Lost and Found Series 4

A series of inspiring and empowering talks aimed at encouraging folks to begin to step out in faith and their gifting’s to become all that they can be in God.

Finding Our Feet

I am told that I was an active baby and was really advanced for my age. Of course every parent is going to say that about their cherub!  There was one area though where I was held back: walking.  Now it was not that I could not walk or preferred crawling.  But I have an elder brother, Clive, who did not think that babies should walk!  So, every time I tried to walk, he would come and push me over.  As I got a little older he would then sit on me.  I am not sure if this behaviour was ever corrected because I was never told this.  So each time I tried to walk, my brother sat on me.  But then one day, something happened in my young life that would mean I would evaluate the risk of walking verses being sat on.  At this time we lived with my grandparents as far as I can figure out.  My granddad, so the story goes, had come in from a night shift and was duly served his morning bacon sandwich with brown sauce and was sitting at the table reading his morning paper.  I as sitting on the floor with a few toys in the corner and my brother was the other side of the kitchen.  Apparently, I looked at the bacon sandwich, looked at my brother, looked back at the sandwich and in one daring manoeuvre worthy of the SAS, picked myself up, ran to my granddad and grabbed at his bacon sandwich before my brother could come and sit on me!  Not a lot has changed since!

Today we’re looking at Finding our Feet.

Do people celebrate your arrival when you walk into their lives?

Isaiah 52:7: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Do me a quick favour; turn to the person nearest to you and say, “You’ve got beautiful feet!”

We’re supposed to be a ‘good news’ person!  What does that sort of person look like?  Isaiah gives us some qualities!

As we walk through life we should be those who others are glad to be around fro we are called to be:

1.   Who Proclaim Peace:

This reminds me that peacemakers are rare! 

Matt 5:9: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

This must mean that peace is close to the heart of God.  I think we have turned this into some kind of spiritual arbitration; we feel that we have to referee a dispute of some kind.  That may be part of it, but actually that cannot be the whole of this. 

It seems to me that being a peacemaker is more to do with a life-walk that exudes peace even when you don’t know it.

James 3: 18: Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

It is interesting that peacemakers are called to sow peace through their lives, not just bring peace to a conflict.  In other words we demonstrate something to those around us that is sown into their lives, rather than just a “splash and dash” approach!

A farmer is consistent.  They plough, sow, they irrigate, they fertilise, they protect from petulance, they eventually reap.  We cannot dip in and out of people’s lives!

Sometimes we have to break off friendships that are unhealthy, but remember, people are not disposable either.  We need to understand that we have to walk consistently.

It is interesting to note that James included this assumption of what a peace maker is after his discourse on taming the tongue, and hunting down wisdom in our lives:

James 3: 17: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Look at some of these qualities of a wise person: pure… peace-loving… considerate… submissive… full of mercy and good fruit… impartial… and sincere.

That sounds like a ‘good news’ person to me!  People will naturally want to surround themselves with friends like this, friends like you!

2.   Who Bring Good Tidings

It seems to me that with good tidings we are bringing hope to those who have no hope, healing to the wounded, and life to the lifeless.

Romans 10:14-15: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

We’re sent on our walk.  Sometimes we stumble through our Christian walk but we need to remember, we are sent out with hope by Jesus Himself.  We need to see ourselves as commissioned officers on a march rather than people unworthy of the good news we cherish.  We’re commissioned! 

It’s time to get excited about being saved!

Proverbs 15: 30: Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.

Notice: Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart…In whose eyes?  In the messengers!  Our hope should shine out of us! 

In certain cultures when a messenger was sent they would have to imitate the king who had sent them.  So if the king was angry, they were angry!  If the king were happy, the messenger was happy!  Here’s the question: do you think God is angry or happy with you?  Sometimes we think He is happy with us and angry with everyone else.  I think the Lord is broken-hearted at the state of our lost world and in His great love and compassion has sent Jesus!  We think God must be angry, so we deliver an angry message!

A few years ago I was a landlord to 13 residents and families in a church complex that had some apartments in them.  One day I chatting with one of the residents and she said to me, “Why are you always so happy?  Don’t you know that sometimes you being happy is upsetting to me!”  I did not come back a pithy response, but later thought, “I mustn’t allow someone else’s bitterness to control my attitude of happiness!” 

Our eyes need to light up at our hope in Jesus!

3.   Who Proclaim Salvation

You know there are two groups we proclaim salvation to?

ü We proclaim salvation to those who yet don’t know Jesus. 

When we proclaim salvation we have to do it with the qualities of a peacemaker: 

pure… peace-loving… considerate… submissive… full of mercy and good fruit… impartial… and sincere: James 3:17

I get a little fed up with judgemental Christians judging others and doing so on the basis of being the mouthpieces of God.  Yes, one day we will reign and rule with Jesus and judge with Him.

