13

Jump Start # 2224

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2224

Galatians 4:11 “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Our verse today comes from Paul wondering how useful he had been. The Galatians seemed to be moving backwards and not forwards. The influence of Jewish teachers had the Galatians reconsidering parts of the law of Moses. Some were reaching back for it and in so doing, they were abandoning what Paul had taught them. His work among them seemed to be in vain.

The word “vain” means useless or worthless. It’s a key word in Ecclesiastes. It’s also a key thought among us. We often measure the worth of what we do by the results. If the numbers are up, we feel satisfied and good about things. In terms of our efforts in a church, the measuring rod is often the Sunday attendance and the number of baptisms within a year. As long as both of those numbers are rising, the preacher feels confident that he is doing a good job and everyone is happy. Attendance numbers at worship and baptism rates are never mentioned among the seven churches in Revelation. Paul’s concern with the Galatians wasn’t about attendance or how many were being baptized. He was concerned about the spiritual growth and stability among the Galatian churches. The measuring rod of success was whether or not they were remaining true to the Gospel message.

Vain, a waste of time, we can feel that way when it’s not really true. Where I live, there is a massive woods behind me. I don’t own it, but I certainly enjoy it. Family and friends sit out on our back deck and admire the beauty. In the fall, especially this one, the trees were full of orange, yellow and reds. It was brilliant. We have all kinds of trees back there, and most of them are very large. When sitting out there with friends, we always talk about how beautiful it is. I remind our friends that every leaf that they see, comes down in the fall, and most times, it’s in my backyard. My yard was full of leaves the other day. I have a leaf blower that seems to have a jet engine on it. It can blow leaves to Iowa. I blow leaves then I get out my mower and mulch the rest. Last week I spent several hours working on the leaves. The yard was beautiful. I sat on the deck admiring how great it all looked. The next morning when I looked out, you couldn’t tell that I had even touched the yard. So many more leaves fell. A day later, I was back at it again, blowing leaves and mowing leaves. This will continue until they all finally come down. Now, are my efforts in vain? Is it a waste of time? Some neighbors never touch their yard. Leaves stack up everywhere.

This is the concept of questioning the good that is being done. Parents can feel this way. Over and over they teach the same lessons. They wonder if they are doing any good. A child gets in trouble at school and the disappointed parent wonders if all that they do is in vain. The preacher can feel this way. He works up lessons for classes and sermons and preaches his heart out. A month later someone asks him why he doesn’t preach on a specific topic. The preacher thinks, “I just did. You were there. Am I wasting my time?”

Wasting time. We understand this in our fast paced society. We hate sitting in traffic. The main reason, “it’s a waste of time.” We hate long lines in restaurants. When you give them your name and they hand you one of those electronic buzzers and say, “It’ll be about one hour,” we sigh and think about leaving for some other place. We hate waiting in the doctor’s office. We hate waiting in the check out line at stores. All of these come down to we feel it’s a waste of time. As a busy parent, when you ask your teen what’s he doing, and his answer is “nothing,” that drives you crazy. You’d love to have a few moments to do nothing. You are too busy to do nothing. There’s too much to be done. Nothing isn’t in your schedule. From the moment you are up until the moment you go to bed, you haven’t found nothing. There’s always something. There is always something to be done. And, the challenge before us is which something must be done. There’s too many to get done in one day.

We must remind ourselves that some of the best things spiritually cannot be measured by accomplishments. They are not in vain if they strengthen us, encourage us, and help us connect. For instance:

Having a meaningful conversation with someone is never a waste of time. Lowering the nets, talking seriously about life, choices, Jesus, hope are all great things. Sometimes these conversations take time. Some things move slowly. But refreshing a soul, building faith, reconnecting someone to the Lord, is never a waste of time.

Worship is never a waste of time. There may be days when others who are leading the worship are not having a great day. The songs may drag. The sermon may be shallow. The prayers may seen stale. However you are among the people of God and in the presence of the Lord. You get to let your heart praise the Lord. You put out of your mind, even for just a few moments, all the crazy things of this world and all the demands of your time. For a moment, it’s you and the Lord. Always good. Never a waste of time.

