|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Joseph
Slife,
lay leader July 24,
2005 "The
kingdom of heaven is like a
mustard seed." "The one who hears
my words and puts them into
practice is like a man who built
his house on a solid rock" These
are all similies and metaphors --
word pictures Jesus used to
designed to capture, in vivid,
memorable language, some aspect
of the kingdom, som aspect of who
Jesus is, what He does, and what
it means to you and
me. These
word pictures are illustrations
that engage our imagination. They
make us think and
reflect. Well,
I'm going to start with a
illustration today that will be
the metaphor, that will "set the
stage" for what I want to talk
with you about. In
our day, some of the most
powerful metaphors come to us in
films -- so I want to start today
with a scene from a film. Then
we're going to look at some
passages from the Bible that
carry the same idea as that that
scene, and then we're gonna think
about what all this means to
us. The
scene is from a film called
The Fellowship of the Ring
-- the first of the three Lord
of the Rings movies. Many of
you know the story, but for those
who don't let me set it up
briefly. A
long time ago, the story goes, a
series of rings were forged that
somehow had mysterious powers.
There were 19 lesser rings -- and
one ring to rule them all. That
ring that was the most powerful
-- and the force of it was evil.
Well,
that ring has been lost for many
years, but now it has been found.
The ring is evil and must be
destroyed, but because of its
dark powers, you can't just
destroy it any old way. It has be
taken back to the place it was
made -- the land of Mordor -- and
thrown in the fires of Mt.
Doom. And
so a bunch of the good guys get
together and have a meeting to
decide what to do. They
fuss and argue about it -- but
the bottom line is: someone's
going to have to take the ring,
make a dangerous and treacherous
journey to Mordor, and then
destroy it at Mt. Doom, all the
while trying to keep it from the
bad guy, named Sauron. Elrond:
"You
have
only
one
choice.
The
Ring
must
be
destroyed." Now,
let me make one thing clear.
Taking the ring is the metaphor
for accepting a task, for being
willing to embark on a quest,
even in the face of
uncertainty. In
Frodo's case, his task was to
destroy something evil. The
metaphor is not the task itself,
the metaphor is being willing to
take up the task. "I
will take the ring, though -- I
do not know the way." Now,
talking about "Faith Enough to
Fail" may seem like a strange
topic coming on the heels of what
Jerry has been preaching about --
Mighty Faith, a Visible Faith,
Uncompromising Faith. But,
actually, I see this message as
very closely related to those
messages -- and I thnk you'll
understand why as we go
forward. Let's
go to the Word now for two
biblical accounts that are about
-- to use our metaphor -- "taking
the ring, though you do not know
the way." The
first involves Queen Esther. The
book of Esther is in the Old
Testament, between Nehemiah and
Job. It's
the story of a beautiful young
woman, who because of her beauty,
was chosen by King Xerxes to be
his queen. She was what we call
today, a "trophy wife." He wanted
someone who would make him look
good. And
so Esther wins the beauty contest
and becomes the Queen, but what
the king doesn't know is that
she's Jewish. King Xerxes is not
Jewish. In
fact, a bit later the king --
who, judging from what we read in
the book of Esther -- was very
immature and given to rash
judgments -- is persuaded by an
advisor named Haman to have all
Jews in the kingdom
killed. Well,
Esther's uncle, Mordecai, hears
about this through the grapevine
and sends a message to Esther.
"Esther, you're the queen and
your a Jew. You've gotta do
something to help us!" But she
sends a message back that says,
"You don't know King Xerxes. It's
against the law to go walking
into his kingly presence without
permission, even for the queen. I
could be put to death. I just
can't do what you're
asking." And
Mordecai asks her this question
-- this is Esther chapter 4 --
"[W]ho knows but that you
have come to royal position for
such a time as this?" And
here's the last part of Esther,
chapter 4 verse 16. Esther says:
"I will go to the king, even
though it is against the law. And
if I perish, I perish."
"I
will take the ring, though -- I
do not know the way." Now,
if you have a Bible, turn with me
to Acts, chapter 21 -- and I want
to start reading a verse
10. This
is Luke writing. He's on a
missionary journey with the
Apostle Paul, and they've stopped
for a few days in Caesarea, to
visit with Philip, the
evangelist, one of the original
deacons in the church of
Jerusalem, before the time of the
great persecution. Now
Philip is living in Caesarea, and
Paul and Luke spend some time at
his house. When
we heard this, we and the
people there pleaded with Paul
not to go up to Jerusalem.
