This is part 1 of an open air I did in Downtown Bakersfield at the city bus depot. We had a good crowd and no hecklers that day. One lady sitting out of camera view was in tears at the end of the preaching and even missed her bus to hear the whole sermon. My point was that many give up something good for something they think is better and then find not only is it not better but they lost the thing they had.
This is part two of the same sermon.
Last night I discovered that a Valentines day card my girlfriend had given me had been lost onto the floor of my car where it had been stepped on and had soda spilt on it. This understandibly upset her and I felt bad that that I had lost rack of it. When I took her home and we had talked about it she told me that she had thrown it away at the McDonalds trash can. As I was leaving I had a crazy thought enter my mind. The card did mean alot to me but most of all seeing how it affected her moved me. I decided to return and dig it out of the trash can. Here I was near midnight, digging through the trash can as cars are driving by and people were in the parking lot looking at me. I felt momentarily like a fool but then…VICTORY! I had found it. I got in my car and headed home feeling triumphant. Love motivated me to endure looking like a fool in order to do service to one I love
I thought about this in relation to Christ. Often people neglect evangelism because they are afraid of looking like a fool to others. We are afraid we won’t know what to say or someone will ask a question we cannot answer. Often we are simply afraid of being laughed at or ridiculed. What’s funny is in the heat of the moment I didn’t think about what others thought of me digging through the trash, all I cared about was doing something special for one who brought me so much joy. In this if we let love motivate our witnessing we will find the same results. When you meditate on what Christ has doone for you and let that love motivate you then you won’t think about or care about those things. All you will think about is pleasing the One who has brought you joy. You will want to share that joy but first you must find joy in the Lord. Without that joy there can be no motivation.
“For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again….To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 1 Corinthians 5:13-15, 19-21
Written By: Rick Garland
The Gospel Beacon 