CAVES OR CROSSES?

I will tell you about an area to which I have never been.  (You know I'm not a world traveler.  I think driving to Birmingham is a major road trip.)  But in the nation know as Turkey today there is an area once known as Cappadocia.  It is a plateau area surrounded on the North, South and East by mountains and rivers.  These natural barriers form a type of protection for the region and made this area a safe haven for those who wanted to escape persecution of various rulers or kingdoms or to simply disappear from the mainstream civilization. 

It's earliest mention is from the 6th century BC.  In Acts chapter two it is mentioned as part of the group hearing the gospel in their own language on the day of Pentecost. 

A unique feature of this region is the rock-like substance formed by volcanic ash, lava and basalt deposits which can be easily carved, shaped and utilized as homes, structures etc. into the sides of the mountains. 

It was to these carved out, caves-like "hide-outs" which the outcast, rebels, and almost 1700 years ago, even a group of Christians, retreated to in order to live out their beliefs in God without persecution. 

As I read and studied about these events for a recent Bible study that we are doing at Heritage church a thought came to me that has troubled me.  Should those Christians have been there in the caves of Cappadocia?  Naturally, our first instincts are to save ourselves and our families.  It is a common response.  It is an expected response.  But consider this with me, if you will.  Is our job as Christians to be normal and to do the expected?  Were we saved and changed to be like Christ so we can hide out in safe places?  As much as I admire these people for wanting to move to a place where their families can be safe and they can worship God as they desire, so they can live like Jesus.  I wonder is that what Jesus did?

The Jesus I have been taught about since Mrs. Irene Lee and Mrs. Novis Tate and my own Mom taught me, in a back room of that little block church in Calera, was a man who did not run from adversity.  Instead, He walked head on into it.  He could have safely gone to places like Cappadocia and taught His disciples and sent them out and His life on earth may have lasted much longer than a short thirty-three years.  But He didn't. Is that what Jesus would want? Were we not called to tell the story? Were we not call to spread the gospel?  Were we not called to live the Christian life in front of the lost so that they can "see our good works and glorify the Father which is in Heaven"?

Should these people have been hiding in the caves or should they have been carrying their crosses?

But wait.  Before we go and criticize these early Christians lets look at our situations.  Where are we hiding?  You and I attend our churches on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday nights.  We gather together with others of like faith and sing and pray and worship our God.  In our minds this is the correct and proper thing to do.  We are not threatened here.  We are safe and free to "do God's will". But is this God's will?

Were we not called to "go" and not "stay".  Were we not told that if our gospel is "hid" it is hid to them that are lost?

Christians, I believe in our day and time we have resorted to our caves.  Oh, we don't call them that.  We call them churches, small groups, worship centers but are they not the places where we go to hid?  I am free to pray here, sing here, worship and read the word here but if that is the only place where I do these things I have become a "hideaway Christian".  His gospel, His good news must be shared with those who are lost, even if you and I are "persecuted" for it. 

I hide in other ways.  Instead of being up-front, instead of being open, instead of being vocal about my belief and my faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of the world I just kind of let things go on by and "hide out" but not participating in them or resisting them. 

Where are the Christians who will stand for what is right and fight against what is wrong in spite of ridicule or persecution?

Now I doubt that you have undergone very much persecution for your religious beliefs lately.  I recall the words of my high school football coach Richard Gilliam.  We were talking once about sharing our Christian faith with others.  Coach Gilliam said, "If no one is shooting at you, you must not be flying your flag high enough.  If you run your flag high enough, someone will shoot at it". 

Our day of persecution will come.  It may come, I dare say sooner than any of us think.  And when it does, what will we do?   Will we run and hide or will we run up our flag and stand for right even though it means we suffer for it?

Let's live our lives in the open.  Let's choose the cross and not the caves. 

OLD PICTURES

On the book shelves, on either side of my desk are lots of pictures. I can look on one side and see a copy of an old photo of my  great, great grandmother, Mary Hand Nelson Ray and her son, my great grandfather, Wiley Andrew Jackson Nelson.  I can see a picture of my dad, Ralph Collum when he was playing baseball in the CCC service (Citizens Conservation Corp).  There are the professional photographs by Olin Mills of my children and their families and the snap shots of Strawberry and Perrin ridin’ the tractor with Grump. 

