Life Pursuits and Worthy Resolutions
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I. Minister with the impartiality of grace.
I. Minister with the impartiality of grace.
II. Embrace anonymity.
II. Embrace anonymity.
Sermon Big Idea: Life pursuits and worthy resolutions
54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’
4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Introduction
39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Good morning, a few months ago, I preached this text at the Rural Church Planting Summit in Antigo, WI. At the time, my task was to present a theology of Rural Church Planting. Through the study of 2 Kings 4, four life pursuits emerged, which are about as close to resolutions as I will get. Since these pursuits are not merely observations from the life of Elisha, but are also found in the life and teaching of Jesus, I present them to you today as worthy resolutions for your life.Read 2 Kings 4:1-37PrayContextual mattersElisha’s historical personal contextFarmer turned prophetFirst meet him while he’s plowing his field
III. Be present.
III. Be present.
1Kings 19:19 ¶ So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.
12 Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
More on this under the impartiality of grace. Israel’s historical spiritual contextAn age of apostasySchools of prophets scattered around that seem to be largely devoid of powerGehazi, Elisha’s servant, is a fool and a liar. I have heard consistent stories of hardness to the gospel among rural communities where people consider themselves Christians. As we all know, spirituality does not equate salvation, and many of you like Elisha are acquainted with the literal hard soil of farming and the spiritual hard soil of communities that have apostatized though rampant inoculation to the gospel. All this to say, we are in good company with Elisha, the farmer turned prophet. A. W. Pink identifies ten theological themes Minister with [the impartiality of grace.]See the socio-economic contrast of the two women.A. W. Pink notes at least seven stark contrasts between the two women. The many contrasts, not least their significant economic disparity, serve to highlight the impartiality of grace at work between the two.See the impartiality of grace.Elisha ministers to each where she is.At the widows houseOn the rich woman’s roofGod exercises his power as each one needs.ProvisionCompassionate gift of the boyEach exhibit strong faith.The widow obeysThe rich woman exhibits contentment and seeks the power of God when her son dies
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
“She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”” (2 Kings 4:13 ESV)
“Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.”” (2 Kings 4:22 ESV)
IV. Sympathize with death as you minister to the dead.
IV. Sympathize with death as you minister to the dead.
See the socio-economic contrast in our communitiesThe houses on Farrend Rd.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
This is the make up of our small towns. The very poor and the vary rich. Very often they are not separated by neighborhoods or city blocks, but can see each other through the kitchen window.
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Sit in an elegant home for prayer with other believers, then deliver a meal four miles away to a home without drywall in the living room.So we minister with the impartiality of grace.We dare not assume that poor need us more, or that the more well to do have their spiritual lives in better order. Elisha reminds us these are not decisions for us to make. No, we carry the gospel of Jesus Christ over the sagging thresholds and the shinny marble tiled entryways, entrusting each person to the sovereign grace of God.Remember, Elisha is a farmer turned prophet by the power of God and used to influence multiple nations. God will use the rich and poor to plant his churches.See the impartiality of grace in Jesus ministry.Not only do we see this theological theme in 2 Kings 4, but in Jesus’ ministry as he loved the rich young ruler, commended the poor woman with two copper coins, ate with tax collectors, and dined with religious leaders. In each case, speaking the gospel word as each needed to hear. God’s grace has played no favorites with those of us sitting in this room, and grace plays no favorites with the ministry of the gospel in Genesee County.Transition: This grace that we have received empowers us to pursue anonymity.Embrace [anonymity.]The writer communicates the theme of anonymity through event, place, and action. Event: contrast between chapter 3 and chapter 4. From the victorious battlefield to the widow’s home rather than the king’s hall. To the unknown rather than the place of renown. Place: Shunem (small farming community), Mt. Carmel (a difficult to reach mountain.)
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2Kings 4:25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite.
Action: shut the door, shut the door, shutting the door.
2Kings 4:4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.”
2Kings 4:5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her.
2Kings 4:32 ¶ When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed.
2Kings 4:33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD.
Noting Elisha’s willingness to be unknown throughout these two scenes, A. W. Pink writes, He who has, by grace, the heart of a true servant Christ, would not, if he could, exchange places with the monarch on his throne or the millionaire with all his luxuries.
