Rev. David Holwick T First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey June 1, 1997 1 Peter 2:11-12,15 SHUT THEIR MOUTHS ================= I. It's never easy. 2:11 A. Alien status. 1) Christians should always feel a little out of place. 2) People should notice that we are different. Sometimes we wish they wouldn't. Becky Brodin is a nurse and works in a Cardiac Unit on the midnight shift. This night she only had 2 patients and both were sleeping. She settled in to stare at the monotonous blips on the monitors. The other nurse on duty that night interrupted Becky's day-dreaming. "Can I talk to you about something?" Her tone of voice snapped Becky to attention. "Sure, what is it?" She cleared her throat and began. "I've noticed you bring your Bible to work every day, and I know you are a Christian, but..." She paused - "As a nurse you are dispensable. You have a lot of potential, but the discrepancy between what you could be and what you are is disappointing. Let me give you some advice whether you want it or not. If I were you I'd become indispensable. Maybe then someone will listen to your religion." Becky was shocked, but not offended - she knew the nurse was right. Becky had learned what she needed to do in order to get by, but hadn't progressed any further. She was eager to share her faith, but had become blind to the laziness that clouded any chance to witness effectively. #1566 B. Abstain from sinful desires. 1) Peter begins by stressing negative - our private conflict. 2) Morality should be the clearest sign setting us apart. 3) Morality requires effort. -2- C. War of the soul. 1) Soul seen as "higher" spiritual self? 2) Romans 7 and inner struggle of spiritual people. Rom 7:23 a) Sinful desires (KJV - Flesh) is not just sexual. Gal 5 3) We may be aliens, but we don't let alien desires control us. II. Surrounded by critics. 2:12 A. Early Christians lived in a hostile environment. 1) We often feel same way. (We are considered dangerous) 2) How do we respond? Take offensive! a) Negative and private, gives way to public and positive. B. The way we live is as important as what we say. On October 14, 1994, Southern Baptist missionary Stanley Stamps was driving down a road in Honduras. His headlights picked up the vague form of a man walking along the highway's center stripe. He hit the brakes but the man staggered into his lane. He was so close the missionary couldn't avoid him. The car's windshield splintered as the victim struck it. The car screeched to a halt, the motor dead. The old man's body was sprawled in the middle of the highway. Stunned, Stanley got out of his car. The man was dead. The car was badly dented and the windshield heaved in. The last two passing vehicles had ignored his appeals for help. It was late and the highway was abandoned. What was he to do? Many in Honduras would have driven on, and the newspapers would have reported yet another hit-and-run death. In the daylight, a driver might be killed by infuriated family or neighbors - especially if the driver was a foreigner. It was considered a family's obligation to get retribution. If he turned himself in, what would the authorities do? Stanley fought the urge to run. Suddenly, he felt calm. He knew the Lord was beside him, and he knew he had to report the accident. -3- After pulling the body to the side of the road, he drove to the police station. The officer on duty was reading a Bible. Stanley explained what had happened, and the officer investigated. The victim, a 65-year-old widower, was a peasant who had been seen earlier staggering - apparently drunk - down the middle of the road. Stanley was put in a cell and slept on a wooden plank bench. He did not sleep too well. In the morning a procession of church groups and fellow missionaries came to visit him. A local pastor Stanley was training offered to act as his lawyer. The local electrician, who was a friend of Stanley's but not a believer, helped the family buy a casket and paid for the man's burial. What impressed the visitors the most was that Stanley had turned himself in to the police. Every one of them knew most people would have driven away from the accident. The fact he had done the right thing said more to them than any number of sermons or lessons could have. #3513 III. How to live an impressive life. #1566 A. Be wholehearted at work. B. Be clean in your speech and positive in your attitude. 1) People notice your words. 