Vocations, Lizards, and the Gospel (Philemon)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:07.150 Let me read you the letter of Paul to Phi Lehman. Brief context. 2 00:00:07.269 --> 00:00:12.949 This fi lehman was a wealthy man lived in the likest valley near Modern Day 3 00:00:13.550 --> 00:00:16.710 north of Modern Day is mere, and this was a letter he wrote, 4 00:00:16.750 --> 00:00:22.260 and will explain the circumstances during the message. Paul, a prisoner for Christ 5 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:27.300 Jesus, and Timothy, our brother to Phi Lehman, are beloved fellow worker, 6 00:00:28.339 --> 00:00:32.340 and Aphia our sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier in the church 7 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:37.369 in your house. Grace to you and peace from God, our father and 8 00:00:37.490 --> 00:00:42.409 the Lord Jesus Christ. I think my God always when I remember you in 9 00:00:42.530 --> 00:00:47.090 my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you 10 00:00:47.329 --> 00:00:51.600 have toward the Lord Jesus at all the saints, and I pray that the 11 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:57.880 sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing 12 00:00:58.039 --> 00:01:02.200 that is in us, for the sake of Christ, for I have derived 13 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:07.510 much joy and comfort from your love, my brothers, because the hearts of 14 00:01:07.590 --> 00:01:12.349 the saints had been refreshed through you. Accordingly, though, I am bold 15 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:15.829 enough to, in Christ, to command you to do what is required. 16 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:19.659 Yet, for love's sake, I prefer to appeal to you, I, 17 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.620 Paul, an old man and now a prisoner. Also, for Christ Jesus, 18 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:32.140 I appeal to you for my child, Anessimus, whose father I became 19 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:37.290 in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is 20 00:01:37.409 --> 00:01:42.090 indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, 21 00:01:42.409 --> 00:01:47.359 sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with 22 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:51.359 me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for 23 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:56.319 the Gospel, but I prefer to do nothing without your consent, in order 24 00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.120 that your goodness might not be by compulsion but Bah of your own free will. 25 00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:06.829 For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from you for a 26 00:02:06.950 --> 00:02:13.150 while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave, 27 00:02:13.550 --> 00:02:17.219 but more than a slave, as a beloved brother, and especially to 28 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:22.900 me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in 29 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:27.860 the Lord. So, if you consider me your partner, receive him as 30 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.770 you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all or owes you 31 00:02:31.889 --> 00:02:37.409 anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with 32 00:02:37.530 --> 00:02:42.289 my own hand. I will repay it, to say nothing of your owing 33 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:46.840 me even your own self yes, brother, I want some benefit from you 34 00:02:46.039 --> 00:02:53.400 in the Lord, refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, 35 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:55.599 I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. 36 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.669 At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am 37 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:04.669 hoping that, through your prayers, I will be graciously given to you. 38 00:03:06.030 --> 00:03:10.110 EPAPHRATS, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you and Sir 39 00:03:10.310 --> 00:03:15.659 do mark, Aristarchus deem us and Luke, my fellow workers, the grace 40 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:23.819 of the Lord Jesus Christ, be with your spirit. Amen, as we 41 00:03:23.979 --> 00:03:28.569 begin looking at scripture this morning, I want you to imagine it's tomorrow morning 42 00:03:28.969 --> 00:03:32.009 at seven am, or whatever time you rise. Some of you may be 43 00:03:32.129 --> 00:03:38.490 much earlier risers like I am. You'll wake you maybe you have coffee or 44 00:03:38.810 --> 00:03:46.039 tea or some kind of beverage to get the cells working, the brain cells 45 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:50.919 alive. Maybe breakfast. Maybe you check your news feed, your email. 46 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:58.590 Your kids are crying for your attention. Your Week has begun. You're re 47 00:03:58.789 --> 00:04:03.349 engaging with your work week, your ordinary calling. Maybe, maybe you're just 48 00:04:03.509 --> 00:04:08.389 re engaging with your children after they slept for a night, and now you're 49 00:04:08.430 --> 00:04:14.460 back at it with the little ones. You are involved in your ordinary callings 50 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:20.779 and as you enter those ordinary callings, those details of life, errands and 51 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:27.730 bills to pay and commuting and work and paychecks and decisions. Scripture makes this 52 00:04:27.769 --> 00:04:31.970 very clear. In Christ we can know that God can be pleased with my 53 00:04:32.290 --> 00:04:44.279 daily work. I can serve Christ in these ordinary calling and God wants you 54 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:49.399 to wake each day knowing that that his eye is upon you, that that 55 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:55.269 he can be pleased with your ordinary labors, whether whether it's cooking or cleaning 56 00:04:55.350 --> 00:05:00.029 or changing diapers or shopping or working or commuting or getting your oil changed, 57 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:04.430 whatever it is, God can be pleased