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Sermon
of 04-20-02
WHY ME LORD?
by Dr. David A. Farmer, pastor
Scripture - Matthew 25:35-40
"For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
V:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
V:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
V:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
V:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
V:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Have you ever noticed how God sometimes can cut you to a quick? Have you ever asked God something only to have His answer hurt so much that you wish you had not ask?
I personally am not a nail biter; I'm a nail cutter! I don't use nail clippers when I do my nails. No, I use a pocketknife. And because of that I often cut my nails to the quick. Ever noticed that quick's hurt for a long time? They hurt until they heal completely. At least
mine do.
Well, sometimes God's answer hurts until it is completely healed . That is what happened to me on a certain Friday morning. It was the first time I attended an ARCPG meeting. ARCPG is an acrostic for Arkansas Community Planning Group. I was asked to serve on this Arkansas State Board a few months back. I was excited and pleased to have this honor. The only problem was I didn't know what it was or they did. No one told me the full story. All I had been told was I was to help decide how to spend 1.8 million dollars toward HIV prevention. Hey - spend taxpayers money! Yea, I could do that!
When I arrived I noticed that some of the board members looked sort of funny to me. They looked, well - you know - gay. Not all mind you. But some of them, well actually most of them. It was at this time I realized; Lord, these are the people I use to call names in school. Laughed at, snickered when they walked down the hall. And here I had been asked to sit beside them; serve with them; and eat with them.
I remember saying; Lord; what have I gotten myself into? Why have You placed me here? And that's when it happened. I felt in my heart Him asking me; Why not you? Now please understand I didn't hear His voice but I did hear Him speak to me. It's called a conscience. Has He ever spoken to you that way before? Or am I the only one? I sort of doubt it. God has given us all that still small voice inside.
Ever notice that God can speak to us in such a way that we may wonder why are You telling me this? Well here I was asking Him why me and Him saying why not you? Well my answer was simple; Lord I'm not gay. Duh. Then He said; neither was I when I sat next to them. But Lord? But what David? I don't want to be here.
Then the Lord asked, David, do you remember what Matthew 22:39 says? It's hard to describe my feelings at that moment. I was very nervous. I remember I started shaking inside. Why you ask? Well it was because I did remember what Matthew 22:39 says, do you? It says;
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Gee thanks Lord for remembering me Lord.
I thought; OK Lord, You said in Isaiah 1:18; "Come now, and let us reason together..."
So lets talk about this. I started reminding the Lord of several other verses He gave us in His Word.
Leviticus 18:22; "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
Romans 1:26-27: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
V:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."
Then I felt the Lord reminding me of Luke 19:10: "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Now I know what Acts 2:37 meant when it says
"they were pricked in their heart..."
The Lord was doing some mighty strong pricking in my life that day. Do you know what pricking means? Piercing or puncturing. And boy was my heart being pierced.
During those hours there I found myself snickering under my breath at some of the question and answers that was asked. I even learned some new expressions that day. A former Catholic priest that left his call and opened a gay bar with his partner asked if there were any MSM there? Not understanding I leaned over to the pastor that had asked me to be on the board and asked him what MSM stood for. He whispered in my ear "Men having sex with men." Ok.
Then the man next to me said he was a representative. I thought; now David don't act shocked. Don't move your chair. Just act normal. Then another question was asked; Are there any SSP personnel here? I was sort of afraid to ask but I again turned to the pastor next me and he again whispered, "Same sex partners."
I was learning a new terminology. A completely new language, expressions, and vocabulary. A new lingo that I wasn't sure I wanted to learn.
Now folks, after a while I realized these are people that have a goal; stop the spreads of HIV. As you know HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. And people with AIDS are people that Christ die to save too. That's what the Bible says.
Today, I still ask; Lord, why me? Why did you die to save a sinner like me? And I still hear His voice asking me, why not you? Have you ever noticed that "why" is a huge three-letter word? I mean folks, why the cross? Why a bitter cup? Why three nails? Why Gethsemane? Why did Jesus have to be whipped, beaten, and bruised?
For the next few weeks I want us to look at why Christ had to go through the events of the cross. Why did He have to die for you and me? And I hope and pray that I can help each of us understand that knowing "why" is something we need to comprehend.
Listen to Ephesians 1:4-7 from the NIV; "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love V:5
he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will V:6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. V:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace
Friends, the plan of salvation was laid before the creation of the world. Before mankind was even created God set a plan to save those who would obey Him. So
"when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" Galatians 4:4-5.
Lets travel back the week of the cross. Lets look at some of the events and see if we can determine "why" He gave so much for every person that has ever lived. Even people that we don't approve or agree with their lifestyle. I would like to start with what I consider the most puzzling part of the crucifixion - the Crown of Thorns.
