Chapel Service
Miller Motorsports Park
September 13, 2014
“Do Something!”
www.BeyondCheckeredFlags.com
Bob Butcher
“DO SOMETHING” – Matthew West
I woke up this morning…
saw a world full of trouble now.
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down?
How’s it ever gonna turn around?
So I turned my eyes to Heaven
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty… Children sold into slavery…
The thought disgusted me.
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?”
He said, “I did, I created you!”
If not us, then who? If not me and you
Right now, it’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when?
Will we see an end… To all this pain?
It’s not enough to do nothing.
It’s time for us to do something.
I’m so tired of talking… about how we are God’s hands and feet.
But it’s easier to say than to be…
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves…
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of life with no desire
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire!!!
I wanna be the one who stands up and says,
I’m gonna do something!”
We are the salt of the earth. We are a city on a hill.
But we’re never gonna change the world… By standing still…
No we won’t stand still. No we won’t stand still. No we won’t stand still.
Lately, I have had a number of questions and comments about this subject spoken to me …all with the “why not?” attached. While I know and understand theologically what scripture says and why God seems to operate this way, …that, however, does not mean I agree with Him. Why? Well for the main reason that’s simple: I still do not have a heart of love like God does toward us …ALL of us.
As I watch the evil in the world seem to get worse every day and normally “good” people paying an innocent high price; I get disgusted. Like Matthew West’s song, I am sick of poverty, diseases, organ trafficking, human trafficking, children forced into military, …and, on and on into Isis taking the terror forefront far beyond anything else before them. I confess I get confounded, sick, irritated, and downright ready to respond vengefully if I could. These things ought not to be, period! I can honestly confess that often Kathy gets after me and reminds me pointedly that I need to pray and not just grip and complain or whatever.
But, at the same time I know my God, though I may not understand His reasoning because… it’s a heart issue. Look…:
Romans 8:8-10: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.”
Psalm 71:19, 77:13 “Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, You who have done only great, righteous, and just things. Your ways, O God, are only holy. What other god is so great as our God?”
This is all about our heart as humans. Sin is a heart problem. The actions of sin happen when an evil desire in our heart conceives with a temptation from the outside. Sometimes people have hidden evil desires very deep in their heart and they lay dormant until an outside temptation revives them. James 1:13-15 shows us: “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death…theirs and even innocent others.”
Jesus also taught us that we are defiled by what comes out of our hearts in Mark 7:20-23: “And He said, “It’s what comes out of a man that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Fortunately for us God has the ability to change our heart and even give us a new heart that is perfect toward Him. Ezekiel 36:26-27 tells us: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
That is also a reason that God NEVER gives up on us. All things are possible. The worse sinners, even vile murders like the Apostle Paul before his conversation have been changed. King David was also a murder …and God tells us that David was a man after His own heart! Lastly, bring it home to ourselves. Maybe we never murdered anyone in our own minds, but that is the problem …our mind.
You see, God tells us that just hating someone and/or speaking evil things like calling them idiots and other foul names is murder. Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22: “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.”
As we focus our mind and imagination toward God His Spirit is transforming us. Because when we set our heart toward God He sets His heart toward us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us: “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The word transformed used here is the Greek word metamorphoo. It is where we get the word metamorphosis from, the word used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.
When we think about having Jesus in our heart we rarely think of what that really means. People sometimes receive Jesus into their heart and then go on with their lives instead of living in His life. Some people wear Jesus as a good luck charm and only commune with Him when they have a need or an emergency. But Jesus desires to live in more than just a part of our heart. He desires to fill our heart and our entire being. The revelation of being in Christ changes our concept of who we are. It is in Christ where His personality is united with our personality and we take on a new personality. We become a new person with a new attitude, new behaviors, new likes, and dislikes. We do not really know who we are until we see our selves in Christ, because our life is hidden in Him.
Not all of us can solve even one of the world’s evils. But we can have a profound effect on it; especially through prayer. Actual prayer about these evils are hugely lacking and unfortunately that is the absolute power that turns God lose and legally, in the spiritual realm that He, Himself set up the eternal rules for, allows Him to change something.
I ask you:
What are you passionate to see changed?
What seemingly minute part can you play?
Whatever tiny step you take can be the one that sets God loose to legally act.
Kathy and I have seen it happen …And we will tell you about a few of them in our true life missionary experiences.
Addendum:
I know that most likely there are still questions in your heart and mind.
The same “Why does God allow…”
There are times I have them also. However, I still have the peace that God is in control and that He will bring the worst of the worst to a blessing and the good in the end. That only comes as my heart, mind, will, and even my body becomes more and more transformed by the renewing spoken of in Romans 12: 1-2: “Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.”
It is a constantly growing lifestyle. It sometimes comes with hard fought determination not to just take the easy way, or the way everyone says is the way to be part of society. It takes making a choice…to become more like Him every day, hour, and choice of the moment. Just remember the Holy Spirit is your helper. Trust Him!