Spending time with your kids is never a waste of time, and that’s true no matter how old they are or you are. Heading into the holiday season, we think about buying gifts which is fun. However, what the little ones would like more than anything else, is for you to sit on the floor with them and play. They will forget about the toys within a month, but they will remember the times you played. And, when you have a parent that has passed on to the other side, you’d love just to have another day to sit and talk with them. What’s missing in our days is family time. Family games. Family meals. Family devotions. The big ones making time for the little ones. Never a waste of time, in fact, these are the very things that make precious memories. I find it more satisfying these days to help my little grandkids pick up acorns in my back yard than it is to hit a golf ball. Wasting time? Never.

Helping someone is never a waste of time. Now, this one is probably the hardest in our list. You help someone and there are some who never even pause to thank you. Remember the story of the ten lepers that Jesus healed? Only one, the Samaritan, returned to thank the Lord. Jesus wondered about the others. I’m certain they were thankful. They got what they asked for, mercy from Jesus. However, they never said it to Jesus. The Lord, in His power, could have returned the leprosy upon the nine for not thanking Him. But He didn’t. He’s not like that. Jesus went about doing good. You help someone in the store. You help a co-worker. You give someone a few dollars. You chip in to buy a gift for someone. You take some food to someone. You stop by the hospital. You take time to go to the funeral. You do these things because this is right and you’d want folks to do it for you. Because they never thanked you, was it a waste of time? Never. Helping someone isn’t based upon what we receive from it. It’s a matter of the good that we can do.

Finally, it’s never a waste of time to talk to the Lord. The apostles in Acts 6 called upon the church to find seven men to serve the tables because they needed to devote their time to prayer and preaching. Praying. It’s good for us. It honors God. It’s never a waste of time.

What is a waste of time or vain or useless, is when we have wonderful opportunities before us and we don’t take advantage of them. Opportunities to grow, but we don’t. Opportunities to shine, but we don’t. Opportunities to connect, and we don’t. Now, that’s wasted time.

Am I wasting my time? Not if I’m doing good and godly things. Never!

Roger

12

Jump Start # 2223

Posted on November 12, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2223

Job 10:1 “I loathe my life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.”

Several years ago a book entitled “Tuesday with Morrie” detailed the friendship between a writer and a dying cancer patient. Instead of Tuesday with Morrie, we are doing Monday with Job. I’m teaching Life Lessons from Job on Sunday mornings. On Monday, I share some of the things we talked about.

 

Last Monday, we contrasted how open, honest and raw Job is. In fact, the two sentences that Job’s wife speaks are like this as well. Our verse today is another example of Job’s honesty. “I loathe my life,” boils down to “I hate my life.” Gone are precious memories. Gone are blessings. What remains are the cold reality of suffering inside and out. Hurting in his body, and hurting in his soul, Job sees no value in these things.

 

We are not so honest as Job was. We hide our feelings. We tend to wear masks. That was our Jump Start last Monday. Some have worn masks for so long, that they do not know how they really feel. Being honest is hard. It leaves us open, vulnerable and often alone. Others may not agree nor share the feelings that we have. Being honest is often admitting that things are not working. Being honest is hard because we live in a world and a culture in the church where wearing masks is expected. We don’t know what to say or do when someone comes in Sunday morning and they admit that they “Hate their life.” We not only are not prepared to handle that, we don’t want to hear that. So, as folks enter the church building, one by one, they put on their masks so that everyone seems just fine.

 

It is the honest heart that will do better with the Lord than the mask wearer. The honest heart knows what’s going on. The mask wearer covers up problems. The honest heart will seek help, pray and realizes that things need to change. The mask wearer continues on in the land of make believe. In the parable of the sower it was the honest and good heart that received the word of God and grew.

