Contagious Relationships

DEVELOPING A CONTAGIOUS FAITH
CONTAGIOUS RELATIONSHIPS
DR. JIM DIXON
APRIL 10, 2011
LUKE 5:27-32

Here at Cherry Hills Community Church, we partner with more than 20 ministries in the inner city of Denver. Some of these ministries were started by our church, some of these ministries were started by people here in our church, and some of these ministries are simply ministries that we felt led to hold hands with and partner in the greater cause of Christ. Many of you have volunteered and gone down to the inner city of Denver and worked with us. We have trained you and prepared you and sought to encourage you. In fact, last year as a congregation, you volunteered 81,000 hours to working in the inner-city. It is a pretty amazing thing. That is like 1,000 of you offering 81 hours each, last year.

In addition to that, 15,000 volunteer hours were offered by this congregation to our Manna Ministries, which seeks to help the relatively poor with food and clothing. That means 96,000 hours of volunteer service were offered by our congregation to the poor last year. Really, more than that because many of you have gone on short-term mission trips. You have joined us as we have gone to different parts of the world where poverty is rampant, and you have gone with us with conjunction with World Vision. It is safe to say that as a congregation, last year, we offered more than 100,000 hours in volunteer service to the poor. I thank God for every moment given, for every dollar given because Christ has called us to care for the poor and oppressed of the world.

Now, it is true throughout the world, that it is hard for kids growing up in poverty, in all the inner cities throughout the world. That is true in the United States as well. In the American cities, wherever there is poverty, it is very hard for kids. They have tough choices to make. When they decide that they need to begin to make a living, they need to earn some money, they can think to themselves, “Maybe I will go work at fast food. Maybe I will go work at McDonald’s. Maybe I will get a little more than minimum wage. Maybe I will work five or six hours a day and I will make 150 dollars a week.” Or they might think, “Maybe I will join a gang, and I will do drugs. Maybe I will sell drugs and I will make $10,000 a week. Maybe I will sell drugs and work only one hour a day.” Choices.

What is true today is true in the time of Christ, in the time of Jesus. Choices had to be made by every young man and woman. It was true throughout Jerusalem. It was true not only throughout Judea but also up in Galilee. There were noble jobs that didn’t necessarily pay so well. You could go and work for one of the merchants selling a product of some sort, or you might do something that was considered evil. You might decide to make some money through tax collecting—the biblical, the Greek word, is “telones.” This was considered evil by the Jews because it was considered collaboration with Rome, their oppressors. If you were a tax collector, you had sold out to Rome, who was the oppressors of the Jews. Not only that, if you were a tax collector, you were an extortionist, you were charging the people exorbitant taxes and adding onto what was given to Rome, so you yourself might get rich.

One of those who made the decision to become a tax collector was Levi, who in the Bible was also called Matthew, and the first Gospel bears his name. He was Levi the tax collector. He had a tax office outside of a town that was on a major thoroughfare from Damascus to Palestine. He was relatively wealthy. Of all the disciples of Christ, Levi probably was the wealthiest and gave up the most in order to be a disciple. He was stigmatized by society and kind of an undesirable because he was in this profession that was considered treasonous by the Jews.

Jesus loved him. Jesus showed mercy to him. We see Jesus come up to him at his tax office and Jesus gives him an imperative: “Akolouthei, follow me.” Amazingly, that is exactly what Levi does. He leaves everything and rises and follows Christ. The first thing he does, as recorded by Mark 2 and Luke 5, is throw this big party, a great feast, a big banquet. He does it for Jesus and he invites all of his friends who were tax collectors and other friends, people, perhaps, hated by the Jews but maybe relatively wealthy, the guys that he hung out with. He invited them all to the party.

Jesus was there and they ate together. The Bible tells us in Mark 2 that many of those there at the party that night became followers of Jesus. That is amazing. The power of Jesus! He calls Matthew, and Matthew throws a party and they go to the party that night and their whole life changes as they become followers of Jesus. Bible scholars believe that is why Matthew threw the party; he wanted everyone to meet Jesus, all of his friends. He wanted them to meet Jesus. It occurs to me this morning, that we should want our friends to meet Jesus! We should desperately want our friends to meet Jesus. That is what we are going to focus on for a few minutes this morning.

I would like to begin by taking a look at relational strategies. We need to be strategic in our relationships as Christians. If you want your faith to be contagious, you need to have some strategic relationships; you need to think through what your strategy is. Let me give you some examples. This is going to be a little different. First of all, we need to be strategic consumers; we need to be strategic shoppers.

