You Can't Be Serious I, Living Courageously

Evidence of their lives for many of them. I'm not one that subscribes to the position that I've seen some people in authority lately advocating where we just sort of put these... ...the bad memories. I think we need to keep in mind the price that was paid. Four hundred of those individuals lost their lives going into those buildings. Another twenty-four or five hundred or so perished in the buildings. And we need to remember that courage is rare. And we need to honor it when we see it. And we need not to forget the price that it costs us. I pray that you'll come this Wednesday night and that you'll just set aside an hour, an hour and fifteen minutes, whatever it is, for an all-community service. You'll invite your neighbors and friends and co-workers just to commemorate and share some hope. Eight other churches are joining together so you can feel secure and inviting someone who might be of a different denomination or different faith. Unless you're out of town, like I'm going to have to be unfortunately this week, but the service is going to be powerful. And I encourage you to come and share with the community in remembrance of that day and the people that gave their lives that day. Now let's pray and ask the Lord to open our hearts to his word. Lord, as we come to your word today, I can think of no better way to begin a message on courage than to witness that display of courage that we saw on that particular day just about one year ago. But Lord, even that pales in comparison to the courage that we see in the life of Jesus. So help us today to lay hold of that as our motivation and inspiration to live fully for you. In your name we pray. Amen. All right, I'm going to invite you to take your outline out of your North Way Notes. If you're here for the first time today, I want to extend a personal welcome to you. We're glad you're with us. It's exciting to start the new fall season together. We are really excited about the things that are going to be happening in the weeks ahead. I'm going to ask you to read along with me in the notes. The outline has the text for today. If you brought your Bible, you can turn to John 19 in the NIV. I'll be reading out of the NIV. If not, it should be right there in your hands, in your notes for this morning. The backdrop of this is Jesus has just been crucified. He'd just given up his life on the cross and many of his disciples had abandoned him. And after some time, it was evident that he had died and a man by the name of Joseph of Arimathea went to ask Pilate if he could take the body. Let's read exactly what had happened here. Read out loud with me, would you please? Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now, Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. Notice, but secretly, because he feared the Jews. I want to start with a question this morning. Is it healthy or advisable for a Christ follower to carry out his or her faith in secret? I mean, how far beneath the radar screen can one go and still justifiably call themselves a Christian? Not long ago, my good friend from way back in college days named David Hunter. Some of you may recognize the name David Hunter. David and Betsy have been missionaries full time for 18 years to the nation of Turkey. 99.5% Muslim. A very difficult nation to share the gospel. And David called here at North Way and tracked down Charlie Beck and myself and said, here's my issue. I've been basically covert, because to be outspoken about the gospel in Turkey, even though they say they allow all religions, was a clear ticket out of the country. And he said, I've been covert for 18 years. I feel like God's calling me at this time to go public with my ministry. But I'm not sure, because it may mean that my days in Turkey are over. And he was wrestling with this decision. I'm leaving out a lot of the details as to why it happened. And all we knew to do at that time was to pray with him and ask for God to give him wisdom. Because, you see, sometimes it is advisable to stay a little bit below the radar screen so that you can continue to build the kingdom as God gives you opportunity. In David's particular case, that was one such incidence. But, you know, not here. In the case with this disciple, by the name of Joseph of Arimathea, that's not why he was living in secret. Now, keep in mind, he wasn't a bad guy. In fact, the other Gospels tell us that he, if you're going to take some notes, he was a good man, he was well-liked, and he was wealthy. He was very successful at what he was doing. And the Bible tells us he was a member of the Sanhedrin, which would be the same, really incomparable in terms of influence, as being a U.S. senator. I mean, this guy was a high roller. Another way of saying it is that Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus in secret, had a lot to lose if he identified himself publicly with this radical man by the name of Jesus. He didn't want to put at risk that which he'd spent most of his life acquiring, so he made the calculated choice to keep his faith a very private affair. And so when other believers would gather in some rented facility for worship, much as we're worshiping today, he probably didn't go there, because he didn't want to be identified publicly with them. Or when the fellow business guys gathered around and talked about this Jesus, and maybe mocked him