March 16 – Standing on the East Side
Numbers 32:1-6, 19
One of my favorite movie lines comes from the classic "Cool Hand Luke" in which the Captain says "What we have here, is a failure to communicate."
Well, as we being I want to share with you an illustration on the need to communicate. And I would add that anyone who has ever dressed a child will appreciate this one.
It seems that one day a kindergarten teacher was helping one of her students put on his cowboy boots?
He asked for help and she could see why. Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn’t want to go on. Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat. She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they’re on the wrong feet." She looked down and sure enough, they were.
It wasn’t any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. But she managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet. And it was only then that he announced, "These aren’t my boots."
She bit her tongue rather than scream, "Why didn’t you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner had they got the boots off then he said, "They’re my brother’s boots. My Mom made me wear ’em today."
Stifling a scream, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the ill-fitting boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?"
To which he replied, "I stuffed ’em in the toes of my boots."
The article ends by saying - Her trial starts next month.
Well, Communication is essentially important. Miscommunication or a failure to communicate will only bring difficulty and strain into our lives. And so with that in mind, I am stepping aside from the series that we are in concerning angels and demons and I am going to spend this morning addressing an issue that I feel needs to be communicated.
I had told someone a few weeks back that I was originally going to preach on the devil this morning and they told me, “You leave my mother-in-law out of this.” So I will.
But you will notice on the back of your bulletins an explanation of some of the changes that are taking place here at OCC in the near future.
We are transitioning to a third morning service and it was not an easy decision to come to and it will be challenging to some to adjust their schedules, but if we were going to continue to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we had to make a decision to go forward with this change.
Now, every church expert in the world will tell you that when your sanctuary is 80% full and your parking lot is as well, that you will most likely experience a plateau in reaching new people.
We have been at the 80% for four or five months now and on any given Sunday you can drive into our parking lot and not find a single empty spot.
Now those are good problems to have. 90% of the churches in America would love to have those problems. The average church in North America, across denominational lines, grew by an average of 1 person from the year before. One. We have grown by over a hundred in the last seven months.
So the need is obviously there. Now, there may be some that say, why do we need to keep growing? And make no mistake, our mission here is not to grow, it is not to be a big church. Our mission is to reach lost people with the message of salvation, and you can never stop doing that and call yourself the church.
When churches settle, when they become content with the group they have, they have made the transition from a church to a club, and in doing so have lost their mission, their purpose and their power. We will not do that.
There are always more people out there that do not know Jesus, who are living with broken lives, broken dreams, hopeless futures, and as long as they are out there we need to do everything we can to reach them.
And that meant making a decision to, among other things, go to three services. It also means making personal decisions from each of us that we will be more involved then we have been. That we will sacrifice, we will be patient, we will adapt and be flexible and we will do it because the cause is so great, the rewards are so high, the ministry so important that it needs the sacrifice of each one of us.
But it takes a decision to do that. Do you know how many churches never make that decision. How many churches are so afraid of stretching people or offending people, or challenging people that they just ride out what they have and drift along, and reach one person a year and seem to be content with that.
Do you know how many churches look back on their history and it’s a history of idleness and a lack of influence and a lack of victory.
God has called us to so much more. The need is so great. But it takes a vision, a decision and a risk to get there.
Now, if you have your Bibles I want you to turn to an Old Testament story that we are going to look at for a few minutes. It’s found in Numbers 32. (Fourth book of the Bible)
Now, I love stories, I love the Bible, the Bible has great true stories. Some of them are fantastic, some are kind of funny, Some are sad. Some are encouraging. But some the neatest stories seem to be the ones we don’t read very often. I have one of those today.
Now to comprehend this story we have to do a little history. God sees the Israelites enslaved in Egypt…delivers them…says I have a land for you....spies....desert for 40 years. And now they return once again to the banks of the Jordan river.
Once again poised, ready to cross this river and take this land that was promised to Abraham and his people nearly 700 years before.
And I want you to just put yourself in their shoes for a moment. Picture yourself standing on the dusty, barren east bank of the Jordan river. Perhaps it’s evening, the sun is setting over the land of Canaan, the sky is golden. It’s a land that is flourishing with vegetation and water and animals. A beautiful land.
But also a land that is inhabited by the enemy, a land to be conquered, a land of challenge and struggle and difficulty. And at that point you are struck with the question, "What now."
Do we go forward, do we accept the challenge, the journey, the adventure God has set before us, or do we pull back to the East side and settle for desert living. And in our story, two of the tribes stand up and say we don’t want to go. We’re staying on the east side. You all go in, but we’ll stay.
