Jesus Only by Pastor Gary R. Hindman
(Voice by Ron Beckham)
“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of
God” (Acts 14:22)
There's a children's story about a Lion sleeping in his lair that was
awakened by a tiny Mouse running across his body. The lion grabbed the
frightened mouse and opened his mouth as if to eat him. But on the way to his
ill-fated death the Mouse noticed that the Lion had an infected paw. "Please, O King," he said, "before
you eat me let me pull the thorn from your paw and make you well." The
Lion agreed because he'd been suffering for some time with a thorn so deep
between his toes that he couldn't get at it. But the Mouse could and did. So
grateful was the Lion that he not only spared the Mouse, but they became friends
for life.
Healers often become heroes. Heroes are often put on a pedestal. Hence the
many jokes about doctors who think they are God. But the fairer assessment might
be that patients are so grateful to those who heal that they treat them like
gods and excessively glorify them. Acts 14 is a case in point. Paul and Barnabas
enter the village of Lystra where they are immediately confronted by a crippled
man who wants to be healed. And through the power of God in Christ, he is healed
and a crowd begins to form and look upon them as “gods.”
Had they known something of the legends surrounding the village they might
have been able to anticipate what happened: it was told around Lystra that,
years earlier, Zeus and Hermes, two Greek “gods,” came to the village disguised
as mortal men. Wherever they went, they were met with hostility and contempt, so
much so that, in anger, they sent a torrent of water upon the hapless village
and wiped out every man, woman and child - except for one elderly couple who had
befriended them. These they put in charge of the great temple that stood outside
the village gates. And upon their deaths they were immortalized in the form of
two huge trees at the entrance of the temple. Paul and Barnabas had experienced
all kinds of reaction to the Gospel - acceptance by some, anger and persecution
by others. But in Lystra the people evaded the Gospel message by idolizing the
messengers!
The urge to deify has been around for as long as there have been people. It
is a perversion of our desire to know and experience God. But people are not God
and every attempt to be deified, from Pharaoh to Caesar, from Napoleon to
Hitler, to Saddam Hussein, has ended in harm and disaster. It's nothing but
idolatry. And idolatry puts us in competition with God. It becomes a distraction
to our faith and it nags at our spiritual well-being. But even so, the sin of
idolatry is rampant in our society and touches all our lives. The joke on this
is found in the silly people who are deified today: the immature ball player
with nothing more going for him than muscle coordination; the one-issue
politician; the decadent rock star with minimal talent; and the other media
creations that flash into prominence and just as quickly fade into oblivion. We
should give the Lystrans credit; at least they picked two good men to deify! So
often, we lionize mice! And many people get hurt along the way.
It dawned on Paul and Barnabas that they were about to be deified! Horror
gripped them. What could they do? How could they make the people of Lystra
understand that the power and glory belongs to Christ and not to them? To give
them the credit would make as much sense as to praise the bat instead of Babe
Ruth; or the plane instead of Charles Lindbergh. So the Apostles began to tear
the clothes right off their bodies - a very ungodly-like thing to do! and
exclaimed, "Men of Lystra, why are you doing this? We are
(men like you), and bring you good news, that you
should turn from these vain things to a living God" (Verse 15).
It is right here where so many great politicians, monarchs, generals,
celebrities... and preachers have failed. The pages of history are filled with
gifted leaders who took credit instead of giving credit to those who made their
success possible and to the God who makes all things possible. Paul, a relative
unknown, pointed to God, while Caesar, drowning in his own conceit, called
himself a “god.” But 2,000 years later Paul is revered and Caesar is all but
forgotten. To twist an old story, we name our sons "Paul", and our dogs
"Caesar"!
Like the people of Lystra, we say the right words, nod at the appropriate time
and go through gyrations as if that will appease the Almighty. But all the while,
we build a safety net around our relationship with the Living God. After all, we
don't want God poking around too much in our lives. It might force us to change
the way we do business, or make friends, or use our free time! So we whittle
Christ down to size and fit Him into our portfolio of “gods” and go about our
chief concerns: the acquisition of security, insight, money, power, popularity
or influence.
When Jesus was born there was no room in the inn. Today he's a V.I.P.,
honored but not often followed. He is a custom, not necessarily a Christ; a
captured hero of civil religion but not Lord of our lives! At his birth Jewish
leaders asked, "What shall we do with the child that is born?" That is our
question. What shall we do with Jesus? Shall we shuttle His Lordship into some
dark corner? Or will He be our King of Kings and Lord of Lords?
In his book, “Drumbeat of Love,” Lloyd Ogilvy
tells of a time when he was invited to preach at a church which had a sign in
neon on the church roof: "Jesus only." That's a
great ideal for a church and for a life. "Jesus only,
Christ alone" should be our motto but so often our slogan is "Jesus And"
- Jesus and whatever I want in order to accommodate myself to whatever pleases
me and my insatiable ego! But inside I ache to focus on Christ and Him alone!
People love their false gods and idolatry is not easily weaned from the
people. It took little instigation from outsiders to whip the Lystrans into an
angry mob. If Paul and Barnabas were not going to be their gods, they would kill
them! Paul was stoned, dragged out of town, and thrown on the town dump to die.
But Paul would rather be stoned for telling the truth than live with a lie. So
he told them plainly he was not a “god” and witnessed to "Jesus
Only."
This same Jesus told his followers that he would never leave or forsake them
- that they would find strength and healing in their time of need. Out on the
garbage-heap of Lystra, left for dead, Paul found that strength. The text tells
us that disciples gathered about him and Paul rose up and entered the city!
Imagine the impact of Paul's courage! He was no “god.” But he was a man with a
God! No wonder so many believed. He would not give up. He would not run away. He
would not be shaken from his mission. And so the church grew; elders were
appointed, there was prayer and fasting, and people made commitments to Christ.
And if we research the Scriptures we find that Lois and Eunice were from Lystra and were converted during Paul's visit. And Lois' grandson, Eunice's son,
Timothy, about 14 at the time, was undoubtedly there and moved by the Apostle's
faith and was eventually the Timothy who is named in two books of the New
Testament! Eventually Paul would praise Timothy and call him his "beloved son" in the faith. From Paul to a grandmother and
mother and son, many would come to Christ because of the witness of Timothy.
It's a glorious story. But it casts a shadow over our lives even as we marvel
about it. I wonder what would happen to and through us, if we had the "Jesus Only" faith of Paul and Barnabas. There are so many
in our neighborhoods, at work, and within our reach who do not know the Lord
because we will not be bothered to tell them about Him. It's time for each of us
to re-enter Lystra and proclaim the good news and give the glory, not to
ourselves, but to Jesus, and Jesus only. Let us pray:
Lord, we are thankful for the Apostles Paul and Barnabas and for the great
story of Your Church. Help us to be part of that story through the witness of
our lives. Bless us to love and serve only You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Pastor Gary Hindman is our Guest Speaker for today.
Voice by Pastor Ron Beckham