for some of the things that he claimed and so, Joseph probably didn't speak up. He didn't want to create a stir. And when he saw someone being singled out and injustice being spewed towards somebody undeserving, he didn't rise to their defense, even though Jesus clearly had commanded such things. Now Joseph chose the secret of Christian life, because he had too much to lose. He surely rationalized his behavior something like this. He probably thought, you know, if I step out right now, it might be a little bit premature, and I might be able to do a whole lot more down the road. I mean, I might be a lot more successful and give a lot more later, or I might be able to have more influence, because at some point I'm going to be in a position of higher authority. He was probably really good at rationalizing. But at the end of the day, the true motivation for his secrecy is clearly revealed in Scripture. Look at it again. But secretly, because he what? Feared. He feared the Jews. It was because of fear that he stayed in the shadows. Fear of the loss of esteem of his colleagues, fear of his loss of position in the community, and fear perhaps of losing customers in his business. And so he cowardly hung in the shadows and chose to not identify himself with Jesus, and lived with the consequences, looked in the mirror every day and realized, who I'm seeing in the mirror isn't a man who's living his life with integrity, but a man who's kind of living a double life. Who am I really? Joseph probably thought. Now, just a quick time out here, just to assure you of something. Most of you are like me. I mean, there are times I'm embarrassed by some of the things that Christians do on the other side of things. Christians who plaster their car with bumper stickers and then drive like maniacs. That's why I don't have any bumper stickers on my car, so I'll just keep that clear. People who are just abrasive, and they're in your face. I remember some years ago, I was down at the point and had to get up to the steel building and I said, well, I'll try the bus thing. It was before, I guess, the subway or something. Anyhow, I was getting on a bus, I remember that, and had my seat and other folks got on. And just before the driver closed the door, a street-looking person jumped on the bus, really scraggly, just kind of dirty looking, and had a satchel that went this way across his chest. And he held up a Bible and he screamed with all his voice, The end is near! Repent and believe in Jesus or you'll perish in hell! And then he jumped off the bus. And I sunk down and said, oh, that was effective. It's going to turn a lot of people around. Now, the weird thing was, I believed everything he said. I believed that. But the way he delivered it was just... So, I mean, I understand those kind of people. But to be really candid, lately, I'm much more concerned about the increasing number of Joseph types of Christians that I seem to be encountering. People who claim to bear the name of Jesus but seldom have ever stepped up to live the life that he called them to live. I mean, stepping up. I mean, making a difference. There are folks who just gladly show up on a Sunday and worship and have a good time and maybe even are part of a small group where it's safe to be with other folks who have like-minded faith. But when Monday comes, they quickly line back in with those folks who maybe could care less about God and his values. They're more consistent living a cool life than a Christian life. They want to be quiet. They don't want to be causing any stirs. They want to live their life in a stealth fashion. Kind of like Joseph. Even though Jesus clearly admonishes, he warns us, don't put your light under a bushel but let it shine. Look at the next verse in your Scripture. On your outline rather, Scripture. Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father. And he said, Jesus, don't you dare put that light of the gospel under a bushel. There are people living in darkness and they need to see that light. But that's not what Joseph was doing. He was going stealth. And there are an increasing number of believers doing the same thing today. And sadly I have to say I believe that there are a number of us here in our church that are living that way. I was having lunch some time ago with what I would basically describe as sort of a casual North Way member. A person who comes now and then to worship here but they wanted to get together and I made the time to do that. And I discovered in our lunch that he managed about a hundred folks. He had a pretty good job. And he was pretty successful at what he was doing. And I was trying to get a feel for the temperature of his faith. And so I asked him a question. I said, well, how many of your employees know that where you stand as a Christian in your own faith? And he thought for a few minutes and said, well, that's kind of a tough question to answer. You know, he said, it's kind of a private thing for me. I don't think it's my place to put my religion out in front of people, he said. So probably not many. Maybe none. In fact, I don't bring it up. So here's this guy. He's an influence to over a hundred people or so, but he's carefully content to keep his light under the bushel of secrecy. I challenged him a little bit. I said, do you think that the one who died for your sins did so in secret? Or was your recollection of the