Rev. David Holwick Z Hot Potatoes, #4
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
August 10, 2014
Isaiah 30:27-29
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I. How can you top the Peach Festival?
A. I was going to originally preach on divorce this week.
1) It was the continuation of my "Hot Potatoes" series.
a) But I wondered if that was most appropriate following
our lively festival.
b) On Friday night the Blewetts told me it was appropriate
because all the festival work had destroyed their
marriage [fortunately they were somewhat joking].
2) Even if it is appropriate, I have decided to follow the
Lord's leading and take a different tack today.
B. Festivals have quite a heritage with us.
1) Gala Day with its booths and races and parade started
around 100 years ago.
a) Back then they had marching bands and floats and events
on multiple days; the whole town took part.
b) They invested a lot in it - the church actually left
the frames of the outdoor structures up all year.
2) During Gala Day, Model-Ts lined up on every street,
much like yesterday.
II. Why go to all the trouble?
A. Decent festivals are an awful lot of work.
1) Just ask Trinka Sullivan.
2) At least twice in our history we have shut down the
festival because people were burned out.
3) Festivals need a focus.
B. There are practical reasons to have them.
1) We used these festivals to pay off this church's huge
mortgage - $14,000 - and that of the parsonage.
a) Yesterday's $7,000+ profit will go to pay off the
Fellowship Center.
b) If we relied only on the Peach Festival, it would take
us 200 years to do it.
c) (St. Therese brings in 20 times as much at their
festival but it has a whole different flavor than
ours - we are much more homey.)
2) But money has never been the only motive.
a) We enjoy bringing the community together.
b) It can be a wonderful way to reach people who would
never set foot inside a church's doors.
III. God must like festivals.
A. Three of them were mandated in the Old Testament. Exod 23:14
1) Passover, also called the feast of Unleavened Bread, when
they celebrated their deliverance from Egypt.
2) Pentecost, also called the feast of Weeks, when they
celebrated the early barley harvest.
3) Tabernacles, when they celebrated the main harvest.
4) They also had festivals for other occasions like New Moons.
B. The early Christians put a new twist on these.
1) Passover was transformed by Easter.
a) We aren't just delivered from Pharaoh, but from sin
and death.
b) Every communion service is actually a form of a
Passover meal.
2) Pentecost became the harvest of souls into the church.
3) Later Christians developed Christmas into a major festival.
IV. What festivals have always been about.
A. Food.
1) Food has always had a central place.
a) Sometimes the focus was on the rich food you got to
eat, compared to the drab diet the rest of the time.
1> The feast when the Messiah returned was supposed
to be especially delicious.
2> It would never run out and everything was free.
3> (No $9.00 for pulled pork and corn on the cob.)
b) At other times, like Passover, more emphasis was put
on abstaining from foods like yeast.
1> They also ate bitter food to make a spiritual point.
2> Food always meant something at biblical festivals.
2) Food can get out of hand.
a) Some of the Old Testament priests hoarded the food
so the worshippers had to do without.
b) Even in the New Testament, Paul mentions gluttony
and drunkenness at their love feasts. 1 Cor 11:21
1> These were special meals they had before communion.
2> It set a pretty bad example and Paul had to shame
them to make some changes.
3> I am glad to report I saw no drunkenness or food
fights at the Peach Festival.
B. Fun.
1) Not so much fun and games, but enjoyment of God's blessings.
2) The Bible mentions the singing and good feelings that
accompanied their festivals.
a) When King David was depressed, he would remember the
joy of the festivals and it perked him up.
b) He wrote in Psalm 42:4-5:
"These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I
used to go with the multitude, leading the procession
to the house of God, with shouts of joy and
thanksgiving among the festive throng.
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed
within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my
Savior and my God."
3) It is not a sin to enjoy life, or even church.
a) Exuberance is appropriate because of what God promises
us.
C. Fellowship.
1) The very nature of a festival requires lots of people.
a) They energize one another, just like David's fond
recollection in Psalm 42.
b) Some of the best effects of the Peach Festival happen
before a single neighbor shows up.
1> On the setup days I saw kids running around,
husbands working with wives, and everyone just
cooperating in general.
2> It is wonderful to see people working side by side
and getting along (most of the time).
