August 2014 – Page 2 – jeffersonvann

living ready

This post contains the manuscript I was attempting to follow yesterday as I preached at Relevant Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Matthew 25:1-13

¹ “At that time the kingdom from the sky will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were thoughtless, and five were intelligent. ³ Because when the thoughtless took their lamps, they took no oil for them, ⁴ but the intelligent took flasks of oil for their lamps. ⁵ Since the bridegroom was overdue, they all became sleepy and dozed off. ⁶ But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the thoughtless said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the intelligent answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go instead to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Honestly I am telling you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ So keep alert, because you know neither the day nor the hour.”

The elders here at Relevant Church have been sharing a series of sermons based on the story parables taught by Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.

FIRST, I WANT TO EXPLAIN WHY JESUS USED PARABLES LIKE THIS.

THEN, I WANT TO SUMMARIZE WHAT JESUS HAD ALREADY TAUGHT ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING.

THEN, I WANT TO SHOW HOW THIS PARABLE EXPLAINED WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE READY.

FINALLY, I WANT TO GIVE SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR LIVING READY TODAY.

WHY JESUS USED PARABLES LIKE THIS.

· Parables are not a topic themselves. They were used to illustrate and explain something that had already been taught. John mentioned this when he introduced the series a few weeks ago.

· The word parable means something placed alongside to explain. It is based on the combination of the Greek verb ballō, which means to place or through something, and the preposition para, which means alongside.

· When I was in Africa, I used a photo of my family as a parable. I showed my students the photo, and then shared how the quality of my family has served to testify of the authenticity of my ministry. Some of the men said that their wives and families were actually opposed to their ministry, so we all surrounded them and prayed that God would change that.

WHAT JESUS HAD ALREADY TAUGHT ABOUT HIS SECOND COMING.

· He had taught that his coming would bring judgment on some, rescue for others. He said “The harvest is the conclusion of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned up with fire, so will it be at the conclusion of the age. … The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous.” (Matthew 13:39-40, 49). This judgment is real, and we don’t do anyone a favor if we fail to warn them. But the good news is that the rescue we look forward to is real too.

· He had commanded his disciples to be ready for his coming. He commanded them (and us) to “stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But be aware of this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:42-44).

· He had answered his disciples’ three questions in detail about the timing of his coming (Matthew 24:3).

o They asked when the Jerusalem temple would be destroyed. Jesus had told them that the temple would be destroyed, and that not one stone would be left upon another. The disciples could not imagine that happening. They asked him when these things would happen. He told them exactly when. He said they would happen within one generation. This could mean within the lifetimes of those who were listening to him, or it could be more specific – a 40 year period. Jesus predicted that in AD 30, and the Roman attack under General Titus began in 66 AD, and the temple was destroyed in 70 AD: exactly 40 years from Jesus’ prediction. Prophecy fulfilled.

o They asked what his second coming would be like. They asked him what the sign of his coming would be. He didn’t avoid that question either. He told them his coming would not be gradual, or symbolic. It would be sudden and unmistakable. It would be like lightning flashing across the sky. Nobody misses lightning. He also used buzzards as an illustration. I was riding my bike on the Colonial Parkway this week, and I noticed a group of about seven buzzards in the woods just on the side of the road. I didn’t see a dead animal, but I knew it was there. The buzzards were visible signs. Sun darkened, stars shaking, Christ appearing in the sky, some people taken, others left – it will be obvious. He said it would be like Noah’s flood. Nobody is going to sleep through that.

o They also asked how long the age would last between his first and second comings. Jesus did not give them a specific answer to that question. Instead, he explained that there would be a lot of signs to show people that they are still in that age between the advents. He called these the birth pangs. Birth pangs are signs that the baby is on his way, but they can last a long time. That was the point. Here is a list of birth pang signs taken from Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21:

False messiahs.
Wars, revolutions, and international strife.
Famines, earthquakes, pestilences.
Fearful events, great signs from heaven.
Apostasy and schism.
Persecution, false prophets.
Martyrdom.
Increased wickedness, Love growing cold, family betrayal.
Gospel preached to all nations.

Not one of these is a sign of the immediate end of the age. Instead all the signs show that we are still living in that age. Jesus wanted his disciples – and we are also living in that age – to live ready for its end.

HOW THIS PARABLE EXPLAINED WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE READY.

· Not everyone is as ready as she thinks she is (2). All of the young ladies thought that they were ready for the big party, but only some of them were. For parties, that does not really matter. But for the second coming, it matters. We cannot afford to be unprepared for that.

