When We're Called Haters

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Beatrice Hunter
5 years ago
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1 GLORIA DEI LUTHERAN CHURCH, June 25, 2017; Pentecost III Lectionary / Selected: Psalm 91; Jeremiah 20:7-13; Romans 6:12-23; Matthew 10:5a, (NLT) Sermon Hymn: For the Cause (Global Hymn Sing II) Anthem: When We're Called Haters Decades ago, banks printed checks in a wide spectrum of colors; some offered checks with floral or scenic backgrounds. The modest-sized Bank of Marin in Marin County, California, went one step further. A customer could simply bring in a personal photograph or drawing and have it printed onto a standard check form. Undeterred by the higher cost, more than five hundred customers signed up for the illustrated checks. But perhaps the most imaginative and vindictive customer was the one who ordered special checks to be used solely for making his alimony payments. They show him kissing his new and beautiful wife. Well, that s one way to rub someone s face in it. Someone got betrayed in that first marriage. And what did the Lord say about this in today s Gospel lesson? Matthew 10:21 quotes Him, A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. I remember as a college freshman and new experiential Christian, I saw a movie brought to campus by the Ichthus Christian Fellowship group, in early The first of a new kind of Christian movie, released in 1972, A Thief in the Night, quoted I Thessalonians 5:2: the day of the Lord s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. It portrayed the

2 Rapture, when believers will meet the Lord in the air. I Thessalonians 4:16-18: For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. What was truly unbelievable was how it showed Christians being called haters. I couldn t fathom it. How could Christians ever be thought of as haters? Well, fast forward 40 years and suddenly, I find that I m a hater. Last week, GuideStar USA, a supposedly neutral organization which tracks non-profit groups, labeled several groups of which I m a member of, or support, as hate groups including the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, etc. So I m now a member of hate groups. And chances are, so are many of you. In fact, you d all better be! Well, with the Lord s words in Matthew 10, and elsewhere, we shouldn t be in the least bit surprised. Actually, this really should have happened a lot sooner. So what should we do about it? Though the circumstances are different, perhaps this experience of a group of missionaries working in truly deadly territory might show some helpful principles to us. Mark Ellis reported two months ago: The interior of Malaita in the Solomon Island chain had a long history of opposition to missionaries and other outsiders sometimes violent resistance by the Kwaio tribal group.!2

3 In 1927, 13 government officials from the UK were massacred by the Kwaio as they attempted to survey the area for taxation purposes. The British government responded by sending a warship to shell that part of the island, which resulted in the deaths of 200 Kwaio. Later, several Roman Catholic priests were killed by the group. In 1965 a Protestant missionary from New Zealand was martyred as he attempted to evangelize the Kwaio. Ten years later, a medical missionary and his son were also killed. But God had a plan to reach the Kwaio using missionaries from Fiji in 1990, as told in the compelling book, Look What God is Doing, by Dick Eastman, president of Every Home for Christ (EHC). It seems several Fijian evangelists affiliated with EHC who had been part of a campaign to reach Fiji s 106 islands turned their attention to the 100 islands of the Solomon chain, 1000 miles away. They reached the island of Malaita and spent time evangelizing the coastal areas. One night as their team sat around a campfire, a team member pointed to the rugged interior of the island and asked, Are there people there who have yet to hear about Jesus? Yes, one replied. It s one of the most difficult areas in all of the islands to evangelize because of the rugged terrain and the hostile people. An argument ensued within the team as they heard more about the history of the people group. Some were intimidated and urged caution. Cannibalism had been practiced until the end of the last century; who could be sure it had not ceased? The team finally agreed they would pray and fast for!3

4 seven days before attempting to send a team to reach the Kwaios. With the help of two witch doctors who had become believers, a list of 87 different evil spirits were identified that were said to hold sway in the region. They pointedly confronted each demonic entity with focused warfare prayer over the seven-day period, according to Eastman s book. On the eighth day, Jack and Japta joined 10 other Christian workers on a day-long journey into the rugged interior of the island. About 5:00 in the afternoon Jack and Japta reached one village where there was a large assembly of people, indicating something unusual might be going on. The two men were quickly surrounded by several large warriors, wanting to know where they were from and why they had come. Jack explained as quickly as he could in the Kwaio language that they were bringing the Kwaio people Good News, Eastman noted. But the burly guardians led them away to be questioned by five village priests or elders. These were elders who had gathered in anticipation of the impending death of their chief. The strangers had arrived at a sacred moment and might be infringing on the customs of the Kwaio a taboo of taboos that could meet with dire consequences. As the Christians were questioned, they could not help but notice some of the large warriors standing near them had 24-inch machetes and some carried bows with poison-tipped arrows. Why are you here? one of the elders demanded. We have come to share Good News, they repeated once more, as they went on to!4

