Are You Clueless? A Confused Person?

Inspirational Message Preached At House of Praise Home Church

Kuils River

First Part - Confused Person story sermon

Title: Clueless … - A Story of a confused person -

So now we get a little dramatic. Use your imagination and go with me to Jerusalem the year is AD 33.

There this young well educated Jew. No, its no one you are thinking of. You don’t know the guy. We don’t know his name.

We know that he is a fairly successful guy; he has a flourishing sheep trading business. He has a wife and 5 children. He has a nice deal with the temple to supply lambs. They are selling like hot cakes so to speak.

He is walking across the market and He is worried about a big business deal that he is busy negotiating with an Arab. The guy looks a little dicey, but He needs the money. The wife wants a new house and the kids need new clothes. The Arab’s name is Olama bin Saden. The guy gives Him the creeps, because he keeps quoting Ezekiel 38 (it speaks of a coming war on Israel). Anyway this is a big deal and if he can pull it off, then he can buy that new house. He also needs some new camels, but he will worry about that later… he has enough on his mind. He hasn’t been to the temple much recently, but increasingly he kind of doesn’t see the point. He's turning into a confused person. His head is spinning with all that is happening in his life.

He is walking across the market when suddenly he hears a commotion in the opposite corner of the market and He walks across.

A group of people had gathered around a man. He can’t see him, but he can hear parts of what he is saying.

“Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest”

“OK” another nutcase he thinks and starts to turn away. Then He hears the man say :

Mat 6:25 "Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?"

Mat 6:26 "Behold the birds of the air; for they sow not, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them; are you not much better than they are?"

For some reason these words strike him in the heart. It brings a longing for something, but he can’t tell what. A different kind of life maybe? Anyway he gathers himself and remembers he still has to buy fish for his wife. He turns and leaves. He is about 30 meters away when a man comes running past him shouting praises to God. The guy seems familiar but he can’t remember where he knows him from. A confused person…

He turns round and sees that all the people are now praising God and everyone is trying touch this man, that was speaking.

For a brief moment their eyes lock and he feels a sting in his heart. He forces himself to turn away, just like he did when he looked into the eyes of John the Baptist.

A few days later, he has to meet Olama in Bethsaida, to finalize the specifics of the deal. They were going to meet at the town market. He finds Olama and they clinch the deal. In fact Olama enquires about something called dynamite, willing to pay big money. Unfortunately he has never heard of such a thing and the opportunity is lost. The meeting took less time that he anticipated so he decides to rest in the shade for a while. He hears a voice over the noise of the market. He recognizes it to be the same voice from a few days ago. The man is saying :

Mat 7:13 "Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it." Mat 7:14 "Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

“Which leads to life … “ the words ring in his heart. Somehow when this man speaks he feels closer to God. Our hero decides to try going to the temple again. Maybe there is something in religion after all.

So on the next Sabbath he goes to the temple to listen to the speakers. But the words are dead. He thinks to himself “no I am not going through this again”(confused person…), but then a man called Jesus is introduced and He immediately recognizes Him. He stands up and reads a passage of scripture and immediately it comes to life. He talks a little after the reading and then right before his eyes he heals a woman’s hand. Oh no! He thinks this man cannot be from God, he is working on the Sabbath, disappointed he silently leaves the temple.

But his mind does not let up. He evaluates his religious believes and decides to seek advice from the elders. The elders are happy to see him and ask him how business is going and in a round about way remind him that he hasn’t paid a tithe for a while. He opens his heart and tells them what is troubling him and how the words of this Jesus are confusing him. “Pull yourself together man they say, he is the son of a carpenter. And we hear rumors that He was conceived out of wedlock.” He is using demonic power they tell him. Do not worry about Jesus. We are working on a plan. We have an insider working for us. He won’t be a problem for much longer. He listens for a while longer, but because nothing they are saying can answer the questions inside he decides to leave – a confused person… He tells them about the deal with Olama and at first they are not happy that he is doing business with an outsider, but when he explains what the tithe would amount to, they seem happier. As he leaves they ask the contact details of this Arab businessman.

