Life on hold
Sermon By: CH (CPT) Keith Andrews
5 February 2006
All Scriptures listed NKJV: The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
(The introduction is presented with hi-res screen shots from www.rottentomatoes.com)
Tonight, I want to introduce to you, Viktor Navorski.
Viktor Navorski is a man from Eastern Europe, who arrives at New York City’s Kennedy Airport.
Soon, after his arrival, he discovers…
That during his flight, his home government is overthrown.
Because of the coup, the U.S. no longer recognizes his country, therefore voiding Viktor’s passport.
Navorski is denied entrance to the United States.
He also can’t be deported.
He is told by the Security Manager that he has to remain in the airport until his status can be fixed.
Victor is trapped in the airport terminal.
His life is on hold.
Victor, simply, makes the Terminal his home.
As he waits…
He learns a new language.
He finds a job.
He develops friendships.
Victor even finds romance with a beautiful flight attendant named Amelia.
In the end Victor’s country is stabilized and his passport is accepted.
Victor is allowed to go home.
(http://www.rottentomatoes.com and http://www.imdb.com. Accessed 1-30-06)
In some ways, many of us are just like Victor. Our life feels as if it were on hold.
You maybe under stop-loss. You maybe waiting to ETS when we get home. This deployment may stall your plans you were considering before deploying.
Your relationships—your wife, your girlfriends, your friends or your children—sometimes seem as if they’re on hold. For many reasons, we can feel as if our life is on hold.
Look with me at Acts 24:27, found page 993 of the red Bibles under your chair.
In Acts 21, Paul was arrested by a mob in the temple of Jerusalem. In Acts 23, he was brought before Felix the governor.
Felix had heard of the Gospel, but was not a believer. He kept Paul under house arrest.
Acts 24:27 says
But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound.(Acts 24:27, NKJV)
For two years, Paul was a captive for absolutely no reason. Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor – he wanted to appease the Jews – it was a political decision.
Paul’s life was on hold. While many of us would look at that two years as a waste – Paul gives us a good example of how to live when our life is on hold.
We see first of all, that Paul continued to do his work.
Acts 24:23
So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him. (Acts 24:23, NKJV)
Felix allowed Paul liberty, meaning he was able to have visitors. But, for Paul, that’s all he needed. Paul was a leader. In having visitors, Paul was able to continue teaching and mentoring Christians. He was able to continue his work. Several of Paul’s Biblical letters were written during his imprisonment in Rome. Therefore, it is safe to assume that he also wrote letters in Jerusalem.
Paul continued to do his work. It didn’t matter what was going on around him. It really didn’t matter whether or not he was happy with his surroundings, he continued to do his work.
Bob Ford is a caterer for Brandon, Mississippi, just outside of Jackson. He had been hired to cater a Gospel concert the night before the Hurricane Katrina hit. Understandably, hardly anyone attended the concert, and Ford had plenty of leftovers. He took these leftovers to a shelter in Jackson that housed 1,200 evacuees. He stayed and continued to cook every day at 5 AM for crowds as large as 1,700.
Bob Ford took a terrible situation and continued his work. He later said, “We have to focus on what God wants us to do.” (Guideposts: Feb, 2006)
When your life is placed on hold, continue your work. For Bob Ford, it was to continue being a caterer. You may an aircraft mechanic, or a nurse, or a bus driver. Paul’s example was to continue to work and stay focused on what God wanted him to do.
John Wooden once said;
“Things turn out best for the people who make the best out the way things turnout.” (Guideposts: Nov, 2004)
John Wooden coached basketball for our forty years with only one losing season – his first. He led UCLA teams to 10 NCAA titles. (Maxwell, John. Today Matters, 2004.New York: Warner Faith. pg 34.)
We need to be people who make the best out of the way things turn out. We need to be people that are putting our best foot forward every time we go into work. It really doesn’t matter if our life is on hold; what matters is that we are constantly working toward what God desires for us.
Sometimes it feels as if we are spinning our wheels. It feels as though we are not moving forward at all. Paul continued to work, to teach, and to write letters even when all forward movement stopped.
For two years, he sat in the same place, eating the same food, talking to the same people, wondering if this was the day that he would be released or this would be the day where he would share the Gospel with the leaders of Rome.
Have you placed you work on hold? Are you simply showing up for work, going about your business without purpose, or are you trying “to make the best of the way things turn out?”
It is your choice to move forward or to sit and sulk.
