Today I like to share a word about Healthy Evangelism as I comment on Acts 1:6-11, which reads:
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
We have been looking at the characteristics of a healthy church as defined by the International Mission Board. We’ve seen how the how healthy worship is our “Job 1.” Today we will see how God has given us a commission to proclaim the Gospel. As I began thinking about this message, I was reminded of a joke sent to me by a friend:
A mom was preparing pancakes for her sons Kevin, 5 and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw a chance to teach a moral lesson. She said, “If Jesus was sitting here, he would say, ‘Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait.’” Kevin turned to his baby brother and said: “Ryan, you be Jesus!”
So often that’s our attitude about evangelism, missions, and outreach. Like our trash, we’re glad that those things are taken care of . . . by someone else! That’s not a healthy Biblical attitude, though. Let’s consider Acts 1:6-11 and see what our attitude ought to be.
WHO WAS JESUS SPEAKING TO? US!
In the South we have our own vocabulary. For example, the plural of “You” is “Y’all” and the plural of “Y’all” is “All Y’all.” The plural of “Us” is “Us’ns” and the plural of “We” is “We’uns.”
When they are asked to proclaim the Gospel, some people will reply, “Who, me?”
Who was Jesus talking to here? Not pastors, they didn’t exist yet. Not deacons, they hadn’t been selected yet. Not to the world, they didn’t believe in Jesus. He was speaking to the church, those called to follow Him. He was talking to “All Y’all” and to “Us’ns.”
Heathy churches enlist their entire fellowship to be witnesses for Christ.
WHAT WAS JESUS ASKING US TO DO? WITNESS!
God wants to communicate His love to people. He invested all He has in saving mankind and this would be wasted if people did not hear. As the second half of 2 Peter 3:9 tells us: “[God is] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
We have simply been asked to tell what we know; to witness is just to tell what we have experienced firsthand. Even physical, forensic, and documentary evidence must come into court by way of a verbal witness.
Our personal testimony is powerful, because no one can deny what we have personally experienced. It is portable because we can take anywhere that we ourselves go. It is persuasive because the best way of promoting something is by word of mouth. As missionaries to South Vietnam used to say, “What was whispered in Hue in morning will be shouted in Saigon by the afternoon.”
The truth is, we will be witnesses whether we like it or not, but what kind will we be? As a hospital marketing director once told the Board of Directors, “Everything our employees do is marketing, some of it good, some of it bad!”
Heathy churches give a good witness to Christ.
HOW WAS JESUS ASKING US TO DO THIS? BY GOD’S POWER!
Doing a job without the right tools is frustrating and dangerous.For example, many people have cut themselves badly while trying to use a knife as a can opener. I remember how eye-opening it was for the first time I cut a loaf of bread with a real bread knife! It was so much better than using a butcher knife or a steak knife!
God knows that witnessing for Him is difficult; Jesus witnessed, and he was reviled by His enemies. Not only that, but Jesus witnessed, and he was misunderstood by His friends. In the end, Jesus witnessed, and he was killed by a distant, unfeeling government
God has made provisions to help us, however, First, He sent the Holy Spirit to us and though the Spirit He gave us Spiritual gifts. He also gave us pastor/teachers to train us and lead us. Finally, He promised He’ll give us the words to say in our time of need.
If we say “I can’t” we are right. If we say that “God can’t use me” we are wrong!
Healthy churches allow God to empower their evangelism and outreach.
WHY WAS JESUS ASKING US TO DO THIS? THE NEED IS GREAT!
There is a world of hurt out there:
COVID-19 has killed untold numbers of people in the world who have died without Christ.
We have a continuing problem with substance abuse and the resulting addictions.
Suicide is becoming a serious problem in western society.
Political and social unrest are common, and the cancel culture is in full bloom.
There is a world of lost people out there:
There is no county in the USA which has more Christians than it did ten years ago
Our birthrate is outstripping rate of baptisms.
Overseas baptisms now top baptisms at home.
