God’s Word Makes All the Difference in the World
Introduction:
Have you been reading God’s Word lately? WHAT have you been reading
I have been reading John’s Gospel
o Gems like 3:16 and the woman at the well
o Reassuring verses like: 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
o Controversial stuff like when Jesus said “eat my flesh . . .”
o Passages that you can chew on for hours, like chapters 13--17
In all of those passages, you begin to see that people can be put into two categories:
However,
Living in Miami, you’d think there’d be all kinds of people, but really, there aren’t, according to JOHN.
Others have tried to separate the world into 2 Kinds of people (some of my favorites:)
There are two kinds of people: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t. I’m one of the latter.
There are three kinds of people, those who can count and those who cant
There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who let the chips fall where they may, and those who like to arrange them in neat little piles. Gene and Leah
"There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who love chocolate and communists." (Regina),
"There are two kinds of women drivers: those who run into trouble, and those who back into it."
BUT, In the Gospel of John there are two types of people: Those who are of the world, and those who are not.
Themes:
World: from the get go, the world is described as those who don’t accept God
Sent Jesus (John 3:16)--The lost world breaks God’s heart—he doesn’t want people on the outside looking in
Jesus is curiously referred to as “the Word” by John—important to note
See John 1:1
• Little “w” word: the Bible, its teaching
• Big “W” Word: Jesus
NOTE:
Word: another theme.
“little w” word: the message from God, the Bible, the teachings of and about Jesus
“big W” Word: Jesus himself, to which the whole “word” points. The one that fulfills the “word” of God.
It is Jesus, and the good news, or word, or truth, that plays the key role in saving the lost world. In fact, we will discover today that”
Theme: God’s Word makes all the difference in the world changing us from “out of reach outsiders” to “outreaching insiders.”
“out of reach” because there is no way we can get to God on our own
“outsiders” because outside of God’s grace and Holy presence—we are sinful enemies
By God’s Word, we have the ability to be changed, or “sanctified” into outreaching insiders.
“out reaching” because we become the hands, feet, and mouth of God—who reaches out through us—to a world that he wants to make his own—reclaiming that which he made but who rejected him.
“insiders” because we are now set apart to be used by God, saved by his Grace, part of his family.
John 17:14-19
Let’s read the text on which this sermon is based:
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Transition: The first change that we notice is that:
1. God’s Word Separates Us From the World
• John 17:14-16
Read: John 17:14-16
. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
There is something different about us, what is it? It’s nothing to do with how great we are of our own:
Ephesians 5:8a (children of darkness)
• We ALL start out being lost
Dilemma as a young man: I didn’t appreciate my own lostness
Frustrated I didn’t have a “from sinner to saint” story
Fact is, we are all lost, and God knows it, whether we do or not:
• Out-of-reach Outsiders
We really are “out of reach outsiders”—at least of our own accord
Plan of God set in motion
Read John 1:10-13
Jn 1:10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
Jn 1:11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Jn 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
Jn 1:13 children born not of natural descent, 3 nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God
• What separates us is: “receiving the word (Word)”
Receive Jesus—the Word, who proclaimed God’s word: “gave it” (John 17:14)
A clear line of separation exists between those who choose to believe, and those who don’t!
John 8:31-37
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
. . . . 37 Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word.
Let me be clear: it is not just the “little w” word that is important for us to know, it is crucial that we believe the one, the “capital W” Word that the word foretells and proclaims.
John 5:37-40 “search the scriptures, thinking you have life, but you don’t have Jesus.”
• Are we really separated? Do we live that way?
As Christians, we ARE separate from the world. We need to live like it:
Sometimes it is hard to tell where the world leaves off and we begin: Look around us, we are united with our culture by our dress, our music, our hair styles, our favorite TV shows, our government,, our hatred of the “other political party”, the cars we drive, our loyalties to products, even our conduct doesn’t radically differ at times from the world
Researcher George Barna has estimated that the divorce rate among “born again Christians” is almost identical to that of “non Born-Agains” @ 35%
I have seen young people struggle with their faith and identity in high school—dress, speech, relationships, conduct, integrity
but so do adults working in the world
Remember a seminary student who had a horrible reputation as a boss in a local restaurant where he went to school. His temper, favoritism, and wandering eye were the source of much scorn of those he was over. (not a ringing endorsement of the power of the Word)
Sometimes, we seem WORSE than the non Christian:
We have to ask ourselves: whom do we identify with more?
Or better yet, WHO has our heart?
God or the World?
