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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000009S
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00:06 Sermon #S006 - "Shame On Us"
00:20 Pastor Snell: I want to invite you, saints, to go with me in your Bibles to the Book of Luke 10, Luke 10:25. 00:30 Today, I want to really just talk to us as a church local 00:36 and to those who are watching online from other places. 00:40 There's some things that the church universal needs to hear from the word. 00:46 Luke 10:25, when you get there, just say, "I'm here, Pastor." Luke 10:25. 00:52 [Congregation: Laughing] just stand next to them next Sabbath. When I say it, say it from your heart. 00:54 Let them know, "You look good in the house today." Turn to your neighbor on the other side. 00:55 Come on and say it. 00:56 Luke10:25, Jesus says, "And beholds, a certain lawyer stood up and tested him, 00:59 saying , 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said unto him, 'What is written in the law? 01:07 What is your reading of it?' So he answered and said, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, 01:15 with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and ‘your neighbor as yourself.' 01:21 And He said to him, 'You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.' 01:27 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbor?' 01:34 Then Jesus answered and said: 'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell amongst thieves, 01:41 who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 01:47 Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 01:56 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 02:04 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 02:11 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, 02:19 and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, 02:25 he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; 02:32 and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 02:37 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell amongst the thieves? 02:44 And he said, 'He who showed mercy on him.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Go and do likewise.'" 02:51 I want to emphasize verse 31, "Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road, and when he saw him, 03:01 he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, 03:11 and passed by on the other side." Today, saints, I want to talk for a little while under the subject, 03:18 Shame on Us. Shame on us. Let's pray. 03:23 Father, the same way You took two fish into and five loaves and You multiply it, 03:31 I'm praying that You would take my little and that You would make it sufficient for many. 03:36 Lord, I need your strength to be perfected in human weakness, frailty, and lack. 03:41 Lord, I'm praying that in the hearing of the word, 03:44 we would get a sense of what it is that You require for us in this time. 03:49 Lord, would You please hide me In the Shadows of the cross, that Jesus alone might be seen, 03:55 that Christ alone would be heard. At the end of our time together, may Jesus alone be praised. 04:02 We ask this in the name of him who is altogether lovely. It is in the name of Jesus, that we pray. 04:08 Let God's people say together "Amen." And Amen. You may be seated in the house of God. 04:14 You know, saints, our text today has many implications that need to be considered. 04:21 The very first thing this teaches us is that your love for God is not personal or invisible. 04:31 Here, we find Jesus surrounded by a very mixed sort of crowd. 04:38 First, you have the 70, who have come back to report to Jesus the great works that they have done in His name. 04:46 Supplementing the 70, you have the religious establishment of the day who have shown up in an attempt to 04:54 discredit Jesus. Out of this group, you have a lawyer or doctor of the law who stands up 05:02 and makes the inquiry. He asked. Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" 05:10 Jesus, understanding that his goal was not to know, his goal was to discredit, 05:17 he then centers His answers on the lawyer's understanding of the law. He asked the question, 05:24 "What does the law say? How do you understand it to read?" 05:30 The man then replies that the law says that you are to love God with all of your heart, 05:36 with all of your mind and all of your strength. 05:40 The second commandment is that you love your neighbor as yourself. 05:44 The first thing this teaches, friends, is that your love for God is not invisible. 05:52 You see the problem, saints, is we see the two great Commandments as distinct and separate Commandments, 06:00 when the truth is that the second commandment is an outgrowth or a revelation of the first. 06:08 Remember Jesus said, when he summarized the two, 06:12 that you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind, and all of your soul. 06:19 He says that the second is likened unto it, that you love your neighbor as yourself. 06:27 Now, understand, in the Greek, when Jesus says that the second is liken unto it, 06:34 that word liken means that it is reflecting, that it is similar, that it is twinning the first commandment. 06:43 In other words, the second commandment is the proof or the evidence of the first commandment. 06:51 You all didn't catch that. In other words, your love for God is going to be mirrored 06:58 or reflected in your love for your neighbor. I want to lay this out there, church, so that we have clarity. 07:07 Because too often, we measure our love for God in very insulated ways, 07:13 so that when we're trying to track our love for God, what we evaluate is how much we study, 07:20 how much we pray, our Sabbath-keeping, and our sin patterns, 07:26 but those things lose value if the byproduct is not Christ-like love for your neighbor. 