MY
SERVANTS, MY BEARERS OF GOOD NEWS
By
Suggested Call to Worship: Acts
Opening Song: #202, SDA Hymnal, Tell It to Every Kindred and Nation
Closing Song:#573, SDA Hymnal, I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go
Note: This sermon is
formatted differently from the previous ones but this is another form of
organizing a sermon that you may want to try. It is patterned after the famous
preacher Peter Marshall’s format. It makes it easier to find your place and see
your ideas without having to read everything.
MY SERVANTS, MY BEARERS OF
GOOD NEWS
Scripture: Acts
The disciples
were used to Jesus doing unusual things.
They
were no longer surprised when he associated
with
sinners
with
publicans
with
Pharisees
when
he healed on the Sabbath
when
he talked with Samaritans.
But in John
4:27, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well,
they
were surprised again,
because
Jesus was talking with a woman.
You see, in the
society of that day, a woman had almost no value.
As
a pre-adolescent, she belonged to her father
with
no rights of her own.
When
she married, she was the property of her husband.
He
had the exclusive right to divorce.
In
a divorce, the children were always his.
A
woman in public had to cover her face with two veils.
They
were not allowed to attend school or study religion.
If
a woman touched the Torah, it had to be burned.
Women
were kept out of the main temple area,
relegated
to the Court of the Women.
They
had to sit separately in the synagogue--
in
fact, they were not even counted as part of the congregation.
Ordinarily
men never spoke to them in public;
sometimes
even a woman’s husband was not
permitted to speak to her in public.
Otherwise the
woman’s only real status or purpose was to bear children.
They
were to be silent,
unseen.
Many
equal with slaves,
Their
primary purpose/importance was as bearers of children.
The
stories of Sara, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth
and others all come from this background.
History records
a famous prayer of Rabbi Juda ben Elai (c. AD 150)
"One
must utter three doxologies every day:
Praise
God that he did not create me a heathen!
Praise
God that he did not create me a woman!
Praise
God that he did not create me an illiterate person!"
Fortunately,
none of this mattered to Jesus.
He
had come to love everyone,
He
had come to die for everyone,
He
had come to save everyone,
and
He would speak to anyone,
and
use anyone who was willing.
He
had come "to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the
yoke,
to
set the oppressed free
and
break every yoke" Isaiah 58:6.
He
had come to make slaves into His willing servants,
the
bearers of children
into
bearers of His Good News.
As we look at
the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4,
we
see that this unnamed woman had been surprised too
that
Jesus would speak to her,
asking
her for a drink of water,
but
as soon as he had her attention,
He
began to open to her eternal life.
In verse 13,
(NRSV) Jesus says: "The water
that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal
life."
A gurgling
spring must have been very appealing to anyone
who
had to carry water every day
And
Jacob’s well was very deep.
I
have been there myself.
It
is deep and cold even today
Then Jesus
surprised her again by telling her that He knew
that
she had no husband
that
she had had five husbands
and
that the one she was now living with was not her husband
When the
Samaritan woman recognized that Jesus was a prophet
and
that He was willing to talk of things eternal with her
she had some questions of her own,
questions
that she had no doubt heard the men debate,
such
as about where to worship.
But
Jesus skipped over the unimportant and brought her "the truth"
(verse 24).
Then Jesus did
the truly unexpected:
He
told her that He indeed was the Messiah.
This
is the only time before his trial
that
he specifically said that he was the Messiah.
To
a woman.
To
a Samaritan.
To
the low and down trodden.
To
an almost non-person.
No wonder the
disciples were surprised!
And it is no wonder
either that in 1 Corinthians
But
God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak
things of the world to shame the strong.
He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the
things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast
before him." (NIV)
This should
encourage all of us, men and women,
that
we count in God’s sight.
We
matter.,
And
He can and will use any of us who are willing to be used.
The result of
the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman?
The
woman went home,
to
her family, her neighborhood,
to
her entire town, and witnessed.
And many believed.
Jesus
stayed in that town two more days,
teaching
her converts.
The
woman of no status, the bearer of water jars and children had become a bearer
of the Good News.
In another
story, (Luke
Jesus
was in the home of Mary and Martha.
Martha was
scurrying around, preparing for her special guest.
But
Mary was not helping, and Martha was unhappy.
I
love this story.
Poor
Martha was trying her best to feed guests,
Maybe
as many as 13 hungry, outdoors men
And
her sister is not there to help.
Finally,
she asked Jesus to make Mary help her!
She
could have marched in and said to Mary, “Get in here!”
