GO but STOP
Scripture: Matthew 28: 19, 20.
Hymns: 32; 224; 296
When the Olympics
are on we hear the word: “Go for the gold.”
We hear the word
in business: “Climb the corporate ladder and go for it”.
We hear the word
in the military: “Take the initiative and go, go, go!”
We hear the word
on the outdoor running track “On your mark, get set, go!”
And if we read
the final words of Jesus Christ, we also hear him say the word: “Go and make
disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19, 20.
This is the great
charter of the Christian church –“Go ye”. This includes all believers to the
end of time. Among other things, Christianity is a going enterprise. In
the Bible, Gods says it is up to his people to go, and take the initiative, not
to sit back, relax and wait. We are talking about what is sometimes referred to
as “go power.” No change in habits, customs and living standards, no council of
people or church tradition, no higher criticism of theological experts can ever
justify the slightest departure from Jesus unclouded, uncomplicated call to
“Go!”
How
do we deal with the challenge to “go” this morning?
Everyone is busy. Everywhere I go I meet busy
people. We hardly greet one another without regaling one another with stories
of how busy we are. The pace is frantic, frenetic and fast. We joke about
living life in the fast lane. My friend Ivy refers to it as “to-ing and
fro-ing”.
The
pace of life is getting faster and faster. At one “fast-food” restaurant, you
can sign up for a credit account and a little gadget that will charge your
account and save 8-10 seconds off getting your order! On our roads you will
find people willing to risk their lives to save a few seconds. Everybody is in
a hurry. Did you know that the sale of frozen orange juice is declining because
people don’t want to wait for it to thaw! A newspaper report said, “People
today are souped up, stressed out, and over-scheduled. In this world,
boundaries between work and family are disappearing. Everyone is mobile and
every moment of the day is scheduled with pre-school, school, after-school
activities, and 10-12 hour working days. The pressure cooker lifestyle is so
recent that anthropologists are studying it to see how it will affect us.”
The
effects are that:
We
feel more stress.
We
lose our joy.
We
are not as productive.
We
can’t hear God.
Do
you ever find yourself wondering if you are busier than Jesus? Now, don’t castigate me for blasphemous
presumption: how could we be busier
than the Creator of the universe? I am
not the only one who has found himself or herself overextended – busier than
Jesus.
One thing I have discovered is how easy it is to
confuse the urgent with the important.
For example, I have found that in churches time is more easily consumed
putting out fires than lighting them in the hearts of people or even in my own
heart. Unless intentionally protected,
my agenda becomes so filled with doing good that I fail to do right.
If you couple this reality with a work-ethic model
that values activity as a measure of productivity, one thing becomes
predestined: “going and doing” will
receive more emphasis than “being.”
Not
that Jesus wasn’t busy. In fact, when
my life is most crowded with crisis and urgent demands, I am just beginning to
sense what it must have been to have the people of Palestine constantly
crowding Jesus for what they knew he could give them.
So
in this life when everything has become, “Go, go, go,” and Christ adds, “Go ye
therefore”, is there something else we need to take into account in order to be
able to, “Go!”
My
answer would be just the opposite. STOP!
Jesus
is remembered not by how much he walked, but because he stopped. Great crowds often followed Him, and when He
stopped, there were traffic jams.
Observe Him on the way to Nain: “a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man
who had died was being carried out. He
was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd
from the town” (Luke 7:11- NRSV).
The funeral procession was already going out of the town to a cemetery
with the dead man carried on an open bier. Do you see the picture? A large
crowd from the town. Evidently the women’s plight touched the hearts of the
villagers, and many if not most of them accompanied her to the burial site. A large crowd following Jesus at the gate of
this little town. What a traffic jam!
Yet Jesus stops. He stops, seeing the people’s sympathy,
their sympathy was met by the sympathy of the great Life-giver. Jesus stops
the bier and commands the young man to arise. He stops because he had love and
pity. No request came from the mother’s lips as far as we know but in sympathy
for suffering humanity Jesus answered the unuttered prayer. He stops,
ignoring ritual contamination with the dead body for seven days. He touches the
bier, a signal for the pallbearers to halt.
People generally do not like to stop. Our society sees stopping as a waste of
time. Who likes to stop while
driving? Who likes traffic jams? When Sheldon was a baby in my arms, I
thought the biggest challenge facing us was to help him learn to walk. I soon learned that walking was the easy
part. The difficult challenge we faced
was teaching him how to stop. I
could yell for him to stop, but he just kept on going. The moment he saw something that interested
him, however he froze in his tracks.
God’s main interest is people, and that is precisely
what made Jesus stop everywhere He went – people in need. Follow Jesus’ tracks once more, this time on
his way to Jericho, a very important city in those days. At the gate is a beggar, blind, forgotten,
and helpless. In those days a physical
impediment meant that you were paying for your father’s sins or for your own
sins, so hardly anyone stopped to help you. (Mark 10 :46-52)
The beggar has been at that gate for so long that he
is quite familiar with the sounds in the streets. On this particular day the sounds are different. He inquires and is told that Jesus is
passing through. He has heard that name
before. A friend of sinners and
publicans. He knows that Jesus can help
him. He wastes no time, and cries
out: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy
on me!” The crowd tries to hush him up
– after all, beggars have no rights!
