Some years ago Linda and I had our old 8 mm movies copied over to video tape. I was looking at these some time ago - Ethan was still little! I told him, �Look at this. That young, skinny, good looking guy is me.� He said, �I see skinny. I see a lot younger than you. But, I do not see good looking.�
Anyone with an ego problem should not have kids.
Still, these old movies are kind of neat to look at even now, nearly forty years later. It is interesting to see what we were like as others might have seen us. It is comforting to see those we no longer can see.
It is fun, of course, just to remember. Pictures of old places bring back thoughts, sometimes pleasant and sometimes not so pleasant, of days gone by.
Part of the movies contain scenes of the physical structure of the new campus (circa. 1963) where I originally went to college.
These are not great pictures. I tended to shoot the camera lens just a little too high most of the time. Still, I do have pictures of the original entrance of that college. There are shots of the Student Center Cafeteria and the dorms form the outside. The old rock drive back to the dorms is also evident.
I have very few pictures of people. One scene shows the student body president riding a bicycle on the rocky drive. One other scene, and this one goes on for probably only two minutes or so, is of the school basketball team playing... I really don�t know who they were playing. It was just interesting to show my son, and to remember myself, those young men who carried the colors of the school on the basketball court those many years ago.
I also find some scenes from Linda�s and my wedding. All the aunts and uncles, the old friends (before they became so old!), the in-laws and out-laws are all there. Many, too many, of these faces are no longer with us today still smile from these old pictures.
We have some pictures of the crowd leaving church after an Easter Service at the second church where I served. Ethan is eating his first birthday cake with our old collie �Heath� trying to pick up a few crumbs. Amy is at an amusement park in her stroller. Linda is walking our Pekinese dog we had when we lived down in Louisiana.
Some of the pictures I have a little trouble trying to remember what it is that they are showing. For instance, there is one scene of a young man with long sideburns wearing �bell-bottom� trousers with a pair of �Joe Willie� white tennis shoes on his feet. Linda told me that this was a picture of me. I still claim, �There ain�t no way that could even be a close relative, let alone me.�
Still, Linda did claim that this was, indeed, a picture of me. �The camera does not lie. If you think you looked like a �dork,� well...�
Don�t most of us have pictures like this? Or, worse yet, letters! I know that I have sermons that I preached thirty years ago that will never see the light of day again!
The sad fact is that I have sermons that I wrote, or deliver, even today that should never see the light of day! There are many reasons why this happens. Sometimes I just get lazy. No; that�s not right! I never get lazy. I already am! It�s just that I allow that particular character trait to manifest itself all too often.
In Matthew 10:26 Jesus is talking to His disciples. He tells them, �...fear not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: and hid, that shall not be known.�
The context of this quotation is a situation where Jesus is sending His disciples out into the world with His Message. He is warning them that His Message will not be well taken. Many will become incensed, will take offense, at that Message. Hardship and opposition are to be expected by the disciples.
But, Jesus says for the disciples not to worry about the actions of those who would taunt, oppose, or even mistreat them. God is taking notes!
There are sermons that could be preached on this passage dealing with non-violence in the face of hatred - serenity in the presence of discord - peace in the midst of persecution. But, I�d like to do something that will cause every teacher of sermon preparation I�ve ever known to sharpen his red grading pencil. I�d like to look at this verse in a way that is inconsistent with the context.
I don�t feel that I�ll be doing violence to the context. After all, the Scriptural Principle is that God understands all of the hindrances which may affect our work and witness for Him. I believe that this knowledge would include those hindrances which are self imposed.
There is, after all, nothing that we can do about the reaction of others toward our message and mission. Many years ago I ran out of gas when I was about mid-way between two Interstate exits. It was about eight miles to one and eight miles to the other exit. For some reason which only made sense to one with as warped a mind as myself, I decided to push my truck towards one of these exits.
Once I got the vehicle moving, pushing it on the level was not too hard. Pushing the truck down a hill was quite easy. But, at the bottom of every hill going down is the start of a hill going up! That, I believe is when I decided to quit pushing the truck. Somehow, just the thought of pushing my truck up the hill took all the glamor out of pushing the vehicle. I walked back to get some gas in a can and take it to my little Ford F-100.
Those who would oppose our message and mission are like that hill. We can not push past them. We need to drive past them. We need to be �filled up� in preparation for the trip. That means that we need to let God be the operating power of our work and witness.
My pushing the truck moved it neither very quickly nor very far. Gasoline in the engine of the truck made it trave at 55 MPH (That was the speed limit back then. I never drive over the speed limit. ...and it don�t get cold here in the winter, either!) for many miles.
