A
Jewish businessman in Brooklyn decided to send his son to Israel to absorb some
of the culture of the homeland. When the son returned, the father asked him to
tell him about his trip. The son said, "Pop, I had a great time in Israel.
By the way, I converted to Christianity."
"Oh,
my," said the father. What have I done?" He decided to go ask his
friend Jacob what to do. Jake said, "Funny you should ask. I too sent my
son to Israel, and he also came back a Christian. Perhaps we should go see the
rabbi and ask him what we should do." So, they went to see the rabbi. The
rabbi said, "Funny you should ask. I too sent my son to Israel. He also
came back a Christian. What is happening to our young people?
Perhaps
we should go talk to God and ask him what to do."
The
three of them prayed and explained what had happened to their sons and asked
God what to do. Suddenly a voice came loud and clear from Heaven; The Voice
said, "Funny you should ask… I, too, sent my Son to Israel .....
When we were in S.C. there was a friend
whose name was Carston. He and his wife were from Australia. He preached the
Sunday before me during the Lenten Sundays and opened about six different ways for me to
preach and inspired me to take a detour from the traditional Palm Ave. We
enjoyed a Spirit led message on having Christ in our midst highlighted by an
Australian preacher using some southern lingo! (very amusing) One of the notes
I put in my Bible was how Jesus said to his disciples “They will know that you
are my disciples if Christ’s love is in “all-ya-all”!
Carston explained the difference between
“having love “for” one another” and having the love of Christ “in our midst”. What
a truth he proclaimed! Having the love of God, the love of Christ, permeating
the midst of the body!...The way we talk, the way we walk (or our actions) the
way we honor and encourage one another, choosing to use our giftedness to build
one another up and build the church as we do our part to grow the Kingdom of
God! That, my friends, is what Jesus wants the world to see. That’s what Jesus
wanted the church to experience. And, I want to take a step in that direction
today by sharing this thought; that the birth and the ministry of Jesus Christ,
and the events of Passion week leading to Easter, (the death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension of Jesus as the final sacrifice for sin, as
important and awesome as these were concerning the message of the Gospel)…that
the gift of the Holy Spirit was the continuation of God’s plan and purpose in
ultimately building the church and proclaiming the only way of salvation to the
world.
Just a little
further in the Book of John; It was Jesus who said in John 16:7-15 “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away.
Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send
him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be
in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about
sin, because people do not believe in me; about
righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no
longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this
world now stands condemned… “I have much more to say to you, more than you can
now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak
only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (Now
listen to this;) He will glorify me because it is from me that
he will receive what he will make known to you. All that
belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Carston stated that this is what it means
to have the “mind of Christ”… “for no one knows the mind of a man except the
spirit of the man, and only the Spirit of God knows the mind and the will of
God… and His Spirit speaks to our spirit concerning truth, and sin and
righteousness…” The Holy Spirit is not only our comforter, He is our teacher,
our leader, our enabler, our power, and it is the Holy Spirit “in our midst”…in
the midst of all-ya-all…that makes us the body of Christ, the church! It’s not
the building, the Eagles, the Elks, the Moose, and the Masons all have nice
buildings…It’s not because we gather on Sundays to sing and listen to a
sermon…We are the body of Christ because the Holy Spirit of Christ is in our
midst!
Without a doubt the most
important roads Jesus walked were those during what we call “Passion week”. The
Gospel writers focused more on the events of this time period than on any other
portion of Jesus ministry. In fact, the biblical record seems to slow down
rather than speed up as it gets to details of Holy Week. As Christians, we say
that this is the most important week of our faith.
Some of the things that took place just
during that week were; the plot to betray and arrest Jesus; the triumphal entry
into Jerusalem we recall today; Jesus clears the temple of the money changers;
Peter’s confession of Christ; and his later denial…The Lord’s Supper takes
place in the upper room; Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane for himself,
for His disciples, and for us, those who would come to know him through their
preaching and teaching. Then, of course, his subsequent arrest by the Roman
soldiers in the same Garden of Gethsemane; His appearance before the
authorities and before Pontius Pilate; His crucifixion on Calvary’s hill; His
death; His burial; and His resurrection; His appearances which follow His
resurrection; and finally, His ascension to the Father in heaven. Wow! Do you
think this was an important week in the life of Jesus?...And we think we have
some busy days!
Jesus knew all about the what, where, when,
why, and how of His mission, His purpose, yet knowing that all this was to take
place, and, especially knowing that just over the horizon was the cross looming
like a monster ready to consume Him, Luke tells us that in spite of it
all, “As the time approached for Jesus
to be taken up to heaven, He RESOLUTELY set his face to go to
Jerusalem…Why?...LOVE!...It was the power of love! The love of God for His creation;
the love of Jesus for His Disciples and His church, as well as the world; The
power of love that Jesus told; suggested; no commanded that they have for one
another! The power of love that was to be “in their midst!” and which was to be
the driving force of the church; His body!
There is no doubt that something powerful
took place in the lives of the disciples over 2000 years ago that transformed
and multiplied what we call the “church”.
A combustible faith was ignited and the flames of Pentecost swept like a
prairie fire throughout the then known world!
In Acts chapter 5 in reference to the disciples it
says “day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never
stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news about Jesus!” It is one thing to accept the teachings of
the Bible and be a believer; it is another to be an active disciple! That
person is a “doer of the Word” as James tells us. A disciple never stops
learning and wanting to learn. A
disciple is always active and involved in the activities and ministries of the
church; using his or her God given and Holy Spirit empowered gifts. A disciple
is always teaching and telling. But, a disciple also is convinced of his faith;
and a disciple is empowered by the Holy Spirit; and a disciple experiences God
daily in his or her life!
A disciple “can’t help but tell all about what he
has seen, and heard, and learned, in the hope that his friend or his neighbor
and yes, even his family will come to know the assurance of heaven and the
transforming power of Jesus Christ which saves them from the pits of Hell!
What was it that was drawing people into
the early church? What was it that attracted them? Was it a nice building? Was
it the fact that they had a program for every age group? (No) Was it the
fellowship? (No, you can find fellowship in any bar in town.) It was the same
thing that has always attracted people to Christ and the church…They see the
transforming power of the Holy Spirit. They see a change in people that they
don’t see or find in the world. They see people who are controlled by love, and
joy, and have a peace in their lives that surpasses all understanding, and they
see people who are patient with one another, allowing God to do His work. They
see people who are faithful and steadfast in their beliefs. They see people who
truly care about and carry one another’s burdens. They see people who
demonstrate self-control and are willing to forgive those who lack it… You
don’t find these things in the world! Many don’t find these things even in
their own families;
And when
they see this and feel this, it brings glory to God and lifts up the name of
Jesus…who said “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself”… But, when
they see the lack of these things, they only see hypocrites! Having Christ in us changes our destination,
having the Holy Spirit changes our Destiny!
“They
will know that you are my disciples when the love of Christ, through the power
of the Holy Spirit, is in All-ya-all!”