Then Paul answered, "Why are
you weeping and breaking my
heart? I am ready not only to
be bound, but also to die in
Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus." "I
will take the ring, through -- I
do not know the way." There
are other stories we could look
at -- Abram, in response to God's
call, leaving his homeland,
through he didn't have a clue
where he was going; Peter
stepping out of that tossing and
pitching boat on the rough and
windy sea; Gateway Church saying,
"Yes, we will commit ourselves to
a new building, though we know it
is more than we can
do." "I
will take the ring, though -- I
do not know the way." This
is faith -- faith enough to
fail. Why
do I say that? Because faith --
as Jerry said a couple of weeks
ago -- faith is only faith in the
context of
uncertainty. "If
I perish, I perish." "Yes,
I just might be bound and put to
death in Jerusalem." "No,
we don't know how this building
thing is going to work, but we
know we have to press on into
God's future for us and for those
who come after us." Having
the faith to move forward means
having faith enough to fail. If
you and I don't have faith enough
to fail, we'll never climb out of
the boat, we'll never go in to
see the king, we'll never take
the ring. I
was intrigued by Rick Bonfim's
sermon last week, because he
touched on this same idea from a
different angle. Just
to refresh your memory, Rick
preached through the first ten
chapters of the Book of Acts,
showing some of the trials and
the triumphs of the early
church. And
it became clear to me as he went
through chapter after chapter,
that from the perspective of
those early disciples, what they
were experiencing must have
seemed chaotic and
confusing. We
look back on the story now and we
see, as Rick said, God's
unfolding plan. We see it from
the perspective of time. We know
how some of the stuff turned
out. News
comes to the church: "Peter is in
prison." News comes to the
church: "Stephen has been stoned
to death." News comes the church:
"There's a huge disagreement
brewing over bringing Gentiles
in. This could cause a church
split. What are we gonna
do?" Do
you see what I am saying? The
uncertainty, the confusion we
sometimes feel, the anxieties we
have, are nothing new. They have
been with us from the beginning
of the church -- and, I daresay,
in many ways their confusion and
anxieties, because of the time
and culture in which they lived,
were much more profound than
ours. The
only thing that can push us to
press ahead in the face of the
uncertainties that surely will
come is faith. Faith that God is
unfolding His story, though we
may not perceive it at times, or
we may only catch a glimpse of it
here and there -- and also faith
that you and I have important
roles to play in that story. That
is key. About
three weeks ago, on July 5, our
bishop, Lindsey Davis, spoke at a
conference at Lake Junaluska,
North Carolina -- and he said
some things that I think'll
really help us press on.
He
reminded his audience that the
church is not an institution.
We're not just another
organization or company or
non-profit group. We are a
supernatural movement,
orchestrated and empowered by the
living God. Here's
about a one-minute excerpt from
Bishop Davis. (Bishop
Davis - audio excerpt
one) In
that talk, Bishop Davis went on
to say that if we really latch on
to this truth that we are part of
a movement, part of the unfolding
story of God's work in the world,
it will give us courage to be the
Church, to press forward into the
unknown. It will give us faith
enough to fail. (Bishop
Davis - audio excerpt
two) Now,
understand here that the Bishop
is not talking about being flat
out foolish or about taking risk
for the sake of risk. He's
talking about being fools for
Christ, about taking risks for
the Kingdom. And having faith
enough to fail doesn't mean that
you will fail. It means that you
are willing to try, that you're
willing to join Peter in climbing
out of the boat. Well,
let me try to tie all this
together now as it relates to us
-- Gateway Church, July 24th in
the Year of our Lord
2005. You
and I are part of the same story
as Abraham and Queen Esther. Part
of the same story as Peter and
Paul. Part of same story as John
Wesley and Billy Graham. Part of
the same story as Edward D.
