Being
a Christian is a two-sided experience. There are blessings and privileges
beyond the reach of human language to describe – summed up in the apostle
Paul’s famous and beautiful phrase, "the unsearchable riches of
Christ" (Ephesians 3:8). But there is another side – a side that
requires faithfulness and daily cross-bearing (Luke 9:23; Revelation 2:10).
A man named William McElvaney captured both sides by pointing out the Christian
life is "not only ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine,’ but also, ‘Blessed
Disturbance, we are Christ’s’ " (quote from homileticsonline.com).
McElvaney’s words are worth thinking about. The fundamental call and claim of
Jesus on the lives of those who would be His disciples (in ancient times and
modern ones) is sounded in Luke 9:23 – Then He said to them all,
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me." Nobody who heard or read that
statement in the Roman / Greek world of the first century would have needed any
interpretation or explanation as to what Jesus was talking about. Crosses were
used for only one thing – to crucify people condemned as criminals guilty of
capital offenses. That’s "c-r-u-c-i-f-y" – as in drive large metal
spikes through their hands and feet into rough pieces of lumber and then
suspend them between heaven and earth to die an excruciatingly painful,
shameful, slow-motion death that was sometimes hours and even a few days in
coming. To have witnessed it would have been disturbing enough – to experience
it not only disturbing but deadly, every time. So it is – Christ means to
disturb us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "When Christ calls a man, He bids
him come and die." Bonhoeffer (a Nazi dissident who died in a prison camp
in WWII) was not talking necessarily about physical death. True – many
Christians over the centuries have died physically rather than give up their
faith. And Jesus indicated that might be necessary for some in Revelation
2:10 when He said to Christians in the Asian city of Smyrna, "Be
faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." But
whether we are ever called upon to die physically or not, there is a kind of
death every would- be-disciple of Jesus is required to die – die to being
self-absorbed and "it’s ALL about me-ism." In that regard not
just, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" – but also, for every
genuine child of God, "Blessed disturbance, I am Christ’s!" If Christ
never disturbs you in any way – if His teachings and example never challenge
and disturb your attitude, emotions, priorities, choices, decisions or speech
in any way at all, be sure of this – you are not bearing a cross after Christ
along the road to self-denial!
As
we close, note Romans 16:3-4 where the apostle Paul says,"Greet
Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own
necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of
the Gentiles." Students of the New Testament know associating with
the apostle would have sooner or placed one at risk (see 2 Corinthians
11:23ff)! The point is not that Christians can’t sing, "Blessed
assurance, Jesus is mine." The point is that at times we must be able to
sing, "Blessed disturbance, I am Christ’s." Christ promises a crown,
but calls us to carry a cross. He brings both assurance and disturbance to our
lives. It ought to disturb us if Christ never disturbs us.
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
A preacher,
so the story goes, arrived in a small town on Sunday morning to begin a short
gospel meeting. Wanting to mail a post card, he spotted a young boy on a
bicycle. He pulled over and told the boy, "I’m new in town and need your
help. Can you tell me where the post office is?" The boy told him,
"We are on 1st Street. Go down two blocks and turn right onto
Main Street. The post office will be down one block on your right." The
preacher was impressed and delighted with the young man’s simple but precise
directions. He told the boy, "If you’ll come to church with me this
morning, I’ll help you learn how to go to heaven." The boy thought for a
second then said, "I don’t think I’ll come. You didn’t even know how to
get to the post office."
Let’s
get real. There are times when we need to receive help, and times when we need
to give help. The Bible tells us about a Christian who excelled at helping
others in Romans 16:1-2 where the apostle Paul gives a brief but
beautiful cameo of Sister Phoebe. Here is his reference to her in its entirety:
"I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church
in Cenchrea, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the
saints, and assist her in whatever business she has need of you; for indeed she
has been a helper of many and of myself also." What a wonderful
commendation! I wish we knew more about Sister Phobe, but that single passage
of two verses tells us everything the Holy Spirit wanted us to know about her.