I know in the Christian world, in certain sub-cultures of Christianity, certain pious Christians consider shopping evil. It is true that we live in a very materialistic society and many bend the knee to the god of materialism. It is also true that there is no sin in shopping. We all need to shop, we need to buy certain necessities, and then on occasion, for the sake of joy, maybe something we don’t even need. There is no evil in shopping. But have you ever thought of shopping strategically? Many of us go out to restaurants. Have you ever thought about going out to restaurants strategically? Let me tell you what I mean.

Many years I worked at Faith Presbyterian Church in Aurora; many of you know that. I worked with Dean Wolf who was the senior pastor of the church. Dean only went to two restaurants. He went to Coco’s in Aurora and he went to the Loading Dock in Aurora. I would sometimes go to breakfast or lunch with him but always at Coco’s or the Loading Dock. He would meet different people in the church but always at Coco’s or the Loading Dock. Over time, there was a method to his madness. Maybe he liked variety and this was a sacrifice, but I don’t know. Over time, he got to know everybody at those restaurants. He knew all those waitresses and waiters; he knew all the staff that worked at both of those restaurants and the owners and managers. Before long, they were all coming to the church. He developed contagious relationships because he had this strategy where he actually viewed this aspect of his consumerism strategically, that he would actually develop relationships and get to know these people.

Have you ever thought about anything like that? I have two days of the week when I virtually never come into the church. One is my day off, and the other is my study day, where I prepare my sermon and other teachings. On those days, usually at some time in the morning, Barb and I will go to Starbucks. When we are here at the church we will get a cup of coffee at Wild Blue, but when we go to Starbucks, we always go to the same Starbucks, and we have really gotten to know people there. Some of them come to the church, many of them don’t come to the church. Some of them are Christians, and many of them are not Christians.

We will sit down, we know each other, we laugh together, and we will tell stories and share what is going on in our lives. It was just this last week that I had a guy at Starbucks tell me that his wife was just diagnosed with cancer and that it might be terminal, and he began to cry. I have had opportunities to pray with people at Starbucks. It is strategic for me. I know this might sound strange to you, but have you ever thought strategically with regard to your consumerism? Have you ever thought, as a Christian, if I get to know people, if I laugh with them, if I really care about them, if I develop friendship and we start to like each other and that this might develop into a contagious faith? You might be able to, very naturally, talk to them about Jesus. Strategic consumerism.

How about recreation and exercise? Have you ever thought strategically about recreation and exercise? I think many of you exercise; certainly we all should exercise. Have you ever thought strategically about how you can develop relationships and have a contagious faith in that setting? Years ago, I belonged to the Greenwood Athletic Club. This was when our church was located on Colorado Boulevard up in Cherry Hills Village. We had an arrangement with Greenwood Athletic Club for our staff where the church would pay one-third of the membership, the staff person would pay another third of the membership and Greenwood Athletic Club would cover the last third of the membership. So, the staff person really paid only one-third of the price.

I would go over there for years. I would work out, I would run on the treadmills, I would pump some iron, I would shoot some baskets in the gym and sometimes I would jog around the track that went around the gym. I had lots of conversations with lots of people. Sometimes a lot of people from our church were there, other times it was just other people that I began to talk to. Sometimes it was a little frustrating because I wouldn’t be able to get a workout in, most of the time I just enjoyed it.

People would come up to me, maybe I was on the treadmill, and they would just say, “Hey, aren’t you Jim Dixon? I have been wanting to ask you something.” Or they would say, “I have been wanting to talk to you about something.” Maybe at the end of the workout I would go to the locker room and take all of my clothes and head into the shower. I am kind of a shy guy, and I hear somebody say, “Hey, aren’t you Jim Dixon?” Then they want to tell me something about their kids or something about their wife or something that is going on in their life or something at work or something that has just happened to them and they want prayer.

But you see, you are also called to the ministry, it is not just me. All of those who belong to Jesus Christ are in this together. We have all been called into the ministry. Are you willing to think a little bit strategically about developing relationships for the sake of a contagious faith? Many of you take walks. What a wonderful habit for you to develop, that you find some time every day to take a walk. Maybe you do that with your spouse, or maybe you do that alone. Have you ever thought in your neighborhood of just inviting some of your neighbors to take a walk with you? To actually spend some time regularly with your neighbors in the context of taking a walk? As you develop that friendship you have opportunities to share with them the stories of Jesus. You have opportunity to share with them your story and how you came to know Jesus. You have opportunities to invite them to church or into an experience with Christ, if you think strategically.

I think it is not just in terms of shopping and consumerism but it is also in recreation and exercise. It is also thinking strategically with regard to our volunteerism—when we volunteer in civil activities or community groups, or when we volunteer in schools or when we volunteer in the world of politics and political groups. Have you ever thought of just volunteering as a strategy to develop some relationships for the sake of contagious faith?