crucifixion such that Jesus was publicly humiliated and mocked and crucified in front of the whole world? Well, he obviously got a little uncomfortable. And I said, I'm not here to put guilt on you. I just want you to think about what it is that you're doing. See, Jesus didn't call us to play defense, friends, for 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 years and then just slip on into heaven and not cause any ripples in the pond. That's not what life's about. To the contrary, we've been commissioned by him to play offense in the most strategic way possible, to move the ball forward in the kingdom to the best of our abilities. And so when we're instructed to speak his words, we need to do so with sensitivity but with real passion. When we're called to spread his love, we need to do so to anyone and anybody that God puts in front of us. When we're called to live by his commandments, we need to do so whatever the cost. The message of hope and redemption is ours to share wherever God places us. It might be somewhere obscure and it might be in a very prominent public position. We ought to be up at night praying and thinking of ways that we can help others discover this amazing love that we spoke about. We have the ball. It's the good news. And we ought to be bold and creative and winsome in communicating this simple message that has the power to transform human lives. You know, I've discovered over the years that Christians love to claim the promises. I need the promise for healing. I need the promise for provision. I need the promise for restoration. I need the promise of God's peace. But when it comes to the commissioning verses, when it comes to the commandments, the imperatives, well, somebody else might need to take those. I'm still in a needy mode. Look what Jesus said. He commanded us to seek first his kingdom. You might want to circle the word first. I mean, it's his number one priority for you and me if we're believers. He also told us to go and make disciples of all nations. That was not an imperative to just the twelve, but to all the church. That includes you and me. More and more recently, I'm struck by the reality that we're never going to win Wexford, let alone Pittsburgh or the nation of the world with guys like the one I had lunch with a while back. Covert Christians really don't help the cause much. They probably even hurt it a little. That guy and many others need a huge wake-up call. They need to be jolted out of their indifference toward the condition of the other people around them. That's what I'm talking about here, friends. I'm talking about the fact that the world that we live in, by and large, is slipping away from God. And so we need some kind of wake-up call to move us from defense to offense, from fear to faith, from being cowardly to being a courageous Christian. Interestingly, that's what happened to Joseph of Arimathea. He had a wake-up call. He stepped out of the shadows and courageously walked into the office or the chambers of Pontius Pilate, who, by the way, remember, the Jews were slaves of the Romans. For him to do that could have easily meant he could have just been thrown in prison, maybe even lost his life. Something happened in this guy who was a secret believer. That day he went public as a follower of Jesus Christ. He burned the bridge of fear and came out of the closet and made a statement, I'll pay any price to identify with this man called Jesus. You're probably wondering, well, what was it? What happened to him? What caused this wake-up call? What did he see? I think I know. I studied this and pondered it for quite a while. What made Joseph move from being a covert to a courageous Christian, Roman numeral I? Well, let me tell you what I think it was. Joseph was there and he watched a very good man die. He witnessed the crucifixion. Watching anybody die is a difficult experience, is it not? Being a pastor, I've had cause to be at the bedside of several people as they breathed their last breath and went from this reality into the ultimate reality. And there are moments that you always remember. Perhaps some of you here, maybe some of you younger folks, you've never been at the bedside of someone who just died, but most of us have had something important. Maybe we had a dog. I remember when our golden retriever died, it was really hard. We've had cats die. It's not quite as difficult. One to go. But Joseph, Joseph was there. He was there. He had a front row seat. And what he witnessed was no laughing matter, really. What he witnessed was the Son of God willingly, and you have to remember, friends, Jesus was not under compulsion. The Bible clearly says he willingly went there. Joseph was there when the executioners pulled out their huge hammers and those huge spikes and did what they were paid to do and drove them deep into his flesh. He was there when he heard Jesus look down upon the very torturers who were inflicting his pain on him. He heard Jesus whisper the words, Father, forgive them. Do you know the courage it took to say that? Joseph was there when Jesus said to the repentant thief, Today you'll be with me in paradise, while the other thief just mocked him. If you can help yourself, help us too. He heard Jesus whisper to John to take care of his mother, while his suffering on the cross took care of our sin problem. The one who could heal the sick and calm the raging