Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction: A James Bond Movie, way before there was a James Bond.
Two Spies and there informant is a Prostitute.
I can’t help but wonder if this story inspired Rapunzel as well with lowering not her hair, but a scarlet rope.
What does this Story of Rahab Teach us about who can serve?
Every once in a while I will hear someone say, “I am not worthy to serve?”
Share the story of almost every person I orient towards serving in Consistory.
There is a sense of unworthiness based on the qualifications.
31-Is Perfection the Qualification for Fulfilling God’s Purpose?
Israel was saved from slavery in Egypt
God entered into a covenant with them to be their God and if they lived according to his will they would be a showcase of the blessing that God wants to share with the world.
God wants to showcase his blessing in the most central land of the known world, modern day Israel, and it was called the promised land.
After failing to receive the promised land, because they did not Trust God to fight with them, they had to wander the dessert for 40 years and till a new generation rose up that Trusted God’s power to fight for them.
Their Goal, was to kick out the Canaanites who were living in the promised land and take it over.
Not, as some have charged God with, for the purpose of Genoside, but because the Evil and the Injustice of the Canaanites had come to completion.
In other words the Evil was so great, that God’s patience had run out on them.
It had to be delt with.
God’s wrath was coming in the form of His chosen people Israel.
You might say, they were unworthy to steward the land any longer.
Rahab enters the story as one of these Canaanites, who is participating in the Evil structures of her society as a Prostitute.
Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt.
It is possible that she did not chose her profession.
Even today, there are women who chose that profession, and there are women who are captured and/or sold into that profession.
Rahab the prostitute might have been the least likely person to help God’s people.
Prostitution was not something that the Hebrew people practiced and did not line up with God’s sexual ethics in the Law.
either way she is in her position because of the evil in her society, She is “Unworthy,” especially as we look at God’s covenant with Israel.
Yet, she is listed in the book of Hebrews in the Hall of Faith as someone who is an example of both great saving Faith, and a Faith the led to action.
Testimony of a gentlemen at the retreat.
Did some bad stuff, then gave his life over to Christ, God let him get caught.
He did jail time - which allowed him to spend more time with God, and Yada, Yada, Yada, he is doing amazing ministry for God today.
The Gentlemen who got his degree in Calvin's Prison program and is now starting a ministry to help ex-prisoners re-engage in the community.
So if it is not worthiness or perfection that is the qualification for serving, what is?
32-God Uses the Loyal Not the Perfect.
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The small act of faith by a minor character named Rahab had an important ripple effect in the Bible.
God showed his power to his people at the battle of Jericho and in the conquest of the promised land.
And Rahab would become a part of God’s people.
“Rahab’s bold act of hiding the Israelite spies is interpreted by the NT as evidence of saving faith (Heb 11:31; James 2:25).
We may call this her conversion experience because she turned from her pagan gods and from her people to identify with Israel and Israel’s God.
There are a number of ‘negative’ points about her conversion: She was a prostitute by profession; she lied to protect the spies; she was motivated by fear; and she struck a shrewd bargain with the spies.
Nevertheless, the glorious outcome of it all is indicated by the inclusion of her name in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt 1:5)” (Madvig, “Joshua,” 264).
1. Rahab lied to the king’s guards who came looking for the spies, saying she was not hiding them.
Her house was a safe place to hide, since it was an inn and on the city’s wall.
Rahab took a risk and placed her faith in the God of the Israelites.
“When Rahab hid the spies, she sided with Israel against her own people.
It was an act of treason!” (Donald H. Madvig, “Joshua,” in Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary 3 [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992], 260).
Paul Brown notes, “In the mouth of a non-Israelite, this speech is all the more impressive.
Her foreignness also emphasizes the theme that Israel’s relationship with God blesses peoples beyond their ethnic group” (Paul R. House, Old Testament Theology [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1998], 203).
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In other words she was more loyal to God than she was to her own people.
Why? What was motivating Rahab to act this way?
We see it in her speech to the Spies.
She had heard of all the powerful things God had done for Israel.
And now that God was at her footstep, knocking on her door, literally through His two spies.
She believed in God’s Power, that He was coming with Wrath, That God was real, and was blessing those loyal to him, “ie.
Israel” and so she wanted to be Saved.
Saved from God’s rath and to be a part of His people.
This desire to be saved and to be on God’s side and His will is what oriented her actions to hide the spies, to help the spies, to receive her salvation.
Because of her Belief and Desire to be Loyal to God, He used her actions for His redemptive purposes.
Is God at your doorstep, is he knocking at your door.
Do you have a sense of your unworthiness.
- Ask Him to Save you.
Don’t fight him, you will not win.
Instead join him.
It is loyalty and allegience to God, not our pefection that God uses.
Application Point: Don’t let your past dictate whether you will serve the Lord or not.
But that is not the whole Biblical Picture.
How do we Encourage Loyal Service?
33-Encouraging the Loyal.
Wisdom: All are able to serve, but not all should serve everywhere.
6 not newly converted, lest he become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
7 But he must also have a good testimony from those outside, in order that he may not fall into disgrace and the trap of the devil.
3 So, brothers, select from among you seven men ⌊of good reputation⌋, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we will put in charge of this need.
4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Leadershift:
Seeker - available 1-2 hours/week, gifts/passion, style are untested/uncertain.
- Rahab falls here - not being called to lead, but she simply served, The Demoniac - Wanted to follow Jesus - He says no go share your testimony.
New/Young believer - available 2-4 hours/week, gifts/passion/style need to generally fit the person and the position.
Stable/Growing believer - available 5-7 hours/week, gifts/passion/style need to specifically reflect the position.
Leading/Equipping believer - avalaible 7+ hours/week, gifts/passion/style are proven/affirmed, able to lead and develop people.
- The Spies, Joshua, The Deacons, the Elders, the Apostles
Application Point: Be wise about your spiritual growth and what roles are appropriate for you to serve.
Process - 2 Timothy 2:2
Conclusion: We are all on a journey of Growth.
No one has arrived, but we are all called to serve in some capacity as a statement of Faith and Loyatly to our God who has saved us.
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