29 Mar

3/31/19    Acts 10:34-43   “Jesus: You Are His Glory!”

I think about this a lot at Christmastime but really it happens all year.  Companies will use all sorts of sales and gimmicks to get us to part with our dollar.  I have found that it really doesn’t do much good to complain about this because it’s going to happen anyway.  We live in a secular world where the real meaning of Christmas has been lost along with any semblance of honesty.  Anyway, I have noticed in some of the ads that some things are just hard to believe.  One of my favorite ones is when the company tells you that you will get free shipping.  People, the shipping costs are only hidden in the price.  Believe me, you pay the shipping.  Another involves our car industry.  You can get a rebate of $10,000 if you buy a certain pickup by a certain date.  Has it ever occurred to you that the pickup is $10,000 overpriced to begin with?  In other words they are making at least that amount when they regularly sell you a pickup or car.  The list goes on and on.  If something is too good to be true, then it must be false.  Somewhere, there lies a trick.  Anyway, this passage we just read is one of my favorites.  Jesus is the exception to this rule.  He is better than too good to be true and He is always true.  All you have to do is accept Him.  It is so easy that many try to make it complicated.  It’s not.  Let’s see how you can have this action.

I have found that as long as I live, I have my imagination.  There is nothing wrong with this because it is imaginations that make things happen in our world.  But it also helps us to have preconceived notions about people and things.  Here’s what I mean.  Do you have a favorite radio show?  I have several.  What I do is imagine what these people look like.  It’s my imagination working because I have never seen anyone on radio.  So when I finally see a radio personality, I’m usually shocked because they don’t look at all like what I imagined.  I used to listen to the radio pastor Chuck Swindoll.  He wasn’t anything like what I imagined.  In other words we have to be careful with our imaginations because they might lead us down the wrong path.

It’s the same way with Jesus Christ in our modern world.  We are so blessed to be able to live in these modern times.  We have so much free time that we usually don’t know what to do with it.  We have all the information of the world at our fingertips.  All we have to do is learn to access it.  But we usually don’t.  We are too lazy.  It is much easier for us to go to the internet, look something up and pass it on as its actual fact without checking.  I have learned to check most things there and about the time I don’t check on them, they are false.  I may exaggerate a little but it is a problem.  The internet is a great, great tool but you must be wary.

For example several years ago there was a terrible flood in Cedar Rapids Iowa.  The following year there was another one in Minot, North Dakota.  Pictures went out on Facebook that told us these were flood pictures from Minot.  Then a friend of mine told me that they were the same ones that were taken the year before in Cedar Rapids.  People, don’t trust Facebook for anything.  Always check the facts.   We also have to be wary about what we read or hear about Jesus Christ.  The world will tell you that there are too many rules to follow Christ.  They will tell you that it takes too much time to follow Jesus.  They will tell you that it is too costly to follow and the lame excuses go on and on.  This is because none of these people have ever read the Bible or know anything at all about Jesus.  They have never checked the facts.  This is a great passage to read when you need to be reaffirmed.

This is Luke reporting on a speech that was made by Peter.  He begins by telling us that God shows no favoritism.  Before we begin we have to know what sort of society they had when Jesus was here.  First of all the Romans ran everything.  They had a brutal dictatorship at best.  Everything everyone did was catered toward the Romans.  They were the favored people because they were in power.  You and I would have no say in anything.  There was no freedom.

Church was very similar in those days.  If you had money, then the priests favored you.  If you were powerful, they favored you.  The church in those days favored people and it hasn’t changed much today in many churches.  I have known pastors who have been run out of a church because they upset one of the founding fathers.  Founding fathers are sacred in our modern church.  The rich, the senators, the representatives are all favored in many churches today.  I know churches in our area that would squirm if a homeless person came in and tried to worship.

Todd Catteau gives this illustration.  He tells us that vending machines have come a long way since he was a kid.  It used to be that when you got hungry or thirsty all you had to do is get together enough change and you could buy things out of a vending machine.  I even remember an old pop machine where the bottles sat in cold water.  Anyway, one of the biggest advances that have been made in recent years was the coming of the dollar bill reader.  Now you don’t have to dig through all the seat cushions to find change for a beverage.  What’s even more advanced today as they have credit card readers!

Anyway I used to work on these machines so I am a little bit of an expert on these bill readers.  How many times have you come up to a machine and it won’t read your dollar?  You have tried everything.  You make sure that the corners aren’t folded.  You make sure that the dollar is smooth. You have tried to put it in every which way.  Just for your information here, brand new bills do not work very well in vending machines.  So if you have a new bill, crumple it up a little.  Anyway there seems to be nothing you can do to get the machine to accept your paper money.

This is the way we are also.  I think that all of us are prejudiced to some extent.  Sometimes it’s not a big deal if we favor pie over doughnuts.  We really like to favor our televisions sets over almost any other recreational activity.  Therefore in a roundabout way, we favor all the terrible commercials that are on just about all the time.  To prove my point, how many of you have registered a complaint about all the alcohol commercials we see during our sporting events.  This feeds directly into our children’s minds, who come to think that this is a good thing.  We watch atrocious murders on fictional programs and think this doesn’t harm anyone.  People, even if you think you don’t favor things you probably do and don’t know it.