07:34 Let me say it this way, 07:35 that you become a Commandment breaker if the only person that benefits from your walk with God is you. 07:45 See, Jesus says that you can't love the God you've never seen. 07:52 If you can't love those who are created In His Image, in other words, saints, 07:57 if your life only impacts you, then you don't love God. If you're only a blessing to yourself, 08:06 you don't love God. If you're only concerned with your comfort, you don't love God. 08:13 If you're only concern is building your brand, then you don't love God. 08:18 Some of you are sitting with offense saying, "Pastor, you don't know how much I pray. 08:23 You don't know how much I study. You don't know how well I keep the Sabbath," 08:30 but Jesus is trying to get us to know that true religion, 08:35 that present truth is not how impacted you are by the gospel. It's how impactful you are for the gospel. 08:44 Let me say it again. That true real religion is not just how impacted I am by the gospel. 08:52 It's how impactful I've been for the gospel. Because just like the Jews of old, 08:58 you can sit in a Sabbath School class and debate theological intricacies all day. 09:04 You can be a part of 17 prayer groups inside of the church. In fact, some of us can sit at home 09:12 and you can watch a sermon on Eastern time and Central time, and again, on Pacific time, 09:19 but the issue with the contemporary church is that we have become consumer believers. 09:27 In other words, look at the language that has been popularized in the church in our time. 09:33 Look at how we talk in the things that we expose. 09:36 You'll realize that the language of the contemporary church is all about increase, 09:42 but John the Baptist says our goal should be to decrease. 09:47 In the contemporary church, it is popular to say, "I claim that," 09:51 when the truth is we ought to be saying, "I share that." In the contemporary church, 09:57 our goal is to receive it and not necessarily to give it. 10:02 In our time, we want to be in the overflow so that we have a lot, 10:06 but we learned last week that the overflow is the blessing that you share with those that are in 10:13 close proximity to you. 10:15 The thing I want somebody to get is that true Christianity may be formed in the closet, 10:22 but guess what? It shows up with those that you are in contact with. 10:27 How many of us know that the truest measure of Christianity is your love? 10:33 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 10:36 In other words, the measure of your walk with God is not what you wear or don't wear. 10:41 It's not in what you eat or don't eat. 10:44 It's not in what time you keep the Sabbath or shut off the television. 10:48 It doesn't really matter. If you don't have love for your neighbor. Okay, I see some of us are not convinced. 10:56 Look here in Desire of Ages page 502, there is a stunning statement I need somebody to here. 11:04 In fact, she says that many who profess His name have lost sight of the fact that Christians are to represent 11:13 Christ unless there is practical self-sacrifice for the good of others in the family circle, 11:22 in the neighborhood, in the church, and wherever we may be. Then, whatever we profess, we are not Christians. 11:33 Did you all catch that today? 11:35 In other words, she's saying unless you have loved, it doesn't matter what you profess. 11:41 Your Christianity shows up in your home. It shows up in your neighborhood. 11:46 It reveals itself wherever you are. Anything less than that means that you're not a Christian. 11:55 See, I need us to understand that we've got to shift out of a consumer-based religion, 12:02 where it's about how much I receive and realize that it's more about what I give. 12:09 Okay. You all are sitting on your hands today. 12:11 Let me say it this way. Have you ever noticed, saints, that whenever you get a new cellular phone, 12:12 Are you all hearing the word today, saints? Go back with me, if you will, to Luke 10, 12:14 and I want you to look together at verse 29. Luke 10:29, the Bible says, 12:23 "But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, 'Who is my neighbor?' 12:29 Then Jesus answered and said, 'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, 12:34 and fell amongst thieves who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him and departed, 12:40 leaving him half dead. Now, by chance, a certain priest came down that road, 12:45 and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the same place, 12:53 came and looked, and he also passed by on the other side." You see the second thing this story teaches us, 13:01 friends of mine, is that our problem is not our message. Sometimes, our problem is the messengers. 13:12 I need you to get that the problem is not always the message. Sometimes, the problem is bad messengers. 13:19 Now, I need you to see something. 13:22 This parable that Jesus tells is actually literally designed to shame the Jewish religious establishment. 13:32 What Jesus does is he juxtaposes the fictional actions of a Levite and a priest, 13:40 and he contrasts them with the actions of a Samaritan, who the Jews see as an outsider, 13:48 whose life is less valuable than that of a dog. Understand, saints, 13:53 that this shame is actually twofold because the wounded man had to find God's love outside of the church. 14:03 He also had to find love outside of his ethnic community, 14:09 and that he could only find help from one who was a Samaritan. 