An Arab chief tells a story of a spy who was captured and then sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army. This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the firing squad and the big, black door. As the moment for execution drew near, the spy was brought to the Persian general, who asked the question, “What will it be: the firing squad or the big, black door?”
The spy hesitated for a long time. It was a difficult decision. He chose the firing squad.
Moments later shots rang out confirming his execution. The general turned to his aide and said, “They always prefer the known over the way to the unknown. It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the undefined. Yet, we gave him a choice.”
The aide said, “What lies beyond the big door?”
“Freedom,” replied the general. “I've known only a few brave enough to take it.” (“Reasons to Fear Easter,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 116; www.PreachingToday.com)
The door to freedom scares a lot of people. They prefer the comfort of the known, even if it means death to the uncertainty of the unknown. As a result, very few people actually find freedom from the attitudes and habits that enslave them day after day. They live their lives under a cloud of condemnation just waiting to be shot down in front of a firing squad of self-righteous critics.
My friends, that’s no way to live your life! God intended for us to live free, to enjoy life in His Son, and to enjoy Him in this life on our way to heaven.
The question is: how? How do we get the courage to walk through that big, black door of freedom? How do we get the courage to live free as God intended us to? How do we get the courage to enjoy real liberty in Christ? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Galatians 2, Galatians 2, where we find out how to get that courage.
Galatians 2:1-2 Then after fourteen years [i.e., 14 years after Paul’s first visit to Jerusalem, he says] I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas [his mentor and colleague in ministry] taking Titus along with me [one of their Gentile converts]. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. (ESV)
Paul was afraid that his ministry among the Gentiles might all come to nothing, because of the false teachers that dogged his steps. Paul would teach the Gentiles that freedom from sin is gained simply through faith in Christ. Then Jewish false teachers would come along right behind him and tell these new believers that they must also obey the Mosaic Law in order to enjoy favor with God. They would teach these Gentiles that in order to be good Christians, they must first be good Jews like they were and be circumcised.
So Paul goes to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem along with Barnabas (his Jewish colleague in ministry) and Titus (a Gentile convert). They are going to try to come together in the truth in order to keep false teachers from blocking the way to true freedom. Acts 15 gives us the full details of this conference, but the upshot of it all is found in the next verse.
Galatians 2:3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. (ESV)
The point is Gentiles don’t have to become good Jews in order to be good Christians. They don’t have to be circumcised. They don’t have to keep some legalistic standard in order to find favor with God. All they have to do is trust Christ. This was a very important matter on which all the leaders in the early church were able to agree.
Galatians 2:4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— (ESV)
They wanted to sabotage Paul’s ministry and turn his converts into slaves to their own religious systems. But…
Galatians 2:5 to them we [i.e., ALL the leaders in the church] WE did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you.
The first century believers came together in the truth of the gospel. They all agreed that our salvation is by God’s grace alone through faith in God’s Son alone without any additional requirements. They stood together against the legalists of their day, not giving in to them for one moment. And that’s what we must do if we’re going to enjoy our freedom in Christ. We must…
COME TOGETHER IN THE TRUTH.
We must unify around the truth of the gospel. We must agree that faith in Christ really is enough for people to find acceptance with God and with us.
The problem is our society tells people that they must be beautiful; they must be thin; they must be “good”; or they must be “smart” in order to be accepted. But Jesus says, “WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Bible says, “The righteousness of God [comes] through faith in Jesus Christ for ALL who believe” (Romans 3:22). “To the man who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
Did you hear that? God justifies the ungodly. He declares them righteous when they trust Christ, not when they do enough work. That’s the truth of the gospel, and that’s the truth that will set us free! We find acceptance with God simply through faith in Christ.
Before the start of the football season each year, 80 players show up at football camp, among whom are several rookies who hope to make the team. After a few weeks the coaches cut the team down to 65 players. Then before the season actually begins, all NFL teams are required to trim down to 53 players. Every rookie hopes to make the team, but most don’t.
Just a few years ago (2010), the former coach of the Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith, knew his rookies had that on their mind. So in his first orientation talk with the rookies, he challenged them, saying, “Make us put you on the team.”
In other words, play so well in practice that the coaches can’t imagine cutting you. Make us put you on the team. Take the decision out of the coach's hands. Let your performance make the decision for us.
