Sermons – Page 25 – Somerset Church of Christ

March 23, 2021

Ask and You Will Receive

Jesus repeatedly told his followers that he was going to die and be raised up again. They did not fully understand what he was talking about until after the resurrection took place, and we can certainly understand why. John records that Jesus said, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16 ESV). Without further context, this statement is pretty ambiguous.

Jesus knew that they were asking each other what he meant, so he answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (vs. 20). In an almost out of place shift, Jesus begins talking about asking: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (vs. 23-24).

This is in the context of sorrow turning to joy, of death and resurrection. Oftentimes people lamenting after a loss experience extreme isolation. They often feel as if people are with them for a time then abandon them later. But Jesus is saying there is power in asking. Specifically, asking so that our joy can be made complete. We often hesitate to ask for help but at the same time we expect people to help. Jesus is reminding his disciples that not only is it OK to ask, but they should ask for anything.

This is an important reminder for us that it’s OK to ask. It’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to pursue joy. It’s OK to not be OK. And it’s OK to know that God loves us enough to give what we ask.

March 16, 2021

Keep Watch

woman wearing gray long sleeved shirt and black black bottoms outfit sitting on gray wooden picnic table facing towards calm body of water at daytime

As we near Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, we focus on the events leading up to the death and burial. Jesus spent a good portion of his last days warning his disciples. He warned them of danger, of false teachers, of wars, and of getting weighed down with life and being unprepared.

Jesus expected his disciples to be prepared at all times. He spoke of thieves coming in the middle of the night, masters who closed the door and locked out the people who weren’t prepared, and the foolish virgins who weren’t prepared for the bridegroom’s coming. As he neared Jerusalem for the final time, he had a stark warning for his followers:

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:34-35 ESV). Jesus is clear: everyone will experience the day of reckoning. The question is not how will we avoid it, but rather how prepared will we be for it.

Notably, later when Jesus was in the garden with his disciples, he told them to get up and pray that they didn’t fall into temptation. Given the context, the only logical temptation they would face was abandonment of their Lord and eventually their faith. Troubles were very nearby, and Jesus was asking them to keep watch and be prepared. Preparedness doesn’t mean that we breeze through troubles. We know this because Jesus himself had drops of sweat that were like blood. He was completely overtaken by sorrow and pain. Yet his prayer to the father was for preparedness–your will be done.

March 9, 2021

Enter the Narrow Door

As Jesus was making his way toward Jerusalem, he was passing through towns and villages. Someone asked him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23 ESV). This was an important question that may be a lot more about quality than it is about quantity. It’s doubtful this person was asking about statistics on those who would be saved. Even if he intended to learn about quantity, Jesus responded in a qualitative manner.

Jesus’ reply was, “Strive to enter by the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able” (vs. 24). Jesus then went on to describe what he meant by this by concluding, “And behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last” (vs. 30). This language was often used by Jesus to talk about the importance of humble servanthood. Disciples should consider other people more important then themselves. We should empty ourselves for the sake of others. We should give and serve without expecting anything in return.

This is the narrow door. The door is narrow because there are no shortcuts. There are no get into heaven for free cards. There are no gimmicks or shortcuts to get into heaven. Salvation requires service, dedication, and sacrifice. And Jesus pleaded with his listeners to enter by the narrow door. It was not popular to enter by this path. It required breaking from traditions. Often it meant breaking from family and friends. The narrow gate isn’t comfortable, but the reward is eternal!

March 2, 2021

Want to Equip Others to Serve? Teach Them About Suffering

I routinely hear horror stories about church leaders mistreating and, in many cases, bullying people who suffer. Ironically, suffering is something Jesus did often. He and his disciples were no strangers to suffering. In fact, Jesus told them that they would experience tremendous suffering. There was no way to sugar coat it. Jesus never promised them comfort, wealth, or health. Instead, he promised them eternal life. Suffering is something that is as sure as the sun rising in the east and setting in the west. It is guaranteed for all of us.

Yet, so many of us were ill equipped by the church to endure it. Any of us who have suffered know how lonely it is. We often lose friends and family during seasons of suffering. Ask anyone who has lost loved ones. The three-month-rule is almost guaranteed. People will appear out of the woodwork to deliver sympathy cards, calls, and meals. Then after three months its as if a switch is turned off and all those people who vowed to never leave are. . . gone. This is how suffering works. It is lonely. It is heavy. And often people ridicule those who are suffering, telling them to “hurry up and get well.” But suffering doesn’t work that way. Suffering lingers, and has lingering effects. Depression and anxiety are common. Sadness is almost guaranteed.

