Wake Up! We have Unfinished Business

 

Read Mark 10:13-22

Revelation 3:1-3

So, let’s get to it.

I told the session before I left that I would not be available to fill the pulpit for the first six months of the year. We had some travel planned, and that was part of the reasoning, but not the main part.

For years, I longed to see ministries kick into gear. Some did. Many stalled in the red zone.

I was very pleased that VBS was reconstituted years ago, produced good fruit, and stayed strong, and will continue this year.

In the last couple of years, the growth of our older youth has become noticeable and has clearly brought glory to God, as many have come to embrace God’s words. The fact that I am proud of them pales in comparison to the glory they bring to God.

But there were more times when there was a need or a challenge, and the most we did was talk about it.

I informed, analyzed, challenged, presented alternatives, and on occasion, provoked, hoping for action. I realize that many of you associate the word provoked with anger. You can be provoked to anger, but you can also be provoked to action. It’s that inertia thing again.

What else could I do?

I could leave. I could get out of the way. Your leaders and potential leaders and disciples needed something more from me, my absence.

Three years ago, I gave a general notice that I would leave sometime between the end of 2025 and the end of 2027. I was thinking that the end of 2026 would be the most likely, but the end of last year was the right choice.

I have watched from afar as that vacancy has been filled in different ways. I am not talking just about the pulpit. Many are moved to action. I hope more will be.

I realize that sometimes my assessments are unique and not shared by many others. I am glad I made the Spring Presbytery in Fort Worth this year.

A theme among the denominational representatives prevailed across many reports. It was to repent.

Repent for what?  I repented. I’m saved. So, repent for what?  Repent for talk without action. Across so many functional areas, the message at the last meeting of the Red River Presbytery was the same.

Jesus did not say that the wise man puts his words into conversation. He did not say that the one who put his words into the most posts gets the most points.  He said that the one who puts his words into practice is the one who builds his house on solid rock.

We as Christians in general, and I can talk specifically as Cumberland Presbyterians, talk a lot but do little. We need to repent of that, and repentance requires action.

Repentance is more than just turning away from the ways of the world. It is turning away from everything that is not of God and leaving all of the worldly junk behind, without getting a claim ticket to come back for it later.

The denomination is on the precipice of fully embracing that faith without works is dead. We acknowledge it. Will we act upon it?

We are at what could be the tipping point of the next great awakening. But to embrace that faith without works is dead requires some action from us, from us all, or it’s just more talk.

The rich young man went away sad because Jesus told him to sell all that he had, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him. This was a pick up your cross and follow me moment.

To which we—Americans—often retreat to the position that this was just about this one rich man. It doesn’t apply to everyone, not to us regular folks in any case.

You would be correct. It does not apply to everyone, but it very much applies to you and just about everyone who lives in this country.

You may not have a lot of money in the bank, but you are richer than the young man in this account in so many ways. The first and perhaps most important way is comfort.

For all the money and possessions that this young man had, he couldn’t turn on the bathroom light with the flick of a switch.

He couldn’t turn on a faucet and step into a hot shower whenever he wanted.

He couldn’t kill the afternoon watching Netflix or reels on his phone.

He couldn’t say, “Let’s make a quick trip to OKC and catch a movie.” That wasn’t a day trip.

He couldn’t one click his purchase and have it there the next day or two.

He never knew the thrills of Taco Tuesday or Throwback Thursday, or watching a grandchild smack a ball into the outfield on his phone while the kid is in another town.

Make no mistake that we who live in this country are as rich as this young man who had many possessions. We are rich and the words of Jesus that we find in Mark 10 apply to us.

Before Jesus told this rich young man to sell everything he owned and give the proceeds to the poor, we find these words. They are among my favorite words, and we see them in verse 21.

Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Jesus saw that the man practiced the big-ticket items of the Law but that something was in the way of him being complete—perfected if you will.

In modern vernacular, this young man made it to services, even stayed awake for the message, only got up to go to the bathroom twice and once was during a song he didn’t like, and surely made the required trips to the temple with the required offering or sacrifice. He checked the blocks but never knew the heart of the God of love who was behind his directives.

Something was in his way. That something was his possessions—his stuff—and evidently, he had a bunch of it. I’m guessing he had more than one Connex box.

Do we need to sell everything we own?

Yes! If our possessions, our comfort, our anything has equal status with God in our lives, it’s got to go.

