"SIT DOWN! YOU’RE ROCKING THE BOAT!"
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A young man went fishing with his father and a friend in an open boat. He didn’t have his sea-legs yet. He’d get up and try to walk. He had poor balance, so the boat would see-saw violently. (The boat didn’t have good floatation.)
2. Finally he lost his balance and fell to one side, tipping the boat. Suddenly the other two men fell off their seats and with a cry the boat rolled over. Much Bass fishing equipment was lost that day.
3. So they nicknamed the young man “Rocky,” not because he was tough, but because he’d “rocked the boat.” From then on, when Rocky would try to move around in the boat, they’d cry, “Sit down! You’re rocking the boat!”
B. WORLD’S NOTION
1. The Urban Dictionary describes “rocking the boat” as meaning “to disrupt things, promote disharmony, make waves, pick a fight, causing trouble, disagreement...to disturb the status quo.”
2. “Rocking the boat” is something people in the world don’t like (but what they need). People & society like everything planned; no surprises, nothing they can’t explain; they want to be comfortable; nothing out of the ordinary; routine.
3. THE WORLD ATTEMPTS TO GET CHRISTIANS TO BE QUIET. They want us to homogenize, to conform, to look like everyone else. They don’t want us standing out or being different. They don’t want us rocking the boat. But ‘Rocking the Boat’ is what’s needed: waking up the passengers, upsetting the natural order, turning their world upside down. That’s what Paul did:
C. TEXT
17 “…they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas. 5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. 6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Acts 17:1-6
D. THESIS: COMPARISON, THEN & TODAY
1. The Bible describes a Christianity that was so strong that it conquered every idea and every culture that it contacted. Cities and nations were turned upside down. People were willing to die the most gruesome deaths for it, or to lose their property and possessions.
2. A supernatural power was loose among them that healed the sick, drove out demons, twice blinded their opponents and made hypocrites fall dead on the spot. Within one generation, only by word of mouth, everyone within the known limits of civilization was reached with the Gospel! Incredible!
3. What a contrast with the Christianity of today, which can’t break through the American culture, struggles with worldliness, and knows little of the miraculous.
4. In the United States, Christianity is projected to decline 10% by 2050. Something’s obviously wrong with American Christianity.
5. Part of the answer is internal while part of it is external. The title of this message is “Sit Down, You’re Rocking the Boat!”
I. WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE WORLD-SHAKERS!
A. ARE YOU DISTURBING THE PEACE? (D.T.P.)
1. As the Thessalonian unbelievers saw Paul & Silas coming to town, they said, “Oh no! Here come those guys who’ve turned the world upside down!”
2. Everywhere the apostles went the natural order of things was upset. Why? Were they doing something wrong? Uncivil? No! It was because they boldly spoke the truth!
3. Elijah the prophet was another one labelled (by King Ahab) as a ‘Disturber of the Peace.’ 1 Kg. 18:7. Disturbing the Peace is usually a bad thing. Laws are passed against almost anything people don’t want you doing. Getting loud, getting in the way, bothering them, etc.
4. But sometimes it’s very good to D.T.P., esp. if the people are in danger. If they’re about to step in front of a car... it’s time to disturb the peace! Or if their clothes are catching on fire... it’s time disturb the peace. Or if they’re backing up over a precipice... it’s time to disturb the peace! You might need to yell to stop them!
5. The same thing is true of spiritual dangers -- it’s our duty to warn them, to sound the alarm!
6. Jesus Himself often confronted people: a). the Woman at the Well; b). the Rich Young Ruler; c). the Pharisees; d). the money-changers in the Temple; e). Zacchaeus; f). Nicodemus; g). the Man Born blind; and others.
B. IN THE BIBLE…
1. Bible heroes were unpopular men and women who rocked the boat of their generation – Elijah, Moses, Deborah, the Prophets, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, the Lord Jesus.
a. They were the SALT in a morally tasteless world;
b. they were the LIGHT that drove out the darkness;
c. they brought LIFE to a world of death;
d. they CONTRADICTED the spirit of their age.
2. HUMOR. A minister delivered a sermon on Hell that made people’s hair stand up on end. There’s not a horror movie that could compete with his description of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that awaited those who don’t turn from their sin. One woman stopped to shake the preacher’s hand as she was leaving and said, “Reverend, I never knew what Hell was until I heard you preach!”
II. ROCKING THE BOAT IS NECESSARY
A. OTHERWISE THINGS STAY THE SAME
1. Revivalist George Whitefield said, “The Christian world is in a deep sleep. Nothing but a loud voice can awaken them out of it.”
2. In Science, Newton’s Second Law of Motion states, “Everything remains in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.” This is true of people -- they won’t change unless some external force presses that change upon them.
3. The success of the Early Church was that they upset the natural order of things; they disturbed the false peace; they spoke up boldly. They got people’s attention on God.
B. WE MAY HAVE TO BE UNCONVENTIONAL
1. If we want to see our family members saved, we have to speak up! If we want our community to be impacted for the Gospel, we have to speak up!
2. The Lord told Paul, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9-10.
3. There’s a false idea: Christians are supposed to be sweet & meek. But first responders usually have to do radical things to save people. They use jaws of life, do CPR on them, and break down doors to rescue them from burning houses.
4. If your neighbor’s house was on fire, wouldn’t it be right to bang on their door and jolt them out of sleep? Their spiritual house IS on fire. We must get bold and speak to them about their salvation!
