It Really Is Good News
Brad Merrills
Midland SDA Church
April 7, 2012
These are rough speaking notes and not an accurate transcript of the sermon. Parts of this transcript were not used, and some of what was said in the sermon is not in these notes.
Things are not always as they appear to be.
It looked like an airplane
When you are in the middle of the ocean on a flimsy rubber raft you have to have hope. But you really don’t want to really get your hopes up too much. It is too painful when your hopes are dashed. But you had to hope. You had to look.
You remember learning about the second coming of Jesus, how initially Jesus and the angels will look like a cloud, about the size of a man’s hand. Well this was smaller than a man’s hand. It was just a speck. But it was getting bigger. It definitely was moving.
This was not the first plane. After their bomber went down a full scale search had been launched. They had actually seen one of the search planes. They fired a flare, and the plane had turned. They thought they had been seen, but it is really hard to see a small raft in the middle of the ocean, even when you look for it. The windows on those old bombers were not conducive to searching. The turn of the plane was simply a part of the search pattern. No one saw them. They were given up for lost, and the search was called off.
Louis Zamperini had been an Olympic athlete in the 1936 Berlin Olympic games. He was actually invited to meet Adolph Hitler because of his performance in the 5000 meter race. He came in eighth, but ran his last lap in spectacular fashion, completing the final lap in only 56 seconds. He was rising star in the running world. Many felt that he would be the first man to break the four minute mile. He was looking forward to returning to the Olympics.
World War II had interfered with these goals. Louis enlisted and became a bombardier in the South Pacific. He had been involved in significant fighting during his tour of duty, and his plane had been severely damaged and many of his crewmembers had died. Assigned to another plane, Louis and was on a reconnaissance mission with his crew when they suffered and engine failure and his plane went down in May 1943. Along with crew members Allen Phillips and Francis McNamara, Louis found himself in a pair of small life rafts. Most of their emergency supplies were lost in the crash, and those they managed to keep were essentially exhausted within the first day.
Sitting in the hot sun day after day, your skin becomes sun burnt and cracked and raw. Your mouth becomes dry and parched. The little rain water you collect is never enough. Occasionally a bird would land on the raft, and miraculously they were sometimes able to catch a bird that landed on the raft. A few fishhooks allowed some fishing to be done, the occasional shark could be caught. But it can’t go on forever.
The sharks were a worry. They would sometimes just swim. Sometimes they would aggressively hit against the raft. Sometimes they lunged and tried to get into the raft.
It had now been 27 days. They survived, they were alive, but how long could it go on.
But now there is hope. Real hope. It came closer. It really was a plane. You could begin to hear the hum of the engine. And it was flying low enough, and on a course that there really was a chance that they could be seen.
As the plane came closer the remaining flare was fired. Hope was palpable, as was the fear that again it would all be for naught. Hearts were pounding. Could this be the end to the entire long ordeal? All they could do was hope.
The plane turned. They had been seen. They were safe. It was true. They really had been seen. Looking at the plane, all their hope and longing was coming to fruition. And then they saw it. As they plane turned, it was there; the emblem of the rising sun. This was not a US plane. In a time of war, this was an enemy plane. Now this wasn’t necessarily a reason to give up hope. Surely they would still be rescued. They might have to spend the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp, but that surely was better than being marooned on a raft in the middle of the ocean. But a new anxiety was now present. Anxiety mixed with hope.
The plane returned, and headed for the raft. And then their anxiety became fear and their fear became reality as Bullets began to zip into the water. Louis jumped off the raft into the water. Bullets lose their potency quite quickly under water. The others were too weak to get out of the raft. Louis dove under the water. But he had to come up for air. The sharks, frequently present, jostled against him, and he punched them away with his first. Thankfully they did not actually attack. Again and again the plan returned and made passes. Miraculously, they avoided injury. The raft was shot full of holes. They were alive, but the good news they thought they had was not good news. It was close to a disaster.
I don’t have time to tell you the entire story of what happened to Louis and his friends. Francis died on the 33 day at sea, not long after the attack by the plane. Allen and Louis did make it to land, but not before breaking the then known record for survival in a life raft. Eventually Louis and Allen reached land after 47 days at sea, after floating over 2000 miles. Upon reaching land they were discovered by the Japanese. They spent the remainder of the war in a prisoner of war camp. Although it seems hard to believe their time in the prisoner of war camp rivaled or even surpassed the difficulties they had faced on the raft. You can read the rest of the details in the book Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. It is a fascinating story of survival, redemption, and the work that God can do in the lives of those who let Him work.