As my eyes move on from photo to photo I see another picture of my dad, the years have whetted down the muscles and chiseled lines and wrinkles in his face but he stands straight and tall even while using his walking stick as a prop as he visits the grave of his great grandfather in Knoxville, Tennessee.  And there is a picture of Granny (my mom) sitting in the swing on our front porch on a bright sunny day.

All wonderful pictures, priceless pictures to me, each containing wonderful memories of days gone by.  I smile as I think of the days those pictures were taken.  I remember the voices and the touches from those that I love. I wonder, can those who have gone on before me remember me?” 

Does God allow them to retain the memories of those great time here?  Can they see our faces? Can they hear what we say and see what we are doing?  Does the almighty Father, who by the way, can do anything He wants, allow them to sense the enjoyment of those times here on earth? 

I catch myself praying for them sometime.  I prayed for them for so long.  I watched as both Dad and Mom’s health diminished and their ability to care for themselves dwindled away and I called out to God to help them.  Sometimes as I pray I ask God, just bless them special today.  Oh, I know they are not in pain.  I know they are not sad.  I don’t know what people do in Paradise but I’m positive they don’t sit around and mope and think about how sad it is to be away from their family and loved ones.  But I just ask God to give them a special blessing.  I kind of think He does that. 

The pictures bring all those thoughts to mind I guess. 

I am less than four months from retiring from my job with the Emergency Management Agency of Chilton County.  I’ve been here, doing this job for 30 years.  As I was cleaning out drawers and shelves I realized that I had a very large box of newspaper clippings and snapshots of things that I’ve been involved with over the years.  Photos of wrecks I’ve worked and fires I’ve fought.  Interviews I’ve given and stories about  the projects we’ve undertaken.  Pictures, memories, reminders. 

But as I sit here this morning pondering these things I notice another picture on the shelf. Actually I have several copies of the same photo.  I don’t know who painted it.  I can’t give credit to the artist. But I’ll try to describe it to you. 

There is a young man, faded jeans, dirty t-shirt, his eyes are shut and in his hand is a hammer.  In the background is nothing but darkness.  He looks exhausted and is slumping and not able to hold himself up. His hands hang limp by his side. Behind him is the artist’s depiction of Jesus.  Jesus is reaching around the young man supporting him, and holding him up to keep him from falling. His nail pierced hands look strong as He supports and holds up the man who nailed him to the cross.

I will no doubt forget all the other pictures one day.  I won’t remember the stories about projects, and rescues and events.  I may even forget my relatives, living and dead.  I may not be able to call your name or recognize your face.  But may I never forget those hands.  May I never forget those loving, strong hands that were there to catch me when I was weak, and unable to stand.  May my mind forever retain the memory of the time when I was guilty, the evidence that would convict me still in my hands and the one that I had hurt so deeply reaching down and holding me. 

There is a lot I don’t know about this stuff called life, death and eternity.  But I am confident that here, there, now, then or in that place where time does not exist, even though I’ve never seen them with my eyes,  I will remember those hands and what they have done for me. 

CHURCHY WORDS

The language, words, verbiage that we use on a daily basis is vocational and locational.  If I used the words, triage, infarction, hematoma or edema if you were not in the medical field you might not understand their meaning.  Only folk who work in the medical field and use those words on a regular basis will be comfortable using those words.  The words are vocational.

Even those of us who speak the same language might have a bit of trouble understanding each other if we are from different areas of our country.  Pop to a person from up north is translated "Coke" down south.  So the words are locational. 

Over the last few weeks in our Wednesday night Bible study we have been studying what I call "Churchy words".  These are words that are used almost exclusively in the church or religious setting.  We discussed words like redemption, justification, atonement, adoption, and grace.  I doubt that you use many of those words on a regular basis anywhere outside the church setting.  So I thought that it might behoove us to look at the meaning of those words and see if we could understand the practical use of them. 

I will not take the time here to go over those aforementioned words,  (You should have been in Bible study) but I do want to take time to cover on word that I love and feel is important to understand. 

If you have been around a Wesleyan denomination for any length of time you have undoubtedly heard the word SANCTIFY or SANCTIFICATION used.  This is definitely not a word that you would hear used on the streets of your town, in Wal-Mart or the supermarket.  Other than in the context of the Bible and the church I have never heard it used.