More than likely, it is not money or stuff that is in our way, but our reluctance, complacency, or hesitation to put God’s words into practice.  We are comfortable just talking and not acting.

What we need to get rid of in our lives is our complacency and desire to live unchanged by the gospel. We must discharge our desires to make the words of Jesus fit into our comfort zones.

I was blessed to watch the movie, “A Great Awakening.” It is the story of George Whitfield coming to America and spiritually awakening its people—our forefathers—a few decades before our independence and the writing of our Constitution.

Just over 47 years ago I received my degree in Political Science from the Oklahoma State University, but I learned a couple of things about Benjamin Franklin that I didn’t know before, trusting the film was faithful to the facts in most matters. Most notably that this God-fearing man came to receive Jesus as Lord late in life.

Franklin was always a God-fearing man, but he had systems for righteousness—ways to be right with God. He was his own Pharisee. His mantra, his code was his comfort zone and professing Jesus as Lord would take him out of that comfort zone.  I won’t spoil the movie for you.

I also took to heart this story related by Whitfield as his own, but there was a little license with that as the historical documents note that Whitfield attributed it to someone else.

I'll tell you a story. The Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 was acquainted with Mr. Butterton the actor. One day the Archbishop . . . said to Butterton . . . 'pray inform me Mr. Butterton, what is the reason you actors on stage can affect your congregations with speaking of things imaginary, as if they were real, while we in church speak of things real, which our congregations only receive as if they were imaginary?'

'Why my Lord,' says Butterton, 'the reason is very plain. We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.'

On the 90^th anniversary of pronouncement of Fake News—Google George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War—let’s commit to speaking the truth. That truth resides in God’s word.

We need to quit acting like God’s word is just one proposal among many to consider or that it might be true.

We need to repent of knowing what God tells us to do and doing nothing, or doing something else, or just talking about it.

We need to repent of thinking if we build it, they will come—not to knock that movie—and embrace, go and make disciples.

We need to speak the truth as if it were the truth for it is the truth. We speak the truth in a spirit of love, not worried that the truth might offend someone. It’s the truth.

Know it.

Speak it.

Live it.

Your measure of faith was sufficient to receive the gift of salvation. It’s all from God. You just had to receive it by faith.

We like that part, and we should, because we could never receive salvation by the way we live, yet having received grace by faith, so many  have parked their faith on the shelf.

Faith is not a one-and-done deal. Salvation is a done deal, and if you are content in having received grace by faith and having your faith parked on the shelf for the rest of this life, why are you listening today?

If you are listening today and have no intention of putting our Lord’s words into practice, what’s the point?  It’s just a placebo. Well, it felt good to hear God’s word. It feels good to talk about God’s word. Don’t ruin it by asking me to put those words into practice.

I am preaching mostly to the saints—to the saved. I’m not trying to get most of you to the altar to profess your faith. You have been there. I am talking about picking up your cross daily and following Jesus.

That’s a whole ‘nuther deal.

I’m not talking about doing all the right things so you can get into heaven. I’m talking about doing things—the right things--the right way because heaven has already been gifted to you. I am talking about responding to the love of God that we know in Christ Jesus with action.

I’m not talking about talking about the words of Jesus—thought they are worth discussing when you awaken, go to sleep, go to work, or in anything else you do. I’m talking about putting his words into practice.

In so doing, you never have to worry about:

·       Integrity

·       Fidelity

·       Speaking the truth in a spirit of love

·       Living in the light

·       And the list goes on…

I am talking about never thinking, I’m doing too much church stuff. I’m doing too much for the Lord.

I don’t mean getting sucked into every activity on the church calendar—though for some, that's their daily bread. Some have been called and ordained as elders and should have more skin in the game in the ministry and life of the body. They received and accepted a call from God to be ordained as elders and should put more time and effort into this than most of you.

But today I am talking to everyone about feeling the gentle nudge from the Spirit or the still small voice of the Lord leading you, and you saying, I’m already doing enough. I hear you, Lord, but would you recheck your metrics? I think you will see that I’ve done my fair share and more.

If that’s your situation, if you don’t want to play the antiphonal game with God—He calls and you answer, then go buy a cross, a crucifix like the Roman Catholics have with Jesus hanging on the cross. I love our cross without Jesus nailed to it.

