OPEN: A man was scheduled to speak for an important business dinner. But, as he was eating his meal he must have bitten down on something hard, for at that moment his false teeth broke in his mouth. Nearly paralyzed by panic, he muttered to the man next to him, “I can’t believe this!” he says, “my false teeth just broke and I’ve got to get up and speak in a few moments!”
“No problem,’ the man whispered back at him, “I’ve got an extra pair you can use!” And the man pulled a few sets of false teeth out of his pocket and presented them to the frantic speaker.
The speaker tried the first pair—they were too tight. The second pair was too loose. The third pair fit like a dream. Now totally relieved, he set back and greatly enjoyed his meal and afterward delivered an excellent speech.
At the end of the evening, the speaker walked up to his benefactor and thanked him for his help. “He said to his rescuer, “You really did me a great favor tonight. You know, I’ve been looking for a good dentist. Where are you located?”
The other man smiled and replied: “Oh, I’m not a dentist… (pause) I’m an undertaker!”
APPLY: There are people who find it uncomfortable to talk to anybody anything. It wouldn’t matter if they had their own teeth… or if they wore someone else’s, they would feel ill at ease teaching anybody about the Bible or God or Jesus
And actually, that attitude is not abnormal. If you recall, when God called Moses in the desert, He appeared to him in the form of a burning bush. And there God commanded Moses to return to Egypt, confront Pharaoh and tell him “Let my people go.” Then “Moses said to the LORD, ‘O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue’” (Exodus 4:10). Translation: “I don’t want to go… send somebody else.”
It’s interesting how God responds to Moses: "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” (Exodus 4:11).
Translation: “Don’t give me your excuses. I want you to do this. AND if I ask you to do something… I WILL supply you with the ability & resources.”
Over the past 2 weeks we’ve talked about what God desires of us.
1st we learned that God wants us to grow up to be like Him. He wants us to mature to the point where - when people see us – they see:
Ø God’s love
Ø His mercy
Ø His holiness
And (most of all) that when people see us being servants of others they will see God. As Jesus in Matthew 5 tells us “… let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
Next we learned that not only are we to be mature in our faith, but that we are all priests… AND that as priests & mature servants, we need to grow up in our servanthood to God. In other words, if there’s a job we see needs to be done in the church, we should do it (because, that’s what grownups do). NO PRIEST of God sat down to worship. They were always working for God. As 1 Corinthians 15:58 tells us, you and I should “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
I. Now, here in Hebrews 5, we’re taken 1 step further.
We find that part of maturity, part of growing up as children of God, is getting to - point in our faith where we seek opportunities - teach others (at this point I reread Hebrews 5:11-14).
In fact, Paul writes that this should even be part of our worship experience: Paul writes in Colossians 3:16 that we should “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
In other words, teaching each other (and admonishing each and singing to each other) is part of what we should be doing for fellowship.
Teaching has always been a major part of the responsibility of God’s people:
· David taught in his songs: “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.” Ps 34:11
· The Law of Moses commanded parents to teach their children: Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:5-7
· Paul advised Timothy: “…the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:2
· And Titus was instructed that he was to: “…teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children…” Tit 2:3-4
II. “BUT (some might say) I don’t have the gift of teaching!”
They’re thinking of the passage out of Romans 12 where it says:
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying,
let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8
So some might say “I don’t have the gift of teaching – so I don’t have to teach!” But there is a fatal flaw to that argument. If I were to argue that I can’t teach because I don’t have the “gift of teaching,” then if I don’t have the “gift of serving” - I don’t have to serve others. Or if I don’t have the “gift of contributing to the needs of others” – I don’t have to do so. Or, if I don’t have the “gift of mercy” I don’t have to be merciful. Of course, that’s silly.
What God is telling us in Romans 12 is that - while everyone in the church should do things like show mercy, and help others out, and so on - some people have a special gift for those things. Those who are so gifted should use their gift humbly for God’s kingdom. And while some people ARE gifted teachers (we have many in this church), God still expects you & I to grow to the point where we seek to teach others. It’s part of being an adult Christian.
III. Another reason some people draw back from desiring to become teachers is that they believe teaching has to be done in a formal setting, in front of crowd.
BUT (as far as we know) the early church didn’t have Sunday Schools, Jr. Church, Youth groups and so on. In fact, they had no church buildings. They met in homes, public buildings, on the street – anywhere they could find. And wherever they met, they worshipped God and taught others about their faith.
