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onday I had the TV on and watched an interview with various actors in the new movie “Head Over Heels”. The host of the show was interviewing the models who are in the movie. At one point he asked something about how difficult it must be to live like we suppose models have to live. This one woman said something that jumped out at me. She responded, “It’s what we do not who we are.”
I began to wonder about the Church as a whole. Is following Jesus something we do or something we are? Unfortunately, for some who attend various denominations around our nation their Christianity is something they do. They do it on Christmas, Easter and Mother Day. They do it for an hour or two on Sunday. They do it when it’s convenient and doesn’t away from what they want to do. And I believe such people exist within the Church because they haven’t seen Jesus present with them on Sunday let alone everyday.
The outlook of those models is not an option for a follower of Jesus. Being a Christian isn’t only “what we do” but it’s also “who we are”. We cannot divide up our calling and our being they are too closely linked together in Jesus. And what makes the difference is whether we “see” Jesus present in our midst. Consider those who walked alongside Jesus daily. They were called to do something different but to also be something different—Peter, James, John from fishing to preaching; Matthew from stealing to integrity...Paul from persecuting the church to being it’s missionary and all because of an encounter with Jesus. What’s more, the difference in what they “did” was a direct outcome of what they had “become”.
Seeing Jesus in our midst moves those who follow Him to go out of their way to help others, to minister to their needs. It directs us to serve those who are lacking, who are helpless, and in need. It’s also a next logical step in our adventure because this service is
& part of “walking in the light
& the way we demonstrate love to Him (Matthew 25)
& the natural “fruit” of worshipping Christ
These have been the last three weeks themes of our adventure.
Meeting such needs is also not always easy. Adventurer Robert Young Pelton was confronted with the price of commitment while in Afghanistan. "When I was being shelled on a front line north of Kabul, I asked a 23-year-old Taliban fighter, ’Why don’t we dig trenches to escape the bombardment?’
"He looked at me and asked, ’If you didn’t come here to die, why are you here?’" That’s the cost of commitment among believers. It’s putting our lives on the line for others so that they turn to us and ask “why are we there?”
Seeing Jesus in our midst moves those who follow Him to go out of their way to help others, to minister to their needs by the power of God. How do we manage to do such a thing? 1 Peter 4:11 says “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ”
Paul is talking about using the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to each believer. (There’s a lot more teaching about them in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12) These gifts are given, as God desires in order to build up, encourage and strengthen other believers. Here Peter lumps them into two broad categories of speaking and service. That’s because most of the gifts fall into one of these two.
Peter has just used two examples of what this looks like and what to look out for. He talks about loving others and tells us that, “lover covers a multitude of sins”. He’s not saying that if we love someone enough his or her sins won’t matter. He’s saying that love forgives and moves beyond sins rather than stirs up dissention and hostility. The verse is actually a quote of Proverbs 10:12 which says “Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.“ It’s what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13:5 when he writes love keeps “no records of wrongs.”
This love is an intense love that pushes forward for the goal. It’s not a warm fuzzy feeling but a decision to act in a loving manner, for the good of others. For Peter the issue of “hospitality” becomes an example of what this service looks like for the Church. It’s providing it without grumbling. The understanding for whom we are responsible changes for the follower of Jesus. Family is broadened to include those who bear the name of our elder brother and thus we show the same hospitality to them we do to our own.
How do we share his love with others? Peter is concerned about the love and service demonstrated within the church because those outside of the church could only see God from the way they loved one another. That’s still true today. Yet seeing Jesus in our midst moves those who follow Him to go out of their way to help others, to minister to their needs is not limited to our sisters and brothers in Christ. A large part of our service is “other directed” toward the community in which we live each day.
For some of you that is very limited. Your friends are here or in other churches. You don’t talk about religion with your family because all it does is cause arguments. You may have one or two acquaintances that don’t go to church but they have their reasons and you don’t want to pry. If you fall into that category here’s a challenge this next week keep a running total of the number of people you speak with who you do not know if they know Christ. Not only a neighbor but perhaps your hairdresser, barber, the guy at the counter at Interstate Lanes, the teller at the bank the sales person who calls at dinner etc… It might surprise you how many people you actually do talk too. Some of us find it easy to think about the people at school or work, down the street and at other events that we have no idea about their spiritual walk.
