Once upon a time, a man walked into a little mom-and-pop grocery store and asked, “Do you sell salt?”
“Ha!” said Pop the proprietor. “Do we sell salt! Just look!” And Pop showed the customer one entire wall of shelves stocked with nothing but salt – Morton salt, iodized salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salts – every kind of salt imaginable.
“Wow!” said the customer.
“You think that's something?” said Pop with a wave of his hand. “That's nothing! Come look.” And Pop led the customer to a back room filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes of salt. “Do we sell salt!” he said.
“Unbelievable!” said the customer.
“You think that's something?” said Pop. “Come! I'll show you salt!” And Pop led the customer down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room, filled wall-to- wall, floor-to-ceiling, with every imaginable form and size and shape of salt – even huge ten-pound salt licks for the cow pasture.
“Incredible!” said the customer. “You really do sell salt!”
“No!” said Pop. “That's just the problem! We never sell salt! But that salt salesman – Hoo-boy! Does he sell salt!” (D. James Kennedy, Led by the Carpenter, Thomas Nelson, 1999, p. 46; www.PreachingToday.com)
Jesus calls us, His followers, “the salt of the earth” (Matt 5:13), but salt that stays on the shelf doesn’t do any good at all. Instead, Jesus wants us to be out there as a preserving influence in this decaying world. He wants us to make a difference in people’s lives. He wants us to speak with authority so that people will listen and respond?
But the big question is how? How can we as God’s people be a positive influence on those around us? How can we gain a real hearing among the various voices clamoring for people’s attention? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Galatians 1, Galatians 1, where the Apostle Paul defends his apostleship and gives us reasons why we should listen to him.
Galatians 1:11-17 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. (ESV)
Paul makes the point that he didn’t get his ideas from any man. He got them directly from Jesus Christ Himself in Arabia. Now, that’s significant, because Arabia where Mt. Sinai is, according to Galatians 4:25. And that’s where Moses himself met with God to receive the 10 commandments. Paul is saying, “I got my message from God just like Moses did. Therefore, my words carry the same weight as the 10 commandments themselves!” Paul met with Christ in Arabia.
Galatians 1:18-20 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) (ESV)
Paul spent time with Christ before he spent time with any other man. In fact, he spent 3 years with Christ alone in the Arabian Desert before he even met the leaders of the church in Jerusalem – Peter and James. And then he was there for only 15 days, not enough time to learn much, if anything, from them, but just enough time to get acquainted. “Then,” Paul says...
Galatians 1:21-22 I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. (ESV)
The false teachers who dogged Paul’s steps liked to boast of their close association with the leaders of the church in Judea. They loved to drop the names of important people, but Paul tells us of his close association with Christ Himself. Paul’s authority did not come from his connection to important people. Paul’s authority came from his connection to Christ himself. Paul’s right to be heard came because he knew Christ personally, and he had learned from Christ directly.
My friends, that’s where we gain our right to be heard, as well. We don’t gain the right to be heard, because we have studied under great human teachers. We don’t gain the right to be heard, because we have a bachelors or master’s degree, or even a Ph.D. We gain the right to be heard, because we have spent time with the Master Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord.
If you want true spiritual authority, if you want to have a positive impact on those around us, if you want to speak in such a way that people will listen, then you must…
COMMUNE WITH CHRIST.
You must connect with Jesus. You must know the Lord personally, getting our thoughts and ideas from Him.
You see, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts; His ways are not our ways, Isaiah 55:8 says. “As the heavens are higher than the earth,” God says, “so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
What God has to say is a whole lot more important than anything you or I have to say. My opinion, your opinion, is just one of many opinions competing for the attention of people in our world today. And most of those people don’t see any opinion as any more valid than any other opinion. It’s just a bunch of noise to them. So if we’re going to speak in such a way that people will listen, we cannot declare our own opinions, we must instead speak the thoughts and words of Christ.
That means we have to know Him personally. We have to spend time with Him, so we can know His thoughts. Then, and only then, can we speak with any authority at all. Then, and only then, can we hope to have any real influence.
Sandy and I love to watch Antiques Roadshow when it comes on PBS. It’s especially fun when people learn that the stuff they had sitting in around in their living rooms, bedrooms, attics or garages is worth a lot of money.
In one episode, an elderly man from Tucson, Arizona, brought in an old blanket he had inherited several years previously. He knew the old blanket was worth a little something, but when he got it he simply threw it over the back of a rocking chair in his bedroom until he brought it to the Antiques Roadshow.
