"Understanding Others"
John 1:1-14
Sunday, May 13, 2012

Introduction: Illus. “Movie: Dangerous Minds”

In the movie Dangerous Minds, Michelle Pfeiffer plays a former marine who leaves her officer's commission and a nine-year military career to pursue her dream of becoming an English teacher. But while earning her credentials at a Northern California high school, she is assigned to an inner-city high school with students who defy the rules. In an attempt to reach these kids (who really want someone to care about them) she ignores the school’s curriculum rules and she creates her own curriculum. By bribery, trickery, and love she helps them to believe in themselves and in their potential. While she doesn’t affect every kids’ life, she does have a tremendous impact, for the good, on many of the students.

            Like Michelle Pfeiffer in this movie, the church of today needs to defy the old rules and find new ways to connect with the people of our generation. This morning I want to talk about a new strategy that we need to employ if we are going to move forward in taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to our community and our world.

I.                   Go and Listen-

a.      Listen- This new strategy starts with our leaving the church (our

learning place) and understand that we will learn as well while we are outside the church. The call is to take the gospel to the streets. The church’s efforts usually fall short because the programs that are established are usually designed to entice church people, or people who want to come to church.

            Reggie McNeal, who wrote the book “The Present Future,” talks about recruiting un-churched people to come up with outreach ideas. He says that if the church wants to reach un-churched people, then they need to understand what they would even want to come to; they need to listen to those who don’t come to church. Even more than that, the events shouldn’t always take place at the church. Now that may sound pretty outrageous, but think about this, if people don’t want to come to church, then even if you hold the greatest event, they still won’t come. And if they don’t come, then you don’t have an opportunity to share Jesus with them.

            Over the years we have had some good evangelism programs. Our Alpha program ran twice a year for over 8 years. This program impacted the lives of many people. But we were never too successful in getting non-church people to attend. Our Harvest Carnival was a great event every Halloween. We had around 250 kids with their parents who attend. It was a wonderful, safe environment for children. And yet, I don’t think that event brought in any new members. Our Vacation Bible School teaches Bible lessons in a fun way to around 30-40 kids every year. And at the end of the week the kids put on a program for their parents. This is a great event, and effective in its own way. But it too has been limited in getting new visitors and members. Now, this is not all bad, because the church doesn’t exist to make church members, as much as we exist to share the love of Christ and the message of salvation. But it does tell us that there are many people that we are not reaching.

            So to reach these people, we have to listen to what is going on. Let’s go back to the movie “Dangerous Minds”. Michelle Pfeiffer was trying to teach the kids about literature. But these inner-city kids didn’t care about poetry and literature. And yet, Pfeiffer knew that this would be beneficial for them to learn, especially if they were going to go on to college. So she had to get their attention first; she had to go where they were, find out what they were interested in.

b.      Go- So to understand others first requires us to find out what they

enjoy. Michelle Pfeiffer knew they liked music. So she played some Bob Dylan to them. And she had them analyze the words of his song “Mr. Tamborine Man.” As they were learning how to figure out what these words meant, it began to give them the skills to analyze other words; even words to poems.

            She then gave them an assignment to find a poem by Dylan Thomas that had the same general theme as Bob Dylan’s song. And then she bribed them telling them that the winning group would get a free dinner at a nice restaurant. The point here is that Michelle Pfeiffer found a way to connect with them, and found a way to connect what they liked to literature.

Many of us have people we know who are not Christians. As we get to know these people it is important to get to know what they like to do and what they are interested in.  As we listen to them and learn about them, we will find that there will be many opportunities to share Jesus with them. For example, if someone likes the Star Wars movies, the main theme in these movies is “THE FORCE.” This force connects all people and all things. This is a great opportunity to talk about God as “the force.”

