How Far Will You Go?

Bottom line

How far are you willing to go for the gospel?

Opening Line

To kick things off this morning, I want to read a couple of stories from the Old Testament that I think are really cool. They are stories about warriors doing amazing things that you can’t help but be in awe of the feats that are described. These stories are found in 2 Sam 23. They are stories of King David’s mightiest warriors.

read about Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Benaiah.

Just out of curiosity, do any of those stories sound vaguely familiar to anyone? I’m looking more at those who have been around longer then me.

Someone might point out Benaiah. If not, don’t dwell on it too much.

Introduction

There are two reasons I start with those stories. One is because like the story of Benaiah, much of the message from chapter 9 is something that Pastor Louis used to preach a lot. In fact, for now many of the points are on the walls, which makes for a really easy sermon illustration.

Main Point

The other reason is slightly more challenging. Jashobeam and Eleazar stood their ground when others ran. They were willing to stand their ground against unimaginable odds and lived to tell the story. In fact, Eleazar’s hand was frozen to his sword because he had swung it so many times, killing his enemies.

These men were willing give everything for the sake of their nation, for the sake of their king. They saw their lives as something to give for the greater cause, not something to protect for their own preservation. It actually aligns with something Jesus said.

Luke 9:23–24 NLT

Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

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This is actually a teaching that all four of the gospel writers highlight in their depictions of Jesus’ life. If you want to follow Jesus, if you truly want to save your life, it will require you to lay it down for the sake of the cross.

Why it matters

Which is a great segway into chapter 9. Paul is going to turn the attention to himself, not in a bragging way, but as an example of what this selfless life looks like. If chapter 8 was Paul’s encouraging the church to be willing to lay down their freedoms for the sake of others, chapter 9 is Paul showing how he is not only teaching the church how to live and act, but how he is actually living it out himself. In chapter 9, you are going to see that Paul is willing to go to great lengths for the sake of the gospel, which begs the question of you and I,

How far are you willing to go for the sake of the gospel?

Scripture

So with that question floating in each of your minds this morning, let’s dive into the text. We are starting in verse 1 of chapter 9

1 Corinthians 9:1–10 NLT

Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle. This is my answer to those who question my authority. Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing? For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest.

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Paul kicks off this portion of the letter by laying out a strong argument for why the church should pay its leaders. His argument is that every of profession on earth gets compenstated for their work, why shouldn’t those who lead the church? He even takes it back to the law in Deuteronomy, pointing out that even the ox is supposed to get his payment for treading the grain. For those unfamiliar with what Paul is refering to here, oxen were used for threshing grain and also grinding it with a huge stone. The ox would walk in a circle all day, dragging this stone and turning wheat to flour. The payment for the ox was that when some grain spilled over, it would eat the grain on the ground. However, because farmers would be cruel, they would muzzle the ox so that they couldn’t eat, thus saving the grain that spilled over.

Paul’s point is doube layered. One layer is the reminder that God is concerned with creation, and we should be caretakers of his creation. The other layer is that if God is concerned with the animals that labor, how much more is he concerned about the people that layer. It is the same logic that Jesus uses in Matthew 6 when he tells you not to worry about food. If God feeds the sparrow, how much more will he meet your needs. Same principle applies.

To this, all I want to say is a huge thank you. It is truly a privilege to be your lead pastor, and you have always taken care of my family. I pray for those who have to do bi-vocational ministry in order to lead the church and put food on the table. It is tough, but I know it is the reality for a lot of churches. I praise God that is not the case here.

But Paul is building a case for his bigger argument.

1 Corinthians 9:11–18 NLT

Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ. Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge. Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News.

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What is Paul saying? Even though it is his right to live off the ministry, and he had planted a lot of churches at this point, he chose not to take advantage of that right. Why? Because he doesn’t want to create an obstacle for anyone to hear the gospel.

This is the tie in the chapter 8. Last week we talked about the fact that your freedoms and knowledge should not cause another believer to stumble in their faith. This morning, Paul doesn’t to use his rights in such a way that a unbeliever could not hear the gospel for the first time.

At which point I would like to draw your attention to the first banner we are going to look at this morning. For those online, there is banner on the one wall that says, “We as a congregation will remove all barriers...” For Paul, the barrier was money, not wanting to let finances dictate who he could and couldn’t preach the gospel to.

But what about in your own life? Where are the barriers you have untintentionally created between you and people? Maybe some of them are very intentional and you know exactly what I’m talking about this morning.

I want you to hear me carefully. I know that there are scenarios where you have to create parameters around your time, your family, etc. There are things that need to be protected. But my question is whether that barrier has inadvertently cut someone off from Christ and hearing the Good News. Or if that barrier has prevented you from sharing your testimony or the Gospel with them. If the mission is to go and make disciples, and there are barriers that are preventing that from happening, then those barriers either need to come down or be realigned. I understand that there are some really tough sitations that some of you find yourself in, and so for those situations, you need to pray about it. If God has told you that you need to maintain some separation, then he knows who will make the impact. But maybe some of you need to have some tough conversations, and though it may be intimidating at the moment, there could be some deep healing that happens. Love covers a multitude of sins, the Apostle John says.