With the blanket hanging on a rack behind them, the expert appraiser told the old man that his heart stopped when he first saw it… [The appraiser explained] that the item was a Navajo chief's blanket that had been woven in the 1840s. In wonderful condition, it was one of the oldest, intact Navajo weaves to survive to the twentieth-first century, and certainly one of only a tiny handful to exist outside of museum collections…
Because of its rarity and significance, the appraiser had no trouble telling the man it was worth somewhere between $350,000 and $500,000.
As the man walked out of the convention center… the blanket he had carelessly carried in with him was now cradled carefully in his arms. He walked out of the building with security guards on either side of him, drove straight to a bank, and placed the blanket in a safe deposit box.
What had been “junk,” a mere accent to an old rocking chair, had been instantly transformed into a precious treasure. (Tim Challies, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, Crossway, 2007, pp. 30-31; www.PreachingToday.com)
How often do we treat the Word of God like that man treated that old blanket? We know it’s got some value, but we just throw it on our coffee tables as a mere accent to the furniture. Oh that God would open our eyes to love and appreciate the supreme treasure that we have in His Word. Not that we would then lock it away in a safety deposit box, but that we would begin to lock it away in our hearts, so we could begin to think the way he thinks, speak the way He speaks, and live the way He lives.
Jesus put it this way in John 15: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Apart from Jesus we cannot do anything. But if we remain connected to Him and to His Word, He says we will bear “much fruit”. That is to say, we will influence many to follow Him. The secret to spiritual influence is abiding in Christ. It’s in communing with Him.
Now, that’s not to say that you can spend five minutes in God’s Word and immediately people will listen to you, no! When grape vines are first planted, the first harvest doesn’t come until the fourth year.
When Sandy and I lived on Washington Island, one of the local residents decided to plant grape vines on his property, hoping to make some money producing wine. You see, Washington Island is on the same latitude as Napa Valley in California, and has the perfect growing conditions for grapes. Well, this man hoped to cash in on a fruitful vineyard, but most of the rest of us thought he was crazy. For a couple of years there was no crop, just empty vines on his fence rows. Then the first year there was a crop, the grapes tasted awful. They were unfit for making any wine.
Soon after that, we moved here to Lyons, but I heard that the man was beginning to make some money selling his grapes to wineries in the area. Recently, I discovered why it took him so long.
Margaret Feinberg talks about a visit to two California vineyards, where she discovered that vintners must adopt a long-term approach to their work. According to Feinberg:
The first year a vintner plants shoots of vines rather than seeds because these yield the strongest vines. At the end of the first growing season, he cuts them back. A second year passes. He cuts them back again. Only after the third year does he see his first viable clusters of grapes. Serious vintners leave those clusters on the vines. For most vintners, it's not until year four that they bring in their first harvest.
For those growing grapes for winemaking, they'll bottle their harvest, but won't taste the fruit of their labors until year seven or eight. Most vineyards in Napa Valley won't reach a breakeven point for their investment until year fifteen, eighteen or beyond. (Margaret Feinberg, “Napa Valley on Leadership,” Q Shorts, www.Qideas.org; www.PreachingToday.com)
Sometimes we wonder: Why am I not more fruitful? Why does the pruning have to hurt so much? And why does cultivating a healthy crop take so long?
But God knows what He is doing! As the perfect vintner, He knows how to bring about abundant fruitfulness in my life better than I ever will. All I have to do is remain connected to Jesus, the Vine, and I will bear “much fruit” just as He promised. It may take three, four, five years, or more, but if I stay connected to Jesus, He will use me to influence others to follow Him, as well. Paul spent three years in the Arabian desert with Jesus before He began to see any fruit.
Now, we may not be able to spend three years in a desert like Paul, but we can spend 30 minutes a day in His presence. We can spend 30 minutes a day listening and talking to Him. My friends, we MUST spend time with Christ if we’re going to be heard.
If you want true spiritual authority, if you want to have a positive impact on those around you, if you want to speak in such a way that people will listen, then you must commune with Christ on a regular basis. More than that, you must…
ALLOW CHRIST TO RADICALLY CHANGE YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
You must demonstrate a transformed life. You must show the world that you are different if you want to make a difference.
That’s what happened to Paul. He was a zealous persecutor of the church, a very religious man, whose fanaticism led him to kill Christians wherever he found them. But then, God got a hold of his life.
In verse 16, Paul says, “[God] was pleased to reveal his Son IN me – not TO me as some translations have it. [God] was pleased to reveal his Son IN me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles...”
It’s only as God revealed Christ in Paul’s life that Paul had any authority to speak at all. Without a changed life, his words meant nothing.
My friends, if you want to speak with any authority whatsoever in our pluralistic society, then you too must speak with the authority of a changed life.
First, like Paul, recognize that you have been “set apart” (vs.15). The word literally means “devoted to a special purpose.” My friends, that’s what we ARE as believers in Christ. We are “devoted to a special purpose.”