Troubled he decides to take an extended vacation with the family, maybe he is just overworked. He decides to take a trip to Greece. But the questions remain. Still a confuces person. No matter where he goes.

He arrives back from holiday 3 days before the Jewish Passover. He takes extended walks through Jerusalem hoping to catch a glimpse of this Jesus. Maybe he needs to listen more. Give the guy another chance. The day of the Passover he sees Jesus enter on a donkey and he observes the happenings of the entire day. He hears the questioning, he witnesses the beating. He can’t bear to look at the blood or the stripes. He has seen many beatings in his life, but this is not the same.

He is standing at a distance when He hears Jesus speak for the first time since he has been back. “Father forgive them, they do not know, what they are doing” and then later “It is completed”. And then the sky darkens and fear and panic take hold of the people. He rushes home. Happy to be alive. He thinks “what if that was truly the awaited Messiah”. He has never seen anything like that. Why did the sky darken?

More questions … an even more confused person… the next day He decides to seek advice from the elders again. He finds them in the temple trying to fix a veil that has been torn in 2. They are complaining about the price they had to pay for the obviously inferior material. It draws his attention, but he can’t tell why. He looks at it and feels closer to God than ever in His life. He leaves without asking anything.

In the next 50 days he feels like he has lost something, but can’t figure out what. Confused again. He is depressed, the new deal he did with Olama was twice the size of the last one, and he even made contact with a guy in the East that knows how to concoct a mixture that can explode. “Dunamis” he thinks while walking past a house with an upper room. He hears people speak in all kinds of languages. Quickly a crowd gathers and he cannot find his way out. People are pressing from all directions. Just great, he thinks to himself. He has had enough, he is determined never to listen to any religious speaker again. The elders are corrupt and Jesus is dead. Realizing that he had no choice but to wait it out, he thinks about the last 50 days since the sky darkened.

Jesus is dead although he heard rumors that some are claiming he is alive. Those rumors have started to quiet down now. The last time he heard something about that was 10 days ago. Apparently this Jesus ascended to heaven, but only a few saw it.

Nutcases he thinks. Now this! Jews speaking in all kinds of languages. What’s happening to the world? Then a guy steps up and starts to talk to the crowd, the voice is different but our hero instantly recognizes the authority. He listens and feels his heart stir again. This time more violent than before. He feels his heart rent in two and he thinks of the veil.

He goes down and prays to God and he knows that he has been heard. He is amongst those that press forward to be baptized… He does not understand how it happened but he knows he has been forgiven and has peace with God. (A less confused person!)

Over the next few months he regularly goes to listen when the apostles speak. They are excellent teachers and teach him all about faith in Christ and the basics of the faith.

I want to break off the story of this confused person and take stock of his life …

Second Part - Confused Person story sermon

• Now our hero is overjoyed. He is a new man. There is no doubt about that. A less confused person.
• He understands that he is in Jesus and that Jesus makes him acceptable to God. A less confused person.
• He knows that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. A less confused person.
• He knows that nothing can remove him from the love of God. A less confused person.
• In fact it is God himself who justifies him. A less confused person.
• He completely understands that he can add nothing to the work of Jesus. It is a completed work. A less confused person.
• He knows that it is faith that puts Him into Jesus. As long as he has faith in Christ he is OK. A less confused person.
• Jesus has paid the price for his sins. He is very sure that he understands. A less confused person.
• We can say, that he understands the work of God in Christ. He is ready for this new life. He has been equipped with the best teaching available and he is ready to rumble. Not a confused person anymore…

Let’s continue with our story of a confused person.

He loves hearing the apostles speak. He especially likes to listen to Peter and secretly he wishes he could be like him. He likes the other guys too, but Peter is his man. He was there when Peter said: “Ananias, why have you lied to the Holy Spirit!” He was impressed and really scared.

