Loving the Interrupters
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· 31 viewsIts never too late to repent, and its never the wrong time to share the Gospel
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Good morning.
As we wrap up our Outcasts series, we are going to talk about what it means to love the Interrupters.
Interrupters are those people and situations that cause us to veer off of the path we are currently on.
If you think about it, every kind of person that we have talked about in this series could be called an Interrupter.
And Jesus, who, in these passages that we’ve discussed over the past month, allowed for these people to interrupt His previously planned schedule.
And maybe, when it comes to fulfilling our mission to proclaim the Gospel to the lost and make disciples, maybe our biggest obstacle is this:
Obstacle #5:
Its too easy to be too busy for God to use us
Its too easy to be too distracted by our own important life plans for us to be available for God’s eternal plans
You know, if you look carefully at the ministry of Jesus, His ministry happened through interruptions.
Virtually every recorded instance of ministry that Jesus performed was due to an interruption to His schedule. Something went wrong, someone tugs on His clothes, someone is thirsty, someone is in a tree, someone’s relative are dying or dead, someone is hungry, someone is sorrowful, and so on.
Constantly, Jesus was about God’s business and as He was on His way, He gets interrupted.
We will be in this morning, and you can turn there now if you brought your Bibles.
If not, we have free Bibles for anyone who needs one. If you need a Bible for yourself, or for someone else, we will have Bibles for you to take and keep every week from now on. If you would like a Bible, please raise your hand, and we will bring one to you, otherwise you can pick one up on your way out today. Ok, back to the message.
And I think that the concept of being interrupted is key when it comes to our carrying out of God’s mission for us to proclaim His Gospel message to the lost and make disciples of the found.
In modern times, we have boiled down our mission to inviting a friend to an event or a worship service.
And while that is a good thing, and we should do that. That’s not the sum total of our mission.
We are not supposed to wait around for the next public program that is put on by our church leaders.
We are supposed to allow God to interrupt our lives with His mission as we are on our ways, and God expects us to do so, even if it means changing our schedules to accomplish it.
Oh, but how will my kids grow to be well adjusted young men and women if they are not registered for every possible sport and activity on this side of heaven?
Oh, between work, family, the kids, shoveling the snow, visiting Great Aunt Ethel, and all the rest, I just can’t do it.
Oh, if God would just give me another day of the week, THEN I could do it.
But the truth is, if God gave us another day of the week, we’d fill that with our business too.
Charles Spurgeon said, “I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present time has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”
He further said:
“Put your finger on any prosperous page in the Church’s history, and I will find a little marginal note reading thus: “In this age men could readily see where the church began and where the world ended.” Never were there good times when the church and the world were joined in marriage with one another. The more the Church is distinct from the world in her acts and in her maxims, the more true is her testimony for Christ, and the more potent is her witness against sin.”
Think about it:
The world says that the message of Jesus is too offensive, so we water it down to make it more palatable.
The world says that busy-ness equals accomplishment, and now, in an age of endless customization, personalization, instant gratification, and convenience, we are more busy now than perhaps we ever have been in the western world.
We don’t have time to check the time anymore, that’s why our phones give us notifications.
And we convince ourselves that the trading of quality time for cluttered time on the altar of busy-ness is acceptable because busy-ness equals accomplishment and success.
Yes, I am such a success in keeping myself so busy that I don’t do half the things that God would have me do. Instead, I see myself as a victim of the tyranny of the urgent, not to mention that that urgent is, in significant measure, an urgency of my choosing.
The world says that everybody is too fat, so the church comes up with the Daniel diet.
The world says that God’s intentions at creation for marriage, sexuality, gender roles, etc., are antiquated and out of date, and half the western church edits God’s Word so that they can fit in with the morally relative, ever-shifting truth of culture instead of the eternal truth of Christ.
And of course, the world says, you are the most important thing in your life. Your dreams, your goals, your plans.
And so its not any wonder that its too easy to be too busy with our plans for us to allow God to interrupt us with His plans.
You see,
our problem is that we try to plan the times when God can use us, instead of allowing God to use as He sees fit, WHEN He sees fit.
So let’s look at the last time Jesus was interrupted as He was about His Father’s work on earth.
Before we do so, let’s pray as we come to God’s Word.
29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ 31 For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine
Luke 23:
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Let me make the situation abundantly clear for you here:
Jesus is being interrupted AS HE IS DYING!
Its almost a comical irony that even as Christ was dying, someone interrupted Him.
If you or I were in Jesus place, what would we say?
“Will you just leave me alone for once!?!?!?!?!?!”
Kids interruptions: Movies, Bathroom, Sleeping
25 years ago, the popular Christian phrase was WWJD: What Would Jesus Do?
People wore WWJD bracelets, had bumper stickers, tshirts, posters, and so on.
The idea being that, if you wore that, you were saying that you live like Jesus did, and in any situation, you do what Jesus did.
But here’s the problem:
At the same time, look at this pie chart showing Christians who read their Bibles, or not:
Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research:
“Most Americans don’t know first-hand the overall story of the Bible—because they rarely pick it up...Even among worship attendees less than half read the Bible daily. The only time most American Christians hear from the Bible is when someone else is reading it.”
