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A TRUCKLOAD OF PURITY #1
PROUD PAPA WITH A CAMERA
In his book, Heaven, our writer/producer, David Smith,
tells about a graduation he attended at Pacific Union College many years
ago where his sister-in-law, Merry, was getting her diploma. And as the
school chancellor read off the names, all of a sudden the entire place
was on its feet. Several thousand people giving one graduate a standing
ovation.
Her name was Shirley, and there was nothing that spectacular about her
grades. She wasn't on the honor roll; she wasn't getting one of those
fellowships to M.I.T.'s graduate program. She was just Shirley. And with
her little white cane, she carefully tapped her way across the platform
to receive that hard-earned sheepskin.
And people were just in tears, thinking about what an accomplishment this
was. Maybe you've been to a similar ceremony, where someone who really
had a disabling challenge proved that they were NOT disabled, that they
could beat the odds and triumph against the adversity that had been dealt
to them.
Now, many of us standing on the sidelines when the PA echoes with that
special name are just insulated bystanders. But imagine with me if it's
YOUR kid who learns Braille and negotiates those tricky campus sidewalks
for four years, taping lectures and then having to memorize material instead
of being able to take notes. Now it's your son, your daughter, standing
up there to receive the reward. And you're so proud you simply want to
burst. You want to grab the microphone from the dean of students and shout
out: "This is MY child. And I'm so proud!"
Well, you know, here in chapter four we find a bit of "proud papa"
syndrome being expressed by our spiritual mentor, the Apostle Paul. And
he's been giving fatherly advice to his Christian friends in Philippi,
some of whom ARE spiritual children, so to speak. Infants in the faith,
actually. And there are times - we've discussed this especially in studying
First Corinthians - where Paul actually accepts the role of a spiritual
father. "It's okay for you to follow my example," he very carefully
tells them. And it's with the proviso that they look even more at Christ,
their real and lasting Model for living. But in a hands-on, day-by-day
way, he does try to show them by his own life how they should be seeking
Jesus and following Him in spiritual growth.
At the close of chapter three, which we looked at last week, Paul had
concluded that for Christians, our citizenship is in heaven. And how God's
people are going to be transformed, under the control of Christ, and become
glorious like Him. Now in the closing chapter of this letter, he begins
this way:
"Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long
for, my JOY and CROWN, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord,
dear friends!"
And those two expressions give us such a portrait of how we who are in
the faith ought to feel about one another. That person you pray for, that
young person at church you kind of link up with . . . that person is your
joy! And your crown! As you see little moments where growth is happening,
as you notice where they're becoming more and more seasoned, like graduate
students - friend, this is one of the greatest rewards in the Christian
faith.
Some of us who have served God as pastors might feel that we get an unfair
share of this reward. So many times it's been my joy to study with a person,
maybe someone who begins, not just at Square One, but from a background
of actual hostility toward Jesus Christ. And it's not my doing; the Holy
Spirit gets all of the credit . . . but a miracle takes place right before
my eyes. This person gets new vision, so to speak, a new heart, a new
brain. They fall in love with Jesus. And not only do I get wet with them
in that baptismal tank when they are buried and resurrected to new life,
but I then get to stick around and watch and participate as that fresh
flower, that budding miracle plant, grows in maturity. Friend, there's
nothing like that experience . . . and sometimes it's a disadvantage in
radio ministry that the letters you write and the Discover lessons you
send in aren't quite as much a hands-on experience for us. Although I
confess there's still a bit of "proud papa" feeling around here
on Thursdays as we hear about some of the answered prayers you describe
to us in your letters.
But you know, I want to make a second point here. Because admittedly,
this radio microphone implies a factor of Christian leadership. And Paul
was a leader too, a mentor in the faith. But I would suggest to you today
as we start chapter four, that this opportunity to invest in the graduation
ceremonies of others is meant for every single one of us: radio preachers
and radio listeners alike. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ - and
even if you've just been His disciple since this last weekend - it is
your privilege and your obligation to begin to taste of this experience
of helping others graduate and receive diplomas and crowns.
In his book from quite a few years ago, Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness,
author Jerry Cook tells about a man who called him at the church once
and said, "Pastor, my neighbor wants to give his heart to the Lord,
become a Christian. Can you come right over and kind of talk him through
the steps?"
Well, that was great! He grabbed his Bible and his car keys and was halfway
out the door, and then something hit him. And he said to himself, "Wait
a minute." He went back and called that parishioner and said to him,
"I'm not coming." "What? How come?" And the pastor
told him, "Man, I don't want to rob you of the joy of leading this
person to know Jesus. YOU do it." And the guy said, "No way.
I don't know what to say." And Jerry told him, "Just tell him
what Jesus has done for you, and how you, yourself, gave your life to
God. Just take him through it." And the following Sunday, the man
- along with this new adopted child of God - told the pastor it was the
greatest experience of his life.
In fact, Pastor Cook decided on a new rule in his own church. And this
might run up against some denominations' laws and bylaws, but he announced
that if a person in his church brought a new believer into the faith,
that member would do the baptizing, not Pastor Jerry Cook. He'd stand
off to the side in the cheering section and simply join in the applause.
Well, that's kind of an intriguing policy . . . and maybe some of you
are already packing a towel and a hair dryer in your car for next weekend
at church. But let me raise the stakes a bit. Because, you know, we're
really talking here about something even more important than a diploma,
or a Baptism Sabbath or Sunday. The stakes are higher than that even .
. . and Paul's intense enthusiasm here, writing about joy and crowns,
gives that away. In a sermon titled "The Weight of Glory," C.
S. Lewis - who was himself just a layman in the Church of England - points
out that every single day you and I are meeting people. We have quick
encounters and long-lasting relationships. But every single one of those
people is heading for an eternal destiny. Some of them are on the path
toward eternal life. They're going to be citizens of heaven for a long,
long, long time. Others of them - and this is the tragic reality of life
- are heading for everlasting destruction. For a long, long time for them
too - for a forEVER - they will NOT be a part of the Kingdom of God.
"All day long," he writes, "we are, in
some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.
It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the
awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all
our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all
politics. There are no ordinary people."
Do you help your spouse in his or her life of
daily surrender to God? Every time you do that, you're investing in that
ETERNAL life. You don't just help them get a diploma which whips up their
earning power for 40 years on Wall Street. Your friendship, your love,
your encouraging words, are actually shaping the FOREVER of that person.
You or I might sit on an airplane next to someone, and have just the briefest
exchange. God might open up the tiniest crack in the conversation window,
where you can just say a few words about the power of prayer, or about
your conviction that God is interested in that seatmate. And you might
get off the plane and go get your suitcase from Baggage Claim and have
no concept of what you just did. You tossed just the tiniest pebble in
the pond, you think. But friend, you and I cannot measure the ripples,
and then waves, God will create from that moment. Again, you're participating
in the "college education," the journey toward heaven, of a
person who's either going to live forever or be lost forever.
In verse three, Paul lets us know that we're all in this project together.
To each person he's writing to - which would include you and me - he calls
us a "loyal yokefellow." Because we're helping to pull people
toward the platform and the graduation celebration. And again, how high
are the stakes? There at the end of verse three, he tells us about the
most wonderful heavenly volume in the world, where the names of the saved
are written. Its title? The Book of Life. And every day we live and breathe,
friend, we're helping to put people's names there, emblazoned for all
eternity.
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