About one billion people in closed countries have never heard Gospel.
People are dying and going to Hell!
Heathy churches understand that this world and everyone in it need Jesus!
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO?
Healthy churches:
Are good witnesses for God in our words and deed.
Take every opportunity they are are presented to witness for the Lord.
Invite people to their church.
Pray that the harvest will increase.
Everything in nature that is healthy reproduces. A heathy church will reproduce itself through evangelism!
Today I want to share a word about healthy worship as I comment on Psalm 100, which reads:
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
The last time that I posted, I reviewed the Characteristics of a Heal thy Church as taught by the International Mission Board to the new churches which they help plant.
I asserted then, that as our churches in North America begin to rebuild after a year of the ravages of COVID-19, they should also consider these characteristics so that they can rebuild to be even better and stronger than they were pre-Corona virus.
Several decades ago, when imported cars were gaining in both market share and consumer rankings over domestic models, the Ford Motor Company came out with a new slogan, which was: “Quality is Job One.”
Our first task, our “Job One” as God’s people is to worship Almighty God. We have a commission to worship that is basic to all we do and that is what we will look at together today.
WE WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD IS WORTHY:
Humans, from the beginning of time, have needed heroes. We love to sing others praises: We dance with joy when our political candidate wins. We whistle and clap for our favorite actor or actress. We jump for joy when our ball team wins the big game. We put our favorite race driver’s number on our pick-up.
The sad fact for us is that all of these will fade away: Every politician will eventually retire. Every actor or actress will get old and ugly. Every ball team will eventually lose. Every driver will eventually lose their own personal race.
Only God is truly worthy of our praise! He is powerful and just forever. He is loving & beautiful forever His race never ends.
We will worship; it is our nature as people. The question is this: Is what we worship worthy of our praise?
WE WORSHIP BECAUSE GOD INHABITS OUR PRAISE:
We need to feel connected with God. Loneliness is an increasing problem in America today. People are more and more isolated from each other and this has never been more true, as more and more people are in work from home jobs after COVID-19.
When we were missionaries in West Africa, we learned a saying from our local friends. “Never stand in sun when you can stand in the shade; never be alone, when you can be with a friend.”
When we are alone, we can feel isolated and that feel ing of isolation is terrible. We feel small and helpless. We feel insignificant and purposeless. We can be full of fear and anxiety. However, God is present with us when we praise and worship Him. Psalm 22:3 tells us:
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
This has also been translated as:
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Also consider Matthew 18:20:
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
God is present with us in our praise. He occupies our worship. If we want to experience the real presence of God in our lives, we must worship!
WE WORSHIP BECAUSE IT IS THE BEST PART:
We have a lot of options about what to do with our time: In church we can worship, study the Bible, fellowship, and do ministry. Outside church we can work, visit family, attend school, enjoy entertainment and sports. We have so much we can do that a 24-hour day isn’t long enough anymore.
Luke 10:38-42 illustrates this dilemma:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha chose to do good. She was caring for her family & guests. She wasn’t sinning, she just was busy doing good.
On the other hand, Mary chose the best part. There is nothing like true worship to satisfy our souls. We all need to sit at the feet of Jesus and bask in His glow!
The saying that “The good is the enemy of the best.” applies here. If we are too busy to worship, we’re too busy!
WE WORSHIP BECAUSE IT IS OUR DESTINY:
Everything God created has a purpose:
•Sun, moon, and stars.
•Earth, land, water, and sky.
•Fish of the sea, beasts of the field, trees and grass of wilderness.
•Humans have the highest purpose of all.
Our purpose for living is revealed by Psalm 100:4:
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
Revelation 7:9-12 also tells us will be doing that for eternity we will worship God, we will praise God’s name, we will bless Him, and acclaim Him. Maybe that is why worship mentioned over 380 times in Bible.
This fact illuminates the reason why we do many other things in a healthy church:
•Our purpose for discipleship: To learn about God so we can praise Him better.
