1996 SINGLE SERMONS
MAKE TIME FOR GOD
DR. JIM DIXON
OCTOBER 13, 1996
LUKE 10:2
Larry Walters is a truck driver and I think some of you know his story. Larry Walters always wanted to fly. Years ago, he joined the Air Force wanting to fly, but because of his poor eyesight he was not allowed to do that. In subsequent years after Larry left the Air Force, he oftentimes would sit in his lawn chair on the front lawn, and he would look up into the skies and he would see planes going overhead and he would wish that he could fly. One day, Larry decided to do something about it. He went to the local Army Navy Surplus store and he purchased a large tank of helium. Then he purchased 45 water balloons. Now, these were not like your typical party balloons. These were heavy duty large balloons, each balloon more than four feet wide.
He took the 45 balloons and the helium back to his house. He put the helium in each balloon. He blew up each balloon and then he attached the balloons to the lawn chair, anchoring the lawn chair to the ground with a cord. When all 45 balloons were inflated and attached to the lawn chair, he then went into the house, made himself a sandwich, got a few drinks, and got a BB gun (because he planned to shoot out the balloons one at a time in order that he might descend gradually back to the earth). Taking the sandwich, the drinks, and the BB gun, he got into the lawn chair. He cut the anchoring cord and he expected to rise gently into the sky. But it was more like he was shot out of a cannon. He just launched into the sky. He was stunned and finally leveled out at 11,000 feet.
So there he was sitting in his lawn chair at 11,000 feet. He was too nervous to shoot out any balloons. He was afraid, and he sat there in the lawn chair for 14 hours until finally he drifted into the flight patterns of the L.A. International Airport. The first plane that saw him was a Pan American flight and the pilot of that Pan American flight radioed LAX and he said, “You’re not going to believe this, but there’s a man sitting in his lawn chair at 11,000 feet and he has a gun in his lap!”
The authorities sent up a helicopter to try to rescue him. Eventually he drifted over the Pacific Ocean, and they were able to force the lawn chair down and they rescued Larry Walters. They immediately arrested him for violating air flight regulations. They said to him, “Mr. Walters, why did you do it?” He gave a six-word reply, and that six-word reply became famous in southern California. Larry Walters said, “A man can’t just sit around.”
Well, of course, we know that’s not true. A man can just sit around, and so can a woman. A woman can just sit around. You see, when it comes to missions, that’s what a lot of people are doing. That’s what a lot of men and women are doing. That’s what a lot of Christians are doing. When it comes to missions, a lot of Christians are just sitting around. That’s why our Lord Jesus Christ said in the context of missions, as He sent the 70 out two by-two into the mission field, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” Too many people are just sitting around. And why is that? I mean, why are the laborers few when it comes to missions? I would like to suggest two reasons this morning. First is the problem of time. A lot of people are just sitting around when it comes to missions because they feel like they just don’t have enough time.
Now, two days before John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as president of the United States, Kennedy called Billy Graham. He said, “Billy, I’d like you to come down to Florida with me and golf. We’re going to be with Senator Smathers in Florida. We’re going to play a round of golf there and then after we golf we’re going to drive over to the Kennedy Compound and have dinner.” Billy Graham said, “Sure, I’d love to do that,” and he went and golfed with president-elect Kennedy down in Florida. At the end of their golf game, they were driving to the Kennedy Compound for dinner and John F. Kennedy said to Billy Graham, “Do you believe Jesus Christ is coming back to the Earth?”
Billy Graham was very much surprised at the question. He said, “Yes, I do.” John Kennedy said, “Ok, then. Tell me about it.” For the next 20 minutes, Billy Graham talked to John F. Kennedy about the second coming of Jesus Christ. A thousand days later, John F. Kennedy was dead and Cardinal Cushing was standing over Kennedy’s grave reading 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verses 16 and 17. “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. Then we who are alive, who are left until His coming, will be gathered together with them in the clouds and we will meet the Lord in the air. So comfort one another with these words.”
Well, no one in this world knows whether John F. Kennedy’s in Heaven. Billy Graham himself says he doesn’t know whether John F. Kennedy is in Heaven. He said, “I don’t know whether he really believed in Jesus Christ,” but it’s certainly true that President Kennedy did not know and could not have imagined the brevity of time he had in this world. When he talked to Billy Graham that day before his inauguration, he could not possibly have known he would only live for another thousand days. Life is short. None of us seem to have enough time. None of us in this room know how long we’re going to live. We don’t know whether we have days or weeks or months or years. We don’t know whether we will live three score and ten or four score. We don’t know whether we’ll live a hundred years, but we do know this: time is finite. Our time in this world is limited and it’s very important how you use it.
