[A note to my readers: My sermons are the result of things that I read and listen to. Sometimes I know exactly where the Spirit has drawn a thought from and sometimes the source of my ideas is hidden from me. This week the Spirit used something from a sermon by Elder Bryan Evans who is one of the pastors of Providence Church, Peoria, Illinois. Thanks, Bryan.]
We find Israel involved, once again, in one of its many wars. This time it's the Philistines they are fighting. But there's this wrinkle. The Philistines have a champion, a giant of a man who is literally dressed to kill: Goliath of Gath. Whenever he shows his face he shouts a challenge, 'Come and fight me.' The men of Israel see him and run the other way. Who wouldn't? He is a huge man who is obviously an experienced warrior, ready and quite able to kill. Who would be foolish enough to go one-on-one with him?
Then David shows up. And wouldn't you know it, he goes and does something stupid. 'When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.' Everyone else knows enough to run away from the giant. But not David. Oh, no. He runs toward the giant - and quickly. How insane is that? It's ridiculous! Anyone with an ounce of sense would know enough to run away. It's just too obvious to require any explanation. And yet, as you know, what David did was the right thing to do. There are times when what seems right isn't and what seems insane is anything but. And that leads me to the point of this sermon. I'm going to summarize the whole sermon in one sentence. Get this sentence and you've got the sermon. And just to be sure that you get it, I'm going to repeat the sentence a lot. Here it is: Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. I know that 'counter-intuitive' is not an everyday word, but I couldn't think of a better one. It just means the opposite of common sense. Acting in a way that is counter-intuitive means acting in a way that is the opposite of what seems obviously right, opposite of what common sense clearly calls for. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. What David did was counter-intuitive.
Let me give you some examples so that what I'm saying is clear. It seems obvious that it is better to laugh than it is to cry. So, what we need to do is avoid, as best we can, those situations that bring on sorrow or sadness. That seems obvious enough, no? But Jesus says, 'Blessed are you who weep now...' and 'Woe to you who laugh now...' Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. It seems obvious that a parent's goal is to see his or her children well-prepared for life, that is, well-educated so that they can get a good job and take care of themselves. But watch what Jesus does. 'After this He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And He said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything[!], he rose and followed him.' So much for the good job and being able to take care of himself. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. In these days you can't be too careful. Lots of dangerous people roaming about. So, the thing to do is to be careful to protect the family. One way some do this is to erect high walls of one sort or another around the family and only let safe people into the life of the family. But then we read this: 'Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.' Hospitality to strangers. Do you get the picture? It may well be that, when everything in us tells us that what we need to do is run away from the giant, what we are actually supposed to do is run toward him. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive.
Now, why would David, or anyone with any sense in his head, act in such a risky way? This would be a good place to talk about passion or zeal. We are by creation passionate people. Our zeal will show itself, sometimes in terms of a sports team or some political ideal or something else. So, we could talk about David's passion for God. But there is a problem with the words 'passion' and 'zeal'. They allow wiggle room. Talking about passion or zeal allows people to opt out. 'I'm glad that you feel strongly about that. Good for you. But it doesn't grab me. I guess I'm not like you are. I don't have your passion.' So, let me use a different word. Why did David act as he did? He did it because of love. David loved his God. 'Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”' Think about it. If someone walked up to your mother and spit in her face, would you stand there and do nothing? Goliath spit in the face of Jehovah, David's God. He wasn't about to just stand there. Love moved him to ignore common sense and run toward the giant. He knew all about the risks. He knew he might die. But that didn't stop him. Out of love for his God and also because of his confidence in his God's love for him, David acted. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive - and you'll do that because of love for Jesus.
Now our model isn't really David. He's just a convenient pointer. The real model is Jesus. (Remember, it's always about Jesus. Always.) The giant that Jesus faced wasn't some warrior. It wasn't even a man. It was the cross. When some people think about the cross they focus their attention on the physical anguish of being crucified. And it is horrific. But the physical torment wasn't the worst aspect of the cross for Jesus. Remember that it was on the cross the Jesus said, 'My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?' In a way that I will never understand, the intimate bonds of love between Jesus and the Father were ripped to shreds while He was on that cross. What's Goliath compared to that? And yet, as Luke tells us, 'When the days drew near for Him to be taken up, He set his face to go to Jerusalem.' Jesus went toward the giant. Does that make any sense?