•Our purpose for evangelism: So all nations will worship Him.
•Our purpose for ministry: So those who are blessed will praise God.
•Our purpose for stewardship: To honor the God who blessed us with this wonderful world
Since worship is our destiny, why would we not want to get a head start and worship God today in spirit and in truth, with all our hearts, souls, and minds?
CONCLUSION:
When I was a youth our youth choir sang a cantata that had a song entitled “Get All Excited” The main theme stated: “Get all excited, go tell everybody that Jesus Christ is King”
Before we go and tell, we need to get all excited about who God is and what He’s done for us. If we do that, we’ll come to truly worship Him with the devotion He deserves.
Are we excited about God? Do we truly worship Him? A healthy church does.
Today I am sharing a word about the characteristics of a healthy church as I comment on Matthew 16:13-19, which reads,
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Obviously, in that short passage of Scripture we can see many different theological issues that we need to unpack, but the one I would like to focus on today is the idea that Christ will build His church and that it will be a church triumphant. What would that kind of church be like?
We often hear it said that a church is a “body of baptized believers in Christ,” but I remember noted missiologist and missionary practitioner Dr. Jim Slack once describe how he resisted pressure from his mission agency leadership to call a large “body of baptized believers in Christ” in his area of responsibility a church. Dr. Slack said that while that group of believers was a relatively large congregation, it was not yet a church, because they were not doing the things a church should do.
This story from Dr. Slack reminds me of a pithy critique of the church in North America by Vance Havner, the noted revival preacher, who said, “We are many, but we’re not much.” How can a church “be much” for God?
The International Mission Board has discerned 12 Characteristics of a Healthy Church. IMB representatives teach these characteristics to the thousands of new churches which are planted each year on the international mission field. As churches here in the United States begin to rebuild their ministries after a year of COVID-19 restrictions, I think it would be good for our churches in North America to review these same characteristics and determine to incorporate them into their life and ministry in the months and years to come.
So, what are these 12 Characteristics of a Healthy Church? I am glad you asked! They include, in the order listed by the IMB, the following:
Biblical Evangelism: Jesus did not actually issue many direct commands to His followers, but He did direct that they would be witnesses for Him and that they must go into the world and make Disciples in His name. This is obviously a central task for a healthy church because any healthy creature in nature will reproduce. The church must evangelize, or it will weaken and die.
Biblical Discipleship: Jesus, in the Great Commission, did not command us to make converts, but to make disciples, and to teach them all that He has taught us. The central focus of most of Paul’s Epistles is that it is necessary to grow and become mature in Christ, and the church is the place where that growth should take place.
Biblical Membership: The doors of the church should be open to everyone, but not the membership roll. While, like the credit card advertisement says, “membership has its privileges,” it also has its requirements. Churches must ensure that their members give a clear testimony in word and action that they have been saved and regenerated through a relationship to God in Christ.
Biblical Leadership: A church can only be as strong as its leaders, and the Bible lays out rigorous and clear qualifications for church leadership. The Scriptures also provide us many negative examples of poor leaders and their destructive effects upon God’s people. Churches should heed both aspects as it calls, installs, and follows its leaders.
Biblical Preaching and Teaching: Baptists are known as “people of the Word” and rightfully so. The Scriptures are our guide for knowing God and for knowing His will and way. As you will have noticed, all of these characteristics of a healthy church are preceded by the word “Biblical” and that implies that we teach and preach God’s Word faithfully so we can know both His standards and His heart.
Biblical Ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper: Again, some of the few direct commands of Jesus include these church ordinances. These ordinances are key elements of a church’s worship, and the right and privilege of celebrating them has been given to the church. Churches must be good stewards and practitioners of these so that they retain their meaning and their power of proclamation.
Biblical Worship: Although creation itself is a praise unto God, our Creator wants to hear the praises of His people. Worship is an act, and attitude, and a way of life for the church and all churches should strive to worship God well in accordance with the Word.
