Anyway, the sermon was on 1 Samuel 14:1-13 entitled "Under a Pomegranate." The guest missionary pastor recounted the story of Jonathan and his armor bearer single handedly throwing down on a regiment of Philistines and how "Jonathan was part of something that only God could have pulled off." He challenged us that we are sitting under a pomegranate tree eating its fruit and completely indulging ourselves and neglecting the desperate needs of those around us. He challenged us that we are in a war with an unconventional enemy. He pointed out the 5 forces of the enemy:
- Poverty - 2 billion people live on less than $1/day. There are 2,000 versus about the poor in Scripture.
- Disease - There are 20 million AIDS orphans in Africa.
- Ignorance (lack of education)
- Violence
- Spiritual darkness (which is the root of all the others)
He pointed out that the horrific genocide in Rwanda occurred in a country that was predominantly Christian because "the gospel has not gone beyond the veneer of religosity." He pointed out a quote from Bono, "If the church does not confront the plagues confronting Africa, no one else will."
However, all is not lost. God is raising up a band of warriors. He cited several examples of extreme sacrifice and intense ministry. I jotted in my notes, "Live your life as a dead man."
He talked about the movie Amazing Grace and the story of William Wilberforce. How he and has band of followers, over a long period of time, did something that no one would have ever considered possible. Today we look at the problems facing the world, see them as hopeless and maybe hope God will call another William Wilberforce and neglect that he's calling each one of us.
Again he came back to the challenge: are you ready to get our from under the tree? He talked about two different ethos: institutional vs. missional. We come to our stained glass promegranate tree and evaluate the fruit. We complain that it's not ripe or over ripe but we never share the fruit with a starving world. He also challenged us, if our church was considering to leave the neighborhood, would anyone try to stop us? Would the mayor come and tell us not to leave because the impact we are having on the community was so great?
I wanted to stand up and cheer when the sermon ended except I couldn't because I was fighting back tears.
Now it's on us, on me. What am I/we going to do with this? Are we going to say, "wow, that was a nice sermon" and then keep all the same habits and come back the same way next week to evaluate the next serving of fruit? We need to be deeply infected with this calling. It's going to take some time to process this and figure out exactly where to go from here. I've been concerned about a lot of the issues he talked about and give money in these causes and have tried to encourage others to do the same on my blog. But is that going to be it?
I think there are two easy steps we can all take on this. Some "low hanging fruit" we can pick as it were. The first is to better educate ourselves on these issues and the second is to give more. Maybe one Sunday a month or even a quarter we don't go to lunch after Kairos and pool our money to give to one of these causes. I couldn't help but think of my own hypocrisy when I left that sermon and then went to Chili's for lunch and dropped almost $10 on my next lunch. That's over a week's living expenses for 2 billion people, right? Can we connect this to our day to day choices? Maybe we clean our our houses and have giant community yardsale and donate the proceeds. How many of our homes have a TV in every room? Is that necessary? I have read that there is a museum I believe of the Queen Mary (or is it Queen Elizabeth?) that was converted from a luxury cruise ship to a troop ship for World War 2. They have rooms that are split down the middle, one side showing what it look like when it was catering to wealthy patrons and another showing what it looked like when it housed soldiers. Which side of the ship are we going to live on? In my NT survey reading, I just came across 2 Timothy 2:3,4 "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." There isn't a draft. No one is going to force us to do this. In the background at Chili's as we ate lunch, Switchfoot played. "This is your life. Are you who want to be?"
6 comments:
Something has occurred to me.
I have stopped going to BVBC for a reason.
That reason is because, even though I seem to have an ingrained distaste for missions and service, I understand that is what God wants us to do. I see organizations like Campus Crusade that, instead of having a meeting with cookies and chips, go out to the Door of Hope crisis pregnancy center and help them move heavy equipment/clean to move into their new building. It's things like that which make me wonder what the hell church is for, and why we bother to sit down every Sunday when we should be standing up and helping others out. When has a minister held service in a soup kitchen? When has the church congregation been lead to truly put their money where their mouth is?