So are there barriers you have inadvertently created that are preventing people from coming to the Gospel?

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 NLT

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ. When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law. When I am with the Gentiles who do not follow the Jewish law, I too live apart from that law so I can bring them to Christ. But I do not ignore the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are weak, I share their weakness, for I want to bring the weak to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone, doing everything I can to save some. I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

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The heart of this passage is in the first and last verse. Paul starts this section with, “I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ” and he finishes with, “I do everything I can to save some.” That verse is actually on the wall on this side, with another banner saying, “As a congregation, we commit to do anything short of sin.”

Why would Paul be willing to go to such great lengths to share the gospel with people? Because he felt the urgency. He believed that Jesus would return in his lifetime, so he wanted to share the love of Christ with as many people as possible before time ran out. So he would be whatever he needed to be, within the parameter of honoring God in everything.

So the question I have for you this morning is who do you need to be in this season to reach the people God has put in your life? What changes are you willing to make in order to have a more effective witness to those around you?

As I was thinking about this, I couldn’t help but think of Michelle. We have been together for 12 years, and every one of those years I have been in full time ministry while Michelle has held different jobs and roles. But in this particular season, she is our youth pastor. There was a need to do ministry for the youth of our communites, and the Lord laid a passion on her heart to do it. Now she’s always been involved in youth ministry, but she’s never led it. What helps is that my wife has not aged a day since we got married. As the great marriage expert Tim Hawkins points out, my wife ages like fine wine while I seem to be aging like milk left out on the counter. I’ve gotten thicker, lumpy, and there’s a funny smell that wasn’t there before.

But if the goal is to make disciples, if the key to being a disciple is to lay down your life for the sake of Jesus, then what changes might you need to make to share Jesus with someone? Maybe you need to take up a new hobby that you gets you around a different group of people. Maybe you need to sit with a different group of people at lunch break. Maybe you just need to invite someone into your home. What is something you are currently not doing that might open the door for you to share the gospel with someone? Who do you have to be willing to be, or what do you need to be willing to do?

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 NLT

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

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Paul closes with the analogy of athletes. If athletes are the picture of physical discipline, all for the purpose of attaining a temporary crown, then as believers, you should be the picture of spiritual discipline. Watch the way you live, the decisions you make, to ensure they are God honoring.

This is something I’ve started praying for myself. This partially comes from the Lord, Teach Us To Pray series we started the year with. In the prayer Jesus taught us, we say, “Don’t let us yield to temptation.” In the mentoring I am a part of, one of the prayers we commit to pray for ourselves and the others in the group is that we would be disciplined, especially as the time is short.

Transition to Application

So Paul lays out his approach to life and ministry, and later on in this letter, Paul is going to encourage the church to imitate him as he seeks to imitate Christ. So what are you to do with Paul’s example?

Main To Do

The goal is to make disciples. So I bring us back to where we started.

How far are you willing to go for the sake of the gospel?

What are barriers do you need to tear down? What are you willing to do to open the doors for someone to come to know Jesus for the first, or return to him? This is not just a question you need to ask yourself individually, but it is a question we need to ask ourselves collectively. Are there things going on that might keep people away? Who do we need to be to reach Carlyle, Redvers, and the surrounding communities?

The best way to answer this question is know who you are trying to reach. Who has God put on your heart to reach at this time? Is it your neighbour or a coworker? For us a church, we know that kids and youth are a priority for us right now, and we are leaning into that. But who has God put on your heart. Once you know the who, then it becomes easier to answer the what. What is that person interested in? How can you make a connection that might lead to a gospel sharing opportunity?

Why it matters

The Apostle Paul saw no greater work to be done in life then to see as many people saved by the love of Jesus as possible, and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to make that happen. If Jesus’ last words to his followers was to make disciples of all nations, then that’s what you need to do. You don’t need to be an evangelist or a pastor to do that. You just need to be willing to be used by the Spirit of God to bear witness of God’s goodness in your own life. When you discover the joy of inviting someone into a relationship with Jesus, you begin to realize why Paul would be willing to give his life for it.

Closing Line

So are you willing to lose yourself a little for the sake of seeing someone else saved by the grace of Jesus?

Discussion Questions

What stood out from the message?

Who is someone that needs to hear the Good News of Jesus? What is the name of the person God has laid on your heart?

What do you need to do to create an opportunity to share with that person? What barriers do you need to remove in order to have that opportunity?

Reflect on the story of Paul; are there any rights or privileges you're holding onto that might hinder your ability to witness?

What specific changes can you make in your life to become more approachable for discussing your faith with others?