WHAT NOW?
INTRO.- ILL.- A group of expectant fathers were in a waiting room, while their wives were in the process of delivering babies. A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins. "That’s quite a coincidence" he responded, "I play for the Minnesota Twins!" A few minutes later another nurse came in and announced to another man that he was the father of triplets. "That’s amazing," he exclaimed, "I work for the 3M company."
At that point, a third man fell out of his chair and laid down on the floor. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill. "No," he responded, "but I work for the 7-up company."
ILL.- Charles Osgood of CBS Morning News said, "Babies are always more trouble than you thought - and more wonderful."
Babies are definitely more trouble than you thought they would be and hopefully, more wonderful.
ILL.- Someone wrote, "Are You Ready for Children?"
Are you considering having children? To determine whether you are truly prepared for the experience, we suggest you take this set of simple tests:
MESS TEST:
Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Now rub your hands in the wet flower bed and rub on the walls. Cover the stains with crayons. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.
TOY TEST:
Obtain a 55-gallon box of Legos. (If Legos are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks or broken bottles.) Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold.
Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night).
GROCERY STORE TEST:
Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.
DRESSING TEST:
Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus. Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all arms stay inside.
FEEDING TEST:
Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill halfway with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of soggy cereal (such as Fruit Loops or Cheerios) into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug on the floor.
NIGHT TEST:
Prepare by obtaining a small cloth bag and fill it with 8 to 12 pounds of sand. Soak it thoroughly in water. At 8:00 PM begin to waltz and hum with the bag until 9:00 PM. Lay down your bag and set your alarm for 10:00 PM. Get up, pick up your bag, and sing every song you have ever heard. Make up about a dozen more and sing these too until 4:00 AM. Set alarm for 5:00 AM. Get up and make breakfast. Keep this up for five years. Look cheerful.
Brothers and sisters, giving birth to children is one thing. Raising them is something else! Giving birth is not an easy task as all mothers can testify, but raising them to adulthood is even more difficult. SO, AFTER THE BABY IS BORN, THEN WHAT? That’s when a ton of work begins.
ILL.- The Academy Awards are a done deal. Denzel Washington got the Oscar and Russell Crowe didn’t. Halle Berry got it and Sissy Spacek didn’t. WHAT NOW? Well, it’s back to work for all of them.
ILL.- The 2002 Men’s NCAA Basketball tournament is over. Maryland won and Indiana didn’t. What now? It’s back to work.
ILL.- Easter 2002. The Southeast Christian Church of Louisville, KY, had 22,415 people in three services for Easter. On Palm Sunday they had 16,728. What now? More than likely their attendance will go back to that 16,000 mark.
Easter 2002, Mattoon Christian Church. We had very good attendances for our various services. What now? We must go back to work. We must go on living. We must go on living for Christ, and hopefully, we will go on living even more passionately.
Most people are very passionate about many things: sports, hobbies, music, politics, etc. And hopefully, we can and will become more passionate about living for Christ!
Many times after Easter is over in our churches there is a letdown, but rightfully, there should be a stepup! We should be more excited about Christ and Christianity. We should be more committed and more passionate. And we should want to work harder. We should want to go forward even more. We should want to press on to greater heights in Christ!
PROP.- Let’s think together, reason together about living for Christ on this side of Easter. Here is what we should do:
1- Trust God
2- Judge not
3- Make disciples
4- Love always
I. TRUST GOD
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." Prov. 3:5-6
ILL.- When they wheeled a man into the operating room and raised his gown, the surgeon found a piece of tape across his stomach with the following word written on it: THINK!
Sometimes we don’t trust our doctors, especially, those who are going to cut on us. But life is a matter of learning to trust people.
ILL.- I have a bad back, that is, a missing disc. (and I know that some of you think I have something else missing too!) I went to Dr. James Kohlmann, orthopedic surgeon, about my back to see if he could do something. After checking out my MRI, he said, "I’m not going to operate on you. I could make you worse than you are now."
DO YOU THINK I COULD TRUST HIM? Well, of course, I do! He makes his living cutting on people, but he doesn’t want to cut on me! That sounds like he is an honest man and is very trustworthy.
Whether we realize it or not, we all live by trust in life or by faith. We must learn to trust our doctors, our pharmacists, our banker, the people we worth with, family members, all people, as many as possible.
ILL.- A young Christian father said, "One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around on some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, ‘Hey Dad! Catch me!’ "I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and them yelled ‘Hey Dad!’ I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.
"When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: ‘Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???’ He responded with remarkable calmness: ‘Sure...because you’re my Dad.’"
Brothers and sisters, that little boy felt like he could trust his daddy and that’s why he jumped into his arms.
I think we can trust God as our heavenly Father too, but of course, this doesn’t mean we should go jumping off cliffs to see if He will catch us!
ILL.- A man went shopping to buy a gift for his wife. He picked out a very pretty sweater, but after looking at the price tag he asked the saleslady if she had a more expensive sweater. "No," she replied, "but I can put this one away and you could come back for it in a few days."