He is not there. He is risen. He is risen indeed. He is not on the cross or in the tomb. He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and for me.

Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

But go get you one of those crosses and keep it handy for those times you are ready to dismiss the calling of the Lord upon your life, and you want to say, I think I’m doing enough already.

When that time comes, say those words to Jesus hanging on the cross and tell him how much you are doing for him and how that surely must be enough. I want you to devalue what Jesus did for you on the cross in your conversation with the image of him hanging there. See if that doesn’t change your perspective.

You might be doing a lot to bring glory to God’s name, but do you remember the precondition to the directions of Jesus to this rich young man? If you want to be perfect, if you want to be complete, if you really want some life out of life, then…

If you want to be complete…

If the saints are too busy or burdened to put our Master’s words into practice, how do we expect the lost to hear our words, or believe them because our lives belie the words of our Master?

Remember these words quoted earlier between the archbishop and the actor. This is Butterton’s reply to the archbishop.

We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.

It’s not just the preachers that need to treat the truth as the truth, but every disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we do that? We put his words into practice.

How do we do that? We sell everything that we own—or discard everything that supplants the place of God. If it is in the place of God, it’s got to go.

We cast off everything that hinders and run our race of faith fully for him.

We pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus.

Do we act like Jesus Christ is the most important person, relationship, and entity in our lives? Do we act like Jesus is truly number one?

No!

I say emphatically, no! Do not act like Jesus is at the very top of the list of what matters in your life.

Live like it! There is no acting, just fidelity, for he is the One who is most important in your life. Everything else that we love must be no closer to the number one spot in our lives than a distant, a very distant second.

But, but, but we know this. So, what do we do?

I go to the words of Jesus to the church at Sardis and to the church universal.

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

The church that we know in our time has unfinished work. You have unfinished work. We have unfinished work.

We have unfinished work!

What do we do?

“Wake up, sleeper,

    rise from the dead,

    and Christ will shine on you.”

Go all the way back to Isaiah and see how long God has been calling his people to awaken.

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

And Paul has something to say on the matter as well.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Take all these commands to awaken in the context of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Do not go through life with a business-as-usual attitude. As long as it is called “Today”, you are called to action. You know the truth. Now is the time to live it.

What could keep us from that? What is the root cause of complacency?

Sin’s deceitfulness.

God’s got it covered. He will just get someone else. I’m doing enough. Those people aren’t doing anything. Sin’s deceitfulness will make you deaf to God’s call upon your life.

God’s sheep know his voice and will do what God requires of them. His disciples will put his words into practice. We will all be Doers of the Word.

So, what’s that mean?

Cast off everything that hinders, and complacency needs to go first.

Sell everything that is taking the place of God. Just give it to Christi’s or Mission House or Judah House. If it’s taking the place of God in your lives, it’s got to go.

Discharge your doubt. Speak the truth and live it.

Wake up! The time of his coming draws near.

And one last thing, for now: OK, one last thing in three points.

The day is coming when you will have your next pastor. Remind him or her that you don’t need to be coddled. Tell your next shepherd to:

1.    Preach the word. Don’t try to see what we like. Just preach the truth. Don’t sugar coat it. If I need to sell all my stuff, then tell me.

2.    Disciple us. Don’t coddle us. Don’t find the lowest common denominator. Don’t lower the bar. We might have to put more steps in the process of making disciples, but don’t forsake it. Disciple us. Challenge us to be complete.

3.    Here’s one that goes back to my observations when I began. Tell your new pastor, “Try to keep up.” That’s right, challenge your next pastor, whom you will love dearly, to keep up. You are on your way to being overcomers. Look around you. We are on our way to another Great Awakening. Don’t give up being an integral part of that up for anything, especially comfort or complacency. You don’t breathe a sigh of relief when you get your new pastor. OK, the search committee can for a couple of hours, but don’t lose the momentum that you have now and are growing into in your service and discipleship.

Tell your new pastor to hit the deck running because you are not slowing down.

But for you, if it is in the way of your discipleship and evangelism, get it out of the way. Sell it. Discard it. Give it away. Kick it to the curb!

What might be in your way of keeping God in first place in your lives might just help someone else make it through the day or week.

Probably more than our money and stuff is our comfort. We so value our comfort in this nation.

Paul said that he could be content in all circumstances, and so can we. That’s not the same as being comfortable or complacent in every situation. We are content if we have a little or a lot, but we don’t do complacency. We don’t do slothfulness.

