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Invest & Invite - You 1st
1 Cor. 9:19-23
Peter and the others got into a little boat one afternoon to cross the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sent them on ahead of him, so Jesus was not in the boat. All of the sudden, a storm blew in, no minor squall either. The boat was tormented by the waves. It was so violent that the only thing the 12 men could do was keep the boat upright. By 3am, the men were simply worried about staying alive. Then, moving toward them was a figure moving across the water; as it got closer they could see it was a human walking on water. The story tells us that Jesus intended to pass by them. The Greek verb parechomai (to pass by) is used as a technical term to refer to a theophany – those moments when God made a striking and temporary appearance in the earthly realm to certain people for the purpose of communicating a message. God was about to tell them to do something extraordinary. Throughout the Bible, Scriptures prove that extreme human conditions is often the frequent meeting place with God. If you are not looking for him, you might miss him. Twelve men sat in the boat, and we don’t know how eleven of them responded to Jesus voice, perhaps with wonder, disbelief, or confusion. But, one of the men – Peter – realized that it was Jesus, God himself, and he realized this was an extraordinary opportunity for spiritual adventure. So he got an idea. Peter yelled out, “if it is you Jesus, command me to walk to you on the water.” The Bible is not glorifying risk-taking; Jesus is not looking for bungee jumping, hang-gliding or tornado chasing Pinto drivers. This is not a story about extreme sports, but about extreme faith. In the darkness, I think Jesus smiled because one man in the boat got it. Peter had faith to believe that he too could share God’s great adventure.
You are going to need the faith that Peter had to step out of the boat. You feel safe now, maybe you are quite comfortable living your life. It is time to shake that up. When it comes to jumping out of boiling water or stepping out of the boat, it will not be simply a decision. But, it will be God working in you to desire a life change. We aren’t talking easy religion, but we are calling for people who really want a deep, life altering mission to be genuinely connected with God.
Last Week - we talked about God awakening us that we are stewing in a pot of boiling water. We will either ignore the heat and be cooked or we will jump out and into action. The boiling water is caused by the heat of the holy spirit; Jesus called the Spirit power, dunamis, or dynamite. As the Spirit could by himself blow you out of the pot, God chooses to partner with you. He wants you to make a choice; you take the 1st step! Invest & Invite
If you are considering stepping out of the boat, then you need to know the 1st step of faith is to live not for yourself, but for others. So begin living for the eternal sake of others.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”
Structure of Paragraph – Let me visually show you the structure of the paragraph. By looking at this structure, we can determine Paul’s main thought.
To ______________ , I/the church will ________________ in order to win ________________ .
Most scholars have seen the paragraph as returning to the issue of 1 Cor. 8:13 where Paul is depicted as offering himself as an example of willing self-restraint for the sake of others. Paul knew he had freedom in Christ; and you have freedom in Christ. Some think that freedom means to be secure in knowing you are going to heaven and then live as you please to the end of your days on earth. That is not freedom in Christ; the yoke is light and easy not because it is light and easy, but because Christ gives you the grace and help you need to carry it. Jesus’ call on every Christian’s life is intense. The freedom we have is to gain as many people as possible for the sake of the gospel. To the Jew he was kosher; when among the Gentiles he was non-kosher, because neither mattered to God; yet such things matter greatly to us here on earth. Live in a way to relate with those to whom you desire to witness to. This pre-evangelistic work creates opportunities for spiritual conversations and for people to have opportunity to see God at work in you before you share God; and it often helps people be more receptive to what is transforming you day by day. We call this invest; invest in people; invest in neighbors, invest in co-workers; invest in family and friends. Invest in them based on what they like, based on where they go. You start your work on their turf.
This is exactly what the apostle Paul did…Paul was chosen by Jesus Christ to become an apostle after Jesus had died and already ascended to heaven, so there were Jews who challenged the authenticity of Paul’s name plate – apostle. What made them challenge it even more was that Jesus instructed Paul to focus on the Gentiles rather than the Jews. As you know, there had been this ethnocentric arrogance that the Gentile were lesser human beings, less deserving. Paul’s actions to reach the Gentiles violated Jewish law – this is not God’s law – but these are the rules that Jews made up for who is holy and spiritual. We do that too. Our rules might include not going to R rated movies, not drinking, not smoking, not overly celebrating holidays like Christmas, Easter bunnies and Halloween. Paul was taking on their so-called rules of holiness that are not in the Bible. The holy rollers challenged Paul saying that he could not do certain Gentile things because of being a Jew, Paul’s response was that he was free from man-made rules in order to serve God’s greater purpose to take the 1st step to invest in people on their turf.
This is exactly what Jesus Christ did…Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to die for the salvation of sinners was known as a glutton and drunkard not because of the facts, but instead he was known for this because of who he took the time to develop a friendship with. Jesus spent time and loved on those who were drunks. Jesus’ first miracle was to make strong wine at a wedding. There were allegations that Jesus slept with a woman for how he spared a woman’s life from being stoned to death as they pronounced her a prostitute and later a woman poured expensive perfume all over his feet in the final days even though, so there must have been some affair right? Jesus was willing to sacrifice his reputation to become all things to all people to save some. Jesus took the 1st step to invest in people on their turf.
If you think that is bad; if you think that is difficult, then let me make it worse. The Bible calls for us to use our freedom to become slaves…slaves to some in order to win them to Christ.