with that and what you are doing 58 00:05:04.589 --> 00:05:11.540 can be an honor to Christ. Now that that's amazingly freeing good news. 59 00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:19.060 You are not wasting your time for the rest of the week and looking for 60 00:05:19.139 --> 00:05:24.649 the time to come here when finally you get to do something important. But 61 00:05:24.810 --> 00:05:28.889 there's more to it than that. That's what I want to talk about today, 62 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:30.970 because not only can you and I serve Christ in our daily work, 63 00:05:31.970 --> 00:05:38.720 that God has placed you there. God has placed you in your ordinary callings 64 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.800 and he has placed you there to bring you into what I'm going to call 65 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.920 today Gospel Opportunities. Now, what do I mean by Gospel Opportunity? I 66 00:05:47.399 --> 00:05:55.189 do not mean necessarily an opportunity to talk about Jesus. That surprise you, 67 00:05:56.870 --> 00:05:59.350 but I will explain as we go into this. No, no, I'm 68 00:05:59.350 --> 00:06:03.339 not talking about an opportunity to talk, but I'm talking about situations and circumstances 69 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:10.540 where you have the opportunity to show, to demonstrate, to live out the 70 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:15.980 meaning of the Gospel in the midst of the ordinary callings of your life, 71 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:20.449 seven days a week, fifty two weeks a year, as long as you 72 00:06:20.569 --> 00:06:26.529 are engaged in ordinary calling. The main idea what I want to talk about 73 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:30.009 today, rooted and finallymen, is that God sends you, brothers and sisters, 74 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:38.519 in your ordinary daily callings, into Gospel opportunity to live and demonstrate the 75 00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:43.120 realities of life in Christ. Now we are going to come back to Fin 76 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:46.199 Lehman and look at a new testament example, but I want to explain a 77 00:06:46.240 --> 00:06:48.949 little more why I'm talking about this. You can see, for four years 78 00:06:49.589 --> 00:06:54.589 and I've been a pastor. Why? Don't want to admit this, but 79 00:06:54.949 --> 00:06:59.149 thirty seven and a half, thirty seven years this year, thirty eight years 80 00:06:59.230 --> 00:07:02.060 coming up. It's been a while and in those years I have I have 81 00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:08.379 had no ideas getting that old, but in those years I've heard many, 82 00:07:08.459 --> 00:07:14.939 many testimonies of people's call to missions or ministry that sounded something like this quote. 83 00:07:15.500 --> 00:07:18.649 After ten, twenty, thirty years being a teacher, engineer, accountant, 84 00:07:18.649 --> 00:07:24.009 landscaper, soldier, plumber, handyman, whatever it is, God has 85 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:27.930 given me a call to do his work. Now I am finally able to 86 00:07:27.970 --> 00:07:33.839 do things with eternal value. You ever heard things like that? Do you 87 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:41.360 hear what's being assumed? What's be assumed is that people in Vocational Ministry are 88 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:46.670 serving God and people in ordinary callings are not so much. And people in 89 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:51.870 Vocational Ministry have more opportunities for the Gospel than people in their ordinary callings, 90 00:07:55.750 --> 00:08:00.620 more than housewives and engineers and landscapers and bread makers, more than students, 91 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:05.939 and I think scripture disagrees with that. I've not observed that to be true. 92 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.939 It's a matter of fact. I would say most of the opportunities to 93 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:16.810 live out and Express Gospel Truth are in your lives, not in mine. 94 00:08:18.810 --> 00:08:22.930 That brings me to the matter of lizards. So you may have noticed this 95 00:08:24.089 --> 00:08:28.079 really weird sermon title with the Word Lizards in it. But that's the first 96 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.399 time you've seen the word lizards in a sermon title. It may be the 97 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.320 only time you'll ever hear any mention of lizards, except as an illustration and 98 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.840 a sermon. Well, number of years ago I heard a sermon came out 99 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:46.789 of an international conference on Evangelism and world mission and the underlying theme in the 100 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:52.429 sermon was frogs and lizards, and the man based his sermon on the text 101 00:08:52.590 --> 00:08:56.980 proverbs three thousand and twenty eight. The Lizard you can take in your hands, 102 00:08:56.059 --> 00:09:01.940 yet it is in kings palaces. It's an odd text, but if 103 00:09:01.980 --> 00:09:07.059 you understand lizards, and we in Tussa on no lizards, we know that 104 00:09:07.340 --> 00:09:11.330 that is exactly the case, that you can trap a lizard and catch a 105 00:09:11.450 --> 00:09:15.009 lizard and they're not hard to do that with. But they also end up 106 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:20.289 in the most unusual places. They sneak in, they get into kings palaces, 107 00:09:20.330 --> 00:09:22.730 they're in your bathroom, they're in your kitchen, they're all over the 108 00:09:22.809 --> 00:09:28.519 place. Lizards get into places. That was the point of his illustration and 109 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:35.000 he decided to compare frogs and lizards. You see, they're different. Frogs 110 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:41.789 announce their presence when the monsoon rains come in Tucson and the toads emerge from 111 00:09:41.870 --> 00:09:48.429 the earth. You hear them, you know where they are, but lizards 112 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:54.379 don't announce their presence, they're just there. And he said there are two 113 00:09:54.379 --> 00:09:58.500 kinds of callings God has first people in the world, frogs and lizards. 