? Sometimes, we stop listening when He tells us what we don’t want to hear. Joshua 22:5 – “But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Everyone is searching for meaning and purpose in life. True meaning and purpose in life begins with knowing and loving the Lord because He first loved you! Jeremiah 31:3, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.”
*In preparing for this sermon, I ran across some soul searching questions in my Life Application Bible Commentary that helped me think deeply about what it means to truly love and grow in the Lord. Are we grateful he found us even though we were not truly seeking him? Are we glad he rescued us from sin? Are we thrilled he chose us to be his followers? Are we excited about his presence in us and his words of guidance? Are we considering daily how to be more aware of his direction for us? Are we making his will the central pursuit in our vocation, education, and family life?
Parents, if your kids were about to leave for college or move to another city, state, what would be the last thing on your lips? Be careful to find good friends? Be careful to manage your money? Be careful to call me once in a while? Or, be very careful to love the Lord your God, walk in His ways, keep his commandments, hold fast to Him, serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?
Selfishness is hurting our homes, neighborhoods, churches, etc. Jesus life and ministry was all about selflessness. 1 John 3:16-17, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” How much stronger could your love for the Lord and others grow today, this week, this year if you said, “Lord, I’m dead to sin, but alive to serve You with everything within me.
* The Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov spent a summer in the 1940s in Alta, Utah. Nabokov collected butterflies. Other than writing, butterflies were his passion. He was absolutely driven in his quest to add to his collection of different species. Nabokov was passionate about assembling the finest collection of butterflies that the world had ever known. So great was his passion, he would be out in the fields at dawn and not return until evening. One night at dinner, he commented that he had spent the day at Bear Gulch. He had made some tremendous finds. But throughout the day he kept hearing a horrible groaning coming out of the gulch. His friend asked him, “Did you go and check out what it was?” “No,” replied Nabokov, “I have never seen such butterflies. I couldn’t be distracted from my task.” The next day, the body of an old prospector was found in the canyon, just yards from where Nabokov had been throughout the day. —Steve Farrar, Spiritual Survival During the Y2K Crisis
*It is said that Mary Kay, of Mary Kay Cosmetics, goes into each room, conference, and sees a sign over each persons head that reads, “Make me feel important.”
*John Maxwell has a personal goal to see every person he meets as a “10.” He says if you treat someone like a “2” they are going to act like a “2.”
III. You will experience the joy of right relationships when you take time to talk to people rather than about them. 22:10-32
* I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the cannon. I win without killing. I tear down homes, break hearts, wreck lives. I travel on the wings of the wind. No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me. I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless. My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent. I never forget and seldom forgive. My name is Gossip. —Morgan Blake, sportswriter for the Atlanta Journal.
*Ugly rumors were started at a youth retreat that threatened to tear the group up. The youth minister prayed to God about what he should do with his group to bring them back as one. God led him to the story of the woman caught in adultery where everyone wanted to stone the lady for her sin. The minister shared the story and then passed around a bucket of stones and insisted that each youth take one and carry it in their pocket throughout the remainder of camp. He asked them any time they felt criticizing someone else, or talking behind another’s back or passing on an ugly rumor, they were to reach into their pocket, touch the stone and ask themselves if they were without sin.
The 9.5 tribes on the west side of Canaan caught rumor that the 2.5 east side tribes of Canaan had gotten involved in building an altar. Warren Wiersbe explians, “God had instructed the Jews to destroy the altars of the heathen nations in Canaan and not to build altars of their own. There was to be one altar of sacrifice at the one sanctuary that God had appointed. The accused tribes made it clear that they weren’t setting up a rival religion because the altar they built wasn’t for sacrifices. Rather, they were putting up a witness that would remind the tribes of the Jordan that Reuben, God, and Manasseh were a part of the Jewish nation.”
This is such a powerful message for the body of Christ today. The passionate zeal for God’s truth combined with a loving concern for God’s holiness was displayed by the 9.5 tribes. They were willing to put their lives on the line for God’s truth and also were willing to lay down their lives for their brethren…to do all they could to do keep them out of sin and idolatry. Also, this confrontation never would have happened had the 2.5 tribes simply inherited the promised land God had promised!
The 2.5 tribes represent Christians who want the best of both worlds in their walk with God. They talk a good game, but they are not truly pursuing a walk of holiness with the Lord. Do you want your pastor to preach only sermons that tickle your ear? Do you want the name of Jesus on Sunday and then live like the rest of the world the rest of the week? Are you living in an immoral relationship? Are you unwilling to let go of grudges and bitterness? Are you willing to honor the Lord with your finances?
IV. You experience the joy of right relationships when you admit you are sometimes wrong. 22:32-34
*Jim Baker was caught up in the prosperity gospel and preached it continually. All the while, he was living a double lifestyle and leading people astray. In jail and nearing a mental breakdown, a prison cell guard risked his job to tell him, “Jesus loves you.”
V. You experience the joy of right relationships when you are willing to move past misunderstandings to follow God.
*John Huffman, “Peace, combined with truth, is the highest priority; without truth, it is compromise. Truth without a desire for peace is brittle legalism. Jesus said, “Blessed is the peacemaker.” Nothing pleases God more than when His people seek truth and peace and when He sees the war fever between brothers and sisters turn to joy and understanding. This is worth our every effort.”
Conclusion: Jesus came and preached peace through the blood of the cross. Ephesians 2:17-18, “And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by One Spirit to the Father.” Spend more time focusing on what unites you in Him over what divides. Jesus accepted you into His family when you were far from perfect and He wants you to do the same with others.