But he cries out even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Then it happens!
In the middle of a narrow road, surrounded by a great crowd pressing on,
“Jesus stops” (verse 40).
Have you ever explored your feelings while you were
traveling in a funeral procession to a cemetery when someone close to you had
died.. In those moments of pain and
sorrow my vision was so blurred that I could not see beyond that day. I felt so alone in my sorrow. As we drove by, I noticed restaurants
serving people laughing and enjoying conversation. Cars sped in their normal rush.
My world had stopped, but everything and everyone kept right on going as
if nothing had happened. And rightfully
so. For the rest of the world, nothing
had happened. Then, like a revelation
of hope, I remembered that Jesus stops.
At that moment I no longer felt alone.
I felt His love for me. As we
said our final goodbye, I heard Him whisper to me His promises of resurrection
and eternal life. Jesus had stopped for
me that day.
How do we stop when someone is in need when
they have lost someone they love. We often say, “If there is anything we can
do…”
IF THERE’S ANYTHING I CAN DO……
By Madge Harrah
Still in shock, I stumbled around the house trying to decide
what to put into the suitcases. Earlier
that evening I’d received a phone call from my home town telling me that my
brother and his wife, her sister and both the sister’s children had been killed
in a car accident. “come as soon as you
can,” begged my mother.
That’s what I wanted to do – to leave at once, to hurry to
my parents. But my husband Larry and I
were in the midst of packing to move.
Our house was a shambles.
While Larry phoned friends and made plane reservations for
the following morning, I looked at all the tasks that should be taken care of –
and did nothing. I couldn’t focus. Occasionally, someone would ask to speak to
me with the offer. “If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”
“Thank you, thank you very much,” I’d reply. But I didn’t know what to ask for.
The bell rang and I opened the door to see Emerson King
standing on the doorstep. “Donna had to
stay with the baby,” he said “but we want to help you. I remember when my father died, it took me
hours to get the children’s shoes cleaned and polished for the funeral. So that’s what I’ve come to do for you. Give me ALL your shoes.”
I hadn’t even thought about shoes. Now I remembered that Eric had waded through the mud with his
good shoes on the previous Sunday.
Meghan had kicked rocks with hers, scuffing the toes. I’d tossed the shoes aside, intending to
clean them later.
Emerson’s request gave me something specific to do. While he spread newspapers on the kitchen
floor, I gathered Larry’s dress shoes, his everyday shoes, my heels, my flats,
and the children’s dirty shoes. Emerson
settled himself on the floor and got to work.
Watching him concentrate on one task helped me pull my own thoughts into
order. Laundry first, I told
myself. While the washing machine chugged,
I bathed the children and put them to bed.
While I cleared the supper dishes, Emerson continued to work, saying nothing. I thought of Jesus washing the feet of His
disciples. Our Lord had knelt, serving
His friends, even as this man now knelt, serving us. The love in that act released my tears at last, healing rain to
wash the fog from my mind. I could
move. I could think. One by one, the jobs fell into place.
I went into the laundry to put a load into the tumble drier,
returning to the kitchen to find Emerson had left. Lined up against one wall were all our shoes, spotless, gleaming.
Now, whenever I hear of an acquaintance who has lost a loved
one, I no longer phone with the vague offer, “If there’s anything I can
do…..” I try to think of one specific
task that suits that person’s need – washing the car, taking the dog to the
kennels, and housesitting during the funeral.
And if the person says to me, “How did you know I needed
that done?” I reply, “It’s because a
man one cleaned my shoes.”
There are many times where Jesus stopped to make a
difference. Probably one of my favourite stories when Jesus stopped would be
the time Jesus was walking through Jericho.
There was excitement and expectation as people awaited Jesus visit.
There was a ripple through the crowd as people caught a glimpse of the
approaching group. The crowds pressed closer as they waited for him. Already he
had begun thus to retrace his steps, when the news sounded through Jericho that
Jesus was entering the town. Zacchaeus
determined to see Him. He was beginning
to realize how bitter are the fruits of sin, and how difficult the path of him
who tries to return from a course of wrong.
To be misunderstood, to be met with suspicion and distrust in the effort
to correct his errors, was hard to bear.
The chief publican longed to look upon the face of Him whose words had
brought hope to his heart.
People elbowed one another trying to catch a glimpse
of Jesus. Zacchaeus became more and more frustrated as he gradually was elbowed
further and further back. The narrow streets of the ancient city were scarcely
wider than a man’s outstretched arms. What hope did Zacchaeus have to see
Jesus. The streets were crowded, and Zacchaeus, who was small of stature, could
see nothing over the heads of the people.
None would give way for him; so, running a little in advance of the
multitude, to where a wide-branching fig tree hung over the way, the rich tax
collector climbed to a seat among the boughs, whence he could survey the
procession as it passed below. The
crowd comes near, it is going by, and Zacchaeus scans with eager eyes to
discern the one figure he longs to see.
