January 25, Ecumenical Sunday

Lesson: Galatians 2.1-10

INTRODUCTION

Follow That Plow ⁽¹⁾

It was snowing heavily and blowing to the point that visibility was almost zero when John (not the sharpest pencil in the batch) got off work.

He made his way to his car and wondered how he was going to make it home. He sat in his car while it warmed up and thought about his situation.

He finally remembered his dad's advice that if he got caught in a blizzard he should wait for a snow plow to come by and follow it. That way he would not get stuck in a snow drift.

This made him feel much better and sure enough in a little while a snow plow went by and he started to follow it.

As he followed the snow plow, he was feeling very smug as they continued and he was not having any problem with the blizzard conditions.

After an hour had passed, he was somewhat surprised when the snow plow stopped and the driver got out and came back to his car and signaled for him to roll down his window.

The snow plow driver wanted to know if he was all right as he had been following him for a long time.

John said that he was fine and told him of his dad's advice to follow a snow plow when caught in a blizzard.

The driver replied that it was okay with him and he could continue if he wanted, but he was done with the Wal-Mart parking lot and was going over to Sears next.

1. Following a plow during a blizzard may be a good thing.

1. John was following his father's counsel.

2. But at the same time he had no idea where the plow was going, or what it was doing.

1. His vision was obscured.

2. Not his sight, but his vision.

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MAIN BODY:

1. It is important to have a vision.

William F. Buckley,Jr., the columnist and sailor, debated on Nightline with John Dickson, the blind sailor who attempted a solo crossing of the Atlantic.

Buckley was critical and derisive of Dickson's attempt: People who can't see have no business sailing.

Dickson replied calmly to Ted Koppel: His eyes may work, but he doesn't have much vision.

1. Peter M. Leschak has noted:

All of us are watchers -- of television, of time clocks, of traffic on the freeway -- but few are observers. Everyone is looking; not many are seeing.

2. VISION is more than seeing, it is a mental portrait of a preferable future.

1. Out of all the possibilities for the future for, lets say, the Arena Congregational Church, what is the preferable future you would desire for this church and its people?

1. Here is a Vision Statement that was developed in a church where I was the pastor.

"To be a growing body of Christian believers characterized by a loving, forgiving, accepting community, modeling the life and teachings of Jesus in an environment where hope is encouraged and people can grow to their full spiritual potential."

2. Perhaps this is one that we might use to establish our own vision of what we believe the church ought to be.

2. Apply the concept to your own personal or family life.

There is an old story about two hikers along the Appalachian trail, one of whom shouted, "Look out! A pit!" Both leaped aside in time to avoid falling into a pit covered by vine.

"What was the most important fact about that pit?" one asked the other.

"The fact that someone carelessly left a danger like that?"

"Nope."

"The fact that we smartly jumped aside?"

"Nope."

"What, then?"

"The fact that we saw it."

1. What do you see.

2. How would you give expression to your vision.

3. The Apostle Paul has a vision for the churches that he is establishing and helping to maintain.

1. They are to be a body of believers experiencing the faith and freedom to be found in Jesus Christ in an environment where love and hope are encouraged and people can grow to their full spiritual potential.

2. His vision is shared by the people who have become members.

3. The vision is contested by his opposition.

1. This has been going on for about 14 years.

2. The different vision is a source of confusion and contention.

3. It is time to do something about it.

4. Vision is vital for any community, but vision cannot stand alone.

1. You can have it, but what will you do with it.

2. It is like a pretty object hanging on the wall.

3. You look at it and appreciate it, but it simply hangs there on the wall.

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2. For vision to be affective it needs the companion leg of Mission.

1. From a church in Sussex, England, 1730.

1. "A vision without a task is but a dream, A task without a vision is drudgery,

2. A vision and a task is the hope of the world."

2. Or as --Johann Christoph Arnold in Seeking Peace writes: ⁽²⁾

Life is a task. The religious person differs from the apparently irreligious only by experiencing his existence not simply as a task, but as a mission. This means that he is also aware of the Taskmaster, the source of his mission. For thousands of years that source has been called God ....

True service is always an act of showing another person love. It is easy to forget this, even in a religious community like my own, where service is at the core of every member's commitment. Whenever we let our work become an end in itself, we lose sight of the love that gives it a deeper purpose, and gradually it becomes a mindless, mechanical chore. With love, the most mundane task can take on meaning. Without it, the noblest task can become drudgery.

3. For you and me the MISSION of the church is a comprehensive description of the meaning of "church", and the boundaries which God and the early church established for the church, based on our understanding of the biblical commission.