Listen to Job 36:26; "Behold, God is great, and we know Him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out."
In other words, there has never been a moment when God wasn't God! Our Heavenly Father and Jesus are eternal. God and His Son, Jesus, are not bound by time as we are. Please do not ask me to explain that because I can't. We will just have to wait until we get there and ask Him how that is.
Our little pea brain cannot comprehend eternal - everlasting - endless - timeless and ageless. But the Bible promises in Romans 6:23;
"...the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Although we cannot understand forever, the Bible promises that we will live eternally with the Lord. Aren't you thankful for that promise? I know I sure am!
Even though Jesus was not bound by time as we are, that all changed when He was born. Think about it for a moment. One second Jesus was a boundless God; the next second He is a flesh and bone human. One moment He had countless Angles around His throne; the next minute He has an earthly mother and father around His manger. He was restricted to the life of a creature that He created. For just a little over three decades His once limitless swiftness reach is limited to the pace of a human being. In an instant Jesus subject to pain, tired eyelids, worn muscles, and grief.
When it rained, His bones chilled just like yours and mine. When He walked He got tired. He got hungry and thirsty like you and me. When someone died, He cried. Yes, He was as human as you and me. Yet, He was also God at the same time.
He could turn water into wine any time He wanted too. He could have flown to any city instead of walking. But no, He worked and walk like any human has to. Why? Because He was human.
When He was at the cross, He could have called ten thousands Angels to His rescue. He could wave His hand and the spit of others would have boomeranged right back into their face. He could have raised His eyebrow and paralyzed the soldiers when they pounded the nails in His hands. But at the same time He couldn't either. Why? Because He wanted us to know that He knows what it is like to walk in our shoes. He has felt our pain, grief, and sorrow. And on that Friday, it started with a crown of thorns.
Some unnamed soldier took some thorny branches and wove them into a crown of mockery. Throughout Scripture, thorns symbolize the consequence of sin.
Look at Genesis 3:17-19: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life;
V:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; V:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return."
Even Jesus compared the lives of evil people to a thornbush. Listen to Matthew 7:15-17 NIV;
''Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit."
The fruit of sin is thorns. And Jesus wore and bore the results of sin for us on the cross. Ever wonder why He did it? The answer is simple; He loves you and me! He gave up a crown of heaven to wear a crown of thorns for us.
The Father and Jesus could not bear the thought of spending eternity without us. I wish I understood that sort of love. All I know is that the Healer of the world knows our hurt.
Never forget that He voluntarily became one of us. He placed Himself in our world. He walked in our shoes. He experienced our greatest fears. Rejection, you bet He knows what that feels like. Temptation, He felt it greater than any human that has ever lived. Loneliness, He endured it. Deserted, remember Jesus had almost the entire world desert Him. Stress, let me tell you, Jesus could write a best seller. Death, never forget that Jesus tasted death for every lost soul. Again you might ask why would He do all this for us? So He would know how we feel when we are stress out, hurting or suffering from the anguish of having to live in a sinful world. Jesus wanted us to know that when we hurt He hurts too.
To conclude this morning please allow me to give one more example. An example probably most of you have heard. But I think it will help us all understand better that Jesus does know how we feel when we hurt.
There once was a small boy that was walking down a dirt road when he saw a sign at a farmer's home that read; "Puppies for sale". He stopped to look at the puppies. There were many different sizes and colors. When the Boy picked out the one he wanted he asked the farmer if he could pay him .50 a week until he had the puppy paid for. But when the Farmer saw the small puppy he had chosen he said; "Son you don't want that puppy. Look he has a crippled leg. He'll never be able to run and play. He won't be able to fetch a stick. Why don't you get one of the healthy puppies? " To this the young boy replied; "But Mr. you don't understand. This puppy will need someone that understands him. Someone that will help him with his food and water." About this time the small boy lifts up his pants leg up to expose a brace around his crippled leg. "Mr." the young boy said. "I'll understand. I know how he feels."
And friends, Jesus understands and knows how we feel! He's worn the brace of our crippled, broken down world. He's walked in our shoes many times. And that is why He wore that crown of thorns. He wanted you and me to know that the next time we struggle with something, He listens. Whenever we yearn, He responds. When we question, He hears. When our world appears that it has come to an end, believe me my friend, Jesus knows how we feel!
You and I are so precious to Him He became human and wore a crown of thorns so He could feel our pain. That's how much He loves you and me. And He would do it again if we needed Him too. So if you ever wonder why He die to save a sinner like you? Listen closely because you will hear Him say; Why not you?
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