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Jump Start # 1386

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1386

NOTE: Tomorrow is a holiday for many. There will be no Jump Start tomorrow.

Luke 8:8 “Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great. As He said these things, He would call out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

  As Jesus tells the story of the farmer who sowed seed, a lesson not about evangelism, but listening and heeding what God says, He ended His point with the principle, “He who has hears, let him hear.” That expression is used of the seven churches in Revelation.

 

He who has ears. I’ve never seen a person without ears. I’ve known some who couldn’t hear and you had to shout at them. I’ve seen some with little ears, big ears, cute ears, pierced ears, ears that stood out. Boxers are said to have cauliflower ears because they were punched so many times. But I’ve never seen a person who never had ears. I suppose it could exist. Jesus is using this as a point of reference. You have ears, use them. Listen to the word of God.

 

Sometime ago, I was teaching a class at a congregation I was visiting. I was teaching about one of the parables. The world ‘parable’ means to lay along side of or to compare. It is to lay an unknown spiritual truth beside a known physical illustration. I told a humorous story involving trying to pick out a ripe watermelon. I was trying to get the audience to understand that comparisons are a part of life. Simple funny story and I went on to talk about one specific parable. The class lasted about forty minutes. As soon as the class was over, a man came approached me with a piece of paper. It was written instructions, front and back on how to pick out a watermelon. There were several points on how to do it correctly. Not only did he share that with me, but in the few moments between class and the worship period, he read the whole thing to me. I was thankful and stuck the piece of information in my pocket. I still have it today. It dawned on me that while I was teaching about the Lord’s parable, this guy was writing out instructions about selecting watermelons. He never heard anything past my story. The parable that I shared was missed because he was busy making sure I’d know how to choose a ripe melon the next time I went to the store.

 

I wondered if anyone ever did that to Jesus. I wonder while He was teaching about the sower, if someone approached Him afterwards and explained how important it is not to waste seed on thorny ground or upon the road way. Maybe a better way of casting the seed would have been shown to Jesus. Maybe some farmer thought he’d best help this carpenter turned teacher understand such things. Then there is the parable of the shepherd who left the 99 sheep to go looking for the one lost sheep. I could see a shepherd explaining to Jesus that such a shepherd would need helpers because if he left the 99, then they would wander off. And in all of this, the lessons are missed. The point is missed because someone feels compelled to correct a story or give helpful advice about how to do things better.

 

All that got me to thinking about how I listen to others preach. There have been times that I have taken notes of someone else for the sole purpose of preaching that very sermon myself. There have been times that I was a critical listener and I caught mannerism and mistakes that bothered me. And then I think of the Lord’s simple words, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Maybe I have been no different than the watermelon man who wanted to help me out.

 

We preachers spend a lot of time with younger preachers trying to help them and shape them into being better speakers and maybe we ought to teach people how to be better listeners. Let him hear, is what Jesus was after.

 

It takes an open heart and mind to hear. Distractions, both, externally and internally, can keep us from hearing. Outside noise, whether from crying babies, someone’s phone going off, traffic going down the street can distract us from being focused. More than that, the internal things, such as, worry, stress, running tomorrow’s schedule through our minds, can keep us from really hearing.

 

It seems that just as there is a preparation that the preacher must engage in before he stands behind the pulpit, there ought to be a similar preparation by the listeners on the other side of the pulpit. Coming with a heart to hear, learn, grow and be challenged takes some effort. Maybe it would help if we didn’t fill our minds with the things of the world such as watching the news before we came to worship. Maybe if we listened to hymns in the car instead of the radio, it would help us listen better. Maybe if we got up just a tad bit earlier, had a real prayer, read a few verses, then we would find ourselves ready to truly worship the Lord. Coming tired, stressed, busy is nothing more than that crowded heart that the parable warns about.

 

Maybe it would help if I brought my Bible, took out a pen and wrote down a few notes. Maybe it would help if on the way home, we talked about the lesson, not from the standpoint of a critic, but much more from the standpoint of a listener, we’d get more out of our listening.

 

The greatest sermons are of no value if the audience doesn’t hear. There is a physical side to this. The folks that run sound systems and mics must understand what they are doing. Those loud shrieks that come from the sound systems scares everyone and it disrupts the flow of things. It is important that congregations get folks who know what they are doing behind all the buttons and equipment. That’s one side of it. The other side is that the preacher must have something to say that folks will listen to. Boring sermons coming from bored preachers only bores the audience. Plug it in, preacher! Get passionate about what you are doing. You are preaching the amazing word of God. Put thought, effort and time into your lesson. Make every lesson your best. Someone asked me the other day if I drank an energy drink on Sunday mornings. I told him, ‘No. I’ve never had one in my life.’ I then went on to say that I love what I do and I love to preach. That alone gets me pumped up. The preacher must have something to say.

