(THIS SERMON OPENS WITH THE FOLLOWING SKIT)
Billie is standing at the pulpit, with her head bowed as she is praying. (This script is in front of her.)
The pastor is in the back of the sanctuary, with a microphone. (He is the voice of God.)
Billie: Our Father Who Art In Heaven.
Pastor: Yes?
Billie: (looking around – somewhat startled) Who are you?
Pastor: I am God. You called me.
Billie: I didn’t call you – I’m praying. Now, go on and let me pray. Our Father who art in heaven -
Pastor: There -- you did it again!
Billie: Did what?
Pastor: You called me! You said, "Our Father who art in Heaven". Well, here I am. What’s on your mind?
Billie: I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just saying my prayers. I always say the Lord’s Prayer. It makes me feel good - like I am doing my duty.
Pastor: OK. Go ahead and pray then.
Billie: "Hallowed be Thy name" . .
Pastor: What do you mean when you say “hallowed”?
Billie: It means, it means.…..I don’t know what it means. It’s just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?
Pastor: It means honored, holy, sacred, and wonderful.
Billie: Okay, I just never thought about it before. It was always something I just said in the prayer.. Now, let me finish praying. "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."
Pastor: Do you really mean that?
Billie: I guess so.
Pastor: What are you doing about it?
Billie: Doing? What do You mean ‘doing about it?’ I can’t do anything about it. It would just be nice if You would take control down here and clean this mess up.
Pastor: Speaking of Me being in control - do I have control of you?
Billie: I go to church.
Pastor: That isn’t what I asked you. What about your temper? And then there’s the way you spend your money – it’s all on yourself.
Billie: Now hold on a minute! Stop picking on me! I’m just as good as the rest of those people at church!
Pastor: Excuse Me? I thought you were praying for My will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with - - well, with you - for example.
Billie: Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups - now that You mention it.
Pastor: I could name a lot of them, but we will start with those.
Billie: I haven’t thought about it very much until now, but I really would like to - you know, be better.
Pastor: Good. Now we’re getting somewhere. We’ll work together -- You and Me. I’m proud of you.
Billie: Look, Lord, if You don’t mind, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. "Give us this day, our daily bread."
Pastor: You need to stop eating so much bread, too.
Billie: Hey, wait a minute! What is this? Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden You break in and start picking on me!
Pastor: Praying can be a dangerous thing if you aren’t careful. You just might get what you ask for. Remember, you called Me -- and here I am. It’s too late to stop now. Keep praying. ( . . . pause . . . ) Well, go on.
Billie: (trying to say it fast to avoid another interruption) "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."
Pastor: What about Ann?
Billie: See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Lord, she’s told lies about me, and she never did pay back the money she owes me.
Pastor: But -- your prayer -- What about your prayer?
Billie: I don’t know. All I know is I am still very mad at her!
Pastor: It’s quite a load carrying all that hate around, isn’t it?
Billie: Yes, but I’ll feel better as soon as I get even with her!
Pastor: No, you won’t. Actually, you’ll feel worse. You know how unhappy you are? Well, I can change that.
Billie: How?
Pastor: Forgive Ann. And then, I’ll forgive you; Then the hate and the sin, will be Ann’s problem -- not yours.
Billie: I know you’re right, Lord. And no matter how I act or think, I still want to be right with you. But it sure is hard sometimes. All right, I forgive her.
Pastor: There you go! How do you feel now?
Billie: Actually, not bad. In fact, I feel pretty good! You know, I don’t think I’m as uptight as I was a little while ago.
Pastor: I am proud of you, but you’re not through with your prayer - go on.
Billie: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
Pastor: Then don’t put yourself in places where you can be tempted.
Billie: What do You mean by that?
Pastor: You know what I mean. When you go out for a few drinks, or when you decide to hang out with unsaved friends instead of being around other Christians!
Billie: Yeah. I know! Okay, I promise I will try.
Pastor: Go ahead. Finish your prayer.
Billie: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
Pastor: Do you know what would bring me glory -- What would make me happy?
Billie: No, but I think I’d like to. Look God, I have really made a mess of my life, but I really do what to make you happy now. So tell me - how do I make you happy?
Pastor: You just did!
PROVERBS 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
Some years ago, a painting was shown in a London art gallery. As you viewed it from a distance, it seemed to be a monk with head bowed and hands clasped in prayer.
But, upon close inspection, you would see a monk that is squeezing an orange over a small glass as he looks down upon it.
Could that painting be a picture of us? Could it be that when we pray, all seems right - from a distance - but upon closer inspection, we are actually doing something else?
Could it be that too many times, when we are praying, we are thinking about other things, or we pray with the feeling that God is not going to answer us? Too many times, I think we tend to utter the words of prayer but fail to have any heart felt meaning behind them.
Norman Vincent Peale once told of a story that happened to him as a young boy. He said he found a cigar on the sidewalk, so he picked it up and took it into an alley and lit her up! He said it tasted terrible, but still made him feel very grown up.