Because this is against the way of God and we should be very grateful for this.  Jesus Christ invited all to come to Him.  He didn’t say that the homosexuals had to stay away.  He didn’t say that Muslims weren’t welcome.  He didn’t say that He only welcomed Democrats or Republicans.  He didn’t say if you have ever sinned you can’t come.  He said all.  That means you and me and everyone.  The only thing He won’t tolerate is sin.  That is one of the reasons that Jesus has come to us.  He will take away your sin so that you may enter heaven.  Therefore, if you have never done this, confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to be Lord and Savior of your life.  The way to heaven is that easy and you will never regret it!

Now some of you might think that other religions have merit and I disagree.  In Islam you have to work your way to heaven or whatever they call it.  And guess who makes the rules for how much you have to work?  Humans do this.  It is the same way with Mormonism.  As a matter of fact all religions are based on what you do or are works based.  But with Jesus there is no work.  All you have to do is surrender yourself and accept Jesus as your Lord and God.

So please just remember that God shows no favorites.  We are all the same and we are loved more than we will ever know in this world.  Next Peter tells his audience and us that they were witnesses to all that happened.  They got to see the wonders of Jesus.  We need to remember that the people who are listening to Peter have never really heard anything like this before.  However, they had heard of Jesus and some of the things He had done.  But they didn’t put it all together.  They didn’t put Jesus as God until the disciples connected the dots for them.  That is what Peter is trying to do.  Also remember that the disciples didn’t connect the dots until after the ascension.  This is why the disciples were sent out.  Many people had heard but they didn’t understand.

And that is where we are today.  Just look around your life and tell me how many things you attribute to God. Most of us take everything we have for granted and are grateful for scientists and such for all our modern conveniences.   We should be thankful for them but it was God who gave them the brains to figure out such things.  God gave them the raw materials.  We sometimes joke about these things such as when the little boy asked his mother ‘where did I get my intelligence?’  The mother replied, “I guess you got it from your father because I still have mine!”  Anyway, the fact is that he got his brains from God.

And this is a problem.  Most people in this country say they know Jesus.  They are like the ancients before the disciples explained to them that Jesus is God and is responsible for all they have.  It’s our job to go out and explain the best we can.  We do this by using our gifts, doing all things in the name of Jesus and by talking.  The following might not be the right way to do it but then again it might be ok in certain situations.  A new believer was on a plane sitting next to an intellectual or a man educated beyond his intelligence.  He sneered at her as she was reading her Bible and asked if she believed what she was reading.  She said, “Yes.”  Then he asked if she believed in the story of Jonah and the whale which should be a great fish.  Again she replied, “Yes.”  This intellectual dummy then asked, “How did it happen?”  The new believer didn’t hesitate as she answered, “Don’t know, but I will find out when I get to heaven.”  The man then asked, “What if Jonah isn’t there?”  She replied, “Then I guess you will have to ask him for me.”         These are the types we run into in the world.  They are called free thinkers, atheists, or intellectuals.  But I would like to say that they are in the definite minority.  Most people you know will allow you to explain.  I have found that most of the time when I start to quote the Bible or Jesus, people will listen.  Jesus, there is just something about that name.

This all goes along with the last point that Peter makes here that I want to talk about today.  Peter and the disciples have seen all of this and they know now who Jesus is.  They are telling everyone around them including us.  Many of you feel that you are doing your job as a Christian by attending worship once a week.  Attending worship is just a part of your job.  I have always said that all I can do when I preach is try to get you to next Sunday.  We attend church so we can be fired up enough to make it in this broken world to next Sunday and then we need another pep talk.  We also attend every week so that others who are struggling can see and talk to us.  I would guess that there are many who are struggling today and many who aren’t.  We come to worship to help each other, pray and study the Word.

But the most important job you have is after you leave the service.  You are supposed to go out and tell others.  You do this by using your gift in the name of Jesus.  If you do everything in the name of Jesus all week, you will see some differences.  Pretty soon you will find that people are listening to you.  I became a Christian when I was working at the Post Office.  At first I thought I was all alone but soon I found Christian comrades.  I kept trying to do things in the name of Jesus and soon people were listening.  Many times I would say the wrong things but Jesus has a way of helping us and making things right.  This is the most important thing you can do for your family, friends and strangers.

There was a religious order founded a couple of centuries ago called the Shakers who at one time had many members.  This was a group of people who loved the Lord and tried to please Him in every phase of their lives.  These people might have been a little stricter than the Amish or Mennonites in their conservatism plus they were terrible at recruiting.  By 1920, there was only one colony of Shakers left.  Today there might be only a few Shakers if any left.  What happened?  Here’s my take on this.  These people followed the greatest being in the universe.  Jesus is the commander of love.  He gives hope and peace to all who come to Him.  There isn’t anything He won’t do for you if you just follow Him.  When you are following Jesus, there are no rules.  Jesus will allow you to do anything you want.  However, when you are following Jesus, the things you really want will change to be in line with Jesus.  But it’s your choice.  Jesus will not make you do anything.  The Shakers and others put so many rules and regulations around Jesus that they lost touch with who Jesus is.  He is God!

When you are out showing or talking about Jesus, present Him in all His glory!  Present Him in the wondrous ways that they talk about in the Bible.  Tell people that the life they are living doesn’t have real joy or peace or kindness.  These things only come from Jesus and they are all good.  As a matter of fact, they are great and you should be praising the Lord loudly whenever you talk about Him.  This is the crux of what Peter is trying to tell us today.  Therefore I suggest that you go forth from your doors today giving Jesus credit for all you have and do.  Jesus loves you so much that He will help you have the best life possible and that begins with others.  Thank you Jesus for first loving us.  Let’s pray.