Tears
(Luke 15:1-10; Phil. 3:17-19)
INTRO: I grew up hearing that “real men don’t cry.”
Raise your hands if you’ve ever hear that?
We are told it shows weakness – makes you look kind of lame…so society often tells us.
Now, I have to tell you, I’m a crier….I know I know…It’s hard to believe.
If I watch a movie and something sad happens, or even something good, I’m probably going to cry…I cried in the movie “Armageddon” – it’s not even a sappy movie!
Actually, I call it “misting” because that’s more manly than crying…so we’ll be watching like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, or dramatic movie, and I can feel it coming on…the WORST are the SPCA commercials…b/c I want to go adopt a thousand cats and dogs…and they play that song “Angel” by Sarah McLaughlin…
That song makes me think about a vulture …It circles around and around…waiting...It’s only played when something has died or is in the process of dying…oh boy…I’m starting to tear up now…that song should be illegal.
I get that lump in my throat…you know what I’m talking about…feels like you’re trying to swallow a baseball…
Then I start tensing my facial muscles, squint my eyes – do everything I can to prevent crying…
Then moisture rises up – my eyes begin to water…I start to sniffle…it’s like a flood building up behind a levee – I can feel the imminent collapse, but I try to hold my ground…and then the Levee breaks…a tear falls…and then Kristy asks, “Honey, are you ‘misting?”
Yep…
Raise your hand if you’re a crier!
As I was writing this, I realized – hey – I’ll cry about a dying ferret or a person who beats the odds to triumph, or even a videogame (elaborate) – even somebody winning “The Sing Off”…but …I don’t cry in the real tragedy.
We do have a real tragedy going on today, church.
People are not in Christ. People are Lost.
I’m not talking about like, “I need to stop in the gas station and ask for directions” lost – I’m talking about people are separated from Jesus Christ and lost and dying in sin and hopelessness.
There are people – all around you every second of every minute of every hour of every day that are not in Christ…they don’t get to experience his love and this amazing life we get to lead b/c of what Jesus Christ has done.
You know – There are many prodigal sons walking our city streets
they are searching for something…for shelter…from life, from home, from themselves…from decisions.
There are broken homes and ruined families all throughout our neighborhoods
People's hopes have fallen to the ground b/c they feel like failures; they feel overwhelmed; they feel…hopeless.
Our children go to schools full of hatred and depression.
Suicide is at an all-time high!
Even today many congregations have forsaken two of the greatest tenants of our faith: Love and mercy.
This is an emergency, church.
I want to take time tonight to talk about the dire situation we are in; not only us, but that our friends, family, strangers, and children are in.
(SLIDE) If you have your Bibles, open to Phil. 3:17-19: 17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.
Why this text?
Good question.
The book of Philippians is written by Paul.
It’s often called “The Book of Joy” and rightly so – it’s full of great things and the promises we have in God, and God keeps His promises, right church?
However, I’ve missed this text several times…it comes on the heels of my absolute favorite passage (Phil. 3:7-11) about how Paul gave up everything and the only thing that matters is Jesus Christ…nothing else matters.
I’m usually on cloud 9 after reading that and pass right over this.
However, I won’t make that mistake again.
(SLIDE) Paul says, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” (3:17).
Paul says, brothers and sisters, be co-imitators, mimic our (the Apostle’s) example (in the Greek, this means a die, which is struck to be permanent to make impressions on metal, wood, etc.) It also means to carry a scar.
So look like the Apostles who imitate Jesus – look like Jesus, church – carry the mark of Christ with you and follow the example of those who have gone on before us! Keep your eyes on the Son of God!
Don’t ever take your eyes off Him. Jesus is EVERYTHING! LIVE LIKE CHRIST!
(SLIDE) Then Paul takes a kind of somber twist in the next verse saying this: For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ” (3:18)
Paul says, “I’ve told you over and over again about people that I know and you know…I’ve hammered it into your hearts…I’ve labored in love…
And then, I envision Paul, having to stop and collect his thoughts…because the Spirit struck a nerve…and he writes, …and now tell you again even with tears…Paul is crying.
The King James does this great justice in translating this as “weeping” – the word literally means to shout in lament, to mourn, to sob…so Paul isn’t just “misting.”
He’s weeping in pain and grief, Paul is hurting for these people…
Why?
(SLIDE) Keep Going: many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things (2:18b-19)
He’s mourning because many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
What does that even mean?
In context it means the Judaizers who are saying what Jesus did wasn’t enough…still had to observe the Law and the Old Covenant.
It also means those who either hate or despise the work of Christ on the Cross, who hates what it stands for – and it also means those who aren’t in Christ.
(SLIDE) Paul says, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things” (3:19).
This word “destiny” is literally “the conclusion of their life” and their end is “destruction” (literally eternal ruin in Hell).
Their “god” is their stomach – meaning they took pride in observing strict diets for religious purposes…
Their glory is how good they looked “religiously.”
They talked the talk – were @ every function, said the right words, maybe even taught classes, knew the right people – but they were devoid of a relationship with the Living God – with Jesus Christ…and the cross meant nothing to them.
Paul says that it is their shame…that they cannot glory in what they’ve done…b/c it’s all about JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2).
If the cross is absent from our faith than faith is absent from our lives, church – it’s the GOSPEL!