Our country or the Kingdom of God?
Approval of others or Approval of God?
In Christ we have a new identity, we have taken off the old self-separated from it and the world, and put on “Christ”. We are “hidden in Him’ the Bible says.
Transition: And so we see, we are not just separated from the world, but we are separated FOR someone. We find that:
2. God’s Word Sets Us Apart for God
• John 17:17, 19
Read: 17:17, 19
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth
19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
• “Insiders”
Here is where we become “insiders”
LET’s break it down a bit
V. 17 “Sanctify them by/in your truth! Your word is truth!
• Sanctify:
– To Set Apart for something
– To dedicate for special service
Curious Word: Sanctify. So religious sounding. But it is an important word for us to get a handle on:
a. One of main meanings: Set apart for (separation from something TO something), to be dedicated for something
b. In our sermon we have talked so far about being separate from the world, but now we are looking at the reality that we—his people, his redeemed family—are SET APART for him
Like fine China or Silverware or your special coffee mug
• Transferred from the world’s dominance to God’s Dominion—changing kingdoms!
We are being transferred from the realm of the WORLD to the realm of GOD! God is totally holy, totally sanctified, and his people are to. How does he do it?
His Word of truth! (the good news of Jesus, Jesus himself: remember he IS the Word!)
A traveling salesman pulled off the highway unto a country road and stopped on the shoulder of the road to rest for he was sleepy. He was about to go to sleep when a horse came alongside the fence and began talking to him.
This awakened the salesman quickly as the horse told him of his life. He said he was a great racer, had won 25 races and over $5 million dollars. The salesman was thinking of the value of owning a talking horse so he found the owner of the horse and offered him a good price for the horse.
The farmer said, "Oh, you don’t want that horse".
"Yes, I do. I will give you $100,000 dollars for him.
Recognizing a great price the farmer said, "He’s yours". As they prepared and signed the sales papers the salesman asked the farmer why he thought he would not want the horse.
Said the farmer, "Because he is a liar. He never won a race in his life."
Now maybe the accuracy of a talking horse’s story might not affect the value of owning one, the accuracy of our words are very important.
There are a lot of things out there claiming to be true, but only one that will make a difference.
When we accept God’s word, when we receive it, believe it, obey it, live by it, we have transferred from the World of Death to the God of Life! But let there be no doubt as to who made this possible:
• We are saints because of Jesus, the Word
Read: 17:19
Jesus is already holy, so how does he sanctify himself? If you look at the meaning “set apart” or “dedicate” and consider where Jesus was headed with his ministry: “the cross,” (just after this prayer . . .) you can grasp that he was resolute in setting himself apart to do ALL that God had sent him into the world to do:
He came to save US—because he loved the world so much—that he committed to death on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven, and we would pass from death to life, from the world to God. Without this, we could never be set apart, or sanctified, for God.
V 19
But now we are.
We are washed inside and out (unlike the Pharisees—wash the outside of a cup) so completely that even Lever 2000 (“for all your 2000 parts) couldn’t touch His cleaning power.
Now we are “saints” Sanctified! We don’t have to wait several years after our death and for evidence that we performed a miracle . . .
Now we are “insiders”
Now we are His.
Now we are His hands, His feet, His mouth—to do what HE wants, not what we want.
Transition: God is a very active God, and now that we are set apart as His tools, he won’t just leave us on the shelf. We find we have purpose. Central to God’s heart is desire that the world be won by his love. So we find that:
3. God’s Word Dedicates us to Reach Out to the World for God
• John 17:18
Read with me: 17:18
• Outreaching instruments
It is true, on our own we are “out of reach” of God. We are “outsiders”. But by receiving the Word of God—the written word connected with the Living Word—and becoming “insiders” we become the instruments God uses to reach out to the world.
• The heartbeat of God: win a lost world with love—through His Word
The very heartbeat of God is winning a lost world back to himself. That was Christ’s mission:
John 1:14: The Word became flesh . . . (repeat) We could meditate on that for hours.
What did he give up? The comforts of heaven, supreme power, angels waiting on him—to get what? A birth next to some sweaty cows and sheep? Itchy straw and a body that knows aches and pains? (cf. Philippians 2)
Why? He did it for us.
He is a “God on the Go” He is Missions minded. He gave up a lot for us.
Think about some of the people he touched, just in John:
Some fishermen
Nicodemus, the scholar who visited by night,
The woman at the well, 5 husbands and counting, a Samaritan!