 

How do we take off our masks? That was our study yesterday. Removing the masks. Here’s the steps:

 

  1. Realize that we are all on this journey together and we really need each other. One thing masks do is keep others at a distance from what I truly need. We need Jesus and we need each other.
  2. We all suffer in different ways. Because of masks and because of the nature of some suffering, we may never see nor realize how others suffer. Some physically. Some emotionally. Some spiritually. Some because of personal battles. Some because of family troubles. Some because of the way others have treated them. We all suffer, we just don’t see that. We believe we are the only one going through things and for that reason we feel compelled to put on a mask so we fit in with others.
  3. People want to help. What they do may not change things but it shows that they care. James 5 reveals that the one who is hurting is to reach out. He is to call for the elders. Wearing masks keeps us from doing that.
  4. Wearing masks builds fences that keep people away. We build those fences with our pride. We don’t want to be a bother. We don’t want others to know. We don’t need anyone. That pride isn’t good. That pride keeps people at a distance and it makes our fellowship shallow and empty.
  5. The way that God often answers our prayers and helps us is through other people. God sent people to refresh Paul’s spirit. God sent Titus to encourage the depressed Paul. If we keep people at a distance and continue to wear our masks, often the very help that we need is kept at bay. We want God to remove problems. What the Lord often does is to send people to encourage, teach, and help us.
  6. Love involves taking risks. This is true in dating and this is true in fellowship. Someone might misunderstand. Someone might say something inappropriate. Someone might judge. But, then, someone might be a real help. Someone might show just how much they truly love. Someone might share their experiences which is exactly what I am going through at the moment. Taking off your mask is risking, but it’s worth it.
  7. We must stop assuming the worst about others and give them a chance. One reason we wear masks is to hide how we feel from others. We don’t want others to know. We do this because we don’t want a lecture. We don’t want guilt. We don’t want them judging us. We think taking off our masks will be a horrible experience. I’ve found that it brings freedom, peace and true love. We keep our masks on because we just know it will be an ugly experience if we take them off.
  8. We must understand that in many ways we are falsely judging the motives and intentions of brethren by assuming they will only make things worse. Stop thinking the worst. Step up to the golden rule. Don’t judge everyone by the bad experience of one person.

 

Some are doing well. They are happy. They are content. Life is good for them. Sometimes they feel compelled to wear a mask because if they are too happy around others, that’s not accepted. How sad. We need to be ourselves. The culture of the American male today is a mask wearer. He is to never cry. He is to find his own way. He never reaches out for help. Self made. Independent. Superman. This image is nothing more than a mask. Many men have no one close enough to them to really be honest with. Certainly they know others in the church and they can tease and talk sports and best places to find something to eat, but to remove masks, men don’t do that. This includes many of us preachers. We continue to tell others and try to convince ourselves that everything is fine and the work in the kingdom is going great, even to the day the moving truck shows up to move us to another city. Masks—they fit so well and they look so good on us. But what they do is keep us for getting help that we need. We suffer because we will not allow anyone to know.

 

Taking off your mask is scary. It’s risky. We tell ourselves it’s not a good idea and it may backfire. But before certain spiritual people, it can be one of the best things we ever do. We want others to take their masks off first, and they are waiting on you to take yours off. So, the masks remain.

 

I hate my life, is what Job said. Not the words that many of us want to hear, but it’s honest and it gives someone a starting point to begin mending a wounded heart. If we wear masks around each other, we must wonder if we do the same with God. Honest in our prayers is how we begin to take our masks off.

 

Roger

 

09

Jump Start # 2222

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2222

Psalms 34:3 “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

Our verse is about worship. All through the Bible the people of God gathered to praise, thank and honor the God that they love, believe and follow. Seems simple enough. However, have you ever noticed, especially in conversations, that each of us have different parts of worship that we like better than other parts. All of it is necessary, but we have our favorite aspects. And, have you noticed that the different aspects of worship does different things to us.

We get our news in different ways. Some watch the local news every evening on TV. Some are devoted to one channel to get their news. I like keeping up with what’s going on, but I rarely watch local news and just about never watch national news. I go to my phone and have certain places I look at. I usually just scroll through the headlines. If something grabs my attention, I will dive in more deeply. Sports, for me, comes from ESPN website. About the only time I will really watch the local newscasts is for the weather and only then, if a storm is approaching. I pick and choose is the way I get my news. Many would say that’s missing too much and that’s too scattered for them.

Now, back to worship. Every aspect of our worship is important and it’s hard, if not impossible to declare what part is the most important part. Years ago, it seemed to be the Lord’s Supper. Some would leave as soon as the Lord’s Supper was over. Maybe they had to go to work, maybe they thought that was the only part of worship that mattered or was commanded. I don’t see that happening very much these days. It’s also easy to assume that prayers are merely fillers that are placed here and there before the big stuff comes. In many ways it often seems like everything leads us to the sermon and after the sermon it’s the two minute warning before we leave.

Singing is important and to those who love music and sing well, it may seem even more important. Have you noticed that singing is the only time the entire congregation is allowed to be verbal. We bow our heads during prayers and someone leads us. During the Lord’s Supper, someone directs our thoughts and we participate in silence. In the sermon, the preacher is heard, but no one else. However, in singing, all of us get to blend our voices together. The little ones right along with the old ones. We are heard. We express ourselves through the songs. And, singing is something that we can do on our own. I doubt that most of us preach a sermon while driving alone in a car, unless you are a preacher and you are thinking out loud. Singing has a way of adjusting our moods and our spirits. So that must mean singing is the most important part of worship. Right? No.

Praying is essential because it allows us to more than just communicate to God, it is an avenue that we get to pour what’s in our hearts to God. With singing, we are singing someone else’s words and thoughts. They may not be mine. I may have other things on my heart and the songs just don’t go there. Prayer is personal. It’s like our signature. I need to slow down when I write, because it’s usually sloppy and even I have a hard time reading what I wrote. Prayer allows us to take our world and life to God’s eyes. It’s inviting God into our world and our heart. It’s through prayer that the child of God begs for mercy and forgiveness. We pray for healing. We pray for insight. We need prayers. Like singing, praying is something that we can do on our own and in that avenue it becomes even more personal and more stream lined to my life and what’s going on. So, prayer must be the most important part of our worship. Right? No.

On Sunday’s, we have the Lord’s Supper. It’s a memorial, a reminder and a sacred event that reflects our connection through Jesus to God. Without the death of Jesus, we have no forgiveness and we have no church. The theme of the Bible is the death and resurrection of Jesus that brought us back to God. How can we ever forget that? The bread and the juice take our minds back to the body and the blood of Jesus. He suffered, when it ought to have been you and I instead. He was pure when we were not pure. He was obedient when we were rebels. His death is the crowning proof that God loves us. Taking the Lord’s Supper is a quiet time. People are thinking. Thoughts are racing everywhere. Some are back to Calvary and the scene at the cross. Some are looking inward and realizing that they do not deserve this amazing grace. Some are thinking of the suffering. Some are thinking about the empty tomb. Some read verses during the Lord’s Supper. Some look at the words of one of our hymns. We must never forget the death of Jesus. Most important part of worship? It’s up there, very high, but more important than everything else?

Then we finally come to the sermon. All week long Mr. Preacher has been working on a sermon that will take about 30 to 40 minutes to deliever. His thoughts connect our world and our lives to both Scriptures and the will of God. The sermon is intended to move us, compel us, challenge us and change us. Through the sermon, we learn. Through the sermon we grow. Through the sermon doubts and fears are chased away by solid Biblical teaching. God believed in preaching. From the early days on, God has sent forth preachers. Noah was a preacher. The prophets were preachers. The apostles were preachers. Jesus, Himself, was a preacher. Sermons can knock the polish off our toes and sting us. Sermons can comfort us. Sermons can remind us of what we already know. Sermons can prepare us to face another week. We tend to remember sermons more than any other aspect of our worship. Think about that. You can go back a month or more and remember a sermon that really helped you. Most of us couldn’t remember what songs were sung around that sermon we remembered. Most couldn’t remember what we prayed about that day. Since sermons stay with us, then preaching must be the most important part of worship. Right? No.

I’ve had this discussion more than once with folks. Which part of worship is most important? They want to rank them in order. There are a few problems with this.

First, I don’t know if we can say one is more important than the others. All of them are important and all of them serve a specific need. Now, I may have my favorite parts. And, my favorite may not be your favorite, but that does not mean one part is better than the others.

Second, when we rank things, and we love to do that. The best movie. The best place to get a burger. The best song. The best team in college basketball. The problem with ranking things, is that the items at the top of the list get a lot of attention and the things at the bottom of the list tend to be rushed because we deem that they are not so important. I find it interesting that the beaten Paul and Silas were singing praises from the jail cell. They weren’t praying. They weren’t preaching. They were singing. Interesting.

Third, the different aspects of worship are intended to do different things. During a sermon, it’s generally me and the Scriptures. It’s introspection and reflection. During the Lord’s Supper, it’s thinking about Jesus. Some times we don’t want to think about ourselves during that time. Prayers take us to thinking about others in the congregation. Singing can take us to thoughts that we didn’t have that day. So, each aspect of worship is intended to do different things.

Fourth, I need every aspect of worship. God realizes that even if I don’t. I need to sing praises to God and stop thinking so much about myself. I must remember Calvary. I need to be taught the word of God. I need to pray along with the church. Maybe I don’t sing so well, it’s not a contest. I’m singing to God. Maybe our prayers are shallow, we still need to pray and I can pray along with others. We need preaching. We need to remember the Lord’s sacrifice. I was in a place the other day for lunch. The woman in front of the line ordered a salad. It came with black olives. She didn’t want black olives. So, they left them out. That works when ordering our food, but it doesn’t work when it comes to worship. I can’t say, “I’ll skip the prayers.” Or, “I don’t like the preaching. Just leave that out.” Even though there may be aspects that I don’t like so well, I still need them. I need all of them.

Finally, worship also connects us with each other. Our verse emphasizes that. “Let us exalt His name together,” it says. The together part is important. We don’t fly solo. We need each other and we need to blend our voices and our hearts and our work together. Worshipping with others reminds us that we are not alone. It reminds us that we are not the only ones who need Jesus. It reminds us that we all have struggles, issues and sins. It reminds us that God has been good to all of us. Together, the communion is passed among us. Together, we bow our heads. Together, we open our Bibles and read. Together, we blend our voices and praise. Worship shows us that we are the people of God. We are His church. Together, the doctor and the mechanic. Together the CPA and the stay at home mom. Together the widow and the teenager. Together the college student and the retired. Together, black and white. Together, male and female. Together, young and old. Together, we all need the Lord. Together, the Lord has been good to us. Together, it reminds us that the church belongs to God, not us. Worship is not about us, but about Him.

Sunday will soon be here. Aren’t you glad?

Roger

08

Jump Start # 2221

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2221

Deuteronomy 20:8 “Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘Who is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’”

 

Our verse today comes from the battle plan that Israel was to follow. They were going to be outnumbered and have fewer horses and chariots, but they would have the Lord. The Lord was fighting for Israel. They were to offer terms of peace before engaging in battle. If peace was not an option, they were to go in with full force and slaughter all the males. Women, children, and spoils would all belong to Israel.

 

There were a series of four exemptions that would allow a man to go home and not fight. These were:

  • Having a new home that was not dedicated
  • Having a new vineyard which was not harvested
  • Being engaged
  • Being afraid

 

Our verse today, focuses upon that last exemption, being afraid. Notice somethings about this:

 

First, God recognized that it is easier to discourage than it is to encourage. Those afraid were sent home. They were sent home so they would not spread fear among the rest of the troops. God did not say, place the scared along side of the bravest and perhaps he will find courage and be strong. No. God said, send those afraid home.

