Tony Campolo tells the story of a town where all the residents are ducks. Every Sunday the ducks waddle out of their houses and waddle down Main Street to their church. They waddle into the sanctuary and squat in their proper pews. The duck choir waddles in and takes its place, and then the duck minister comes forward and opens the duck Bible.
He reads to them: “Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fences can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings, and you can fly like birds!"
All the ducks shout, “Amen!” And then they all waddle home. (Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story, Word, 2000; www. PreachingToday.com)
That describes a lot of believers I know. They say “amen” to the notion that they can fly, but continue to waddle around like they are tied to the ground. They’ve read in their Bibles that they can soar to great heights, overcoming any obstacle, but continue to wallow in the muddy puddles of bitterness, worry or greed. Does that describe some of you? I know it describes me at times.
So tell me: What will it take for us to overcome the attitudes and habits that keep us grounded? What will it take for us to fly? What will it take for us to soar to the heights for which God designed us?
Well, let me tell you the story of a man who overcame incredible obstacles in his own life. It’s the story of the first war recorded in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures and one of its real heroes.
The story begins when the ancient rulers of Iran and Iraq and two other nations subjugated five tribes of people living around the Dead Sea in what is today known as the nation of Israel. After 12 years, those tribal leaders had had enough, and they tried to free themselves from the tyranny of those four rulers from the east. Well, this brought the armies of those four nations against them, and the tribal leaders were utterly defeated. Their cities were ransacked, and their people were carried away. Among those people was Abram’s nephew, Lot.
Now, Lot thought he had made the right choice, when he chose to live near the Dead Sea. Back then, the area was lush and green, and the ancient city of Sodom was there. It had all the modern amenities and would protect his growing family from the marauding raiders that roamed the countryside.
Lot walked by sight, and he selfishly took from his uncle, Abram, the land that looked good to him. Even so, Lot ended up losing everything, and he found himself being carried off as a prisoner of war.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 14, Genesis 14, where we pick up the story as the news is reported to Abram.
Genesis 14:13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram. (ESV)
Genesis 14:14 “When Abram had heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he [said, “Serves him right,” and he stayed home.] Is that what your Bible says? No!
Genesis 14:14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. (ESV)
Abram is going to try and rescue his nephew, Lot, the one who showed him no respect and practically stole from him. You see, before Abram could win any battles against an outward enemy, he had to win the battles within himself. And the first battle he won was the battle against bitterness and anger. By faith, Abram overcame the anger within and forgave his nephew, Lot.
You see, Lot had done a terrible thing to Abram. When Abram gave him his choice of land in the last chapter, by custom, Lot should have deferred the choice back to Abram, his uncle, elder, and mentor. Instead, he selfishly chose the best land for himself and moved away. It was like a slap in the face – a sign of total disrespect.
Even so, Abram refused to retaliate. Instead, he chose to forgive his nephew; and when he was in trouble, Abram chose to help him out.
How could he do it? Simple. Abram believed in the promises of God. God had promised him all the land he could see, to the north, the south, the east, and the west. And it really didn’t matter that Lot took a small portion of the land in the southeast corner. It was nothing compared to what God had promised Abram. And Abram believed that promise, so he was able to forgive his nephew.
By faith, Abram overcame his anger, and by faith we can do the same.
There is nothing anybody can do to us that will ever take away the promises of God. There is nothing anybody can do to us that will ever separate us from the love of God. There is nothing anybody can do to us that will ever bring us any real harm in the long-run. In fact, God has promised to work ALL things together for good to those who love Him, even the nasty things people do to us.
So we too can forgive those who hurt us, because in God’s plan, He uses those hurts to bless us; He uses those hurts to help us become all that He wants us to be; He uses those hurts to make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ.
I remember what Joseph said to his brothers, years after they had sold him into slavery. Joseph ended up in Egypt, as a result, and God used those circumstances to elevate him to the highest place of authority in that great land, second only to pharaoh himself. Well, after Joseph became a great ruler, his brothers feared him, but Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive today” (Genesis 50:19-20).
So much of what people do to hurt us is unintentional. They don’t mean it, or they don’t realize what they are doing. But even when they do, even when they INTEND to harm us, God intends it for good!
That’s God’s promise to you and me. So we don’t need to hold onto the anger when people hurt us. Just believe God’s promise and forgive.
BY FAITH, OVERCOME THE ANGER within.
Trust God’s promises, and win against the bitterness in your own heart. Believe what God has said and get rid of the resentment. It’s one of the first things we must do if we want to soar in this life.
