MAKING THE UNCOMMON COMMON
Matthew 7:12
S: Golden Rule
Th: Grace-Full Living
Pr: We are “grace-full” when we are one another-oriented.
?: How? How do we do this?
How do we follow the Golden Rule?
KW: Practices
TS: We will find in our study of Scripture, four practices that will aid us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented.
The _____ practice that aids us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented is…
I. CARRY ONE ANOTHER’S BURDEN (Galatians 6:1-2)
II. TREAT ONE ANOTHER IMPARTIALLY (I Timothy 5:21)
III. SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON (Hebrews 10:24)
IV. SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER (Ephesians 5:21)
RMBC 11/26/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
1. There is nothing like a crisis to bring out the best in people.
We saw that this week, didn’t we?
All over the news, Buffalo was being touted as the city of good neighbors.
Our family experienced this over and over again.
On Monday night, a family from CCA I don’t even know took JJ, Elizabeth and Joel in after the bus got stuck down the street.
The fire department delivered Joel to me later that evening via snowmobile.
Dondra got stuck on Wehrle and spent a night at Ingram Micro.
They gave out food called snowed-in specials for both supper and breakfast.
On Tuesday, when we were all shoveling out, we actually talked to some neighbors that we hadn’t before.
We were helping each other shovel and push cars out snow.
On Wednesday, I got stuck in a gas station, a fellow came along and helped push.
It was a lot of fun, helping each other.
Perhaps you had similar experiences.
But I have a question…
2. Shouldn’t the church be like that all the time?
Shouldn’t we be known as people that care in all kinds of circumstances?
It shouldn’t just be limited to snowstorms.
TRANSITION:
1. Our theme for the year has been “Grace-Full Living” (II Corinthians 9:8).
Our theme verse for the year has gone like this…
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
As a church family, it has been our goal this year to grow in grace.
It has been our goal that we would be known for grace.
It has been our goal that we would be full of grace.
We have spoken about grace in so many ways in our studies both in the morning and evening messages.
I hope you never tire hearing of grace, for here is good news…
Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.
And along with that, here is sobering news…
Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.
God’s grace is not a one-time event, but a process.
We need God’s grace at work in us constantly.
And as He works, we, in turn, are to demonstrate grace.
For…
2. If there is any place that a “grace-full” lifestyle ought to be evident, it is the church (John 13:35).
Listen to this sobering statement by Jesus…
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
God is very concerned about the spiritual health of the church as a group as well as the individual.
We tend to emphasize an individual’s relationship with Christ.
But so very often in Scripture, the emphasis is on our relationships with each other.
More specifically, it is extremely important that we act with grace in our relationships with one another.
For the identifying mark of Christians is not primarily our individual relationship with Jesus.
It is our relationships with each other.
We are to be full of grace in our relationships with each other.
3. WE ARE “GRACE-FULL” WHEN WE ARE ONE ANOTHER-ORIENTED (Matthew 7:12).
Note what our primary study verse of the morning says…
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
You may recognize this as “The Golden Rule.”
Universally, this is accepted as a proper way to behave with our fellow man.
But it is not, sadly, the typical way we live.
ILL Notebook: Threaten (revolver)
A man was walking down a dark street when he met a very rough looking character who said, “Sir, could you help a poor, hungry, homeless man who has nothing in the whole world to call his own, except this loaded 38-special revolver which I hold in my hand?”
You see…
4. The prevailing culture communicates, “Do unto others before they do unto you.”
In the routine of our day to day matters, the typical person is only concerned about themselves.
The bad news, I’m sorry to say, is the city of good neighbors does end when the roads are clear.
So fights will break out as people cut in line at toy stores.
People will be back riding your back bumper and cutting out in front of you.
But, as Christians, we are to be different.
We are to live differently.
Our priorities are to be different.
ILL Notebook: Golden Rule (forgets)
There was a Christian fellow that lived in the poor section of town. He was being teased by an unbeliever, who said, “If God loves you, why doesn’t he take care of you? Why doesn’t God tell someone to bring you shoes and a warm coat and better food?” The fellow thought for a moment and then said, “I guess He does tell somebody, but somebody forgets.”
Well, let us not be the ones that forget.
Let’s discover how we can be known as a “grace-full” people.
5. We will find in our study of Scripture, four practices that will aid us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first practice that aids us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented is CARRY ONE ANOTHER’S BURDEN (Galatians 6:1-2).