A paralyzed poor man by the pool at Bethesda
The five thousand—mostly selfish people—that he fed
The woman caught in adultery
Blind man
Lazarus
His best friend that denied him 3 times.
And on and on the list could go. All kinds of people. All kinds of walks of life.
The people he reached out to were often “untouchable,” “undesirable.”
Jesus looked past who they were and saw who they would become. He loved them. He gave them respect. He gave them opportunity. He gave them his word, Himself.
• “GO!” (not “Come!”)
That is the kind of person WE are to become. Often, though that is not how the world encounters us. They might view us like the recent “conclave of Cardinals” whose job it was to pick the new pope.
Cardinals meet to pick pope
Roman Catholic cardinals held a solemn Mass praying for divine inspiration on Monday, preparing to lock themselves away from the world to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II.
electronic jamming devices
swept the chapel for listening devices,
cell phones, newspapers, radios, TVs and Internet connections — all banned
cooks, maids, elevator operators and drivers were sworn to secrecy.
Excommunication is a possible punishment for any indiscretions.
Swiss Guards
clad in crimson robes and caps, the 115 voting “princes” of a church stung by priest sex-abuse scandals and an exodus of the faithful
$20 million hotel
whisked to the residence in limousines.
oath of secrecy
I understand their need for secrecy. This is not a judgment on the Cardinals, nor their ritual. But I think it is an APT description of
How the world sees us AND
How we relate to the world
We expect them to come to US.
“Why don’t you go to church with me?”
See our beautiful church building!
Get out of your comfort zone and come to US!
Come to a place where you don’t know many people, but we all know each other
Come to a place where you have NO idea what rituals we do nor why.
Come to a place on early Sunday morning when you normally catch up on your rest!
And when they Do come, are they always accepted, or are they sometimes judged?
“Coming” is okay, and some do come, but more and more, the old methods of bringing people to the church do not work like they used to.
• Out of our comfort zone with compassion!
Jesus model is GO!
Go out to the Barbershop and get to know the guys there
Hang out with the old men playing checkers under the tree in the park
Go to the basketball games, NOT just to scream your lungs out, but to connect with the people of the community
Hand out free hot dogs at the park
Get involved with community players and befriend all the actors/actresses. Find out their hopes and dreams, their disappointments and failures.
Do a VBS at the projects
Go out (like our good friend Lorie Crowe) to the strip clubs with a group of caring women and give the girls in the dressing rooms beautiful gift baskets just because you “love them” asking nothing in return. Most of those girls are desperate and cut off from a church culture that relies on them to “COME.” And when they DO, we don’t know how to handle them, their dress, their way of talk, their . . . “profession.”
Where will we find the people of Miami? Will we reach out to the section 8 housing apartments, the country clubs, the bars, the boardrooms?
These are the kind of people that Jesus reached out to. It is who WE need to reach out to. Not because we need to grow—but we do, not because we need to pay our bills—even though we do, not because I feel guilty—though I might, BUT BECAUSE WE WERE WON BY LOVE—BY THE WORD OF GOD—and there is a whole world still in the OUTSIDE, waiting for us to reach out.
Folks, that is what John 3:16 is all about! It is about reaching out with COMPASSION, out of LOVE, and it is the Word that can change people from lost outsiders to loved insiders!
We are dedicated for reaching out to the world for God with the Word of God!
Conclusion:
The challenge for us today is to live as Sanctified, Dedicated “GOERS”, reaching out to a lost world with God’s word, the promise of life through the living Word, the way, truth and life: Jesus. To do this, we might need to look at these 5 checkpoints:
5 Check Points:
• Are we Separated?
Are you SEPARATED? Are we truly separate from the world in our character and allegiance? (what areas need more definition away from the world?—get an accountability partner)
• Are we Into the Word?
Are you into the WORD? Do we have a consistent and specific plan to get into God’s word? (suggest John to get started) Are we INTO the word?
• Are we “set apart” for God?
Are you “set apart” for God? Do we have an honest and alive relationship with our savior, the living Word? (if never to this point, today you can, if you need to rededicate, now is the time)
• Are we GOING TO the lost?
Do you seek out lost people to reveal the living Word to them? If not, pick out 5 people that need Christ, and start praying for them and for opportunities to reach out.
• Is our church working together to “Go?”
Does this church have a plan for reaching out, and will you work together to reach people for Christ? Are you willing to deal with and truly love the new people that God might bring into this family?
If not, why not? God has sanctified us—set us apart for Him, dedicated us to reach out to the world for him. And the Lord knows, the world needs Him.