When the Spirit moves us or we hear that still small voice leading us, or the written word of God judges your thoughts and attitudes, failure to act in the way God is leading is sin for us.

Pick up your cross every day and do the things that we know God wants us to do. No excuses.

You can’t do too much for God.  You can’t out give God. And when he prompts us to act, we don’t go away sad because we might have to give up something in this world—of this temporary lodging facility—to give up something that is not eternal.

We respond with great joy in putting his words into practice.

When you talk to your next pastor, tell him or her to challenge you because you want to be a part—a big part in a small Oklahoma town—of the next Great Awakening.

If we will get off of our behinds and put his words into action, we might see this next Great Awakening in our time.

The times ahead may look dark but light is coming. Help bring that light, the truth, and faith in God through Christ Jesus to everyone you know.

Whatever you have to give up—money, things, comfort, status, or anything else that is encroaching on that number one spot—will seem like nothing compared to what is in store for us.

Eye has not seen and hear has not heard what the Lord God has in store for us. Discharge what is in your way and embrace the glory to come for we have unfinished business.

Wake up, for we have unfinished business.

Amen.  

Christian Forensics

Read James 2

Some time ago we learned a verse from Hebrews about faith.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Faith is tangible yet intangible.  You can’t see it but we say it has substance.  We talk of evidence of things not seen.

What in the world is evidence of things not seen?  I get a perfect example for about 300 plus days each year from my office.  I look out of the window, that I am thankful we decided to put in what is now my office, and see the American Flag at the post office.  It is not hanging down the pole it is flying full mast with a full-value wind.

I can’t see the wind, but I can see the evidence of the wind.  I have seen the evidence of things not seen.

James says show me your faith by your deeds—by your works.  He gets a little terse here and there.  If you really believe in God then show me your faith by what you do.  That’s a good ole Missouri, Show Me!

You want to say that you believe, but consider the fact that the demons really believe in God.  They don’t have any doubt.  It scares the hell out of them because they know that the one true God is a righteous God and has consigned them to hell. They know with certainty their eternal destination. 

Make no mistake, they believe in God.

So how are we different?  James says, look at the way you live.  Do you live by the law of love or do you just love the fact that God’s grace keeps you from keeping company with the demons?

But I believe that God is real.  By the evidence of creation itself, I know that God has to be real.  I believe that Jesus died for my sins.  I believe that the Holy Spirit is with me now. 

James says, let me introduce you to Forensic Christianity.

If all that you say is true, there will be evidence.  There will be evidence of things not seen.

If you see a person who is hurting—maybe hungry or homeless—and you have the means to help but do nothing, then there is no evidence of this thing called faith.

If a person who does not believe in God helps this pitiful person, there is evidence of a good deed but no profession of faith in God.  You can have good deeds without faith.

Not everyone doing good things has faith in God and not everyone who claims faith in God seems to have evidence to support that claim.

There is a song by Everlast titled What It’s Like.  Most of you my age haven’t heard them and probably wouldn’t like them.  Some folks here don’t need to listen to them.  Their lyrics are very real but just too raw for most people.

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change

the hair on his face is dirty, dreadlocked and full of mange

he asks a man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes

get a job you blanking slob is all he replied.

Now the song is about walking in another person’s shoes and it goes into some situations where we could just point fingers of blame and excuse ourselves.  You got your own self into that mess, now deal with it.  That is, unless we were called to live out our faith.

Think to the parable of the Good Samaritan.  The man who was beaten, robbed, and left for dead should have known not to travel the road between Jericho and Jerusalem alone.  He was just asking to be robbed. 

But Jesus is answering the question, Who is my neighbor?  He uses this parable.  At the end of the parable, you know how this goes, it is the Samaritan who shows mercy.  It is the Samaritan who loved the man left for dead.  It is the Samaritan whose actions showed him to be a neighbor.

If you have received Jesus as your Lord, I will see your faith.  You will see my faith in acts of mercy.  My mercy does not make me faithful.  My faithfulness makes me merciful.

My acts of goodness do not bring me to salvation but my salvation brings me to acts of goodness and mercy.

I have told this story in different groups from time to time.  Once upon a time I was a newspaper manager for The Oklahoman.  I had a territory that went from Canute to Mangum to Cement/Cyril  and to Hinton.  After a couple years I was promoted and was responsible for things south of I-40 and west of I-35 with a little spillover here and there so a town didn’t get divided in half.

