Sunday, November 8, 2009
1st
Corinthians 9:20-22
Senior Pastor
Did
you hear that members of the American Medical Association have had mixed
reaction to the health care reform work being formulated in Congress? I’m not sure about this but I received it
from a friend:
The
Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling
about it, but the
Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.
The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.
The Optometrists and Ophthalmologists agreed: the idea is short sighted.
As the discussion heated up the Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead
body!" while the Pediatricians said, “Oh, grow up!”
The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the
Radiologists felt they could see right through it.
The Surgeons, tired of the divisive debate decided to wash their hands of the
whole thing.
Finally,
the Allergists led a move to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to
make any rash moves.
Today
we are glimpsing a portion of Paul’s strategy to win people to Christ. He made moves to connect with different groups of people by
identifying with them where he could.
But that is rare. Most of us
stay in our own groups and talk in our own lingo. You have probably experienced this with your doctor or your
attorney, maybe with your minister or mechanic. We all develop our own lingo that works in the group but often
fails in communicating with others outside the group.
Other times we fail to communicate well with others because of personality style. I remember a situation in a church I previously served where I was really having a hard time communicating with the business manager. I kept going to her office and trying to discuss issues I needed her help with and she would hardly say a word. I always left her office frustrated. Until one day I realized I was working off of my extroverted personality style in which I like to sit down face to face with a person and process information out loud. She was quite introverted and preferred to process information inside before speaking about it. Once I realized that and began to write her notes about things I needed her help with, our relationship improved immensely. She could think about it, process the info and then write me a response.
Unconsciously I was expecting her to be like me. She wasn’t. Most of us walk around expecting other people to think like us, to act like us, to interact like us. When they do not, we usually judge them negatively. But if we are trying to connect with another, if we are trying to serve or save another, it really helps if we catch on to Paul’s strategy here.
What
does Paul write to the Corinthians? To
the Jews I became a Jew… to those outside the law I became as one outside the
law… to the weak I became weak. It
is not deception Paul is advocating, but he is carefully choosing which part of
his life to emphasize in order to make a connection with a wider
population. We are all complicated
individuals and have various components to our lives and Paul recognizes how to
use those different components to reach folks for Christ.
Let me give you an illustration closer to home: To those who root for OU, I tell them I graduated from OU. To those who root for OSU, I tell them my daughter is going to OSU. For those who root for TU I share that my wife graduated from TU. It is all true, but different parts of my life connect with different people.
Paul
says: I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means
save some. (v. 22b) See it is not about Paul but is clearly
about furthering the cause of Christ.
Most of us spend more time thinking about ourselves, but Paul spent more
time thinking about others.
I
want to tell you about another man who was like that. Especially since Veterans Day will be celebrated across our
country this week.
Imagine
you're a 19-year-old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in
Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense,
from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the
Medi-Vac helicopters to stop coming in for the wounded.
You're
lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not
getting out. You know your family is
half way around the world and you'll never see them again. As the world starts
to fade in and out, you know this is it, this is the day, this is the last day.
Then,
over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that peculiar flutter of
helicopter blades and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn't seem
real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is
coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so
it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, down
into the valley, down into your death valley, even after the Medi-Vacs were
ordered not to come.
He's coming
anyway. He drops it in and sits there in the machine gun
crossfire as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.
Then he flies
you up and out, out of the smoke, out of the valley, through the gunfire, to
the doctors and nurses. Your life has
just been saved.
And he keeps
coming back, 13 more times he comes back to save some more. In all he took about 30 out that day – 30
who would have never gotten out alive.
(email dated 8/3/09)
Medal
of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, June 25th,
2009, at the age of 80, in Boise, Idaho. No 24/7 news coverage for Ed, but I think he understood Paul when
he wrote I
have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some.
That
I might save some: As I read over this
text in preparation for our time together, the question struck me: Who have I saved? How many have I saved? That I might by all means, by all
means, save some. Those questions have
kind of haunted me these last couple of weeks.
Do I understand what Paul is saying?
Am I that committed to the cause of Christ? What more might I do to save some?
I
consoled myself by saying that I can only witness : God saves.
I
can only serve : God saves.
I
can offer love, but God saves. Which
theologically I think is quite accurate.
But the question of commitment remains.
I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means
save some. Really?
Lorenzo Dunford our former youth minister shared in one of his daily devotionals about a time he was out rock-climbing with a youth group. He got tired of waiting for his turn with the guides so he slipped around the outcropping of rock and began his own climb. He is young and fit and strong. The first twenty feet he was doing great.
Then
all of a sudden, there were no more places to grab. The next big rock was
flatter than a pancake. After some 15
minutes at a total stand still, Lorenzo says, “I began to panic. I couldn’t hold
on any longer, so I braced myself for the endless fall. It would soon be
over.” Right then, a rope from above hit him on the nose and he heard a
voice say, “Connect this to your harness.”
(email dated 6/18/09)
It was one of the
guides who heard a noise and thought he’d check it out. Lorenzo somehow hooked
it on without falling and then he concludes, “He saved my life.” Theologically God saves, but we can throw a
rope.
The
Natural Church Development research found that across the board Christians know
8.5 non-Christians - on average.
Are you watching; are you listening for someone in need? You know people who have unmet needs. Will you use all means that you might save
some? Remember, someone you know
needs a rope.
1st
Corinthians 9:20-22
Dermatologists
advised not to make any ______ moves.
Today
we are glimpsing a portion of Paul’s strategy
to
_____ people to Christ.
We
all develop our own lingo that works in the group
…fails
in communicating with others ___________...
…if we are trying to serve or save another it really
helps if we catch on to Paul’s ____________ here.
I
have become all things to all people, that I might by
_____ means save some. (v. 22b)
Medal
of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on
Wednesday, June
25th, 2009, at the age of ___…
Who
have I saved? How many have ___ saved?
…Christians
know _____ non-Christians - on average.
Remember,
someone you know needs a ______.
Kids
Question: Who wrote this letter to the Corinthians?