114 00:09:58.580 --> 00:10:05.659 You see, pastors, missionaries are frogs. We announce our presence as soon 115 00:10:05.700 --> 00:10:09.610 as people find out what we do, they know what we represent. I 116 00:10:09.649 --> 00:10:16.090 have spent almost forty years engaging in conversation where as soon as I tell someone 117 00:10:16.129 --> 00:10:22.159 I'm a pastor, they change the subject or they apologize for something they've said. 118 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.840 I was playing golf here years ago and and on the a Cole I 119 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:30.279 had not told them that I was playing with it I was a pastor. 120 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:33.679 Like I wanted to play low key about it, and they engaged in the 121 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:37.549 usual things golfers say when they're playing the game of golf. And on the 122 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:39.950 eighthole that one man hit a terrible shot and let forth with a string of 123 00:10:39.990 --> 00:10:43.750 unusual words that I don't repeat, and then he turned to me and he 124 00:10:43.830 --> 00:10:48.190 said, by the way, what do you do? I said I'm a 125 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:54.259 pastor and he said, I am so sorry now. You've probably never experienced 126 00:10:54.340 --> 00:11:00.100 that because your lizards now, and that's not an insult, it's a noble 127 00:11:00.299 --> 00:11:03.929 calling. I'm a frog. You are lizards, and that means as lizards, 128 00:11:05.009 --> 00:11:07.289 you don't wear your Christian identity on your forehead, it's not on Your 129 00:11:07.330 --> 00:11:11.649 Business Card. It doesn't mean you hide it, it just means you don't 130 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:16.929 lead with it. You actually have the opportunity to live out the meaning of 131 00:11:18.009 --> 00:11:22.440 the Gospel before you tell them who you are. I have a friend who 132 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:26.679 is in commercial real estate who did that for years. He said I never 133 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:33.029 told anyone I was a Christian until after the deal was closed because I wanted 134 00:11:33.110 --> 00:11:37.429 to demonstrate integrity and character before I told them why I was that way. 135 00:11:39.190 --> 00:11:43.990 So you, in your daily callings and your secular callings, are lizards. 136 00:11:45.070 --> 00:11:50.779 You are called to make the Gospel beautiful in your daily well lives. That's 137 00:11:50.820 --> 00:11:54.500 Paul's language, not mine. Titus to adorning the Gospel, and you can 138 00:11:54.580 --> 00:12:00.940 do that in ways I can't. Your lizards. You you go places I 139 00:12:01.100 --> 00:12:07.129 will never go and have opportunities I will never see. Now I've always thought 140 00:12:07.129 --> 00:12:11.250 that was the case. I can't give you all the reasons. I've always 141 00:12:11.250 --> 00:12:13.970 thought that, but I've always thought that was the case, but now I 142 00:12:13.210 --> 00:12:16.759 know it's the case. And let me tell you why. About about five 143 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:20.799 years ago I stepped out of being a pastor for a period of time to 144 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:28.480 take classes at Westminster Seminary in California. I've been a pastor well over thirty 145 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:33.509 years of that time and I decided to take some classes at Westminster. And 146 00:12:33.629 --> 00:12:39.669 I also had a day job and it had a different title. I was 147 00:12:39.789 --> 00:12:46.580 the board chair of the Palomar Ymca and Escondido, California. I had a 148 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.860 business card. Actually found one in my suitcase the other day that said Mark 149 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:56.620 Lauderback Board Chair of Palamar family why MCA Escondido. Now my job description was 150 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:01.049 to lead the board management, to recruit new members for the board, to 151 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:05.490 work with the executive leadership of the why and to be involved in fundraising. 152 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:11.409 So that put me in touch with community leaders of Escondido, where we live, 153 00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:15.519 to make the why a better organization. And I would go to lunches, 154 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:18.279 I would take men to lunch, the coffee tick men and women to 155 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:22.720 various meetings and it was the first time in more than thirty years that I 156 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:26.870 wasn't a frog. I was a lizard. And here's what I found during 157 00:13:26.990 --> 00:13:33.509 that year. When I told people my title, they ask questions. They 158 00:13:33.549 --> 00:13:37.950 didn't shut me off, they didn't change the subject, they didn't apologize for 159 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:41.539 something they had said. They wanted to get to know me, want to 160 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:46.820 know about the why. I had a lot of time with people in our 161 00:13:46.899 --> 00:13:52.940 community that year and in that one year I had more opportunities to live out 162 00:13:54.019 --> 00:14:00.690 the Gospel and discuss the Gospel than I'd had in three decades as a pastor. 