While we can do nothing about those who would oppose our witness, we can made certain that our own tanks are filled with prayer and yieldedness.
We can worry about others yet, except in praying for them and giving out God�s Message, we can do nothing to change them. But, we can do something about our own attitudes and the use of our abilities.
This is the point where one is tempted to say, �Take two prayers and a dose of Scripture reading and call me in the morning if the symptoms persist.� That, of course, is true. We do need a close walk with God. We do need to be much involved in prayer and Scripture reading - which are both a form of conversation with Him. They are means of communing with Him. They do serve to draw us closer.
But, we also need to realize that the Scripture is not simply a Book of spiritual incantations. Scriptures gives us some very practical advice. No! Advice is a bad term! Advice is simply a suggestion of something to try that might work. The Scripture gives us some very wise and practical counsel as to the ordering of our lives in such a way as to become more Christ like.
In I John 2:15-17, the Apostle gives some instruction regarding the transitory nature of life upon the earth as opposed to eternity. Verse 16 says, �For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.�
Now, any Baptist with an ounce of Theology in him can see that, in that verse, there are three points that all begin with the same letter.
The first point is, �...the lust of the flesh...� We need to examine what it is that Determines our Approach to the work of the ministry for our Lord.
Notice that I did not say, �The Work of the Ministry.� To say that would let too many people off the hook. That would imply that only those whose first name is Rev. are workers for the Lord.
Not so! Every single Christian has an obligation to do that which the Lord has given for him to do.
This, the passing of tracts, friendship evangelism, prayer warrior, even giver (I don�t like to dwell on this, but God has prospered some so that they are able to give money to the advancement of His work.), these are just some of the ways in which God may have called YOU to do His will.
By the way, any pastor who is not doing the will of God in the advancement of His Kingdom is not in the ministry. Simply leading a Sunday Morning Service does not make one a minister. This simply makes him a religious speaker.
This is one reason that I do not call myself a pastor. God has not seen fit to gift me with the interpersonal skills which are needed in that Holy Office. I may be a religious speaker or writer. I may be a teacher. I may even call myself a theologian. But, if I were to make the claim that I am a pastor or minister I would be moving beyond that which God has given me as my task.
I would not say that I have never, or will never, call myself either pastor or minister. But, I try to always do so with the full knowledge that these are just handy terms which are easily understood.
When I first began a public type of ministry - i.e., preaching from behind a pulpit, I felt that I had all the tools which God needed to handle the job. Honest. Now look at that sentence: I had all the tools which God needed... That, my friends, is the height of conceit!
My approach needed to change. I have found that life, experience, and time will cure a conceit founded on a false view of oneself. I am not completely cured. I still tend to find myself trying to help God out when He gets in a jam. At times like this God will, very patiently, point out that He does not get in jams. He will, sometimes, allow me to make a complete fool of myself, however, as a teaching aid.
He tries to teach me. Far too often I am a very poor student. My approach must be in finding His Will and following that Heavenly Trail.
By the way, as we search out that trail it is a dangerous thing to try to follow the path by ourselves. Part of the following of the Path of God is accepting the Truth of the Scripture. We can not expect to find all that God has for us if we reject His leading. Hebrews 10:25 very clearly states, �Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.�
You can not follow God and ignore the fact that Christ established His Church upon this earth. And, if Christ established His Church, who are you to refuse to attend its services and unite with it? Are you certain that God loves your attitude of, �I want to follow You, Lord, in all ways except...?� Don�t forget, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto at his side!
The second point is: �...the lust of the eyes...� We need to be on guard against that which would Detour our Appetites in the ministry of the Lord.
I remember one time I had what I considered to be a great opportunity. I was to be trained to do home inspections so that I�d be able to make a little more money. It sounded like a very good idea, even a blessing from God!
The problem was that I didn�t take the time to read the tag on the gift. I didn�t notice who it was that had sent this my way.
Most of my assignments were over one hundred miles away. I had two hours of driving time each way plus whatever time it would take to find the address in a strange town. Consequently, I fell behind in my duties to the local church. I, finally, gave this job back to the people who had asked that I do the inspections.
Do you see what was the problem? I jumped, at the first glance, to an opportunity to make some more money for the work which God had given me to perform. What�s wrong with that sentence?
That little word, again. �I.� When will I learn that if God has said that He�ll take care of something, I no longer have to worry about the nuts and bolts. All I need to do is follow my marching orders. In military terms, God is the General. I am simply the foot soldier who salutes and says, �Yes, Sir. Your Will be done!�
That does not mean that I just ignore everything. No. In fidelity to God I should take the greatest care to do things properly. What it does mean is that I should do God�s work as though it were His Work. I need not define that according to my own wishes and plans!