 

In the N.T. the fainthearted were to be encouraged. But we see what can happen from discouragement. One complainer. One sour grape. One bitter soul. That’s all it takes to turn the tide of everyone else. Everyone can be content and doing fine until they start listening to that one person who has little faith. One by one, everyone else begins to have doubts and fears. Before long, the whole place lacks faith and a dark cloud of gloom and doom prevails.

 

God’s solution was to isolate those who were afraid from the soldiers who were going to fight. Send the scared home.

 

Second, God saw the need to take care of the whole by sending the scared home. There are times that we so focus upon the one, that we overlook the whole. In the area of discipline Paul told the Corinthians that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Undisciplined, sin in the camp, spreading gossip and rumors, fear running rampant, can change an entire army or an entire congregation.

 

We understand the principle of leaving the 99 sheep and looking for the one lost sheep. However, we often do not understand the reverse of that principle. That one heartless sheep can destroy the spirit of the entire flock. So often elders pour all of their energy and effort into trying to get a few members to make up their minds if they want to be Christians or not, and in so doing, the rest of the flock loses momentum, direction and vision. Those that want to march to Zion need to be led. Those who can’t make up their mind if they want to be worldly or Christians, need to own their faith and make a commitment. There are times when we baby adults too much. We need to help the weak and encourage the fainthearted, but there are times we must realize that they are old enough to be married, hold a job and pay a mortgage, they ought to be able to decide whether or not they want to walk with the Lord. We hold up progress waiting on those who are flirting with the world and are not serious about their faith. Prayers, studies, conversations are all necessary, but after a while, it’s time to think about the flock and move on with the Lord.

 

Those scared soldiers were sent home.

 

Third, God didn’t wait for the scared to become brave. They were sent home. They were not sent to a special camp to learn to be brave. They weren’t sent home with handful of pamphlets to read. They weren’t sent to counselors. They were sent home. I expect this was somewhat embarrassing. Others went home, but they had reasons. Bought a new house, have a new vineyard, engaged—and the reason they were sent home is in case they were killed in battle, someone else would enjoy that new house, harvest or marry his girl friend. Israel marched on in battle and the scared went home. God promised to be with them. The battle would be the Lord’s. Yet, the reality of war was that some of Israel would die. There was going to be bloodshed. Not everyone was going to make it home alive. The priests were to proclaim, “Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before the enemy.” Yet, with those words, some would be afraid. God did not force those who were scared to fight. He did not put off the battles waiting for the fearful to find courage. He sent them home and Israel marched onward in battle against their enemies.

 

Home, safe, while his brothers were fighting the enemy. You can imagine the hard time dealing with this. “Why are you here and not in the battle with the others? You didn’t buy a new home. You don’t have a vineyard. You are not engaged. You should be fighting. Why did you come home?” And, the only answer was, “I am afraid.” And, all these centuries later, we can hear what the reply would be. “Afraid? Don’t you think the others are scared? Where’s your faith? Don’t you believe God?” And, with that the scared soldier would hang his head and close the door to his house and probably cry. It would take a long time to get rid of that label of being scared.

 

Fear will keep us from speaking out. Fear will make us avoid the tough conversations that ought to take place. Fear ought to keep one from serving as one of God’s shepherds. It takes courage and backbone to lead. The fearful follow, and usually at a distance. Leaders lead. Fear keeps us at home. Fear will only do what seems to be safe. Fear will cause a person to blend in rather than stand out. Fear will not challenge others. Fear hides.

 

Finally, we need to recognize the wisdom of God in putting distance between the faithful and the faithless. I wonder if we get this. We hang around friends and they do not lift our spirits. They do not strengthen our hearts. We are weaker because of that. Because someone is in the family, we give them a pass to be a discouragement in our lives. They complain. They gripe. They say ugly things about the church. We sit among them and too often encourage such talk. We need to put some distance between those who are not with God and those who are. It’s always easier to go down hill that it is up hill. That’s true when you are walking, riding a bike or spiritually. The fearful were sent home. Today, the fearful are invited to our homes. And, when they leave, we too, have become discouraged and our hearts have melted. Why do we do this? Because they are friends? Because they are family? Send the faithless home. Surround yourself with spiritual giants. You need believers in your life. You need folks who trust in the Lord and want to follow His ways.

