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Video Sermon 10 Minute Highlights |
| FULL WRITTEN TRANSCRIPT IINTRODUCTION Here is a quick review of what we covered dealing with “opportunity.” 1. OPPORTUNITY is defined as a set of circumstances that make it possible to do something. (Good or bad) 2. Through Christ; God IS and works through opportunities. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12 3. YOU are called to be God’s opportunity to others. That goes for any true follower of Christ. Every follower has a “ministry of reconciliation.” Reconciliation in three words: Exchange(with God’s identity), adjust (to God’s nature and will), restore (God’s friendship).
Today, we finish with the fourth and final issue on the Biblical concept of opportunity. -If we are called to be an “opportunity” to others; who are these “others?”
Jesus was God become flesh. God walked through the lives of humanity. Times and cultures may change, but people are still people. The types of people who encountered Him are the same types we encounter in our day. So who are they; what are they like? How do we become an opportunity to them?
To give these types of people a face, we are going to assign them a name, and perhaps, a Canaan actor as a symbol. Needless to say, Jesus touched the lives of many people and we could discern many types. But for this morning, we’ll look at only three key types. We are going to start with a fellow named Roger Rut. Roger lives in John 5:1-15.
#1 Roger Rut HIS STORY; THE SHORT VERSION (He lives in John 5:1-15) Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was Bethesda Pool. Crowds of sick people waited for a certain movement of the water, for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and disturbed the water, and the first person to step down into it afterwards was healed. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, ``Would you like to get well?''
``I can't,'' the sick man said, ``for I have no one to help me into the pool at the movement of the water. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.''
Jesus told him, ``Stand up, roll up your sleeping mat and go on home!'' Instantly, the man was healed! Afterwards Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, ``Now you are well; don't sin as you did before, or something even worse may happen to you.''
What’s going on with this type of person? Roger is a victim of circumstances Life has handed him a pretty hard set of circumstances. But we can take any circumstance and find two groups of people; victors and victims. (Even in wheelchairs.) What makes the difference between a victor and a victim?
A hint is in the opening question of Jesus. “Would you like to get well?” Doesn’t that seem like a rather dense question? Of course Roger wants to get well… or does he?
Did you notice the response? It wasn’t a resounding yes; it was an excuse on why he couldn’t get well. Roger is following a plan, but even as he does, he knows it won’t work. –Have you ever known anyone like that?
Roger is “insane” by Einstein’s definition. Perhaps you heard his definition: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. …The truth is; we are all a little insane. We call it a mental rut. We approach a challenge in life in the same way over and over, and somehow expect a different result. And often, we ignore the real problem within ourselves that causes the bad result. Why do we do it? -Because it is comfortable.
Did you know there is even a physiological element to this behavior? Decision processes develop by the firing of synapses (nerve endings) along certain paths in the brain. The more that particular path of synapses fire, the more that pathway will continue to fire. It’s like water following the path of least resistance. That is the physical reason we develop habits or conditioned ways of thinking. We do the same thing over and over and somehow expect a different result.
Roger was in a rut. He wanted to be healed; the only hope he saw was this pool. He had been trying that course of action for possibly, thirty-eight years. Roger had become pretty comfortable with personal failure. It was comfortable to be the victim.
The opportunity that Jesus had been goes deeper than what we see on the surface. The real miracle was far more than healing his legs. By investing His personal attention, Jesus became a fresh look for Roger. “What do you really want?” …Then He became a fresh course of action. He brought Roger directly to God.
And isn’t the end of the story something of a surprise? The man was crippled. Wasn’t he simply an innocent victim? Roger seemed to think so, but not Jesus. –The last words to him from Jesus are a warning, not to continue sinning; it was a look into personal accountability.
It is good to analyze why things go wrong in our lives. It’s good to be realistic about the obstacles. But if a person’s problems are always outer circumstances or other people, and never a true look into ourselves; there is a very good chance we are more interested in excuses than solutions. We have become comfortable with being the victim.
Jesus never loses compassion for Roger, but He refuses to sympathize with “the victim.” For all the miraculous healing, Jesus does not pick up the mat for Roger. He had to do that for himself.
As servants of Christ, we are opportunities of reconciliation; exchange; adjust; restore to God. When we come across our Roger Ruts, they can be a real drain on our patience, emotions, and resources if we let them. Like Jesus, we are called to be a fresh way of seeing things, we are meant to point directly to God, we must never lose compassion, but real compassion has an element of tough love to it. As God empowers you, help in any way you can to bring healing, but they have to pick up their own mat.
#2 Lester Longshot THEIR STORY; THE SHORT VERSION (He lives in Luke 17: 11-19) As they entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, ``Jesus, have mercy on us!'' He looked at them and said, ``Go to the Jewish priest and show him that you are healed!'' And as they were going, their leprosy disappeared. One of them, the despised Samaritan, came back to Jesus, shouting, ``Glory to God, I'm healed!''
Jesus asked, ``Didn't I heal ten men? Where are the nine? Does only this foreigner return to give glory to God?''
What’s going on with this type of people? Lester’s groups are different than Roger. They see the opportunity. There are no excuses, they follow through. The issue is what happens after that. This is an interesting vignette in how life often works.
Nine of the lepers were of Jesus’ own nation and spiritual family. Lester was the odd man out, he was the long shot. –If anything, we’d expect the nine to send a thank you card and the Samaritan to be thankless.