But even more than this, we take the church to them. For example, there are many churches that are starting up small groups outside of the church. They might meet at someone’s home, or at Starbucks, or at a restaurant. And these groups are formed by common interests. Mary has started her “Girls Night In” group which has been bringing church people together with non-church people. What if you had the idea of starting some kind of group around people’s interests. Maybe one group is into cooking. Another group is interested in computers. A third group might be sewing. These groups could meet to talk about their interests. But in the midst of their conversations, there are opportunities to talk about Jesus. In time, they might even invite their “friends” to church.

We have done this by taking our church to the WomenShelter of Long Beach and throwing little parties for them: a picnic, a beach party, and a Christmas party. In this way, we can’t take Christ out to the people. There are many great ideas to take to people outside the church. Maybe you can think of one that will be right for you and our church!!

II.                Go out of your comfort zone- (John 1:1-14, 13:3-17; Matthew 20:28)

a.      It can be done- Now I know what I am suggesting is out of many

people’s comfort zones. Church is nice because it is a place we can come and feel safe and secure and where someone else does the leading; the sharing. Church is a place that feels like home. And yet, God does not want us to get too comfortable. In our passage this morning we see that God became flesh and dwelt among us. God left the comfort of heaven so that He could interact with us in our environment. And while this can make one uncomfortable, it is not beyond our capability.

EX. Robert Louis Stevenson tells of a storm that caught a vessel off a rocky coast and threatened to drive it and its passengers to destruction. In the midst of the terror, one daring man, contrary to orders, went to the deck, made a dangerous passage to the pilot house and saw the steerman, at his post holding the wheel unwaveringly, and inch by inch, turning the ship out, once more, to sea. The pilot saw the watcher and smiled. Then, the daring passenger went below and gave out a note of cheer: "I have seen the face of the pilot, and he smiled. All is well."

      EX. A few years ago, when Tyler was about 9, he and I were going to go see “Pirates of the Caribbean.” We went to the Pacific Theatres over at the mall on Del Amo. Tyler was a little nervous because he had heard that there were some strange creatures, and that parts of the movie were intense. Then to top it off, when we entered the theatre it was completely dark. It seems that the bulb in the projector had gone out, so there was sound, but no pictures. This made Tyler feel out of his comfort zone. Ultimately, we had to go over to the other Pacific theatre (which was a more familiar theatre for Tyler) and we saw it there. In the end, Tyler loved the movie.

When you persevere through uncomfortable times and situations, especially with God at your side, you will come through experiencing joy and success.

b.      Carrying it through- A great verse of challenge and encouragement is

in the gospel of Matthew, 20:28-  “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”/ Jesus could have had a comfortable, easy life of being worshipped, and served, and having all His needs and desires cared for. He could have lived like a king, ordering people around. But Jesus didn’t come to this earth to be served. Jesus came to this earth to serve others. In His last time of being alone with the disciples, Jesus shocked them all with His act of service; Jesus washed the disciples feet! Now the job of washing people’s feet belonged to the servant. But because of where they were, there was no servant there to wash their feet. Jesus wanted to help the disciples learn a great lesson, so He washed their feet. We see this story in John 13:3-17. /   Jesus grabs a basin and goes to Peter to wash his feet. Peter is embarrassed to have his master wash his feet and declines. Jesus says, “Unless I wash your feet, you will have no part of me.” So Jesus goes and washes all of the disciples’ feet. And then we read in verses 13-17, “ ‘You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

            Jesus was letting the disciples know that they were to follow Jesus’ example. Jesus’ example of not needing to be above others, but being of use to God. Jesus’ example that greatness comes not in position, but in service. Jesus’ example that humility is far greater in guiding our lives, than pride. Jesus’ example in challenging us about what is truly important in life.

            We become capable of carrying through with living the example Jesus gave us, because we become convinced that what Jesus did was right. We begin to realize that we have been deceived by all the advertisements that tell us that we have to “have it our own way.” We become convinced that wealth and power and control does not make life successful or meaningful. We become convinced that the church isn’t called to be in-grown, but it is called to reach out beyond its walls. We understand that to live like Jesus we must go to where people are and get to know them as Jesus came to earth to get to know us.