I received a phone call about a month ago from Archbishop Chaput. Charles Chaput is a friend who I greatly respect. I respect his deep love of Christ and his faithfulness to the gospel. He has come here to this church; Barb and I have had dinner in his home. He wanted to know if I would have breakfast with him downtown. This was a month ago. He had somebody he wanted me to meet, a democratic congressman who was sponsoring some legislation and he wanted me to meet this guy. I said, “Sure.”

I went downtown to meet with Charles and this democratic congressman, who turned out to be a wonderful Christian. In the course of this conversation the congressman told me about this piece of legislation. It had to do with illegal aliens, a very controversial subject. This piece of legislation was about the children of illegal aliens who had come with their parents to Denver and to Colorado. This legislation would provide for those children if they kept their noses clean, didn’t get into trouble with the law, and if they excelled in school. This legislation would allow them to attend Colorado universities and colleges at an in-state price. He wanted to discuss this.

This is a subject with huge controversy. It has to do with compassion. I think as followers of Christ we all love compassion and are called to compassion, and we don’t just seek short-term compassion but we seek the longer view. We want to do acts of compassion that provide ultimate benefit to humanity. I personally believe in the rule of law, so I believe that if laws are established, they need to be enforced. I believe that if we are not going to enforce laws, then we need to repeal those laws and create new laws that we are going to enforce. You see the controversy around this whole issue and whether or not this would be an appropriate act of compassion. We have in our state many people who are here legally. You have got to ask the question, “would this keep some people who are here legally from going to a college or a university for the sake of letting illegals go?” Complex. Politics are filled with controversy.

It doesn’t matter whether you are republican, or whether you are a democrat. Have you ever thought about joining some political group for the sake of the relationships? And doing this as a Christian where you can have a contagious faith in the context of those relationships? You may do that in a political group, you may do that in a volunteer capacity at a school, or maybe in some civic or community group, but thinking strategically.

Three weeks ago, when we began this series, we talked about the power of God. Our call is to plant and to water, but it is God who brings the increase. The harvest, we said, is the Lord’s. We said that many, many times. I want to remind you of that again this morning. His power is promised if we are willing to have a contagious faith, if we are willing to tell the story of Jesus, if we are willing to have strategic relationships. You marvel at the power of Jesus Christ when you look at our passage of Scripture for today.

The call of Levi, the call of Matthew, is almost inexplicable. You have this guy who is probably corrupt but is quite wealthy. He has got a lot of friends. Suddenly, the Messiah comes up to him, who he may have just viewed as a rabbi, Jesus came up to him. Jesus speaks the word of command, “Akolouthei”—he gives it in the imperative form—”Follow me.” Don’t you marvel that Levi leaves everything? Don’t you just marvel that he rises and follows Christ? What a miraculous thing. That is the power of the Son of God. Don’t you marvel at the party? Here is Levi throwing this big party at this big house and he has this vast company of friends and they are coming to meet Jesus. He wants them to meet Jesus. Don’t you marvel that many people leave that house that night totally changed, having become followers of Jesus? That is the power of Jesus Christ. This power is promised to us.

A couple of weeks ago Barb and I were at the La Quinta Art Festival in Southern California. I don’t do really well at art festivals. I am usually looking for a chair to sit down somewhere in the shade. I do appreciate the amazing gifts that God has given people and their amazing artistic skills. You walk around the La Quinta Art Festival and you see various types of paintings. Some of them are realistic, some of them have to do with pastoral scenes, and some are portraits. You see realistic art, you see impressionistic art (some amazing impressionistic art), you see expressionistic art with a full disconnect on my part. It looks like Jackson Pollock with paint thrown on a canvas in a moment of rage.

There are also sculptures. You go up row after row. This was all set up in La Quinta California Park. They set up different booths and tables and everyone had their art out there. It was all incredibly expensive. We went into this one place and they had sculptures of animals. There was this one I was looking at that had two bears. It was called the “Bear Bump,” and these two bears were bumping their posteriors. They were bumping their heinies. Barb comes behind me and she was looking at it and then the artist comes up and tries to sell me on it and it was just as bizarre moment.

He comes up and says to me, “Everybody needs energy in life, don’t they? I know you have times in your life that you wish you had more energy; you wish you had more power. You know bears have a lot of power; they have a lot of energy. You see the release of that power and that energy in the bear bump. As they bump into each other you can just feel the release of the energy, the release of the power. You can take that energy and that power home with you if you buy this thing. When you are kind of down you can look at this thing and it will just bring power and energy to you.” I was just like, “Wow!” I know he thought he was imparting an epiphany. He thought he was giving me an “aha” moment. Barb and I looked at each other and she was smirking. It was more like a “Ha ha!” moment. We live in a really strange world.