In her book, Unbroken, Laura Hildenbrand tells the amazing true story of Louis (or Louie) Zamperini, a World War II veteran and prisoner-of-war survivor. On May 27, 1943, Zamperini's bomber left Oahu in search of survivors from a downed plane. About 800 miles from the base, one of the engines cut out and the bomber plunged into the ocean. Zamperini and another soldier would stay afloat on a tiny life raft for 47 days – a world record for survival at sea. After confronting sharks, starvation, and dementia, their real battle would begin. Zamperini spent the next two years as a Japanese POW in the notorious Sugamo Prison. In particular, a guard named Watanabe (nicknamed “the Bird”) ensured that Louis endured constant physical torture and verbal humiliation – all in an attempt to shatter the spirit of the American soldiers.
In 1945, after Louis had been declared dead, he returned to America to a rush of publicity. Unfortunately, his life quickly descended into a new self-made prison of alcoholism and bitterness. In particular, Louis now endured constant nightmares about his past and an obsessive drive to murder “the Bird.” But the walls of addiction and hatred started to crumble in 1949 when Louis attended a Billy Graham crusade, heard the gospel, and trusted Christ.
From that point on, according to Laura Hildenbrand, what resonated with [Louie] was not all that he had suffered, but the divine love that he believed had intervened to save him. He was not the worthless, broken, forsaken man that the Bird had striven to make him. In a single, silent moment, his rage, his fear, his humiliation and helplessness, had fallen away. That morning, he believed, he was a new creation.
A year after trusting Christ, Zamperini returned to the Sugamo Prison in Japan where he met with his former captors, all except the Bird. When Louis was told that the Bird had committed suicide, he felt something he had never felt for his captor before. With a shiver of amazement, he realized it was compassion. Laura Hildenbrand said, “At that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete. For Louie Zamperini, the war was over.” (Laura Hildenbrand, Unbroken, Random House, 2010, pp. 376-379; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, the war within can be over for you, as well. You don’t have to hold onto that anger and bitterness any longer. All you have to do, like Zamperini, is trust Christ with your life. Believe God that He only wants what’s best for you, and forgive those who have hurt you. By faith, overcome the anger within. Then #2…
BY FAITH, OVERCOME THE FEAR WITHIN, as well.
Don’t let fear stop you from doing what you know God wants you to do. Believe God’s promises and go forward in his will.
That’s what Abram did. With just 318 men, he pursued the armies of four nations to bring his nephew, Lot, back.
Genesis 14:15-16 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people. (ESV)
Against great odds, Abram won a great victory that day and achieved what God had put in his heart to do. He refused to let the fear of defeat stop him, and it didn’t.
Why? Again, because Abram believed God. Abram believed God’s promise to make his name great. Abram believed God’s promise to bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. Abram believed God’s promise, defied the odds against him, and defeated the enemy.
By faith, Abram overcome his fear, and by faith, we can do the same. We don’t have to live in fear anymore. We don’t have to let fear paralyze us or stop us in our tracks. Instead, we can move forward into an uncertain future, certain of the promise that God will never leave us nor forsake us. By faith, we can overcome fear and accomplish all that God wants us to do.
There were only 11 men listening when Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
For these 11 fearful men, huddled in an upper room, that seemed impossible! They had very little money. They had very little power and influence. In fact, they were afraid for their very lives. But they had this promise from Jesus – the promise of the Holy Spirit’s power, the promise of a world-wide influence – and that’s all they needed.
For when the Holy Spirit came on them, they went out in faith and turned their world upside down for Christ. They overcame the odds, just 11 men, and started a movement 2,000 years ago that’s still reaching millions of people today.
Please, don’t let fear stop you from doing what you know God wants you to do. By faith, overcome that fear and do all that God has called you to do; be all that God has called you to be.
Newspapers used to call it the “Dance of Danger.” They were referring to bridge construction on top of swaying catwalks and high towers, sometimes hundreds of feet in the air, blown by menacing ill winds. The dance even had a calculated fatality rate: For every one million dollars spent, one life would be lost. That’s what officials could expect.
However, the engineers on the Golden Gate Bridge wouldn’t accept that risk. When construction began in 1932, they put numerous safety measures into place and strictly enforced the mandatory use of hard hats, prescription filtered eye glasses, and no show-boating, which was cause for automatic firing. They insisted on tie-off lines and provided an on-site hospital, both of which helped to greatly reduce the casualty rate. After nearly four years of construction and $20 million spent, only one worker had died.
The most effective safety device, without question, was the use of a trapeze net. The large net cost $130,000. It was draped sixty feet below the roadbed under construction and extended ten feet to either side. The net was so effective that the newspapers began running box scores: “Score on the Gate Bridge Safety Net to Date: 8 Lives Saved!” Those whose lives were saved boasted that they had joined the “Halfway to Hell Club.”
Beyond that, the net had another significant benefit: it freed many of the workers from an often paralyzing sense of fear. Many of them said it helped them work more productively. (Robert Lewis with Rob Wilkins, The Church of Irresistible Influence. Zondervan, 2001, pp.140-141; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes it seems that our lives are a “dance of danger”, but God’s promises are a sure and certain safety net beneath us.
Jesus promises his followers, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30).
