Good morning. Today’s message was supposed to happen last week, but as many of you know, my Dad suddenly died last Friday morning. He had just finished breakfast, and was starting his morning, when he became ill. Mom did all she could to get dad to sit down so she could call for help. She called me as they loaded Dad in the ambulance. Before Lara/I could even get on the road, we received that second call. You’re never quite ready to hear that kind of news. I didn’t just have a good father, I had a great father.
Our family was deeply comforted by all the cards, the notes, the flowers, and those who made the long trek to Herscher for the services. There were people from Lakeside, my brother’s church in Joliet, my sister’s church in Manteno, my Mom and Dad’s church. There was just an incredible outpouring of support, so thank you, truly.
Yesterday Jim Schackmann, a long-time member of Lakeside, also passed away. Jim sure was a dear friend—always quick with a joke, a smile, an encouraging word. This is going to be a long week for the Schackmann family, and our Lakeside family. Please keep them in your prayers. Jim will be deeply missed. Let’s begin with prayer. . .
We’ve been calling this series “Life on Mission.” An essential ingredient of mission is to “Connect.” How can we influence someone unless we’re willing to make a connection? To save us, God came near. He sent his only Son into the world. In Jesus, God took on flesh. He sought us out, he moved into our neighborhood, he looked us in the white of our eyes, he invited us “come, follow.” Never forget. 80% of success is showing up, being present, venturing out forming new relationships. Remember how Chuck and I very slowly built a relationship and soon all his family and friends came to know the Lord?
Another essential ingredient of mission is to “Serve.” We must truly love people. Love is giving what is needed. Mission isn’t about us needing to be needed. It isn’t about us trying to feel significant. It’s not about us all. Remember that story about the little boy who survived the Holocaust? After finding a tiny mirror, and making it shine into dark holes and crevices. . . he realized his purpose in life was to shine Christ’s love into the darkest recesses of people’s hearts!
Next week, we’re going to talk about the essential role of “Prayer.” The only reason mission is even possible is because the Spirit of Christ goes before us, preparing the hearts of people. In our services, we’re going to set aside time to pray for our family, our friends, our city, our nation, and our world to know Jesus. We’re also going to have a special guest who’s going to talk about how God has used prayer to take Christ to millions of people. It’s going to be just an amazing week.
So let’s talk about what it means to “Share” Jesus. . . No question. I could offer tons of practical advice about sharing Jesus. For example: connect, serve/love, pray. But if I could offer just one piece of advice it would be this: internalize the gospel… internalize the good news of Jesus Christ… find your voice…
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 the Bible says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves received from God.” This verse begs the question. What trouble have you faced in life? And what difference did, or what difference does, Jesus make?
Sharing Grace
About a month ago, my dad underwent neck surgery. You have to understand, Dad worked over 40 years in factories, walking on concrete, repairing heavy machinery. I don’t know anybody who worked harder than my dad. But the work had taken a toll on his body. After his operation, Dad was healing well. He’d lost weight, he talked about going to Branson this Christmas, he’d even gotten back on Facebook.
During Dad’s surgery, my oldest brother Chris promised to be at the hospital, to be with mom, and all us kids. But Chris never showed up. Throughout the day, mom’s concern for Chris only grew. We hadn’t heard from him for days. He hadn’t returned any calls/texts. He wasn’t at his house.
That night, we began checking the Internet. We learned that Chris had been arrested on drug charges. After two years of progress (living in Champaign. . . attending church. . . experiencing God’s gracious provisions for his life. . . working for godly men who cared about him)… Chris had grown restless. His same old “friends” enticed him back to the same old “neighborhoods”, promising him fast cash, and a better future. They really just wanted to use him, and who better a target than someone who wanted to be used.
I’ve often reflected on the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. The younger son demands his inheritance, and heads out for a distant country, where he squanders his life on wild living. The Prodigal Son may have left with his health and youthful vitality—but let me assure you, he didn’t return with it. The low point for the Prodigal Son was eating out of a pig trough. One of Chris’ low points was having to eat salty, 1 ply bologna sandwiches, day after day, on stale prison house bread. . . during his last stint in jail, Chris became terribly unhealthy, gaining weight, losing teeth. . .