Kimball. Don't
remember Mr. Kimball? I told you
about him once before but I
wouldn't really expect you to
remember the name. He
was Sunday School teacher at the
Mount Vernon Congregational
Church Boston, Massachusetts back
in the mid-1800s. Taught a class
of teenaged boys. And
one day a teenager came to the
class who, it was apparent,
didn't know about the things of
God. And so, after a time, Mr.
Kimball resolved to visit the
shore store where this young man
worked during the week and to
talk to him one-on-one about
giving his life to
Christ. Here
is the account that Mr. Kimball
wrote later. Y'see.
He's having misgivings, second
thoughts. He's got a case of the
"what ifs." He needs faith --
faith enough to fail. Well,
in the unfolding story of God,
that teenaged boy became the
greatest American evangelist of
the 19th century. His
name was Dwight L. Moody --
founder of what is now known as
the Moody Bible Institute in
Chicago, which continues as a
training ground for many young
pastors; founder of Moody
Publishing, one of the most
prominent and reliable publishers
of evangelical books. And
the reason I tell you that story
is that in God's unfolding plan,
not everybody is an Abraham or an
Esther or a Paul or a
Wesley. Most
of us are Edward Kimballs, or to
put it in the context of The
Fellowship of the Ring, most
of us are Frodos. Small,
seemingly insignificant -- but ,
O, if only we will say: "I will
take the ring," who knows of what
tremendous significance we will
become in the unfolding story of
God's plan of redemption in Jesus
Christ? But
it requires faith -- faith enough
to fail. Faith enough to push
past the uncertainty and to take
the ring, though -- we do not
know the way. Two
more things from me, one from the
bishop, and then I'll
close. 1)
Jerry has been preaching to us
about moving toward the place of
"mighty faith." This is not about
saving faith, the faith that we
put in Jesus Christ to save us
from the penalty of sin.
Mighty
faith is about saved people --
followers of Christ -- pushing
ahead, despite all the obstacles,
to accomplish the purposes of the
Kingdom. It is about fulfilling
our destiny as individuals and as
a church. And
I want to say to you that mighty
faith will not come to us -- it
will not come to you or to me --
unless we first take the ring,
though we do not know the
way. You
see, in the Christian life,
commitment often must precede
understanding. I will take the
ring, though -- I do not know the
way. The
only way to get to the place of
"mighty faith" is to fight the
smaller battles of faith. Will
you believe God for this? Will
you believe God for
that? If
you want mighty faith, it starts
with smaller decisions to trust
God -- though you do not know the
way. If you and I are going to go
on with God, we have to have
faith enough to fail. Number
2) We -- Gateway Church, Athens
Georgia -- we are at the
threshold of a "major life
change," every bit as major as
the sort of life change you go
through personally when you
change jobs or move from one
place to another. And
as Jerry has said, it's not just
about picking up and moving down
the road. We have to move in our
heads and in our hearts. We have
to be willing to make changes in
the way we do things, not for the
sake of change, but for the sake
of the Kingdom. We have to find
ways to improve our effectiveness
as a local church. That's
the whole idea behind our new
small-group ministry structure
that I've spoken to you about
before and that I want to see us
implement just after Labor
Day. Here's
where you and I can "take the
ring" -- here's where we can say,
"Lord, we don't know the way, but
we're willing to make the
commitment." There
may be other ways you need to
take the ring, though -- you do
not know the way. Only you know
how God is stirring in your heart
with respect to your life, your
career, your family, and your
role in His unfolding plan
through Gateway
Church. I
don't know what battle of faith
you may be up against. But I do
know this. If you take the ring,
God will bring someone along to
help you. That's why the film is
called The Fellowship of the
Ring. Once Frodo made the
commitment, others rallied and
came alongside. Esther
had Mordecai and all the Jews in
Susa praying for her success.
Paul had Silas and Barnabas and
Luke and Timothy and John Mark.
John Wesley had his brother,
Charles. Jerry Varnado has Andy
Hines and Alton Thornton and
Kathy Tasker and you and
me. Take
the ring, though -- you do not
know the way. Make the commitment
of faith -- and I believe God
will equip you with everything
you need to do His will, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm
gonna let Bishop Davis close this
sermon with some encouragement
for us, as we press forward to
accomplish God's purposes, though
we do not know the
way. (Bishop
Davis - audio excerpt
3) Lord
God, empower us to take the ring,
through -- we do not know the
way. May there rise up in us
faith enough to fail -- faith to
press past the uncertainty into
the unfolding story of your
redemptive work in Jesus Christ,
who, while were yet sinners, died
for us. In
the name of the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
Ministry
of the
Word:
Recent
sermons
Our quarterly e-magazine
Gateway
Today
For the Gateway family
Pastor
Jerry's Weekly
E-Mail
A
GATEWAY SERMON
Faith
enough to fail
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
"I am the Gate for the sheep."