Now, you all have wristwatches (most of you do) on your wrists. The technology involved in that wristwatch took a long time to develop. In the ancient world people tried to tell time. They used sundials and they used water clocks called clepsydras to try to tell time. Some archeologists believe that even the stones at Stonehenge were used, at least in part, to try to measure time, measuring the shadows cast by the sun. Some archeologists believe that the Great Pyramid in Egypt was used by the ancients long ago, at least in part, to measure time. People have always wanted to measure time.
It wasn’t until a thousand years after the death of Christ that the first mechanical clock was developed. No one knows who did it. That’s a matter of debate. Some people believe that a man named Gerbert, who was a monk and eventually became Pope Sylvester 2, was the first to invent the mechanical clock, as he invented such a clock in the year 997 AD. Some believe that a man named Pacificus, who was the Archbishop of Verona, invented a weight-driven mechanical clock in the 9th century. Some believe the first mechanical clock was invented by the Chinese, but nobody knows for sure. All of these were steps along the way in creating the technology that enables you to wear that wristwatch today. All of you know how to tell time, and because of your wristwatch you can tell time accurately. Probably many of you, just in the course of this message, will consult your watch just to see how we’re doing with regard to time. I mean, you can all tell time. In the sight of God that’s just not very important. In the sight of God, telling time just isn’t that important, but how we use time is important. Anybody can tell time, but it’s a wise woman or man that knows how to use time.
You see, in the book of Psalms, in the 90th chapter, in the 12th verse, the Bible says, “Teach us to number our days rightly, that we might have hearts of wisdom.” Every Bible scholar agrees that doesn’t have to do with telling time. That has to do with using time. God wants us to know how to use time.
Well, a lot of people today don’t have time when it comes to serving the kingdom of Heaven. A lot of people today don’t have time when it comes to serving the church of Jesus Christ. A lot of people today don’t have time when it comes to involving themselves in the cause of missions. In fact, studies show that the primary reason Christians give when turning down voluntary service at the local church is “I’m too busy. I wish I could, but I’m too busy. You see, I just don’t have time.” That’s a curious thing.
Just recently in The Denver Post it was reported that in the 4-year history of the Colorado Rockies baseball team they have had more fans attend their games than the New York Yankees and the New York Mets combined. I mean, during these four years, the Rockies have drawn more people to their games than the New York Yankees and the New York Mets combined. That’s incredible, because 13 million people live in the metropolitan New York area but only 4 million people live in the entire state of Colorado. But you see, people in Colorado have time for baseball. People in Colorado have time to go to a Rockies baseball game. They have time to go to a lot of Rockies baseball games. People in Colorado have time to go to the Broncos games. They have time to go to the Nuggets and they have time to go and see the Avalanche. They have time for the Colorado Buffaloes, and most people have time to watch sports on TV. There’s really not a time problem in our culture. There’s a priority problem. There’s not a time problem. When we say we don’t have time to serve the kingdom of Heaven and we don’t have time to serve the church of Jesus Christ and we don’t have time to serve the needs of world missions, it’s a bogus excuse. What we really don’t have is godly priorities.
Now, you see in your bulletin a punch list that lists all kinds of wonderful ministries you can involve yourself in with regard to missions. These ministries are diverse and there’s something here for you and you have the time. You have the time, but do you have the priorities? The only question is the question of priorities. Do you have the priorities?
Now, near the city of Amman in the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, there is a place called Jerash. Jerash is one of the greatest Greco-Roman ruins in the world. With the exception of Ephesus, it is perhaps the greatest ruin of a New Testament city. If you visit Jerash, you can see this street, this colonnade, a mile long. You can see the ruins of ancient Greek and Roman temples. You can see the ruins of the Roman baths and the ancient libraries and various structures that once existed. You can see the ruins of 14 Christian churches. You can see the ruins there of 14 Christian churches because, in the second century AD, Christianity dominated Jerash. It had become virtually a Christian city. What was true of Jerash was true of the entire nation and region of Decapolis. The whole region of Decapolis had become Christian.