Sad to say, that’s what a lot of people imagine that God says to them: “Make me put you on the team. Do you want me to accept you, to put you on my team and give you eternal life? Then do so many good deeds, that I cannot imagine cutting you. Take the decision out of my hands.” (“Inside Rookie Minicamp, part 1, July 6, 2010," www.ChicagoBears.com; www.PreachingToday.com)
However, the good news is that God does not work the way football coaches do. In fact, those who think they can earn a place on God’s team are rejected. It is only those who KNOW that they are not good enough who actually make God’s team. They KNOW they are ungodly. They KNOW they are unworthy, so they throw themselves on God’s mercy, trusting Christ to save them from their sins and make them worthy to serve on God’s team.
That’s the Gospel, my friends. That’s the Good News that Paul preached. And if we’re going to enjoy our freedom in Christ, we must rally around that truth; we must come together IN the truth of the Gospel. And then we must…
WORK TOGETHER FOR THE TRUTH of the gospel.
We must labor with each other to proclaim and live out the gospel. We must become partners together in sharing the good news of our acceptance with God simply through faith in His Son. That’s what the early church leaders did.
Galatians 2:6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. (ESV)
The leaders of the early church didn’t add a single thing to Paul’s message. Instead, they partnered with Him to get the message out.
Galatians 2:7-9 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. (ESV)
That “right hand of fellowship” was very significant to them. Today, we’ll shake hands with total strangers in a receiving line, and it doesn’t mean much.
It reminds me of the story of Churchill, standing in a receiving line and bored to death. So he decided to start telling the people shaking his hand, “I killed Mrs. Churchill tonight,” just to see what kind of a reaction he would get. He said it in a very pleasant voice just like he was saying, “Hello,” and most of the people responded, “That’s nice. Isn’t it a pleasant evening.” They weren’t even paying attention! Then one man whispered in Churchill’s ear, “I’m sure she had it coming.”
How often do we shake hands and it really doesn’t mean much? Not so in the First Century. When they extended “the right hand of fellowship,” they were forming a partnership. They were agreeing to share together in a common task. In this case, it was the task of proclaiming the Gospel, and they agreed not only to proclaim it together. They agreed to live it out together as well.
Galatians 2:10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. (ESV)
You see, the doctrine of our acceptance by faith alone doesn’t exclude us from reaching out to the poor. If anything, it should encourage us all the more to reach out to those that nobody else accepts. Since God accepted us when we were unacceptable, that should motivate us to reach out to others the world considers “unacceptable,” as well.
You see, we not only preach the Gospel, we live it out by remembering the poor. The early church leaders became partners together in sharing the good news by word and by deed, and that’s what we must do, if we’re going to have the courage to pursue our freedom in Christ. We must not only come together IN the truth. We must work together FOR the truth.
Just a few years ago (2012), Princeton published Peter Brown’s massive study of wealth and poverty in ancient society. He noticed a radical shift in society’s view of the poor in the 4th and 5th Century due to the influence of Christianity. Brown writes that at that time, “The poor were frequently seen to represent an extreme of the human condition, persons teetering on the brink of destruction and condemned to the outer margins of society.” The poor were viewed as OTHERS, as THOSE PEOPLE.
Then the good news of Christ swept across the Roman empire, bringing about a dramatic change. Brown writes, “The poor were not simply OTHERS – creatures who trembled on the margins of society, asking to be saved by the wealthy… They were also BROTHERS. They had the right to ‘cry out’ for justice in the face of oppressors along with all the other members of the ‘people of God.’” (Peter Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, Princeton, 2012, pp. 77-80; www.PreachingToday.com)
You see, when we truly believe that God accepts ALL who trust in His Son, we don’t make any distinction between rich or poor, blue collar or white collar, our kind or their kind. There are no OTHERS in the church of Jesus Christ. Rather, we are all BROTHERS and sisters in God’s family, and we treat each other accordingly.
One a warm spring evening in May 1998, Christopher Sercy was playing basketball with a few friends half a block from Ravenswood Hospital. Three teenage Latino gang members looking for a black target approached the young Sercy and shot him in the abdomen.
His frantic friends carried him to within 30 feet of the hospital and ran inside for help. The emergency room personnel refused to go outside to assist the dying boy, citing a policy that only allows them to help those who are inside the hospital.
The boys called for nearby police to attend their wounded friend. When the officers arrived on the scene they proceeded to call for an ambulance, but refused to carry the boy inside, again citing policy.
While bystanders pled with the officers to get the boy into the hospital, he lay in a pool of blood, unconscious. When, after several minutes, the ambulance had not yet arrived, the police gave in and carried Sercy into the emergency room. By then, nothing could be done to save his life.