Then Paul says, “Their mind is set on earthly things.”
Pretty self-explanatory – they live for the here and the now, but also the future in the sense that they only care about what they can acquire or become – that they get that big promotion or have the large 401k to retire early…and all they care about is a half-hearted, lukewarm, civic duty oriented “religion.”
Know anybody like that?
So how does this apply to us tonight?
If Paul was so concerned to the point of weeping and wailing for the lost, what are we doing?
I have to admit – I don’t always wear my “God –vision” glasses.
I see the world like Scott wants to see it – not God…and they are two diametrically opposed worldviews.
I’ve got to change, I’ve got to keep the God glasses on all the time!
I mean, maybe it’s time we re-learned to view people as God views them.
I found myself coming to this realization the other day.
Let me tell you a story.
I have a friend, a close friend – went to college together.
When I first started @ OVU, he kind of took me under his wing.
I admired 2 things about him: 1) he was a smart guy biblically, and 2) he lived what he said.
I would sit with him for hours and study and do homework and just be crazy college kids – and we had a brotherhood.
He was hired as the preacher for a small congregation south of Parkersburg and things were really going great for him!
Shortly after, his mother passed away at the age of 55.
He never recovered.
He started struggling with anxiety; panic attacks, depression.
While I was interning at the Whitehall Church of Christ in Pittsburgh, he found his wife cheating on him – he retaliated by doing the same thing.
He resigned from the church as their minister…tried going to other congregations in the area for support, but they condemned him so badly because he was getting a divorce, even though he repented.
He sought out the care of his friends and family, all of which who are Christians – and they did nothing but condemn him; yell at him; treat him with contempt…and I was one of those people…
So he turned away.
He turned away from anything “church.”
From Jesus, from friends, family, and the Word of God.
He became an atheist for a while, then agnostic, and then for about 4 years he was a strict Muslim.
I realized early on in this situation how cold I had been – so I asked God to help me make it right…and He did, and we still talk almost daily.
I have walked with him in this journey, studying everything he did, I’ve studied the Qur’an more than I care to, Wicca more than I should, and Catholicism for a long time.
I’ve read all the books he’s asked me to, I’ve had to admit I can’t answer the questions he is looking for answers to…I spend hours talking with him, and working – all the while praying that God would do something to open his heart again.
His Father passed away about nine months ago…he is now a universalist/mystic Christian/ Wiccan.
His Facebook posts always condemn Christians, especially the churches of Christ. He is studying to be a “priest” and is part of a “new order” of mystic Christians.
As I was talking with him the other day, I realized that I had been so cynical and critical of him through this journey.
I thought it was my duty to preach at him – to reprimand him for turning his back on what he knew to be true…I frequently poked fun at his religious “flavor of the week.” I didn’t have compassion for what he was truly going through.
(SLIDE) And then I came across this verse: Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matt. 5:35-36)
Have you ever truly wanted to know how God thinks about you? Not just you, but everyone?
Here it is.
Only a Father can view His children like this.
We all are like sheep – we have all gone chasing after “greener pastures.”
We’ve all wandered from the flock.
However, we are under the care of the Shepherd who never sleeps, church.
He will move Heaven and Earth to come rescue me when I call.
We’ve pursued our own ways, our own pleasures, our own desires and dreams…and we’ve at one point or another not been a part of the flock.
But we’re here now…not all of us are here now.
Some have wandered. Some have strayed – some have been attacked, are hurt, dying, sick, and lame, in agony.
So we need to go out and get them - all of them.
(SLIDE) Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:1-7).
Who are you in this parable?
The scoffing religious folk saying, “They are with ‘those people?’”
The lost sheep who maybe took a seemingly insignificant wrong turn or caught the eyes of something that lead you away and now you’re confused, lonely, afraid, and helpless?
The 99 that are just chilling in the grass? I find it interesting that these sheep don’t notice the one missing, or the shepherd leaving them – they’re just content eating grass…
The relentless shepherd who won’t quit till all his sheep are safe?
Imagine if all the sheep helped the shepherd find the one; how much quicker it could be done!
I want to leave you with a challenge today – maybe you need a pencil and pen.
I want to introduce you to something called the 360 Revolution.
Here’s what you do:
(CLICK)Pick 3 people in your life that you know aren’t Christians or who have drifted away
(CLICK) Pray for them 6 times a day!
(CLICK) Miss 0 opportunities to create a “teachable moment” or to recognize God’s open door to share and love them.
When we make this a priority, we can’t help but be about the Father’s business – we can’t help but run after the lost sheep – it will be natural.
My prayer is that this congregation will be a refuge.
A refuge from life’s problems, a refuge for the poor and needy; a place where healing happens and love is never-ending.
May we be a people who weep when God weeps, and live like Jesus lived.
May we be a congregation that isn’t satisfied watching our friends, families, and neighbors fly down the highways of self-destruction and an eternity in Hell – b/c we will be held accountable for the people we DON’T try to reach…(elaborate on no cookie cutter methods, nothing huge)
May we be a place where people come and KNOW we love them, that we care, and that we’re here!
All the sheep are not home, church…let’s go get them and never stop till the last beat of our heart, the last breath of our lungs, and the last day on earth.
INVITATION