There is a lesson for us as God’s opportunity. It is a way of thinking we must take seriously or we most likely won’t be able to endure in our calling as opportunities. We must remind ourselves of our real incentive. It is easy to be inspired by pats on the back or physical signs of gratitude, but that is not the reason for being God’s opportunity. The driving reason is not the needs of others, but obedience to God.
And on the bright side; we may be disappointed by times, in who doesn’t blossom, but we may also be surprised in who does. There are times we invest ourselves in people who start out like a “house afire.” They seem like a sure bet to do great things for God, but for one reason or the other, they fizzle out; perhaps due to distractions, or often, sabotaged by gaps in their faith, or inner life. But every now and then, we see the “long shot” blossom into something we really didn’t expect. They come back in thanks and bring glory to God and we get to witness it.
Even so, that is simply a perk; the real reward is being true to our call. Our call is to give others every chance to clearly see and understand Christ. We are not anymore responsible for their response than Jesus was for the ten lepers.
#3 Alice Alltogether HER STORY; THE SHORT VERSION (She lives in John 4:6-30) Around noon as he approached the village of Sychar, he came to Jacob's Well. Jesus was tired from the long walk in the hot sun and sat wearily beside the well. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus asked her for a drink. The woman was surprised that a Jew would ask a ``despised Samaritan'' for anything. He replied, ``If you only knew what a wonderful gift God has for you, and who I am, you would ask me for some living water!''
``But you don't have a rope or a bucket,'' she said, “And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob? ''
Jesus replied that people soon became thirsty again after drinking this water. ``But the water I give them,'' he said, ``becomes a perpetual spring within them, with eternal life.''
``Please, sir,'' the woman said, ``give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again and won't have to make this long trip out here every day.''
``Go and get your husband,'' Jesus told her.
`` I'm not married,'' the woman replied.
``All too true!'' Jesus said. ``For you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now.'' ``Sir,'' the woman said, ``you must be a prophet. But say, tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here, where our ancestors worshiped?''
Jesus replied, ``The time is coming when we will no longer be concerned about whether to worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. For it's not where we worship that counts, but how we worship--is our worship spiritual and real? Then Jesus told her, ``I am the Messiah!''
Then the woman left her waterpot beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone.
What’s going on in this type of person?
This person may be the toughest of all because they have it “all together.” The woman is coming in the heat of the day, all by herself; in the culture and the time, that in itself was a red flag. But according to her, everything was just fine. And when there is no need seen or communicated, it is very hard to be an opportunity to that person. Just like Alice, they will dodge any issue that hits too close to home. Life has made them experts at it. They may be dying of loneliness, their kids may be in crisis, their marriage failing, they may be heavily medicated just to cope with the stress, but… they’re fine. Don’t ask.
So how does Jesus handle this? Simple, really; in three words: He gets real. He may be the Son of God, the lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world; but at that moment, in the heat of the day, he is a Jewish traveler, hot and sweaty dying for a sip of water. He has no bucket and she does.
By honestly being Himself, he is able to build a rapport with Alice. It still wasn’t a straight line into the heart of Alice, but by being real, and by being God’s opportunity, eventually there was a breakthrough. And what a breakthrough! Alice ends up bringing an entire village to meet God.
A main lesson from the Alice encounter is this: The risk. It is always a risk to approach another. There is risk in being an opportunity. The unapproachable may shut you out. They may misunderstand. You could even get hurt in some way. But the call is to be that opportunity. Imagine if Jesus had simply played it safe here. Be sensible, be honest, be true to God’s reasons; but be an opportunity despite the risks.
WHAT CAN WE TAKE FROM ALL OF THIS? 1. Be aware of the reality: Even though Jesus was a perfect illustration of God’s Opportunity; many of the responses were disappointing. …Very often, it is surprising to see who connects, and who doesn’t. Expect to be surprised, but don’t let it deter you from your calling. You are called to be an opportunity to many types of people. 2. Remember the reason: Because of the reality; we must hold firm to WHY we are God’s opportunities. The driving reason is not the needs of others, but the call of God. 3. To have a healthy and living relationship with God: We can never STOP being opportunities. Consider the Christ we follow; the greatest opportunity offered by Christ was not until His dying breath. The servant is not greater than the master; are we willing, are we planning to be God’s opportunity to others until our dying breath?
CONCLUSION Next week we begin our restructure with a 9:30 “Worker’s Service” and a “Whole Family” worship at 10:45 am. The reason for this can be summed up in one word, “opportunity.” As a church, we are called to be an opportunity for others to encounter Christ. As individuals, you are called, before anything else, to be an opportunity to encounter God’s “ministry of reconciliation.”
As a church, we are launching a program that will allow everyone to see the Bible as one seamless story, cover to cover, in 31 Sundays. It is an opportunity from nursery to adult. I know we could still use help for the nursery readings. We have the material, but who will be the opportunity? We have the path laid out as a church, but the majority of church visits come through personal invitation; who will be that opportunity? And even church activity aside, who in here will be an opportunity to encounter Christ when we leave this place?
As we launch into this church year, I don’t know how to put it anymore clearly; unless you and I make a deliberate effort; in how we act, how we speak, in where we draw focus…. to be opportunities, we are neglecting the most basic call that is given to every follower of Christ. ….Will YOU be an opportunity?
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