seas and call 10,000 angels down to lift him off that cross at any moment showed the courage to stay there till the very end. He laid aside his divinity at that moment or the power of his divinity to voluntarily atone for the sins of others. Joseph saw the whole graphic awful thing and I think it was the courage that he saw in Jesus Christ through his final hours because he'd seen Jesus along the way but it was those final hours in the face of life's ultimate reality which is death. When Joseph saw that courage, something in him said, I just can't do it anymore. I can't be a secret Christian anymore. When he saw Jesus have the courage to go to the cross, to stay in the cross, to finish his mission, Joseph said, With God's help, I'm going to change. And he vowed that he'd never be the same, that he'd come out of the shadows and speak when God nudged him to speak and share when God told him to share and reach out when God prompted him to do so. He probably said, I'm going to turn in my defensive uniform and put on my offensive uniform from now on no matter what the price. And he proved it some hours later when he went upon his piled chambers and said, Give me the body of Jesus and I want to put it into the tomb that I had purchased for myself. In case you don't know, the tombs back then were walk-in kind of things and only rich people had them. I've been to the Holy Land, I've seen those kind of things. It's really impressive. But it was clear that Joseph went the distance in identifying with Jesus. Now, I want to make some very specific comments to the Joseph types that might be listening to me here this morning. And friends, you know who you are. You know who you are or what the particular conditions are when you slink back into the Joseph mode. And as we begin this fall season, we come upon the one-year anniversary of our national wake-up call. I'm going to pray that many of us have a personal wake-up call. And we realize that God's calling us to live lives of courage as well. Turn your outline over. Where is God calling you to have courage in your walk of faith? Now, some of you here this morning, I'm sure, in this service are still kind of searching. I'm encountering, and I say this with great joy, I'm encountering every single week people who are new and discovering where they are with God. And I'm going to come back to you in just a moment. So, I want to talk initially here to those of you who know that you're a believer. You would identify yourself as a Christ follower. And I want to remind you that on that day, some 2,000 years ago, a very good man died for you. And I know you didn't have a front row seat the way Joseph of Arimathea did, but all the details are carefully recorded. Read the end of each of the Gospels. Each of the Gospel writers took the trouble to put in pretty graphic detail what happened to Jesus. Oftentimes, when we do our Easter plays, people say, you know, I didn't realize how horrible it was. And I have to tell you, I don't think we come close to really demonstrating how horrible it was. He took off his carpenter's belt. He identified himself as the Messiah that had been promised through the centuries. He took an unbelievable amount of heat while he ministered good things to people, healing and forgiveness and wisdom and teaching. And then he died this agonizing, humiliating death. Jesus lived courageously when he lived. He taught courageously when he taught. He suffered courageously when he suffered. And he died courageously when he died. Jesus was a man of courage. And if that doesn't wake you up, you need to look at your heart and say, what's going on? He's the rescuer of your soul. It's as if, and this just struck me when I was watching this video the other day, it's as if Jesus is the one who ran into the burning buildings of our lives to rescue us. And greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Something should stir in us like it did in Joseph when he pondered the price that was paid and the courage that was demonstrated for us. Something should just make us say, you know what? I don't want to live in secret. I want God to use me. I want to be available. I want to be a difference maker. Something should be stirred in us that says I'm going to speak up when it's time and I'm going to step out when it's time and I'm going to play offense when I get the opportunity. I want to commit and live with purpose and have a little bit of adventure and passion in my Christian journey. I want to be worthy of the name that I bear. Have you had a wake-up call yet? You know, some of you had a wake-up call 10 or 15 or 20 years ago and you've been kind of smiling your way and actually, it's been a long time since you've stepped out and I'm sure that today perhaps for some of you this will be the first time you've really understood what's at stake and my prayer is in the coming weeks that we'll all have at whatever level an encounter with Jesus that provides a wake-up call for us. Let me give a specific illustration since I'm in the middle of this I might as well go all the way. Last spring, I talked with a new guy here at North Way and he talked to me after one of the services for a good while and he was really pretty pumped up about his new faith and he'd come out of kind of a traditional church background and he had not really understood that being a Christian meant having a relationship with