Paul continued his work while his life was on hold. He also shared his faith during this time.
Look with me at Acts: 24:24-26
24 And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.” (Acts 24:24-25, NKJV)
Paul shared the message of Jesus with Felix and his wife. He told them about how Jesus died in our place as a payment for our sin. He had an audience with Felix until Paul began to speak about righteousness, self control, and the judgment to come. Paul explained to Felix that he was a sinner. And the penalty for this sin is death. Felix would hear nothing of it and would send Paul away.
We have a society that doesn’t want to confront sin. People have a problem with Jesus as the only way, because they don’t want to face the fact that they are sinners.
Sin is what separates us from God. Jesus died on the cross to bridge that separation. He died so that our sin would be paid for.
We are to share this story. We are to share the good news that Jesus stands ready to rescue us from the Judgment, if we will only reach out to him.
Tilly Smith was vacationing in Thailand during the Christmas of 2004. On the 26 of December, she was walking along the beach when she saw bubbling on the water and foam sizzling like a fry pan.” The 11 year old had studied Tsunamis in her geography class and recognized the signs. She told her parents and alerted the Marriott Hotel staff. The beach was evacuated minutes before waves began to strike and was one of the few beaches where no one was killed or seriously hurt. (Star and Stripes, Dec. 2005.)
People’s lives were saved because an eleven year old shared what she knew.
The Bible says: (Matthew 28:19)
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19)
Our lifestyle should reflects the gospel in everyway. We should be people that make “go” apart of everything we do.
Felix called on Paul to explain the Gospel to him. He wanted to hear what Paul had to say. Paul didn’t go around flexing his religious muscle, he lived in such a way that people came to him, even when his life was on hold.
There comes a time when we must openly share our faith, but more after then not, we need to
…always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, … (I Peter 3:15, NKJV)
We must be ready to give an answer because of the way we live. When we are living life on hold, we must remember the hope that we have. Others will see and we will have tremendous opportunity to witness for Christ.
What are you doing to share the gospel with others? Do people see you as living a different way—set an example that would lead others to ask about your faith? Are you able to give an answer for the faith you have?
Paul’s life was on hold but his work wasn’t. Paul’s life was on hold but his witness wasn’t. We also see that while his life was on hold, Paul waited.
Look at verse 26: (Acts24:26)
26 Meanwhile he also hoped that ymoney would be given him by Paul, that he might release him. Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him. (Acts 24:26, NKJV)
Paul knew that it was best to wait it out. He knew that he was where he was for a reason. He trusted God for the direction of his life. So, when his life was placed on hold, he waited. Felix thought that Paul would just pay him and get out. In a sense, Paul chose to wait. He didn’t know how long it would be, but he chose to wait on God’s timing.
Philip Yancy said: “Faith means trusting in advance what will make sense only in reverse.” (Guideposts, DEC 2005)
When we wait on God’s timing, we are trusting in advance. We are an impatient people, who want everything to be worked out immediately. That doesn’t always happen. We must wait for God to develop his work in us.
As a part of one of my photography classes, we learned how to develop a print in the dark room. The process is relatively simple. The right chemicals should be mixed in the right temperature to develop the film. To make the print, the paper is exposed to light through the negative for a specific amount of time. Too much light well make the picture too dark. The little light will make the pitcher too light.
The developer must be very careful about the timing.
The same is true for our lives. God is preparing us through every experience we endure. To go to fast will short change ourselves to the blessings that God has for us. We must wait on him.
When we wait, we are waiting on something to happen. We need to waiting on something that is sure, something that is secure. We need to wait on God.
The Bible says;
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.( Is. 30:18, NKJV)
God wants us to wait on him. He desires that our trust be place in Him, and what He can do for us. When we do, He will be gracious to us. That is His promise.
Paul chose to wait, intentionally waiting on what God would do in his life. He eventually was released from his imprisonment, and each of us will one day be released from this life on hold.
While we are “on hold”; we must live by Paul’s example to continue our work, to continue our witness, and to continue to wait trusting in God for the next move.
This evening, I want to give you an opportunity to make a decision. Your life may be on hold. Tonight, I want to tell you that there is someone that you can hold on to.
His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin. All of us are sinners—it doesn’t matter what you have done—we are all sinners. The Bible says that the payment for this sin is death. Jesus paid that price through His death. You can accept that payment tonight.
After the service, I will be down here in front. Come and talk to me about your interest in accepting this payment. Come and trust in Him.
Let us pray.