 

Go home, you are afraid. Most armies have not followed the rule of sending the scared home. Sometimes the fearful run and when they are caught they are jailed for desertion. I think about men like my dad, fresh out of high school and off he went to places he never heard of before to fight in what we now call a world war. Fear was there, but so was patriotism, honor and doing the right thing. Going home was not an option, not until the job was finished.

 

May we all find that faith in the Lord to stand, speak and be courageous. When the call of battle sounds, may we fight the good fight and finish the course. Go home because you are afraid is a terrible message. Where is your faith? Where is your heart?

 

We will not go home until the job is finished!

 

Roger

 

 

 

07

Jump Start # 2220

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 2220

John 9:31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if any one is God fearing, and does His will, He hears him.”

Our verse today comes from one of the longest investigative chapters of the Bible. Jesus healed a blind man. He healed him on the Sabbath. That put these Jews into orbit. They were certain that Jesus was not a man of God. So the investigation began. They questioned the blind man. Unhappy with his answers, they questioned the blind man’s parents. Still not getting the answers that they wanted, they grilled the blind man a second time. Frustrated, angry and not finding concrete evidence against Jesus, they removed the blind man from their presence. They had enough of him.

Our verse arises out of this interrogation. It was said by the Jews to the blind man, but the subject, the sinner, that they have in mind is Jesus. Interestingly, no prayers are actually said in this chapter. Jesus restored the blind man’s sight by spitting in the dirt and putting that on his eyes and commanding him to go wash in a specific place. The Jews considered what Jesus did to be work. He made mud and he applied it to the man’s eyes. That alone was enough to declare in their minds that Jesus was a sinner. Our verse begins with the expression, “We know.” They know that God does not hear sinners. How did they know that? A few Psalms reveal that. What they didn’t know was Jesus.

Before us is one of the great circumstances of what we know and what we see clashing. What the mind knows and what their eyes were seeing just didn’t match. They knew that God is never wrong, so, it had to be that Jesus was in the wrong.

They assumed that Jesus on His own could not have restored sight. They assumed He had to pray for this to be done. Yet, by violating the Sabbath, in their minds, Jesus proved that He was not following the will of God. Therefore, God could not hear Jesus. The man could not have been healed by God. Nice. Neat. Logical. Except one problem, a blind man was now seeing. If Jesus didn’t use the powers of God, then what powers? Their only conclusion was to assume that the man wasn’t blind to begin with, or it’s a different man or there was some mix up somewhere.

From this passage, and supported by what the Psalms teach, we have built walls around prayers and made it exclusively for Christians only and have even gotten upset when someone who is a “sinner” prays. God doesn’t hear sinners, we proudly boast.

Let’s walk down that path for a moment. Immediately comes to our minds are some exceptions to that rule. God heard Cornelius. Saul of Tarsus was praying to God. It was Jesus who invited those who were seeking, to knock, and to ask. The Lord said, “For every one who asks receives; and he who seeks find; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” I don’t think Jesus had in mind, seeking our car keys in the morning. He is referring to a person finding salvation in Jesus Christ. That person seeks, knocks and asks. The asking part is prayer.

We also know that John wrote that if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us. He further added, if we say that we have no sins, we are deceiving ourselves. So we have sins. We confess those sins in prayer. God hears us and forgives us.

Suddenly, the black and white statement, God doesn’t hear sinners, must be qualified and explained. What do we mean by sinners? We all sin is what Romans teaches us. When Simon the sorcerer, having been baptized, tried to buy the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit from the apostles, Peter rebuked him and told him that he was in the bond of iniquity and pleaded with him to pray and perhaps God would forgive him. Sinful Simon was told to pray. Would God hear him?