III.             Go for them, not you- (John 1:10-12)

We become convinced that we are here as a church, as a people of God, not for ourselves, but for others. The church is the only organization that exists not for its members, but for all the non-members.

a.      Going out with a purpose-   At the end of “Dangerous Minds,”

Michelle Pfeiffer is frustrated because one mother has taken her twin boys out of the school because she doesn’t want them learning about poetry! Another boy got in a fight with a gang member to save his honor, and was killed. And so on the last day of school she is telling the students that she will not be coming back the next year. This is devastating to the students, because they finally have someone who cares about them. And they start to tell her about the difference she has made in their lives. And this causes her to understand that by going beyond herself, and being there for them, is what it is all about.

            This is the truth about Jesus as well. In John 1:10-12 we are told, ^“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”/ Jesus came to a world where many didn’t accept Him, or what He was trying to do. They didn’t understand what He was doing or why He was doing it. They did not receive Him and believe in His name. But Jesus knew that the reason He was there was to let people know that He was there for them, and that by believing in what He was offering them, they would have new life.

            So this is where the meaningfulness of the church seeks to interact with the needs of the community. What are 2 or 3 of the greatest needs in the community. One is that many people are struggling financially. That is why our food pantry/bread ministry is so popular. As we enter into understanding more about our community, and seek to make a difference, we open up opportunities and acceptance to speak the message of Christ into the world. We have the opportunity to show that we care. Remember that Jesus went to where people were. Jesus interacted with people in the midst of their daily lives. Jesus brought Himself, the gospel, and His disciples into the world. So our call is to do this as well.

b.      Say “Yes”- For so many years the church has thought and acted as

though it was all about us. And while people were interested in church, interested in organized religion, this pursuit was somewhat successful. But as time has gone on, the needs and desires of people have changed. People have come to believe that they want a faith with less structure and less rules. People have lost the desire to commit and to join. And so the church is IN an interesting place. Is the church willing to try something new?

Now, it is funny that I would say this, because what I am talking about this morning really isn’t new, since it is based on what Jesus has called us to. But it is new because the church for so long now has thought that it is about us, and forgotten about all those who haven’t received Jesus and are lost. We are in a time when we have to say “yes” to doing church in a new way. We have to say “yes” to being willing to go beyond our comfort zone. We have to say “yes” to finding ways to connect the gospel of Christ with the world around us.

            To do this we have to start asking the right questions. If you want to be challenged in this area, I encourage you to read the book I mentioned earlier, “The Present Future,” by Reggie McNeal. He gives some wonderful insight into how to re-discover our purpose for God as a church. Asking questions like: “How do we move from Churchianity to Christianity?” Because it’s not just about the church, it is about leading people to their savior Jesus Christ. Also, the questions: “How do we transform our community for Christ?” “How do we turn our members into missionaries in our community?” “How do we prepare for the future?” 

    

Conclusion: I know that today is Mother’s Day, and I usually preach a sermon to mother’s, encouraging them in the wonderful job they do in caring for their kids. After church we will have our tea and honor the mother’s, but today I wanted to remind us of how the church is on a journey. And with God’s help, we can discover where God is leading us next! With the right frame of mind, we will hear from God.

If we want to really make a difference as a church, we have to focus outside of the church walls. The learning really will come when we get out and learn how to listen and interact with non-Christians. For each church it is different. And the churches that are not doing this are the churches that are not growing; the churches that are struggling to make ends meet; the churches that have lost their relevancy for God. Jesus connected with people by relating to them on a personal level. When He was talking to farmers He used a parable about seeds and soil. When He was talking to a woman who was getting water at a well, He used water imagery.

We need to venture forward with these concepts in mind and find ways to make an impact for God by connecting with people on a personal level. I hope that we can venture forward together to discover what these ways are. I hope we can live out our mission for God. And in doing so, we will learn a great deal, and do great works for God. Amen.