Biblical Fellowship: The Bible tells us that, even from the time of the Creation, it is not good for people to be alone. Humankind was made for fellowship, both with God and with each other. Churches should be a place of mutual care and encouragement for its members and those whom they love.
Biblical Prayer: In the same way that God wants to hear the praise of His people, God our Father wants to hear the prayers of His Children. He wants to hear our concerns and cares, our joys and sorrows. He wants us to share our hearts with Him and He with us. Healthy churches promote and practice intercessory prayer as well as prayer that praises and glorifies God.
Biblical Accountability and Discipline: Our God corrects and disciplines His children, and He expects the church to do the same. Accountability and discipline must be done with a mixture of grace and truth, justice and mercy. It is always done with the goals of repentance and restoration, not judgment and condemnation.
Biblical Giving: Because God is the Creator of this world, He owns it all. He does not just own “the cattle on a thousand hills,” but also the hills, the gold under the hills, and the oil under the gold under the hills. Everything that we have comes from God, and He has given us charge over it. We must be good stewards of what He has provided to us!
Biblical Mission: One of our human frailties is that we can’t see the forest for the trees. That is, we become so consumed by everyday life that we forget the big picture, but the church cannot. As the Body of Christ present on the earth today, the church must continue with His mission of seeking and saving that which was lost. Billions of souls around the world still need a relationship to God through Christ and the church must take the Gospel to them if we are to honor and obey our Lord.
Wow, what an intimidating list! Yet, think about all of the things that healthy bodies do each day, almost without us thinking about them: breathing air, pumping blood, turning food into energy, cleansing itself of impurities and poisons, resting, and healing itself. Healthy bodies do what comes naturally, and the same can become true of churches and their members if they are nurtured in the admonition of the Lord.
Over the next weeks we will look more closely at each of these elements of a healthy church. While we are unpacking them, please pray for your church, your pastor, and your leaders as they all work to Biblically rebuild your church’s ministry so it can fulfill Christ’s vision as we saw in Matthew 16.
I will be back soon with more discussion of the Characteristics of a Healthy Church we can share together. Every blessing,
Today I want to share a word about the lifecycle of a church as I comment on I Corinthians 12:12-14, and verse 27. This passage reads:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many . . . Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
The World's Perspective:
In our corporate world of today, we have grown accustomed to thinking of the local church as a corporation, and indeed many local churches are non-profit corporations.
It is actually best practice in the USA to incorporate churches and to run their business affairs in a business-like manner. The local church, however, is not a business, nor really is it an organization.
It would be easy to criticize this generation for following the mindset of the world as we think about the church, but previous generations have fallen into this trap as well.
I think it is no coincidence that the rise of Baptists and other groups of autonomous local churches who govern themselves by democratic processes coincided with the rise of political democracy.
Likewise, churches who are structured with Bishops and dioceses closely mimic secular kingdoms and empires.
The Biblical Perspective:
What we often forget is that the best Biblical description of the church is that it resembles an organism. The church is the Body of Christ and it is the Bride of Christ. The church is to be the Hands and Feet of Christ, and also workers who are not ashamed as they rightly divide the Word of Truth.
In short, the church, particularly the local church, is not an organization but an organism. And, as scholars like Robert Dale and George Bullard have noted, churches, like organisms, have a life cycle.
In essence, churches are born, they grow, they mature, they should produce offspring, they plateau, they decline, and eventually, unless the Lord returns first, they will die.
As Dale and Bullard illustrate the life cycle of a church, it resembles a bell curve starting with its birth, growing up to the point of its greatest ministry, then sliding down in an arc through growing ineffectiveness and decay, until the church breathes its last.
Although this perspective seems to be fatalistic and deterministic, Robert Dale asserted that this did not necessarily need to be the case. If a church which had become plateaued would dream their dream again, they could launch upwards again in a fresh arc of growth and ministry. And Jesus, himself seems to agree with that belief. In Revelation 2:1-5 we read:
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstand “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”
The last time that I posted, I lamented the fact that it is hard to start over, but that we must. We must rebuild after the ravages of COVID-19 on our lives and on our ministries. We must dream again, and we must rekindle our first love for Christ, for our communities, and our church congregations.