Paul said that he enslaved himself, in the Greek it is edoulosa. Edoulosa is a very strong word. The word is used to describe Israel’s 400-year slavery experience in Egypt; the marriage bond; and the believer’s new relationship to righteousness. Enslaving oneself is not a small thing. Jesus taught whoever wishes to be first in the kingdom shall be a slave of all. What’s true of all of us is that we tend toward our own lives, our own families, our own hobbies. Paul on the other hand, says that his freedom is to make himself a slave of all in order to save some. A slave does not make the decisions of where to live, where to work, what to eat, how to spend free time; but instead, edoulosa is a call to check in that freedom to God for the purpose of investing in relationships. Why spend time with that person you don’t know rather than watch the game or go out with good friends every week? Because they don’t know Christ. Edoulosa is the 1st step.
So, does the Bible tell us to do ANYTHING to save some? Are there any limits?
(1) you cannot sin, you must obey God’s Word at all times, certainly God does not work to save by intentionally using sin; (2) you must follow your convictions given you by God; God may limit your freedom for a time as you may not experience the freedom to do some things to win others; (3) you must not put yourself in a situation that you are not ready to handle, if you struggle in an area like alcoholism then you probably should not be in a bar to talk about Jesus because the temptation would be too much for you. (4) Paul was free because he was not paid by an employer; he took love offerings, but had he had an employer, then he would not be as free for employers set certain limits to our freedom.
While most of us have adopted a defensive strategy of avoiding dangerous areas and condemning them, let me show you a few who have chosen an offensive strategy to pierce the darkness. Permit me to present these to you for you to consider. What rubs you the wrong way and why? Do they all make sense to you and you would agree to them?
Second Life is a Virtual 3-D Church world - Second life is a digital world where you can be whoever you want to be, but interestingly you can attend church in this virtual world. It is an attempt to reach people right where they are – on the internet and unwilling to get up and out to church…for now.
XXX Church Reaches People with Pornography Problems - XXX Church is the number 1 Christian porn website designed to bring awareness to the porn problem. Their number one method is their website where 600,000 to 1 million visitors go every month. Their second method is to go to two porn conventions each year where they do free bible giveaways. They also have X3 Watch is an accountability software program that runs a report of all your web searches and sends it to two people every 2 to 4 weeks.
Reaching Alcoholics - Two of our young men have taken jobs at night to drive people who had drunk too much and call for a designated driver. They work in teams of two. One person drives the drunk home in their car, and the other driver drives their own car to pick up the driver. This time the driver has with the drunk is a great opportunity to begin a conversation that could lead to more. If these young men looked for our help to take the conversation to the next step, would we be willing to help?
Reaching Out on Halloween - There is a ministry call Hell House that takes place at various churches. Hell House is a walk through drama guided tour. Each room depicts the plagues and effect of sin in our society today. On your tour you will view each scenario played out before your very eyes. You experience, the funeral home, auto collision, the party room, the abortion room, the game room and the suicide room! You will visit Hell and see Satan and his hord of demons face to face. That is not your final destination though unless you choose it to be. You're final destination will be in Heaven with all it's Wonder and Glory, you will come face to face with Jesus Christ, The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! Interestingly, there is a Halloween event in our own Romeo that attracts thousands of people known as Tilson street where all the houses are decorated, many very scary. Most people I know have chosen to avoid this street and discourage others. Some church may one day decide to try to create an opportunity to develop a relationship with people who like the scary part of Halloween in order to win people who like Tilson street.
Reaching Other Religious People - Do you know Muslims, Buddhists and other religious people? How will you speak their language? How will you reach them? It must begin with a relationship. Before you expect them to listen to you and your Christian story have you taken time to listen to them? Before you expect them to read the book of John have you read one of their books?
Parents Close the Generation Gap - I was riding in the car with my young niece. She turned on the radio to one of her favorite songs. Listen to this uncle Bob she said with enthusiasm, what do you think? I reacted without thinking, “I don’t know Melissa. I can’t understand the…” I stopped midsentence. I was about to say that I could not understand the words. I couldn’t believe it. I sounded just like my parents twenty years before. I made up my mind that day to catch up with her world. There is still a generation gap; yet, I am trying, and the gap is shrinking. We need to understand and appreciate our kids’ world in order to speak their language.
Neighbors Creating Community - The front porch has moved to the back deck and bbq. There is little interaction between neighbors nowadays. The most we see is people driving by, mowing their lawns, riding their bikes, or taking a walk. How many opportunities are missed to take a moment to talk with neighbors to develop a relationship.
Now, back to that boat at 3am with the torment of the waves and Jesus just in the distance calling for you to take the 1st step out of the boat and onto the violent sea. Put yourself in Peter’s place. The Lord is passing by, and he’s inviting you to go on the adventure of your life. Of course you are scared to death, aren’t we all. What will you choose – the water or the boat? By far, the boat is safer, more secure, more comfortable.
I believe there is something – someone- inside us who tells us there is more to life than sitting in the boat. You were made for something more. Something inside you wants to walk on water – to leave the comfort of the routine existence and abandon yourself to God’s adventure. What is your boat that you are being asked to step out of? What is that boat of safety and security separating you from God? What is keeping you from joining Jesus on the waves? Will you take the 1st step? Today, care less and less for your time and walk on water for the eternal sake of others.
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