SIR, WE WOULD SEE JESUS

Over the last few years we have seen a flood of books and sermons regarding church growth.  There are seminars, conventions and clinics in abundance about the topic.  Educated folk want to teach us how to grow our church and make our mark on our community, nation and the world. I think that’s a good thing, IF they have the right answer. Since so many ideas have been placed on the market for our consideration I thought that I might add my thoughts to the mix. 

What can we do?  What can we present?  What actions must we take to get the attention of the world and the un-churched?  What do we have to place on the screen that they will want to see?  It’s not really a new question.  Jesus Himself asked the question of the people who came to see the “spectacle” if you will, of John the Baptist. 

“What went ye out to see” He asked them.  Or if I could put it in Chilton County wording, “What are you looking for?” If we knew the answer to that question then perhaps we could provide that “thing” that men and women, boys and girls around the world are actually seeking.  If we provide what they are looking for, it stands to reason, if you think of it in economic terms, that they will come to where that commodity is being served. 

I don’t think there is enough space here to even begin to list all the things that churches have tried and are trying to lure the lost into our fellowships.

·        We’ve tried teaching.  We meet on Sunday mornings for Sunday school and provide classes for all ages.  We meet on Sunday nights and give a different spin to the curriculum.  We meet on Wednesday night to study the Word.  But the people don’t come.  

·        We’ve tried music.  Soloist, quartets, praise teams and choirs have presented their best.  We sing from the hymn books and sing off the wall.  We sing traditional and we sing contemporary music but the people are not coming. 

·        We’ve tried contest.  We have given away T.V.s and trips, computers and cars but the people are not coming.

·        We’ve tried gimmicks. Whatever the newest fad happens to be, the church will try it.  But the people are not coming.

Recently a pastor shared with us one concept that the reason people were not coming to our church is that the seats were configured incorrectly.  Instead of sitting in rows people wanted to sit in a semi-circle. Come on.  Really?

I believe we will find the answer to our dilemma in John 12:21.  Jesus’ ministry on earth was in full swing.  He had performed many miracles and changed many lives.  He had of late raised Lazarus from the dead.  He had just ridden into Jerusalem on a colt and the people were thronging around him. And some Greek men had heard about Him came to one of his disciples and made a simple statement that I believe gives us the secret to drawing people to our church and to God. 

There statement was simply, “Sir, we would see Jesus”.  Notice what they didn’t say.  They did not say, “Sir, we want to see a miracle”, or “Sir, we would like to learn about the kingdom of God”, or “Sir, will you sing us a psalm”…but “Sir, we want to see Jesus”

It is my opinion that only when we the people who are His disciples display Jesus to the world will their deep inner desire be met. Oh, go ahead and teach, sing your heart out, put on clinics, and conventions and any other ideas you might have but in all of those things, SHOW THEM JESUS. 

They must see Jesus in our church, in our music, in our preaching, in our teaching and especially IN OUR LIVES before they will come to Christ. Until the world can look at us and see Jesus we are spinning our wheels trying to promote church growth. 

PREP FOR THE FINAL

I have been teaching emergency response classes for many years.  I have taught CPR classes, community emergency response classes (C.E.R.T.), First Responder Classes, emergency medical technician courses (EMT), paramedic courses, Hazardous Materials course and many other courses involving response to and preparation for emergencies.  I love emergency work and love teaching these students. 

I started yet another First Responder class last night.  (It seems the students keep getting younger and younger.  Or could it be that I'm getting older?  Stop chasing rabbits and get back to the story.)

As usual I gave my students an over-view of what the course would be like.  I told them that they not only would be required to have the "book" knowledge of the topics but also be required to preform the skills.  As I always do, I presented them with copies of the skills test on the first night of class.  I told them that at the end of the course they would be tested from these exact skill sheet.  I stressed to them the importance of knowing, understanding and being able to preform these skills. My words to them were, "Not knowing and being able to accomplish these skills will cause you to fail this course".  But I know what they will do. Oh, they won't be the first class to do it and they won't be the last  class to do it.  They will put off their study of these skills until the final week. 

Even though I stress the importance, even though I remind them  continually, the final week of class will arrive and the testing day will be upon them and they will not have picked up the skill sheets or studied the material.

You might say, "What idiots"!  Yeah, that's the way I feel too.  But I look back at the way we Christians live our lives and I see that we are not much different from my misguided students.

We have been given the Word of God, the ultimate instructions for Holy living. It has been shown to us in words and by example how we should live in order to honor God.  Yet how many of us put off the things that are most important.  Procrastination has become the norm for people of our day. "Don't do today what you can put off until tomorrow" has become our theme.

Recently, one of my students told me three days before the final test, "Oh, that test.  I haven't even looked at that material yet".  Imagine how that made me feel as an instructor.  Imagine how that makes God feel as our Father. 

Lord, may we read your words morning and night, may we "study to show ourselves approved unto God", may we be prepared for the final. 

LEAVE IT

I’ve never claimed to be a good animal trainer.  As a matter of fact, my dogs have always seemed to be the most misbehaved, stubborn, messed up animals in the town. Daddy used to say that you had to know more than the animal before you could teach it anything.  Therein might lie the problem.

But I have watched some animal training shows on T.V. and read some tips for teaching your dog how to behave.  It seems simple.  There are the basic things like sit, stay, roll over, play dead, fetch things that everyone tried to convey to their pets.  Most pets can master these commands quickly with a little work.  The more advanced task take time but a well behaved dog can be taught almost anything. 