Elisha pursued anonymity and so will most of us.Rural church planting often (not always as is evidenced by some of the churches represented in this room) takes a mix of hard work for little fruit over a lot of time. In some context, God has seen fit to grown rural churches quickly, but in many small towns, the churches are small, the spiritual ground is hard, and the labor is long. So the task before you is both arduous and time consuming.Many of us who have given ourselves to the often lonely work of rural church planting, will fill our time working to break up the hard soil in our contexts in order to plant the seed of the gospel. The time this takes will not leave you much time for platform building, book writing, podcast recording, and conference speaking. The Evangelistic Work in Clio: Before us are the many years of building trust; unteaching a gospel of self-reliance, and teaching, often for the first time, the gospel of Jesus Christ; counseling broken people in broken relationships who have grown up believing that they can fix anything if they just work harder.The rural church planter goes into the rural context embracing the gospel call of laying down self to “become unknown among the unknown to make Christ known.”Certainly this can and will be a struggle against our flesh that wants to be known and praised by people. But the gospel fights for us at every turn reminding us that those of us who love God are known by God. (1 Cor 8:3).We are known by God because laid his life down for us. He himself died on our behalf so that we will die to self.
Matt. 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Transition: As we pursue anonymity we are able to be present.Be present. [presence]Elisha is present.He stays in contact the widow until her needs are met.
2Kings 4:7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”
He frequents the Shunemite’s home.
“whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food.” (2 Kings 4:8 ESV)
He is present in her home in her deepest grief.
2Kings 4:32 ¶ When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed.
2Kings 4:33 So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the LORD.
It was through Elisha’s presence that the women experienced the power of God. In order to minister in the rural context, we must be present.Yesterday I was talking with Shaun from North Carolina, and we were discussing the power of presence over the long haul. There were people in Clio who wouldn’t attend our church in the first few years who are now members because they wanted to see if we were in it for the long haul.
I believe it was Mark Dever who said something along the lines of, “you will likely over estimate what you can accomplish in the first three years of ministry and grossly underestimate what you will accomplish after ten years of ministry in that same place.”
I remember some long time Clio residents telling me they would be interested in hearing more about the church after I signed a mortgage.People in general and especially here are looking for presence.As Jonathan Dodson wrote in his book Unbelievable Gospel, “Emoticons don’t substitute for a real hug.”This is a desire we see from the beloved apostle: 2John 12 ¶ Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.In a greater way, we see the theological importance of presence in Jesus. As with Elisha, it was through the presence of Jesus with us that we experience the power of God.
John 1:14 ¶ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Transition: Through his presence with us, Jesus sympathized with our greatest weakness: death.Sympathize with their death. [sympathizing with death]The great fear is death.Death is the great fear of every man, woman, and child in our community. They may not know it yet, but lovingly stay present long enough, and you will sit with a neighbor or co-worker talking about their fear of death. Those conversations will revolve around a death of a loved one, a recurring nightmare, their own impending death; but you are keenly aware of another death. This other type of death is what led me to Clio, Ben Luethy to Howell, and Thom Desmond to Antigo, and if you will listen to the Spirit, will lead you into your week with purpose. We are surrounded by spiritually dead people. They are dead in their sin, cast as slaves to Satan’s power (Eph 2:1; Acts 26:18).
Eph. 2:1 ¶ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Ministering the gospel of life in the rural context takes sympathizing with our small town’s unique flavor of death. Look at Elisha’s response to the power of death. He went to the house; he was present. He closed the door; he worked in anonymity. He went to the boy; then he identified with the boy.
2Kings 4:34 Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm.
2Kings 4:35 Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him.
Mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand Elisha “identified himself with the boy in his mortality and death, and only then was life restored.” Brothers and sisters, the anonymous work of being present in small town in order to know and sympathize with hardened to the gospel through the idol of self-sufficiency is a work of death to self as you gradually come to understand the uniqueness of spiritual death in our context.Transition: But don’t despair, because it is here at this little boy’s death that we find the clearest picture of our Savior.
Conclusion
In this tiny farming village, so many hundred years before Jesus came, God saw fit to paint a picture of Jesus work on the cross in these historical events.
Like all miracles, the miracle Elisha performed for the Shunammite widow’s son pointed to the future. It anticipated and provided a foretaste of the resurrection of the dead. But it also did more than that. It showed in some measure how God would accomplish this resurrection. He would send his own Son to identify with us and to take on our humanity and mortality. . . . We are raised to life because he identified with us in death so that we could identify with him in resurrection.
Jesus doesn’t clear a path for us to follow; instead, he takes the arduous hike for us, going down into the valley of the shadow of death where the criminals die. He hikes down into our sin [and the sins of our rural context], our rebellion, and our failures. He heaps them all on his back and climbs on a cross, where he is punished for our crime, a bloody gruesome death.
Knowing that Jesus has taken the hike for us let me invite you to follow our savior who has given grace equally because of his good pleasure, died himself so that we may die to self, who has dwelt among us, and identified with us in death so that we might live to God. Follow him back into your homes with your families, your workplace, and among your friends to minister his gospel with great joy.