14:13 See, as the story has laid out, 14:17 the Bible says that there is a man that is traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem. On his journey, 14:24 he falls amongst thieves who beat him bloody. The Bible says that they leave him for dead. 14:31 It so happens that on that particular day, there was a priest, a representative of the religious community, 14:39 that sees him bleeding out on the ground, looks at him and passes by on the other side. 14:47 Then, you have a Levite, who is also a part of the priestly community, who also looks at him, 14:55 observes his pain, assesses his situation, collects data for a study, 15:02 but the Bible says he doesn't do nothing about it. He also passes by on the other side. 15:10 Now, friends of mine, lend me your imagination for a moment. 15:15 See, I'm not sure how much consciousness the wounded man has. 15:23 In other words, he is not dead, but we're not told how much awareness he has of what's happening. 15:30 Could you imagine if this man was able, as he looks on the ground, 15:39 to see the blue border of the priest garment and phylacteries passing by him in his moment of pain? 15:47 Could you imagine that he could smell the incense in the Levite's clothes, 15:53 that wasps over the veil from outside of the altar as he, too, passes by and leaves him in his pain? 16:01 In other words, what if he notices that the representatives of the body passed by and leave him in his pain? 16:09 What is his response to religion going to be when he comes to? When he wakes up and realizes that his bill 16:18 and comfort and care has come from someone outside of the faith community, 16:25 you realize that no one in the church is going to be able to talk to him about the goodness of God. 16:31 He's not going to receive nothing about the power of prayer. 16:35 He's not going to entertain anything about you coming to church and being a part of a fellowship. 16:41 See, the problem is that we would look at somebody with that disposition and say their issue is that they're 16:49 rejecting the message. The problem is that they become sour on the messengers. 16:57 See, how many of us know that when people have been wounded by messengers, by and large, 17:03 they don't parse out the difference between the message and the messenger. 17:08 What they do is they tend to lump it all together. What I'm saying to the body is that, 17:14 sometimes, the issue with the Adventist Church is not that we have the wrong message. 17:20 In many instances, we have empowered the wrong messengers. 17:25 [Congregation: Clapping] 17:26 Okay. Let me say it this way. 17:28 Has anybody ever been to the church where they have the meanest ushers in the world working at the door? 17:35 In other words, 17:37 their goal is to keep you outside of the service instead of getting you a seat inside of the service. 17:43 Have you ever been to the church where you've got the mean deaconess who's always trying to correct young 17:51 people without connecting with young people? In other words, it's all about correction, 17:57 but there is never any connection. 18:00 Has anybody seen the church where the health people become the food police? 18:06 They literally walk around at fellowship dinner pointing out what you should and you should not be eating. 18:13 Has anybody grown up in the church where the church board disfellowships every girl that gets pregnant, 18:20 but the boy that got her pregnant is on the Junior Deacon bench and still on the church basketball team? 18:28 Are you all hear what I'm saying? See, the problem is we think folk leave 18:33 because they don't like the message, but the issue is that we got bad messengers representing the work of God. 18:39 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 18:41 See, it's just like this. I remember probably about two or three years ago. Here in Bridge Street, 18:42 See, in this moment, beloved, in this moment of need, 18:45 I need you to notice that the church has nothing to offer him. 18:53 See, the shame that Jesus is trying to communicate is that His people have to find love outside of the church. 19:05 The shame of the contemporary black church is that we have too many of in our communities that have to 19:12 experience the love of God outside of the community of faith. You see, friends of mine. 19:19 You know what the appeal of a gang is? 19:24 You see, friends of mine, you know what the appeal of a gang is. You se appeal of the gang. 19:25 It's not access to a weapon. 19:28 The appeal of a gang is having a sense of belonging for somebody who's not going to judge me, 19:34 but just receive me. Do you realize what the appeal of a pimp is? 19:39 The appeal of a pimp is not just to get paid, but it's to know that somebody's going to be covering me 19:46 and looking out for me. Do you realize the appeal of the frat or the sorority? 19:51 It's to know that there is a community that's going to help outline my success, 19:56 and then celebrate it when it comes forward. Do you realize that these things have such a spill 20:03 and appeal on our community because they can't get that type of covering? 20:08 They can't get that type of belonging. They can't get that type of support inside of the household of faith. 20:16 Are you hearing me, saints? 20:19 See, sometimes the issue is that we've got great services, but we have bad community services. 20:28 See, if the priest and the Levite did what the Samaritan did , 20:36 you realize that they would have to keep that brother out of church. 20:41 But because of what they did not do, they will never be able to even force him into the church. 20:48 Are you all hearing what I'm saying, saints. 20:50 See, I need us to understand that the secret sauce to evangelism and church growth in our time is not that we 20:57 don't do tense anymore. It's not that we aren't studying with folk long enough. 21:02 The issue is not that we're not doing what we used to do. The issue is that we don't have enough love in the 21:08 body of Christ. 21:10 [Congregation: Clapping] 21:12 Pastor Snell: You all will believe this Testimonies for the Church Volume 9. Look at this. 21:16 Hear me on this, saints. Listen to what the prophet is saying to the church. 