Most people who sit under the teaching or preaching of this topic enter into the session unsure, confused and bewildered about it.  When they leave the session they are usually MORE unsure, confused and bewildered about it.  The topic seems so hard.  Hard to understand and hard to experience.  Most simply chose to just ignore it, forget it or leave it alone.  "It might be for some but it's definitely not for me" they will say. 

I hope I can present this in a way that will give a clear understanding of the topic and leave you with a hunger to experience sanctification.

To review what we discussed in prior lessons, there are two types of sin. 

• Actual or personal sin:  Which is defined as, intentional, deliberate, pre-meditated breaking or violation of the known will of God by a morally responsible person. 

• Inherited or original sin: Which is sin we are born with, which leaves us with a natural bent or proclivity or desire to commit actual or personal sin.

We discussed that the cure, fix or remedy for actual or personal sin is Salvation.  When the Holy Spirit of God draws us to the realization that we are sinners and we agree with God that we are in a lost state, we confess our sins to Him and ask Him to forgive us, when we accept by faith that He has and does forgive us now, then we are delivered from the guilt of our sins.  This is called salvation or being born again.

But there is still something there inside of us that is bending us, pushing us to commit things that go directly against God's will.  That thing, that desire, that attitude is in fact what the Wesleyan movement calls inbred, inherited or original sin.

If there was no book or doctrine to tell you about this condition, you would recognize it on your own.  No one has to convince you that after you were saved, after you gave your heart to God, deep down inside of you there was still that longing, that desire to go against the directions and leadership of God. 

Please understand that this is more than temptation.  Everyone is tempted.  Jesus Himself was tempted.  Temptation is not sin.  Get as deep with God as you can go.  Get as close to God as you can get.  There is still no place while you are still on this earth where temptation can not reach you.  You will always, as long as you are on the south side of Heaven, be tempted.  Know this, Salvation and sanctification will not deliver you from temptation. 

Original sin is the same thing that possessed Adam and Eve when they decided it as okay to eat the fruit that God had said not to eat. It's the same thing that caused David to  look across the rooftops at Bathsheba and decide it was okay for him to call her to his room and not only have sexual relations with her but afterwards to kill her husband to cover up his sin. It's the same thing that cause Judas to sell Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver.  And it's the same thing that has caused every sin in every man and woman since that day in the Garden of Eden.  It is SELFISHNESS.  It is doing what I want to do and not what God wants me to do. 

There are two meanings to sanctification. 

1.  To set apart:  We have discussed this before.  When the Hebrews were preparing the tabernacle and the ancient temple they would take a piece of furniture, a lamp, a table or a chair and sanctify that article to God.  It was set aside for His use. 

Once sanctified it was not to be used by others for other purposes.  Many times we dismiss this meaning as not being very important.  When we set ourselves apart to God we should understand and live our lives differently from the world. 

If the world does drugs, we shouldn't.  If it's okay with the world that men and women drink themselves into a stupor, it should not be so with us.  If the president of the United States or congress or the Supreme court says it's okay for men to sleep with men and women to sleep with women, if they want to call it an "alternate lifestyle", it should not be our life style.  We are to be set aside and be different.  We belong to God and are set aside for His use.

2.  Be clean or pure:  Not only were these items set apart and separated but they were also made clean.  Someone took them and purposefully and ceremoniously cleaned them before it could be used for God's purpose.  God won't used dirty tools or vessels. 

So sanctification comes down to this:  Give your heart to God and ask Him to clean if an fill it with His Holy Spirit.  Simple enough, right?

I don't have to tell you that you can't do this on your own do I?  All of my efforts, all of my promises, all of my rituals and church going and praying and Bible study and disciplines CANNOT MAKE ME CLEAN.

I have a part and God has a part.  Just as in salvation, I cannot come to God without being drawn by the Holy Spirit.  So to in sanctification.  The Holy Spirit must convict my heart and convince me that I need to be sanctified.  He may do this by a sermon, a lesson, a song, a talk with a friend or by whatever method He might chose.  But you will feel that pull just as you did when God put you under conviction regarding salvation.

My part:  Ask God to take my all and set it apart and make it clean for His purpose.

His part:  In response to my total surrender, God gives me His Holy Spirit to make me clean.

The hard part for us is usually the surrendering, the dying out to self and selfishness. When we get there it is a simple matter. 