Conclusion:
Over the next few weeks, I will be using some material created by the International Mission Board to help new churches get started well on the mission field. I believe that the same material would be helpful to us as we rebuild after a year of COVID-19. Until then, pray that God will help us all to find our first love!
Today I want to share a word about starting over as I comment on Genesis 9:20-23. This passage tells us:
Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness.
From both personal and professional experience, I think one of the most difficult emotional and spiritual challenges is the task of starting over. Let me explain.
SPILT MILK:
When I was in elementary school, I was assigned a long and difficult homework project. I labored over the task all afternoon, being very careful to write clearly and legibly, because my handwriting has never been very good, and this was many years before computers. I had just finished the last sentence on a multi-page paper when I bumped over a glass of milk on the kitchen table where I was working. I literally cried over spilt milk!
I wanted to throw up my hands in defeat and crawl into bed, but my mother made me sit back down and copy the spoiled pages onto new sheets of paper. It did not take as long as I thought it would, and the next day I received a good score from my teacher. I was so glad that my mom made me buckle down and start over, but at that moment that I was staring in disbelief and dismay at the spilled milk and spoiled document, I wasn’t happy at all. I just wanted to quit! Interestingly, I was in good company when I didn’t want to start all over again. In Genesis 9, Noah got stressed out about starting over also.
STRESS REACTION:
Noah, of course, had just saved humanity and the animal kingdom from destruction by the flood, and so he had a lot more reason to be stressed out than I was, but we can still see what was happening in his life. Before the flood and before God used him in a work of salvation, we see no indication that Noah drank or used any intoxicating substance. After the flood, with the world he knew destroyed, and with the task of rebuilding ever present in his life, “He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.” (Genesis 9:21).
Noah tried to drink his fears, cares, and troubles away. Of course, when he sobered up the next day, his troubles were still there, and they had actually multiplied because he resorted to alcohol to self-medicate and dull his anxiety.
STARTING OVER:
Now that the COVID-19 restrictions we have been under for over a year have been reduced, our churches need to rebuild their ministries. This is much harder than starting from the beginning. It is less exciting and more stressful. And yet rebuild we must.
Although we have had to cancel many meetings and restructure many ministries in the past year, the Great Commission has not been cancelled and God has not restructured the way the Gospel works.
People need a relationship with God through Jesus more than ever, and we need to rebuild and renew our ministries so that we can be the hands and feet of Jesus in a post-COVID-19 world. Now is not the time to give into our fears or to cater to our fatigue and inertia. When Jesus calmed the storm in the Sea of Galilee that was not the end of the work. When they arrived on the opposite shore, Jesus healed the demoniac.
CONCLUSION:
Our work awaits us. We must rebuild! Pray for our churches and pastors as we restore and reinvigorate our ministries in the weeks to come!
Today I want to share a word about Easter blessings as I comment on passages from John Chapters 20 and 21.
I was truly blessed to be asked to preach on Easter Sunday this year. It is a rare thing for me as a denominational leader to preach on Easter or Christmas because few pastors are going to miss those special days.
When I was a young seminary student, I was called on to preach a Christmas sermon at the last minute. I was called at midnight to preach for a sick pastor, and I didn’t have a Christmas sermon! Believe it or not, an even greater challenge was presented to me when my wife and I were missionaries in Africa. The church we were attending had scheduled a local minister to preach for their Easter service one year. Our pastor and another were going to swap pulpits that Easter.
My family was sitting at the back of the sanctuary and we were enjoying the worship experience, when I felt a tapping on my shoulder. Two single ladies who were from a Bible translation ministry were sitting behind me and one of them leaned forward and said, “I hope you have a sermon in your Bible, because the preacher isn’t here and it’s just about time for the sermon!”