It may be desert on the East side but it’s easy. It may be dreary and barren, but its safe, it’s comfortable, it’s easy, it doesn’t require much commitment, we’ve been here before.
Read Numbers 32:1-5, 19
What’s that have to do with us, and I’d say everything. We are heading into new territory and it’s not gonna be easy, or comfortable or without challenge. We are starting a third service and that will mean a lot of changes. But that’s not the only change.
We’ve transitioned to an Elder led congregation. We have blossoming Mops groups included the formation of a new Mops for teenage mothers. We have new classes and Bible studies and accountability groups. We are making changes to the service through a creative ministries team. We are pursuing the building of a new facility. We are looking down the road at a fourth service on Saturday Nights. We have begun new support groups, a new Junior youth group, we’ve rearranged the sanctuary seating to fit more people. And the list goes on.
And all of that means challenges and changes. And in effect we too are standing at the banks of a river, and were faced with a decision, "What now."
Our river is that dividing line between following our own desire and comfort and will, or following the direction and desire of God.
We’ll call it the land of self, and the land of God.
And while we face this land as a congregation, the reality is that each day as a Christian I stand at the bank of this river, and each day I must make a decision to cross that river, to leave that comfortable land of self and venture into that challenging, adventurous, difficult, yet rewarding land of God.
I hope you’re with me. Let me explain a little more. That land of self, the east side is that place were comfortable with, and you know that place. Many churches know that place. That place where life is easy, challenges are few, the boundaries are clear, enemies are rare.
And if there was a motto in the land of self it would be this: Don’t rock the boat. Don’t make people uncomfortable, don’t get vulnerable, don’t stir things up. And it’s an easy land to live in but a hard land to leave. The rewards may be few, the satisfaction may be gone, we won’t be fulfilling our true Christian duty, but you know what, we’ll be comfortable.
Sound like a familiar place, it probably is for each of us. How do I know if I live in the land of self?
If I say, "I know it’s wrong, but I’m gonna do it anyway" I’m in the land of self.
If I say, “It may reach more people but I’m more comfortable with my songs and my routine and my style” then I’m in the land of self.
If I say, “I know God wants me involved in ministry but it’s so easy to just drift in and out of the service, then I’m in the land of self.
If I say, "This is what I should do, but I’m scared, so I won’t, I’m in the land of self.
If I say, "What I’m watching wouldn’t please God, but I’m gonna watch it anyway," or "I know I should tithe, but I really want that new outfit. or "It’s Sunday, and I should be in church, but God won’t mind this time."
If I say those things, then I’m living in the land ruled by self. I haven’t crossed the Jordan. Do you see what were saying.
And the point is a church, a congregation will prosper, and succeed, and be effective, and accomplish God’s will only in proportion to those who are willing to leave that east side, the land of self and venture into that territory called the land of God.
A place where every action, thought, desire is first prefaced with this thought, what would Jesus have me do? The land of God.
Lets talk about that land for a moment. For the Israelites it was a land of great promise. Exodus 3:8 calls it a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. In other words a prosperous land.
God promised that if they went there, and obeyed He would be with them to guide, protect, bless, but to go there meant sacrifice, and challenge, and hardship, and loss, and duty, and persecution, and so there is the dilemma, do we stay on the east side, or do we cross the Jordan.
Our situation is very similar. God says I want you to leave that land of self, and venture into my land, the land of obedience to my will, submission to my commands. It’s a place of great blessing, eternal blessing, present blessing.
It’s a place of satisfaction, and inner peace and joy. A land of untold blessing and accomplishment, yet it too is a land of challenge, and difficulty, and sacrifice, and persecution.
And standing pat, never risking, never challenging, never growing may hold some comforts, some ease of life, lack of struggle, avoidance of persecution, but I’ll tell you this, it’s an empty blessing.
I remember a few years ago seeing an ad in the paper for a drive in passion play in Branson. Like a drive in movie, you could watch the story of Jesus, the passion play without ever getting out of your car. And I’ll never forget the ad. As matter of fact I cut it out of the paper, it’s in my office right now, but the ad said this: “Come and experience the life of Christ all from the comfort of your own car.”
And I pondered that and I was overwhelmed with the truth that we will not experience the life of Christ or the life that Christ desires for us from within our areas of comfort. We will not be the church that God desires from within our areas of comfort.
And it is not comfortable to change. It is not comfortable to reach out to those in need. It’s not comfortable to venture out on a limb and invite someone to church or better yet, share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s not comfortable to make changes at church and changes with services and changes with routines. It’s not comfortable, but it’s necessary if we are going to fulfill the mission of the church which is to Reach the Lost, Train up the Believers and Exalt the Lord.