The final judgment will occur in the future.  

A definite event is to occur in the future.  Jesus alluded to it in Matthew 11:24.

On another occasion He spoke clearly of the judgment which He would execute in connection with the future resurrection John 5:27-30.  There is an extended picture of this judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. 

Paul declared that "For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31; compare Romans 2:5; Hebrews 9:27:10:27; 2 Peter 3:7; and Revelation 20:11-15).

The Bible specifies that the judgment will occur after the 2nd coming.  Jesus said Matthew. 16:27 (compare with Matthew 13:37-43; 24:29-35; and 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 4:5).

It appears that believers will share in the judging.

In Matthew 19:28 and Luke 22:28-30 Jesus suggests that the disciples will judge the twelve tribes of Israel.  We are also told that believers will sit on thrones and judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2-3; Rev. 3:21; 20:4). While we are not told the exact details, Christ will apparently permit the saints to share in this work.

All humans will be judged (Matt. 25:32; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 9:27).

Romans 14:10: You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister?  Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.

Every secret will be revealed; all that has ever occurred will be evaluated.

Scripture leads us to believe that the sins of believers will be revealed though they will, of course, be revealed as pardoned sins.

Now, here’s my point, now that we have looked at the judgment to come, is that this is in the future!  We are not in a position to judge the lost world now.

Right now we are in times of proclaiming faith, love and hope (Colossians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:8).

Jesus when he read from Isaiah in the synagogue in Luke 4 stops before the end of the passage, mid-sentence:

Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Jesus deliberately ends with the phrase, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour, why?  The end of the sentence in Isaiah 61 is and the day of vengeance of our God. 

He was very clear that we are in a window of God’s favour in the earth (the year of the Lord’s favour).  It is not time to judge the world because we have not been made wholly holy yet!

Remember we have mentioned in previous messages justification (being made legally right with God); sanctification (being transformed by God daily); but there is also the doctrine of glorification (where we will be made perfect after death at Christ’s return).

My friends we have not been glorified yet, so please don’t act as though you are by judging a world that still has an opportunity to repent!  Rather:

1 Peter 3:15-16: But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

ü We proclaim salvation to those who are already saved!

We don’t walk this road of life alone.  We walk as a community of faith, an army, and a church.

Along the way we will stumble.  We need to encourage one another with the grace message of salvation!

Walking has been described as "controlled falling."  Every time you take a step, you lean forward and fall slightly, and are caught by your outstretched foot. If you failed to put your foot forward, you would fall flat on your face. After your foot touches the ground, your body’s weight is transferred to it and your knee bends to absorb the shock. The front leg then lifts the body and propels it forward as the rear leg swings up to catch you again, and the cycle repeats.

So why do we judge so quickly and, sometimes, harshly other believers rather than proclaim salvation again?

Matthew 7:1-5:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus is saying here, “Don’t take up the position of determining a case because you too will be judged with the measure you judge someone."  Why? Because it is impossible for us to be impartial, fair and gracious; if it was up to me, heaven would be filled with my friends, not yours!

His exhortation was to remove the issue from your own life before trying to help someone with theirs. 

The problem is we’re too happy to help out with someone else’s life and not deal with our own issues.  Trust me, we all have something that God is working on.

Jesus is really strong on this calling such a person’s hypocrite Greek theatre of the day there was a male actor (even if playing a female part) designated the hyporcites.  They would have two or more parts in a play and would change character as they put on a mask for each role.  Literally a hypocrite came to represent those who were two-faced! 

To call someone this was quite an insult!  If you are confident that you have sorted all of your life out then you have the ability to stand as a judge over others.

When we look at scripture on judging, it is important that we pay attention to who is being addressed.

Romans 2:1: You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

We need to encourage one another with the grace message of salvation!

4.   Who Say To Zion, “Your God Reigns!”

Good news people are always going to point to the One true God beyond themselves.  They realise that their hope and encouraging lifestyle does not come from within or positive thinking.  They know that the message is always going to be Good News because it’s God-News!

My life is tough!                          But My God reigns!

I don’t have enough money.     But My God reigns!

My work is hard!                         But My God reigns!

I have health problems.             But My God reigns!

My kids are in trouble.               But My God reigns!

This sermon’s too long               But My God reigns!

My friends always point people to the hope that God gives.  In a hopeless world we proclaim “My God reigns!”

Wrapping It Up:

Be a Good News Person, who you friends, family and work/college/school friends want to be around.

Not because you are the most daring, the most outlandish, or most bizarre, but because you display the qualities of a Good News person!