What Would Jesus Do?

 In 1886, Pastor Charles Sheldon presented a series of messages in story form to his Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. He used a fictional church and its pastor Reverend Henry Maxwell as the focus of these stories. Each week, Sheldon would tell a captivating story, inserting the challenge of What Would Jesus Do? at the point when the character faced a difficult moral decision or situation.  He would end each story on that cliffhanger ensuring the people would come back the following week to learn what happened next.

For example, Edward Norman, the owner of the local newspaper, lost money when he stopped publishing a Sunday edition and chose to stop advertising things, places and events that might encourage people to sin. Though he lost money initially, another person inspired by Reverend Maxwell, gave him a great deal of money to help him create a newspaper that served the Christian community.

Alexander Powers, a railroad superintendent, left his job after he found out the company was violating the Interstate Commerce laws of the United States and helped prove that they were breaking the law. And even though it meant he had to take a less prestigious position at another company for far less money, he stood on the decision.

Charles Sheldon put these stories in a book he called: In His Steps. He intended to help Christian people operate from a context, asking the question What Would Jesus Do? before making any serious decisions. But more than just governing individual choices, in the broader sense, it recognized that our lives were to reflect Jesus’ life.

To take it a step further, it is a discovery that life is not about us or what we want, it’s about who we are in Christ and what God’s will is. So, What Would Jesus Do? helped them change their perspective.

But as you have probably already figured out, the premise of What Would Jesus Do? becomes a fairly shaky way to live because it suggests subjective obedience, making our decisions based on assumptions or opinions of what we think is so. It’s hard to stand on opinions since they change so easily. We stand on that of which we’re convinced. Opinion is based on ought to’s. “This is what I think I ought to do” can turn into “This is what others think I ought to do.” Making me the servant of the crowd. “This feels right or this feels wrong” can become “This is what I feel like doing or not doing.” Making me the servant of my feelings.

What would Jesus do? Jesus said He came to do the will of the Father. If we were to put on Jesus’ sandals and try to decide what He would do today, it would take us back to what the Father had told Him to do when He was here. Since He said, “I do what the Father wants me to do. I say what the Father wants me to say.”

If I tried to make Jesus fit in my shoes and figure out what He would do if He were me is too much of a stretch since Him accomplishing the Father’s will had a very specific meaning. We can’t duplicate His actions because we don’t always understand His actions.

He was both kind to children and turned over the tables of the money changers in the Temple. He sat with Nicodemus and explained the new birth and called other pharisees empty tombs and snakes. He healed many and left others unhealed. He spoke healing without going to see the Centurion’s servant and let Lazarus die before He got there. How do we fit these inconsistencies into our lives?

Jesus didn’t decide His actions as He went along. He started from the context of who He was and added his stated intentions of doing the Father’s will. Who He was dictated how He responded to life. The bigger question is: What would Jesus have me do?

He said love your neighbor. Do I have to wonder if that applies to me?

He said do not murder. Do I have to struggle with whether that makes abortion wrong?

He said He was unwilling for any to perish but all to come to repentance. Do I have to ask if I should share Jesus with my friend or family?

Peter said: Acts 10:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. 

Doing good and healing were highly generalized statements of Jesus’ ministry. But Peter didn’t intend to give the diary of Jesus’ activity. He wanted us to see that what Jesus did, He did because He was the God was with Him Man.

Nicodemus said: no man can do the things you do unless God is with Him. The verb Peter used to say that didn’t mean the activity was why God was with Him. It was because God was with Him, He did what He did. The verb said God had always been with Him. God being with Him was the reason Jesus did the things He did.

It was out from that context He went about doing good and healing. That’s why we already know the answer to the question What Would Jesus Do? He would do that which naturally came from a person God was with. And that’s what He asks us to do.

1Pet 2:21-24 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

Peter was writing to Christians who faced daily concern over what threatened them. Some were going to lose their homes, their families, their lives. He pointed them to Jesus as an example of how to suffer within the context of being a Christian. Things not to do and things to do. The things Jesus Himself did.

who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats,

Peter was placing Jesus’ sufferings in context. He suffered because this is what He came to do. His sufferings weren’t something that surprised Him nor did they interfere with the Father’s plan or change who Jesus was. This was the plan.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

John 10:11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 

Matt 20:28 the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." 

John 12:27-27 Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.

John 10:10 I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. 

