Hunter Sunday
The Apostle Paul wore camouflage
Introduction
A. Welcome to hunter Sunday. After the service today we will be serving venison chili and corn bread, and outside we have a couple of great cooks who will be grilling up some venison steaks and some and even some Salmon. Out behind the church if you would like to try some archery shooting we will have some extra bows for you try out. I hope you get to stay and enjoy the day.
B. One thing that many non-hunters do not realize is that deer hunting is good for the state. Most people don’t know is how much money the hunters give to the state. Ohio is one of the best deer hunting states in the country right now. Hunters fly in from all over the country, from almost every state just to hunt in Ohio.
A. About $100,000,000 comes in each year from licenses, tags, and special tax on ammo and guns.
B. Most people are not aware of the damage that deer cause to farmers. Deer destroy almost $50 million dollars a year in crops in Ohio alone! There are also around 30,000 deer related car accidents a year. That means about 10% of all car accidents in Ohio are caused by deer.
C. You need to say thank you to deer hunters. Without them the deer population would explode and the financial damage to farmers and insurance companies would rise dramatically and we would all foot the bill with higher insurance costs and higher food costs. All those cute bambies turn in potential car accidents!
Best dressed
A. Some of you went all out today with your camo gear. We have a prize for the best dressed hunter today. I have four venison steaks to give away.
B. So if you wore camo gear and want to possible win these venison steaks come up front and we will do a vote for the best dressed hunter.
C. Choose the best dressed camo person
D. Give prize.
Why do deer hunters wear camouflage?
A. Most people don’t realize how hard it is to get a deer. There are about 420,000 gun hunters. In 2013 they tagged 75,000 deer. That means 1 out of 6 hunters got a deer about 18%. So, 100 hunters go hunting only 18 get a deer! That means 82 hunters walk out of the woods with nothing but a great nature walk.
B. A deer hunter can increase his chances of tagging a deer if he is smart and wears hunters camo. This way he does not stand out in the woods and the deer will not be on the alert as it walks through.
C. There are all sorts of different kinds of camouflage a hunter can use. Let’s take a look.
A. Steve: wearing the gilly suit
1. So what do you call this?
2. Why do you wear camo when you hunt?
3. How many years have been hunting?
4. Now you hunt with a gun and a compound bow and also a recurve bow. (Show me the bow)
B. Sandy with regular camo gear
1. What kind of camo gear is this?
2. Do you think it really helps? (Ask her to stand behind a tree)
3. Yes, it helps me blend into the environment so the deer won’t see me.
4. I have to be careful when I am sitting in the tree stand not to move around a lot as well.
5. Sandy, why do you like to hunt? Not to many women hunt why do you like to hunt?
6. Have you ever gotten a big deer?
C. Paul wears orange jump suit
1. What kind of camo gear is this? Do you think it really helps?
2. Now Paul, it seems to me that this kind of suit would really stand out. Why do you wear orange?
3. Seem pretty bright, deer can’t see this?
4. I guess it would be fair to say if you get shot wearing this, not a mistake!
5. How old were you when you tagged your first deer?
D. Mike wears winter clothes
1. Are these warm?
2. Why do you wear scent lok clothing?
3. Does it really matter if you go hunting with clothes that you wore in the house?
4. Why these colors?
E. Let’s give these people a hand.
F. The reason deer are so hard to get is because deer have an incredible sense of smell. Deer can smell you a hundred yards away. They also have an acute sense of hearing and great eyes. They are so quiet they can be right next to you and you won’t even notice and sometimes you can be looking right at them and won’t see them because they blend in so well.
G. The idea of wearing camo is to blend in with the surroundings, so if it is early fall a hunter may wear leafy camo, if it is late fall, he may wear a different pattern, and if it is snowy he can wear a white pattern. When you are hunting a deer with a bow, you need for the deer to get real close, maybe 20 to 30 yards before you can shoot. So it is very important that a deer hunter blends in with his surroundings.
H. What happens if a hunter does not wear camo? The deer will see him and he won’t get any venison. The camo is to help him succeed in hunting. The hunter does not wear camo because he is afraid of the deer, or he is embarassed about being a hunter. He wears camo to be able to succeed in his hunting and to get venison.
I. So some of you are asking, “What does this have to do with coming to church?” Most people don’t realize that Paul wore camo. The camo he wore helped him succeed in winning people to Jesus. He did not wear camo because he is afraid of people. He did not wear camo because he was embarassed about being a Christian. He wore camo to be able to succeed in his mission of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and to bringing people into God’s kingdom. We are going to read about it in I Corinthians 9:19-22.
