Obedience!

Obedience!


12 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go to prepare the Passover meal for you?”

13 So Jesus sent two of them into Jerusalem with these instructions: “As you go into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him. 14 At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 15 He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” 16 So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

17 In the evening Jesus arrived with the twelve disciples. Mark 14:12-17

As I was reading this scripture this week in preparation for our Sunday afternoon Bible Study at CHBC (HINT: We meet at 5:00pm in the WhoSoEver room, if anyone would like to attend.), I thought, “How strange that Jesus would give such “details” about what to do to get ready for the Passover meal.”

Passover was a major event in the lives of the Jewish people. It was in remembrance of when they were captive in Egypt by the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh would not allow them to leave Egypt so God had caused several really bad things happen to the Egyptians. The last was the Angel of Death killing the first born of each household that did not have blood from a lamb on the door post. The Jewish were told that by following God’s command about this the Death Angel would “pass over” their house.

Wouldn’t it have been okay to just tell his disciples to all meet at this certain house at a certain time for the meal since Jesus knew where it was going to be? I know that I would have asked this question –“Aw, Jesus, can’t we just meet”? Then I “felt” the answer: “Hayward, it is about obedience, even to small things”. Thus, the title of today’s lesson – OBEDIENCE! Now every one of you may read this scripture and not get the same message as me! However, why would Jesus go through all these steps? Do you think that maybe God through the Holy Spirit might ask us to do things that make absolutely no sense to us but He has a purpose. In some cases the purpose could be just to “test” us in our obedience. Or it could have much more far reaching consequences.

Have you ever made a decision to obey God as a way of life? I’m not talking about obeying once in a while but in every area to the best of your knowledge and ability. Or do you find that there are times when you struggle to do what you know is right and in keeping with His principles? There may be times when it is easy to discern between what is right and in keeping with God’s will and what is wrong and not a part of His plan. In fact, you may actually obey Him at crucial junctures because you want His best. Other times, you may feel as if you are being pulled aside by disobedience simply because you did not do your homework in prayer and the study of God’s Word.

Solomon admonished us to “catch the foxes.” He went on to explain that it is the “little foxes that are ruining the vineyards” (Song of Solomon 2:15). Often the smaller decisions bring about the biggest consequences. A decision to tell a little white lie is very costly because it leads to sin and usually the next step, which is deception. The enemy is very keen. He knows better than to tempt a seasoned believer to flat out be not be obedient to God. Obvious sin always draws a response. Friends and family members usually speak up when you are involved in something that leads to shame, failure and a damaged testimony. You may falsely believe that something perceived as being insignificant is much easier to disguise. It may be for a season, but at some point God pulls the covers back, and the truth is revealed about what you have done.

Obedience to the Holy Spirit in small things can be so very important even though we are not aware of them at the time.

Edward Kimball was a Sunday School teacher at a little church in Chicago, his class was for teenagers. It wasn’t the biggest church in town, actually, it was a rather tiny church. Kimball had a small Sunday School class that consisted of just a handful of kids.

One Sunday a new kid showed up in church all on his own. This kid just showed up at church, he didn’t come with his family and no one from the church brought him. He just appeared.

He went to Edward Kimball’s Sunday School class that morning. Kimball quickly found out that this kid had never been to church before and was completely unfamiliar with the Bible and Christianity, compared to the other teens.

Edward Kimball realized that he needed to talk to this kid one on one about Jesus Christ and so that same week Kimball walked down to where the young man worked, a shoe store. Kimball saw the kid through the window working but hesitated to go in. He knew that he needed to really talk to this kid; again Kimball turned to enter, but again, he hesitated..

I mean who was Edward Kimball anyway? He was just a guy at one of the least significant churches in town, a guy with a relatively ineffective Sunday School class that only attracted a few teens, he wasn’t brilliant or especially articulate, he was just a part time Sunday School teacher and not much more. Has anyone here ever heard of him?

Still, this kid needed to hear about Jesus, and so, one more time Edward built up the courage to enter the store and talk to the kid - this time he followed through. Edward presented the gospel to the new kid as best he could….and the kid responded by giving his life over to Jesus Christ, right there in the store.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have come to know Jesus Christ as a result of this single act of Edward Kimball. This small act that Kimball almost let pass by, quite possibly could have been the demise of our chance to hear about Jesus, if he had not acted. Chances are, we owe our gratitude to this man for our opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

You see, that kid who gave his life over to Jesus Christ that day was none other than Dwight Moody who later became one of the greatest evangelists in the world with hundreds and thousands becoming Christians as a result of his witness.

One of those who came to Christ as a result of Moody’s ministry was the Reverend Billy Graham, who in turn brought millions to Christ, worldwide.

A man few people could name today, a man who wasn’t really anyone, a man who didn’t stand a chance to win the Sunday School teacher of the year award, yet, in one single act, this man set in motion the creation more followers of Jesus Christ, perhaps, than anyone in the history of Christianity. This happened by a simple man doing a “small” thing in obedience to the leading of the Holy Spirit!

The small things we do in the Kingdom of God will have a greater impact than the great things we strive to do in the Kingdom of God. Let’s say that again, The small things we do in the Kingdom of God will have a greater impact than the great things we strive to do in the Kingdom of God.

You know, doing small things in the Kingdom of God, is well….doing things. When we do little things, we are actually doing the work of the kingdom of God. Now, striving to do great things in the Kingdom of God is excellent, but the truth is, we may simply pass up opportunities God sets before us, by ignoring the small things.

We want to have an impact for Jesus Christ and we may shy away from little things, because we believe, in the end little things will matter little. Yet, the truth is, God calls you to what God calls you to.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents in which three men are given various amount of money, each according to his ability. With what was given was an expectation from God. God has given us whatever He has given us with the expectation that we will use it for the building of the kingdom of God - even in the little things.

Obedience to the Holy Spirit in small things can lead to far reaching blessings. What Jesus did on the cross for us was not a “small” thing but it was “obedience”.

“…he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8

“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” Hebrews 5:8

In closing, Jesus gives a new commandment. One which He expects us to do in obedience to His will: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35

And, the disciples were amazed when Jesus calmed the storm at sea. They said “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:41b Soooo, shouldn’t we obedience, even in small things??