I actually didn’t have a sermon in my Bible that day so, while the choir was singing the anthem I desperately prayed for guidance! God brought to my mind the Centurion at the foot of the Cross, and that’s what I preached about.
In the USA, there is no such thing as a bad, short, sermon, but standards in Africa were a little different. I didn’t preach for very long, but I gave it my best shot! I was blessed if no one else was! Just for the record, the scheduled preacher showed up right after everyone had left for home. There was a mix-up in times.
The thing is, the Easter story is one with many dimensions, and one dimension is the way God blessed the Disciples that first Easter Sunday. Let’s look at a few of those blessings today.
First, We See The Blessing of Recovery; What Was Once Lost Has Now Been Found:
John 20:11-18 tells us:
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
Losing an item is frustrating and disturbing. After all, you needed that item, or you would not have gotten it. If it is lost, not only have you wasted the money used to purchase it, but whatever task that you needed the item for will not get done. So, what you do is you make an extraordinary effort to find it. Luke 15:8-10 describes what we might do in those circumstances:
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
I recently had a situation just like this one. I had purchased two extra chargers for my computer so I could have one in my bag, one at home, and one at work. Then, I put them in a very safe place. A place that was so safe I could not find them! Like the woman, I turned my house upside down and found them.
Losing a loved one is even more distressing. We have all experienced this type of loss, and certainly many people have during the past year. A lost loved one leaves a hole in our lives and an aching for the relationship that takes much time to heal. Jesus understood this pain as He illustrated in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This parable is better called the Parable of the Loving or Grieving Father.
All of the followers of Jesus were hurting that first Easter. They had walked with Jesus for months and even years. He was central to their lives, and yet He was ripped away from them violently and almost without warning. Now, however, He was found again by Mary, and she was blessed beyond measure!
Next, We See The Blessing of Revelation; What Was Once Hidden Now Has Been Made Clear:
John 20:19-21 tells us:
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
The world is full of dynamic personalities that look to gain a following. Some want notoriety and fame. Some want money. Some want power. All of them want you to follow them.
The Disciples knew that Jesus was special, but they didn’t really understand His goals. Some people had followed Him because of His miracles. People like to be fed, and they like to be healed. Some people thought He was going establish an earthly kingdom and drive out the Roman oppressors. The Apostles asked Jesus about this as late as Acts 1: 6-8 which says,
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Peter even got so confused on the Mount of Transfiguration that he wanted to build houses and stay there!
Jesus revealed several key truths to the Disciples on that first Easter:
Jesus had come to bring peace, but not political peace or social peace. He came to bring us peace with God.
To bridge the gap between fallen and sinful humanity and the perfect Creator of all things there had to be a perfect sacrifice. Jesus had to die for human sins, and He had to rise to defeat death and hell.
He also came to allow us to have a part in this work. We have the blessing of bringing His peace to all who will receive it.
My mother-in-law made it her practice to send gifts to her children on every imaginable occasion. She truly believed it was better to give than receive and she sent us Easter baskets for literally decades. She only quit when she moved into a retirement home.
Her giving was a blessing to both her and to her children, but an even greater blessing is to share the peace of Jesus with our family and friends.
Next, We See The Blessing of Rejoicing; Those Who were In Sorrow Have Been Made Joyous:
John 20:24-28 says,
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
One thing I have learned in ministry is that people grieve in many different ways. Some lash out in anger and rage. Some withdraw in fear and depression. Some refuse to accept their loss at all.
A member of a church that I pastored in seminary had lost her husband years before I arrived on the scene. She was so distraught that her family physician gave her sedatives to calm her emotions. Sadly, she could not remember the funeral because of the effects of those sedatives. This caused her to grieve for years and years.
Knowing these things is it hard for me to criticize Thomas. The events of Good Friday were shocking to all of Jesus’s followers. Thomas’s reaction is a natural, human one. He had seen Jesus brutalized, and he had seen Jesus die. He just could not believe what he was hearing. He was hopeless, helpless, and hapless!
