Jump Start # 3042

Romans 10:15 “And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good news.’”

Tuesdays are long days for me. I teach two Bible classes on Tuesday. One in the morning and one in the evening. In between, I write a Jump Start and record three or four podcasts. Then, I try to work on my class for Wednesday. Plus there are emails, texts and phone calls that are sprinkled throughout the day. I tend to spend nearly twelve hours at the church building on Tuesdays.

Last Tuesday was one of those long days. I got home around 9 o’clock in the night and ate my supper. Tired, head filled with all kinds of things that I had studied, read, written. taught and worked on that day. I was already thinking about the next day. I have another class to teach. I didn’t have a clue what I was going to cover or teach. Weariness was building. There just didn’t seem to be any break in this routine. Someone had recently said to me, “Why are you doing so much? Is all of that necessary?” I sure got to thinking about that.

Then the joy and the glory of what I am doing hit me. I’m teaching God’s Holy Word. What an honor that is. Not just once in my life, but on that given week, I preached, taught four classes, recorded three podcasts, written five blogs, and a bunch of class material. And, all of these things surrounded teaching God’s word. I didn’t write any financial blogs. Didn’t do a daily update on the Dodgers. Didn’t record a diary entry. All of this centered around God’s glorious Word.

I think sometimes when one is in the middle of so much and all he sees is deadlines, commitments and a whole bunch of “I gotta get that done,” that he fails to realize what an honor it is to be doing what he is doing. Only the chosen got to be apostles. Only certain ones got to be prophets. But to be allowed to teach Bible class, no matter what the age and to be able to help others on their journey with the Lord is the greatest thing one can do.

Our passage today talks about how beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings. This is not talking about good looking feet or pretty toes. It’s the blessing to carry God’s word. It’s a blessing to have others who want to learn and grow from your efforts and studies. It’s a blessing to help shape lives through the Lord. People show up and they want to hear what you have learned and seen from God’s word.

The burden and obligation of day to day things that must be done can steal the love and the joy of serving for the Lord. If not careful, what so many of us do, becomes just a job. The tasks and checking off what needs to be done becomes our focus. We forget about people and souls. We don’t see lives changed and hope building. We fail to see faith being strengthened and people making sacrifices for the Lord. Just another class. Just another sermon. Are they? Or, are they the tools and the steps to help others see the Lord? Shepherding can fall into this same trap. We forget what and why we are doing what we do.

Those thoughts kept me up on a tired night. But the next morning I had a renewed energy because I found the purpose. It wasn’t teaching a class, or writing another article, it was helping others to see Jesus. Joy replaced the weariness. So one can come into a weekend with the thought, “I have to preach a sermon,” or, “I get to teach people God’s word.” Have to or get to, they are not the same. Have to leads to weariness and burnout. Get to, never tires. Get to, looks for exciting ways to share with others. Have to, only sees the immediate job that needs to be done. Get to, sees hearts, souls and lives that the Lord loves.

The father of John the baptist had an opportunity to go into the temple to serve as a priest. There were so many divisions of priests and so many to serve, that he likely did not get to do this very often. How special that would have been. How excited he would have been. Calendar marked, up early that day, he was to serve the Lord in the temple. Doubt he had to have someone remind him. Doubt others were waiting around wondering if he was going to show up that day. This was an honor. This was special. And, for so many of us, it’s not a once or twice in our lifetime opportunity. Many of us get to serve before the Lord every week. I can imagine ole’ Zacharias being a bit jealous of us and wishing he had the many times to serve as we do. We can certainly take these opportunities for granted and forget that we are serving the Lord.

The joy of serving the Lord, encouraging brethren and helping others is the drive and the motive of what we ought to be doing. The deadlines, commitments and things that have to get done must not lead us to what is most important, and that is, serving in the kingdom.

We are blessed to be allowed in the kingdom, let alone to be participants in these things. God has placed these wonderful opportunities into our hands. We are honored and must do our best.

Roger

Jump Start # 2172

Romans 10:15 “And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things.’”

Preaching—it isn’t always easy. Oh, it looks easy. The finished product on Sunday inspires, encourages, fills the heart, chases doubts away and brings God to the forefront of our eyes. The people of God love sermons. The world that isn’t committed to God doesn’t have the same taste for sermons. For them, they want to be entertained. Comic relief, sprinkled with a few bits of wisdom is what the ear tickling community hungers for. But for God’s folks, it’s that preached word that they want to hear. They never tire of hearing it.

Last night, we finished a summer series of preaching. Each Wednesday evening for the past two months we had a different preacher come and present a specific lesson on a theme. The topics and the preachers were matched on purpose. Many churches are doing this. For us, we fly preachers in from all over the country for one evening. Young preachers. Old preachers. All talented, gifted and amazingly passionate about the Lord and His word. It ended for us last evening. It ended well. You could see and feel the joy and enthusiasm among the congregation as folks left. Some, with tears in their eyes, were saying that this series was some of the best that they have ever witnessed in their lives. EVER. What we did takes enormous planning. It is very expensive. The upside benefits simply cannot be measured.