1. What does the Bible provide in the way of information to develop the meaning of "church?"

2. What boundaries has God established as articulated by the early church that define the purpose of the "church?"

4. A good Mission Statement might include:

"The mission of the Arena Congregational Church shall be to bind together the followers of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing in the worship of God and in making his will dominant in the lives of men, women and children, individually and collectively, especially as that will is set forth in the life, teachings, death and living presence of Jesus Christ."

5. You can apply the principles of mission to your own person or family.

1. For you and me the MISSION of the family is a comprehensive description of the meaning of "family", and the boundaries which God and the biblical writers establish for the family, based on your understanding of familial relationships.

1. What does the Bible provide in the way of information to develop the meaning of "family?"

2. What boundaries has God established as articulated by the early church that define the purpose of the "family?"

6. Paul has a very precise and expanding Mission Statement.

1. It could be restated using our original Mission Statement.

"The mission of the leadership of each gathering shall be to bind together the followers of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing in the worship of God and in making his will dominant in the lives of men, women and children, individually and collectively, especially as that will is set forth in the life, teachings, death and living presence of Jesus Christ."

1. His mission is shared by the people who have become members.

2. The mission, as we have learned, is contested by his opposition.

1. This has been going on for about 14 years.

2. The different concepts of mission are a source of confusion and contention.

3. It is time to do something about it.

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3. The Church in Antioch commissioned Paul and Barnabas to go to Jerusalem and confer with the Apostles.

1. They took with them Titus, an un-circumcised Greek.

2. You may read the story of this Council as it was written by Luke in Acts 15 ⁽³⁾

1. Certain teachers from Judea insist on the necessity of the converted Gentiles being circumcised, v. 1.

2. Paul and Barnabas are sent to Jerusalem to consult the apostles on this subject, v. 2.

3. They come to Jerusalem, and inform the apostles of the conversion of the Gentiles; and of the trouble which certain Pharisees had occasioned concerning circumcision, vv. 3-5.

4. The apostles having assembled to consider the question.

5. Peter delivers his opinion, vv. 6-11.

1. He reminds them of his heavenly vision of the sheet with all kinds of animals.

2. He reminds them of his visit to the Gentile Cornelius.

3. God poured out his Spirit on the Gentiles present.

6. Barnabas and Paul relate their success among the Gentiles, v. 12.

7. James delivers his judgment, vv. 13-21.

1. James recommends to the Council:

¹⁹Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood.

2. The apostles and elders agree to what he proposes, and send Judas and Silas with Paul and Barnabas to the converted Gentiles, v. 22; and send an epistle containing their decree to the Churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, vv. 23-29.

8. Paul and his company return, and read the epistle to the brethren at Antioch, which produces great joy; and Judas and Silas preach to them, vv. 30-32.

2. You have a different version of the same incident noted by Paul in Galatians 2.1-10

1. The apostle mentions his journey to Jerusalem with Barnabas and Titus, v. 1.

2. He reveals that they went because of a revelation.

3. He records what he did while they were in Jerusalem.

4. He mentions the persons with whom he had a rather heated and far-reaching conversation, vv. 2-8.

5. He concludes with the apostles giving him the right hand of fellowship, vv. 9, 10.

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CONCLUSION:

1. Oswald Chambers has observed:

When God gives a vision by his Spirit through his Word of what he wants, and your mind and soul thrill to it, if you do not walk in the light of that vision, you will sink into servitude to a point of view which our Lord never had. Disobedience in mind to the heavenly vision will make you a slave to points of view that are alien to Jesus Christ. Do not look at someone else and say: Well, if he can have these views and prosper, why can't I? You have to walk in the light of the vision that has been given you and not compare yourself with others or judge them; that is between them and God.

2. When conflict arises as it inevitability will, you have a choice as to wether you will stand alone or seek a council.

1. This is true in families

2. It is true in the church.

3. Hopefully there will be some wise and understanding leadership to mediate.

1. Council may lead to conciliation.

2. This happened in Acts/Galatians.

3. May it happen to you and me.

Amen.

1. forwarded by Marty Walker, Mikey's Funnies [funnies-owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com]

2. Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace (Farmington: The Plough Publishing House, 1998), 174.

3. Adam Clarkes Commentary on the New Testament. Copyright: Electronic STEP Files Copyright © 1999, Parsons Technology, Inc. Author: Clarke, Adam. Publisher: Parsons Technology, Inc. Permission to Quote: All rights reserved.

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