But then, in the 7th century, something happened. Hordes of Muslims poured out of Mecca and Medina. They came with swords drawn and they came into the nation in the region of Decapolis. They came to Jerash. They said, “Confess Allah or die,” and Christians died. They died by the thousands. In less than a single generation, Christianity was wiped out in that entire nation and region of Decapolis, completely wiped out. Today there are 15,000 people in the current city of Jerash and not one of them is Christian.
Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the powers of hell will not prevail against it.” And yet He wants us to understand that any particular expression of the church in any particular time in history in any particular part of the world can be eradicated in a single generation. He wants us to understand that. Christianity has many enemies. The primary enemy of Christianity in America is not Islam. Certainly Islam, the Muslims, would love to see Christianity eradicated from the Earth, but the primary enemy of Christianity in this nation is not Islam. The primary enemies of Christianity in our culture are modernism, postmodernism, secular humanism, atheism, materialism, and hedonism, all the “isms” that would literally suck the life right out of the Christian faith. All over the world, Christianity has enemies today.
The only question this morning that matters is this: do you care? The Bible says that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. We sang this morning, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that? The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. The Apostle Paul said, “I do all for the sake of the gospel.” I do all for the sake of the gospel. What are you doing for the sake of the gospel?
There’s an article that was just in The Denver Post recently. I think it reflects the thinking of our culture. It includes a kind of poem. It reads like this: “The Arabs heard the call for prayer, and kneeling faithful thronged the square. While on some mountain’s lofty height, a dark priest chanted Brahma’s might. Amid a monastery’s weeds, an old Franciscan counts his beads, while to the synagogue there came a Jew to praise Jehovah’s name. The one great God looked down and smiled and counted each His loving child, for Arab and Brahman and Monk and Jew had reached Him through the gods they knew. May this help to calm your troubled waters.” That’s really the thinking of our culture, isn’t it? That’s called religious pluralism. That’s called religious synchronism. All roads lead to God. If you believe that, then you really don’t have time for mission because it will never be a priority in your life. But if you believe the Bible… If you believe what Jesus Christ said when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me,” if you believe when the Bible says, “There is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we may be saved…” What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. If you really believe that…you’ve got to ask yourself this morning, “Do I really believe that?” If you really believe that you’ve just got to get involved.
You know, there’s a passage at the end of the 10th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and, as He so often did, He stopped at the home of Mary and Martha, His friends. The Bible tells us that Martha began to busy herself with many things, the preparation of food and being a good host. In the meanwhile, Mary came and sat and listened to Jesus’s teach regarding the kingdom of God. So Martha was busy working on many things and Mary was listening to Jesus teach on the kingdom of God. Martha became upset. She said, “I’m doing all this work and Mary’s just sitting over there. Shouldn’t she be helping me?” What did Jesus say? This is really such an important passage of scripture. Jesus said, “Martha, Martha…” There’s a gentle, loving rebuke in the repetition of her name. “Martha, Martha, you are busied with so many things…” Isn’t this true of our world? Isn’t this true of us? “You are busied with so many things…” And then Jesus said, “‘What’s so important? Only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better.” And what is that one thing? It’s the kingdom of Heaven. It’s the kingdom of Christ. It’s the mission of Christ and the person of Christ. Nothing’s more important.
I don’t know what you’re busied with. I don’t know what fills your days. I don’t know what takes your time, but I promise you, nothing is more important than the kingdom of Heaven. Nothing. You say, “Well, my children are more important.” I know this might be controversial, but I feel like I am squarely centered on the Word of God when I tell you your children are not more important than the kingdom of Heaven. Oh, I know we live in a culture where children have been neglected, and that is so tragic. But you see, we abuse our children not only when we neglect them, but we abuse them when we make them the center of our lives. Your children were never meant to be the center of your life. Christ was meant to be the center of your life. The kingdom of Heaven is meant to be the center of your life. The best thing you could ever do for your children is to put Christ and His kingdom at the center of your life. That’s the best thing you could ever do for your children, that they might see that your life is centered on Christ and His mission.
You say, “Well, my work and my career is more important. After all, I have to put bread on the table and clothes on my back,” but Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious about what you should eat, what you should drink, or what you should wear. Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you.” Nothing is more important than the work of the kingdom of God.
So, this morning we invite you (if you know that what I am saying is true and if you know that it’s from God and it represents the scripture) to have ears to hear and make a change. Allow God to transform your life and begin to involve yourself in the things that really count. Take the time for the things that really count, the things of Christ. Let’s close with a word of prayer.