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My name is simon holley. Part of the LT of the King’s Arms
church.
Married to Caroline – 2 children Kiah aged 3.5, Caleb –
just 1. Such a joy – Caleb’s mission in life is to
put the entire world in his mouth – he’s actually
made a pretty good start.
I often wonder what life will be like for my kids as they grow
up. So much is changing. One thing I’ve noticed change even
in the last year or two is the increase of in your face slogan
t-shirts. You know the ones – def on the increase - there’s
some that I can’t even mention here but a sample would be
(dload from web)
In your face: Why do the weirdos always sit next to me.
Downright rude: And your cry baby, whiney opinion would be….
Or: You’re not the brightest crayon in the box are you.
Harsh but fair: Who are these kids and why are they calling me
dad.
Bizzare: My rice krispies told me to do it.
Favourite: To save time later, let’s just assume I know
everything.
I’m always amazed that people would wear this. Question
I want to ask us tonight is what’s on your t-shirt? We all
wear different slogans – they might not be on the outside,
but the slogan is very much there. Sometimes we wear more than
1 – sometimes they change as we go through life.
I want to look at the story of a man called moses. 4000 years
ago they didn’t have slogan t-shirts but if they did his
would have changed considerably through his life.
Those of you who are not familiar with Moses’ story let
me give you a quick fly-by. Entire nation of Israel are slaves
of the Egyptians. Moses is an Israelite but gets adopted and raised
by Pharoah’s own daughter. Raised as an Egyptian, educated
as an Egyptian and has to look on as he sees his own family and
countrymen persecuted by the Egyptians.
11 One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his
own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an
Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. 12 Glancing
this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and
hid him in the sand. 13 The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews
fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting
your fellow Hebrew?"
14 The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are
you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then
Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become
known." 15 When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses,
but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian
number of points I want to make from this story…won’t
tell you how many but it’ll be a number. University lecturer.
YALE. University of south Dakota.
disillusioned tshirt (moses – state of people)
The first shirt that moses wears says this ‘disillusioned’
Here we see moses - A hebrew brought up as a prince in Egypt.
You know he had the latest 4x4 chariot. The Armani sandals. The
tony & guy plaited beard. He doesn’t have a dog –
he has a leopard on a gold chain. He was the don. One day he’s
cruisin’ in his chariot, leopard by his side, catching some
rays. And he sees a fellow Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave.
Imagine that this was not the first time that moses has seen
something like this. Imagine that as a young man growing up he
saw this frequently. Uncomfortable with it. Could have chosen
to side with the Egyptians but something inside knew that he wanted
more than that – to be with his own people. Why wasn’t
God doing anything. Moses became disillusioned.
Growing up, the church I went to – I went 3 times every
Sunday was a Baptist church. Nothing wrong with that – except
this was a boring Baptist church. Not all Baptist churches are
boring – this one was. Oh it was so dull. I mean the teaching
was solid – but it was so dull. Dull, dull, dull. Sometimes
I used to fear I would slip into a coma and die in the evening
service. I did actually fall asleep on someone’s shoulder
one time – woke up as my friend jabbed me in the ribs–
drooled down their shirt.
And I would read the bible so dynamic and exciting and I would
look at our church and think surely something this dull couldn’t
have taken over the known roman empire?. And so over time I became
more and more disillusioned. And then cynical and then outright
negative.
So often we have these high hopes of life, of friends, even of
God. But things don’t quite work out how we’d hope.
friends let us down, perhaps God seems distant. We can get disillusioned
– is this all there is – what about the fireworks
what about the excitement? Then maybe we get hurt by someone we
become cynical and bitter. Put on the disillusioned t-shirt. Stop
really living for anything, merely just existing – perhaps
from one thrill to the next. We know it’s not satisfying
but well – isn’t that all there is to life?
In my disillusioned state when I was 19 I went to Australia to
work for 4 months and out of my home environment I decided I no
longer believed in God. I didn’t want anything to do with
church anymore. There was so much fun to be had – why let
Jesus ruin it. I decided I was an atheist. I replaced the disillusioned
t-shirt with the dissenting t-shirt. The rebel shirt. I partied,
hung out with the wrong sort of people in the wrong sort of places.
I loved it. It was great.
For me rebellion was an external thing but Rebellion is not just
on the outside, there’s also an inward rebellion. - jesus
tells the story of two sons – the father comes to the first
and says will you go and work in the field – he says I won’t
go but later he changes his mind and goes. The second son says
I will go but he doesn’t go.
This procrastination is the same as rebellion.
