Zechariah 3:1-7, Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, See I have taken away your sin and I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
The angel of the LORD gave this charge to Joshua:
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here
ARE YOU FILLED WITH JOY THIS MORNING THAT YOU’VE BEEN SNATCHED AWAY FROM THE FIRE?
ARE YOU FILLED WITH JOY THIS MORNING THAT YOUR FILTHY RAGS HAVE BEEN REMOVED?
ARE YOU OVERJOYED THIS MORNING THAT YOUR INIQUITIES HAVE BEEN TAKEN AWAY?
ARE YOU FILLED WITH JOY THIS MORNING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CLOTHED IN GARMENTS OF SALVATION, DRESSED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS?
We gather together this morning with great reason to be overjoyed! Our lives can mirror the words of Isaiah 61:10-11: I delight greatly in the Lord; for my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before the nations.
Brothers and sisters, we gather this morning with an incredible ability to rejoice, to be filled with joy. For our souls rejoice in the Lord our God. He has clothed us in salvation. But as we gather, and come together in joyous celebration, we realize that not everyone can celebrate. We live among people filled with doubt and despair, loneliness and pain, fear and anxiety, sin and its consequence. We are surrounded by those whose lives and circumstances sound more like a funeral dirge than the revelry of a wedding song. And we are once again reminded why we are truly here. We have not been called to be business men and business women. The church is not our marketplace and our purposes far surpass the normality of the business world. For our calling is eternal in nature, yet we ourselves have no power. We have no position of authority, we are not rulers. Our Kingdom growth is not of this world, for we have been called for the express purpose of being a servant in our Father’s Kingdom. We must understand that our ministry is not our own but His, this church is not ours but His, and our role is not self-exaltation, but that of humility.
This brings us to our focal passage this morning. Turn with me in your bibles to the book of Isaiah, chapter 61. These opening verses give us a model for vision, mission and tone for ministry and leadership for all generations. As we look at this together, I want us to see again our motivation for ministry, our method and message, our market and the measure of our effectiveness.
I. MOTIVATION
A. As a young child, I always feared playground games. It wasn’t that I lacked enthusiasm or athletic ability, but sometimes, I lacked popularity. And I knew that as the game was being set up and the captains began to choose, I was so afraid I would be left out, or chosen last. Do you remember those days? And do you remember the elation you felt when your name was called? When you were chosen toward the front of the list? There was always this extra effort that went into the game. You wanted to prove that you were not a mistake. That even if you weren’t the best choice, you would give your very all for success on the team. And generally, the person you wanted most to please was the one who took the chance on you.
B. Well friends, there is not a one of you sitting in this auditorium by mistake. You are not the ones waiting and hoping, but your name has been called. You have been chosen and by One who is far greater than any person you have ever been chosen by before. You have been separated for God’s service and chosen by Him. It is a serious responsibility and God is the authorizing agent. And the Spirit of God accompanies you.
C. I really can’t tell you why God chose me. As I look at others around me, I could come up with others who I THINK could do a better job than me, who may seem more qualified, who are smarter, more educated, etc. But that is not my responsibility. Isaiah 55:8 says: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
D. I could spend a lifetime wondering and thinking about why God has chosen me, but those are futile thoughts. All that really matters is that He did. And my goal, my desire is not to question Him, but to do all I can to please and bring honor and glory to the one who has taken a chance on me!
E. And as His anointed messenger, I have the awesome responsibility of going to the world as Christ’s ambassador. That means in everything I do, whether in word or deed, I do so as Christ’s representative. My motivation has nothing to do with me. I do not go to advance myself or a cause, but simply to represent the King and His Kingdom, because He has selected and appointed me to the position. My interest is not at stake, my desires are secondary. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Phil 2:13)
II. Method and Message
A. TO PREACH THE GOOD NEWS:
B. 2 Timothy 4:1-5: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
C. I am so often taken back by the responsibility we have as ministers of the Gospel. And whether that means you preach on a regular basis, teach a Sunday school class or share the truth with family, friends, co-workers or neighbors, we must be prepared at all times to share the good news. And in this day all the more.
D. We are living in a very spiritually minded time. There is great interest in spiritual matters. Yet our churches continue to struggle on. And the warning that Paul gave to Timothy is sure true for the year 2005. It is not easy to share the truth of Jesus in today’s society as there are much easier things to listen to. Teachers saying what itching ears want to hear. But this is reason for us to move on in this time to proclaim the message of truth, preaching the good news. Yet we know that the Gospel is always offensive to those who are outside of it. And because of this, we must endure hardship. So let us preach the good news! Let us share the gospel of hope with all those clinging to empty air. The message is unchanging, but our culture is ever evolving. And as ministers of the truth, we must continue to seek out ever changing ways to share a never changing message.