That’s about the truth, isn’t it? Prices are going up. Our gasoline went up nearly 20 cents in one day’s time. When the prices are going up, the paycheck is small, the work is tough, and the home life may even be tougher, what do we do? Where do we go for help?
Matt. 6:28-30 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"
God is saying, "YOU CAN TRUST ME! I’M YOUR FATHER. I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU. I’LL PROVIDE FOR YOU. If I clothe the flowers, don’t you think I can take care of you?"
Matt. 7:11 "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
ILL.- In 1992 I bought a 1984 Chevy Celebrity for my daughter Holly who was 18 years old at that time. That car was 8 years old, but it only had 29,000 miles on it. It should have had over 100,000 miles. The owners only wanted about $2,600 for that car. I BOUGHT IT! I thought it was a whale of a deal!
But my Dad bought me an even better deal! He bought me a luxurious, multi-room house with the most scenic view possible. Let me read to you about my real estate.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms... I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me...." John 14:1-3
Brothers and sisters, we need to trust God to take care of us in life. He has promised us a beautiful home in heaven. If He can take care of us there, why can’t we trust Him to take care of us here?
II. JUDGE NOT
Matt. 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."
Jesus said that we are not to judge others. We all make judgments in life, but we are not to judge one another in the sense of being critical and condemning.
People who cast stones or throw mud at others will eventually get the same treatment.
I always used to say that kindness is the boomerang that will come back to you. Kindness pays off. If you dish it out, you will also receive it. But the same is also true of criticism and condemnation. If a person goes around criticizing and condemning others, it too will come back to them.
ILL.- It’s like what someone said, "Keep your words soft and sweet, because someday you may have to eat them."
If we want to experience a better life, we need to refrain from judging others.
ILL.- Early in his career, the lawyer, Clarence Darrow was up against an old veteran of a prosecuting attorney, who kept belittling him before the jury by always referring to Darrow as "my beardless adversary."
In his summation, the young man decided to answer him: "My opponent seems to condemn me for not having a beard. Let me tell you a story. The king of Spain once entrusted a young man with an important message he wanted delivered to a royal brother in a neighboring kingdom.
"Even before hearing him out, the monarch flew into a rage and yelled: ‘Does His Most Catholic Majesty of Spain lack men, that he sends me a beardless boy?’ To which the young envoy answered with great poise: ‘Sire, had my king but known that you imputed wisdom to a beard, he would have sent you a goat.’"
Brothers and sisters, how do you like my mustache and beard?
ILL.- I went to see my mother last at the National Healthcare nursing home in Joplin, MO. I had to take care of some business for her. I did not tell mom that I was coming.
I wanted to surprise her and surprise her, I did. When she saw my mustache and beard, she said, "I’d rather stroke a dog."
I broke out laughing. I’m not sure she was serious. At any rate, I don’t think she’s ever judged me too harshly. But sometimes we do judge one another harshly. We not only make judgments about people, we also judge them. We criticize them, castigate them and condemn them.
We judge people on their looks, their speech, their dress, their habits, their actions, their likes and dislikes, and what we consider to be their faults. We sometimes pick one another apart but we don’t have the right to do that.
ILL.- Bill Clinton was our 42nd President from 1993 to 2001. Some Americans have blessed him, but most have blistered him for his indecent behavior in the White House. I am not saying that what Bill Clinton did was right. We do not condone his actions, but neither should we condemn him. Before we cast stones, have we not all been guilty?
Matt. 5:28 Jesus said, "I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Prov. 20:9 "Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin?’"
Rom. 14:10 "Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat."
James 4:11-12 "Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy, but you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"
We humans have no right to judge one another. There is only One person who has the right to condemn or criticize us. There is only one lawgiver, judge and God. When we stop trying to play God with one another that’s when life will get better for us.
III. MAKE DISCIPLES
Matt. 28:18-19 Jesus said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...."
ILL.- How long can God’s creatures go without food?
- A bird can go nine days without food.
- A man twelve days.
- A dog twenty days.
- A turtle five hundred days.
- A snake eight hundred days.
- A fish one thousand days.
- Insects twelve hundred days.
Food is necessary for all of God’s creatures, however, I don’t that most of us could go 12 days without food. Most of us can’t go a few hours without food. We prefer three square meals a day and few more thrown in on the side.
Eating is one of our great passions in life. We Americans like our food. We have everything available and we eat it too.
ILL.- When Elaine and I moved to Mattoon there was one eating place that I wanted to go to and that was Monical’s Pizza place. And there was a good reason for it. My daughter Holly introduced me to Moncial’s pizza when she was a student at Lincoln Christian College. You see, we don’t have Monicals in Southern Illinois. Monical’s has good pizza and my daughter sold me on it.
Isn’t this what making disciples is all about? It’s about pointing people to where to find some good stuff, some good pizza, some good bread.