When the Prodigal Son returned from the distant country the Father runs out to him, embraces him, kills the fattened calf, and throws a party. The Father shouts with joy, “This son on of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
In our family, the story of the Prodigal Son is like the movie Ground Hogs Day. The son leaves. The son returns. The son leaves. The son returns. The son leaves. The son returns. In Luke 15, the son seems to learn his lesson. But what does grace look like when the son doesn’t seem to learn his lesson? What does it look like 2x, 5x, 10x around?
After his neck surgery, Dad agonized terribly about Chris. But you know what Dad told me? He said, “Chris is still family… and he still needs guidance.” Dad said, “Jon, it’s like the story of Absalom.” After all Absalom did to hurt, plot, conspire against his father David, what does the Bible say? It says David “longed for Absalom.” David kept longing for a relationship with his son! That was Dad. 2x. 5x. 10x. 77x.
Maybe you read in Life on Mission, where Tim Harlow talks about Bono, the lead singer of U2? Bono is being asked about his Christian faith. He says, “at the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics— in physical laws— every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It’s clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I’m absolutely sure of it.”
“And yet,” Bono says, “along comes this idea called grace. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.”
What does it mean to share Jesus? It means you stand at that gate, day after day, and you run out to your son, or to your daughter, and to every wayward soul darkens the horizon. You keep on longing, you keep on praying, you keep on hoping, you keep on loving, you keep on celebrating, and yes, you keep on resetting. 1x 2x 5x 10x 77x.
Love is patient, love is kind, love doesn’t keep records, it always hopes, it always perseveres, it never fails… there is no more powerful force for change in our world than to hold out the disruptive love of Jesus time and again. We’re not talking about something human here… we’re talking about something divine—sharing God’s love. We’re not talking about getting what any of us deserve—we’re talking about grace—because we’ve all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Let me ask, have any of you received comfort from God’s grace? Well, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort [grace], who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort [grace] we ourselves received from God.” Grace isn’t just for our comfort. It’s for others too… especially those who are in trouble.
Sharing Life
This next part is a bit more difficult. Years back, Chris had a warrant out for his arrest, and he drove down to Springfield late one night to find me. We met at a Steak N Shake, and I asked Chris, “Why don’t you turn yourself in, let me drive you to the Sheriff’s office.” Chris wept and wept. “Because Jon, I’m afraid if I go to jail, I might not see dad alive again.” So we prayed about this, and the next morning we drove to the Sheriff’s office. By God’s grace, Chris got out of jail, and spent time with Dad.
But when Chris got arrested this last time, what he feared might happen the last go around, did indeed happen. As hard as it is for me to grieve (and I have plenty of support), I cannot imagine what it must be like for Chris to hear the news behind bars. On Friday I called the prison, and they have so many rules. I told them what happened, and asked if they would allow Chris to call me, so I could tell him about Dad. They said, “Yes, give us ten minutes to get your brother, take as long as you need…”
As the weekend progressed, it became apparent that there was zero possibility for Chris to get out for a private visitation, much less the funeral. Chris was so distraught, that time had run out, that he wouldn’t ever see Dad again. Chris frantically began writing a letter to Dad, hoping to get it to me by the funeral, so it could be read and placed in Dad’s casket. The prison wouldn’t allow our family to pick up that letter from the prison! But I’ll tell you, God made a way for that letter to get to us. His letter was filled with regret. Time had run out. There was business left unfinished.
Ironically, my dad loved firearms. One of my first priorities before the end of the weekend was to secure Dad’s guns before the grandkids came over. As we secured the firearms, and put them away, a letter fell out of Dad’s gun safe. It simply said, “In the Event of My Incapacity or Death.”
So by the time of the visitation, I was staring at two letters. One letter was from my brother, filled with despair, regretting how time had run out. The other letter was from my dad—filled with hope—and in that letter Dad made it clear that if each of his children and grandchildren would trust Jesus, not only would God’s grace never run out, neither would our time together, in all eternity.
Let me ask, have any of you received comfort knowing the hope of eternal life for all who believe in Jesus? Well, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort [hope], who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort [hope] we ourselves received from God.” Grace isn’t just for us, grace is to be shared with all, and especially those who are in trouble. Hope isn’t just for us, hope is to be shared with all, and especially those who are in trouble. If my dad, a humble hard working factory worker could share grace/hope so powerfully. . . then what’s your excuse?