Christ. He always thought it was about rules and regulations. He had not really understood that the Bible was reliable that he could read it for himself and understand it and he was pumped up about that and he was just telling me how exciting it was to discover who Jesus really was and that he'd crossed the line of faith. Our eyes had met and he'd made that decision and he was excited. He was pumped up. So I said to him, that's awesome. When are you going to be water baptized? Well, he just kind of halted a bit. He got a little blanched. He said, well, I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. He said, I'm still learning what it is to be a Christian. I want to kind of keep my faith private to myself for a while here. I'm not ready to go public yet. See, at that moment of truth, I asked him, okay, let me get this straight now. You're telling me you're really excited about following Christ and so on, but you're not willing to just make a public expression of that? Is that what you're saying? He said, well, yeah. And I reminded him that Jesus didn't die a private death. And I reminded him that baptism, as we do it here at North Way, doesn't involve crosses and nails and whips. And humiliation and mockery in front of a hostile crowd. No, baptism, as we experience it here, is about a 30-minute instruction period, a 30-second testimony of your faith, and a three-second dunk in a hot tub when you come up out and people applaud for you. In moments like that, I find it really hard to be a pastor. One who's supposed to be really patient and measured and understanding and mature. And it was probably a good thing I didn't have one of those little bubbles around my head that tells you what you're thinking. Because it would have read something like this. Look, pal. Wait just a minute. Blood was spilled to set you free. A very good, innocent man took a horrendous hit in the public square for you to end up with a clean slate for your sin, a purpose for living, and the assurance of a ticket to heaven. And if he commands you to stand in front of your church and to make a public declaration of your faith and to go down into the water for two or three seconds to symbolize your identification with him and his death, then you ought to get your rear end up here as soon as possible and do it. But I didn't say that because I'm a pastor. And I am so aware that these are struggles. They're real struggles. I understand that. I'm not minimizing the struggle. But I want to ask you, where does courage come in? When do people finally get it? People like that business guy. I want to say to him, you know, like someone said to me 30 years ago when I was kind of waffling. I was a fence-sitter. He said to me, well, listen, Jay. He said, change your name or change your game. In other words, you're calling yourself a Christian. You know what the word Christian means literally? Look it up. Little Christ. Little Christ. That's what it means. So if you're going to call yourself that, then you've got to live that way. Don't sing worship songs about a blood-stained cross and amazing love on Sunday and then walk out and just sort of duck under the seats when the heat comes up or rather on Monday. I mean, if you're going to do it on Sunday, you've got to do it on Monday. Some of us need to take a step specifically like that. Others of us need to be committed to the family of God. It amazes me how easily we fall into the trap. And I'm speaking here probably today maybe 40% of the crowd here this morning in this particular service. I'm speaking to you right now. Even though we have done everything we possibly can to give you an opportunity to connect. We stand up here. We create all these on-ramps, we call them, to get in connected with some other people. Even though the Bible is so definitive about being a Christian as being part of a larger body. In fact, it even uses the analogy of the human body that the hand can't say to the body, I don't need you. The hand's got to be connected. Because the body isn't going to die if it's not. The hand will die. And even though we make this point over and over and over again, a significant portion of our church family chooses to not be connected. Finds a reason. Oh, I travel. I don't think there's anybody in the church like me. In a church of about 3,000 people, there are other folks who have the same kind of background just like you. I want you to know that. And I feel kind of badly for you because, really, if you're sort of an inconsistent attender and you come once or twice a month if the schedule allows it, you're missing so much in the other weeks. If you're not in a small group, you miss the joy of seeing hearts bonded together. I sat around a table Friday night with my small group, my wife and I, and we just watched those other 10 or 11 people opening up their hearts as we came to grips with the challenge we have of growing as we move forward. And by the way, in just a few weeks, we're going into what we're calling 40 Days of Purpose when we're asking the whole church to take a look at where they are and come together for seven weeks and give our best to God. And that's going to require some of our groups to do some shifting. Our group wrestled with that and it was wonderful to hear the stories of how people are praying and saying, I don't know what to do. It was an awesome thing. If you're not in a small group, you're missing that. You're missing the sense of satisfaction that making a contribution can provide. You know, you folks know that your faith is real. You believe in Jesus, but with that old-fashioned Joseph of Arimathea, you have fear. Fear that if somehow, you know, you hold, you offer your time or your talents or your treasure, somehow you're going to have less of it and therefore you're going to be diminished. And so, you withhold and you miss the blessing of being a contributor. There are lots of very gifted folks in this church family who are giving their best and I just want to commend you and thank you and tell you that you're making a huge difference, more than you can realize. But the reality is that somewhere in the neighborhood of 50% of us aren't really doing anything. 