The Apostle Paul wore camouflage I Cor 9:19-22.
A. Read it again in the message translation:
1. “Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: the religious, the nonreligious, the meticulous moralists, the loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized, whoever. I did NOT take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ, but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
B. What Paul was saying here was that he blended in with people who were different than him. He did not stand out as some sort of “weird” religious fanatic. He makes it clear that he did not compromise his faith or his morals, but he was able to fit in so that he could reach people for God.
C. Christians are called to evangelize the world. Jesus told us to go into all the world and teach people about Him. But I’m not sure we have this thing called evangelism right.
D. On the one hand there are people who think that every person they meet they need to talk to them about Jesus or they have to bring up Jesus name in every conversation. I know what that is about; I was like that when I first became a Christian. I think many people are like this when they first discover the great love and forgiveness of God. We are always talking about Jesus. Now this often causes problems, especially in marriages. If the wife gets saved and she is constantly talking about God to her husband, that is not going to work.
E. Then there are people who just never, ever, ever, ever talk to someone about their faith. They are afraid of “offending” someone, or they fear they just “don’t know enough” to tell someone about their faith or they are afraid of not being “cool.”
F. Well both of these approaches are wrong.
Why did Paul wear camo?
A. To Win Others: Five times he says that his aim is to win people. Verse 19: “that I might win the more.” Verse 20: “that I might win the Jews . . . that I might win those under the law.” Verse 21: “That I might win those who are without law.” Verse 22: “That I might win the weak.” Paul’s aim and purpose was to help people get “saved” or win them to God. So five times he says that his aim in adapting to the way people live is to win them.
B. Paul was convinced that if he could help people find God, their lives would be better. Paul was a “hunter for God.” He knew what it took to help people find God. Paul had a goal to win people to God. He was sold out to helping further God’s kingdom on this earth.
C. His camo, his fitting in, his blending in, was to help him reach others.
How did Paul do this?
A. He took the time to get know people. He was not standoffish. He was not “holier than thou.” This is all about serving. He had to change. He had to adapt.
B. He did not blend in, or wear camo because he was “ashamed” of his faith. He did not wear camo because he was afraid of being different or afraid of being made fun of.
C. He was not a chameleon changing his colors to match the group he was with. He was not saying he acted like a Christian when he was around Christians but when he was around people who were not Christians, he acted like them.
D. We live in a skeptical age. We see politicians tell one group one thing and the next group something totally different.
E. This is not how Paul operated. He was upfront with everything he did.
F. But at the same time he was able to relate to the people he was with.
Should Christians wear camo?
A. AsChristians we live in a strange situation. On the one hand we are pilgrims and strangers in this world. We are truly aliens. We are not like everyone else. We are children of a King, we have received God’s Holy Spirit. We are different. We have surrendered our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we are no longer under the power and dominion of the devil. We are different!
B. When we go to work, or when we go to school, we should be different yet we should blend in. People should notice that we are different but they should be able to relate to us.
C. The things they should notice about us should be our love for people. They should notice the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit flowing out of us; love, joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, etc. We should be different, so we don’t join in the bad mouthing of the boss, or laugh at the off color jokes about women or people of other races. We don’t use crude words when we talk. We are different.
D. But on the other hand we don’t want to be so weird that people can’t relate to us. So it is a challenge to “fit in” without compromising what we believe in. Ask youself a few questions. Do the people at work know you are a Christian? The answer should be yes. If it is “no” or “I don’t know” then you are too blended in. But then ask this question, “Do people at work feel comfortable around you, do they relate to you?” The answer should be yes. If it is “no” then you are “too different!” You need some camo!!!
E. The key to this dilemma is you have to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit. He will lead you and teach you how to love and serve people without compromising your faith.
Summary
A. Paul was all things to all men. Paul wore camo. He blended in with people around him. He learned how to relate and care for them. He loved them and served them. He did not stand out as some kind of weird religious fanatic.
B. As Christians we need to learn how to be all things to all people. We need to learn how to blend in with people around us, and relate to them and care for them and serve them. We don’t want to stand out as some kind of religious weirdo.
C. But we need to stay focused that our goal is to help people find Jesus. We don’t want to blend in so much that people don’t know we are Christians. We don’t want to blend in so much that we never talk to people about our faith or about how great God is.
It is a delicate balance between blending in and standing out. Only a true close relationship with God’s Holy Spirit can help us to do this in a way that is effective and useful for advancing God’s Kingdom.
