Jimmy’s Sermon
Numbers 6:24-26
A few weeks ago I preached a sermon to our young people as they were preparing for school. I told the congregation then that even though this message was intended for the young people I hoped that they would listen very intently because there was sure to be a Mustard Seed somewhere. And you did listen and you were very gracious.
Tonight I am going to ask if you will do the same thing. Tonight we come to celebrate and mourn. We are mourning the loss of a man who has given his time and talents to this body. Tonight is the last night that Jimmy will lead our voices in song and today was the last time that he was able to mold and shape the young men and women that we are blessed to have as a part of this family.
But tonight is also a time of celebration. Last summer as my family floated around looking for a congregation to serve with I remember how frustrated I felt listening to others preach the message and taking their message apart and reconstructing it in my mind. If you have the desire to preach and you are not preaching it is very frustrating indeed. Jimmy will tell you, as he has told me that he wants to preach and not being able to do that has left him frustrated at times. But like I said this is a time for rejoicing because stating in the next two weeks Jimmy will have the opportunity to stand before a body and do in my estimation the greatest job ever given to mortal man.
You have heard me say that today is the day that we will have our funeral service for Jimmy. And I think that is what we are doing. You have funerals as a way of saying good bye, but they are also a reminder that for those of us who have been born again this is not the final good bye. So tonight I think that it is appropriate that we spend this time telling Jimmy good bye, wishing He and Mary good luck with their new congregation and marriage and sending them off in prayer.
Jimmy tonight I am not going to tell you anything new, you know all of this but I want to remind you of a few things and challenge you as you begin this new work.
First look for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Paul tells the young preacher Timothy exactly what his job description is in 2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
We are to preach the word or the truth, with complete patience and teaching. Now you know that this is not always easy. There will be times where people won’t want to hear the truth.
They would rather hear what they are comfortable with, and the truth doesn’t always make us comfortable.
People would rather hear what makes them happy but when truth exposes error in our lives we are not very happy.
It might not be easy, but it is our job. There are going to be times when it is going to be easier to let things go, to hope or pray that they will just go away but ignoring the problem only traps us in that problem.
Do you remember at the Men’s Retreat a few weeks ago we talked about how King David knew that there was sin in his household and chose to do nothing? Remember that story? It starts in 2 Samuel 11 where we read that when the kings go out to war David stayed home. Instead of doing what was right he did what was easy.
We’re told that he got up and walked around the roof of the King’s house. As he looked around he saw Bathsheba, who was bathing. The Bible tells us that David sent for Bathsheba. He was told that she was married to one of David’s soldiers, Uriah, but despite that, David sent for her and committed adultery with her.
Well Bathsheba gets pregnant and David tries to do the easy thing and cover up his sin. He has Uriah brought from the battle field to spend some time with his wife to make it appear the baby was Uriah’s. But Uriah refused to go home while his fellow soldiers were dying on the battlefield.
So David once again did the easy thing by having Uriah put in the front battle line were he is killed. He was then compelled to admit the child by Bathsheba was his and finally married Bathsheba.
Doing what was easy led David to become an adulterer, a murderer. The baby that was born to him and Bathsheba died. For a year his intimacy with God was broken. Turmoil was constantly in David’s house. 1 of David’s sons by 1 wife, seduces his half-sister Tamar. In fact, he rapes her. One of David’s other sons kills Ammon for what he did. Another of David’s sons, Absalom, the one he loved so much, doubled-crossed his father and tried to take the throne away from him and also publicly disgraced his father in a way I won’t mention. You start adding it up and you will find that David paid a tremendous cost for taking the easy way out.
Doing what is easy might get you by for a little while but it will also get you in world of hurt. Always remember that we are called to share the truth and “the truth is what makes people free.”
Secondly I want to remind you to Practice what you preach.
This is going to be a life long task. But if you want to be a success in your ministry and in your Christian life it is vitally important.
Every day you need to study the scriptures, and live what you have learned.
Remember what the crowds said about Jesus in Matthew 7:28-29 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
The people marveled because Jesus’ teachings were applicable, and useable in their lives. As you learn to live what you have learned then you can preach what you are living.
Once again we get great advice on how to live from the Apostle Paul when he writes to the Church in Philippians 4:6-13 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
And Paul didn’t just say that this is how they were supposed to live he showed them how to live.
The best way to teach your congregation how to not be anxious is by living a life that shows your trust in God.
The best way to teach your congregation how to live a pure life is by living a pure life.
Thirdly I want to remind you that preaching is not all gumdrops and lollipops.
You know how hard it is to work with a church. There are so many demands on your time, so many demands for your attention, and there are going to be people who don’t like you and there is not going to be a thing you can do about it.
I want you to remember when it gets rough and you and Mary get to the house, and you feel like a preacher I know who packed up in the middle of the night and ran away just know that you are in good company.
In 1 Kings 19 we see that Elijah had just done some wonderful things for the Lord and his people. He should have been riding a wave of success but there were some people that he could not make happy. And they didn’t just want to complain about him, they didn’t want him to go work with another church, they wanted him dead. And this criticism left him wishing the same thing.
1 Kings 19:1 – 4 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
But it wasn’t just Elijah. Jeremiah knew these feelings as well. He was trying to get the nation of Israel to return to God and their lack of movement caused him to feel like quitting.
We read in Jeremiah 20:7-9 O Lord, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
I know how Jeremiah felt. There have been times when I felt inadequate. There have been times when my family didn’t have the things that they needed.
I have been afraid about losing my job, angry because it didn’t seem that anyone was listening or cared enough to change, and deeply hurt because people have made harsh remarks, or talked about me behind my back.
I have felt helpless when people had the preacher from lunch, or rejected when I was told that the church would be better off without me.
But you can handle it. Remember that Elijah was told to find Elisha and cultivate that friendship. Solomon carries that same thought in Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Find someone that you can confide it, someone you trust, someone that will help you balance your feelings. But don’t become a whining preacher.
Preaching is tough, and it will affect your family but it is important to remember that the problems we face are people problems. If you are preaching or shaking french fries at Burger King you will have to deal with people who are rude, discourteous, mean, and down right ugly. That’s the price we pay for dealing with people.
The most important thing you can do is love the people that Christ loves.
Finally preach the Gospel
It is important to preach about how we are to live with one another. It’s important to preach about how we are to treat one another. But it’s also important to remember that you can preach the truth without preaching the good news.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Paul taught the Corinthians so many things about how to live together, and how to live in the world. But he says that the most important thing that he taught them was the Good News.
The Gospel that they received and stood was what saved them. The fact that Jesus died on a cross just as the prophecies said he would. He was buried and in the tomb for three days and upon his resurrection he defeated the greatest enemy we have, death. That’s the Good News, that’s the Gospel that we get the opportunity to preach, and the life that we get to live.
And that’s the life that brings us joy. John writes in 3 John 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Conclusion
Jimmy I want to close tonight by telling you that I am going to miss you. I appreciate the work that you have done with us, and I know that you will do a good job for the kingdom in Michigan.
It is my family’s and this family’s prayer that God will bless you and Mary as you begin a new family, a new household, and a new ministry together. I wish you the best, and I want to leave you with one more passage. It is The Lord’s blessing from Moses to Aaron that is found in Numbers 6:24-26 The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