We can sweep sidewalks, take pets for a walk, weed flowerbeds, mow a lawn, change light bulbs, have a cup of coffee, baby sit for a young couple, fix cookies for the kids who play on the street… the list is as varied as we are, as varied as the world in which we live.
Let me explain what it means to live a “Lighthouse Lifestyle”. It means to pray, care and share with those who are our neighbors. As we know from Jesus’ words neighbors doesn’t just mean those next door but those we may overlook entirely. The goal of living such a life is to introduce others to Jesus Christ, to make new family members. And the way we do that has three steps.
First we pray for them. Second we care for them. Only then do we share with them what Jesus means to us. Let me explain why this order is important. If we start off sharing with them we come across as preaching. If we start off caring we come across as “do gooders” We start by praying for our neighbors, co-workers etc… We pray that God would bless them. And as we pray I believe we become sensitive to what the Holy Spirit sees as their greatest need.
Once we’ve been praying for them and have an idea of the need or needs they many have then we can serve them, minister to them, by the power of God. Let me give you an example of what this might look like. A person you’ve been praying for is in financial trouble. The obvious ministry would be to help them with money. Yet after praying and talking to them over a period of time you discover that 1) there is a substance abuse ongoing in the family or 2) the house isn’t energy efficient or 3) the person can’t budget the income they have. With this information you can begin to see why money may not be the best way to care for them. Instead, depending on your gifts and the situation you may be led by God to 1) help them set up a budget and learn some basic financial principles or 2) make certain their home is signed up for Christmas in April or take on projects to help make the house more livable 3) help them come to grips with the abuse problem in their life and it’s outcome.
Once someone knows we care then we have the integrity to share why we care so much. If we share Jesus and they say no we don’t stop caring. We continue to care anyway. If they say yes we don’t stop caring because now they are our sister or brother in Christ. Either way caring isn’t an option it’s a directive from our Lord and Savior.
Let me give you an example of someone who cares this way. Jack Martens is a minister in San Francisco who marches to the beat of a different drummer. He is not ordained and doesn’t preach from a pulpit, but Martens is a pastor nonetheless. Ask over 10,000 students who through the years have benefited from his ministry on the other side of his music stand.
You see, Jack Martens is a band teacher to 12--14-year-olds in the inner city of San Francisco. For 33 years he has braved the challenges of less-than-ideal teaching conditions at Ben Franklin Middle School to courageously live out his faith. Over 50 percent of Martens’ students are from broken homes, the same number are on welfare, nearly that number come from families where English is not the first language. To that score add the fact that funding for the arts has been all but cut off in Jack’s school district.
Still the 56-year-old, bearded band teacher shepherds his students through the less-than green pastures of life. "I love these kids," he admits. "And they love me. In me they can see my love for Jesus Christ."
Although Martens keeps a Bible and other Christian symbols on his desk, it is his interaction with the kids that gives his witness a melody line. He eats lunch with them to help them talk through their problems and stays after school to help with difficult fingerings. Through the mechanics of music he is able to show his students they are capable of something beautiful.
In light of the recent popularity of such films as Mr. Holland’s Opus and Music of the Heart, how refreshing it is to know Jack Martens is not a fictitious character. He is a committed follower of Jesus who views his secular work as a sacred call.
Here one person has heard God’s call on their life and has lived it out with grace and intelligence. I believe that if would see Christ present with us we’d be just as moved to serve others in our community. We don’t have to teach at Ockley Green or Portsmouth. But we can sweep sidewalks, take pets for a walk, weed flowerbeds, mow a lawn, change light bulbs, have a cup of coffee, baby sit for a young couple, fix cookies for the kids who play on the street… the list is as varied as we are, as varied as the world in which we live.
And when we do this. When we serve our sisters and brothers and those outside of the Church guess what happens. We hear Jesus say, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