 

The audience, he who has ears, let him hear. This applies not just to listening to a sermon, but how we read the Bible. See yourself in those passages. Ask, ‘what would I have done?’ Make it personal. Make it practical. Make it real. Make it change your life.

 

Listening ears…that’s what the Lord is looking for. The Lord doesn’t need a  reviewer. The Lord doesn’t need help. The Lord doesn’t need instructions on how to sow. The Lord needs listening ears. Listen to the Lord. He has something to say.

 

Roger

 

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Jump Start # 1385

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Jump Starts Daily in Jump Starts Daily | Tagged | Leave a comment

Jump Start # 1385

1 Peter 4:4 “In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you; but they will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

  The atmosphere of 1 Peter is stormy. The apostle talks about fiery trials, suffering as a Christian, and enduring. Opposition was mounting against Christians. Being a Christian wasn’t the choice that most made. It came with many levels of troubles.

 

Our verse today follows Peter’s words of lust, drunkenness, sensuality, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries—all were in the past for the child of God. Those days are over. Those things are gone. The Christian was walking a different direction. The new life in Christ brought two reactions from the world.

 

First, they were surprised. They were surprised that you do not run with them. They were surprised that you do not engage in the same riotous living that they were doing. They were surprised that you would not do what they do. The Christian was different. His choice of Christ brought an end to wrong behavior.

 

Now, here’s a thought. More and more, some today are trying to build a bridge to justify the very things that Peter says they no longer do. Instead of being surprised that the Christian doesn’t do those things, today, they are surprised that some DO them. Instead of standing out, like a light does or as sanctification requires, some folks would rather blend in. The number of believers who are finding ways to justify social drinking is climbing. They see it as a good thing. They see it as an approved thing. They see it as something that Jesus would want them to do. Really? Look at Peter’s words in verse three. He lists three different forms of drinking. He says times up on that stuff. Our verse tells us that the world is surprised that you don’t run with them in those things. The Christian had turned away from those things.

 

There ought to be a noticeable difference between the child of God and the child of the world. Actions, attitudes, language, dress, definitions of fun and success, goals, outlook on life—are vastly difference between the Christian and the man of the world.

 

Those of the world are surprised. They are surprised that you don’t join them. They are surprised that you don’t run with them into the same excesses. They are surprised.

 

Second, Peter reveals that the response of surprise shifts to abuse. The words from the text are, “they malign you.” The NIV uses the expression, “they heap abuse on you.” The King James says, “speaking evil of you.”

 

Now do you notice something about all of this? The Christian isn’t doing anything wrong. The Christian is standing on his principles and convictions. The Christian is innocent, yet he is abused, maligned and spoken evil. This is how the world responds. Instead of feeling guilty for their wrong behavior and changing, they attack the righteous one. They always have. They did this to Jesus. They did this to God’s prophets. Ahab called Elijah “the troubler of Israel.” It was Ahab who was leading the nation into idolatry.

 

Join them or suffer is what it looks like the outcome will be. Unless you go along with their wrong, they will turn on you. They will speak evil of you. The maligning carries the idea of false allegations. What they point their finger at isn’t true. They make up things. They distort things. They falsely accuse. They are mean and hurtful. Remember our Lord? At His trial, false witnesses were produced. False, untrue witnesses, saying wrong and false things, distorting things, misquoting things, taking things out of context—that’s the way maligners operate. Join them or else. Join them or suffer. Join them or be ready for an avalanche of abuse. What they are doing is wrong. They don’t care. They do not have a heart nor a conscience. They do not care that they hurt the innocent. They do not care that what they say is a lie. They do not care, simply because you will not run with them.

 

I find these words fitting for our times. It’s not enough that the same-sex crowd got what they wanted, they are now turning against those who will not support them. The abuse begins. The false things, twisted words, distorted comments are being made to make Christians seem to be bigots, ignorant and not worthy to exist. They will not stop until they shut down churches. Why? What have we done? We have not run with them. We will not dance with them. We will not be a part of them. Surprised, they now turn to abuse. It’s happening and will continue to happen.

 

Peter adds one additional thought, “they will give an account to Him.” The Christian may suffer, but he will be ok in the end. His faith in the Lord will carry him through until he rests safely with the Savior. The trouble makers may seem to win now, but they will stand before the Lord. They will give an account to the Lord. The Lord does not take lightly the abusing of His people. Egypt got it for harming God’s people. The Babylonians got it for doing the same. The Romans got it for doing the same. If not in this world, before the throne, the maligners will learn that they were wrong.

 

Surprise…abuse…justice—that may be the course we are sailing on for a while. It will be ok. We need to be there for one another. We need to pray fervently. We need to support one another. We need to encourage each other to stand firm at the post. Don’t waver. Don’t cave it. Don’t sell out. God knows. Someday all will be right.

 

Live the way the Lord wants you to.

 

Roger