· The real difference is not the oil, but the relationship (12). Some people get hung up on the symbol. I’ve been taught all my life that the oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and it was. But in this parable, the oil stands for the preparation itself. When the bridegroom explain why he was denying them entrance, he didn’t blame it on their lack of oil. He said he didn’t know them. The question we should be asking is not what we can bring to the party. The question is will the host recognize us?

· The thoughtless had lamps, but they started going out (8). Some people are trusting in their ministries to get them into the party. Jesus had told his disciples that they are the light of the world. The lamps seem to speak to that reality. But sharing God’s glory by influencing the world around us is not our qualification. Nobody does enough for their works to count toward their eternal destiny.

· Those who were ready went in, and the door was shut (10). This tells me that the grace that the LORD offers us today to come to him is a limited time offer. If we fail to respond to his invitation today, we will not get a second chance on the coming day.

· The Christian life is a marathon, not a short sprint (5). We all know people who make great starts in their attempts to live the Christian life, but then get sidetracked by some failure. The intelligent virgins in Jesus’ story were ready to wait for as long as it took. They did not have a plan B. The thoughtless virgins were OK with waiting for a while, but if the party were delayed too long, they would think of other options. Like Sarah, in the Old Testament, when the promised baby did not come, she introduced her maid, Hagar, into the picture. Bad choice. We need to stick with plan A, no matter how long it takes.

SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR LIVING READY TODAY.

· Invest yourself in the coming kingdom . Jesus gave another parable – that of the talents — to encourage us to invest ourselves in the kingdom that will appear when the king does.

o We invest in the kingdom by getting into the word of God, which describes it.

o We invest in the kingdom by fellowshipping with the King.

o We invest in the kingdom by fellowshipping with other kingdom citizens.

· Serve Christ by serving others. Both the parable of the talents, and that of the sheep & goats encourage us to serve others and meet other people’s needs. That is one way to prepare for eternity. The light shining from our lamps is light that helps other to see the God we belong to.

· Resist shortcuts to righteousness. The intelligent virgins were willing to pay the full price of admission. They knew that they would only have one chance of joining the party, so they invested in the extra oil that they would need in order to be ready when the bridegroom made his appearance.

· Eliminate distractions. Jesus had taught in the parable of the soils that some people would make a good start in the kingdom, but then would be sidetracked by other desires and worries. The intelligent virgins stayed on target.

· Be real. The parable of the sheep & goats shows us that not everyone who looks and sounds like an authentic Christian is really an authentic Christian. In fact, there was a long period of time when all ten virgins appeared to be ready for the party.

Sometimes the words of Jesus are designed to comfort the troubled, and sometimes they are designed to trouble the comfortable. I hope you have been troubled this morning; I know I have. I’ve asked some of our church leaders to come forward and be available to you if you feel like this message has challenged you in your Christian walk. Let’s take advantage of this time to recommit ourselves to living ready for our Lord’s return.

LORD, we are in this for as long as it takes. We commit ourselves to living ready today and every day until you burst through the clouds. Show us how to make ourselves ready for your coming kingdom.

Jefferson Vann

Africa journal entry #6

awkward situations

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014

Another full day of teaching. What struck me was how well thought out the questions these servants of God asked. They were all practical and essential questions. I really appreciated that.

I’m starting to feel much better physically, but I am still not sleeping well at night, and getting very tired in the early evening. I really enjoy Bryce’s company, and am ashamed to leave so early every night to go to my room to sleep.

I finally got to use the internet today. It’s amazing how worried I get when I cannot read emails or check my social networks for a few days. I am such a creature of habit. Another thing that was just bizarre for me was trying to negotiate the French keyboard at the internet café. I had 30 minutes to be online, but I spent most of that time hunting for keys and making mistakes entering passwords.

I didn’t get a chance to read all my emails, but I figured most of them would wait until I got back to “civilization” i.e., – better internet access. It is good to be put in awkward situations once in a while. It keeps one humble.

Thursday, July 31st, 2014 am

This morning, before we went to the church for the training sessions, we visited several banks trying to draw money from an ATM. Alas, no luck again. Bryce figured that the person he had called the night before had unlocked his account for the wrong country (there are two Congos).Money problems like this are a consistent problem for short term missions. If you bring cash, it can be stolen, but the ATMS are unreliable, and many banks no longer process the funds by any other way.

On the way through the city, another awkward situation occurred. Our taxi was stopped by three policemen. They took the driver’s license and registration, searched his vehicle until they found a violation. He did not have a fire extinguisher in his trunk. They would not give him his documents back, and threatened to take him to jail, until he ultimately paid them the “fine.” Ten dollars US. Apparently this kind of thing is common here. LORD Jesus, please come back and bring justice to your land.

Africa journal entry #5

experience overload

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 pm

We broke for lunch after teaching all morning, and Bryce and I ate rice, eggs, and fish in the big tent. I was feeling much better than the day before, so I really enjoyed that meal.