What we know about her is impressive indeed. Paul refers to her as "our
sister" – and his clear meaning is,"our sister in
Christ." Somewhere along the way Phoebe heard and believed the gospel of
Jesus Christ and was born again of the water and Spirit into the family of God (John
3:3-7). But that wasn’t all. Paul also said she was "a servant
of the church in Cenchrea" (a seaport town not far from Corinth).
After dying to sin and being buried into Christ’s death, Phoebe "was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father" to "walk
in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4). After she was baptized into
Christ, this beautiful lady got busy serving! A lot of theological dust is
kicked up as some use this verse to allege that Phoebe was part of a separate
order of female deacons in the early church. While true the Greek word for
"servant" (diakonos) can be translated "deaconness" (as
some modern translations do), the same word is used repeatedly to refer to
"servant / minister" in general in many passages. Brad Price, in his
commentary on ROMANS, points out that this same word is used by Paul at Romans
13:4 to apply to human governing officials! There simply is no proof or reason
to believe Phoebe was anything but a faithful, hard-working, always-serving
child of God like so many God-fearing and faithful women (and men) in the
church today. That makes them like Christ Himself and a part of the greatest of
among us (Mark 10:43-45). And then, not surprisingly, Paul said, Sister
Phoebe "has been a helper of many and of myself also."
Beautiful! A great Christian lady, active in the church. We might call her a
"holy helper" because she was intensely involved in God’s work. Thank
God for holy helpers. May their number increase. Are you one of God’s holy
helpers?
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
Preachers
need help! Yes, they do. They are often joked about and laughed at, usually all
in fun. I am a preacher! And I have heard / told many preacher jokes! For
example– do you know who a preacher is? Answer: A man who talks in other
people’s sleep." That is literally true, sometimes. But the preacher’s job
is not to keep people awake! His task is to do his homework – that is, to read
up, study up, pray up, and then stand up and speak up for Christ and the
gospel. Those of us who preach can control and are responsible for being
prepared. What we cannot control is if listeners who show up in the pews have
played too hard or stayed up too late Saturday night, or are distracted by
texting and Facebook and Snapchat while we preach! And we can’t help it if they
tune out because they just don’t like us and decide to catch a few Z’s in the
pew! But I digress. It does bother me if people doze while I preach, but then I
remember – Peter, James and John fell asleep on Jesus at the most intense and
critical moment of Jesus’s life in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew
26:36-41). Jesus’ question to them in Matthew 26:40b is appropriate
for a lot of church- goers who have no trouble staying awake through favorite
TV shows or two-hour long movies or three- hour-long football games – "What?
Could you not watch with me one hour?" And then, in Acts 20:7-10,
the Bible said that a young man named Eutychus, bless his heart, sank into a "deep
sleep" while the apostle Paul preached at Troas. Paul’s sermon was a
long one – "until midnight" – and so overcome was Eutychus
with sleep that "he fell down from the third story and was taken up
dead." He was fortunate to have a miracle-working apostle there, and
Paul raised him up. The only thing that saves some people from a deadly fall
while sleeping during sermons is that pews are usually cushioned, and, it’s
only a short fall onto the pew or shoulder of the person in front of or beside
you! Maybe a good poke from a pew mate will wake them up! And in a few cases,
maybe they came from a third shift job, bone-tired, but want to worship God
even though weary. Or maybe a doctor’s prescribed medication is affecting them.
Whatever the case, all week long, to quote an old preacher from yesteryear –
"I read myself full, I think myself clear, I pray myself hot, and I let
myself go!" What else can the preacher do? He can talk while you sleep –
but that’s your problem! He can’t pay attention and listen for you!
Many
Bible students consider the apostle Paul the greatest preacher who ever lived,
except Jesus Himself. Paul wrote about half of the books of the New Testament
and spread the gospel far and wide. The things God used him to preach and write
continue to make a world-wide impact. But this great man realized all
preachers, himself included, need help. In Romans 15:24ff he told
Christians in Rome he wanted to go to Spain (to preach Christ) and declared, "I
hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you." In
verse 30 he begged them "to strive together with me in prayers
to God for me" that he could be delivered from foes who sought to hurt
him. It’s true friends – every gospel preacher you know needs that kind of help. How about
it? Will you help your preacher, or hurt him?
Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN
