It Begins in the Heart
1 Peter 3:15-16
November 12, 2006
Introduction
I can’t tell you how honored I am that you let me come back. That doesn’t happen very often after I speak at other churches…
Today I was able to bring my family, and I hope you’ll get the chance to get to know them a bit before the day is over.
Before I get started on the message, I also want to tell you how much I appreciate Pastor Virgil.
He and I visit on the phone on occasion, do the occasional lunch, visit over e-mail and pray together.
During a very stressful time for me this summer, Virgil was right there, encouraging me and praying for me.
He even offered to inflict physical violence on certain individuals who were at the center of this situation. Just kidding.
I value him more than I can say. And I don’t say that because I’m the “special speaker.” I say it because it’s the truth. And I hope you value him and his family like I do.
Pastor Virgil and Vonnie love Jesus. And they love you.
Over my 42 years I’ve had a variety of jobs – anything from shoveling sidewalks and mowing lawns to managing Christian bookstores and now I’m a pastor.
In some of those jobs I’ve had some really bad bosses. You know the kind I’m thinking of, because you’ve either had them yourself or you’ve heard about them. In fact, I’ll bet that for some of you, just hearing the term “bad boss” set off some memories that you would just as soon forget.
They’re the kind who order you around but don’t do the work themselves. Or they abuse their authority by lording their title over you, threatening you with firing if you don’t do everything just the way they say to, even if their way is the wrong way.
Anyone here had that kind of boss?
I hope you’ve never BEEN the bad boss!
On the other hand, I’ve also had some great bosses. The kind that expect you to work but give you what you need to do the work.
They treat you like a human being with cares and concerns.
One of the best examples I ever had for bosses was when I lived in Brookings, working for a company called Central Business Supply.
I had only been working there a short time when I had to attend a wedding in Rapid City, and the reception was held at a bar. We had our two children with us, Dani and Noble, who was just a baby.
As we made our way back to Brookings, Noble started coughing badly, and to make a long story short, we ended up at the hospital in Chamberlain. For 5 days. Noble was in an oxygen tent trying to recover from breathing in all the smoke at the reception.
I’m missing work, and that means I was losing money big-time.
When I got back to work, one of the two owners asked me if I needed more time off, and that I could take all the time I needed.
I assured him that everything was under control and that I was anxious to get back to work. I didn’t tell him that I was desperate for the paycheck so I was going to do everything I needed to get some money.
When the next payday came, I opened my check and found that they had paid me as if I had worked the whole time.
So I went to the boss in charge of the payroll and said that there was a mistake on my check – that he had paid me too much.
He said, “Well, I put vacation pay on there.”
I replied that I hadn’t worked there long enough to get vacation pay.
He said, “You let me worry about that.”
There were other examples, but that is a good one.
I ended up working for them for about 8 years, and if God ever told me to go back to Brookings, that’s the first place I’d look to find a job.
Now just as when I mentioned bad bosses and some of you shuddered, my guess is that when I mentioned good bosses, some of you smiled as you remembered someone like that.
At least I hope so.
Have you ever noticed that it’s easier to do what a good boss asks than what the bad boss asks?
They might ask you to do the same thing, but if the bad boss tells you do to it, you’re dragging your feet, and checking your job description to make sure he can make you do it.
But if the good boss asks, you jump right to it. Why is that?
Because it’s a joy to work for someone and with someone who cares for you and treats you with dignity.
Let me draw that together with the issue of missions.
The whole idea of missions begins with the fact that God commands us to be involved, in some way, shape, or form.
We can choose to either look at God as the “good boss” or the “bad boss.” And how we view God will determine just how we get involved.
Peter had something to say about God being the boss and how that should affect our reaching the world for Jesus.
I’d like you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 3:15-16.
I’m reading from the New International Version –
15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
This is the passage of Scripture that’s kind of serving as a theme for my time with you today. During our time this morning, I want to focus on the first sentence here in verse 15, and this afternoon we’re going to focus on the next sentence as we look at some specific ways we can be ready to take the gospel to people.
But here’s what I want you to take away from our time this morning:
Making Jesus your personal Lord makes it possible to reach our neighbors as well as the world.
I use the word “personal” here because it has to start in the heart of the individual person who calls themselves a Christian.
We can say, “Jesus is Lord,” all we want until we’re blue in the face. And it’s true. Jesus is Lord and one day all of the creation will bow down to Him as Lord.
But the question that you need to address and that Peter is addressing is this: Is Jesus YOUR Lord? Is Jesus YOUR boss?
Or is Jesus nothing much more than a picture on your wall or in your Bible?
Folks, the plain fact of the matter is that many, if not most Christians here in the U.S. live for themselves instead of Jesus.
We call ourselves Christians because we go to church on Sunday, and pray once in a while. Or maybe we came down an aisle once to pray the “sinner’s prayer” sometime.
But Jesus says that if you’re going to call yourself a follower of Jesus you need to live for Him, denying yourself and your conveniences for His sake.
For most people, Jesus is okay as long as He doesn’t get in the way of “real life.” Jesus is okay as long as He doesn’t interfere with my schedule or my priorities or my vacation plans or especially my money.
For most people, Jesus is Lord on Sunday mornings, but that’s it. For everything else, they’re the boss, not Jesus.
Folks, the clear command of Scripture is to make Jesus the Lord of your heart and life. We’re suppose to set Him apart as Lord. But I’m of the opinion that most people are too busy setting Him aside.
But folks, the good news is that when we make Him the real boss of our lives, letting Him have all of us so that He can impact every area of our lives, then He does something wonderful.
He gives us something we read about in John 10:10 –
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
God’s word to you today is that if you will focus on Christ as your boss in life, then He will take care of the rest.