There is supernatural power and it is promised by God. It is promised by Jesus Christ to those who have entered into ministry. He has called you into ministry. He has called you into relationships and he has called you to have a contagious faith. He promises, if you are willing to do this, he will give you power. I quoted 3 weeks ago the Great Commission, Matthew 28. All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me, “exousia.” All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, into all the world and make disciples. Go with his authority.

So, you walk into Starbucks with his authority. You go into your athletic club with his authority. You walk with your neighbor and his authority. You look at Acts 1 and again you see power. Jesus said, “You shall receive power. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, dunamis.” “Dunamis” is an amazingly potent word from which we get the word dynamite. “You shall receive ‘dunamis’ when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the earth.” It is power for ministry and it is promised.

“Exousia” and “dunamis” and then this word “kratos,” which we find in the Bible, which is rendered strength as a power word. The promise, again, of Christ and that his strength is made perfect in our weakness. I do oftentimes feel so weak, but his power is perfect in our weakness. “Kratos, dunamis, exousia.” these are power words in the Bible that represent the incredible offer of God to share his power with you if you would enter into ministry. This promise has been given if you but believe.

I don’t know how many of you have heard of the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire has nothing to do with Johnny Cash. It is down, down, down, where the shifting and moving of the tectonic plates of the earth’s crust are. The Ring of Fire is like a horseshoe. It is a line shaped like a horseshoe that surrounds the edge or rim of the Pacific Ocean. Twenty-five thousand miles long, the Ring of Fire only covers one percent of the earth, and yet over 50 percent of the world’s active volcanoes are on the Ring of Fire. Most of the great earthquakes of world history are on the Ring of Fire.

Just recently, three huge earthquakes have occurred on the Ring of Fire—one in Chile, one in New Zealand at Christchurch and most recently in Japan, which brought about the tri-tragedy of the earthquake and the tsunami and the semi-nuclear meltdown. Power is on the Ring of Fire. They say that these last three events have happened on one-quarter the way along the ring of fire and that there is another quarter of the ring of fire that is overdue, and that is the California coast. We think of volcanoes and earthquakes and nuclear power and we see these different kinds of power. We stand in awe of the power that is in nature. But it is nothing compared to the power of God. God is the creator! How much power does he have? He is offering to share some of it with you, he is offering to share some of it with me, if, in our relationships we would seek a contagious faith and be willing to enter into ministry for his sake.

When we were out in California in La Quinta, I played a round of golf. I am a horrible golfer. I would say my golf game is tragic and I don’t play golf very often. We were out there with Barb’s sister and her husband and they belong to the Andalucía Golf Club and they invited us to play golf at Andalucía, which we did. On the first nine holes I shot 55. I actually had four pars on those first nine holes. I always have a blow-up hole where I send shot after shot into the water or something and I get a double figure score on a single hole.

I know I need help in my golf game. I ask guys what I am doing wrong. Am I standing right? Am I too close to the ball when I swing? They always tell me, “No, you are too close to the ball after you have swung.” On the back nine, I thought maybe I will do better. I shot 57. One hundred and twelve is a pretty sad score. On the eighteenth hole, I took the ball out of the cup and it said, “mojo.” I thought, “What an irony. If there is anything in which I have no mojo it is golf.”

But I realized that somebody had given me a box of three balls that were mojo balls. Do you know what the word mojo means? You have probably heard the word in the Austin Powers movies when he was talking about his libido. The word mojo originally had nothing to do with sex, nothing to do with libido. It is an African word, it was brought to America by African Americans, and it was brought centuries ago to our country. In Africa the word mojo referred to a mojo bag, which was worn under the clothing. It was worn as a charm and it was meant to give you a charmed life. The mojo bag was meant to give you luck, and it was meant to give you protection and it was meant to enhance your talents and your abilities.

I can look at my life, and I know that I don’t have a lot of mojo. There are a lot of areas in my life that I know I do not have enhanced talents and abilities. I don’t have mojo. I do have some mojo when it comes to ministry and it is not because of me. Jesus is my mojo. He is my power, my blessing, and my charm. He promises that if we would just seek out relationships and learn to love people and, in the midst, of that tell people the story of Jesus, that his power would be given. Isn’t that an amazing promise? So today, as we leave this place, I want to challenge you to think strategically. Ask yourself the question if there are some things you could do, things you could change that would give you the chance to develop more relationships for the sake of your love of Christ and your love of people, for the sake of the gospel. Would you be willing to do this?

Next Sunday night, Mark and Blake and Lee are going to be putting on an event here. Lee is going to share his testimony. What a wonderful thing to bring a friend to. The following Sunday night we are going to start seeker small groups. We are going to explain and we are going to launch this vision for seeker small groups. What a great thing for you to be a part of with some of your unbelieving friends. There are so many ways that we can help you as we are serving Christ together in this great call. Let’s close with a word of prayer