E. Paul wrote to Timothy and admonished him to watch his life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. The method of our ministry is important. Correct doctrine without a matching lifestyle will certainly hinder our ministry.
F. Paul wrote that we are to correct, rebuke and ENCOURAGE in our preaching, but do you see the method? WITH GREAT PATIENCE AND CAREFUL INSTRUCTION!
G. There are two different directions there.
H. With Careful Instruction
i. Statistically, in churches that are actively growing, the pastor is spending a minimum of 10 hours in sermon preparation.
ii. I have been amazed to see how carelessly we have become at handling the word of truth. Too many Sunday school classes I have sat in where the teacher has admittedly spent less than 2 hours in teaching preparation.
iii. Too many pastors and worship leaders who feel they know the word well enough that they can simply get up and speak without much preparation time.
iv. I had a pastor offer to give me 2 sets of commentaries, because he felt that he could write his own and didn’t need to waste his time studying anymore.
v. Paul writes that we are to, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
vi. But sound doctrine isn’t enough
I. GREAT PATIENCE
i. I don’t know about you, but I can tell you that I am not always that patient of a person. I like to see that the truth gets out, it is grasped and put into effect. But that is not the case, in fact, rarely is this the case.
ii. FISH IN A SOAPY BOWL
a. I had washed the tank with soap, an absolute no-no. My uninformed efforts had destroyed the very lives I was trying to protect.
b. Sometimes in our zeal to clean up the lives of others, we use “killer soaps”-condemnation, criticism, nagging, fits of temper. We think we are doing right, but our harsh self righteous treatment is more than others can bear.
c. We cannot put high Christian ideals on a person who does not know Christ. Our efforts in love and patience must first take them to the cross, doing the work of an evangelist. And then to teach and lead with great patience.
III. The Market
A. The poor: We are commanded to preach good news to the poor. Let us realize that the poor are people who are more than those who live in human poverty. Those who are really poor are the ones who are yet to be enriched with all the spiritual blessings of having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Too often we view the poor as those who are lack knowledge, food or physical provisions. Sadly, this leads us to think that if people can just get their physical needs met they will be all right. However, people are poor when they are not rich toward God. Jesus told the Laodicean church, "You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich." (Rev. 3:17)The poor are to be seen as anyone who is yet to find their riches in Christ Jesus. That includes most Americans. For God so loved the world, the poor and the rich, the wise and great, the noble and the true, the good and the bad, the white and the black, those who are in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the world. Do you love them as He commands us to love the whole world as He loves us? The poor are often more willing to admit their need for a Savior and Lord. A person cannot be saved unless they admit that they are lost and without hope in this world. The poor are often more willing to admit their need and cry out to God for help.
B. The brokenhearted: He anoints us to bind up the broken-hearted. Those who hearts are broken by sin, who are really humbled by a sense of guilt and a fear of the wrath of God against sin will gladly receive a warm embrace of Christ’s loving arms to bind up their brokenness. People who feel torn apart by the pressures, problems and preoccupations of this world need to experience God’s mending, repairing and rebuilding. May the Lord use you to comfort those who are hurting and are willing to allow the word of God and the Spirit of God to make them whole and calm their fears.
C. The captives and the prisoners: We have the great message of freedom to proclaim. Freedom from sin, freedom from death, freedom from oppression. But not only freedom from, but freedom for: Holiness, righteousness, eternity with God, abundant life, now and forever.
D. Those who mourn: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)
IV. The Measure vs. 3
A. There is a distinct difference between attending/leading a funeral and that of a wedding. There is no picture more beautiful than that of a joyous bride walking down the aisle. There is no such thing as an ugly bride. But the somber characteristics of a funeral are just as unmistakable. Yet there is a distinction that Isaiah makes. For the picture we see in vs 3 is the comparison of the two. And we live this reality out daily. We live among people who are walking dead. They have a temporary shell of a life that is full of bitterness and grief. Theirs is the reality of the fear of death.
B. When Dave committed suicide last year, he spoke in his letter of loneliness and despair of life. A feeling that he was at the end of his rope and had no hope. He was overcome with the sorrow of a lonely life and seeing there was nothing left for him. And with that thought, he shot himself.
C. This tragic reality happens all around us. And although we may not see the visible evidences, people are dying all around us, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. Yet we carry to this world a message of hope, of future, of life. And we replace the ashes of hopelessness-of that which has been lost-with the crown of beauty, the joy of the Lord.
D. We carry to the world a message that bestows on them the oil of gladness instead of mourning.
E. We carry the message of freedom that replaces the spirit of despair with a garment of praise.
F. And how do we do this?
i. Preach the good news to the poor
ii. Bind up the brokenhearted
iii. Proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners
iv. We need to comfort those who mourn and provide for those who grieve.