Isaiah said of the coming messiah, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3-4 ESV). People do, in fact, hide their faces from those who suffer. Christ was a man of sorrows and even bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet people use this same Christ to bully others into believing that he rejects Christians who suffer. Abused people are told to “forgive and move on.” Depressed people are told to “have more faith.” Sad people are told to “cheer up.”

Yet Christ suffers with us. And he equips us for ministry by calling us to suffer with and for others. The Lord, through a vision, told Ananias that Paul would suffer: “Go for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).

If we are going to equip one another for works of ministry, let’s begin by preparing each other to suffer. Until we suffer, we will never fully comprehend what others are going through. Until we suffer, we will fail to have empathy for those whose lives are wrecked. On the other hand, when we suffer we see people with a different lens. Compassion guides us and we understand the loneliness they feel. We should begin by teaching our children that suffering exists. But not just that it exists, but that there is a solution. We can sit with those who suffer. We can share in their pain. We can offer them love and hope. And we can be the hands and feet of Jesus to them.

February 17, 2021

Keep In Step With the Spirit

faceless black person picking coffee cherries

We’ve been talking a lot about equipping the saints for works of ministry. When people are bound together in love, that unity produces maturity. Iron sharpens iron. We see things and experience things that we otherwise would never have experienced. There is no room in the kingdom for unproductivity. We are workers for the kingdom and we’re supposed to produce fruit.

And speaking of fruit, Paul tells us what the fruit of the Spirit is. When we are disciplined in the fruit of the Spirit, we do not indulge in the things that keep us from God. Not only that, Paul reminds us that there is no law against doing them: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, 23 ESV).

As we equip one another, we need to be reminded to bear Spirit fruit. That fruit is pure, righteous, and will keep us from doing wrong. Paul urges his readers to “walk by the Spirit” and they will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The great news is that we can become practiced in living out the fruit of the Spirit. We hear a lot about detoxing the body and, in a very real sense, we can detox our spirits by partaking in Spirit fruit.

February 11, 2021

The Barren Fig Tree

gray trunk green leaf tree beside body of water

The Bible has a lot to say about working for the kingdom of God. It also has a lot to say about idleness. Jesus told a parable of a vineyard owner who came seeking fruit on a fig tree he had planted in the past. When he approached the tree, it had no fruit. Luke records, “And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?'” (Luke 13:7 ESV).

Jesus was clearly talking about people here. That is a gut-wrenching question–“Why should it use up the ground?” This question was meant to be thought-provoking for Jesus’ listeners. Are there people who are using up the ground? In other words, are there people who sap energy and nutrients that are vital for the growth of other Christians yet don’t produce anything worthwhile? The master told the vinedresser to cut it down, but the vinedresser pleaded.

“Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down” (Luke 13:9). Here, God is exercising grace and allowing room for others to nurture the unproductive one. The purposefully ambiguous text doesn’t provide a reason why the fig tree isn’t producing. Whatever the reason isn’t important to the vinedresser. He is interested in sparing the tree and helping to nurture it back to health.

This parable is an important lesson that these two truths exist: (1) it’s not OK to be unproductive in the kingdom and (2) we should help nurture one another to become more productive. God expects everyone to be equipped for serving in the Kingdom. Being unproductive hurts other people because we neglect to use our God-given gifts to help them.

February 4, 2021

The Grumbling Workers

Jesus told a parable of laborers who were hired for a day to work in a vineyard. Jesus started, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Matthew 20:1 ESV). The master agreed to hire them for a denarius, which was a typical day’s wage. Then going out at the third hour (9:00 AM) and hired more who were standing in the marketplace. He agreed to pay them “whatever is right.” He continued this at the sixth hour (12:00 PM) and the ninth hour (3:00 PM).

At the eleventh hour (5:00 PM) he found others standing idle and asked them why they were not working. They replied, “Because no one has hired us” (Matthew 20:7). The master hired them and they worked for an hour. In the evening, the master told his foreman to pay their wages, “beginning with the last, up to the first.” As the wages were paid out, the first were angry to learn that the last people hired received a denarius, the same amount that they had agreed to work for. “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat,” they bemoaned (vs. 12).

The master was quick to point out that the first agreed to work for a denarius and that he was free to use his own money however he wanted. The master replied, “Or do you begrudge my generosity?” Jesus ends the parable by saying, “So the last will be first, and the first, last” (vs. 16). By comparing the kingdom of heaven to the master, Jesus was demonstrating that God will extend grace to whom he will extend grace. We don’t know what kind of shape the last were in, but one thing we do know is that nobody would hire them. It’s possible they had some deformity or illness that rendered them not hirable. Whatever the case, the master extended grace and generosity to them because of his compassion.

As we equip others to serve, we need to remember that we labor for the Lord because it’s the right thing to do. We don’t do it to receive an earthly reward.