Instead,
she took her problem to Jesus.
And
just as often happens, she did not get the answer she expected.
Or really wanted.
Jesus indicated
that what had been the norm was no longer to be so--
the
gospel had new urgency and needed everyone’s talents.
And
Mary had chosen the better part.
Martha
was doing what women were supposed to be doing--cooking, cleaning, hostessing.
But
Mary was sitting at Jesus feet--
involved
in a theological discussion.
And
Jesus told Martha that Mary "had chosen what is better, and it will not be
taken away from her." Luke 10:42
Was
what Martha was doing wrong?
No.
It was just a matter of balance.
And
relationship
Mary was
spending time building a relationship.
Martha was so
busy doing what was good
that
she had no time to do what was better.
Jesus was
empowering the disenfranchised.
Sometimes
it was soldiers,
sometimes
lepers
sometimes
tax collectors
This
time it was women
Women who were
receptive to Jesus and His teaching.
Women were also
the first to believe in
and
to tell of the resurrection.
Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John all tell the story,
each
with different details.
The angel told
the women to tell the disciples and Peter of the resurrection.
And
tell it they did.
Luke 24:9 says "When they came back from
the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others."
Just like women
anytime, anywhere, when they heard good news,
they
wanted to share it with everyone.
Telephone. Tell a woman.
The women were
with the disciples when they elected Matthias to replace Judas,
and
they were there when the tongues of fire fell
and
the Holy Spirit filled them at Pentecost right along with the men.
(Acts
This should not
have surprised the disciples,
as
it had been predicted by the prophet Joel. (Joel 2:28-32)
When Peter had
become filled with the Holy Spirit
he
remembered and quoted Joel to the crowd.
The
scripture is found in Acts
(Read it
together or have the congregation read it as a responsive reading.)
It
is to be a sign of the last days when the Holy Spirit
is
poured out on men and women
Old
and young
Both men and
women were to witness and prophesy in the last days.
Peter
and the other disciples
thought
they were living in the last days.
We
too believe we are.
Are we doing all
we can to bear the good news of salvation?
There are plenty
of men and women carrying bad news.
Jesus wants us
involved in good news!
Jesus was not
bound by tradition and culture--
He
was guided by the mission--
to
tell the world the Good News of
His
death,
His
resurrection
and
our salvation.
To
accomplish this He desires the help of everyone today,
including
women,
Both
men and women,
slaves
of sin and of culture
were to become servants of the Most High.
Both men and
women,
bearers of burdens and bearers of
children,
were to become bearers of the Good News for the last days.
Even Paul, who
spoke some things regarding women
that
are hard to understand
accepted women as fellow workers.
In
Romans 16 he introduces Phoebe, a servant or deacon,
and
asks the church at
It
appears that she was to have some leadership position in the church at
Then
he sends greetings to other workers,
one
third of whom are women.
(Priscilla,
v. 3; Mary, v. 6; Junias, v. 7; Tryphena and Tryphosa, v. 12; Persis, v. 12;
Rufus mother, v. 13; Julia, and Nereus sister, v. 15)
One of the
interesting features of the churches that Paul and others established
was
that many were "home churches."
You
remember the story of the conversion of
and
the other women in
There
was no synagogue in
(by law there must be ten men in order to
form a synagogue)
--once
again women did not count.
So
the women met by the river and Paul and Luke joined them.
The resulting
church met in
The church at
The
church at
In
the letter to the Colossians Paul refers to Nympha and "the church in her
house." (
In the temple or
the synagogue, the men and women were separated.
But
in the home they were equals.
The
women in whose homes they met,
and
other women too,
could
participate or even lead out.
("The house
church, by virtue of its location, provided equal opportunities for women,
because traditionally the house was considered women’s proper sphere, and women
were not excluded from the activities in it." Quoted in Caleb Rosados Women, Church,
God, and Socio-Biblical Study, 1990.)
Interestingly,
in Old Testament times,
the
sign of belonging to God had been circumcision --
a
male only sign.
In
the early church and ever since,
the
sign of belonging and believing in Jesus Christ
has
been baptism,
something
that
and
many not so prominent,
could
participate in. (Acts 16:1; 17:4, 12,
34; 18:8)
In the last
days, our days, we too have a huge task before us.
Global
Missions has reminded us that there are
entire
groups which still don’t know the Good News.
One of those
groups lives around ___________ (name the area where you are):
(Describe
these people, such as: Secular, materialistic people who do not know Jesus.
