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There’s a thought process among people… even godly people that runs counter to God’s wishes for us. Let’s look at a few examples.
- The fellow who doesn’t carry any money in his wallet so when someone asks for a little help he can flash open that empty wallet. As if… oh yeah I would help you, I just happen to be broke today… you caught me at the wrong time… sorry.
- The fellow in the congregation who doesn’t really want to take the time get to know anybody for whatever the reason. Maybe the fellow thinks he is unlikeable or maybe he just likes being alone. Or maybe he’s afraid someone willl ask for some help so it’s better just not to know anybody very well.
- It’s like the fellow who visited a church semi-regularly and found out the preacher liked to call on people during Bible class. So every time the preacher introduced himself the visitor gave a different name so he wouldn’t be called on (true story).
- The fellow who thinks he can be a good Christian and not be a member of a church because there might be a hypocrite who is a member there and “Jesus didn’t like hypocrites so why should I” Besides church can be watched on TV.
- Or the fellow who says…I can’t go to that party… they might have alcohol there and I don’t want to sully my influence by being around people who are drinking or who might say a bad word.
There’s a fatal flaw in this kind of thinking. You see Jesus wants us to be interacting with all sorts of folks… beggars, needy Christians, hypocrites, imbibers of spirits and even people with salty language. God works through his people and his people are at their best when they are interacting and working with other people… people who are comfortable with sin and people who have made up their minds not to sin.
It’s kind of like keeping money in the safe deposit box… that money is decreasing in value every day it sits there. Put that money to work so it can either hold or increase in value.
Put some small bills in your wallet (small enough so you won’t go broke), introduce yourself to someone (you might get along together like peas and carrots). Go to that party and if someone offers you a beer tell them you would rather have a Big Red or Root Beer. If someone starts using bad language tell them you have a picture of your momma in your wallet and she might be offended by that kind of language.
Trot that Christianity out and take her for a spin… no telling where it might take you.
Matthew records the episode of Jesus walking on the water. Peter sees Jesus walking on the water… and I love this about Peter… he asks Jesus if he can walk on the water too. Imagine Peter’s excitement when he can walk on the water just like Jesus! But then Peter looks down (and takes his eyes off of Jesus) and gets a little scared and starts sinking and of course Jesus won’t let him drown.
In my opinion, this story foreshadows Peter’s denial of Jesus. The Jews come for Jesus and Peter sees Judas betray Jesus and all of the disciples, but Peter is still walking on the water and full of courage and pulls his sword out and attempts to defend Jesus. However, there a lot more of the Jews than the disciples and they have torches and swords and spears and Peter’s faith begins to sink and he runs like a scared cat.
Peter’s fear turns to selfish protection as he denies Jesus three times (and takes his eyes off of Jesus) and he sinks even further into the water.
But wait! Jesus has already given Peter a life preserver and he has it in his back pocket. Jesus has warned Peter that Satan will tempt him and he will fail and instructed Peter that after his failure, to swim back to the surface and get about the work of establishing the church.
We too may from time to time take our eyes off of Jesus and sink into the deep waters of sin but remember Jesus is watching from Heaven and praying for us and has his eyes on us watching to see if we will remember the great sacrifice he made for us and swim to the surface and start walking on water again with him.
The New Testament reveals that there was a huge controversy among the Jews as to their eternal destination… some believed in Heaven and some did not. That’s understandable because there is almost no mention of a heavenly reward in the Old Testament.
The question is then asked… what was the purpose of following God’s commands in the Old Testament?
Deuteronomy 28 states that if God’s commands are followed then the people would have abundant children, livestock and crops. In addition, they would live long lives and not get sick… but no mention of a Heavenly reward. In addition, the Jews expected for their nation to dominate all other nations on earth as God's "chosen" nation. Keeping God’s commands in the Old Testament were rewarded with earthly prosperity.
The people under the Law of Moses however never realized all of the promised blessings because they couldn’t fulfill their end of this conditional promise. The Law of Moses was almost impossible to keep so their crops failed, their livestock struggled, they got sick and oftentimes their women failed to conceive.
Contrast that with the New Testament. The New Testament is full of references to Heaven and an eternal reward (and also eternal punishment).
Not only that but by comparison Christ’s Law is easy to keep and keeping it means not only a blessed life on earth but an eternity of blessings while living in the very presence of God.
It starts with belief being transformed into faith and having your sins washed away in the blood of Jesus Christ, and rising up a new creature in a new relationship (son-ship) with God the father.
Thank God almighty that we don’t live under a Law that can’t be kept with promises that are always beyond our reach!
Sodom and Jericho were both destroyed by God because of their “detestable practices”. However, in both cities God found a few who were worthy of being spared his destruction.
God sent two angels to Sodom. Lot welcomed them and took them into his house. When the citizens of Sodom heard there were visitors in town they tried to take and rape them but Lot protected them.
For Lot’s hospitality God spared Lot and his family when he destroyed Sodom.
Joshua sent two spies to Jericho. The king of Jericho heard they were in town and tried to capture them. Rahab extended hospitality by taking them in and protecting them (Like Lot did).
For her hospitality God spared Rahab and her family when he destroyed Jericho.
One of the tenets of hospitality is reciprocation. Those who are hospitable should have a reasonable expectation of reciprocated hospitality or even a blessing from man and God on the home that extends hospitality.
God overlooked Rahab the prostitute’s sin and other short comings and blessed her for her hospitality. It had to be a transforming moment in her life. She had to turn her back on her previous life and on everyone she knew and take the simple step of hospitality to please God.
How transformational was it? One of her sons in the distant future was Jesus Christ. Can we be less hospitable?
Several years ago I went to visit a preacher i had known since I was a kid. He was well known and respected and held a lot of Gospel Meetings… the only thing was that now he was dying of cancer. Anyway I went to go see him in that hospital and he said… Rob I want to tell you something I’ve never told anyone else.
He continued, that when he was a young preacher the congregation had a Deacon who was called to serve in Viet Nam and while the soldier/deacon was overseas he had an affair with his wife. Of course I was shocked but it got worse… the old preacher continued that the woman became pregnant and her husband was coming home and she didn’t know what to do.
The old preacher told me that he panicked and when the soldier/deacon got home he went over one night and cut the brake lines to his truck. As fate would have it the soldier/Deacon died in the crash and the preacher married his adulteress widow. No one ever knew what he had done.
Of course I was shocked but the preacher continued and said even though he knew he was forgiven he prayed everyday that his conscience could be cleaned up but it never was… he still lived with his guilt.
That old preacher died and left a widow and four sons to mourn him. One of those sons became a preacher and the other three became Elders in the Lord’s church. He died leaving many grandchildren and several great grand children.
I hope you’ve read this far because that story is a complete fabrication… I made it up, but it is very similar to the story of King David, Bathsheba and Uriah.
King David committed adultery with Bathsheba and caused the death of her husband… Uriah. David mourned his great sin (as reflected in several of the Psalms) and never forgot it… but married and built his life with the adulteress Bathsheba. Their son Solomon went on to become King of Israel and ultimately another son would be born in the distant future who would become King of the world… Jesus Christ.
The things is David lived under the Law of Moses and legally, according to God’s Law, he and Bathsheba should have been executed for their sin… stoned with rocks! However, God set aside his Law to forgive them both. He extended mercy.
We may get ourselves in a horrible bind and no matter what the sin is we are still amenable to the Law of Jesus Christ but when things get so tangled up it seems impossible to untangle them I’m comforted that our great God almighty can judge the situation and the sinner and perhaps like with his son David… extend mercy.