As believers in Jesus Christ, that promise is our safety net. All you have to do is believe it. Just trust in that promise, and let it set you free from an any paralyzing fear. Let it encourage you to soar to even greater heights than you thought possible. Let it help you be more productive in the work that God has called you to.
By faith, overcome anger. By faith, overcome fear. Then #3…
BY FAITH, OVERCOME THE WORLD!
Believe God’s promises and conquer the negative influences of the world. Depend on the Lord, then you won’t have to depend on worldly resources. That’s what Abram did.
Genesis 14:17-20 After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (ESV)
After Abram’s tremendous victory, two kings came out to meet him: 1st the King of Sodom; but before he could get to Abram, the King of Salem met him first and blessed him. Now, the King of Salem’s name is Melchizedek, which means “King of Righteousness.” And Salem means “peace” in the Hebrew, so we have the King of Peace, whose name is the King of Righteousness coming out to meet Abram.
Hebrews 7 identifies this King as a type of Christ. In fact, some Bible Scholars believe that this is actually an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ. He blesses Abram, and Abram gives him a tenth of all the spoils of the battle he just won. Abram met the King of Salem – a righteous king over a peaceful city.
Then he met the King of Sodom – a wicked king over a wicked city. He has a proposition for Abram.
Genesis 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” (ESV)
Give me the souls; you take the stuff. The King of Sodom wants to buy Abram off, who he sees now as an important and powerful ally.
Genesis 14:22-24 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.” (ESV)
Abram refuses to be bought or sold. He refuses great riches, which would have obligated him to the King of Sodom.
How could he do it? How could he turn down such great wealth? It’s because he had already been blessed by God himself, who promised him more than any earthly king could ever give him. Abram’s faith in God kept him from worldly entanglements, which would have kept him in bondage for the rest of his life.
He believed God; and as a result, he conquered the allure of this world, and you and I can do the same thing. By faith, we can overcome worldly entanglements; we can say no to the enticements of this world, which would only keep us in bondage.
You see, the message of the world is the same to us that the King of Sodom had for Abram: Give me the souls; you keep the stuff. On the other hand, Jesus said, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world (i.e., all its stuff) and yet forfeit his soul” (Mark 8:36).
You have a choice this morning. You can accept the offer from the King of Sodom or from the King of Salem. You can accept this world’s stuff or God’s blessing, but not both. Jesus Himself said, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 24).
So which will it be for you? Are you going to accept the offer from the King of Salem to keep your soul? Or are you going to accept the offer from the King of Sodom to keep his stuff? Please, by faith, make the right choice!
In 1995, Rob Mouw, then a soccer player and a senior at Wheaton Christian High School, was surprised one day to receive a letter. “Dear Rob,” began the hand-scrawled letter, “I read Bob Greene's wonderful column about you. I love sports and true sportsmen. My faith in our future was renewed and lifted by that column. Never lose your principles. Always stand for what's decent and right. That's what you told us all when you refused the victory!” It was signed by the former President, George H. W. Bush.
The letter referred to Rob’s unusual action in a hotly contested soccer match that was reported by local newspapers, and then by nationally syndicated columnist Bob Greene.
In the closing seconds of a game against Waubonsie Valley, a team ranked high in the state, Mouw managed a breakaway and kicked the tying goal. With Wheaton fans cheering the upset and Waubonsie fans protesting the goal was late, Mouw walked to the referee and asked whether the official time was kept on the scoreboard or the referee's stopwatch.
The scoreboard time was official, he was told. Mouw then explained that just before his kick, he had seen zeros on the scoreboard clock. Since he hadn't heard a whistle, he kept playing. But his goal was late, and he didn't think it should count. The referee reversed his call and awarded the game to Waubonsie.
That night, Mouw went home to his homework. “I didn't think much about it,” he said. “I hadn't done anything that great. For me, acting honestly was just a reflection of Christ in me.”
Then he said, “Every time in your life you have an opportunity to do right, you should be thankful. For a person to know what right is, and then not to do it – that would be a sin. To have won the game – I mean, really, who cares? Doing the right thing is more important. It lets you have peace.” (Christian Reader, “Ordinary Heroes,” 1995; www.Preaching Today.com).
Just a quick note: Rob went on to play soccer for Wheaton College, helping the team to a national championship two years later in 1997.
That young man had accepted the King of Salem’s offer, not the King of Sodom’s, and he found peace. He trusted Christ, not the allure of temporary fame from winning a soccer match. By faith, he conquered the world; and by faith, you and I can do the same thing.
By faith, we can overcome anger. By faith, we can overcome fear. And by faith, we can overcome the world.
Like Abram, all we need to do is believe God when he tells us, “I have blessed you in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). When you know that you know that you know that you’re blessed by God Himself, you don’t need anything else; you don’t need to be afraid; and you don’t need to be angry any longer.
Faith is the victory that overcomes the world!
