Sermon Series: “Questioning the Faith”
Sermon #2 “Finding Answers”
Text: 1 Peter 3:15
OPENING JOKE: “Sack in the Basement” I heard about a rich man who was determined to take his wealth with him. He told his wife to get all his money together, put it in a sack, and then hang the sack from the rafters in the attic. He said, "When my spirit is caught up to heaven, I’ll grab the sack on my way." Well he eventually died, and the woman raced to the attic, only to find the money still there. She said, "I knew I should’ve put the sack in the basement."
INTRODUCTION: Tonight we continue our series called ‘Questioning the Faith’ and I will begin answering some of the questions that have been given me.
I would like to get some more questions to build these messages around, so please take these sheets and write your best questions and hand them to me or place them under my door.
Illustration: “Questions Inspire Deeper Study” When Rembrandt’s famous painting, The Night Watch, was restored and returned to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, the curators performed a simple, yet remarkable experiment. They asked visitors to submit questions about the painting. The curators then prepared answers to over 50 questions, ranking the questions according to popularity.
Some of these questions focused on issues which curators usually don’t like to include:
How much does the painting cost? Has this painting ever been forged? Are there mistakes in the painting? Other questions focused on traditional artistic issues: Why did Rembrandt paint the subject? Who were the people in the painting? What techniques did Rembrandt pioneer in the particular work?
In a room next to the gallery which held the painting, the curators papered the walls with these questions (and answers). Visitors had to pass through this room before entering the gallery.
The curious outcome was that the average length of time people spent viewing the painting increased from six minutes to over half an hour. Visitors alternated between reading questions and answers and examining the painting. They said that the questions encouraged them to look longer, to look closer, and to remember more. The questions helped them create richer ideas about the painting and to see the painting in new ways.
This story so relates to my purpose of creating this series on question.
• Questions inspire us to want to know more.
• Questions make our imaginations come to life.
• Questions allow us to express our true belief in the authority of God’s Word, because we are showing confidence that it will answer.
Some might think God gets tired of our questions…
Illustration “How will you learn?” A little boy that said to his dad, “dad, why is the sky blue?” I don’t know son. "dad, why is the grass green?" I don’t know son. Dad...etc. Finally the boy said, "Dad, do you mind me asking these questions?" "Why no son, if you don’t ask questions you don’t learn anything.”
God tells us that same thing in His Word…
James 4:2 “ye have not, because ye ask not”
If we ever expect to grow closer to God, we need to not be afraid to ask Him questions and be confident that His Word will bring us our answer.
Let’s begin tonight with a good question left for me two weeks ago:
(I really like this question, I hear it often…)
Why does it seem that Christians never seem to get ahead, but lost people are sitting pretty?
1) Let’s begin by clarifying something I am sure you all know, but still needs to be said
a. Not all Christians have trouble getting ahead
i. Think about the CEO of Chik-Fil-A, an avid Christian who builds his business practices around Christian principles. He has one of the best and most profitable fast food chains in the U.S.
ii. And Mel Gibson, who was trashed because of his Christian views after making ‘The Passion’ is still considered an ‘A’ list celebrity
iii. Even the most powerful man in the world, the President of the U.S. is a praying, Bible reading Christian
b. And not all lost folks are sitting pretty
i. I would guess that there are just as many unsaved homeless as there are saved homeless
ii. Think about the Kurds in Iraq who were slaughtered by Saddam Hussein – this was not a Christian group
iii. And even the Jews in Nazi Germany – no one would ever consider them as ‘sitting pretty’
2) The truth is there is a such thing as ‘common grace’ and ‘common wrath’
a. Matthew 5:45b “for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
i. What this basically means is that God has a ‘common grace’ that is poured out onto mankind
ii. There are some worldly things that are allowed for both the saved and the unsaved
b. I believe this ‘common grace’ also includes the ‘calling’ God places on our hearts to receive Christ
i. We learn from Christ’s own words that no one comes to Him unless the Father draws him in
ii. Common grace, or God’s grace on mankind, includes the general call to salvation
c. Common wrath includes disease, sickness and physical death, all of which are the result of sin having entered the world
i. Before man sinned there were no cancers, no plagues, no hurricanes and no Tsunamis
ii. But because of the power of sin the whole world’s economy changed
iii. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”
iv. Because all people have sinned, all people have experienced this common wrath in one form or another
d. So there are some portions of God’s grace and God’s wrath that all receive because they are common to mankind as a whole
3) The important question that we often miss when talking about ‘prosperity’ is ‘what does it mean to prosper in God’s eyes?’
a. Often we see someone prospering monetarily and we automatically assume God’s blessings are all over them
i. But prospering with worldly goods does not always mean that a person is really blessed
ii. Some of the most miserable people in the world are rich people
iii. Illustration: “A little silver” There’s an old fable about a miserable rich man who went to visit a rabbi. The rabbi took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the rabbi. "I see men, women, and children," answered the rich man. Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied. Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver representing wealth, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself.
iv. Often rich people are the most lonely, self centered people in the world
b. Prospering in God’s eyes does not always mean a lavish bounty of material blessings… it simply means contentment with the blessings He has already given you
i. You can have very little, yet be content with it because you are filled with God’s Spirit
ii. Or you can have every earthly advantage, yet feel empty because your heart carries a void because God is missing
c. Quote: You see, when you have God actively and vibrantly working in your life, you are really the one who is ‘sitting pretty’ because when the roll is called up yonder – even though this life may have been a tough haul – your eternal blessing (which was already purchased for you by Jesus) will be much better than anything material God could have blessed you with in this lifetime
CONCLUSION: Illustration: “Just a Visitor” In the last century, a tourist visited a famous Polish minister. He was astonished to see that the minister’s home was only a simple room filled with books. The only furniture was a table and a bench.
"Sir, where is your furniture?" asked the tourist.
"Where is yours?" replied the minister.
"Mine? But I’m only a visitor here."
"So am I," said the minister.
When will we really realize our prosperity in Christ? When we finally arrive home.
Quote: For now we are just pilgrims, in a land that is sometimes inviting, but more often hostile towards our presence…
Let us just remember that in Christ there is nowhere we can go without Him, no time we will be separated from Him and no situation His love will not be a part of.
Matthew 6:19-20 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
When we realize the truth that our true treasure is stored up in Heaven, no matter what our situation, we should be able to suit back and say:
Who’s really sitting pretty? We are.
(Let us pray)