"I am the bread of
life."
A
metaphor from popular
culture
Gimli:
"Then
what
are we
waiting
for?
(He
strikes
the
ring
with
his
axe.
The
axe
breaks.)
Argh!"
Elrond:
"The
Ring
cannot
be
destroyed,
Gimli,
son of
Glóin,
by any
craft
that
we
here
possess.
The
Ring
was
made
in the
fires
of
Mount
Doom.
Only
there
can it
be
unmade.
It
must
be
taken
deep
into
Mordor
and
cast
back
into
the
fiery
chasm
from
whence
it
came.
One of
you
must
do
this...."
Boromir:
"Not
with
ten
thousand
men
could
you do
this.
It is
folly!"
Legolas:
(stands
indignantly)
"Have
you
heard
nothing
Lord
Elrond
has
said?
The
Ring
must
be
destroyed!"
Gimli:
(leaps
to his
feet,
speaking
to
Legolas
the
elf)
"And I
suppose
you
think
you're
the
one to
do
it?!"
Boromir:
(rises)
"And
if we
fail,
what
then?
What
happens
when
Sauron
takes
back
what
is
his?"
Gimli:
"I
will
be
dead
before
I see
the
Ring
in the
hands
of an
Elf!
(A
loud
argument
erupts.)
Gandalf:
(shouting
to be
heard
over
the
din)
"Do
you
not
understand
that
while
we
bicker
amongst
ourselves,
Sauron's
power
grows?"
Frodo:
(not
heard
over
the
arguing)
"I
will
take
it!"
Frodo:
(a bit
louder)
"I
will
take
it!"
(The
argument
dies
down;
all
turn
to
look
at
Frodo.)
Frodo:
"I
will
take
the
Ring
to
Mordor.
Though
-- I
do not
know
the
way."
The
title of this sermon is "Faith
Enough -- to Fail."
The
story of Esther
In
other words, "Have you stopped to
think, Esther, that maybe God
raised you up to be the queen for
this very purpose -- so that you
could be His instrument for
rescuing his people."
Paul's
willingnessAfter
we had been there a number of
days, a prophet named Agabus
came down from Judea. Coming
over to us, he took Paul's
belt, tied his own hands and
feet with it and said, "The
Holy Spirit says, 'In this way
the Jews of Jerusalem will
bind the owner of this belt
and will hand him over to the
Gentiles.' "
Willing
to take the risk
Examples
from the early
church
But
the disciples lived all this
stuff at ground level, in real
time. When they get called in
before the Sanhedrin, they don't
know if their gonna be set free
or end up on a cross before the
week is out.
A
message from the
bishop
Our
roles to playI
started down town to Holton's
shoe store.... When I was
nearly there, I began to
wonder whether I ought to go
just then, during business
hours. And I thought maybe my
mission might embarrass the
boy, that when I went away the
other clerks might ask who I
was, and when they learned
might taunt
[him]....
I
determined to make a dash for
it and have it over at once. I
found [the young man]
in the back part of the store
wrapping up shoes in paper and
putting them on
shelves....
I made my plea, and I feel
that it was really a very weak
one. I don't know just what
words I used.... I simply told
him of Christ's love for him
and the love Christ wanted in
return. That was all there was
of it.... [And] there
at once in the back of that
shoe store in Boston [that
young man] gave himself
and his life to Christ.
Toward
mighty faith
A
major life change
God
brings help
Words
to encourage
Closing
prayer
(Download
to a PC by right clicking on
the link and choosing "Save
Target As." Mac users: click,
hold, and choose "Download
Link to Disk." Depending on
your connection speed, the
file may take several minutes
to
download.)
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available free of
charge.
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
050724a: Faith Enough to
Fail
©
2005 Joseph M.
Slife