2) Getting a group of people together is not enough.
a) They need to have the right focus.
b) Paul - our fellowship is with God, and you. 1 John 1:3
c) Isaiah 30:27-29 makes the same point.
1> Its description of God is rather fearsome - he
burns with anger and wrath.
2> This is because Isaiah is talking about God coming
to destroy Israel's enemies.
A> They will find God is not to be trifled with.
3> How will the Jews themselves respond?
A> They will sing their hearts out.
B> They will have musical instruments, just like
the early worship service band.
C> They are going up to see God, their Rock.
1: Is he your Rock?
V. Festivals should celebrate the "us" instead of the "me."
A. An interesting article in Charisma magazine. #35969
1) Joseph Mattera argues we have confused the American Dream
with God's way.
2) Many of the things we associate with biblical Christianity
is really just a celebration of our particular culture.
B. Some specific areas where we have gone astray.
1) Individualism.
a) Americans focus on individual salvation and destiny.
1> The most important thing is for me to accept Jesus
and go to heaven when I die.
b) The Bible focuses on God's people as a whole.
1> Paul emphasizes we are the organic body of Christ.
2> We need each other, just like a head needs hands
and feet.
A> No one can do it all.
c) The idea of community is very important in the Bible.
1> They were concerned about everyone's salvation.
2> And when you got saved, you became part of a dynamic
group.
2) Comfort.
a) American Christianity uses faith to attain stability
and comfort.
b) The Bible encourages believers to risk life and limb
to advance the Kingdom.
Two American Christian medical workers went to
Africa to help victims of the Ebola disease.
They ended up getting the disease themselves and
were flown back here at great expense.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter wrote a column
arguing they never should have gone there.
America has enough problems of its own.
A Jewish commentator said what they did was beautiful
and biblical.
The Bible teaches that God loves the whole world
and he wants the whole world to love him.
It is worth the risk to try to reach them all. [1]
3) Reason.
a) The American apologetic focuses on human reason.
b) The Bible's apologetic focuses on the power of God
and our experience of him.
4) Entertainment.
a) American churches promote a culture of entertainment.
1> Worship needs outstanding music and energetic
sermons that keep us awake.
2> And of course we don't want the Peach Festival to
be boring, so we have putt-putt and dart guns.
b) The Bible promotes the pursuit of God.
1> There's nothing wrong with having some fun, but
there are some more serious matters in life.
2> It's not just about us being happy.
A> It should be about us honoring God.
B> Some of you really do. Others are just giving
him lip-service.
VI. What do you have that's worth celebrating?
A. We have a God who can save us and give us a purpose. [expand]
B. We have a church we can share our life with.
Years ago, the famous preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick received
a letter from a young mother.
She wrote about what happened when she moved into a new
subdivision in the suburbs:
"We tried everything we could think of to make this place
something other than a real-estate development.
We tried organized recreation, community picnics, and
square dancing.
We formed a women's club and held bridge parties, and
started a garden club.
We had a parents' organization and evening discussion groups.
We tried everything.
But it was not until the church came that we changed from
a subdivision into a community and became real neighbors
to one another."
#26869
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] Ann Coulter’s article is “Ebola Doc's Condition Downgraded To
'Idiotic',” August 6, 2014, <http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2014-08-06.html>
Among the best responses: Dr. Albert Mohler, “Are Christian
Missionaries Narcissistic Idiots? — A Response to Ann Coulter,”
August 7, 2014, <http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/08/07/are-christian-missionaries-narcissistic-idiots-a-response-to-ann-coulter/>;
also Nicholas Kristof, “Fighting Ebola for Us All,” The New York Times,
August 6, 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/opinion/nicholas-kristof-fighting-ebola-for-us-all.html>
#26869 “It Wasn't Until the Church Came,” James W. Moore, Rev. Brett
Blair's Illustrations by Email, www.sermonillustrations.com,
February 22, 2004. Original source is James W. Moore’s book,
“You Can Get Bitter or Better” [out of print].
#35969 “13 Contrasts Between American and Biblical Christianity,”
Joseph Mattera, Charisma magazine, August 8, 2014,
<http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/44947-13-contrasts-between-american-and-biblical-christianity>>
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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