Earlier this year, we studied these verses in depth…
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
1. We are to be a haven for those that need compassion.
We are to be a haven because we all long to be treated with compassion.
You see, when we are in trouble, we are not hoping that someone will come and smack us (even if we deserve it).
What we hope for is mercy.
We long for compassion.
I found it interesting when I came across a survey of 420 people who attended evangelical churches about what they were looking for in a pastor.
The highest character trait that was desired in a pastor was compassion.
It beat out biblical knowledge, preaching and leadership skills.
The text talks about a burden that is a weight larger than a normal one.
And whether the burden is caused by a sin or just overwhelming circumstances, our responsibility is to help fix the problem with gentleness.
ILL Notebook: Fix (bowling ball)
Korey Tuttle’s husband, an auto mechanic, received a repair order that read: "Check for clunking noise when going around corners." Taking the car out for a test drive, he made a right turn, and a moment later he heard a clunk. He then made a left turn and again heard a clunk. Back at the shop, he opened the car’s trunk and soon discovered the problem. Promptly he returned the repair order to the service manager with this notation: "Removed bowling ball from trunk."
We are to offer restoration in the same manner.
The word restore in this text was the same word that was used to describe a fisherman mending his net.
Nets got many holes in them from being pulled through water full of fish, dragged into boats and across rocky beaches.
Because the net was too valuable to discard, it was to be mended.
In the same way…
2. We are to look for ways to help the wounded because they are too valuable to discard.
Our responsibility is to restore fellow believers to full capacity so that they become functional.
We are to rearrange our lives and adjust priorities to make room for our friend’s needs.
For we must not only must we be willing to bear one another’s burdens, we must be willing to pay the price of bearing those burdens.
This is how we love one another and be “grace-full.”
II. The second practice that aids us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented is TREAT ONE ANOTHER IMPARTIALLY (I Timothy 5:21).
Paul writes to Timothy…
I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
We need to face this reality…
1. Our world, both inside and outside the church, is permeated with favoritism.
The word partiality means that you are inclined toward someone or something.
So, I want to make a confession this morning.
I am partial…to Dondra…JJ, Grace, Elizabeth, and Joel.
I don’t think any of you will blame me for being partial in that manner.
But there is a partiality to avoid.
There is racial prejudice and ethnic hatred that is prevalent today.
There is a deep suspicion of those that are different from us.
What is so crazy is that we bring these biases with us into the church and think that God must agree with our biases.
Most of us try to make God too white, too male, too American and too rich.
But we must change this perspective, for…
2. We are to see each other according to God’s standards, not ours.
It is easy to begin with our own standards and impose them on God, rather than accepting His standards and allowing ourselves to be changed into the image of His Son.
God is perfect.
He does not bend His standards to the advantage of anyone.
It is our standards that must change so that we will see each other as God sees us.
It is then that we will love each other and be full of grace.
III. The third practice that aids us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented is SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON (Hebrews 10:24).
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
1. We are to grow together into the image of God.
The context of this text was to address the tension between the Jewish and Gentile Christians.
The Jewish Christians had been requiring the Gentiles to be more Jewish.
The Gentile Christians, on the other hand, had been upsetting Jewish religious sensibilities.
As a result, there was friction.
But the writer of Hebrews was pointing them toward a different goal.
They were to work together as a family.
They were to realize that we have a common goal.
ILL Notebook: Christlikeness (MacDonald as runner)
When Gordon MacDonald first ran track in prep school, his coach invited him to his home for dinner one night. After the meal, he pulled out a notebook displaying Gordon’s name on the front cover. He immediately turned to the back page, which bore the heading "June 1957"—three and a half years away.
"Gordon," he said. "These are the races I’m going to schedule you to run almost four years from now. Here are the times you will achieve."
Gordon looked at those times. Impossible! They were light years away from where he was at that moment as a runner.
Then the coach began turning back the pages of that book, page by page, showing the 42 months he had scheduled for workouts. These were the graduated, accelerated plans for Gordon’s increasing skill on the track as the months and years would go by. The coach had a sense of direction and development when it came to his athletic growth.
Coaches and leaders of all kinds understand the absolute necessity of strategic, long-range planning.
Similarly, a wise and all-knowing God has a plan for our total lives—gradually, inevitably, down through the years, we become more like Jesus.
This is why…
2. We need to be challenged to be better than we are (Jeremiah 17:9).
Note what the prophet Jeremiah says…
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
You know, in an ideal world, all of us could see areas we need to change and we would do it readily.
