Hallowed
Some of you may have seen this - Jane Arend even emailed me about it...
Recently, fans of the game show "Jeopardy" found themselves stunned after all three contestants failed to answer a question asking them to complete a line of the Lord's Prayer, the most widely recited prayer in Christianity. The puzzle, worth $200, read, "Matthew 6:9 says, 'Our Father, which art in heaven,' This 'be thy name.'" The contestants stood in silence, with none of the three even attempting to fill in the blank, until host Mayim Bialik revealed the answer: "Hallowed." The moment went viral, with viewers on Twitter expressing their shock at the contestants' inability to answer a seemingly common-knowledge question.
My first response was like most, 'How can they not know that?' But my second thought was, 'Wow - no one ever told them...?' They had obviously been very well educated on a lot of various topics - but they didn't know this most basic prayer. And we really shouldn't be surprised as we are now in a 'post Christian' society where more and more people have no religious affiliation or background at all. But I was surprised that even some self proclaimed atheists on Twitter expressed their shock - as even they knew the answer.
But after we get over our initial 'shock' - we have to address the fact that...
I. They don't know
And of course we could say, 'They live in a country with Churches all over the place - they should know some things...' - But they don't. And then - whose fault is it...? Certainly we're each responsible for our own eternal destiny, but could it simply be that no one ever shared Jesus with them...? Or maybe someone may have invited them to a Church service and they just declined - but bottom line, they don't know. They don't know the foundational prayer that Jesus taught His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. And that's kind of a big deal - knowing how to start to learn how to connect with our Father in prayer.
Last week we started with a passage from Roman's chapter 5 - talking about character for Father's Day. This morning I want to again start us in Paul's letter to all the believers in Rome, from Romans 10:8b-15 (NIV)...
The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: (9) That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (10) For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (11) As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
(12) For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, (13) for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (14) 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? (15) And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
Paul starts by pointing out that they know the Gospel message - they have been taught, it's in their hearts; they've been baptized and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. But he then points out that in order for someone to come to that point of salvation - someone first had to share the Gospel message with them.
Back in college, for a summer job I worked at Roadway Express in Chicago Heights. I didn't get the job because of any qualifications, but because of friend of mine's dad was the head of maintenance there. I filled in for janitors and cleaned up some on the docks. Early on, my boss asked me to go repaint the yellow lines at the outbound dock - the supplies were in the storage cage. Okay - how hard could it be?
I went in to the huge supply area and there were multiple buckets and drums of yellow paints for various applications and different rollers, and tools. I stood there looking from floor to ceiling overwhelmed by this seemingly simple task. After a handful of minutes deliberating, 'What do I do...?' - I walked back to the boss's office. At first he was quite annoyed that I hadn't started yet, but then realized he'd never shown me the drum of OSHA yellow parking lot paint and the angle iron to use as a guide. It wasn't a matter of rebellion or disobedience - I simply didn't know.
You can't blame someone for not knowing something when they've never been taught. But I think that sometimes, we blame non-Christians for their non-Christian behavior when they simply have never been taught God's ways. And of course, there are also those who outright reject anything sacred or moral; those who mock Godly values or religion. And in those situations, it's easy to...
A. Respond in anger
You may have heard about the Dodgers, for their 10th annual Pride Night, honoring a group of men who dress in drag as Nuns and call themselves "The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence". There were several thousand people who showed up to be part of a "prayerful processional" protesting the event and many Catholic Bishops have even accused the 'Sisters' of blasphemy. Now, I'm not Catholic, but I certainly understand why our Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ would be offended.
Paul wrote about those who had not heard the Gospel message, but he also wrote about those who twisted the message.
Romans 1:21-25 (NIV)
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (22) Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools (23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
(24) Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. (25) They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.
Sure, I can get righteously angry when I see Godly values mocked and 'sin' celebrated. But I may need to check that anger. I'm not saying we shouldn't stand firm against evil - but I do need to remember that we're in a spiritual battle. Standing against evil is good, and the right thing to do - but the battle won't be won by my righteous anger alone. A spiritual battle is waged through bold, but loving truth and much prayer.
It's easy to respond in anger, but it's harder to...
B. Respond with compassion
I know that there are those who very clearly know who God is. God has revealed Himself in His creation. There are those who know who Jesus is - but they deny Him as God's Son; they reject Him as The way to the Father. But many simply have not really heard the Good News of the Gospel. Or they've been told things by men about God that are not correct, or their experience with 'religious men' has lead them to reject the Church.
We can't control how people respond to Jesus, but as followers of Jesus - we need to make sure they actually hear the true message! I can't force anyone to come to a Church service. I can't force anyone to accept Jesus. But I can try to make a simple introduction. Back to the first passage from Romans 10:14 (NIV)...
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?