Jesus’ mission included what gave us life and granted what made that life abundant life. To do so required His suffering.

So, What Did Jesus Do? He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

Entrusting – placing Himself within God’s intentions and letting that form His perspective and dictate His response.

The suffering was necessary because it fit into the context of who He was and what He came to do. He couldn’t live one way and then suffer another way.

While suffering, or in any dilemma He faced, the pattern was the same. He kept entrusting Himself to the Father’s will, which placed Him inside the broader scope of the plan that was set before the foundation of the world was ever laid. That plan would not only allow us to become God’s righteous children, but as His righteous children, we can reject living by unrighteous standards and embrace righteousness as the pattern of our lives.

In other words, Jesus gave us a new context for our lives. We are God’s righteous Children. So, What Would Jesus Do? should, for us, turn into What Would a righteous child of God Do? Then, to follow in His steps, would lead us down the path that pleases the Father just as His did.

Matt 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. We can do that.

We can’t really answer What Would Jesus Do? unless there is a specific command we know He would follow, but we can answer What Would Jesus Have Me Do?

When I stand in the ballot box and cast my vote, I cannot vote for someone whose platform includes violating God’s commands. When I’m investigating social issues, I can love people with whom I disagree and I don’t have to approve of their activities that are contrary to God’s Word. When wondering about my involvement in ministry opportunities, I can give myself to do whatever it takes to make Jesus known to the world.

Matt 26:6-12 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, "Why this waste? For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor." But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial.” 

It wasn’t a question of what would Jesus do in this situation because He was on the receiving end of her actions. But He honored the choice the woman made. So, for her, she was answering a different question: Because of Who Jesus is, what should I do? She chose to honor Him. That’s our choice as well.

If my desire is to honor God, I don’t have to scrutinize every decision. I let the larger context predetermine my response.

·       If there is a command to obey, I obey.

·       If there is no command, I look for a general principle that covers what I face.

·       If there is no general principle, I ask for wisdom, beginning with the desire to obey and then trusting He’ll guide me to do right because I want to honor Him.

That’s why the Ten Commandments are written the way they are. The first four remind us who God is:

• The God who stands above all other interests in our life.
• The God who will not share space with an idol.
• The God whose name is sacred and powerful.
• The God who is worthy of us stopping our lives to worship Him.

The next six tell us how to act toward others. You don’t start with the do’s and don’ts. You consider who it is you are choosing to obey.

• Honoring your father and mother.
• Not doing murder.
• Not committing adultery.
• Not stealing.
• Not making false accusations against another person.
• Not wanting what belongs to your neighbor.

Our actions toward others begin with God not us. Because of Who my God is, what I do, what I say, what I think take on a more specific response. My actions and reactions to whatever I face come from the place inside me that says: I want to glorify my Father who is in heaven. Therefore, this is what I will or will not do.

It’s called Living Biblically. It comes from what James said:

James 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 

What lays the foundation of me doing the word? My confidence that what God says is true and that it has bearing upon my life today.

How do we Live Biblically? Come back next week and we’ll see. Hang on. We’re just getting started.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. What Would Jesus Do? is a great reminder that we live in a context of who Jesus is and who we are because of Him.
2. Because of that context, we should want what He wanted: to do the Father’s will.
3. To do that will, we need to make honoring Him our highest priority.
4. When our ultimate desire is to glorify God, He will make His way clear to us because we choose to be doers of His word.

Got Any Giants?

 Let’s talk about giants today. Got any giants in your life?

1Sam 17:2-4 Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 

Where did giants come from?

Gen 6:1-2, 4 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose…The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 

Num 13:31-33 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." 

Deut 2:9-10 Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not harass Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given Ar to the sons of Lot as a possession. (The Emim lived there formerly, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. 

Josh 11:21-22 Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod some remained. 

1Sam 17:4 Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 

1Chron 20:5-8 And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, killed him. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. 

1Sam 17:8-10 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us." Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together." 

1Sam 17:33-37 Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God." And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you." 

1Sam 17:38-40 Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." [Instead he went with what he had tested.] And David took them off. He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine. 

What’s the deal with 5 smooth stones?

·       Smooth cut through the air better – less drag

·       It’s how many his magazine held

·       Goliath had four other brothers

·       He had what he needed and was prepared for other contingencies.

1Sam 17:45-47 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands." 

But what is it with giants? Because of their size they feel invincible to push others around and intimidate and taunt to overpower whoever they want. Usually because of their size they have the strength to back up their words. They can exert pressure simply by standing there.