163 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:05.690 I was a lizard for a year, not a frog, and I 164 00:14:05.850 --> 00:14:09.649 loved it. How much thought I think? I think I'd rather be a 165 00:14:09.730 --> 00:14:13.159 lizard. I wrestled with that. I was a lizard for a year. 166 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:20.960 Most of you are lizards all the time. You're working lizards, retired lizards, 167 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:24.710 lizards as you meet other parents at school, lizards as you go to 168 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:28.549 the doctor, the dennist lizards in your neighborhood, lizards with your classmates and 169 00:14:28.669 --> 00:14:37.029 teammates. That's why I say God sends you his people, Lizards, as 170 00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:41.740 it were, in your daily callings, into Gospel opportunities to show the beauty 171 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:45.500 of the Gospel in ways I, as a pastor, will never know. 172 00:14:46.860 --> 00:14:50.299 And he's using you to do that flawed as your example. Maybe your words 173 00:14:50.379 --> 00:14:54.210 and actions may be a fragrance of Christ to the people around you. So 174 00:14:54.330 --> 00:14:58.370 that's the big idea. That's why we have lizards. And now let's Lo 175 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.129 look at a new testament example. Tucked into the Your Testament, one of 176 00:15:03.129 --> 00:15:09.159 the shortest letters, is this amazing story of finallyman. So let's talk about 177 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:11.759 the story. First of all, who are the actors in this story? 178 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:16.399 WHEW, there's one frog and two lizards. The Frog is the apostle, 179 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:22.789 Paul. He's in prison far away in Rome. The lizards are two individuals. 180 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:28.590 Phi Leeman, wealthy businessman and the likest valley had come to faith in 181 00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:33.149 Christ through the Ministry of Paul, likely a man highly honored in that community. 182 00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:39.820 He had slaves in his workforce. Will talk a little bit more about 183 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:46.460 that's different than nineteen century southern US slavery. We would call him probably an 184 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:50.490 employer today. He had a large workforce. He was a man whose identity 185 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:56.169 had been remade in Christ. His wife and his son, who are mentioned 186 00:15:56.210 --> 00:16:00.210 in this letter, are now serving Christ with him. They are using their 187 00:16:00.330 --> 00:16:03.009 resources, their home as a place for the church to meet. They are 188 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.480 serving God's people, they are refreshing the hearts of the saints. That he 189 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.159 that he is a lizard. He he is a lizard who is life has 190 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:15.440 been changed, whose work has been changed, who's years, of his resources, 191 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:21.110 has been changed, and he is representing Christ in the workplace, in 192 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:26.389 the likest valley, in his community, as he serves Christ. Second character 193 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:32.389 in this story, the second wizard, is a Nessimus, and Simus is 194 00:16:32.429 --> 00:16:37.779 a slave. Now, slavery in the Roman world was not like the kidnapping 195 00:16:37.980 --> 00:16:42.940 degrading slavery of recent history. A slave could become a slave by inability to 196 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:48.289 pay debt. A slave could be set free by paying off a slave could 197 00:16:48.289 --> 00:16:51.649 be a doctor, could be a professional it there were limits, but it 198 00:16:51.850 --> 00:16:56.169 wasn't being owned and dominated by a slave owner. And this slave, an 199 00:16:56.289 --> 00:17:03.080 SMS, was a really bad slave. He was, he was a slave, 200 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.960 but he and he wasn't a good one. And what we know from 201 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:12.240 this story is anessimus ran away, ran away, and so the story is 202 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:17.029 said in that context. So here are the lead actors, not the FROG, 203 00:17:17.230 --> 00:17:21.349 but to lizards, a businessman and an employee. Second thing I want 204 00:17:21.390 --> 00:17:25.430 to look at is what opportunity appears here. Well, first of all, 205 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:29.509 in Simus runs away, as I've said, penalty for running away as a 206 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:34.099 slave was not nice branding, where they take a hot iron and mark you 207 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:40.099 with the name of your owner, or death, which ends it right. 208 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:45.329 So an MS has runaway, I and he's run away to Rome to get 209 00:17:45.410 --> 00:17:48.170 lost in the big city. That's the people always run away to the big 210 00:17:48.210 --> 00:17:51.529 city. They don't run away to the small town, they run away to 211 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:55.369 the big city. A third of the residents of Rome where by legal status, 212 00:17:55.450 --> 00:17:57.880 slaves at the time, and he was there for a fugitive from the 213 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:04.200 law, and Roman society was a law and order society. So God has 214 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:10.960 a runaway slave in Rome that he is now going to turn into Gospel Opportunity. 215 00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:17.069 The first step of Gospel Opportunity is a Simus runs away. Is Guess 216 00:18:17.190 --> 00:18:22.430 who he runs into in Rome. Just happens, just happens in a big 217 00:18:22.549 --> 00:18:26.259 city to run into into Paul, who is under house arrest. It's not 218 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:30.940 like he ran into him in the street, he ran into him under house 219 00:18:30.380 --> 00:18:36.420 arrest. Paul is the man through whom finally man, his owner, came 220 00:18:36.539 --> 00:18:44.930 to faith. Paul is someone Anssi Mus, probably new anessimus comes to faith 221 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:52.210 through Paul, as Paul is in prison. First Step in the Gospel Opportunity. 