I love this verse, "If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE, will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him".  (Luke 11:13)

It comes down to a matter of your will.  I have used the illustration several times.  If you are at the helm of a ship and the captain says "Make your heading zero nine zero."  You turn the helm to that setting, you are doing the captain's bidding and eventually the ship will come around to that heading.  It is your job to set the helm. 

I surrender my will, my life, my health, my happiness, my desires, my money, my future, my family, my death and my heavenly home completely to God.  My helm is set.  What freedom!  No longer do I have to worry about it.  No longer is it my problem.  God has control of my life.  It is in His hands.  Now I have that Glorious Freedom that we sing about. 

Will I be tempted? Yes
Can I give in to those temptations?  Yes
Can I sin after I am sanctified?  Yes
Am I at the mercy of Satan and must I do his bidding?  Absolutely not!

Can I ask you the same question Paul asked the church at Ephesus?  "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed"?  If not why wait? 

A while back I told you how God spoke to me down by the "branch" behind my house.  He said ever so clearly, "If you give me all you've got, I'll give you all you ever need".  I believe that with all my heart.

Give Him your all, ask Him to clean you and use you for His glory.  If you do, He is waiting to give you all you will ever need. 

THERE'S A GOAT IN THE BUSHES

I guess we all have our favorite stories from the Bible.  I have many stories I love to read and scripture passages from which I love to teach.  The 22^nd chapter of Genesis has to be one of my favorite.  I believe one could take it verse by verse and teach on this chapter for weeks. The points made in this little post are not all inclusive but so as not to prolong your time of reading, let me just touch on a few points.  Some people may see this lesson as a tragic, troubling, stressful story. I do not see it that way.  I see this as one of the most encouraging stories in the  Bible.  I hope you will too by the end of the story.

God knew what He was about to ask of Abraham was going to be difficult.  He was going to ask Abraham to sacrifice his only son on an altar.  That involved killing and burning the sacrifice, his son.   There is a song about this story that a friend of mine use to sing, it was entitled “I just wanted you to know”.  The premise of the song was that God  just wanted Abraham to know exactly how it feels because God would, one day, do the same thing with His Son.  I’m not positive that was the reason for the test.  But God did understand that what lay ahead for Abraham was going to be tough. 

Knowing this, God, right out of the chute, took away all of Abraham’s excuses.  “And He (God) said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of”

·         God said, “take NOW”.  It would have been easy for Abraham to say, “Sure, I’ll do what you ask but give me a little time.  Let me get everything in order.  Let me have it all under control”  I do that a lot.  I’ll do it God but I’ll do it when I get ready.  Understand dear reader that when God ask us to do something, we must DO IT NOW.

·         “Thy son” was a specific command.  If God would have asked for just a human sacrifice, Abraham would have no doubt chosen one of his servants.  But God wanted Abraham to give up his most prized possession the heir to Abraham’s kingdom. 

·         “Thine only son” was meant to eliminate another of Abraham’s defenses.  Can’t you hear Abraham now?  “But God, Now?  My son?  Don’t you know, God that Isaac is the only son I have”? 

·         “Whom thou lovest” shoots down another of Abraham’s vindications.  “God, he is my son, my only son and God I LOVE HIM”!

 Why do we do this?  God shows us what He wants us to do and we make excuses.  We try to justify our reluctance to do His will.  God takes away our excuses.

In verse six the symbolisms are amazing.  This just reeks with the smell of Calvary.  The son, carrying the wood (the cross) up the hill to be sacrificed.  Wow!

Isaac surely must not have been a small child.  If he could shoulder the wood for the sacrifice, he must have been “stout” as my Dad would say.  He was old enough to know what this process was all about.  He had seen this procedure many time.  He knew the components of this ritual.  The knife, the fire, the wood could mean nothing less than that they were going to make a sacrifice to God…but there was one major part missing.  “Where is the lamb”?  

All of the preparation, all of the ritual, all of the effort was useless without the sacrifice.  The trip up the mountain would have been no more than a walk in the park without the sacrifice.  Oh, do you get it?

 

Folks, we come to church expecting God to bless us.  We sing, and pray and teach and preach and do all the things that are needed to receive God’s blessing…..but we fail to bring the lamb…the sacrifice.  Don’t tell me that dressing up in your finest jeans and taking a bath on Saturday night and driving ever how many miles you drive to church is a sacrifice!  Where is the lamb that you have brought?  What is the sacrifice that you will make to see the smile on the face God?   