Now, Peter is helpful here. 'And [Jesus] began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.' Peter responds just like we would. 'Jesus, what are you talking about? That makes no sense!' Common sense makes its predictable appearance. Do you remember Jesus' reply? 'Get behind me, Satan!' Jesus calls us all to follow Him. That is, He calls us to live as He did. To do otherwise is to side with Satan. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive.
Now, I hope that you've noticed that I've used the word 'sometimes' my summary sentence. We are not always to ignore what seems right; just sometimes. 'So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.' Even Jesus did what seemed to line up with common sense - sometimes. But that raises a question. 'How do you know when to do what feels right and when to ignore that? How do you know when your actions should be counter-intuitive? When is sometimes?' Good question, no? But I suspect that for some of you it's not yet time to ask it. Some of you need to simply focus on what is a rather new thought. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. Some of you have been making decisions based on whether it feels right. I don't mean to say that you don't think about it. But at the end of the day, what you tell yourself is that doing this instead of that just feels right. It makes sense. Today, I've told you that this kind of model for making decisions is faulty. Sometimes, you need to do things that feel wrong, that don't make sense, at least, not from the point of view that you're used to. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. You need to grapple with that thought for a while - until your heart is convinced that it's true. I say that because some of you are not convinced that it is true. You would never run toward the giant. That makes no sense. But there are times when you should - and what you need to do is come to the place of agreeing with that. Until you do, asking questions about when you should or shouldn't is premature.
But that's not all of you. Some of you really are like David. There you are out in the world, confronted by this or that giant, and you want to run toward him. But it seems as if everyone around you is running away. As they do, they shout to you, 'What! Are you nuts? Don't do that. Be like us. Run away from the giant. Don't you realize that you might die?' Common sense strikes again. And so, you stop and ask yourself, 'Are they right? Could I be wrong?' So, I want to encourage you in your running toward the giants that confront you. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. Don't worry if most of the people around you think you're crazy. They thought that about Jesus, too. So, charge those Goliaths, and watch them fall at your feet. David charged because of his love for Jesus and his confidence in Jesus' love for him. You can too. Let me encourage you to keep at it.
But you may be thinking about that question I mentioned earlier. 'How do you know when to do what feels right and when not to? How do you know when your actions should be counter-intuitive?' There's this neat verse in Isaiah that fits here. 'And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.' As you pursue your walk with Jesus through this present evil age, your only hope of getting it right will be the Spirit whispering His guidance in your ear. 'This is the way, walk in it.' If you depend on your own resources, you will fail. But if you expect the Spirit to make it clear, you can be assured that He will. So, we're back to things that I've told you before: 'Read your Bible. Commune with your God. Talk with the others about Spiritual things.' As you work at that, the Spirit, in a way that He thinks best, will let you know what to do next. He won't lay out your whole life before you, but He'll let you know what to do next.
The Spirit has recently made it clear to me that I need to be more specific in my preaching and teaching, more explicit. So, in obedience to that, let me say a bit more by way of application. First, something to you who are younger adults, you teens. Many of you are at the place where you are or soon will be making important decisions about your future. As you do that, remember the sentence of this sermon. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. So, what's your goal for a career? Why have you chosen that goal? Why have you chosen the route to that goal that you have? Is it because it just seems right, because that's what everyone else is doing, because it makes sense? Or is it because you know that this is what Jesus wants you to do? Has the Spirit told you, 'This is the way, walk in it'? Maybe you shouldn't aim at that professional job. Maybe you shouldn't go to college. And then again, maybe you should do both. I don't know. But what I do know is that you should make your decision not because it seems right, not because that's what everyone else in your situation is doing. 'This is the way, walk in it.' My point is not about what conclusion you ultimately come to. It's about how you get there. Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive. Now, for those of you who are older, somewhere in the middle of your allotted lifetime. You have lots of aims and goals for you life that just seem right. And maybe they are right. But maybe they aren't. Let me refer to one goal that you might have: a safe retirement. That's what everyone wants. And it makes sense - common sense. Of course, for that to happen you need to put away gobs of money. If you don't do that now, people will think you're, well, crazy. Now, a safe retirement is, well, safe. Running toward giants isn't. Are your plans for the future the plans of a disciple of Jesus who has heard from the Spirit, or are they plans that you are pursuing because, well, that's what everyone else is doing? So, let me remind you one more time: Sometimes, being a faithful disciple of Jesus will cause you to act in ways that seem counter-intuitive.
I think that I've made my point clearly enough. I've summarized it in a sentence. I sincerely hope that you take some time this week to ponder that sentence and to ask the Spirit to use it to guide you into the future.
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