222 00:18:52.289 --> 00:18:55.089 Look at what God has done. Who would have who would have thought 223 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:59.839 that God's way of converting a man is to haven't run away from home fleet 224 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:03.119 to the city illegally and run into the apostle? That God is very creative 225 00:19:03.160 --> 00:19:08.079 in his mean second step in this is this now has created a situation. 226 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.589 As we say, what do we have here? We have a situation. 227 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:17.349 What kind of a situation? We have a very complex situation. Well, 228 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:22.829 what makes it complex? Well, you now have a runaway slave who is 229 00:19:22.230 --> 00:19:26.299 in Rome, has been converted by the Apostle, Paul, whose owner is 230 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:30.900 a Christian. He is first of all inviolation of the law. So their 231 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:36.420 legal issues. Here you have employer employee issues, a breach of law. 232 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:41.490 Bring Your questions arise. Like his Paul obligated by law to send an Ess 233 00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:45.049 in this back to slavery? Or is Paul now able to free an essamis 234 00:19:45.170 --> 00:19:49.329 because a Sims is a Christian? What a complex things come here. Is 235 00:19:49.410 --> 00:19:55.559 Phi Lehman, if anessimist comes back, obligated to punish him? Or is 236 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:59.480 there some other way to go through this? You have community issues. If 237 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:03.119 an S SIMIS goes back, Phi Lehman isn't just a private man, he's 238 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.230 a community leader and whatever he does influences all the other slave owners in the 239 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:11.670 likest valley. You you have relational issues. You Have Phi Lehman who has 240 00:20:11.710 --> 00:20:17.750 been wronged by Anessimus and there needs to be reconciliation. You have a betrayed 241 00:20:17.869 --> 00:20:22.099 trust that needs to be resolved. You have economic issues. Phi Lehman has 242 00:20:22.180 --> 00:20:27.700 lost human capital and he's it's affecting his bottom line. You you have human 243 00:20:27.740 --> 00:20:32.019 rights issues, we would add today you have the issue of slavery, humans 244 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:37.170 owning other humans. You have church issues. How does the Kingdom of God 245 00:20:37.329 --> 00:20:41.970 in the Gospel play out here? Now, what I want you to see 246 00:20:42.049 --> 00:20:48.410 here is that this is about lizards, not frogs. This opportunity rests with 247 00:20:48.690 --> 00:20:52.720 God's people in their ordinary calling. A doesn't take place within the walls of 248 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:59.960 the Church and it is complicated. But the question is, does it make 249 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.349 a difference that Phi Leman is a Christian and Anessimus is now a Christian? 250 00:21:03.589 --> 00:21:11.990 How does that play out? Well, enter the FROG, Paul. Paul 251 00:21:12.230 --> 00:21:18.579 is the frog and he ends up being a coach on the sidelines. He's 252 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:22.140 not the main actor. He just coaching. He's helping them interpret and understand 253 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:26.900 what to do. So Paul works with an s Simus, so that dn't 254 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:33.450 Nessimus is willing to go back. Paul writes a letter to Phi Lehman, 255 00:21:33.569 --> 00:21:37.609 hands it to anessimus and says take it back, and in that letter Paul 256 00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:45.009 Coaches Phi Lehman. So here's what Paul offers in this opportunity. Paul first 257 00:21:45.049 --> 00:21:48.920 of all wants Phi Lemen to know that this is a gospel opportunity when it's 258 00:21:48.960 --> 00:21:55.480 interpreted from a Gospel perspective. This whole situation has to be interpreted from the 259 00:21:55.519 --> 00:22:00.000 right perspective. There lots of ways to interpret what's going on here. We 260 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:04.390 have the facts that we we interpret facts, don't we? You can almost 261 00:22:04.430 --> 00:22:08.069 hear the debates in Washington, can't you? Over these kinds of issues. 262 00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:12.430 You have your have narratives being woven and there lots of ways things are interpreted. 263 00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:17.619 This could have been interpreted as a law and order discussion, keeping slaves 264 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:22.019 in line. This could have been interpreted as a prosperity of the righteous discussion. 265 00:22:22.140 --> 00:22:26.779 See, fi leman's a righteous man and God has rewarded him by bringing 266 00:22:26.859 --> 00:22:30.369 a slave back. This could have been interpreted as a human rights issue, 267 00:22:30.529 --> 00:22:34.329 which was not fully present in the Roman world, but it was somewhat there. 268 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:40.490 However interpreted, it's a pivotal moment for Philemen and Anesimus, and Paul 269 00:22:40.529 --> 00:22:45.440 has to help them interpret what God is doing here. So here's what Paul 270 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:49.440 says. Fi Lelyman, fifteen and sixteen. Look at it. Paul writes 271 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:53.559 to Phi Lehman and he says this, perhaps after telling him that an Essimus 272 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:59.150 has come to faith. This perhaps is why he was parted from you for 273 00:22:59.269 --> 00:23:03.349 a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a 274 00:23:03.430 --> 00:23:07.549 bond servant. Been More than a bond servant, as a beloved brother, 275 00:23:07.589 --> 00:23:12.180 especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh 276 00:23:12.180 --> 00:23:18.660 and in the Lord. You hear Paul's doing, de Phi Lehman, he 277 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:22.460 saying, Finallyman, I want to help you interpret this in light of God's 278 00:23:22.619 --> 00:23:30.009 eternal timeline. Paul doesn't know, or he's being very tactful when he says 279 00:23:30.049 --> 00:23:34.329 perhaps, perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while. 