There had been trouble with service in Chickasha right before I was promoted.  It was really bad.  The area had gone through 7 managers over the past year and carriers were quitting every week.  As I interviewed manager prospects, I told them that Chickasha was a hornet’s nest.  Don’t ask for this job unless you are ready to deal with 100 customer complaints on day 1.   I spent most of my first two months putting Chickasha back together while culling through manager prospects.

Sometimes I would overnight there.  Sometimes I would drive back and forth.  I grew tired of Chickasha and the drive to and from this place.  Now, I had the other fourth of the state to take care of as well, but Chickasha was just sucking the life out of me.

One evening, I was ready to head home knowing that I would be back in a few hours.  I had not eaten all day, so I pulled into Arby’s to get the 5 for 5 special.  I don’t like drive-throughs so I went in to get my drink and 4 sandwiches and got in the car to head home.

As I looped around the back of the restaurant, I see a man digging in a dumpster.  I continued and made a left on the road heading west.  I was ready to be home and get my 2 hours sleep.  It was about half a block later that I made a U-turn.  I think it could have qualified as a Bat-Turn. 

My company car was a Dodge Magnum.  It had a long wheel base but I spun that baby around like a pro.  It took under a minute to get back to Arby’s and the dumpster and the guy was gone.  He wasn’t inside or walking anywhere nearby.  He was gone.

I knew that I was supposed to help that guy.  Yeah, I can eat 4 sandwiches.  I hadn’t eaten all day.  I was on the hungry side, but this guy was dumpster diving and I drove by him.

I knew exactly what the Spirit that lives within me was telling me to do.  I knew exactly what my faith was compelling me to do and I had not done it.

I should have taken those sandwiches back and gotten a refund because as I ate them on the drive home, they were the worst tasting sandwiches ever. 

My faith did not manifest itself into works, at least not as it should have.  I should have been so in tune with my faith and the Spirit that lived within me, it would not have taken half a minute to realize what I should have done.

I want you to consider two different and provocative concepts: Worthless faith and faithless works.

James uses the example of Abraham and Isaac and how Abraham demonstrated his faith by offering his son as a sacrifice to God.  No father here ever wants to have their faith tested in that way, but Abraham had faith that God would fulfill his promise that he would be the father of many nations and that promise would come through Isaac.

At the end of this example, James gives us the formula for faith and works.  Neither is a stand-alone entity.  Faith and deeds work together.  Faith is made complete in our works.

There is no such thing as an academic faith.  Faith moves us to action.  Our actions are incomplete without faith. 

But every time that I think of faith and works, I think about being saved by grace not works.  I am saved by grace through faith.  My salvation comes completely from God.

That statement should be rock solid in your foundation of faith.  I am saved by grace through faith!

Saved by grace through faith is absolutely true.  There are no asterisk or caveats.  It’s true.  But is it true for you?  Have you received Jesus not only as Savior but as Lord?

If we have truly professed our faith in the words that we know so well, Jesus is Lord, then we are helpless to do anything but respond to this incredible gift with action.  Sometimes our action is delayed but we are compelled to action nonetheless.

Our salvation comes from God in the blood of Christ Jesus.  Our salvation is completed in our response to his great love.  We could call this the fullness of our salvation.  I most often use the term discipleship.

Jesus said that once we believe in him, we pass from death to life.  Before we received Jesus as Lord, we were under a death sentence.  Our existence without Jesus was death. 

James makes the analogy as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.

We try to dissect God’s instructions to us.  His instructions to us are less for analysis and division and more for synthesis—receiving the full Biblical witness and unison—living in one accord as the body of Christ.

You can only dissect faith and works in a corpse.  You can’t do this in a living being.  I am going to patent the Faith and Works version of the game Operation.  There’s no bones or hearts or kidneys to remove, just faith and works. 

If you take either one out, that nasty buzzer sound goes off.  Your patient is dead!

Faith and works work together.  They are a package deal. 

Everyone who is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is predisposed to good deeds.  That is your new nature.  To live otherwise is to deny the Spirit of God that lives within you.

So, here are the test answers for those taking the course for credit.

Faith and actions work together.

What you do completes what you believe.

Faith without works is dead.

Amen!