Then, he said he saw his dad walking down the alley towards him. Desperate to keep his dad from knowing what he was doing, he quickly hid the cigar behind his back and pointed to a billboard across the street advertising a circus that was coming to town.
He said he repeatedly asked his dad to take him to that circus, all the while, holding that cigar behind his back.
He said his father told him something so profound that it affected his prayer life forever. His father said, "Son, never make an impassioned plea while hiding sin behind your back."
Do we go to God in prayer, asking for His help while trying to hide our sin behind us? In our skit, I think we all agree that when Billie first started praying, she did what many of us do. She was just going through the motions of praying. We utter the words but our words do not have any thought behind them; they have no heart and therefore they have no meaning.
Remember that when you pray, it is much better for your heart to be without owrds than your words to be without heart.
When she first started praying, she was actually surprised that God was on the other end listening to her. When we pray, do we pray with the expectation of God hearing us, or do we just "say our prayers"?
Too many Christians go to god out of habit; out of repetition; out of everything but submissive dependence.
We do that because we put our focus on the world around us: The world where our friends are; the world where many of our activities are; the world that God has told us to turn away from. But we do not turn away, do we? We have too many things happening in the world and it occupies our main focus.
We tend to be like young Mr. Peale. We keep our sin and try to hide it from God. What type of sins do you think you are trying to hide in your life?
1. PRAYING WITH FALSE MOTIVES IS A SIN
MATTHEW 6:5, tells us,
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and onthe street corners to be seen by men."
When we pray, we shold ONLY be concerned with God hearing our prayers. God can see in our hearts and He knows the motivations we have for what we do. When we have anyting in our heart other than wanting Him to hear us, we are committing a sin against Him.
JAMES 4:3 tells us,
"When you ask, you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
EPHESIANS 2:10, explains our purpose.
"For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
When we made the decision to become a Christian, we took a responsibility upon ourselves; a duty of great proportians. When we made the choice to follow Christ, we made the choice to serve the living God through Jesus, our Savior. We were made to serve the Lord.
When we attempt to do ANYTHING for God without a focused love in our hearts, we have the wrong motives and therefore, we are committing a sin against God.
2. PRAYING WITHOUT PROPER FEELINGS IS A SIN
How many of us pray out of habit instead of an absolute need to talk to God? I think we all pray like that from time to time, don’t we? But consider the fact that when we do, we are actually sinning against God. And if we offer up a prayer in sin, do you think God will listen to it? I don’t think so.
How would you feel if the phone rang and you picked it up to find a person you know on the other end. But instead of having a nice conversation, you could tell by his tone of voice that he called you out of a duty, and that he didn’t really care about you or like talking to you? If you are like me, that would hurt you and make you feel terrible.
That is how God must feel when we go to prayer while we are focused on other things. We utter the words upon our lips but do not have the proper thoughts in our hearts. That is how Billie first started praying, isn’t it?
the problem is when we pray out fo habit, we aren’t praying out of love. We are performing what she called a "duty". That is not praying; it is just reciting a bunch of words.
Imagine this: You fall into a small ditch. It isn’t too deep and you can get out by yourself. If you call for help at all, it would not be a panicked plea, would it? There would be no real urgency in your voice as you asked a passerby to help you because you feel no sense of danger.
However, later you fall into a deep ditch; one you cannot get out without help. And to make matters worse, you find that there are some snakes down there with you. How much sense of urgency or panic are you going to have when you scream for help?
When we go before our Heavenly Father, we tend to go before Him without much sense of urgency, and with even less expectation of His answering our prayers.
We need to realize that this world is that deep ditch, and it is full of snakes and much worse! We cannot get out without His divine help. Realizing that, how much desperation do you think we should feel when we pray to Him? I would think very much.
I heard that Billy Graham once visited a wealthy rancher. After dinner, the rancher took Rev. Graham out on the porch where they had a wonderful view of the ranch.
Pointing in all directions, the man proudly exlaimed that 25 years ago, he had nothing, but now he owns as far as the eye can see! He paused, waiting for Rev. Graham to compliment him on his success.
The evangelist put one hand on the rancher’s shoulder and pointed upward with the other and said, "You have much in every direction, but how much do you have in that direction?"
We have all invested much of our time and money in improving our lot on earth, but how much actual time have we invested n improving our personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Or, do you think we have spent more time just "going through the motions" than really trying to build that relationship?
We treasure our parents, spouses and children. They are very important to us. But, let me say that - as important as they are to us, our relationship with Jesus as Savior should even be more important. The truth is, just like with those we love here on earth, we take our relationship with Jesus for granted, too.
This was the situation that a church found themselves in. That church was in a town called Laodicea. Please turn with me as we read our main text today.
REVELATION 3:14-17.
"And to the angel of the church of Laodicea, write: ’these are the words of the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Ruler of God’s Creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of My mouth!"
That church had started going through the motions and lost the focus of worship to our Lord, Jesus Christ. They met. They sang the songs of praise. They studied the Scripture. They prayed the prayers. But they had lost the focus of what it all meant. They had become LUKEWARM!
They had become like many of today’s churches!