He is now studying the scriptures daily and is growing in knowledge. He has been baptized in the Holy Spirit, just like Peter said it would happen. He likes what he is becoming. He now attends the services without skipping once. He has a friend who is a scribe and he managed to organize him a copy of some of the teachings of Jesus. He is convinced he is living the abundant life that he once heard the apostle John talk about. Life is good. It seems less confusing.

…except maybe for these 2 guys Philip and Stephen that are always around the apostles, that get up his nose a bit.

Apparently when they pray for the sick, they get healed too. But he is not so sure about that. He has never seen it happen. Maybe they are trying to steal Peter’s thunder.

He did not go over the top like the rest of the guys that sold their properties. So that makes him quite a rich guy in the church. The poor people look up to him and all and he loves handing out food to them. It gives him a real sense of purpose in life. Surely he must be impressing the Lord.

A month or so later one of his deals with Olama went sour. Olama was late with a payment and our hero was not impressed. He decides to pay Olama a visit. He took his copy of Jesus teachings with him to read along the way. He was reading the parable about the King’s servant that owed him 10 000 talents and how the King wrote the debt off. Later the servant found one of his own debtors and demanded the full payment of a 100 denarii. Our hero just shook his head at the ungratefulness of the servant. Still some confusion.

He also decided to share the message of Jesus with Olama. He was feeling quite excited, because it would be his first attempt at sharing the message. So they have the meeting and Olama apologizes profusely for having been late on the payment, but our hero is not taken with the explanation and decides to tell Olama he is a sinner and should repent and turn to Jesus.

“Who’s Jesus?” Olama asks. And so our hero relates how great Jesus is and how great his life has been since meeting him.

He tells him that Jesus can do anything and even heal the sick and raise the dead. Now this gets Olama’s attention. His wife has been having head aches every night for the past month and nothing seems to help. Our hero decides to go and pray for her. You know it’s only a head ache and if Stephen and Phillip can do miracles, surely he can heal a little head ache. So he prays for Omama but she says she still feels the same. Olama laughs at him and dismisses him and his Jesus. Dejected our hero returns to Jerusalem.

He must be missing something. He reads the teachings of Jesus over and over, but just can’t seem to get it. Still some confusion. He prays more, takes a fast, but nothing. And so things deteriorate more and more over the next few months. Persecution has broken out and he was forced to flee with his family. He is becoming irritable. The smallest thing is upsetting him nowadays. Still living in confusion.

Around the church people his is still all smiles, quoting scripture the moment he sees something that is out of order.

Telling people how much he is praying. The strange thing is, the more he does, the less the Lord seems impressed. He just can’t understand it. What is wrong with him? Other things have started bugging him as well. He has heard the one that they call Paul, speak on the purposes of God for our lives. That God wants to raise the image of His Son in us. What is the purpose for his life? Does God really have a purpose for his life? Why all the confusion?

Lately he started doubting whether Jesus is alive! He's even more confused than ever before!

So again he seeks advice … he goes to his immature brothers and this is what they are saying…

We think you are not doing too well. The people have started talking about you. Maybe you must complete another basics of our faith session. We hear the new guy is better than the old one. You are starting to embarrass us. Christians are winners man. You are contradicting scripture with the way you are going. Pull yourself together man.

So he thinks to himself that was really helpful …

Now we enter the unseen world and listen in on what Satan is dropping in his mind … how Satan wants to confuse him...

Hey you not doing too well are you? I have heard some of your brothers are talking about you. You are starting to look like a real looser, buddy. Are you sure you understand salvation? Maybe you should change your name from hero to zero. Back to a confused person again?

He thinks maybe he should try talking to a more mature guy and fortunately he bumps into somebody the next day…

You are doing fine brother. The Lord is really working in your life. Keep going. He will show you the way. It is great that you have started walking. I can give you teaching but only Jesus can lead you. Keep going, you are doing fine. You're not confused...

