Why Come Out of the Saltshaker?

Why Come Out of the Saltshaker? 

Our Guilty Silence

July 4, 2020

Sabbath Bible Study

Larry R Evans

Introduction 

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown. 

Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost. 

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared. He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes he was dead. Afterwards, his servants dug a grave. It was not much-- just over six feet long and three feet wide. The title of Tolstoy's story was: “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” 

Finding Fulfillment—Continued

Last week we entitled our study, “Finding Meaning and Purpose: Living by the Word of God”.  It is so easy, as in the story told by Tolstoy, to try to find fulfillment by the very practices that in the end rob us of what we thought we needed and wanted. Last week we saw that being created in the image of God (Gen 1:26) tells us how we find the fulfillment in our own lives for which we were created.  We get a definite clue when we read what God said after that He had created (worked), “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”(Gen. 31). God found fulfillment in His work and left to us the work to subdue and rule over all He had created.  In doing so, we too can find fulfillment in our work. However, it doesn’t end there, does it?  

In Genesis 2:2,3 we are told, 

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Without entering into His rest, symbolized by the Sabbath rest (Heb. 4:1-7), we miss an important part of the deeper fulfillment of the life God intends for us to experience.  We will be proposing today that the Sabbath teaches much more than simply not working on a particular day. It is, I believe, a continuation or a further development intended for our divine fulfillment on earth. A pattern develops in our reading of Scripture that reveals God’s purpose-driven design for all of his creation.  We are intended to be participants and not bystanders. Our calling is linked with the work begun at creation. We are designed to be participants and not mere bystanders of God’s objectives. We find wholeness and purpose in God’s presence from which we move forward carrying out His will in ways that represents His character and ultimate purposes.  It is something that must be shared.

Making Friends for God: The Joy of Sharing His Mission

 This quarter we will be focusing on different perspectives of our call to “Make Friends for God.”  This week we will be reflecting about, “Why Witness” or as we’ve entitled our study, “Why Come Out of the Saltshaker?” Witnessing can be cheapened and even hurtful when done for the wrong motives. 

John Stott wrote,

In evangelism too we need incentives, for evangelism is difficult and dangerous work.  It brings us face to face with the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. It takes us to the frontier with the world, and exposes us to the peril of counter-attack.  . . . There is a great need for the Church to be purged of wrong motives and fired by right ones. (Our Guilty Silence, p.14)

We must ever bear in mind that the glory of God is the link between our worship and our witness!

Worship, the Cornerstone of Witnessing

In Revelation 5 we find deep concern over a special scroll that was unopened.  We discover that the opening of the scroll was necessary if we were to inherit eternal life. It is a “Lamb, looking as if it had been slain” (5:6) that takes the scroll.  At that moment a “new song” erupts from those surrounding the throne in heaven saying, 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased for God

persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.”  

And then the full choir joins in,

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

The Lamb described in the book of Revelation is identified by the same author in the Gospel of John as our Creator (John 1:1-5, 29).  Worship is the worth-ship or an acknowledgment of the worth of the All-Mighty, the All-Caring God who not only created us, sustains us but also gave His life for us.  This worship is neither a program nor done by performers.  This worship is a witness of what God has done and is doing!

Worship and witness are linked with ministry and mission in Scripture.  We see this happening in Antioch where Saul and Barnabas were commissioned for their evangelistic tour:

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. (Acts 13:1-3)

Later in his letter to the Philippians, Paul thinks of his converts faith and his own work as an offering or sacrifice “coming from your faith.” (Philp 2:17)

Biblical evangelism never stops with conversion for conversion is a prelude to worship. Out of worship flows the call to share, to make friends with God those who have not yet found that friendship. The unifying theme between witness and worship is the glory of God!

We find this theme in Revelation 12:17 and its enlargement in Revelation 13 and 14.

Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring —those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

The mission of the three angels (Rev. 14:-13) is preceded by another new song sung by those whose loyalty to the Lamb could not be shaken!

Is it any wonder that the last-day mission of the Lamb and its followers is characterized by loyalty to the Lamb and done so as worship experience?  It is a worship driven mission!   There can be no doubt. The mission is driven by testimonies of the glory of God. As expressed by an angel with the “eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth and to every nation, tribe, language and people”:

Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship himwho made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The continuation of our own purpose and fulfillment as seen in the Creation week and the Sabbath is clearly linked with the worship of the Creator and the Lamb.  From Genesis to Revelation our purpose in life is always linked with the presence of God—an all powerful God (Genesis 1 where God is “Elohim”) and an all-caring promise-keeping God (Genesis 2 where God is “Yahweh”). 

The Rejoicing in Heaven

The center of all witness is Christ but not all rejoicing end with us. We find this clearly expressed in Luke 15.  When the lost sheep is found there is rejoicing (v.6), there is rejoicing when the lost coin is found (v.9) and there is celebration when the lost son returns home (v.32).  The Bible study guide put it this way,

All heaven rejoices when the lost are found.  In a world filled with disease, disaster, and death, we can bring joy to the heart of God by sharing the ‘good news’ of the salvation with others.”

Knowing that we bring joy to God is a great motivator to reveal His love for others. But once again, that which brings fulfillment and joy to our Creator is what brings the same to us.  Note the following from the book theDesire of Ages, p.142

God could have reached His object in saving sinners without our aid; but in order for us to develop a character like Christ's, we must share in His work. In order to enter into His joy, —the joy of seeing souls redeemed by His sacrifice,—we must participate in His labors for their redemption.

Faithfulness Is Our Loyalty Being Expressed

In the midst of crisis and conflict the faithfulness and loyalty of God’s people remains,

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. Rev. 14:12.

One of those commands was expressed by Jesus Himself,

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matt. 28:18-20)

Since the very beginning God has invited us to be partners with Him. Dare we be silent? 

What Were You Doing?

In 1959, the USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev made an unprecedented visit to America.  This was right after the death of Russian dictator Joseph Stalin.  Khrushchev, his successor, had already caused a global stir by denouncing in Russia . . . Stalin’s many atrocities: his genocidal policies against the Ukraine, his cold-blooded assassinations of . . . anyone who no longer served the party.  He purged the country of anyone he didn’t trust, which was almost everyone.

Khrushchev was scheduled to appear at the National Press Club in Washington. In anticipation of his speech the room was crowded with reporters from newspapers and magazines. Khrushchev did not disappoint!  He blasted Stalin for his cruel actions. He finished and opened the floor for questions.  Someone called out from the crowd, “Mr. Khrushchev, you’ve just given us an account of Mr. Stalin’s many crimes against humanity.  You were his right-hand man during much of that. What were you doing?”

The question was translated to Khrushchev, and when he heard it he exploded with anger. “Who said that?” he shouted.

No one answered.

“Who said that?” he asked again, this time low and quiet, with more menace.

Everyone looked at their shoes.

After a moment, Khrushchev said, “That’s what I was doing.”