280 00:23:37.049 --> 00:23:44.240 But Paul suggest that this is a situation God has designed it's not random, 281 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:51.799 it didn't just happen. God has designed this whole situation where he has taken 282 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:57.869 the sin of a terrible employee who has fled his master and gone as a 283 00:23:57.950 --> 00:24:03.269 refuge or a fugitive to Rome and has now come to faith, and God 284 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:10.900 has turned used that to bring about salvation. Not a short term departure, 285 00:24:11.660 --> 00:24:17.059 but an eternal brotherhood has now come about. He parted from you for a 286 00:24:17.140 --> 00:24:21.220 while that you might have him back forever, no longer a servant but a 287 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:26.329 brother. See, Paul is helping fin lyman interpret what's going on here. 288 00:24:26.410 --> 00:24:30.369 He's saying to FY Lehman, this is this is not about law and order, 289 00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:32.970 it's not about human rights, it's not about God's blessing of you. 290 00:24:33.490 --> 00:24:38.440 This is about the Gospel, and the Gospel has gone out and a man 291 00:24:38.680 --> 00:24:45.400 has been saved and God has over ruled humans sin saving of a man. 292 00:24:48.319 --> 00:24:52.950 that. Where does Paul get a crazy idea like that? Well, we 293 00:24:52.150 --> 00:24:57.990 go the Old Testament. Let's see Joseph. These brothers sold them into slavery 294 00:24:59.029 --> 00:25:07.420 rather than kill him, and God sent Joseph to Egypt so that the old 295 00:25:07.740 --> 00:25:12.579 descendant, descendant line, descending line of Jacob might be rescued. You intended 296 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:15.619 for evil, God intended for good. We we might wait, might go 297 00:25:15.740 --> 00:25:18.900 to Paul and Philippians, who said, yeah, I'm in prison, but 298 00:25:19.099 --> 00:25:23.170 this imprisonment has resulted in the advance of the Gospel, or might simply go 299 00:25:26.170 --> 00:25:29.529 to the death of Jesus, who was put to death by the hands of 300 00:25:29.569 --> 00:25:34.089 wicked men, falsely accused, found guilty of crimes he did not commit and 301 00:25:34.329 --> 00:25:38.599 then put to death, and that has brought the redemption of accountless multitude. 302 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.400 So Paul's not making stuff up here. He Sang Finallyman, this is about 303 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.720 God's work, this is about the advance of the Gospel, this is about 304 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:52.990 redemption, this is about the Kingdom of God, whatever else you're thinking, 305 00:25:52.430 --> 00:26:00.750 Fin Layman, as Simus is now your brother forever. Let that control the 306 00:26:00.789 --> 00:26:07.140 narrative. And then he calls him to live out the Gospel and its meaning. 307 00:26:08.259 --> 00:26:11.539 And then say speak it out, to live it out. What do 308 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:15.259 I mean by live it out? So here's here's what Paul says to finallyman 309 00:26:15.059 --> 00:26:22.130 for seventeen and eighteen. So if you consider me your partner, receive him, 310 00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:26.289 receive Anessimus, as you would receive me. And if he and es 311 00:26:26.369 --> 00:26:29.690 Simus has wronged you it all or owes you anything. Charge that to my 312 00:26:29.769 --> 00:26:33.079 account, to Paul's account. Wrongs have been done, yes, says Paul. 313 00:26:33.680 --> 00:26:37.920 What do you know about it? It? This is what Paul says. 314 00:26:37.960 --> 00:26:41.319 You're going to do about it? receive him as though he is me, 315 00:26:41.799 --> 00:26:45.240 treat me as you would treat him, and what he owes you. 316 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:52.549 Where did Paul get that idea? Sounds like the Gospel, doesn't it? 317 00:26:53.869 --> 00:27:00.900 Isn't that what Jesus says to the father. For us, father received mark 318 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:07.859 as you would receive me, and whatever mark owes you. Put that to 319 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:11.859 my account, because it's been paid in full at the cross. That's what 320 00:27:12.019 --> 00:27:18.490 he says of each of us. And Paul is saying here Philema, and 321 00:27:18.569 --> 00:27:25.089 you are called to say that to Anessimus, as Jesus has said it to 322 00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:33.359 you. To what what crazy idea? See this is, this is the 323 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:37.799 power of the Kingdom of God. Forgive him, welcome him as a brother, 324 00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:41.000 and Paul says, send him to help me, which means free him 325 00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:47.829 from being a slave, set him free. And I don't want to miss 326 00:27:47.869 --> 00:27:52.230 the silent partner in this, an Essimus, and Andes Simus is carrying this 327 00:27:52.390 --> 00:27:59.579 letter and Animus is going back to Philem and knowing that by law he should 328 00:27:59.619 --> 00:28:04.420 be branded or killed. But Paul has helped anessimus in term British situation in 329 00:28:04.619 --> 00:28:08.859 the same way so that he is willing to go back and represent this to 330 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:15.329 Phi Lehman from pole. Phi Lehman and Inestimus have an opportunity here to live 331 00:28:15.369 --> 00:28:22.009 out the Gospel and its meaning. And let's just be clear. Those of 332 00:28:22.049 --> 00:28:25.490 you in the workplace HR would never come up with this solution, would they? 333 00:28:29.200 --> 00:28:37.279 Lawyers would never imagine this solution. But the Gospel Calls Phi Lehman and 334 00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:41.349 an Essimus to do what is unthinkable. And by the way, this this 335 00:28:41.470 --> 00:28:48.430 would be costly. It will offend the law and order crew. It will 336 00:28:48.670 --> 00:28:53.349 partially satisfied the human rights people. They won't like the reasons but they'll be 337 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:59.220 