But that is not the case for some folks. It is amazing what some people see as important.
Illus: Clovis Chappell, a minister from a century back, used to tell the story of two paddle boats. They left Memphis about the same time, traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled side by side, sailors from one vessel made a few remarks about the snail's pace of the other.
• Words were exchanged
• Challenges were made
And the race began. Competition became vicious as the two boats roared through the Deep South.
One boat began falling behind. Not enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough for a race. As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the ship's cargo and tossed it into the ovens. When the sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as the coal, they fueled their boat with the material they had been assigned to transport. They ended up winning the race, but they burned their cargo. (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, pp. 97-98.)
A lot of folks have done the same thing with their life. God has entrusted them with life, and they have taken the one life God has given them and consumed it on the wrong things. As far as the world is concerned they might have won the race, but in the sight of God they have burned their cargo.
Illus: The thing that MATTERS to most people today it seems, is to make it BIG in some kind of sport. Many believe that the god of sports is the number one god in America. Think about it:
• This is all some talk about
• This is all some read about
It is probably true that the god of sports is the number one god in America.
Most Americans can tell you all about the games, scores and the players, but can not tell you very much about the God of heaven.
Illus: They are not like the two elderly sisters who donated $5 to a charity and, to their surprise, won tickets to a football game. Since they had never seen a live football game before, Madge thought the free tickets would provide an excellent opportunity for doing so.
"I think so, too," said Mabel. "Let's go!"
They soon found themselves high in a noisy stadium overlooking a large, grassy expanse. They watched the kickoff and the seemingly endless back-and-forth struggles that comprised the scoreless first half.
They enjoyed the band music and cheerleader performance that followed.
Then came the second half. When the teams lined up for the second-half kickoff, Madge nudged her sister. "I guess we can go home now, Mabel," she said. "This is where we came in."
Many people today can tell you are all about the different kinds of sports because these are the things that MATTER to them. But the thing that MATTERED in the life of Christ was PEOPLE! For example, we see-
I. THE HEART MATTERS
Look at verse 18 in our text, He said "He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted" He was not only SENT to heal the broken hearted, HE HEALED the broken hearted. Look at Psa. 147:3, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.”
As a pastor, I visit the hospitals often. Sometimes the folks I visit have a broken arm, leg or toe. It is serious but not life threatening.
But many times when I visit those who have heart problems, they are in the INTENSIVE CARE UNIT. This kind of problem requires INTENSIVE CARE.
There are a lot of folks today that have a BROKEN HEART, and physically they are not in the INTENSIVE CARE UNIT at the local hospital, but I can assure you their heart it BROKEN.
It’s safe to say that in this congregation today there are hearts that are broken.
• Many times those who have a PHYSICALLY BROKEN HEART have it because they have not taken care of themselves as they should have
• Many times the reason that some have a SPIRITUALLY BROKEN HEART is because they have not taken very good care of themselves
David was like this. Notice David’s heart was broken after he committed adultery with Bathsheba. He had a broken heart. But look what David came to realize about what MATTERS to the God He served. He found out HE MATTERED!
Look at Psalm 34:15-18, we read, “The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”
Notice, the Bible says God the Father is drawn to those of a BROKEN HEART.
Illus: There was a mother with five children. A Psychologist asked her one day, which one of the five did she love the most. The mother said, “I love them all the same.”
The psychologist said, “It is impossible to love them the same because they are not the same.”
She said, “No, it is not impossible to love them the same because:
• When one is sick, I love that one the most
• When one is hurt, I love that one the most
• When one is sad, I love that one the most
• Whichever one is most in need, I LOVE THAT ONE THE MOST!”
God the Father loves every one of us equally, but He is very near to the ones with a broken heart today.
WHY IS IT NECESSARY THAT WE HAVE BROKEN HEARTS IN THIS LIFE? Why can’t life just be one big belly laugh every day? For several reasons:
(1) IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO APPRECIATE THE GOOD IF WE HAVE NOT EXPERIENCE THE BAD
Illus: For example, I love strawberry ice cream. I have never tried, but I believe I could eat it three times a day for a long period of time without getting tired of it. But did you know if I ate it long enough, eventually I would get tired of it and would lose my appreciation for it?
Sometimes you have to eat a little vanilla and chocolate to appreciate the STRAWBERRY!
God has to allow us to have a broken heart every now and then so we can fully appreciate the blessings of God in our life.
(2) IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO APPRECIATE THE GOD OF HEAVEN UNLESS WE EXPERIENCE THE BAD.