Most everybody else also had this large potato-like thing. I don’t remember what it was called. They also had fish. everyone ate together and fellowshipped for a while.

We came back together for another session at around 2pm. I taught for another couple of hours – this time on the ministry of serving and leading. We had another Q&A session after that, with a lot more men asking good questions.

Apparently the taxi we had taken to get to the church site was not available to bring us back, Bryce and I started walking – maybe a mile or two – down a dusty “road” alongside a railroad track.

Then we caught a “bus” which was actually an old van. The buses did not look like Filipino Jeepneys, but they certainly “acted” like Jeepneys. We waited for the bus to fill up, and were treated to a fight between two of the drivers/conductors in the buses just before ours on the road. This served as our entertainment for the day. It was actually quite embarrassing to watch that display of too much testosterone and too little maturity.

The bus drove us further down the incredibly uneven road until we finally reached a paved section. There, we got out of the bus and into another car, hired to take us back to the hotel. As you can see from the photo, the car had right hand drive, but we drove on the right side of the road! That kind of messed me up inside my brain, but it didn’t bother the driver.

We arrived exhausted, and just in time to catch the final meal. It was too late to go to the nearby internet café – again – so, no contact with the outside world for another day. I stopped at Bryce’s room, and we talked for a bit, but I had already been starting to nod off on the ride home, so I left early and went to bed. It was an exhausting day of experience overload, but it was well worth it.

Africa journal entry #4

did I mention…?

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 am

Bryce Whiting was a really big hit with the kids. He was everyone’s grandpa. In Mozambique the week before, Bryce had been teaching the men, and the North Carolina teaching team were teaching the women. This week, Bryce would teach the women and I would teach the men. Bryce has a special gift of compassion, and I got the impression that the group he taught really appreciated his time with them. He spoke French, which most of his listeners understood, but some needed the help of others who volunteered interpretations as needed.

I had a healthy mix of younger and older men – most of whom were already in ministry. Aside from the core group of nine trainers that we had met the night before, there were perhaps twenty or so others. They had come from a long distance, and I felt challenged to share some significant things with them. I did not want to waste this time.

The morning session I spent teaching a condensed version of the content of my book, The Commands of Christ. It was basically a summary of what Jesus had commanded his disciples to be like, derived from his commands in the Gospels.

I had a very capable interpreter named Joshua. He knows four languages: his tribal language, Kiswahili, French, and English. He must have had a good theological education as well, considering the relative ease with which he expressed some of the concepts I was trying to teach.

After each session, we had a question and answer session, and these could last quite long as well. These men were hungry and thirsty for the word of God. They asked practical questions – the kind that one gets after spending years in the ministry and struggling with difficult issues. I love this kind of intensive study, and it was clear that these servants of our LORD did too.

It was a challenge answering the questions, because I like everything to be thought out well and scripted when I teach. But the Holy Spirit provided a special grace for me, enabling me to say what these men needed to hear. As the week would go on, these men’s notebooks would get filled with content from the lessons and Q&A sessions. They were soaking up the content, and I had no doubt that most of them would be teaching these things themselves in their home communities. Did I mention that I really love this?

Africa journal entry #3

the tent and its music

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 am

The sanctuary of El Shaddai church, where we met, turned out to be a large tent-like structure in a wide-open land. It was dusty and windy, and scattered about were several small red brick huts. On the church’s property, there are piles of those same red bricks – 15,000 of them says pastor Bertin Mwanya. Those bricks will be used to construct a more permanent church building, as soon as the church body is able to do so. They hope to get that construction done before the rainy season in October.

Until then, the sanctuary is a sparse wooden frame covered with various different types and colors of materials. Inside, some of the red bricks have been piled in place, where they serve as makeshift pews.

There are several musical instruments present, and all are them are percussion instruments. There are drums made from hollowed out tree trunks. There is also a steel drum of sorts, consisting of the tire rim of an automobile, and played with drumsticks which are two steel wrenches! That drum can produce a lot of sound.

The songs sung to this accompaniment are wonderful songs. I obviously did not understand any of the word (my Kiswahili being somewhat rusty) but it was not hard to hear the hearts of the singers. I was struck by intensity of the lyrics, and that impression was even more accentuated by the looks on the faces of the worshippers. Only the song leader had a song book – a thin paperback containing only words. My first impression was that there did not seem to be much difference in the tunes, but I learned later that much of the differences had to do not with the notes produced, but their speed, rhythm and loudness. The singing is not all unison; additional phrases are added by singers from various places in the sanctuary. Rather than causing confusion, that adds to to spontaneous nature of the worship. I wish we could all sing like Africans!