ILL.- I’ve heard it said that evangelism is one beggar telling another beggar where to find some good bread.
John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry..."
Jesus is the bread of life. He can satisfy our hunger. He alone can satisfy the longing and loneliness within.
ILL.- I like sports but not the kind that most people like: baseball, basketball and football. When I was a young man I was involved in the sport of Olympic weightlifting. Later, it was drag racing. Then I learned the joy of fishing, particularly bass fishing. Then some years ago I started running and ran marathons for several years.
A man in my church in Southern Illinois asked me one time, "What are you going to do next?"
Why did I get involved in all those different sports? Because I liked them. I was also pretty good at all of them. I had some talent in those areas. But I think it was also trying to fulfill a longing within.
I believe that all of us are looking for that certain something that will bring us soul satisfaction. WHERE IS IT TO BE FOUND? I believe it’s in the Lord!
John 10:10 Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Or "have it more abundantly."
I believe that the "full" life, the "rich" life, the "abundant" life is found only in a continual relationship to Christ through Bible study, prayer, church, Christian service, etc.
There is nothing wrong with enjoying the good things that God has given us: sports, hobbies, eating, socializing, etc. But Jesus is the one who alone can bring lasting fulfillment to us.
When we are on our deathbed, sports won’t save us. Nor will anything else. BUT JESUS CAN AND WILL!
We need to be selling him to others! We need to be in the business of making disciples!
IV. LOVE ALWAYS
ILL.- A mother said to her young son, "How could you be so rude as to tell your sister that she’s stupid. You need to tell her that you’re sorry."
He turned to his sister and said, "I’m sorry that you’re stupid!"
That’s not exactly the way to apologize. It is not an expression of love, but love should be expressed and demonstrated in our lives to one another! To our family members and to all people.
Gal. 5:13 "Serve one another in love."
Eph. 5:1-2 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us..."
Col. 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
I Pet. 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
More than anything, I believe that we should love one another deeply, strongly, powerfully. Love overcomes sin. Love covers sin and keeps people from sin.
I John 3:11 "This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another."
I John 3:14 "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers." Because we love people.
I John 3:23 "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."
I John 4:7 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God...."
I John 4:11 "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."
Love is a recurring theme in John’s letters and there must be a reason for it: our greatest responsibility in life is to love others!
This last week I spent quite a bit of time at the National Healthcare in Joplin, MO, where my mother now lives. And I saw some things that blessed my heart.
ILL.- I saw a lady who appeared to be in her 50’s pushing a man around in his wheelchair. I thought to myself, "How could such a young man be in a nursing home?"
I stopped the lady one day as she was leaving the home and asked. The man is her husband, 56-year-old Gary Leonard. Gary suffered a severe stroke six years earlier and is now confined to the nursing home. He is fed by a tube in his stomach. He can only speak words like "yes" and "no" and even those words are hard to understand, but he does know what is going on around him.
His wife, Judy, comes to see him daily and tries to care for him as best she can. Her life is a demonstration of love for her husband.
ILL.- I also witnessed people who either work at that home or volunteer at that home demonstrate love for the residents. For example, last week one evening a lady named Janiel Chavez from Columbus, KS, which is about 30 miles from Joplin came to sing for the residents. She comes about twice a month. She sang all kinds of songs: country, gospel, etc. She tried to get me to sing "How Great Thou Art" with her, but she was too good for me. All I know is those people love that woman and she loves them.
She did wonders for my mother. Mom can’t walk most of the time but when Janiel sang, mom was dancing all over the place with her walker. I guess the moral to that story is: we should sing and then more people would dance. NO, WE SHOULD LOVE PEOPLE MORE AND THIS WILL MAKE THEM DANCE WITH JOY!
ILL.- Then there is Acra Turner, a young black coach from Messenger college in Joplin which is a Pentecostal college. Acra, whom I call "Okra" to his face, sings gospel songs and the people just love it. Then he goes around and hugs on them. IT’S CALLED LOVE! He loves them and they love him.
ILL.- My mother has a neighbor in the room across the hall from her. Her name is Rachel. Rachel has a 57-year-old son who is a Vietnam Vet and is dying from agent Orange. Rachel says, "It shouldn’t be him. It should be me."
I was told that Rachel sometimes gets into trouble at the National Healthcare. Do you know why? Because she likes to help my mother with her feet, rub her back, and help her anyway she can. I THINK IT’S CALLED LOVE AND THIS IS WHY GOD PUT IS HERE!
If we want a better life we must learn to love others! We must speak words of love ("I love you!"), we must express love, we must demonstrate love any way we can, any time we can, and to all we can.
CONCLUSION----------------------------------
ILL.- S.I. McMillen, in his book None of These Diseases, tells a story of a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application blank that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst.
To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower." Brothers and sisters, it’s okay to lead at times, but it’s more important to follow. We must follow Jesus.