On the outside we think I need to do this or that but we don’t
do it - we procrastinate. Rebel tshirt just can’t submit
to authority – especially in the church and so even though
they want to be used, leadership looks on and finds it hard to
use them because of the rebellion. Rebel tshirt says – I’ll
do it my way. I’m not interested in your way God –
it’s my way or the high way.
So moses gets fed up with waiting for God to do something. He
rebels and does his own thing – kills the Egyptian. He knows
it’s not right – he’s not a killer. So he covers
it up – buries him in the sand. But pharaoh finds out about
it and moses has to run for his life. Out of Egypt, first left
at the Watford gap services and ends up in Midian – next
time we see him, moses is a shepherd. A job equivalent to cleaning
out the bins at mcdonalds. That’s the kind of job we’re
talking about. I mean talk about from hero to zero. Moses goes
from the best job in the known world to the worst in less than
60 seconds. But God has not finished with moses
3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law,
the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of
the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the
angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within
a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not
burn up.
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called
to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses
said, "Here I am."
God said “the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and
I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.”So
now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites
out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that
I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
disqualified t-shirt
What’s happened here? When god calls moses using a burning
bush – he doesn’t call the same man. Gone is the proud
Egyptian prince. Gone is the disillusioned shirt and the dissenting
shirt. We now have the disqualified t-shirt.
Moses has a huge skeleton in the cupboard and he feels it disqualifies
him from coming to God.
After I came back to the uk I went to university – now
an atheist. At the same time I started working for a computer
company in the holidays. I worked in the returns department and
so all the faulty computer stuff returned came through us. Now
I have more than a passing interest in computers. There was all
this stuff and lots of it actually still worked. And I didn’t
have much money and I really wanted it and well there’s
so much here no one’s going to notice. So I started taking
some of it home. Before I knew it I had hundreds of pounds of
software and hardware and I was up to my neck in it. This went
on every holiday in my first year at uni.
Although I was an atheist and didn’t believe in God, the
trouble was that God doesn’t believe in atheists. God wasn’t
finished with me yet – a few things happened that made me
know that God was calling me.
But I couldn’t go back. I’d heard the fact that jesus
died on the cross for me so many times but I knew I was trapped
in this life. I didn’t want to have to fess up to what I’d
done! Miserable as hell but powerless to do anything about it.
With this huge secret that no-one else knew. I wore this disqualified
t-shirt.
So many people are like that. There’s a skeleton in the
cupboard that perhaps no-one knows about. And they feel like it
disqualifies them from doing anything. If they’re a Christian
they do the church thing perhaps but they can’t give 100%
because they’re afraid – what if someone finds out
about the real me?
Of course many avoid church altogether like I did. They won’t
want me in church – I’m not worthy. Maybe you’re
sitting there feeling that right now…
doubting son (moses – burning bush)
similar to the disqualified shirt there’s the doubting shirt
God himself calls Moses from a burning bush. I don’t know
about you but that’s not an everyday experience for me.
It’s pretty rare for God to speak to me on my way to work
from a burning bush. In fact, let me think about it – it
never happens. This is something that has never happened before
in history, but so great is Moses’ self doubt that even
when God himself calls him moses says “who am I that I should
go”. Filled with self doubt.
There I was 20 years old. In rebellion against God. On the edge
of serious trouble at work. One day I was lying in bed and I can’t
tell you how I knew but I knew – that jesus was alive and
that one day I was going to face judgement. And I had this horrible
nagging feeling that it was going to go too well. I knew that
I needed to give my life to Christ. I knew that only he could
get me out of the mess I was in.
Everything inside me shouted – if you give your life to
Christ you’ll be exposed. But I thought –I rather
face the music now than later. So I went into my parents room
and blurted out the whole story. I was crying, they were crying.
You know it’s for real when you find yourself aged 20 kneeling
on the floor in your boxer shorts crying your eyes out in front
of your parents.
In the next month I went to the boss of the company I worked for
and told him everything. Scariest thing I’ve ever had to
do. Told him that I’d become a Christian and wanted to make
a new start. As I finished he said – it took a lot of courage
to do what you’ve just done – I want you to know it
won’t go any further. Walked out of his office a free man.
Walked into a new direction for my life.
You see even though Moses was disqualified, doubting –
he was at rock bottom. God still chose him. God reaches out to
him and calls him back into relationship – back into the
purpose he has for his life.
So many look at themselves and say how could God use me. Look
at that person – so intelligent. That person so good looking,
that person so talented. What use am I? God looks at you and says
– you’re who I made you to be. Now comeCome out of
your disillusion, your rebellion, your disqualification your doubting.