Or Bhuddists or Muslims or
illiterates)
In
our society there are some religions who still
do
not allow men to speak to women outside their own homes.
Many women in
our large cities do not dare to allow a man into their homes,
or who are afraid to go out to public
meetings.
Women can once
again become bearers of good news to these women,
and
to men too.
In her book Evangelism,
p. 469, Ellen White says,
"When
a great and decisive work is to be done, God chooses men and women to do this
work, and it will feel the loss if the talents of both are not combined.
Mrs. White says
further in Welfare Ministry that:
"The
Lord has a work for women as well as for men.
They may take their places in His work at this crises, and He will work
through them....They can do in families a work that men cannot do, a work that
reaches the inner life. They can come
close to the hearts of those whom men cannot reach. Their labor is needed."
(Page 145)
Right now, women
are successfully reaching out,
bearing
the Good News in many parts of the world.
(Tell current
news about women doing ministry, evangelism, witnessing in your area or get
current stories from Mosaic.)
Women are
engaged in many forms of ministry.
And
that is the bottom line goal of Women’s Ministries
To
help women grow spiritually
And
for each one then to have some sort of ministry.
But women are
involved in many other areas of outreach
Prison ministries
small group Bible studies and prayer
groups
helping abuse victims and educating
to prevent abuse
evangelism here and abroad
On the
teaching
young mothers how to avoid sickness
and
these women are bringing them the gospel.
In
When parents
learn that Bible lessons are taught,
using colorful felts sent by
brothers and sisters from around the
world,
they wait outside the school for the
women Bible teachers.
"Don’t just teach our children
about Jesus,
we need to know
too.
Won’t you come and teach
us?"
Policemen, other
teachers, and former communist leaders all seek to know what they have been
missing.
In
making several long and expensive
trips a week to nurture and guide new converts.
Literacy is an
area where women are doing wonderful things
all
around the world
I
attended a graduation in
To
see a middle aged woman read her own
Graduation
speech was beyond wonderful
We
are excited about new literacy programs beginning
in
the
a
partnership between North American ingathering
And
the church members, especially the women
Women are doing
public evangelism
In
In
10 churches were
established
1119 people were
baptized at the end of the meetings.
7 church buildings have
since been built.
In
One
graduate of our program wrote a thank you story.
She
is from a very poor family.
She
worked from time to time in construction.
She
worked recently on a school building project.
She
writes:
It
was pay day....I was there with many other labourers. All were putting their
thumb impression and taking their money. But one thing I noticed was that he
was paying them less. He wrote Rs. 50.00 per day but paid only Rs. 30.00. Since
I knew how to read and write I could not control myself. When he called my name
to come and put thumb impression and take the money, I said ASir,
bring your pen I will sign. I am no more illiterate and I can read and write.@
So saying, I signed my name and asked for the full amount. When others saw this
they also demanded for the full amount. All these days the contractors were
cheating us. Now, they cannot cheat us anymore.
Thousands around
the world are leading out
in
Children’s
in
Vacation Bible Schools
in
Community Service Centers
in
intercessory prayer groups
in
neighborhood Bible study groups.
and
International Women’s Day of Prayer programs.
There is more
than enough work for all.
When Robert
Folkenberg was president of the GC he said:
"For
years many of the talents of women have been hidden behind church walls. But
when we contemplate the magnitude of our global challenge to witness to 900
million Moslems, 350-400 million Buddhists, and millions of others who need to
know Christ, the church simply has no other choice! We need to maximize the talents of every
member who the Holy Spirit has uniquely prepared.... Eternal consequences are
at stake and time is running out!"
Selected
Messages, Book 1, p. 266
has a challenging statement:
"High
and low, rich and poor; all have a work to do for the Master. Everyone is called into action."
It is time once
again to turn the world upside down.
Just
as Jesus Christ set aside tradition and culture when it hampered the mission
of
telling the world of His first coming,
we
must use every one and every way possible to share with the world the Good News
of His second coming.
It is time for
male and female,
slaves
of sin and bearers of burdens
to
become bearers of the Gospel.
"Go ye
therefore," men and women,
"and
teach all nations,
baptizing
them in the name of the Father,
and
of the Son,
and
of the Holy Ghost,...
and
lo, I am with you always,
even
unto the end of the world.
Amen."
Matthew
28:19, 20.
As Joel, under
inspiration, had predicted:
In
the last days, God says,
I
will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your
sons and daughters will prophesy,
your
young men will see visions,
your
old men will dream dreams.
Even
on my servants, both men and women,
I
will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and
they will prophesy....
And
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved."
Acts
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