08/14/16—Highland—Meute
Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19; Hebrews 11: 29 – 12:2; Luke 12: 49-56
Pearl: Sacrificing to go the distance with Jesus Christ.
Function: To inspire worshippers by the example of many martyrs who willingly sacrificed for their faith.
I once served under a preacher and pastor who suggested I use more realistic examples in my sermons. I had talked about Martin Luther’s prayer practice and how he said that if he did not pray for at least three hours at the start of each day he was not worth a hoot.
1. My mentor said that I should use examples which average people can relate to. I understand what my teacher meant. I can appreciate much more at this stage of life the truth and wisdom of my teacher.
2. On the other hand, don’t you think that the average followers of Christ, need to hear, every once in a while, about the lives of some of the “heroes and heroines” of the faith?!
3. Should we look to the average or to the heroic for inspiration?
a. Right now in Rio de Janeiro we are watching some of the most amazing athletes in the world.
b. Who do you think that they look to for inspiration in their sports? Do they look to the average or do they look to the heroic?
c. Each of these athletes are marvels of discipline and dedication. They all sacrifice day in and day out in order to rise up to the heights that they have reached. For years they persist in obscurity with an audience of only a few so that they can step into the spotlight of the Olympics for a few minutes. While in the spotlight they show just how much they have sacrificed.
i. Simone Biles was homeschooled. She sacrificed school dances, trips, and many of the fun activities that the average student enjoys. She sacrificed her youth to become what many say is the greatest gymnast ever!
4. Maybe you should aspire to the kind of commitment that took hold of many of the Godly heroes of the faith in the past! None of the people that you read about in the Bible were superhuman. They were average people like you and me who simply had deep commitment and deep faith! Perhaps, from time to time, you should hear about the people “of whom the world was not worthy.”
Your calling is to “prove worthy of the kingdom of Jesus Christ!”
You are a follower of Jesus Christ. You are meant to “go the distance” with Jesus Christ, even to the point of persecution. Often this will mean denying self, sacrificing self.
1. Hebrews chapter 11 is known as the “Great Roll Call of Heroes and Heroines of the Faith.” It lists person after person, group after group, who by faith did this or did that.
a. By faith, Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.
b. By faith, Enoch was taken directly into heaven without experiencing death.
c. By faith, Noah respected God’s warning and built the ark to save his family and two of every kind of living creature.
d. By faith, Abraham was willing to set out, as God instructed him, to a place unknown.
e. By faith, Joseph endured all kinds of rejection and the desertion of his brothers only to be raised up to a position of unparalleled power.
2. By faith Moses and many more like Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and many whose names are unknown…
a. Through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight…while others were tortured, suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment, were stoned to death, sawn in two, killed by the sword, went about in sheep and goat skins, were destitute, persecuted, tormented—“of whom the world was not worthy.”
3. Every description of what people endured for their commitment to God, his principles, and for their commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ were fulfilled IN ACTUAL LIVES!
a. Daniel was willing to be eaten by lions rather than stop praying to the God of Israel. And he was spared. The lions didn’t touch him.
i. But there were many other believers who were eaten by lions for their unwillingness to renounce their faith.
b. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego willingly entered into the fiery furnace which was so hot that the people who put them into the furnace were burned up in the process. Each of these three were spared and not a single hair on their body was even singed.
i. But many other followers of Jesus Christ were burned alive out of their faith in God and out of commitment to his cause.
c. Are these stories are too extraordinary for the average listener? Should I stop here?
4. This story comes from the Apocryphal book of II Maccabees 7.
a. A mother and her seven sons were so committed to following the law of God that they refused to eat the flesh of pig. During a reign of terrifying persecution they were brought before the secular ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes. This ruler demanded that they renounce their faith and eat pork.
b. They refused. At which point the first brother was subjected to being boiled alive in a large pans of grease. This took place in the eyes of all of the other brothers and their mother.
c. When the next brother was asked to recant he only professed his faith in the God of Israel more and more while the other brothers and their mother cheered him on. One after another brother was subjected to greater and greater torture and agony. The last brother was subjected to the greatest agony than all the other brothers, and their mother continued to encourage him to keep his faith. They were sure, they were very sure that their abuse would last for a short time while their reward would last forever and justice would surely come to their abusers.
i. Here was a family completely united in their faith in God. Jesus said many years later that his cause would divide families apart. This family, even in the face of a horrible, barbaric abuse and execution, remained completely united…and all for their refusal to violate kosher laws!
d. Such faith…such commitment…such courage…the world was not worthy of them!
i. Perhaps it is because of the example of this Godly family and others like them that Antiochus IV Epiphanes died in complete insanity.
e. These heroes and heroines of the faith cultivated a sixth sense. They saw things that were unseen. They sacrificed self. Perhaps they even saw forward into the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who was the pioneer and perfecter of their faith and who is the same for you today!
5. Over vacation I read the book Night, written by Elie Wiesel, who just died in recent months. Wiesel experienced the Holocaust as a child. He and his Jewish family were taken into captivity. His entire family and most from his neighborhood perished in the concentration camps. He, miraculously, survived.
a. Night is the journal of his experience from capture to liberation. His words reveal the torment that he experienced as well as his crisis of faith because of the Holocaust.
b. He wrote:
i. Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky.
ii. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever.
iii. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.
c. Wiesel did not come out of the Holocaust proclaiming his faith in God. Yet Wiesel spent the rest of his life keeping the memory of his people alive, and fighting for justice.
d. Wiesel never wavered in his dedication to keep the memory of his people, Israel, alive and well. He spent the rest of his life pursuing justice for his people, the Jews. His life cause was to keep the memory of his people alive and to never waiver in seeking due justice.
You and I are engaged in a marathon as followers of Jesus Christ.
1. A marathon is 26.2 miles. Can you run that kind of distance? Many run it; you can too!
2. The life with Christ is a marathon. It will be full of grueling challenges. You will suffer. You will bleed. You will be ridiculed and abused. You might even be put to death.
a. Just look at all of those who have gone before! What kept them going?
i. It was this sixth sense…this unseen force…God was with them! Even if they did not think so anymore.
3. Those who suffer and sacrifice for the faith, for the name of Jesus Christ, will receive their reward; they will receive their vindication!
What has following Christ cost you? What have you sacrificed for the sake of the gospel?
Will you go the distance with Jesus Christ?
Persevere in the race that is set before you! Many, many people have run this race. You can, too!
“Run with perseverance the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12: 1,2).