He is very much encouraged by this man’s words, but eventually he has a break down; he can’t stand the pressure any more.

And in his weakest moment he calls to Jesus, just raw crying out for help. No educated words, no well thought out sentences just straight from the heart. He lets go of the things he tries to understand and grabs for Jesus. He weeps till he can’t anymore and falls asleep.

The next morning he goes to pray, but something feels different, a burden has been removed and as he enters his prayer room his eye falls on the words of Jesus that he first heard a year ago:

Scripture reading (Confused Person story sermon) Mat 7:13 "Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it." Mat 7:14 "Because narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

And he does not have much to say this morning in prayer, except that he knows that the life Jesus was talking about, was not what he had been living up to now. Something has to change. He does not want to be this confused person anymore.

Then he reads :

Scripture reading (Confused Person story sermon) Joh 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"

He realizes that he had become confident in his abilities. That he needs Jesus to show him the way. He wants to follow Jesus. He knows that he is saved and has been reconciled to God, but he wants more. He wants the real abundant life. The real deal and nothing else. He doen not want to be this confused person anymore. That evening he takes the teachings scroll again and reads until he comes across this passage:

Scripture reading (Confused Person story sermon) Mat 16:24 "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." Mat 16:25 "For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it."

He knows this is significant. He does not quite know why. What did Jesus mean deny yourself, but he sees that there is a promise of the life that he so longs for. He is determined to find out what all of this means, but for now he is content with the knowledge that Jesus will lead him. He's sure the confusion will clear up.

He does not understand how, but he is confident that Jesus will show him the way. Just like he still does not understand the technicalities of his conversion or exactly how the baptism in the Holy Spirit works. But he cannot deny that they were real. He knows he must never try to walk this road without his Jesus. He must not try and understand, he must trust Jesus and let Him lead.

THE END of: A Confused Person story.

Third Part - Confused Person story sermon

• Our hero has learnt the most important lesson any Christian can learn.
• He must trust Jesus to lead him.
• He has many other things to learn and if we look at the second part of the story we can really take him apart.
• He is like a bull in a China shop.
• This guy is clueless in so many ways, but he has found a secret.
• What has he been called to do, He does not know, but he knows Who will lead him there.
An leave him a less confused person.
• The Lord is not finished with him by a long shot.
• Jesus called the way difficult. Not easy to find. We must think about that, but we should not focus on the difficulty we should focus on the One that knows the way.
That will eliminate all possibilities to be a confused person.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”

• We are all on a journey. Our compass must be set to Jesus. No matter what life throws at us we need to be like the needle in that compass, if you shake the compass or bring a magnet close to it, the needle is all over the place, but it soon returns to its north. As a compass needle is always pointing North, so our lives should always be pointing to Jesus.

  Hunting for Jesus. Our reality is that circumstance sometimes makes us question our beliefs, (our needle goes awry) that’s OK, as long as we find our North again.

• We can relax people. We cannot lose our salvation as long as we have faith. There is no right or wrong way to serve Jesus if it is from the heart. We are safe with Jesus.
• When he calls we can get out of our boats and walk on the water. If we make a mistake Jesus will help us. But he does beckon us to come.
• While we are moving he can direct. He has purpose for us individually and collectively. Do not be afraid of making mistakes, he will show us. If we do make mistakes, we will learn from them, if we stay where we are, we will learn nothing.
We will remain confused persons forever.
• We are still clueless in many ways. It’s not what you know; it really is Who you know. People that know their God will do exploits for Him.
• Don’t think that the abundant life is out there somewhere. It is inside of you.
• Jesus had this same principle of doing only what He sees the Father do. He had this enormous consciousness of God.

The end of cluelessness.

May you never ever be a confused person again – for all the reasons in this story.

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