Now, on the surface, being lukewarm doesn’t seem to be that tragic, does it? After all, we are still in church and we are still ’doing’ those things we are supposed to do. But did you know that when we are lukewarm, we are actually without feeling?
And, when we have no feeling for Jesus, we are actually committing a vile and evil sin? And that is what Jesus finds so distasteful that He will spit us out of His mouth! In short, lukewarm Christians make Him sick.
Some people like iced-tea and some like iced-cofee. My wife likes hot tea and I like hot coffee. But something you will notice about all of us. No matter how we like our tea and coffee, none of us like it room temperature, do we?
Have you ever reached for a cup of coffee or tea, took a big mouthful, just to realize that it was neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm? If you have, you know how nasty it tastes and how quickly you want to spit it out! That is how Jesus finds Christians who are lukewarm in their feeling towards him.
We cannot feel a devotion for Him if we do not feel the passion of love burning in our hearts for Him.
3. STOP BEING LUKEWARM!
Jesus exposed the sin of lukewarmness, and He did not do it in a very "politically correct" way. In VERSE 14, He tells them that He is the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, and the Ruler of God’s Creation.
He is telling them that He is the One in charge and that they can count on Him to give a true and accurate analysis of their church. He is saying that no matter how it might make them feel, or how uncomfortable it might be hearing it, He is giving them the absolute truth of where they stand and why they are there. And Jesus loves us so much, He will not sugar-coat His truth like we try to do today.
When I was a young boy, my parents had a habit of telling me to do things that didn’t seem very important at the time. You know - things like, "Clean up your room", or "Take the garbage out", or "Do your homework."
I didn’t see the need to do those things all the time, but as I grew older I realized that as a member of that household, I had certain duties and responsibilities I had to perform for the good of that household. When I did not do those duties, my parents would say or do something to bring me back in line.
Christians are members of God’s household, and we have certain duties to perform, also. When we get unfocused and stop performing them, God will say or do something to bring us back into focus, too.
In our passage we find that the church of Laodicea was lukewarm in their feelings towards Jesus. Why do you think they became lukewarm?
The city of Laodicea was a city that many people traveled through to get to other places. It was a rather wealthy city and many of the church people were wealthy, too.
A few miles to the north of them lie another city, named Hieropolis. That city had natural springs that were hot and full of minerals. Many people would travel there to soak their tired muscles or arthritic bones in the water. The water was very beneficial because it was hot and had those natural minerals.
A few miles to the south of Laodicea was another city. That city was called Colosse. The water in Colosse was not very good. It had no minerals or nutrients in it. It was too cold to bathe in and too warm to drink. It was pretty much worthless.
When our hearts are full of the love and devotion that Christ demands, we are like the water in Heiropolis; hot and healthy. When we become unfocused, we become like the water in Colosse; pretty much useless.
Now, I want you to listen to this very closely. The reason that the people in Laodicea became unfocused was because they were involved with too many things of the world. They had a lot of things happening outside the church that they were involved in. They had many friends that were not believers and church-goers.
In short, they were much like the 21st century Christian. Too many things going on to be too devoted.
REVELATION 3:17 goes on to say,
"You say, ’I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’"
It is not wrong to have things, and Jesus doesn’t care if you do have things in this life. As long as you don’t let any of them become more important to you than He is.
The one big problem I see with being blessed in having things is this: The more you have, the more comfortable you become.
The more comfortable you are, the less you need anythng. The less you need anything, the less you focus on Jesus.
LUKE 12:15 reads,
"... a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
That simply means that no matter how much we might think we have, if we do not have Jesus, we don’t have anything.
We might have everything we need in every direction (point all around you), but if we don’t have everything we need in that direction (point upwards), we don’t have anything at all.
REVELATION 3:21 says,
"To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with Me on My throne."
How do we overcome? How do we stop being lukewarm? How do we make sure we are safe?
By making a concerted effort to turn our minds and hearts away from the world and the people in it and turn them once again towards Jesus.
A friend once asked me how she could tell if what she was doing was okay in God’s eyes or not. I told her that if what she is doing will bring glory to God somehow, someday, keep on doing it. If, on the other hand, it would not bring glory to God in any way or at any time - stop doing it immediately!
Is what you do on a daily basis going to bring glory to God or not? Let me ask it another way. Would you go do the things you do with friends if Jesus was standing beside you all the while?
Would you make the decisions you make if you felt His arm around your shoulder as you make them?
In 1986, there were two ships that collided off the Russian coast. Hundreds of people were thrown to their deaths in the icey waters.
When the authorities investigated the cause of the accident they did not find any mechanical or techanical problems. They found a human problem.
Seems that both captains had time to steer clear from one another, but neither wanted to be the first to yield. Pride is a sin because it keeps us from seeing the need to react. It keeps us from seeing the need to react for Jesus Christ.
And pride is one of the biggest problems for Christians, because to be a true Christian, you have to humble your heart and that means you need to get rid of your pride.
If you only take one thing from this message with you today, let it be this: Please get ride of the sin behind your back as you honestly ask God for His help.
INVITATION