But in the real world, we build walls around those areas.
We seek to protect ourselves and try to look better than we really are.
ILL Personal
I was corrected this past week about something I did in a meeting. What was great about this incident is this person loved me and loved our relationship enough to say something about the offense he felt. And he was right. I had not meant to be offensive. There was no evil intent, we were both agreed on that. But, I needed the challenge to be better.
If we truly love one another and are going to be full of grace, we need to spur one another on toward Christlikeness.
And how are we going to know if no one says anything?
IV. The fourth practice that aids us in being “grace-full” people that are one another-oriented is SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER (Ephesians 5:21).
Paul gives this simple command in Ephesians…
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
1. Submission is “ranking under” because of mutual respect.
This whole aspect of submission is a radical concept.
But we are able to do it, when we observe the context, when we are “being filled with the Spirit.”
The term is a military one, but it does not mean that we are divided into first- and second-class citizens.
What it does mean is that we are to rank all other people more important than ourselves.
Now this is difficult for us because we live in a society that continues to be more and more anti-authoritarian.
We have elected leaders that we do not respect and honor, and this attitude follows us right into the church.
But we need to remember that submission is an identifying mark of the Spirit.
Jesus, of course, provided us the most striking example of submission by washing the disciples’ feet, including Judas’.
He placed himself at their service when it should have been the other way around.
ILL Notebook: Criticism (efficiency expert)
The efficiency expert concluded his factory lecture with a warning: “Don’t try these task-organizing tips at home.” “Why not?” asked a worker. “I did a study of my wife’s routine fixing breakfast,” explained the lecturer. “She made a lot of trips between the refrigerator, stove, table and cupboards, often carrying only one item. ‘Hon,’ I suggested, ‘why don’t you try carrying several things at once?’” “Did it save time?” “Actually, yes. It used to take her 20 minutes to get breakfast. Now I do it in seven.”
Well, he obviously didn’t communicate to his wife very well in that situation.
We can guess that his advice was probably not given humbly and in a helpful manner.
That brings us to this point…
2. The goal of submission is service.
This means that we are to do nothing without humbly having an attitude of help.
It is to be our goal to love, encourage and be of service.
APPLICATION:
1. When we are characterized by grace, we will live by “The Golden Rule.”
The danger that we often face as Christians is that we think that if we just believe the right things, we are going to be OK.
But our faith is not to be reduced to a doctrinal statement.
As James says, even the demons have many of the facts right.
The contrast is that God is to make a difference in our lives.
So, we follow the Golden Rule, not because there is something in it for us.
We do it because it is the right thing to do.
ILL Notebook: Jesus (lift out)
A man fell into a pit and could not get himself out…
A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you, down there.”
An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.
A Christian Scientist came along and said, “You only think that you are in a pit.”
A Pharisee said, “Only bad people fall into a pit.”
A Mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.
A News Reporter wanted the exclusive story on his pit.
A Fundamentalist said, “You deserve your pit.”
Confucius said, “If you would have listened to me, you would not be in that pit.”
Buddha said, “Your pit is only a state of mind.”
A realist said, “That’s a pit.”
An Engineer calculated the pressure necessary to get him out of the pit.
A Geologist told him to appreciate the rock strata in the pit.
An Evolutionist said, “You are a rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle.” In other words, he is going to die in the pit, so he cannot produce any “pit-falling offspring.”
The County Inspector asked if he had a permit to dig a pit.
The County Tax Assessor came along and figured the taxes he owed on the pit.
An evasive person came along and avoided the subject of his pit altogether.
A self-pitying person said, “You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen my pit.”
A health and wealth preacher said, “Just confess that you’re not in a pit.”
An optimist said, “Things could be worse.”
A pessimist said, “Things will get worse.”
Jesus, seeing the man, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.
Does your faith make that kind of difference?
2. We will be as gold to people if we are a people that care.
It is our responsibility to make the uncommon common.
It should be our goal to be people of grace.
We should be people of grace making the difference in others.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Be full of grace…and carry each other’s burdens; see each other as valuable members of the team that are worth keeping on the team;
Be full of grace…and treat each other impartially; see each other as God sees us, people loved by God, dear objects of His affection;
Be full of grace…and spur one another on to good works; let’s not be satisfied with being second rate, but let’s urge one another on to being excellent for Christ;
Be full of grace…submit to one another and follow the example of Christ and serve, serve one another so that they will know we are Christians by our love.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