There is only One Savior to mankind! There is only One way to the Father - Jesus Christ! Without Jesus - people will be lost for eternity. And how can people respond to Jesus if no one shares that truth with them?
Yes, it's hard to believe that people in a nation with current estimates of over 300,000 Churches in America - that someone hasn't had an opportunity to hear about Jesus. But if highly educated people on Jeopardy have never even heard the 'Lord's Prayer' - we've got some work to do. It is our job to...
II. Share the Good News
Those of us who know God's Word, who know the Good News of the Gospel message, have to share it with those who've not heard! And I know it's hard in today's culture, harder than it's been in previous generations. We know the numbers of those who have nothing to do with the Church – those numbers are climbing rapidly in our nation. It used to be that being a Christian was seen as a good thing in the community. Now, for some, it's becoming something associated with 'mean', close minded people.
But it's actually similar to the culture in which Paul found himself. He explained the hostility towards God's Word in 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 (NIV)...
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (5) For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. (6) For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The 'god of this age' is our enemy - the devil. And notice the little 'g' in 'god' denoting a much lesser power than that of The One true God. But the devil has gained a lot of influence in our culture. The root of much of the anger today comes from the fact that many people see themselves as their own 'god'. They wouldn't say it that way, but they might say - 'I can decide what's right and what's not. I am my own authority on life and sexuality and morality... and even my own gender.' In essence - 'I am my own 'god'.' And the devil is thrilled...
People desperately need the truth of Jesus Christ!
You can look at our numbers here - our attendance is about half of what it was pre-pandemic. You can also see our offering numbers are down significantly. We're not here just to gather numbers and raise money, just to keep our doors open and survive. That's not the mission of God's Church! But those numbers do represent people - and people are our mission!
Joe McCullough encouraged me this past week. He reminded me that we all have different gifts and roles in the Church and we all need to work together to get the work of the Church done. That's pretty Biblical! Sounds like someone's been reading his Bible... We all have different gifts - BUT we can all invite people. If you have never extended an invitation to someone - you aren't really doing everything God created you to do!
You may not have the gifts of an 'evangelist' - you may not consider yourself a theologian - but this is your Church! God called you here and you can certainly invite people in your circle who don't yet know Jesus! In fact, an invitation from a friend is the most effective tool in bringing people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!
Our job is to share the Good News with anyone who'll listen. We need to invite people - but it remains...
A. Their choice
It's like the old saying, 'You can lead a horse to water but you can't make 'em drink'. Or the saying in our house, "You can make a meal for a toddler but you can't stop them from stealing cookies...' All people have a choice to make about Jesus and whether they want a relationship or not.
I want to jump back to Romans 10 again, to the section right after the first passage we read...
Romans 10:16-17 (NIV)
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" (17) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
We know not everyone who hears will believe. And that's their choice. But as believers - we have to share! And we have to believe that God's Word is true and has the supernatural power to change lives! - Not my words - but God's Word! Has God's Word changed your life? Do you personally believe that God's Word can change lives? And do you live and act like you believe that God's very Words can change lives for eternity?
'Well of course!' Here's a little way you can tell whether you believe that or not... - Have you shared God's Word lately with anyone? If not - maybe you've gotten complacent and need to remember what Jesus has done for you!
We share the Good News and they can choose whether or not to follow - but even if they reject it at first - they can't stop you from praying for them!
And one more thought that the world doesn't understand and we always need to keep in mind. Our purpose in sharing the Good News isn't to judge, but…
B. To save
The world may not know Matthew 6:9 from the Lord's prayer, but they sure know Matthew 7:1, 'Do not judge'. Unbelievers will quote that one all day. And even if taken out of context - it is still true. We're not called to judge others - but we can still discern what 'sin' is. Just because I'm not to judge a person for their sin doesn't just make that sin just go away.
Our purpose in sharing the truth about sin and Jesus as The only answer to sin – is to save, to rescue, not to judge! Jesus said in John 12:46-48 (NIV)...
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (47) As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. (48) There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
If I'm not careful - I can come across as judgmental at times. That won't lead anyone to Jesus!
So What?
Not knowing the answer "Hallowed' on a game show may cost you a few hundred bucks. Not knowing Jesus will cost you an eternity separated from God, Your Father.
This past week as I was reading articles about 'Pride Night' at Dodgers Stadium and all of the back and forth and the anger and offense on both sides - I found a quote that summed it all up and froze me in my thoughts, "There's room at the foot of the cross even for those who mock it…" That's the message of the cross! That's our Savior when hanging on that very cross who said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!"
There is no one 'too bad' to come to Jesus! It is never too late to come to Jesus! That's not 'my rules' - but the way of our eternally gracious God who came in the flesh to save each of us! God does not send anyone to Hell! God came in the person of Jesus to tell us we were headed for certain death to save us from Hell! And that is the message we need to share with a lost world!