2) Nobody respects a back-biter. C. Be a servant to everyone, not just friends. 1) Rise above "loving your own." D. Admit your sinfulness. 1) Accused of doing wrong = "criminal." a) "48 Hours" - black preacher lived a ten year lie. (murder) 1> Victim's wife: "If he was a real preacher, wouldn't he confess his crime?" b) Accusations against early Christians: cannibalism; incest. -4- 2) People may question our motives. a) Ask if it is justified. b) We are not perfect, but we can be honest. IV. Making an eternal impression. 2:15 A. Our integrity should draw attention to God, not us. 1) "Glorify God" suggests they themselves become Christians. 2) We should always try to make a SPIRITUAL impact. B. Preach your life. Laying his hand on the shoulder of a young monk one day, St. Francis of Assisi said, "Brother, let us go down to the town and preach." So they went out together. They talked with each other as they went along the road. They walked down main streets, round the lowly alleys and lanes, and on to the edge of the village beyond. Finally they turned back, and entered the monastery again. In surprise, the young monk asked, "Father, when are we going to begin preaching?" St. Francis looked kindly upon the young man and said: "My child, we have been preaching; we were preaching while we were walking. We have been seen - looked at; our behavior has been noticed; and so we have delivered a morning's sermon. It is of no use that we walk anywhere to preach unless we preach as we walk. #4091 C. Where do you need to shape up? ============================================================ TEXT 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. ========================= CATEGORY: Values, Culture, Politics, Influence, Corruption, Ethics, Compromise Materialism, Power ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TEXT: Isa 5:8, Jer 5:14, Jer 20:9, Jer 22:13F, Mark 6:19-34, Mark 10, Acts 4:19, Gal 1:10, Eph 4:15, 1 Tim 6:6f, 1 Pet 2:17, Rev 17:14 Number: 3061 Hard copy: SOURCE: Discipleship Journal, #86 TITLE: "Getting Out Of The World Alive" AUTHOR: Tony Campolo PAGE: 44 DATE: 3/1/95 Typist: ENTERED: 2/28/95 DATE_USED: ILLUSTRATION__________________________________________________________________ : The cultural values we accept, not the ones we fight against, are the ones that will destroy the church. Before we "clean up" America there are areas Christians have to consider in their own lives. Three areas that need to be evaluated: 1. Materialism vs. concern for poor and oppressed. 2. Political power vs. speaking the truth in love. 3. People-pleasing ministries vs. prophetic witness. We often bring our class values into the church and call them Biblical values. Christians have to get back to reading the Bible "straight" without dilution from society's values. It almost requires a mysticism, but it has to be grounded in the historical stands of the Church. It takes hard work to maintain the counter-cultural perspective that is essential for Christian living. #3061 CATEGORY: Good Deeds, Charity, Help Others, Jimmy Carter, Habitat For Humanity ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TEXT: Matt 5:16*, 2 Th 2:17, 1 Tim 2:10, 1 Tim 5:10,25, 1 Tim 6:17-19*, Heb 10:24, 1 Pet 2:12 Number: 2224 Hard copy: SOURCE: Dynamic Preaching Disk, Spring 1992 "A" TITLE: He Is Who He Says He Is AUTHOR: PAGE: Apr 4 92 DATE: 4/1/92 Typist: ENTERED: 9/9/92 DATE_USED: ILLUSTRATION__________________________________________________________________ : I was reading about a man who stopped his car in front of a house that Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter had helped to build for Habitat for Humanity. A little boy was standing in the front yard. He was probably five or six years old. The little lad ran out and put his hands on the side of the car, and said, "Man, you sure got a pretty car." The man in the car replied, "Well, you sure got a pretty house. Which one of these houses is yours?" The little fellow said proudly, "That one." The man in the car asked, "Young man, who built your house?" He thought the boy was going to say, "President Jimmy Carter built my house." But, instead, the lad gave a big smile, and said, "Jesus built my house." (4) The little fellow was right. I believe if Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were here this morning they would gladly testify that they do their good works because once upon a time Jesus Christ touched their lives. #2224 *