Let’s look at the difference meeting Jesus made to Thomas His faith and belief were restored and he praised Jesus and worshipped Him! He was no longer hopeless, helpless, and hapless; but instead he had faith, hope, and love
The foundations of our lives have been shaken over the past year, with COVID-19, social unrest, political unrest, and spiritual unrest. It would be hard for me to criticize anyone who is feeling today like Thomas was after Good Friday.
The answer to our needs is the same as for Thomas. We need to meet Jesus face-to-face!
Finally, We See The Blessing of Restoration; Those Who Failed Have Been Made Reappointed:
John 21:15-17 tells us,
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
There are two types of people in the world: those who have failed, and those who will. No one is without fault. All have sinned. There is none righteous, no not one!
All that being said, when Peter failed, he did so spectacularly!
He was probably the closest friend of Jesus. He had boldly, even brashly, proclaimed his loyalty to Jesus. When the time came to perform, however, Peter could talk the talk, but not walk the walk.
There is a saying, “Go big or go home.” Peter always would “Go big,” even, or especially in his failures. Jesus even called him Satan to his face once!
Now that Jesus had risen, Peter didn’t know what to do.
Could their relationship ever be the same?
Could Peter ever be a leader of Jesus’s followers again?
Could Jesus overcome his betrayal?
Often, when you don’t know what to do, you go with what you know. If all you have is a hammer, all the world is a nail. And Peter knew how to fish, so he went fishing!
Peter was right to be chastened. It is a crisis when leaders fail; they are expected to be more mature than other church members. They are expected to be able to guard their hearts, and their passions, and their behavior.
When leaders fail, they need to step back for a time to work out their spiritual issues before they can lead again. Some never can lead again.
Peter was blessed after the first Easter, because Jesus restored him to fellowship, to ministry, and to leadership. Jesus gave Peter charge over the ones most precious to Him, the sheep of his flock!
The definition of “justification” as “Just as if I’d never sinned,” has never been truer than in the case of Jesus restoring Peter on the lakeshore.
Conclusion:
We know that Easter has brought us more than just these few blessings. In fact, John, himself, said, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
The question is not was Easter a blessing. The question is are you letting what happened through the first Easter be a blessing to you?
The people we have seen in John Chapters 20 and 21 are people just like you and me. They had the same wants, the same needs, the same faults, and the same hopes. They found their answers in the blessings of Jesus and we can find our answers there too!
Today I want to share a word about the Master of the Dawning as I comment on Luke 23:54 to Luke 24:12.
A common meme says that there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord," and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it's morning." For those of us who aren’t morning people, here’s a good story:
The Bear family is just waking up. Baby Bear goes downstairs and sits in his small chair at the table. He looks into his small bowl. It is empty. "Who's been eating my porridge?" he squeaks.
Daddy Bear arrives at the table and sits in his big chair. He looks into his big bowl. It is also empty! "Who's been eating my porridge?" he roars, as big bears often do.
Momma Bear puts her head through the serving hatch from the kitchen and yells, "For Pete's sake, how many times do we have to go through this?!"
"It was Momma Bear who got up first. It was Momma Bear who woke up everybody else in the house. It was Momma Bear who unloaded the dishwasher from last night and put everything away."
"It was Momma Bear who went out into the cold early morning air to fetch the newspaper and the wood for the fire. It was Momma Bear who set the table. It was Momma Bear who put the cat out, cleaned the litter box and filled the cat's water and food dish."
"And now that you've decided to come downstairs and grace me with your presence.... listen good because I'm only going to say this one more time..." She yells, “I haven't made the stupid porridge yet!!"
Early on the first Easter Sunday, some women got up to do a very important task. In do this work they learned that Jesus is the Master of the Dawning.
Let’s begin by reading Luke 23:54-Luke 24:1.