Verses nine and ten make me understand that Abraham was serious about what he was going to do.  He was not playing.  I don’t believe he ever thought that he would not go through with what God wanted.  God wants our willingness.  God doesn’t want to have to force us to do His will.  Abraham took the knife in his hand “to slay his son”. 

Oh don’t get upset folks.  Don’t think God left Abraham up there on that mountain with his doubts and worries, his fears and his dead son.  Don’t think God didn’t reach down and love Abraham and care for Abraham.  God provided. I told you this is a story of encouragement.

Verse 13 says, “Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket …”.  If this were written in the Chilton County vernacular it would go something like this. 

“And Abraham looked up and lookie there, right behind him was a goat in the bushes”!

When Abraham was at his lowest point, when he was about to give all he had, when he was losing what he loved most, when he didn’t understand, when he was alone and lonely, when his heart was breaking……God put a goat in the bushes!

He did it for Abraham…..He’ll do it for you. 

Don’t quit.  Sure you are tired.  Sunday school teacher you may feel like no one sees or notices your efforts each week.  No one appreciates what you do.  But look up, God has provided a help for you, “there’s a goat in the bushes. 

Pastor, sure you are discouraged.  The numbers are down, the offerings are even lower.  The people are not excited and are not making an effort but …..there’s a goat in the bushes. 

Are you feeling your age today? There’s a goat in the bushes. 

Are your children disappointing you?  There’s a goat in the bushes. 

Is your job falling apart? You bank book looking thin?  Your friends rejecting your ways?  Let me just encourage you.  There’s a goat in the bushes.  

God will not leave you to go this way alone.  He will provide for you.  

Abraham found that out.  He even called the mountain by the name, Jehovah Jireh or  “The Lord Provides”.  I’ve read it and I’ve taught it time and time again and I promise you, it is true.  

Just look around you friend, There’s a goat in the bushes.

MAMA LOVED CHRISTMAS

Mama loved Christmas.  Oh, I don’t guess there are many people I know who don’t love Christmas, but Mama especially loved Christmas.  She told stories about when she was a child, her Dad had died and her Mom was trying to raise 7 children by washing clothes for people on a scrub board or wash board.  She said then they didn’t get anything but an apple or an orange that her Mom put in their shoe by the fireplace.  Or perhaps some “rock candy”. But that didn’t stop her from loving Christmas. 

When I was a child, Mom and Dad made Christmas a big deal for us.  Some of my earliest memories are of the wonderful times we had as children because of Dad and Mom’s attitude and efforts at Christmas.  I don’t ever remember asking “Santa” for anything that I didn’t get.

One of my fondest memories of Mom and Christmas was after I had left the Coast Guard and returned home and Mom and I were going to get a Christmas tree.  Back then you didn’t drive to a Christmas tree lot and pick one out.  You were almost a communist if you used a “fake” tree.  So we would go out into the woods and find a cedar tree.  That’s the only kind of Christmas tree we ever had back then. 

We lived in South Calera and Dad had a friend and co-worker named John Lejoue (I guess that’s how you spell it) .  John was a Frenchman and he and his wife owned some land not far from us.  Their land was full of cedar trees and John was nice enough to allow us to go over and cut down a tree for our Christmas.  Mom and I got the ax and headed out, really not paying much attention to the weather. 

Finding just the right tree with Mom was a chore.  This one wasn’t large enough.  That one was too small.  This one isn’t full enough and that one looks crooked.  It seems now like we walked those woods for hours.  It was almost dark and then it started to snow.  (Yes, snow in Alabama.  It had to be early December, I guess.)  The snow begin to “stick” to the trees and ground so I assume it must have been pretty cold, although I don’t remember it being that cold.  The cedar trees looked wonderful and we had a blast when we finally found the right tree and I cut it down and carried it back to her house. 

Well, as you know, Mom died about 3 years ago.  She had lived with Keva and I for about 5 years before her death.  We tried to make Christmas for her as special as she had made it for me and Anita when we were kids.  On Christmas morning she would have her little pile of gifts that Santa had left her and we would take pictures and video of her opening her treasures. 