Illus: When my car is running well, I never think about a mechanic, but when it breaks down, the most important person in my life is a mechanic.
The same thing is true in the ministry. There are folks that would just as soon spend their time with an undertaker than to spend time with a preacher. But when a crisis comes up, guess who they want to talk to. They want to talk to the minister. All of a sudden they are the most important person in their life.
God allows us to have a broken heart sometimes because it is the only time that God is important to some folks.
God is drawn to the brokenhearted because the brokenhearted aren’t afraid to cry in front of other people. Crying is not necessarily a sign of deep spirituality. For example, many of us know people who shed tears like a Hollywood actor and they certainly are not spiritual.
Illus: Did you hear about the ninety year old man sitting on a park bench crying? A policeman noticed this and asked him why he was crying.
"Well," says the old fellow, "I just got married to a twenty-five year old woman.
• Every morning she makes me a wonderful breakfast, she is so good to me.
• In the afternoon she makes me a wonderful lunch, she is so good to me.
• At dinner time she makes me a wonderful supper, she is so good to me.
The policeman looks at the old man and said, "You shouldn't be crying! You should be the happiest man in the world!"
The old man said, "I know! I'm crying because I don't remember where I live!"
Listen, every one that cries is not necessarily spiritual. But we would have to admit that there is something in the tears that God likes. I believe what God likes about tears is that tears mean we have lost control.
Illus: Some of us older preachers can remember the times when we preached on Hell, and God the Holy Spirit would be working in the hearts of the unbelievers, and sometimes they were under such heavy conviction that they could not stand it any longer. They would jump up in the service and cry out, “Oh God, I am sorry I have sinned, please forgive me” as they came running down to an old fashioned altar.
Sometimes when we tell people, “Don’t cry, you have got to get hold of yourself,” it is the worst advice we can give them.
As long as I am in control, God cannot be! That’s why God had to bring David right down to his knees before He could get a hold of his life again!
God cares about the broken heart. Look at verse 18 again in our text, He said, "He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted"
We have seen that THE HEART MATTERS, also notice that -
II. THE HOME MATTERS
Vs. 18 "He hath sent me…to preach deliverance to the captives"
Satan has captured many of our homes today. God meant for them to be a place of great joy, but he has made them a place of great misery. But the Bible tells us God is concerned about this misery in the home today. The Lord said that God the Father hath sent Him, “…To preach deliverance to the captives.”
The fact is, the same kind of behavior that we see in the homes of the lost, we find in the homes of the saved. The Lord is concerned about this and wants to bring deliverance to the home.
HOW DOES HE BRING DELIVERANCE TO OUR HOMES? There are three things for us to consider from the scriptures, such as:
For a family to get on the right track, someone in the home has got to get on the right track and -
A. DO RIGHT
Someone has to DO RIGHT and get their relationship right with God.
Let me tell you how God the Creator created this thing. He created:
• Our life
• Our home
• Our nation
• Our church
To function successfully, we have to DO THE RIGHT THINGS and get right with God. Think about it, if you were God wouldn’t you do it this way? Sure you would!
Matthew 6:33 said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Notice, he does not say SOME of these things, He says, “All these things shall be added unto you.”
Before a family can get straightened out, someone in the family is going to have to get straightened out, then God can begin to use them to straighten the whole family out.
It saddens the heart of God today when He sees so much misery and sadness in the home, when He intended for it to be a place of joy and contentment.
But before you can get THE RELATIONSHIPS IN THE HOME STRAIGHT, someone must first get their RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD STRAIGHT and let God make them a missionary to that home!
We must DO RIGHT, and we must -
B. ACT RIGHT
The Bible says we are to HONOR ONE ANOTHER. Remember, I told you that one thing the Bible shows us clearly is that God cares about PEOPLE.
It is essential that we care about people, but most of all we should care about our family members. And if we can not honor them, how can we honor anyone?
Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.”
It is not enough for us to assume that someone in the family knows we love them, SHOW THEM, TELL THEM. God’s Word says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another…”
Illus: Many of us are like the woman who was sad because her husband never told her he loved her. She was crying about this, and he told her, “Listen, I told you I love you when I married you twenty five years ago, how many times must I tell you…!”
• When we honor a particular person by the words we say and the things that we do, we are in effect saying to that person that they are important to us, that they are worthy of our time and our attention
• When we dishonor someone through the things we do and the words we say, we are in effect saying to that person that they are of no value to us. We are telling them that what they say and think is insignificant, and they are not worth our time or effort
To have a godly home, we have to ACT RIGHT and show AFFECTION ONE TO ANOTHER!