5 describe the one true God who created everything in the heavens and on earth including the Kwaio. Our eternal God sent His only Son to be like us, a man, and to sacrifice His own life willingly on our behalf. The elders said they had never heard a message like this. They understood the concept of a blood sacrifice, however. After a few moments of heated discussion one said, We can not believe anything you say unless our chief believes. Jack and Japta requested permission to see the chief, knowing it was customary in many villages to seek approval from the chief. Once granted, that would open up opportunities for their message to be heard. The elders refused because their chief, Haribo, was dying. Seeing him was out of the question. Then one of the Christians had an idea. When Jesus Christ came as the Son of God, He came not only to deliver men from their sins, but to heal sick people, too. God is quite capable of healing your chief. In response, the elders began to argue among themselves. Jack and Japta spent the night locked in a hut, but at seven the next morning the elders returned with surprising news. They were granted permission to pray for Chief Haribo! When they entered the chief s hut, they could see he was very old and weak, struggling for breath, near death. Jack shared with him quickly God s plan of salvation, explaining that Jesus was the only way to eternal life, Eastman recounted. The chief had a most amazing response. I have waited my entire lifetime to hear this story, he told them. I have always felt there was some sacred message!5

6 like this. But no one ever came to bring us such words. How can I receive this Jesus into my life? Jack and Japta led Chief Haribo in the sinner s prayer. A few moments later a profound peace transformed the countenance of the chief. But two hours later the chief died. For the rest of the day, his body was prepared for a traditional Kwaio burial. Meanwhile, Jack and Japta left the village and headed back to the coast. But as dusk descended on the village something shocking happened. Chief Haribo sat up and began to speak! Let the elders gather, he said to his startled hearers, and let someone go and find the boys who came earlier to tell me about Jesus. When they gathered, the chief related an amazing story about seeing heaven. A being dressed in glorious white had taken him a great distance to the most beautiful place he had ever seen, Eastman recounted. A person called Jesus Christ, the Son of God the young men had told him about, was being worshiped by a huge crowd of people. The glorious being explained to him that this beautiful place was where people who believed in Jesus would go for all eternity to worship Him. So everything the boys said was true. Peace had come to his life, Haribo said, and he had no more pain, nor had he seen any suffering among the people who worshiped Jesus. [He] also gave the names of several Old Testament prophets he met in heaven. Then the being in white showed him another place a place of great torment where people go who reject the message of Jesus. The being in white!6

7 told the chief he had to go back for a short time to tell the elders of the village that the message about Jesus was true. This Jesus is the only way to experience eternal life, he said. When the chief learned that Jack and Japta had left, he ordered runners to go after them and bring them back so they could preach to the rest of the village. When [they] returned they were astounded by what had happened. They presented the message of salvation again, this time to the entire village. Every person, including Chief Haribo s immediate family of 21 members, received Christ as their Savior. And soon more than 300 villagers throughout the area (in 10 nearby villages) had surrendered their lives to Christ. Haribo remained alive all that night and into the next morning. Then he lay back down quietly in his earth bed and went to be forever with Jesus. By 2012, more than 8,000 Kwaios became followers of Jesus, including 1,000 in the most remote areas. So, in brief, what did these last missionaries do? Following the leading of Holy Spirit, they put aside their fears of being killed, or eaten, gathered intel about the people who hated them, and what they believed, and then fasted and prayed in specifics for seven days before making their initial contact. For us, we must find out as much as possible about those who ascribe hate to us, and pray as specifically as we can about particularly individuals or groups. The annual LGBTQ PrideFest is underway downtown as we speak. According to them, and the far too many, Bible-denying so-called Christians among them, we here are!7

haters because we won t accept their lifestyle as good and normal. We are to learn as much about them as possible, and pray accordingly. The same goes for any group in need of the truth about God.

8 haters because we won t accept their lifestyle as good and normal. We are to learn as much about them as possible, and pray accordingly. The same goes for any group in need of the truth about God. Muslims are also all around us. A new mosque in south county has just recently been completed. And muslims worldwide just ended their festival of Ramadan yesterday. Do we know enough and care enough about them to pray for them with any real understanding? Even though we be betrayed by those we once thought friends, even though we speak politically-incorrect, hateful, offensive truth from the Bible to those who don t want to hear it like Jeremiah did, even though many world leaders proclaim that Christianity is a hateful religion incompatible with modern, global society, even when it seems that we re mere ants facing a steam roller coming full blast at us, remember that Jeremiah reported that the Lord stood beside him like a great warrior and what our Lord Jesus told us ahead of time: all nations will hate you because you are My followers, When you are persecuted, flee, don t be afraid of those who threaten you, Don t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. And finally, He said, Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. And that s the only word that matters!!!8

What will happen when Jesus returns?

What will happen when Jesus returns? Eschatology - The study of future events. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 (NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who