And to accomplish that means making decisions to leave that land of self, to enter God’s land. And God doesn’t want me to waver between the two lands.
Like the guy that was asked, “Do you have trouble making decisions? And he said, “well, yes and no.”
We can’t do that. We have to be like Fernando Cortez, who landed at Vera Cruz in 1519 to begin his conquest of Mexico with just 700 men. And the first thing he did was to purposely set fire to his fleet of 11 ships. He wanted no retreat, only a clear direction to victory.
We have got to resolve as children of God, that whatever the price for being His follower, we will pay it. Whatever the sacrifice need to reach lost people we will make it. Because we believe in it wholeheartedly.
James Calvert was a missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands. When he and his fellow missionaries landed on the island, the captain of the ship that brought them tried to get them to turn back. "You will die, the men with you will die, if you stay here." he cried. And after a moment Calvert replied simply, "We died before we came here."
And haven’t we. Are we really talking about something new, something we haven’t pledge already to do? Didn’t we, when we became Christians declare to God and the world, that we would no longer live in the land of self. We died to self, to the world. That we would live for God and follow him wherever that took us.
I think many people forget that pledge over time. I think a survey of churches across this land will reveal a multitude that have settled for the East side. Settled for a comfortable, easy existence while their brothers are on the other side of the river fighting the battles and following the Lord.
Some time back I came across list – top six signs you’re in a bad church.
#6 – The church bus has gun racks.
#5 – Ushers ask smoking or non-smoking
#4 – The only song the piano player knows if “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”
#3 – Church services are BYOS – Bring Your Own Snake
#2 – There’s an ATM in the lobby.
And #1 sign you’re in a bad church - The Pastor is married to the women’s quartet.
Big signs you’re in a bad church – but an even bigger sign is a spirit of timidity and fear and an unwillingness to change.
Jack Hyles in commenting on our Bible passage in Numbers 32 says this:
America is full of (those) who say, "We are tired of fighting. Let us relive our victories in the wilderness. It is time for us to rest and enjoy the fertile plains on the east side of the Jordan.
" Oh, these people still go to church. They just don’t want to fight (anymore). To be sure,…They love their conferences, their worship services, their sevenfold amen and their anthems. They even love their Bible studies and deeper-life conferences, yet they never turn a hand to do anything in the battle. They gird no armor, grasp no sword, hurl no spear, throw no stones, shed no blood, render no sweat and weep no tears…..
If the church canceled all its visitation program, they would be angry, but they never show up for one. If the church never baptized (anyone), they would classify the church as being dead, but they never lead (anyone) to the baptistery.
(They) talk about being crucified with Christ, yet they have no scars in their hands, no spear in their side, no jeering mob, no angry critics, no thorns on their brow. They have no pain. They suffer no heartache. They do not want to be called fanatics, and yet they glibly talk about being crucified with Christ….They want victories with no battles and crucifixion with no pain."
God never said it would be easy. Change is never easy. Persecution is never easy. Sacrifice is never easy. But when we came to Christ did we come because it would be easy, or did we come to serve a kingdom and a King. To return our service and love to a Savior who died for our sins.
Are we just plugging along in our Christianity, doing just enough to feel like we’ve met the minimum requirement to get into heaven? Or did we come to work for God, sold out 100%, willing to cross whatever river stood before us?
Praise God that one time there was a man named Jesus who chose to cross that river, to leave that land of self. To say, God in heaven, if possible remove this cup this burden from me, but then he added those key words to show He had crossed to the west side, he said, "But, not my will, but thine be done.
Can you say that this morning?
When confronted by those people that really anger us, before responding to them, can we say not my will, but thine be done.
Before making that decision to enter into temptation, can we say not my will but thine be done.
Before getting angry about changes in the church or being called to sacrifice or be uncomfortable, can we say, not my will but thine be done.
When faced with a list of ministries and service areas that need to be filled and a temptation to pull back and take it easy can we say, not my will but Thine be done?
And you say I’ve tried, I can’t do it, it’s too much. And I say go home, get on your knees, pray to God, and remember that the Holy Spirit lives inside you to empower you to cross that river. Not my will, but thine be done.
Can you say that this morning to God, maybe for the first time. Making that decision to follow the true God and Savior, to confess Him, repent of our sins and meet Him in the waters of baptism.
Maybe we’ve been there, done that and you need a church home to serve and venture forth with.
I don’t know where your at but as we sing our invitation song, if you have a decision to make why don’t you come.