21:20 I need you all to know that there is a secret sauce, and is already in the pews of the body. 21:26 She literally says if we would humble ourselves before God, and be kind, and courteous, and tender-hearted, 21:35 and pitiful, watch this, there would be 100 conversions to the truth, where there is now, only one. 21:45 In other words, if we love like Jesus, if we cared like Jesus, 21:51 take the number of folks that were baptized into your church. 21:55 If we love like that, multiply it times 100, 21:59 and you would have a harvest that's greater than what your church can contain. 22:03 It's funny because this brother would function as an unbelieving person simply 22:09 because the church could not do anything for him. Let me ask a question. 22:14 Why would you join a community that can do nothing for you? 22:22 Why would you join a community that passed by your pain, that notices your pain, 22:30 but doesn't do anything to facilitate your pain? What I'm saying is the reason the church, 22:37 not just local, but global, the reason we're not winning our communities is 22:42 because we don't have nothing to offer them. 22:46 If your church is in a community that's full of academically challenged children, 22:52 where then is your ministry for academically challenged children? 22:56 If your church is in a community where you've got a lot of ex-cons or offenders, 23:01 where then is your ministry to welcome back our brothers and sisters from incarceration? 23:06 If your church is in a community that is filled with single parents, 23:11 where then is your ministry designed to build single parents? 23:15 If your church is in a community where there are a lot of international refugees, 23:21 where then is your ministry to grow and build those refugees? 23:25 If your church is in a community where there's a lot of mental illness, 23:29 where then is your ministry that's designed for mental illness? 23:33 If your church is in a community where there's drug addiction and violence, 23:37 then where is the ministry to address drug addiction and violence? 23:42 What I'm saying is we got to stop all the surveys. Stop gathering all this information. 23:47 The needs are glaring and obvious. We've got to build our ministry not around what we like, 23:54 not around what blesses us. 23:56 We've got to build the ministry around that which is going to bless the community. 24:03 [Congregation: Clapping] 24:05 Pastor Snell: What I need somebody to understand is that what you offer determines the kind of clientele 24:12 you are going to receive. Let me say it this way. You see, as a brother, 24:18 I don't go shop in Victoria's Secret. Well, I do. 24:25 [Congregation: Laughing] 24:27 Pastor Snell: But it ain't really for me. Are you all too holy? You're on the Spirit. 24:31 You all love the Lord more than me. Come on, brothers. Every now and then... 24:34 In other words, I don't go there because guess what? They ain't got nothing for me to wear. 24:42 Do I have a witness? In other words, what they offer determines the clientele. 24:50 In other words, there are certain stores that, as a brother, with a little extra anointing. 24:57 [Congregation: Laughing] 24:59 Pastor Snell: Anybody else got a little extra anointing? Come on and save it. 25:02 You realize that there are certain stores you can't even shop in 25:06 because they only have a size that's going to fit small people. 25:12 In other words, what they offer is going to determine who their clientele is. 25:18 In other words, I went into one store and I even have my size. 25:22 I put my leg and I couldn't get my leg all the way in. 25:25 In other words, it's a store that only caters to people that are in perfect shape. 25:31 I guess what I'm saying is we got to be careful about not just catering to people who are in perfect shape. 25:39 We've got to be a people that's going to receive not just one size or one class. 25:45 God says, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations." 25:51 How many of us know that we don't just want people from other churches, but guess what? 25:56 We ought to want some smoking people in this church. We ought to want some drinking people in this. 26:02 We ought to receive some shocking people in this church. We ought to want some cursing people in this church. 26:09 Jesus said the whole have no need of a physician, 26:13 but He said, "I have come to seek and save that which is lost." 26:19 Is there anybody that was once lost and you're now found? 26:24 And you just want to praise God that He don't just cater to those in perfect shape. 26:31 But He says, "I'll take your defects. I'll love your love handles. I'll take your cellulite. 26:37 Whatever's wrong with you, you got a place in Me." Are you hearing me today, saints? 26:48 Pastor Snell: Praise God everyone, thank you so much for allowing us to bring the gospel 26:53 right there to your living room today. Listen I want to encourage you to make sure you 26:56 come back next week same place, same time as I give you 27:00 Part #2 of the message entitled "Shame On Us". I want you to the second half is going to be even better than 27:06 the fist half, so make sure you see us again next week. 27:10 (Breath of Life Music) 27:34 Pastor Snell: Hi, I'm Debleaire Snell. Have you ever been in a place where as soon as you started believing 27:40 big, praying big and thinking big someone told you that you need to be more realistic? 27:47 It was unrealistic for Jesus to say 27:50 I'm going to lay down my life and in three days I'm going to pick it back up again. 27:54 I want to encouarge you to put down your commonly held beliefs 27:58 and it's time for us to "Get Unrealistic" 28:02 (MUSIC) 28:05 [End] |
Revised 2022-03-23