Rather an undignified thing to do for one of the best
dressed men in the city. At last he could see. In fact he had a birds eye view.
When Jesus
reached the tree, he stopped and looked up and invited himself to
Zacchaeus home for a meal. As a result the Bible says, “Then Jesus said to him,
Today salvation has come to this house.” Luke 19:1-10
“The chief among the publicans,” Zacchaeus, was a Jew, and
detested by his country men. His rank
and wealth were the reward of a calling they abhorred, and which was regarded
as another name for injustice and extortion.
Yet the wealthy customs officer was not altogether the hardened man of
the world that he seemed. Beneath the
appearance of worldliness and pride was a heart susceptible to divine
influences. Zacchaeus had heard of
Jesus. The report of One who had borne
Himself with kindness and courtesy toward the proscribed classes had spread far
and wide. In this chief of the
publicans was awakened a longing for a better life. Only a few miles from Jericho, John the Baptist had preached at
the Jordan, and Zacchaeus had heard of the call to repentance. The instruction to the publicans, “Exact no more than that which is appointed
you” (Luke 3:13), though outwardly disregarded, had impressed his mind. He knew the Scriptures, and was convicted that
his practice was wrong. Now, hearing
the words reported to have come from the Great teacher, he felt that he was a
sinner in the sight of God. Yet what he
had heard of Jesus kindled hope in his heart.
Repentance, reformation of life, was possible, even to him; was not one
of the new Teacher’s most trust disciples a publican? Zacchaeus began at once to follow the conviction that had taken
hold upon him, and to make restitution to those whom he had wronged.
Above the clamor of priests and rabbis and the shouts
of welcome from the multitude, that unuttered desire of the chief publican
spoke to the heart of Jesus. Suddenly,
just beneath the fig tree, a group halts, the company before and behind come to
a standstill, and One looks upward whose glance seems to read the soul. Almost doubting his senses, the man in the
tree hears the words, “Zacchaeus,, make haste, and come down; for today I must
abide at thy house.
What a difference Jesus stopping and having a meal
together made. Could us having a meal
with someone make that difference too? It is amazing what friendships and ties
can be built through having a simple meal together.
Jairus, one of the leaders of the synagogue came
looking for Jesus. He was in great distress. His daughter who was ill and
dying. He implored Jesus to lay his hands on his daughter to heal her.
As the crowd pressed tighter and tighter around him
it became increasingly difficult for Jesus to make headway. Jairus’s house was
not far away. The anxious father was impatient of the delay. The DA says “but
Jesus, pitying the people, stopped now and then to relieve some suffering one,
or to comfort a troubled heart. The group then received word that Jairus’s
daughter was dead.
On the way to the ruler’s house Jesus became aware of
having been touched. Immediately the woman who touched him knew that some current
of power had flowed from Christ into her at the moment she touched his garment.
The woman had been ill for 12 years. She was healed immediately and knew it but
instead of just going on his way Jesus stopped. Jesus was conscious of what had
happened. She tried to withdraw from the crowd. Suddenly Jesus stopped and the
people stopped with him. Jesus seems not to have identified the woman
immediately giving her the opportunity to speak first. Jesus took time to tell her, “Daughter ,
your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease” Mark
5:24. The woman was to depart in “peace” of body and “peace” of soul, in the
joy of acceptance with God. When Jesus stopped she found peace and acceptance.
Look at Him for the last time when Jesus stops before
His death. It is Friday, and the
Sabbath is approaching. Jesus is once
again walking among crowds, but this time the scenario is different. He is carrying a heavy cross. Beaten and bleeding. He continues on in this painful
journey. The next and final stop is
Calvary, where Jesus stops for humanity. He is raised between two thieves. One recognizes his need for salvation; the other does not. He is beside the one who comes to Him as
well as the one who does not care.
Listen to their conversation.
Despite His being nailed to a cross, He stops in the midst of His pain
to touch them with His love. He manages
to turn their thoughts toward paradise. (Luke 23:42)
WHAT A DIFFERENCE JESUS MAKES WHEN HE STOPS!!
If you find yourself
far to busy, I encourage you to experimentally investigate your
priorities. Do a self-analysis of the
urgent and the important, the doing and the being. Check and see if you have
stopped lately. Discover for yourself that personal spirituality increases as
you focus on being about your Saviour’s business.
But the key is
simple: We must, Go! We must be men and women on the move, not waiting
to be pushed or for someone to hit us over the head to get our attention.
Ultimately we are working for the one, who instructed us to “Go!” but in our
going we must also remember to stop.
“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, “Here am I, send me” Isaiah 6:8.
Go this week but remember to stop…
Stop and show sympathy and bring healing to someone
who has experienced loss as he did to the widow of Nain .
Go this week but remember to stop…
Stop and have a meal with someone and see if they
like Zacchaeus are susceptible to the Jesus voice.
Go this week but remember to stop…
Stop and share God’s peace and acceptance as Jesus
did with the woman who was healed.
Go this week but remember to stop…
Stop
and remember the difference Christ made for our salvation on Calvary.