C. ILLUS. OF GODLY BOLDNESS
1. In a Texas prison was a violent drug dealer named “Husto.” He’s a barrel-chested man with big arms and a tough face. He got saved in prison, joined Calvary Commission, and got his sentence commuted.
2. He went as a missionary to the back country of central Mexico. He boldly preached to gang members and peasants alike. He told the local gang members they better come to his church service “or else.” They came!
3. While preaching, God showed Husto that one of the gang members was ready to be saved. Husto pointed at him & said, “Come to the altar!” The man ran out the door.
4. Husto took out after him and chased hum till he tackled him. Husto sat on his chest and said, “You’re going to get saved tonight!” The man DID surrender to Jesus and stayed saved! Husto’s boldness made a dedicated disciple out of him!
III. HOW CAN YOU ROCK OTHER PEOPLE’S BOATS?
A. LET JESUS REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR LIFE
1. We can’t help others until we’ve been revolutionized by Jesus. Why is this necessary? Because we ALL have a fallen nature still in us. Jesus said...
2. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mk. 7:21-23.
3. Jesus saw the hearts of Christians in Revelation and said they were lukewarm, had left their first love, and were disobedient. Christians must always ask ourselves, “Have I become like this? How can I counter this?”
4. We need to be renewed to Christ’s power over the old life every day (2 Cor. 4:16)! We need new passion! We need a blood-transfusion from Jesus!
B. LOAD YOUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS
Paul talked about walking with God “in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left” 2 Cor. 6:7. He meant we should have stored up in us a whole arsenal of weapons. How?
1. Be FILLED with the Holy Spirit. This isn’t something that happened at salvation or a “lay me down to sleep” little prayer. This is a hunger that seeks God until we’re filled, endued, clothed, or the Spirit falls upon us [read D.L. Moody description]
2. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly! Read your Bible until your thoughts are dominated by the Word and it constantly & unconsciously comes forth in your speech.
3. Learn how to pray & touch God by spending much time in prayer. Learning to pray is like learning to swim; the only way you learn is by DOING it.
C. SPEAK UP! WITNESS! BE GOD’S MOUTHPIECE!
1. Yes, we need to live out the Gospel, but we also must speak up. God says, “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.” Isa. 58:1
2. Do you KNOW the Truth? What’s the good of having the truth if you don’t SHARE it? Eph. 4:15, “Speak the truth is love.”
3. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Our light isn’t to be hidden under a bowl, but put where all can see its light!
4. “Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt” Lev. 19:17. To NOT witness is to bury our talent!
5. Have we been released from the Great Commission? No! Are people around us still perishing in sin? Yes! Must we share the good news of Jesus with others? Absolutely!
6. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it’s your business to tell what Jesus Christ has done for you! We cannot be cowards. Jesus told us, “Whoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of Me, and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him, also, shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” Mk. 8:38.
7. You may say, “But witnessing goes against my nature.” God will help you to rise above your nature! Jesus said, “for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Mt. 10:20). Speak! Be God’s mouth to others!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Tanzania, Paw Prints By the Tree
1. Pastor Katema, a native of Tanzania, got a burden for a town called Chandama. It’s in a Muslim area called “The Little Sudan of Tanzania.” He would walk four days and three nights to tell the people there about Jesus, but they didn’t want to hear about Jesus. They’d say, “Go away from our village, Katema. We don’t want you here.”
2. They were angry that he kept coming, and they were mean to him, but he kept coming back. They wouldn’t even let him spend the night in their village, which had a wall of thorn bushes around it to protect the people from wild animals. Katema had to sleep outside, under a tree. Then one night, everything changed.
3. As Pastor Katema slept under his tree outside the village, three angry lions entered the village and attacked several homes, killing some and injuring others. The villagers met together. “Why did this happen?” they asked. “Was it because of how we treated Pastor Katema? Maybe we’re being punished because we were mean to him. Let’s go see if he is still outside the village or if the lions killed him.”
4. They rushed to the tree where Katema stayed. There was Katema, alive and well! “Katema,” they said, “did you see three lions near our village last night?” “No, I saw no lions,” he replied. “I did hear some dogs, sniffing around me in the night, but I was so sleepy I didn’t wake up to see them.” The village leaders looked at the ground around the place where Pastor Katema slept. They were shocked to see paw prints; not of dogs, but the paw prints of lions!
5. That day, Pastor Katema was welcomed in Chandama. The Muslim leaders gave him land for a home and for a church. Today there is a growing church in Chandama and even more churches in several villages nearby.
6. God’s power protected Pastor Katema from angry men and prowling lions. When the people saw proof of God’s protection, they wanted to serve Him too. Pastor Katema is glad he trusted God and went to tell others about Jesus. In Tanzania, over 1,000 churches are started every year! [By missionary Scott Hanson, Assemblies of God World Missions]
B. THE CALL
1. How many of you are willing to pray for boldness to witness? The first step is WILLINGNESS TO WITNESS!
2. How many of you know you don’t talk to others about Jesus enough? Q – Does your life reflect that you’re a Christian? If not, you need to repent & pledge a better life.
3. How many aren’t sure if you’ve ever been saved? Let’s all stand and ask God to fill us with His Spirit and give us a boldness to speak to others about Him. PRAYER.