okay with the outcome. It may encourage other slaves to do the same. 338 00:29:00.460 --> 00:29:03.700 But see, Paul is saying to Phi Lehman and an Essimus, resist all 339 00:29:03.779 --> 00:29:12.009 other cultural narratives, don't be coopted by secular narratives, resist all other cultural 340 00:29:12.049 --> 00:29:15.970 narratives and lived by the narrative of the Gospel in the Kingdom of God. 341 00:29:17.809 --> 00:29:22.769 You are called not to serve Rome, not even to serve your fellow citizens 342 00:29:22.809 --> 00:29:26.000 or fellow slaves, but to serve Christ because you are part of his kingdom 343 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:32.880 and that's what lizards get to do. And you, brothers and sisters, 344 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.960 are lizards who will have opportunities like this, maybe not this dramatic, but 345 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:42.710 like this in your daily lives that I will never see. And I think 346 00:29:42.750 --> 00:29:48.269 about this. I think, I think back through history and I don't know 347 00:29:48.390 --> 00:29:51.750 if these things happened or not, or should have happened or not, but 348 00:29:51.910 --> 00:29:56.299 I imagine the difference Christians as lizards might have made when the first slave ships 349 00:29:56.339 --> 00:30:02.420 arise, arose from the middle passage and landed on the shores of the colonies. 350 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:07.529 And if the Christians had said we will not be part of this, 351 00:30:07.609 --> 00:30:15.250 might have changed history. We could go on through history and talk about those 352 00:30:15.369 --> 00:30:21.680 moments when Christians, as lizards, make a huge difference. Course, you 353 00:30:21.720 --> 00:30:25.960 would probably reverse the one on slavery and talk about William Wilberforce, who was 354 00:30:26.000 --> 00:30:30.920 a member of parliament, who's frog was John Newton, who encouraged him, 355 00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:34.480 but who, as a lizard, fought the battles for the abolition of the 356 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:40.829 slave trade. So let's switch gears here for a minute. You said that's 357 00:30:40.869 --> 00:30:42.029 all fine and good, but I'm not a slave holder, I don't live 358 00:30:42.069 --> 00:30:47.309 in the Roman Empire, I don't have slaves, I'm not I'm not an 359 00:30:47.390 --> 00:30:48.549 Ess and mess, I'm not a runaway slave. What does that look like 360 00:30:48.710 --> 00:30:53.579 for us today? I want to offer a few thoughts about that as we 361 00:30:53.700 --> 00:30:59.980 conclude. I think there are many opportunities for God's people, as lizards and 362 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:03.180 their daily callings, to embody the beauty of the Gospel in very practical ways. 363 00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:07.369 Let me give you a few suggestions and hopefully these will help you think 364 00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:12.130 out others. Number One, faithful work. I have a friend who was 365 00:31:12.170 --> 00:31:18.079 an executive with one of the major silicon valley technology companies and had vast experience. 366 00:31:18.119 --> 00:31:22.759 He was considered the best manager of people in all of Silicon Valley during 367 00:31:22.839 --> 00:31:26.799 the dotcom boom, and he went around giving a lecture called how to be 368 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:30.359 in the top five percent of the workforce. Well, you can imagine, 369 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.910 people flock to hear them. I mean that's this guy was fabulously successful and 370 00:31:37.349 --> 00:31:40.029 they want to hear how to be in the top five percent the workplace and 371 00:31:40.109 --> 00:31:41.589 he'd say. He got up and he'd say, well, here's what you 372 00:31:41.670 --> 00:31:45.789 got to do. Come to work on time, leave work on time and 373 00:31:45.950 --> 00:31:52.220 only take the amount of time allowed for your breaks, and they'd write it 374 00:31:52.259 --> 00:31:59.660 down that to look up for more. He'd say, that's it. That's 375 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:04.769 how to be in the top five percent. Pretty simple, calling as God's 376 00:32:04.849 --> 00:32:07.809 people as lizards in the workplace. Pay Your bills on time, pay a 377 00:32:07.890 --> 00:32:13.250 fair way to show up on time, just basic things. You represent Christ 378 00:32:13.410 --> 00:32:19.119 in that and it makes you shine compared to others. Number two years in 379 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:22.440 your influence to do good. I learned a lot of this from my dad 380 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:27.680 and I'm going to give a very brief illustration. My Dad was in management 381 00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:30.549 for many years and he was trained to believe that he served Christ in his 382 00:32:30.710 --> 00:32:35.470 work, but he thought the way he did that was to use his influence 383 00:32:35.670 --> 00:32:38.349 to do good to other people, and his greatest joy was giving people jobs. 384 00:32:38.509 --> 00:32:42.630 He'd find a way to give a guy a job who couldn't find a 385 00:32:42.710 --> 00:32:45.579 job. If he's willing to work, Dad would do everything he could form 386 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:52.660 and one day he was in Chicago. A friend of his had developed Alzheimer's 387 00:32:52.700 --> 00:32:55.660 and asked Dad to come out and help him with his Family Company and Dad 388 00:32:55.740 --> 00:33:00.369 went out moved with my mom to help out his friend. I don't say 389 00:33:00.450 --> 00:33:02.089 the kind of daddy was, the kind of person he was, and he 390 00:33:02.130 --> 00:33:05.930 went out to help him and he was in the factory and he ran into 391 00:33:05.970 --> 00:33:10.250 a guy cleaning the restrooms whose name was dawn and he met him talk to 392 00:33:10.289 --> 00:33:14.359 him and he kept running into him out there in the rest rooms cleaning. 393 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:19.519 Didn't even have a high school diploma, work and clean the rest rooms. 