The following is a sermon I wrote for youth Sunday. This message will be delivered by two youth members.
Chris:
There was a farmer who had three sons: Jim, John, and Sam. No one in the family ever attended church or had time for God. The pastor and the others in the church tried for years to interest the family in the things of God to no avail. Then one day Sam was bitten by a rattlesnake. The doctor was called and he did all he could to help Sam, but the outlook for Sam’s recovery was very dim indeed. So the pastor was called and appraised of the situation. The pastor arrived, and began to pray as follows:
“O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee that in Thine wisdom thou didst send this rattlesnake to bite Sam. He has never been inside the church and it is doubtful that he has, in all this time, ever prayed or even acknowledged Thine existence. Now we trust that this experience will be a valuable lesson to him and will lead to his genuine repentance.
“And now, O Father, wilt thou send another rattlesnake to bite Jim, and another to bite John, and another really big one to bite the old man. For years we have done everything we know to get them to turn to Thee, but all in vain. It seems, therefore, that what all our combined efforts could not do, this rattlesnake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing that will do this family any real good is rattlesnakes; so, Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. Amen.”
Rebecca:
Isn’t it amazing that sometimes it takes something extraordinary to bring people to God? Kind of like an atheist soldier in a fox hole – an extraordinary circumstance where God is found. Plato said, “There are few people so stubborn in their atheism who when danger is pressing in will not acknowledge the divine power.”
However, this isn’t always the case. Sometimes even the extraordinary cannot change a person. Take for instance the scripture that Autumn just read – first, the people did not believe even though they had witnessed the extraordinary events of Christ’s numerous miracles. And many of them rejected Jesus as the Messiah, which led to the hardening of their hearts.
In spite of all the clear evidence that was presented to them, the nation would not believe. The “arm of the Lord” had been revealed to them in great power, yet they closed their eyes to the truth. They had heard the message and seen the miracles, and yet would not believe. When a person starts to resist the light, something begins to change within him; and he comes to the place where he cannot believe. There is “judicial blindness” that God permits to come over the eyes of people who do not take the truth seriously. It is a serious thing to treat God’s truth lightly, for a person could well miss his opportunity to be saved. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near”.
Jesus had performed enough miraculous signs to cause people to believe in him. The greatest of all signs—raising Lazarus from the dead—should have been enough to elicit faith from all those who saw it and even heard about it. Yet the Jewish people still refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. This unbelief had been predicted by Isaiah. In the opening of his chapter on the suffering Savior, Isaiah asked, “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” It took revelation from God to know that Jesus was the arm of the Lord -- the one through whom God demonstrated his mighty power. But the Jews lacked this understanding. Why? Because it was prophesied, claimed John, who again quoted Isaiah: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” This quotation appears quite often in the New Testament because it provides a prophetic explanation for why the Jews did not perceive Jesus’ message nor receive him as their Messiah . And because they would not believe, they eventually could not believe. As a result, the Jews remained unenlightened and hardened. They had not seen what Isaiah had seen, for Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.” Isaiah had seen the Lord of glory, who is none other than Jesus himself—Jesus is God, yet he is also a distinct part of the mysterious Trinity, and he is also Jesus the Son.
For those whose hearts are hardened, even the most compelling reasons for faith become obstacles. John soberly reminds us that many of those who believe in Jesus still allow the pressures and fears of people to hinder their faith. Hidden faith may avoid a confrontation with others, but it seldom pleases God.
The movie Faith Like Potatoes tells the incredible true story of a farmer, Angus Buchan, who leaves his farm and travels south with his family to start a better life in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Faced with ever mounting challenges, hardships and personal turmoil, Angus quickly spirals down into a life consumed by anger, fear and destruction. Angus soon gives his life to God and starts the journey of a man who, like his potatoes, grows his faith, unseen until the harvest.
Please watch the following clip:
In the clip, you seen Angus telling his friend about the decision he made about giving his life over to Jesus. He explained that he felt that God had just taken him by the throat and shook him. Angus, fortunately, was able to recognize the call from God and accepted it. It is obvious from the reaction of his friend, this was shocking news. Angus knew this decision would come as a surprise to his friends, especially recognizing it when he replied to the minister’s instruction of telling the first three friends he sees and responds with, “they’ll think I’m a nutter”.
Fortunately Angus did not love the praise of men more than the praise of God, and he told his friends about his decision to accept Jesus, regardless of what they would think. Angus avoided the possibility of his heart being hardened by simply acknowledging that Christ is Lord and Savior and accepted Jesus into his life.
Chris:
The story of Christ’s coverage for sins has been told so often to some of us that the message just doesn’t seem to get through. We are jaded. Somehow we need to find ways to get the message through in vital and fresh and arresting ways.
There is a wonderful story about a young family moving into a new house. The move had been scheduled weeks in advance, but when the day approached the husband announced that an important meeting had been called at the office, and he would be unable to help. Consequently, the wife had to handle the move by herself. After the moving van had pulled away, the wife found herself standing in the living room of the new house surrounded by boxes to be unpacked, appliances to be hooked up, a screaming baby, and a five-year-old who decided to throw one of his metal toys through the picture window. Fortunately, the child wasn’t hurt, but the jagged glass was scattered everywhere and a brisk wind was blowing through the opening. The wife was now so upset that she simply had to tell her husband what was happening. When she called him on the telephone, a secretary informed her that he was tied up in the meeting and could not be disturbed. The secretary asked, “Would you like to leave a message?” This didn’t help her at all because from past experience the wife knew that he could be extremely lax about returning telephone calls home. So she figured out a way to get to him. She replied, “Just tell him the insurance will cover it. Call home for details.”
The moment he got the message, he called home.
Maybe we need to learn from this some ways to arrest people with the message of God’s coverage for sin. Maybe we need to rephrase the headlines of our faith for each generation in ways that will seize their minds and demand their attention!
Rebecca:
We, as Christians, must demand the attention of the people and let them know about Jesus. We must inform them of the need to accept Jesus while the opportunity is still present, before their hearts become hardened and removed of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, according to John’s gospel we read earlier, states, “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. I will not judge those who hear me but don’t obey me, for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken.”
Jesus came to save you, save me, and to save the world. Our duty is to proclaim the word. Have you been like Angus in the movie clip and told at least three friends? Like the woman leaving a message with her husband, have you demanded the attention of those that are lost? We must act before it is too late.
Many hearts are hardening this day and everyday; is yours? Have you made a confession of faith? Have you made the decision to trust Christ, believe in Him, and uphold faith to God? If not, we would like to invite you to do that this day by coming forward during our hymn of invitation.