Here are some things in the midst of all this ought to help us:

First, the Pharisees didn’t fully understand the passage that they were quoting. Yes, for a person who does not regard God and follow God, prayer is not a guaranteed parachute to pull out in times of trouble. Prayer is our way of communicating with God. We are always to pray. All relationships are built around trust and communication, including our relationship with God. To ignore God, never consider God, and definitely never worship God, but to reach out and pray because a loved one has cancer or I’m about to lose my job, with the sole purpose of simply getting me out of this trouble that I am in, knowing full well, that after this, I will continue to ignore God, no, He probably won’t answer that prayer. However, they missed it by declaring that Jesus was a sinner. What Jesus did was not a violation of the Sabbath law. It bent and broke their traditions but not the law of God. Jesus was without sin.

Second, God hears all things, but it is His prerogative to decide which prayers will be answered. Just because someone is baptized does not granted positively that his prayers will be answered. Peter told husbands that if they do not treat their wives correctly, their prayers would be hindered. The Lord said, if we do not forgive others, then God will not forgive us. Those are prayers that we may ask but may not be answered favorably because of the way we are living.

We love to sit on the throne with God and rule for Him. We love to decide who goes to Heaven and who goes to Hell. We love to declare who is in fellowship with God and who is not in fellowship with God. We love to determine which prayers God will answer. We do well to get out of that throne seat and allow the Lord to be the Lord. The Pharisees thought they had everything nicely figured out. They were wrong.

Third, when these discussions come up, as in this account in John, rarely do we look at ourselves. We want to know about a cousin who is not a Christian giving thanks at Thanksgiving. That bothers us. That concerns us. We want to know whether that prayer got past the dinner room ceiling. Yet, in all of this, do we consider our walk with the Lord. Do we consider our hearts? The Pharisees never looked at themselves. Their radar gun was pointed directly at Jesus. They assumed that their prayers were heard by God, an assumption that one cannot assume.

Fourth, hearing our prayers and answering them to the way we like are not the same thing. God hears all. If God only heard the words of the righteous, then God would never hear blasphemy, falsehoods or lies. Everything we say is heard by God. The Lord answers prayers according to His will. No, is an answer. Parents use that every day. A child will ask something and if the parent doesn’t feel that it is good, they will say no. The child may say, “Why don’t you answer me.” The parent has. It just wasn’t in the favorable direction the child wanted.

Finally, prayer is a privilege, obligation and blessing to those who walk with the Lord. We are God’s children, His family. God wants to hear from us. God wants us to be close to Him. God wants us to be honest with Him. Prayer is not to be abused. Prayer is not a divine wish list. Prayer is inviting God’s will into my life. It is much more than asking, it is thanking, praising and honoring God. The very concept of prayer shows that we are not running this world and that we need God. We need Him for everyday physical things, like our daily bread. We need Him for the deep spiritual things such as forgiveness.

When I hear someone loudly repeating what the Pharisees proclaimed, “God doesn’t hear sinners,” I’m sitting there thinking, I hope He hears me. The sinful publican, in Jesus’ parable proclaimed, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Did God hear that one? Jesus told that story. Jesus said that man went to his home justified. He was heard. He was forgiven. God heard the prayer of a sinner.

Lifting verses without understanding the context, the language used and the intent of the passage is nearly as dangerous as never using the Bible. We do this with verses like Hebrews 10:25 and apply that to Wednesday Bible classes. Here is a guy who comes on Sunday, but not Wednesday. We guilt him by saying that he is forsaking the assembling of the saints. Standing with the Pharisees, we miss what that passage truly says. Satan did the same thing in the temptations of Jesus. He quoted Scriptures and told Jesus to jump. The word of God promises that you’ll be not be hurt. Misused. Misapplied.

Beyond seeing the power of Jesus healing this blind man in John 9, maybe this long encounter with the Pharisees is an opportunity for us to see how we handle the word of God. Timothy was told to handle it accurately. More than just good advice, essential if we want to follow God.

One other thought that is often overlooked in this passage. The Pharisees put the blind man out of their midst. They were finished with him. Jesus went looking and found him. Jesus had yet another conversation with this man.

Jesus went looking… He’s looking for you!

Roger