Each year, Christians are surveyed by a variety of researchers to measure their professed Biblical literacy. But each year, less than half of Christians actually read their Bibles at all, and less than half of those Christians spend daily time in God’s Word?
And this begs the question, how do we know what Jesus would do if we aren’t reading His love letter to the world with even the smallest degree of regularity?
How do you get to know someone without spending any time with them?
Apparently, Christians think they can know Jesus and never hang out with Him.
But, let’s roll with the WWJD thing, and let’s see what Jesus did when He was interrupted:
. Wedding at Cana. Party was interrupted when they ran out of wine. Jesus left the party and made wine.
. Jesus takes a break from the Pharisees constant pursuit, takes a seat by a secluded well, and is interrupted by a Samaritan woman. He wins her heart and redeems her, resulting in many in her town being saved through hearing her testimony.
: Jesus back in Jerusalem to celebrate one of the Holy Days. He sees a man who had been lame for 38 years and heals him…on the Sabbath no less.
: After hearing that his cousin, John the Baptist had been beheaded, Jesus withdrew to rest and process his cousin’s death. As he withdrew, a crowd of 20,000 found Him. He fed them, taught them, and healed them, and offered them salvation through Him. Even though most of them did not receive Him, He still did all this for them.
(Many of us, if we knew our efforts were going to be rejected, wouldn’t even try in the first place)
: Jesus teaches in the Temple and His sermon is interrupted by the religious leaders when they bring a woman caught in adultery before Him, with the intention of stoning her to death for her offense. He offers forgiveness to the woman (who had been set up), and challenged the leaders, if any were sinless, to cast the first stone.
: Jesus is just walking along, going about His day when He notices a blind man and stops to heal him.
: At Hannukah, Jesus is walking through the Temple in Jerusalem, when a crowd gathers and begs Him to tell them if He is the Messiah. He teaches them, and again, tells them that He is the Son of God.
I could go on and on. All four Gospels show Jesus going about His way and being interrupted. And every time Jesus was interrupted, He displayed the power, the love, and the mercy of God through what He did.
What do you display when you are interrupted?
Bring band up here
I want to remind you of our primary text today:
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Here was Jesus.
He had been wrongly arrested, falsely tried, brutally beaten, savagely tortured, His body desecrated far beyond recognition, the strips of His flesh hung off of His body which no doubt was covered in His spilled blood. He then was forced to carry His own cross to the site of His own crucifixion. His body was too weak to do this, so Jesus was given someone to help Him carry His cross.
Jesus comes to Golgotha, the place of His death, and His Hands are nailed to the cross, each hand fully extended to the right and left, respectively. His feet were stacked on top of each other, and giant nail was driven through them both.
Then the cross was lifted up, and Jesus hung there, suspended by the nails in His Hands and Feet.
Now, Jesus is mocked and ridiculed, and crown of thorns is placed on His Head.
And He is left to die, hanging on a cross with two other thieves .
The Savior of the World, dying like criminal.
Jesus Christ’s life was interrupted with death, and He endured the torture, and hung on the cross, and died for the very people who put Him there in the first place. For the very people who constantly interrupted Him as He was going about His way. For you and me, who constantly interrupt Him with our requests, concerns, problems, praises, and mistakes.
And what did Jesus do? He loved the interrupters.
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
22 Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6 So we can confidently say,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”
What We Can Learn About Loving the Outcasts from Jesus’ Life
In the passage we just read, verse 27 of , Jesus says three things, three steps, that make believers distinct from the world, and that we need to employ if we are going to love the interrupters, the untouchables, the marginalized, the unlovable, and the outcasts.
Jesus’ sheep “hear his voice.”
Through whatever is going on, His sheep hear His voice. His voice causes them to stop and listen. Why?
Jesus’ sheep “know Him.”
Knowing Jesus is more than just recognizing His voice amidst the ground noise and the static of life. That’s part of it. But knowing Jesus means that we recognize and respond to His sovereign authority in and over our lives.
Jesus’ sheep “follow Him.”
That means that we don’t avoid the interruptions, we engage with them. Our eyes and ears are trained by Jesus to notice them, and our hearts are transformed to show compassion and love to them at every opportunity.
In , the interrupters did not receive Jesus’ love, they rejected it.
But it didn’t stop Jesus from proclaiming His truth to them.
Practical Apps
Let Jesus liberate you from the tyranny and bondage of your day planner so you can be free to share in the triumph and beauty of His purpose for your life
Do you know why so many Christians struggle with identifying God’s purpose for their lives? Because they confuse God’s Will to be an interruption. They pray and pray for God to use them, and when He tries, they don’t have time. Maybe you can identify with that. And maybe after today, you can identify more with Jesus victory in your life than in your own failures.
Always remember that, in this life, its never too late to repent, and its never too late for God to use you
You haven’t disqualified yourself beyond God’s redemption. Whether that’s for His salvation in your life, or His restoration of your purpose.
*As we go forward at Valley Bristol, the challenge is to you to respond when God puts interruptions into your path.
Explain potential options if doing ok on time.
God wants to interrupt your life over and over again.
Are you ready to let Him?
Lets sing together