Illus: “Love Is A Decision” - that deals with the MATTER of the home. Gary Smalley is a Christian family counselor and a great author. He came home and his wife was sad and said to him, “Gary, I feel like everything on this earth is far more important to you than I am...I feel that all the football games you watch on television are more important than I am, the newspaper, your hobbies, your counseling at the church. I can even farm out the kids to a baby sitter and have a candlelight dinner all prepared for you, and the phone will ring and you’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m not doing anything important. I’m just eating. Sure, I’ll be right over.’ Then you’re gone, telling me to keep something warm for you in the oven.”
She said, ‘I’m not saying that your counseling isn’t important, but many of those couples you talk to have struggled with their problems for years! Taking one night to spend with your wife isn’t going to bother them - but it’s killing us! It’s like I don’t matter to you, but other people do. In fact sometimes I feel that you’re more polite to total strangers than you are to me. You’ll say the most awful things to me, but never to anyone else”. Gary writes, “She went on, but you get the point - and so did I!”
We are to DO RIGHT, ACT RIGHT and -
C. TALK RIGHT
Listen, the Book of James teaches us some things that could save marriages from the divorce courts.
Look at James 1:19, we read, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
Did you know the way we say something makes a difference? I hope you know that, if you do not you have some serious problems.
Illus: Jeanette came home from third grade all excited. "Daddy, we learned cursing in school today!" "Wh-a-a-a-t?" my husband said, unable to hide his shock. "Da-a-a-d," Jeanette replied sweetly, "You know, making those curvy letters." (Jeanette Dalton, Greenville, South Carolina. Christian Reader, "Kids of the Kingdom.)
Listen, when we learn to TALK RIGHT it can keep us out of trouble.
Illus: It was his first day on the job. He was a new clerk in the green goods department of a super market. A lady came up to him and said she wanted to buy half of a head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that goal, but she persisted. Finally he said, "I'll have to go back and talk to the manager." He went to the rear of the store to talk to the manager, not noticing that the woman was walking right behind him.
When he got into the back of the store, he said to the manager, "There's some stupid old bag out there who wants to buy half a head of lettuce. What should I tell her?" Seeing the horrified look on the face of the manager, he turned about and, seeing the woman, added, "And this nice lady wants to buy the other half of the head of lettuce. Will it be all right?" Considerably relieved, the manager said, "That would be fine."
Later in the day, he congratulated the boy on his quick thinking. He then asked, "Where are you from, son?" The boy said, "I'm from Toronto, Canada, the home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women." The manager looked at him and said, "My wife is from Toronto." The boy said, "Oh, what team did she play for?" (Bruce Thielemann, "Because," Preaching Today, Tape No. 105. )
Illus: Peter Drucker said, “The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn't being said.” (Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 4.)
We are all good at reading something into something that someone never intended. A lot of the misery and sadness could be removed from the home if the family members could learn to TALK RIGHT! Homes are in chaos because people are CAPTIVE to destructive behavior.
We have seen that THE HEART MATTERS and THE HOME MATTERS, also we see that ...
III. THE HARVEST MATTERS
Vs. 19 "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." When is the “acceptable year of the Lord”?
Look at 2 Cor. 6:2, “…BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; behold, now is the day of salvation.)”
Salvation MATTERS TO GOD and it should MATTER to the Believer. The Holy Spirit enables us to witness.
Illus: Next to the Apostle Paul, perhaps the greatest personal worker of all time was a man familiarly known as Uncle John Vassar. In a large railroad station one day he saw a lady with a serious look on her face sitting by herself. He went to her and began to talk to her, found she was unsatisfied, and urged the claims of Christ upon her. She did not yield although her eyes were filled with tears. Just as he left, her husband came up and, seeing the tears, demanded to know what was going on. She told him that a man had just been telling her of her need to be saved. "Why didn't you tell him to go about his business?" said the indignant husband. And she answered, "Husband, if you had only been here you would have seen that he was about his business." ("Choice Illus." W.W. Clay pg. 48)
Conclusion:
We are sent to attend to the MATTERS OF LIFE....The Lord knows what really MATTERS! These are THREE of the many things that should MATTER TO US ALSO!
I. THE HEART MATTERS
II. THE HOME MATTERS
III. THE HARVEST MATTERS
You can hear Dr. Odell Belger preach on Youtube. Please type Youtube Lykesland