394 00:33:19.599 --> 00:33:23.119 Blue Collar Guy, south Chicago family, no one and his family had gone 395 00:33:23.160 --> 00:33:28.069 to college ever. And Dad got to know him and he liked them and 396 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:34.430 he saw leadership potential in him and invited him into the management training track for 397 00:33:34.509 --> 00:33:37.630 this little company. And the guy resisted tooth and nail, like no, 398 00:33:37.910 --> 00:33:42.220 no, no, Mr Lauderback, you don't understand. I'm from South Chicago. 399 00:33:42.259 --> 00:33:45.660 I'm a white Sox Fan, where blue collar we just you know, 400 00:33:45.779 --> 00:33:50.220 I'm a custody and that's what my family does. You don't understand. That's 401 00:33:50.259 --> 00:33:52.460 not the kind of people we are, and dad would you didn't say no 402 00:33:52.619 --> 00:33:57.089 to dad finally persuaded none to come in while the lawn in the short of 403 00:33:57.170 --> 00:34:02.410 it is dawn as now a PA, he teaches on the Faculty of one 404 00:34:02.410 --> 00:34:07.250 of the universities in Chicago and he is chairman of the Board in Chief Executive 405 00:34:07.289 --> 00:34:12.679 Officer of that company, all because somebody said I'm going to use my influence 406 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:20.480 to encourage somebody. Another way is showing the Gospel Truth by Living Out the 407 00:34:20.599 --> 00:34:24.710 Gospel in the workplace. Tim Keller tells the story of a young woman who 408 00:34:24.869 --> 00:34:30.230 first came to redeemer when he was starting, and she would appear and then 409 00:34:30.349 --> 00:34:32.829 leave as soon as the service was over. And one week he intercepted her 410 00:34:32.829 --> 00:34:37.070 said tell me why you're here. She said, I'm trying to understand Christianity. 411 00:34:37.110 --> 00:34:43.860 He said why are you interested and she said well, I moved to 412 00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:46.780 New York to work for a company here and not long after starting I made 413 00:34:46.780 --> 00:34:51.460 a big mistake and it should have cost me my job. But she said, 414 00:34:51.500 --> 00:34:55.289 quite to my surprise, my boss went to his superior and took responsibility 415 00:34:55.409 --> 00:35:00.889 for what I had done and as a result he lost some of his reputation, 416 00:35:02.210 --> 00:35:07.639 that he protected my job. And she said I've never seen anything like 417 00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:09.920 that. I was used to boss as taking credit for what they hadn't done, 418 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:15.280 but never taking blame for what they hadn't done. So she said I 419 00:35:15.320 --> 00:35:19.239 went to him and said can you explain this? She said he put me 420 00:35:19.360 --> 00:35:22.110 off for a while and finally he said look, I'm a Christian. This 421 00:35:22.269 --> 00:35:25.829 means, among other things, that God accepts me because Jesus Christ took the 422 00:35:25.869 --> 00:35:30.550 blame for things that I have done wrong. He did that on the Cross 423 00:35:30.829 --> 00:35:34.230 and that is why I have the desire and sometimes the ability to take the 424 00:35:34.269 --> 00:35:38.579 blame for others. And she told Tim Keller. She said I looked at 425 00:35:38.579 --> 00:35:45.900 him and said, where do you go to church? That's what people ask 426 00:35:45.019 --> 00:35:51.730 when you live out the Gospel in that kind of beautiful way. Last example, 427 00:35:51.769 --> 00:35:53.809 you might not be in the workplace, might be a mom at home 428 00:35:54.489 --> 00:36:01.289 working very hard, not being paid for it, but you have opportunities to 429 00:36:01.369 --> 00:36:07.280 represent the Gospel. And number of years ago there was a story written up 430 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:10.159 about a church in one of the major cities in the United States and the 431 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:15.280 suburbs of that city, a church that had a desire to grow and reach 432 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:19.150 New People with the Gospel and their first step was to map out all the 433 00:36:19.230 --> 00:36:22.590 membership in the church. So they got a map of the community. They 434 00:36:22.630 --> 00:36:27.110 put pins on the map for all their members and they color coded them as 435 00:36:27.150 --> 00:36:30.590 to how long they've been in the church. Well, they noticed a particular 436 00:36:30.829 --> 00:36:37.940 neighborhood where fifty percent of the newer people in the church were in that neighborhood 437 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:43.340 and they didn't understand it until they got out the directory and they looked up 438 00:36:43.380 --> 00:36:47.010 the names of these people and in the midst of that neighborhood was one of 439 00:36:47.090 --> 00:36:52.610 their members and in the midst of that family was a mom who loved to 440 00:36:52.690 --> 00:36:59.050 bake cookies and cakes and they had lived in that neighborhood for about ten years 441 00:36:59.130 --> 00:37:02.960 and she had very simply for about ten years gone through that neighborhood and brought 442 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.079 her bake goods as gifts to people, to showed up at the door and 443 00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:12.760 said Hey, would you like some chocolate chip cookies? And over those years 444 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:21.030 her doing good, demonstrating Gospel Good Works, Created Opportunities for Gospel conversations. 445 00:37:22.030 --> 00:37:25.750 And those are the people that heard about Christ, came to Christ and came 446 00:37:25.829 --> 00:37:34.219 to church. Pretty Simple, isn't it? Relationships, conversations, Gospel opportunities. 447 00:37:35.860 --> 00:37:40.219 So I want to encourage you today, lizards. The commissioning of the 448 00:37:40.260 --> 00:37:45.289 lizards will have a new liturgy. God has placed you in your schools, 449 00:37:45.369 --> 00:37:52.050 neighborhoods, vocations with your doctors and dentists, with your co workers and customers, 450 00:37:52.130 --> 00:38:01.440 with your classmates and teammates, with opportunities to represent Christ and to show 451 00:38:01.519 --> 00:38:08.760 the beauty of the Gospel in ways that your pastors never will. And God 452 00:38:08.880 --> 00:38:14.949 is pleased with that and God wants you to be encouraged that through you, 453 00:38:15.230 --> 00:38:21.429 Second Corinthians three, he is making known the fragrance of the beauty of Christ. 454 00:38:22.989 --> 00:38:22.789 Would you pray with me?