Standard operating procedures (SOP) kept them from saving the boy. Initially, hospital administration vehemently defended their ER's lack of involvement. And only after a barrage of community outrage did Ravenswood Hospital reverse its policy of treating only those inside its doors. (Greg Asimakoupoulos, from the files of Leadership; www.PreachingToday.com)
When our rules keep us from helping people in need, then we need to dump those rules, especially those of us who preach the good news of God’s unconditional love.
We must work together to proclaim that truth, not only in our words, but in our deeds as well. That means “extending the right hand of fellowship” to those who are different than us. That means working alongside of those who have different priorities and tastes. That means partnering with those who don’t have the same skin color we do, those who don’t like the same music we do, or those who have completely different interests than we do.
That’s the genius of the Church of Jesus Christ! We’re all different, but we work together to proclaim the good news that God accepts ALL who put their trust in His Son, not just those who are like us.
Earlier this year (2016), Google produced an ad campaign for their Android phone that featured a young musician playing the 3rd movement of Beethoven’s Moon Light Sonata. Take a look. (Show the YouTube video, Android Monotune)
As his hands fly over the keys, a statement is projected, “A piano has 88 keys” then, “Each one is different.” After a few moments, we see “But what if they were all the same?” With that the pianist switches to an identical piano and continues to play. However regardless of what key he strikes, every note on the reengineered piano is the same – a middle C. He alternates between the two pianos until the final frame where we read “Be together, not the same.” (You Tube, Android Monotune, www. youtube.com/watch?v=xLhJIFC8xkY, published 2-15-16; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what God says to the church: Be together, not the same. Come together IN the truth of the Gospel, and work together FOR the truth of the Gospel. if you’re going to be truly free in Christ. If we want to be all that God has called us to be as a church, If we want to be free to love as Christ loved us, then we must find unity, even in our diversity.
I like the way Mark DeYmaz put it. He is pastor of the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, a multi-ethnic church, which brings people together not only of different age groups, but of different races and economic classes. It is uncomfortable being with people who are different than we are, but DeYmaz says, “The church ought to be a place in which people are comfortable being uncomfortable.” Christians must realize “that they are a part of something much bigger than themselves.”
Then DeYmaz goes on to share a story that shows the beauty—and complexity—of our diversity in the church:
Assume for a moment that Grandma, who is alive and well, lives in the same house with you, your spouse, and several children of varying age. Now in your home, one tradition involves the family meal. Indeed, you expect the entire family to come to the table when dinner is served. However, one night you arrive home, only to be challenged in this regard.
On this occasion, Grandma has arrived early to help feed the baby while you help your spouse set the table. Soon your twelve-year-old twins enter the room arguing over television rights; nevertheless, they are seated and it is time to pray. At that moment, however, you realize someone is missing. Your teenage son is not at the table. Heading upstairs to see what's the matter, you find him playing a video game in his room; he is wearing headphones so as not to be disturbed.
“Why,” you inquire, “are you not at the table? Didn't you hear Mom say it's time to eat?”
“Oh yeah,” he replies, with just a touch of attitude. “I heard her. But I'm not coming to dinner tonight. Mom's serving meatloaf, and I don't like it.”
How would you respond as a parent? If you are a conscientious parent, you would most likely tell your son to [go to the table whether he likes it or not]. And in so doing, of course, you would teach him a most profound lesson: It's not about the food; it's about the family.
“Look, Son,” you might say, “I don't care what we're eating tonight. You're coming to dinner because you're a part of this family. You see, it's not so much the meal but the memories we make that's important. And when you're not there, we miss out on all you contribute, and you miss out, too. Sure it's meatloaf tonight, but tomorrow we're having pizza!”
Of course, the next night you will not need to have the same talk with Grandma. In her maturity, she learned long ago to appreciate the blessing of life and love. And while her stomach will not allow her to eat the pizza, she will enjoy watching her grandchildren tear into it! Yes, in that moment, she will be thankful just to have a seat at the table, still to be alive and a part of the family.” (Mark DeYmaz, Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church, Jossey-Bass, 2007, p. 111; www.PreachingToday.com)
My friends, when we come together as the church here in Lyons, let’s remember “It’s not about the food; it’s about the family.” It’s not about the music; it’s about the memories we make together. And for those of us who are more mature, while we may not like “the pizza” that the younger generation or others bring to the table, let’s enjoy watching them tear into the bread of life and be glad we’re all a part of the family.