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
THE DAWNING REVEALED A DISAGREEABLE TASK:
It is a fact of life that women, particularly wives and mothers, often get saddled with disagreeable tasks: Cleaning the house. Washing dishes and clothes. Taking care of the needs of children. Cleaning up after someone has gotten sick.
Who gets called when an accident happens at home? Mom does!
These women came to do a necessary, but disagreeable task. There had been no time on Friday to anoint the dead body of Jesus, but now that the Sabbath was over, they had the chance. They arose early to do this, possibly to avoid trouble.
The seemingly mundane actions of these women actually can teach us a great deal. They believed that Jesus was really dead, and they obviously had not yet understood what He intended to do. Yet, they loved Him enough to do this dangerous, disagreeable task. Because of their love and bravery, God allowed them to see the truth first!
A careful reading of the New Testament demonstrates that Jesus was a great liberator of women, and this incident is part of that forgotten narrative.
Let’s now look at Luke 24:2-5:
And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"
THE DAWNING REVEALED A DISMAYING DISCOVERY:
When the women arrived, they were shocked. The tomb was open, and their Lord's body wasn’t there. Even more frightening, strangers appeared nearby, suddenly as out of the morning mists. Naturally, the women were frightened and upset and not just because of their sudden appearance, but also because of the social unrest they had witnessed on Good Friday.
So, who were these men? They had the characteristics of angels: They appeared out of nowhere and shinned and glowed. Even more importantly, they came with a message.
Their message was a critical one. The entire history of salvation could have been changed!
What if they had said “Jesus’s body was stolen?”
What if they had said “The man was a fraud, and He never died?”
What if they had said, “Foolish women, He was a devil?”
We find out what they said in Luke 24:5-8:
And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise." And they remembered his words . . .
THE DAWNING REVEALED A DYNAMIC MESSAGE:
The message of the angels was none of those above. The message was one of hope and promise! Jesus was not there because He is not dead, though He had died. Jesus was not there because He is risen. Jesus had done just what He said He would do.
These ladies didn’t understand before, but they would now. They were the first to understand the essential truths of the Gospel:
Jesus died for our sins.
Jesus rose again, defeating death and Hell.
Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God today, making intercession for us!
To discard these facts would be like discarding a car’s engine. A car without an engine may look nice, but it can’t do its work of transportation; it doesn’t have the power. A belief system that does not include these facts is just as powerless!
So, what did these women do? They ran to tell others this glorious and joyful news. Unlike Peter, who wanted to build houses on Mount of Transfiguration, they didn’t keep this wonderful news to themselves. They told everything to all those who needed to know!
Luke 24:8-12 tells us how their message was received.
And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
THE DAWNING REVEALED DISBELIEVING DISCIPLES:
We know what the Disciples had experienced during Holy Week.
They had been so excited about having Passover in Jerusalem. But they had been shocked by Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and they had been frightened by Jesus’ arrest and trial. They were shattered by Jesus’ death on the cross among thieves and so they were totally defeated and demoralized.
So, naturally they couldn’t believe what they heard. They “knew” that the world as they knew it was over and they needed more than wild stories and rumors. Besides, in those days, women were not trusted with important news. They just wouldn’t believe unless they saw themselves.
Even when Peter saw, with his own eyes, he still didn’t understand. Even though he was one of the closest friends of Jesus, He was as perplexed as the women. He would need a special messenger to teach him also.
There is an old saying that the ground is level at the foot of the Cross. This story would seem to support that astute idea! Peter, without the help of God was no more or less wise than the women were!
CONCLUSION:
Today we know everything that the women knew and even more.
In the dawning of each new day, whether that dawn is eagerly awaited or filled with dread, we need to remember, that Jesus Is the Master of The Dawning.
What makes a difference in our lives is our relationship with Jesus. If we let Him, He can be master of all our dawns, and all our days and nights as well.
If we do, we will find ourselves blessed, because, as Jesus says to us, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Jesus is the Master of the Dawning. Is He your master?