Good news isn’t always what it appears. Sometimes what we think is our salvation, our good news, is actually really, really bad news.
The first Advent of Jesus was good news. Really good news. Jesus Advent had been foretold in the Bible, and men and women had been looking forward to His coming since the fall of man, when a Redeemer had been promised. The prophecies telling of His coming also told of His suffering. But somehow much of that had been forgotten by many. The part about a kingdom was emphasized, but the part about bearing our sorrows and being acquainted with grief was often overlooked.
In the time of Jesus, as in our time, many people had a warped view of God. Religious authorities had spoken and written all manner of teachings that purported to tell what God would do, what God wanted them to do, what God was like, who God loved. Some of what they taught was very good. Some of it was utter nonsense or worse. But taken together, it did not paint an accurate picture of God in many ways.
Understanding what your God is like is very important. It may be one of the most important questions a Christian can ask.
Sometimes it is discouraging to see how Christians portray the character of Christ. Some of the greatest evil this world has seen has been done in the name of Christ. This can be maddening and discouraging. A great antidote for me is to read the gospels and reflect on what Jesus actually did, or listen to a sermon by someone who really can bring Christ and His character home to me.
My children learn in their history class that you usually get the most accurate information by going to original sources. Documents and records that record the actual historical event. What is our original source? Where do we go.
By coming and living among us we had the ultimate Original Source. We were able to see God’s character living among us. By studying the record of His life we can see who our God really is.
Always be skeptical when someone tells you what to believe. It is certainly OK to respect the opinions and teachings of another individual. We have a lot to learn from each other. But go to the original sources whenever possible. Be like the e like the Bereans, who searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Make sure that you know and understand what you believe and why you believe it. Every Bible student should remember the principle elucidated in Isaiah 8:19, 20.
19And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Acts 17:10-12
10And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
When one reads the gospels one is immediately impressed with the empathy and care that Jesus exhibited towards those around Him.
Jesus had a way of touching people in a very real and personable manner. He found a way to connect with people and focus on what was important to them. He found a way to find common ground with a wide range of people, from the lowly Samaritan women, who was despised by her community, to the priest and teachers at the temple, to the rich and privileged such as Nicodemas.
Jesus knew how to find common ground with those He associated with. Sometimes we tend to focus on what makes us different. And there are a lot of different types of people in this world. There are a lot of different types of Christians. There are even a lot of different types of Seventh-day Adventists. There certainly are times when it is good to talk about those differences, but too often we pass up the opportunity to find common ground with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Jesus knew how to fellowship with those who didn’t share all of His characteristics.
In medicine there you will find that doctors have a tendency to treat patients in many different ways, often for the same condition. Now there in a few cases we have very good evidence that one type of treatment is superior to another. We have multiple prospective, randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled studies which demonstrate that in a certain population for a certain condition, one treatment is clearly superior to another. Usually however, we don’t have such data. You have to rely on logic, theory, or maybe weaker studies. And when that happens different reasonable physicians come to different conclusions. Now I jokingly tell my colleagues that God speaks to me, and I know that the way that I treat patients is always the correct and superior way. And we all laugh, because we know that God doesn’t speak to me in that manner on that topic. And so in medicine, when we don’t have a clear definitive study, we share our perspectives. We change our mind, we look for more data.
Sometimes in areas of theology we tend to think God has spoken to us, when really He has not been as clear as we would like. The Bible says nothing about watching TV. Now the Bible has many principles that I feel apply to what we choose to fill our mind with. But we don’t have a clear, thus saith the Lord on what TV entertainment is appropriate.
Jesus knew who he was talking to. He knew His audience. Comedians know their audience. Salesmen know their audience. Shouldn’t Christians know their audience?
Suppose that you are a really good salesman. You make your living selling things to people. How do you go about that? Now I am not really the best person to ask about this. I am not a natural salesman. That is probably because I don’t like people to try and sell me something that I don’t need. My apologies to those of you who are sales-people. You should concentrate on the female members of my household. They enjoy the shopping experience, comparing this and that, trying on this pair of clothing or that. If I am your customer I am probably your worst nightmare. If our are cold calling on me I am going to probably politely hang up on you after your first sentence reveals what you are calling about. I love the do not call list. If I walk into your place of business and I am just browsing I will probably decline your offer of help. Even if I plan to buy something, I usually like to get in, buy what I need, and be on my way. But every once in a while a salesperson will find a way to give me information that I value, but didn’t have. Maybe they can show me how their product will make my life easier, solve a problem for me, save me money. They fill a need that I have. Maybe a need that I didn’t even know about. When that happens they often make a sale. I might even return in the future and become a repeat customer. Finding out what our needs are, and filling those needs is the way that a master salesman works. It is also the method that Jesus used, not to sell a new iPad, or car, or other item that will be worth little or nothing in a few years, but to bring us salvation, to brighten our lives, to bring us eternal life.