I’m bigger than all of that.
Watchman Nee was a well known leader in the Chinese church in
the 1900’s and he tells about a new convert who came in
deep distress to see him. "No matter how much I pray, no
matter how hard I try, I simply cannot seem to be faithful to
God.." Nee said, "Do you see this dog here? He is my
dog. He is house-trained; he never makes a mess; he is obedient;
he is a pure delight to me. Out in the kitchen I have a son, a
baby son. He makes a mess, he throws his food around, he fouls
his clothes, he is a total mess. But who is going to get my inheritance?
Not my dog; my son. You are Jesus Christ's heir because it is
for you that He died." We are Christ's heirs, not through
our perfection but by means of His grace
You see no matter what t-shirt you’re wearing, you’re
still a child of God. He wants to transform you by the power of
what Jesus did on the cross. The bible says,
Heb 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ cleanse
our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve
the living God!
I went to see the passion of the Christ last year and it completely
undid me. I mean if you’ve not seen it - it is not a funny
film. There is one joke actually in the whole film where jesus
is in the carpenter’s shop making a table and mary his mother
comes in and says why is that table so tall because in that culture
people are used to eating off low tables and so he explains and
she says oh it will never catch on. Everyone in the audience laughs
nervously – but that’s the only laugh you’ll
get in the whole film.
Scene where Jesus is being beaten by the roman guard and they
start with these pieces of wood – flexing them and they
beat him until he is on the gound and they are left sweating like
animals almost laughing manically at him. And you see him lying
there and then unbelievably he stands up. – everyone is
stay down, don’t get up but he gets up and just stands there.
And so the roman overseer says flagellum which is like a cat o
nin tails with bits of steel imbedded in it – and the guard
picks it up and whacks it into the desk – splinters fly
everywhere - everyone in the cinema is – noooooo.
Christ shed his blood – he was beaten to a pulp not just
so that you could wear any old t-shirt but so that you could wear
a t-shirt that says
(slow) Forgiveness, Love, blessing, hope, future, promise, eternity.
God wants you to step away from those old things into his plan,
his purpose for your life. If you’re disillusioned with
life – he wants you to have hope again. To see things as
he sees them. If you’re disillusioned you need to get God’s
perspective on the church and on people. Church is flawed –
but it’s God’s chosen vehicle to save the world. We
need to learn that if we want God to forgive us then we need to
learn to forgive and move on. Accept the fact that God has chosen
to use the church with all it’s weakness.
If you’re dissenting, in rebellion – wether you’re
a Christian or not– he wants you to do the most rebellious
thing – to come to him. To give your life totally to him
and follow him wholeheartedly. Jesus was a leader of rebels –
men and women who broke away from the norm. Jesus still wants
to lead a bunch of rebels.
If you’re a teenager, the most rebellious thing you can
do these days is become a Christian.
Alice Cooper one of the wild men of rock in the 60’s said
this "Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is
easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call. That's rebellion."
Let’s face it, it’s not really rebellious to get
drunk and sleep around is it. Follow Christ wholeheartedly –
live a radical life of sexual purity, love, kindness, ministering
to the poor – that’s radical. That’s rebellion.
If you’re in rebellion will you join with Christ’s
great rebellion today. Christ saved you to follow him –
to go his way.
If you’re disqualified – then you need to receive
christ’s forgiveness today and the power to live a new life.
Jesus said himself I didn’t come for the good people - I
came for the bad ones. Maybe you’re in sexual sin, maybe
it’s anger or fear that’s got you. Whatever causes
you to be disqualified – Christ came to take it away. Apostle
Paul was a murderer and so was moses.
Praying with a guy at another church. Came to England I left
3 children behind with my ex wife – no one here knows about
it. Feel so much shame. Pray with him and he received God’s
grace. Nothing better than experiencing God’s forgiveness.
If you’re doubting - you’re exactly what he wants.
If you’re doubting you need to hear the fact that God has
plans for you. Plans to prosper you – plans to give you
a hope and a future
Jesus chose the most unlikely bunch of misfits and odd-balls for
his 12 disciples. Why – so that God gets the glory.
That’s my story. I’ve been honest with you today
because I want you to be honest . Honest with one another –
honest with God.
You know God is calling a new generation of men and women to wear
a new slogan shirt. Sometimes literally – Christians aren’t
often known for their fashion sense. Wear something different
to everyone else. To head in a different direction – to
live a radical new way of life. Are you willing to join the jesus
rebellion?
Can we pray together…..
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