The Christmas after Mom’s death Keva had a wonderful idea.  Mom had a little saying that she always used when folks would leave.  She would say, “I love you, just a little bit”, and make a sign with her little fingers showing you how “little” she loved you.  So Keva had handkerchiefs made for those who knew Mom, and on those handkerchiefs she had embroidered that little phrase, “I love you just a little bit”.  She gave them out and everyone seemed to love them.  But that was three years ago.

This year, we continued our tradition of stockings and presents and family. Keva has continued the tradition of making everyone’s Christmas special. But on Christmas morning it is just Keva and I, Gracie (the dog) and the three cats (Bubba, Sissy and Runt).  So we opened our gifts and then I took down our stockings.  Keva had placed some little stuff in my stocking and I had placed some little stuff in her stocking.  I opened mine and smiled and commented on them, then it was her turn. 

As she emptied her stocking and “made over” the little stuff I’d put in there, I thought we were through with the presents.  But she reached down into the toe of the stocking and pulled out a special gift. 

There, stuck down in the  toe of the stocking was a little yellow handkerchief with the phrase “I love you just a little bit”.  I hadn’t put it there.  I guess the logical explanation would have been that three years ago it got placed in her stocking when we were giving them out to the family and for the last two Christmas’s it had gone unnoticed. But as her eyes glistened with a tear or two and I looked away so she couldn’t see mine, I think we both had the same thought.  Mama will always love Christmas.   

KEVA'S CHINA

Almost 29 years ago a beautiful young lady agreed to be my wife.  There were all sorts of activities that went on during that time.  Decisions had to be made about the location of the wedding ceremony, the dress, the after rehearsal  dinner, the preacher, the brides maids and on and on.  All things that had to take place for this wedded bless to come to fruition. 

 I remember one of those activities was the occasion when Keva went down to Wright’s Drug store in the Dixie shopping center in Clanton to pick out the china. Now I wasn’t clear on just exactly why we needed china. We lived in the Ranger station, a little 4 room building at Higgins Ferry park.  Not like we would be entertaining distinguished quest.   But she looked at the books and pictures of knives and forks and plates and cups and all sorts of things and at long last picked out the pattern that was to be our china. 

Kind people, who knew us and wanted to get us gifts, went to Wright’s and paid good money for overly priced plates and saucers and cups and at the wedding shower we became the owners of a beautiful set of china.  I guess that happens to lots of people when they get married.

But I want to tell you about this stuff called china. China is no more than clay which is mixed with other raw elements.  It is put in a fire and become something useful and beautiful.   It is heated and shaped and instead of being a lump of clay it is re-born, remade into china.  China that is beautiful and useful to the owner.

Look out here comes the spiritual connection.

The Word tells us that you and I are, just like the china, initially clay, dirt.  But there is a little thing called Salvation, or being born again that can happen to us when we confess our sins and accept Jesus as our savior.  Instead of being just clay, we become a dish, a plate, a cup that can be used for God's glory.

Well, we got all that china.  We took it home and because it was “special” we put it in a special place.  We didn’t want it to get broken or chipped. So we stacked it all up neatly in a couple of drawers.  “We will take it out and use it on special occasions”, we said.  You know what happened don’t you?  I bet you’ve done just about the same thing.  We have NEVER used that china.  It’s made to be used.  It’s set aside to be used.  But it’s never used.

Christians, when you and I got saved we were remade in order to be used.  We were born again.  No longer clay, but beautiful vessels.  But we are sitting in the drawer and not being used. 

That's why there is more.  There is what I call a “churchy word”, SANCTIFY, which means to set apart for a specific use or purpose.  That’s what we did with the china. We set is apart from the rest of the dishes for a specific or special purpose.  

So we are re-born, constructed in the image that He desires for us.  We are set apart for the work He has for us to do……but we are also made clean, which is the second part of the definition of the word sanctify or sanctification.

Can you imagine us taking that nicely molded and decorated china, putting it in the cabinet and setting it apart for a special purpose and never cleaning it?  We decide to have, let’s say a Thanksgiving meal with friends, and we want to use the china, so we take it out and put it on the table but it is dirty and stained and has left over butter beans on it.  It can’t be used.

Do you get it?  We are remade, set apart but if we are not cleaned, if we are not free from sin we are just a dirty ole cup or plate and can’t be used.  That's not what God had in mind when He created us. 