Ephesians 2:10 says, “We are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
God has set apart each and every believer for a special purpose. He has prepared in advance good works for ALL of us to do. There are no useless people in God’s Kingdom. Oh please, let that thought grip your heart: God set YOU apart for a special purpose, no matter who you are.
Hugo is the 2011 Martin Scorsese film about an orphan boy, Hugo, who secretly maintains the colossal train station clocks in Paris in the 1930’s. Hugo had a tender relationship with his father, until his father died tragically in a fire. Now as an orphan, Hugo is struggling to survive, but he makes friends with another orphan, Isabelle. They are both about 12-years-old, wondering about their purpose in life. In one scene, they are up in the clock tower, surrounded by the massive workings of the train station clock. Hugo, speaking of the head librarian of Paris, says, “He’s got real… purpose.” Take a look… (show What Is Your Purpose video clip from Hugo)
Referring to the head librarian of Paris, the kind and loveable Monsieur Labisse, Hugo says: “He's got real … purpose.”
“What do you mean?” asks Isabelle.
Hugo says,
Everything has a purpose, even machines. Clocks tell the time. Trains take you to places. They do what they're meant to do …. Maybe that's why broken machines make me so sad. They can't do what they're meant to do. Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose, it's like you're broken.
When she hears the word “broken,” Isabelle immediately thinks of “Papa Georges,” her sad and bitter godfather, a broken man who has had his dreams crushed by life.
Hugo says, “Maybe we can fix him.”
“Is that your purpose,” Isabelle asks, “fixing things?”
Hugo: “I don't know. It's what my father did.”
Isabelle: “I wonder what my purpose is.”
Hugo: “I don't know.”
Isabelle: “Maybe if I'd known my parents… I would know [my purpose].”
They together walk to the inside face of the giant clock. Below them is a stunning, breathtaking view of Paris lit up at night, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. Hugo continues:
Right after my father died, I would come up here a lot. I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine… I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too. (Hugo DVD, Directed by Martin Scorsese, 2011; Hollywood, CA: Paramount Studios, Chapter 10, 1:18:32 to 1:20:52; www.PreachingToday.com)
My dear friends, you and I are here for a reason. No matter who you are, God handcrafted you for a purpose. Please, like Paul, recognize that God set you apart for a special purpose.
Then like Paul, recognize that God has “called you by his grace” (vs.15). Romans 8:30 tells us that God has called every believer. That’s our status in Christ! God has set us apart and called us, so that Christ could be revealed in us. You see, God wants our lives to demonstrate the character of Christ.
Keith Miller, in his book A Second Touch, talks about a Christian businessman who was in a hurry to catch a train. In his hurry, he bumped into a small boy with a puzzle in his hand, and the puzzle pieces ended up scattered all over the sidewalk.
So, instead of rushing on, the businessman stooped down and helped the little boy pick up his puzzle pieces while the train moved out of the station. After he had finished, the boy looked up into the man’s face and asked, “Mister, are you Jesus?”
Oh, that people would mistake us for Jesus every day! And that can happen as we allow God to transform our lives. The compassion and character of Christ WILL shine through.
Christ WILL be revealed in us, so that we can “preach Him among the Gentiles”, so to speak. So that we can speak with the authority of a changed life. In verses 23-24, Paul says…
Galatians 1:23-24 “[The churches in Judea] only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.” (ESV)
Paul’s changed life brought glory to God, and our changed lives will do the same. People will praise God because of us if we allow Christ to change us from the inside out.
Author, pastor, and former atheist Lee Strobel in a recent sermon described how God changed him. He said:
My daughter Allison was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known in those five years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to get away from me.
Five months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my wife and said, “Mommy, I want God to do for me what he's done for Daddy.” At age 5! What was she saying? She'd never studied the archeological evidence [regarding the truth of the Bible]. All she knew was her dad used to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more her dad is becoming this way. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age 5 she gave her life to Jesus.
Lee Strobel says, “God changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity.” (Lee Strobel, author and teaching pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California, from sermon “The Case for Christ”, www.PreachingToday.com)
And God can change you if you let Him! Just trust Christ with your life, the One who died for you and rose again. Then let Him use you to change your world, beginning with your own family.
Do you want to be a positive influence for God in this world? Do you want to speak with such authority that people listen? Then commune with Christ on a regular basis, and allow Him to change you from the inside out.
In fact, let’s make that our prayer as we close our service today:
Change my heart, O God, Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God, May I be like You.
You are the Potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me, this is what I pray.
Change my heart, O God, Make it ever true.
Change my heart, O God, May I be like You. (Eddie Espinosa)