Now some people are really good at finding out what my needs are. They are quite happy to tell me what they are. How receptive do you think I am to those people?
Jesus spent some time telling people how to live. Listen to the Sermon on the Mount some time. But rather than just telling me, he illustrated his points with stories.
Many of our family members have rather short attention spans. Many times I have to be careful not to let my mind wander off when someone is speaking. But I find it much easier to pay attention when I am listening to a great story.
Some of you have been privileged to her some of the great Adventist story tellers. People like Eric B Hare, Uncle Arthur, Josephine Cunningham Edwards, Uncle Dan and Aunt Sue or now Aunt Carol. The Bible in Living Sound. I used to listen to stories on tape by the hour as a child. It is amazing what kind of foundation you can get from listening to stories. I can still remember stories told or read to be when I was just a few years old. Story is often how our values are transmitted.
In the secular world individuals like Mark Twain, Upton Sinclair, CS Lewis, John Steinbeck, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and many, many others profoundly influenced society by the stories that they told.
I wish I was a better teller of stories. People say that a picture is worth a thousand words . A story can get illustrate one difficult concept.
Jesus was a great teller of stories. When you read the words of Jesus He is always giving examples; the Rich man and Lazarus, the Fig tree that didn’t bear fruit, the woman who lost the gold coin, the parable of the ten talents, the parable of the unfaithful servant. Jesus didn’t just tell these stories to entertain, although I am sure that many of His audience were entertained by His stories. These stories illustrated important points in a way that a mere sermon or lecture could not.
Right now we are in the middle of presidential election cycle. Many times a political campaign has been turned because cleaver story or illustration. Think of Joe the plumber, Thelma and Louis, used to shoot down health care reform. May or may not agree with the political message being presented, but stories connect with us in powerful ways that mere theoretical arguments do not.
But more importantly, He showed people how to live. It has been said that a sanctified life is the best argument for Christianity that exists.
There are a lot of people who have good theories. And I am going to be among the first to tell you that theory does matter. Theory is the foundation for practice. There can be a lot of pitfalls between a great theory and its application.
How many of you remember Long Term Capital Management. This was a hedge fund founded by brilliant individuals with significant experience and knowledge, including John Meriwether, the former vice chairman and head of bond trading at Salmon Brother. Board members included two individuals who shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. These individuals certainly knew their theory. It would be hard to find better people to discuss financial theory. They just had a little problem with its application.
Initially the firm was quite successful. But a financial crisis and miscalculations led the firm to lose billions of dollars in a short period of time, resulting in intervention by the Federal Reserve Bank and ultimate closure of the firm.
I have known people who were experts in telling me how to behave, and what to do, but who had a difficult time putting their advice into practice. Now I have that problem myself at times, so I have to approach this issue with a bit of humility. But I am always influenced more by someone who can demonstrate their theory in practice and produce practical results.
Rather than simply tell me about His plan for my life, He showed me. Instead of just preaching theory, He lived it. A lot of us have the theory. We know what the truth is. The rich young ruler knew the theory. Love the Lord our God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself. His problem was in execution.
I think of the many, many people over the years that have made me a better person by modeling Christ’s character for me. Many of these were Seventh-day Adventists. Some were members of other denominations, and some didn’t claim to be Christians at all.
One way Christ showed us how to live was how He treated children. He took time for children. Now our children are the most precious possessions. But children can be inconvenient at times. I know. I have four children that I love dearly. I am so glad that I have them. I wouldn’t give them up for anything at all. But they can be a bit of work at times, (and isn’t anything that is worthwhile). Children can be blunt. They can be cruel. They can also be incredibly kind and empathetic. They are open to being taught and impressed. They can learn. They can speak that which is obvious, which we don’t want to admit or discuss.
Sometimes we don’t want certain children around. Maybe they don’t look like we do, or come from our type of people. We often tend to tell children that they shouldn’t participate. Sometimes we say they should be seen and not heard. The disciples certainly were ready to do this. Don’t bother the great Teacher, He is busy. What did Jesus say? Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven.