I sometimes wonder if my pathetic excuses of "Not everyone can do or was made for outreach" really hold any water. How can I know that? And how do know what I was meant for when God shapes my destiny?
What am I going to do when I have stopped going to college and no loner go to organizations like IV, which have affected me in such a way that I am willing to go to Kentucky for my Spring Break and help build houses for the poor (at my family's expense)? What will I do? Sit in BVBC on Sundays and vegetate in the pews of their shiny new building?
I think I know now why my father is disgusted by the church and has turned away. Men like the one you described preach on Sunday. And then the same number of people are sitting in the pews next week, instead of going out and DOING something.
Shall we, as Martin Luther King Jr. said in his Letter From Birmingham Jail, shut ourselves "behind the anesthetizing walls of stained glass"?
Steve, if you wish to assuage your guild over buying yourself a meal, then donate equal to what you have spent.
Things are naturally expensive here. Think about it. I had to buy a bottle of suntan lotion for my Kentucky trip. It cost me 3 dollars. 3 days of backbreaking work for the poor man, right? Are you going to feel guilty every time you go to the supermarket and buy yourself sustenance?
I went to a Small Group mixer last night, and have the guy who ran it four bucks because I showed up at random and wasn't even a part of either small group that was mixing. Should I feel guilty because I paid four dollars to eat loads of good food, all because someone else starves? Look beyond the money spent on the meal, Steve. Why were you there? Because Chili's was calling you name? Or because your friends were there, and you wanted to take part in the fellowship? There is a significant difference in the amount of guilt you should feel between the two.
There is a difference between true guilt at having committed a crime, and guilt that is totally misguided.
I think it's a matter of the heart. Where is your heart in all this? Of course, we would not starve ourselves out of guilt because other starve; however, how often do we acknowledge what we have, and how often do we take it for granted?
I feel like this boils down to, What is YOUR god? Is it God? Because if it is, your PRIMARY concern should be to serve him (by serving others). This doesn't mean that you can't have other "concerns." But serving/obeying God should be more important than the others. And it is through serving others that we emulate Christ and are able to share the Good News of salvation with them! Isn't that kind of the point?
David, I hope you will consider the fact that the church needs YOU! Your beliefs, actions, and voice are needed to bring about a revival in the church! Excitement breeds excitement, and your presence and commitment to others is necessary to inspire others to act as well.
Also remember that we all have different gifts, and while some may have the gift of service, others may have the gift of giving of their finances, etc. We must figure out what our gifts are and use them to their fullest extent in bringing about the Kingdom.
Time for some JIM WALLIS!!!!! I would recommend that anyone who is interested in this topic (social justice and the Christian's role in such) read the chapter on the Three Poverties in his book "Faith Works."
Steve... thank you for sharing your thoughts and giving a re-cap of the sermon. It's good to read back through and recall some things I didn't write down. I too was very moved by what the speaker shared and felt like weeping. I don't want that feeling, that challenge, that stir within my heart to dissipate as the week or month or year goes on. I to want to act, to join in with God where he is at work. Narrowing that down and doing it is another thing - the action aspect of all this. I need to get out from sitting under the pomegranate tree. I admit I've been there and stayed there in my world of comfort. I also admit that I'm scared and a bit lazy-minded about moving and taking action. I'm going to need my brothers and sisters to sharpen me and to spur me on toward love and good deeds.
JenVare
I appreciate your struggle with this sermon. I am a preacher, and I would love to know that God was dealing with my listeners this much. Hang in there.
Steve,
I was challenged by the sermon as well. I think we needed to be shaken up a bit and realize that we are standing under the pomegranate tree. The question now is what do we do about it? Now I don't mean sell all your possessions and go to a third world country to start a ministry. But maybe that is your calling. We were all called to a Mission field when we proclaimed Jesus as our Savior and Lord where some were called to serve overseas some right in our very neighborhood. God has gifted us all in a unique way and if we are not using our talents for God's purpose, then we should feel convicted. However if we are, then we should encourage our fellow brother or sister in Christ to use their talents and abilities for God's purpose. For we were all created on this earth for a purpose. That purpose is to glorify God and be Christ immitators wherever we are.
eliauw.blogspot.com
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