If you remember the passage from Deut. we read earlier, that’s how teaching has always been: “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them WHEN YOU SIT AT HOME and when you WALK ALONG THE ROAD, when you LIE DOWN and when you GET UP.” Deuteronomy 6:5-7
ILLUS: I remember reading a story about a family who did just that: In their book Together at Home (Tyndale)Dean & Grace Merrill tell of the night they took their kids to a pizza parlor. They wrote: “we decided to use the minutes waiting for our food as a teaching time. We passed out an index card & pencil to each child and had them write down a new memory verse: ‘What-ever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.’ (Col. 3:23).
Then we said, "Let’s watch this waitress and see what kind of worker she is. Do you think she is working with all her heart."
The kids never took their eyes off her. Their (half whispered) comments continued in a steady stream. "She was sure nice about bringing extra napkins." "She has to stand up all the time, and she’s not crabby."
The waitress never knew she was being scrutinized. By the end of the meal, the children not only had the Scripture nailed down, but also had done an on site study of its meaning.”
So, you see, teaching doesn’t have to be in a formal setting. Nor do you need a black board and a lectern to teach people.
IV. BUT, why is so important to God that we ALL of us get involved in teaching?
Three reasons actually:
1st If we don’t make teaching others a priority in our lives, heresy is just waiting to slip in
ILLUS: Teresa W. Carrigan wrote about a children’s Sunday School class she once took part in. One Sunday the teacher had assigned homework - read Isaiah 9. Then, the next week she asked the class how many had remembered to read the chapter. Every hand went up. ’Wonderful!’ she thought, ’we can have a great discussion!’
"Do you remember the first verse?" Silence, while a few of the youngsters paged furiously through their Bibles trying to find Isaiah.
"I’ll give you a bit of help. ’The people who walked in darkness...’"
Still no answer. "I have a candy bar for the first one who can complete the verse."
Instantly she was besieged by answers!
"Use less electricity!"
"Stub their toes a lot!"
"Spend most of the time sleeping"
"Are usually burglars"
"Could really use a flashlight!"
And about that time someone finally found Isaiah 9 and just read it. “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light”
Now, granted this was a class of kids who didn’t know any better. But notice: since they didn’t know the scripture very well, they simply injected whatever seemed reasonable to them at the time. Adults do that too. When unfamiliar with God’s Word and lacking the desire to know it well enough to teach it to others, many church goers substitute their opinions, even defying Scripture because they believe their approach is more “reasonable.” Without the constant stress on the Bible & what it teaches in a church, people easily slip into heresy.
As Eph 4:14 tells us, when a church stresses teaching the way it should, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”
2ndly If we don’t grasp the importance of teaching, we can slip into worldly and pagan attitudes in our lives. That’s what happened at Corinth. Paul wrote them & said: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-- mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. (recognize the similarity with Hebrews 5?) Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?” 1Cor. 3:1-3
THE LAST REASON I’m going to give you about the importance of seeking to grow into being able to teach, is perhaps the most important. This last reason goes to the very heart of why Christianity is THE most powerful religion in the world.
David wrote: “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me” (Ps 119:98). And I believe Paul had that in mind when he wrote: “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
What is this weapon we have that can demolish strongholds, overcome arguments and wipe away pretensions? It’s Sword of the Spirit - God’s Word. It is so powerful, Hebrews says it “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
The dedication of the early church to God’s Word is one of the major reasons Christianity is the most powerful religion in the world. In last month’s newsletter I told of how Islam, during its first 200 years spread its faith by force of arms and intimidation. Over 200,000 people died as a result of Mohammed’s teachings. By contrast, during the first 300 years or more of Christianity’s existence, the Church had no standing army, no terrorist underground, no armed force of any kind. The only people who died as a result of the Christian faith – were Christians. Martyrs who died by stoning, beheading, crucifixion and as offerings in the Coliseum of Rome. And yet Christianity persevered to eventually conquer the entire empire of Rome.
It was not by the force of arms, but by the power of God’s Word, learned and taught by thousands of faithful believers.
CLOSE: Hebrews 5 tells us that – as Christians – our goal should be to reach the point in our maturity where we ALL become teachers. That means we need to start training for that and using whatever opportunities we can ASAP.
A young man who had heard the Gospel accepted Christ. A little while after this, a Christian teacher asked him: "What have you done for Christ since you believed?"
He replied: "Oh, I’m a learner."
"Well," said the questioner, "when you light a candle do you light it to make the candle more comfortable, or to have it give light?"
He replied, "To give light."
"Do you expect it to give light after it is half burned, or when you first light it?"
He replied, "As soon as I light it."
"Very well," was the reply, "go thou and do likewise; begin at once."
OTHER SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Almost Perfect = Matthew 5:43-5:48
The Mature Minister of God = 1 Peter 2:4-2:10
Speaking Like An Adult = Hebrews 5:7-5:14
A Good Imitation = 1 Corinthians 4:12-4:12