Another way Jesus showed us how to live was when He healed the sick. He healed those who were seeking Him, those who didn’t know Him. He healed during the week, on the Sabbath. He healed when it wasn’t convenient. He healed to make a point. Sometimes that point was theological, sometimes it was just to relieve suffering. But in all of His healing He continually made that point the relationships, the care of others, empathy, were critical, important values.
Jesus was comfortable with our humanity. Humans are by their very nature imperfect.
Sometimes we get the idea that good Christians do not associate with those that are less than good Christians. We like to keep to ourselves. We don’t want to speak to, or listen to, those that are not quite like us. We want to keep ourselves from the world. Now there are some legitimate concerns that we might be harmed by being in such company. But we need to look at who Jesus associated with. How were His friends? How many of them were perfect? How many non-Christians are you going to change by remote control prayer?
Yet Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, took our humanity upon Himself. He embraced that imperfection. Now I know that God came to save us from our sin. Sometimes I think that we obsess just a little too much as to how He is going to do that. If I am drowning, I just want to be saved. I don’t need a doctoral dissertation on how it is going to happen. I simply accept the offer of the life guard. I grab the life ring. He came to save us. Sometimes I am amused at the lengths we go to describe just how God saves us. What is the role of justification, sanctification?
If I am drowning I don’t care how I am saved. I just want help. All that I know is that I can’t save myself. If I make myself open to allow God to work in my life I think I am in pretty good shape. He will make the changes in me to make me new.
God transmitted His value to us by His story
He associated with us. Not just with the ones who had it all together. Not just with the beautiful people, the smart, or the rich. He was friends with officials, publicans and sinners.
Forgiveness. Finally, Jesus taught the importance of forgiveness.
Forgiveness allows us to live. Forgiveness allows the one who was injured release as much as the one who did the injuring. 70 x 7.
Restoration
Sometimes you don’t know what you have till you lose it.
But then this good news turned sour. All the hope, all the potential wasted. He hung on a cross like a common criminal. Sure to be forgotten by all but dedicated history buffs in a few generations. Of course they initially thought primarily in terms of driving out the Romans, restoring Israel to its rightful glory, being rulers with Jesus. But even though they didn’t really understand it all, they were starting to get it. Sometimes you have trouble seeing the forest for the trees, and this was true with the disciples as well. But they were learning. That still small voice was making changes, the way God often works. For as many times as we have a Saul on the road to Damascus experience, we often have subtle shifts in action, in thought in approach.
Imagine being huddled in the upper room. Things really couldn’t get much worse than this. In a time when life’s value was cheap, your leader had just been killed. His followers were not well thought of. I don’t know if any of you have had to live under an authoritative regime, or have had family or friends who lived under such a situation. Fortunately, I have been privileged to live in the land of freedom. I have had friends and relatives who have lived under other systems. Never knowing when a neighbor, a coworker, a family member, a church member, your pastor, might inform on you, because you may have acted, or spoken, or thought in the incorrect manner.
In your time of fear and despair you reminisce about Jesus. Remember when he turned the water into wine?
You realize what a rare and wonderful gift that had been given to you, to spend time with the One who changed everything.
Freedom is a wonderful thing. Freedom to think for one’s self, freedom to make choices, even wrong choices. They had experienced freedom. Jesus had broken through all of the centuries of tradition, of double talk that tend to encrust religious traditions, and allowed them freedom to see God. He distilled volumes of teachings to the simple precept. Love the Lord with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.
Sometimes you don’t know what you have till you lose it.
It was a disaster. Crucified. Killed. In the tomb. Whatever they had hoped for, whatever they ad dreamed of; gone.
He challenged the existing order. You have heard that it was said… but I say unto you.
He knew when to fit in the established order, and he knew when to be disruptive.
He healed on the Sabbath day. He forgave sins. What is easier, to say take up they bed and walk, or they sins be forgiven thee.
Which commandment is first of all Mark 23:28.
Let’s look again at our scripture from this morning.
Luke 24 : 9-11
9And returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
10It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.
How many blessings do we lose because we are not willing to listen to God’s messenger?
How often do we impair our ability to witness because others do not find us credible?
Common ground,
He reached people where they were.
Jesus went into the temple and asked tough questions of the rabbis. God invites tough questions. God asks us to try Him and see.
Women brought the news of the resurrection
The bad news of Christ’s death became our good news. We celebrate the good news the He rose from the dead. That He lives for us. That He is one with us.
Remember that doctrinal purity does not save us. We are saved by the blood of Jesus, who died for all sinners. We can not save ourselves.
Luke 24; 1-10
1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.
3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8And they remembered his words,
9And returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
10It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
11And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not.