50% of us are coming in and having a good experience and then leaving and heading back out and I just need to say to you all day, we need you. We need you to have the impact that God wants us to have with the days that we have left. You know, I was saying to Carol this morning, watching the news today, having things change. A little over a year ago, every morning, didn't you wake up and watch the news and wonder if something else was going to happen. Now we turn it on and it's about, you know, who's going to win the tennis open or what, you know, what about the trees that are burning and stuff. I mean, only God knows the time that we have left. I want to close by just saying a word to those of you who are still in the searching mode. I want to commend you for searching. You know, it's hard. It is hard to get out of the old patterns and I respect that journey. But I want to say to you as I close today, this can be the day that you decide to be a person of courage. All you really need to know is what you heard today. That a very good man, actually the Bible calls him a perfect man, died in your place. That you're just like me if you're here today. You're a person who knows that there's flaws in your character, who knows that you don't live a perfect life and there's got to be some way to atone to make payment for that sin. You can choose to make that payment yourself or you can choose to receive the forgiveness that God makes available through His Son Jesus. That's all it's about. You say, well, how do I do that? Well, you know, it isn't by... I was in Mexico ten years ago and watched people crawling on their knees and their hands into some sort of cathedral in order to demonstrate that they were sincere. No, you don't have to do that. You simply have to open your heart to God, pray a prayer and invite Jesus to come into your life and then God says, I'll come all the way from eternity and meet you and I'll carry you along. You can do that today and all of us can take a step today to live courageously. Let's stand and pray. Lord, I would ask you to empower us all. When we step out of this room in just a few moments, may we all be different as we step into this new season of ministry and life together. May we all be believing the best for one another and Lord, may we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him went to the cross and suffered its shame. Help us, Lord, to lay hold of that reality and live in the courage that Jesus demonstrated on that day. With heads bowed, please, I want to ask you specifically, if you're here, before we have a few moments of worship, I want to ask you today, is this the day you want to come out of the shadows and say, you know, Lord, it's not all clear to me, but I want to be a follower. If you've never made a definitive personal decision to be a follower of Christ or maybe this is something that happened and it's really not clear and you have uncertainty, you go to bed at night and you're not sure if you're a believer or not, I want you to pray with me right now and the power of God's Spirit and the presence of His love will come upon you. Heads are bowed, please. Pray this prayer wherever you are in the auditorium. Even if you're listening by tape, pray this prayer. Lord Jesus, just whisper the words, Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me, for paying the penalty for my sin, and for giving me hope and the promise of eternal life. I receive you now. I thank you for receiving me and I commit my life to you from this day forward. Thank you for your grace that will make it happen. In Jesus' name. Now, heads are bowed, please, and people have prayed and I want to do something very biblical and very powerful. I want to agree with those of you who prayed. With heads bowed, I'm going to ask you to lift your head in a moment and let our eyes meet. When my eyes meet yours, that's going to be your way of saying, I prayed today, Pastor Jake. I want to know that Christ is in my life. I won't embarrass you, but I want to agree with you and I have found this to be a very important step in people's own sense of having faith and peace. If you just prayed, I'm going to ask you to look up in just a second. Are you ready? If you just prayed, and lift your hand too. Look up right now. Look up and put your hand up all around the room. Put it up. If you just prayed, that's it. Put it up high and look this way. Thanks, sir. I see you right here in the striped shirt. I see your hand, ma'am. God bless you. Thank you, sir. Back here, yeah. I see your hand as well. Wave at me. Sometimes I can't see because of the lights. I