"Bullying is repeated, aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Its purpose is to terrorize by the threat or actions of physical or psychological harm.”

It is likely we were all bullied at some point in our lives. We used to call it being picked on or teased. As kids, we could have been victimized regularly. You’re too little, ugly, fat, skinny, stupid, lazy. You walk funny, can’t sing, throw like a girl. As adults, we could experience bullies in the workplace or at the store or in the home.

We may have had parents that bullied us, siblings, kids in the neighborhood or at school. At work we could have had a boss or competitive co-worker that were bullies.

I’ve worked with pastors who were bullies. Bullies typically are so insecure they have to cut others down or tower over them to feel superior.

You’ve heard of a bully club or bully pulpit. Someone exerts some type of force to intimidate others into submission. Politicians use this, as do government officials making rules and regulations, to control the people. We’ve all been beaten down by it these past several months.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will close churches and synagogues in New York City if they do not “agree to follow the rules” concerning social distancing and masks. “If the rule is no more than 50 percent of the people in a black church, I want someone at the door when 50 percent enter the church, a person there who says to the pastor, you agree to follow the rules. That’s 50 percent. That’s it or we close it down.” Andrew Cuomo is a bully.

Study the Middle East. Most of those nations developed with a tribal mentality. Whoever carries the biggest stick, makes the most noise, projects the biggest threat leads the tribe or the nation. To keep the people submissive, they have to maintain the strongest intimidation. After the first Gulf War, Henry Kissinger told President Bush not to take out Saddam Husain because, as undesirable as he was, he held Iraq together with an iron grip that if removed would bring chaos to the region. The second President Bush went after him. The chaos continues today.

But what if your bully is more personal, here in the present and not the past? What if it isn’t a person but something harder to define? Maybe it’s the media telling you what to do or society telling you what to believe or what is right and wrong? Maybe you are being taunted by a rampant virus or perhaps hearing of wars and rumors of wars is making you feel physically threatened. Could be you are listening to some voice telling you lies from a narrative you know is wrong: like a politician or their political ads, a newscaster, a preacher, a friend, a relative.

Maybe it’s not a person. Maybe it’s:

•  Finances
• Health
• Family
• Covid
• November
• Death
• Age
• Physical limitations

Maybe it’s less tangible, like:

• Insecurity
• Fear
• Loneliness
• Failure or haunting mistakes from the past
• Lost memories
• Uselessness

Seabiscuit – Horse with torn ligament in his leg is about to be put down. Tom Smith rescues him. When asked if he’ll ever race again, he said, no, but he can do other things. “Don’t throw something away just because it’s banged up a bit.” A bully would never tell you that. A bully wants you to believe you can’t do anything of value, that it’s over.

What’s bullying you?

What’s your giant?

Why do we listen to what he’s saying? Because in every taunt there is a measure of truth or it wouldn’t matter.

Could Goliath have easily killed David? Of course. But David factored the Lord into the equation. Without the Lord he could never have stood up to Goliath.

He knew whatever Goliath said didn’t change who he was or affect the outcome God intended. What’s a bullies’ goal? To get you to believe his taunts are what will happen.

He presents himself as an apparently immovable force confronting us, trying to convince us he is worthy of fear simply because of his size, volume, ability, threat, or reminder of the reality of what’s going on.

So, how do we deal with the Goliaths in our lives? You can’t stop the birds from flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair. A bully wins when his taunts are absorbed into our life, dominate what we know is the truth and become a part of how we see ourselves. The moment we lose sight of who we are in Christ, a child of the living God, we let the bully win.

How did David deal with his giant?

·       He reminded himself who he was. Child of Almighty God.

·       He knew what was in his pouch

o   God’s been faithful in the past.

o   God has never failed.

o   God will accomplish what concerns me.

o   God is enough.

o   God will fight my battles.

·       He locked and loaded

·       He let her fly, trusting in God to make it hit the target.

David chose not to be undone by a mere giant when he belonged to God Almighty.

Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 

Ps 55:22 Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken. 

I’ve tested Him.

So, got any giants taunting you? Grab some stones, write on them the truth and put them in your bag.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. Life is hard but God is good.
2. Life isn’t fair but God is gracious.
3. Life is unpredictable but God is sovereign.
4. Life can get dark but God is Light.
5. Life can trick us to believe a lie but God is truth.