Our pastor shared a story about his dog in Bible study that made me really understand an important point, not about dog training but about Christian principles.  I’d like to take the liberty of sharing his story with you. 

Our pastor is deaf and at one point in his life he had a service dog named Ryan.  Ryan would go with the pastor everywhere.  He would hear things that the pastor could not hear and then make the pastor aware of those things. 

Ryan had one favorite treat that he loved dearly.  Ryan loved cheese.  The pastor would use a piece of cheese to reward Ryan for good deeds or behaving well. 

Often to teach Ryan obedience the pastor would place a piece of cheese on the floor in front of Ryan and give the command “no”.  He would walk away and watch what Ryan would do.  The dog would sit there and stare at the cheese.  Sometimes his body would even tremble and shake because he wanted to get to this tasty tid-bit.  But Ryan was an obedient animal and would not touch the cheese. 

At other times the pastor would place the cheese on the floor and give the command “leave it”.  Immediately Ryan would take his gaze off of the cheese and look directly at the pastor.  Instead of looking at the cheese his eyes were fixed on his master.  Where ever his master would walk, Ryan’s eyes would follow. There was no trembling or longing for the treat now because he had heard the order, he loved his master and his desire was to forsake the treat no matter how much he wanted it and look to his owner in obedience.   

Wow, if I could just be as smart as Ryan!  But what do I do?  My master says “leave it” and I continue looking.  And as I gaze upon the temptation, the treat, my inner being seems to tremble and shake because I want this “thing” so much.  I may obey but I am miserable because I can’t have what I want.

If I could only listen to my master when He says “Leave it” and turn my eyes off the things that I want and focus completely on Him, my temptations will not be the center of my thoughts and feelings. 

Looking on, focusing on, thinking about whatever it is that tempts me is complete foolishness.  It will ultimately lead me to failure.  It makes about as much sense as an alcoholic saying that he is trying to quit drinking but goes to the bar to be with his friends.  “Oh, I’m not going to drink.  I’m just going to sit and have a good time of conversation and enjoyment”.  You and I both know what will happen. 

God, help me to love my master so much that I will take my eyes off of the world and the things of the world and focus on you.  Help me to hear and obey your command to “leave it”.

STUCK IN THE FRIDGE

I wish I had pictures or a video to show you.  But the only pictures of the event are taped haphazardly into the frazzled scrapbook of my failing memory. 

I was working as a paramedic on the only ambulance service in our county at that time.  The small crew of men and women worked long hours preforming life-saving procedures for victims of wrecks, shooting, heart attacks and everything in between. 

On this particular morning we received a call from a panic stricken mother crying that her daughter was stuck in a refrigerator.  As my partner maneuvered the ambulance through the streets of our little town we both could only picture in our minds what we might encounter when we arrived.  We imagined some child playing near an abandoned refrigerator and becoming locked inside without sufficient oxygen.   This might prove to be a very tragic situation.

As the ambulance screeched to a stop in front of the address given, the frantic mother stood on the sidewalk waving her hands and motioning us toward the house.  I grabbed the “jump bag” and headed in the door, through the living room and into the kitchen.  There I saw what proved to be one of them most comical sights I have ever seen. Let me see if I can paint it for you.

There in the kitchen was an old time refrigerator or what we called an “ice box”.  It was a refrigerator that had the aluminum freezer unit in the top.  This is where the aluminum ice trays were kept and a small amount of frozen food.  The mother had been defrosting the freezer that morning and had left the door open to aid in the process.  Somehow the little girl who was I guess 4 or 5 had pulled a chair up to the refrigerator and stuck her tongue to the aluminum unit.  As you can guess, it stuck fast to that surface. 

Mom had performed emergency measures such as throwing pans full of water from the sink onto the child with no success in freeing the poor child’s tongue.  The little girl stood there on the chair with both of her little hands against the refrigerator.  She was soaking wet, pushing as hard as she could and her little tongue looked like it had stretched about two feet.  Mom was crying, the little girl was crying, and it was all I could do not to double over laughing. 

I took a small syringe from the jump bag and walked over to the sink where I filled it with some water.  I reached in and squirted water directly on the tip of the little girls tongue. In response to the water placed just in the right place, the monstrous refrigerator immediately released its prey and the little girl was safe.  That was over 30 years ago and I can still see those events as if it were yesterday. 

If you think about it, events like this happen all the time. As humans, we see something we want to touch.  Oh, we might know that it is wrong and that we are not supposed to do it but just a little touch couldn’t hurt.  After all, we do not intend to climb into the refrigerator.  We will just touch it with our tongue and see what it’s like. 

Sure enough we find ourselves stuck and all of our pushing and pulling can’t free us from our captivity.  Friends and family might try to help us.  Dumping loads of “Christian water” onto our situation.  They invite us to church events and send us Christian books for Christmas or birthdays. We find ourselves soaked with religious-ness but still trapped in the cold frigid confines of sin. 

If we would call out to God, dial the heavenly 911 number, God will apply just the right amount of “living water” to just the right spot and we will be freed. 

I may be writing to someone today who is stuck in a seemingly inescapable situation.  You’ve tried everything.  You’ve pushed and pulled and thrown everything you can imagine at the problem with no results.  You stand there, soaked by your own efforts and the well-meaning efforts of others, yet still locked in. 

Why don’t you stop fighting and call 911?  Why don’t you ask God to apply His living water to the spot of your entrapment and walk away a free person?  He is waiting for your call.