Sermon #2

I gave this sermon a couple weeks ago in preaching class from Revelation 2 - the letter to the church in Pergamum:

To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remained true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise you also have those who hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirits says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give a white stone with a new name on it, known only to him who receives it.

Have you ever eaten food sacrificed to idols? Would you under special circumstances? Have you ever compromised your sexual purity? Ever been tempted to? Have you ever been led astray by false teaching? Ever heard the words, “No money down, no interest, no payments until two-thousand whenever?” I don’t know about you but I can’t think of a time when I knowingly ate food sacrificed to idols. And previous to marriage to my wife Jaclyn, I did compromise my purity. I am quite sure I have been led astray by false teaching in my life. And I have heard “no money down, no interest until only God knows when” thousands of times! Two-thousand years ago, Christians in Pergamum were asking and being asked the same kinds of questions. Some of these Christians were being duped in to believing that it was okay to eat meat offered in the name of Athena or Zeus the Savior or Caesar. They were convinced by their culture in to believing that it was acceptable by society’s standards to have sex with a prostitute or become one. They bought in to the ideas of false teachers. We too buy in to the ideas of false teachers, don’t we? We too have been led astray by the so-called “wisdom of the world.” When we listen to the culture around us, what does it get us? Someone please tell me what good has come from listening to society around us? I don’t know about you but I’m broke, tired, and frustrated. So I propose beginning today, this very hour that we should be resolute to no longer be led off course by the false teachers of this world. I propose that we overcome the false teachers and live life wholly as God intended. Jesus felt this idea of overcoming was so important to express that it is written to each of the seven churches. To him who overcomes I will give… To him who overcomes… The word “overcomes” (nikao) is a present active participle. I think a more literal and effective translation is “to the one who is presently and continually overcoming…” So the early Christians were, in a sense, to be in this continuous, ongoing, never under any circumstances ceasing process of overcoming. To him who overcomes… So, what then are we to overcome? What can we learn from these early Christians?

To give you a sense of what problem the Pergamum Christians were dealing with; the evangelist tells us that Jesus had a few things against them. Jesus said, “You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. Likewise,” he continues, “You also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.” Now, all of these things you have heard concerning food sacrificed to idols, committing sexually immoral acts, and following false teachings are not the problem in the church of Pergamum. These things I listed are symptoms of a greater problem. These are the manifestations of something much deeper and problematic. It won’t do us any good to try to alleviate the symptoms, if we don’t cure the underlying disease. So, let’s diagnose the problem and outline a course of treatment using a present context.

I think it’s fair to say that as we flip through the pages of our lives, we all have had our share of obstacles to overcome, and there is, however, one significant thing I think we all have in common, and it is living – if you can call it that – with debt. Raise your hand if you have debt of some sort to repay? I’m talking about credit card debt, a car loan, a student loan or any combination of the three? Okay, now raise your hand if you have a lot of debt? I’m talking about thousands of dollars that you have to pay back to Sally Mae, GMAC, or American Express? It is reasonable to say that most of us who have been to college and are in graduate school are carrying some type of debt. Now before we move any further, I want to be clear about something. I’m using debt as an example, but what if you don’t have debt? Then I challenge you to be transparent with yourself enough to ask – what am I personally struggling with right now that is separating me from the life God intends for me to live?
Is it anger?
Is it sexual purity?
What ever it is you need to fill in the blank if you are debt-free. And as we continue along, you think about your obstacle.

According to USA Today, in 2004, eight percent of college graduates across the board graduated with debt of $40,000 or more. The average college student graduated in 2004 with a debt of $19,000. Wow! Can you imagine a new graduate who just landed a new gig making real money for the first time ever in their life, probably making 30 – 35 thousand dollars a year and things are going their way until the day six months later when Citibank or Sally Mae comes a calling. And all of a sudden, the reality of debt repayment begins to sink in. Each month a check for $500 or more is dutifully made out to the lender for the next 15 to 20 years until the debt is paid off. After I graduated from graduate school in 2002, I started out with double the debt of the national average – I had $37,000 to repay. But, you know what? I believe we all have what it takes to over come this burden, to be released from its power over us, in order that we might live wholly the way God intended. I began to believe this after attending a financial seminar in February called Dave Ramey’s Total Money Makeover. Jaclyn and I attended this event in Grand Rapids because we were frustrated with the way that we were living paycheck to paycheck with little to no hope in sight that someday we might actually have money left over at the end of the month. Frankly, we were dying a slow, suffocating death. We couldn’t breathe financially. It’s hard to breath with a noose around your neck, isn’t it? We were desperate. So, we attended Dave’s seminar, and I learned one really, really, really big lesson that day that has changed my life. I learned that my debt was not the problem. I learned my debt was not the obstacle in which I must overcome. I learned your debt is not the obstacle in which you must overcome. I learned that debt is a symptom of a deeper disease. Now here it comes and don’t miss it. The disease is me. The disease is you. We are the disease in which we must overcome. I realized that day in February that I needed to change both my attitude and my behavior concerning money and debt. Somehow, somewhere during my early years, I learned that it was okay to take out loans to pay for cars, to pay for school, to pay for WHATEVER! “Good credit, bad credit, no credit” it didn’t matter because I could take out a loan and make payments for what ever I wanted. Somehow and from somewhere I learned to let society dictate how to live my life to the point where I was $37,000 in debt! Our attitudes and our behaviors need to be transformed if we are committed to living life as God intended. The apostle Paul knew this didn’t he? “I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies – your attitudes and behaviors – as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.“ Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. When Jaclyn and I left Grand Rapids that day, we were convinced that from that point on we were going to be different from the rest of the world. We were going to pay off our debts instead of living with them. We left with transformed attitudes. Society says debt is normal, we desired to be weird. We didn’t want to be normal anymore! Normal was broke, and we held on dearly to the promise that we could be debt free if we followed the prescribed treatment program.

Three treatment steps are prescribed for us to follow when we are surrounded by a seemingly gigantic obstacle that separates us from the life God intended us to live.

Treatment step #1 – do what the early Christians did – remain true to Jesus’ name. Jesus commends them for their faith in the opening – “You remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me…” The Christians in Pergamum held fast to their faith in the midst of society’s pressure — even persecution – and they remained true to Jesus’ name, and so should we.

Treatment step #2 – repent. Seek your Father’s forgiveness with a humble attitude. And then turn from your sin. Physically turn and move your body away from that which is separating you from your heavenly Father. Turn both your mind and your body – your attitude and your behavior – away from the sin.

Treatment step #3 – listen to what the Spirit says. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” Listen to the Holy Spirit of truth. Because you know Him, you will recognize His voice speaking to you, to guide you, to enable you, to encourage you to overcome.

So, we have diagnosed the disease and outlined a course of treatment. So what’s the prognosis? The prognosis is up to you. It would be really cool if I could stand here today to share with you that I have completely conquered debt in my life, but I can’t. But what I can share with you is that I am in the process of overcoming and since the Money Makeover this past February, we have paid my loan down to $28,000. I encourage you, my friends, to remain true to Jesus’ name……….to repent……….and listen to what the Spirit says so that you can continually overcome and that you may experience the life of freedom that God has intended. Amen.