Has God given you a task? He has. Of that much there can be no doubt. Do His Will. Does the task seem to small; does the work seem to be somewhat beneath our abilities? There comes that word �I� again!
Satan seems to delight in attacking at our pride. �But I want to do something special.� Have you ever heard the term �Clear Out� in a basketball game? That is where a term will put all of its players, except one, on one side of the court. That one player will have only his own defender to get past. None from his own team will get in his way. None of those guarding his team mates will be as quick to double team him.
Suppose that your coach has called for a clear out. But, you decide that you must go over to the other side of the court to set a screen for the man with the ball. You are going to mess up the play if you do it! The coach knows what play he has called. In doing that he has taken account of the abilities of all of his players - and of the other team�s players. To help in such a situation is to invite disaster.
God is the Coach. We need to curb our self serving appetites to do what He has not commanded.
We also need to not allow a detour of our appetites from that which is important - The Scripture! Jesus, while being tempted by Satan, quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 when he said, in Matthew 4:4, �...man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.�
There is much good that can be done in this world by the Christian. Food can be provided to those in need. Clothing, and other necessities, may be made available. Linda and I, for about ten years, allowed our own home to be used by transient, homeless, me. These are all examples of good works that can be done to show Christian love in a world that is in turmoil.
But these sorts of actions - by themselves, will never bring a single soul into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Indeed, anyone can do things. We, as Christians, have a story which can do something that all of these �good works� can never accomplish. The Message of the Gospel offers salvation to the immortal soul.
It is easy to get sidetracked onto social or political issues. These are important. But, these are only temporal. There is an old saying that goes something like this: �Give a man a fish and you have cured his hunger for today. Teach a man how to fish and you have taught him how to never hunger again.�
Conversely, give a person the picture, and action, of the social gospel and you have made his life easier for a short time; give that person the Message of the Word of God and you may see his soul saved for eternity.
May we never allow other �things� to detour our appetite for the Word of God.
The final point is that we be on guard to find the proper Desires for our Advancement - �...the pride of life...�
We live in a churchy environment where the �Big is Better� philosophy has taken hold. Am I not correct? I�ve heard, and I tend to accept this as fact, that the average preacher - when he is asked the size of his congregation, will add about 20%. �After all,� the reasoning goes, �that�s how many would have been here if everyone attended who claim to do so.� And, if the nursing home group were here... And, if everyone who comes to either only the worship or the Sunday School service were here...
We do tend to rationalize.
We always tried to put the best face on our church by claiming to be, �The world�s smallest congregation - well, we�re close!� The reason? It was a counter-point to draw attention. It put a good face on us; no one expected a large crowd. It just made us look better to those who may have come to visit.
It that a proper reason to say that? In doing this are we not exaggerating to the point of boastfulness? If I ask you to consider a mote, should not I consider my own beam?
What is our desire in serving the Lord? Are we interested in our personal, or professional, advancement? How sad if that be the case! A couple of years ago I ran into a man with whom I�d gone to high school. Upon realizing that it was I, he looked me over and said, �What has happened to you! You look terrible!�
This is the question that will be asked about most of us five years after we are gone from a location. �What happened to so-and-so?� Our reputation, our sterling leadership abilities, our firm grasp that was needed to insure the proper outcome of all around us... Someone else will be doing the job, doing it as well. Probably doing it better. We are not indispensable!
The ONLY value which our works may have is when they are in affirmative response to the Will of God. It is not important what we do. It is vitally important that we realize it is God Who has set the agenda.
Would you like a picture of how important our personal works are? Do we believe that we are important or necessary?
Take a brick, like the kind used to build a house. Go out into the yard with the brick. Hold it up at eye level. Put it where everyone can see. Now, let go of it.
What happened?
The brick fell to the ground because it was not laid upon any sort of foundation. Such are all of our gaudy works if they are not laid upon the sure foundation of God�s Will.
It is our desire to see the lost won to Lord? That is good; but even this is too shallow a desire. Our desire must be to follow the Will of God - to serve the Author of the Universe.
What glory is ours when we realize that we are allowed to work the Work of Him Who fashioned the universe. Consider, if it is at all possible, the great privilege which is given us to work for the Master.
Souls will be saved as we do the work of God. We may not witness this ourselves, though often we are given that privilege. But, we may be certain that as we follow the sure leading of God, His Work will proceed. In His Work will come the salvation of souls.
We may not witness this fruition of our labors. It is, however, a certainty!
Old pictures are often a joy. They allow us to relive times, and pleasures, past. May these old pictures and memories remind us of past triumphs, and encourage us to future delights as we go on with God!