Lord, I want to be made in your image, set apart for your glory and clean so you can use me.  And, and, when I am clean then and only then can He fill me up with good stuff so that He can be glorified.  Fill that plate with good food.  Fill it with the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and let the banquet begin. 

How’s your china?

THREE SENTENCES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (LUKE 2: 10-12)

There are many quotes that have gone down in history.  Many of us can  quote famous “sayings” that are important to us.  A couple that come to my mind are:

•   "Ask not, what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country”…JFK
•  "One is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”….Jim Elliot
• "Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty”…Samuel Adam  
• Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other….. John Quincy Adams

 These are just a few, I’m sure you have others.  But I want to share with you three sentences that I believe changed the world.  These sentences were delivered by a most trusted messenger, supported by the grandest background choir and presented in a most miraculous manner.  After all, the occasion of their presentation was a pretty big deal.  God’s Son was being born.  The sentences I am referring to are found in Luke 2: 10-11.  I hope you have read them and that they are familiar to you.

Let’s break them down a little and see if you agree with me.

 A SAVIOR WHO IS CHRIST THE LORD.  Who actually needs a Savior?  Let’s see, those who are lost.  Those who can’t help themselves.  Those chained to or trapped by something.  Those oppressed by a stronger power.  All of these people need someone to help them.  They need someone to act on their behalf and help them overcome their situation. 

 Until we realize and admit that we are in a situation or condition where we need a Savior, His coming is not good news to us.  Until I understand that I can’t do this alone and that I need an advocate, a rescuer, a deliverer or a knight in shining armor then any proclamation of the arrival of a savior is not good news to me.

•  If my house is on fire but I feel like I can handle this situation with a garden hose and a few more buckets of water,  I won’t call 911. 
• If I am driving around looking for a particular place and feel sure that after a few more laps around the neighborhood I’ll be able to put this all together,  I will never stop and ask for directions or help.  
• If I am sick but am sure that by taking just a few more aspirin I can cure this malady, I will not go to the doctor.

But if I am enslaved by sin, held by chains of habit, oppressed by the will of others or of my own will and come to the realization that I can’t make my life  work…..then the announcement of the coming of a Savior will be world changing for me. 

Who needs a Savior?  I do…and I bet you do too.

 GOOD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY.  I’d almost guarantee that you can’t find it a 5, 6 and 10 on the nightly news.  If you still get a daily newspaper, it won’t be in there either.  If you can wade through all the commercials on the radio you still won’t find any of it there. 

Good news.  It’s hard to find anywhere. Oh, you can find plenty of folks who will talk to you about the problems that are happening around the block and around the world but not many who will greet you each morning with “good news”.  How would we be changed if we could?

One thing that should change about us would be our attitude.  If we could hear and accept the good news that was presented by the angels on that night so long ago, shouldn’t our attitude change?  In church, at home or on the job, people would be able to see a difference in us because we have heard the “good news”, the “gospel”, the “good tidings of great joy” and we would possess that joy in our lives.

I just stopped by to tell you this morning that the coming of the Christ child, the appearance of Jesus Christ the Lord on this planet is some very good news and should fill you and I with much joy and peace.

YOU SHALL FIND THE BABE.  So if the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior is such good news, how do I get in touch with Him?  Show me where He lives.  How do I find this Savior?

 God is faithful in showing the way. 

 

·         Initially, on that night, He used the angels.  Their message was unmistakable.  The shepherds stood there in that open field and their knees knocked together as they listened to the instructions. 

·         Later on He used the disciples.  Twelve ordinary men who believed the good news and were committed to sharing it with others, like themselves, who were in need of a Savior

·         The Apostles were also a means to this end.  No doubt you have studied about Paul and his unselfish sell-out to this Christ and the promotion of His kingdom.

·         Common folk back “in the day”, Stephen and the other seven men whose job it was to simply “wait tables” but whose passion it was to tell about that Savior. 

·         There have been countless more “common folk” who pointed the way.  I can name those who told me about the “good news”. I bet you can name those who pointed you in the right direction as well. 

 Shouldn’t it be our intent, no more than intent, shouldn’t it be our unquenchable thirst, our unending hunger our fervent passion to stand in the path and point the way?   Shouldn’t you and I do our part, especially during this time of the year, to share these world changing words and their meaning to a lost and dying world?

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger”.

 Three pretty good sentences if you ask me.