Matthew 6:33 - we all know it:
33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
What are “all these things?” We find out two verses earlier.
“So do not worry, saying, ’What shall we eat?’ or ’What shall we drink?’ or ’What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
Folks, I can tell you from hard personal experience that this is true.
When I literally didn’t know how I was going to feed my family even though I had a full-time job and a couple part-time jobs, I made a conscious choice to put the priority of the kingdom in front.
And the Father came through with the food and other stuff. Not always the way I expect or not always the way I wanted, but He came through.
And He’ll do the same for you.
Making Jesus the boss of your life makes it possible for Him to shower you with the blessings He promises to those who live for Him.
You see, God’s not up in heaven looking for an excuse to make your life miserable. Quite the opposite! He wants to bring blessing to your life.
The only requirement for that blessing is that you let Him be the boss. Live for Him instead of yourself.
Simple? Yup? Easy? I didn’t say that.
Jesus said that living for Him would also bring hardship. But He also makes it clear that it’s worth it.
So just how do we go about setting apart
Jesus as Lord? To me, it’s summed up in four words: Sell out to Jesus.
Sell out to Jesus. Tell Jesus that you’re His completely, from this point forward – your life, your family, your job, your money, your free time – it’s all His.
Sell out to Jesus.
Are you willing to do that? Will you have the courage to really get with God about that?
Sell out to Jesus.
Folks, I don’t say this as some stuffed-shirt pastor (although depending on how much I eat for lunch that may change this afternoon!) who’s supposed to get in your face about “religion.”
Understand that I’m a fellow traveler in all this. I’ve only been a pastor for 7 years. I came to Christ when I was 18, and spent the first 4 years of my Christian life going to college and the next 20 years just being a working stiff just like you.
I know what it’s like to try to live for Jesus in the workplace, where your bosses and co-workers don’t understand your faith and even make fun of it sometimes.
I know what it’s like to deal with customers who want something for nothing and vendors who try to cheat you.
I know what it’s like work like a dog and not see anything for my efforts.
I know what it’s like to try and raise a family in today’s world. My therapist says I’m not even supposed to MENTION my teenagers and what they put me through!
So folks, what I’m inviting you to do is join me in the journey.
Take hold of the hand of Jesus and say, “Jesus, I don’t fully understand all this, but as much as I am able to understand, I want You to be the boss. I’m trusting You to take care of me like You promise to in Your Word.
“I’m setting You apart in my life as best as I know how. Make me the person You want me to be, and use me the way You want to use me.
“From this point on, You’re the boss. I’m selling out to You.”
I’m convinced that there are some here today who have heard this and have said, “Yes, Jesus – I want You to be the boss. I’m ready to sell out.”
I’m excited about that. Because God can move in and through people who sell out to Him and make Him the Boss.
I’m going to pray in just a moment, but before I do, I just want a couple more minutes. We’re almost done, I promise.
I made a commitment years ago that whenever I got the chance to speak somewhere, I would try to take a moment and give people the opportunity to know for sure that their sins are forgiven and that they have a home in heaven.
I know for a fact that Pastor Virgil has told this to you before, but I want you to hear it from me, too.
Folks, if you’re hear today and you’re trusting in your church attendance to get you to heaven, or you’re trusting your Bible reading to get you to heaven, or you’re trusting the fact that you’re a nice person who’s never stolen or killed anyone, you need to know that none of that is good enough to get you to heaven.
Because the bottom-line fact of the matter is that you can’t ever be good enough to get to heaven and you can’t ever do enough good things to get you to heaven – not even going to church every Sunday for decades.
No “clean living” and no religious tradition or ritual gets you to heaven.
Only coming to Christ in repentance and faith, trusting Him to save you from the penalty we all deserve will do it.
And yes, you’ve sinned, whether you want to believe it or not. And it doesn’t matter what sins you think you haven’t committed or the fact that you’re not as bad as that other guy or that other lady.
Your sin has a penalty – that penalty is eternal separation from God in hell. It’s what we deserve, and unless we take the offer of forgiveness that is freely offered in Christ, then we’ll get what we deserve.
So here’s the plan. Jesus died to save you from the penalty of your sins. You didn’t deserve that, and neither did I.
But God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for us.
So knowing that you deserve hell, and that God has made a way out by sending His Son, Jesus, to take what we deserve, you simply need to reach out and take the offer of forgiveness and eternal life.
Romans 6:23
Anybody here looking forward to Christmas? Okay, one or two people.
Anybody here ever received a Christmas gift? The same one or two people…
The gifts are under the tree, and we’re waiting to get our hands on them so we can see what we got, hoping that we’ll unwrap something we’ve been wanting.
But what if there was a rule that said you couldn’t actually open the gift and take possession of it for yourself?
The gift is yours, but you can’t take it. Is the gift really yours? Nope.
The gift of God is eternal life in Christ. But a gift isn’t really yours until you take it, and it’s no different with the gift of eternal life.
So here it is. God is offering you eternal life – it’s a free gift for you. But you have to take it.
You take it by saying to God that you understand that you’re a sinner and that without that gift, you’re facing an eternity paying for your own sins.
You’re saying that you’re sorry for your sins and want to be forgiven, and that you believe Jesus died for you and rose again.
And you’re saying, “God, I want that gift. I want to know that my sins are forgiven and that I’ll spend eternity in heaven. And I want You to give me Your Holy Spirit so I can live a life that pleases You.”
If you’ve never done that, or maybe you’re not sure, then I want to pray for you. And so I’m going to say a prayer that you can say along with me in your heart.
And I’m also going to pray for all of you here today that you’ll sell out.
That you’ll sell out to Jesus. That you’ll say, “Jesus, You’re the Boss. Have Your way in me – completely and totally.”
Okay? Let’s pray.