And, all of this takes us to our verse today. The beautiful feet of those who preach. The Holy Spirit is quoting an Isaiah passage about bringing glad tidings, or good news. The beautiful feet is not in references to how lovely the toes are of preachers. It’s about how wonderful it is that they come when they are sent for. And for generations, this is the message of God. Preachers go and preach. They travel long and far to preach to whoever will show up. Sometimes the meeting place is filled. Other times, there are just a handful. But it’s the preached word intersecting with honest and good hearts that bring glory to God. Long ago preachers rode on horseback, often scribbling a few notes as they traveled down roads. Then it was riding trains. Today, it’s by car and airplanes. Preachers have preached in front rooms of homes. They have preached in tents. They have preached in store fronts. A church was renting a room out of a funeral home. I came and preached for them. Out in the county and in the midst of busy cities, preachers come to preach.

Good things happen when God’s word is preached.

First, it reminds us once again that the world doesn’t have the final word. Satan doesn’t win. Even though some days may seem very dark and God’s people may seem very few, the message of hope, goodness and salvation in Christ is what will triumphant in the end. There is a coming judgment. Jesus is victorious.

Second, preaching reminds us of what is right. Our times sure has that upside down and inside out. But it just isn’t our times, it’s always been that way. Isaiah wrote about those who call evil good and good evil. That’s backwards. That’s all mixed up. Jeremiah talked about seeking the old paths and the people would have nothing to do with that. Folks today are so confused. They frown on smoking tobacco, but embrace smoking marijuana. Strange. They want to endorse marrying anything and anybody, except one man to one woman. Strange. They want to keep criminals alive but they are for aborting innocent babies. Strange. They deny the existence of God, yet they believe in aliens. Strange. Our times will tolerate anything except what is right and decent. They take a pill for everything and drink alcohol as if it were oxygen. There are a thousand channels on cable but nothing worthwhile to watch. We blame everyone except ourselves. Social media has taken private things and made them too public. No wonder people are confused and mixed up. Nothing is wrong and everything is right. Then comes along some really good preaching. Stakes are put in the ground right where God wants them to be. Things are defined. Terms are set by Heaven. A sense of stability, absoluteness, and boundaries are established. Some things are just wrong, because God says so. Others things are right, because God says so. Laws come and go. Loud voices come and go. But God’s word remains the same. We need that. We need that kind of preaching. We need to know that some things are simply wrong, Period. There is no way you can make wrong right.

Third, preaching teaches us that we control our own destiny. Our marriages can be good, right and an illustration of Heaven itself, if we choose that. It takes work. It takes some effort and want to. But it can be done. Our families can be wholesome, good and right. Our homes can be a positive refuge from this crazy world we live in. But more than that, you can be holy and righteous. You can please the Lord. You can be a child of God. You can live differently. You can live better. You can change. It doesn’t matter what you have done. It doesn’t matter what your past has been. Don’t hang your hat on those nails. You can be a spiritual leader in your home and in your community. Preaching brings us to Jesus. He is so holy and we are not. He’s right and most times we are not. But through His grace and mercy we can change. We can repent. We can be molded and shaped like He is. We can think like He thinks. We can please God and preaching shows us just how that is done.

Fourth, preaching puts us before the cross of Christ, the greatest event in the world. His sacrifice. His death. His resurrection. His ascension. His reign. His victory. We can forget about the Lord in our busy world. Meetings. Phone calls. Deadlines. Hurrying here and there and before long, the day ends and we’ve not given much thought to the wonderful blessings of the Lord. We haven’t thought much about the Lord. Preaching changes that. It puts within our heart the glorious love of God. The Lord who never gave up on us. The Lord who wants us to spend forever with Him. This kind of preaching helps us with our perspective. It helps us with our priorities. It helps us understand that He is the center of the universe and of our lives and it’s not about us, but it is about Him. More, more about Jesus, is what we need.

Preaching, God’s kind of preaching, changes lives. We need to crave for this kind of preaching. We need to find every opportunity to put this kind of preaching in our lives. Good things will happen if we have a honest and good heart. Changes will come. Goodness follows. Forgiveness, grace and kindness are the by products of hearts that have been touched by the Gospel of Christ.

There are a lot of good preachers out there in the kingdom. They love the Lord and are just doing their best to help God out. Say a prayer for these men. Encourage them, when you can. Help others to become one of them. And, more than anything else, bring an open heart, listening ears and an open Bible as they stand before you.

When my kids were small and at home, they’d take their little Bibles and have visiting preachers sign them. They still have those Bibles. Those names are our heroes. Good men with beautiful feet who traveled the world to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ.

Roger