ROLE MODEL’S SHINING IN THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

MOTHER’S DAY 2009

A couple of weeks ago when I phoned one of my favorite mom’s about some church business, she wished me a wonderful long weekend on the Maine coast where my wife and I were planning to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. I thanked her and mentioned the fact that although I would be away I intended to continue lifting her and her loved ones together with you folks and your loved ones up in daily prayer as I’m in the habit of doing. This well meaning mom suggested I just relax and forget about everyone and their burdens during that special weekend. I told her I couldn’t, and explained why. The great Apostle Paul has been one of my role models for some time now and he had a lot to say about prayer. Here’s one example.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV).

Pray without ceasing! Pray continually! I went on to explain to that mom this is exactly what I do each and every day. I could no more put you folks and your burdens out of my mind for a weekend anymore than a normal mother could one of her children. Then I went on to share an example of how this seemingly non-stop kind of praying recently played out in my life. I had planned on popping in to a specialty place which caters to certain physical and medical conditions and make an appointment for my annual evaluation. I had been thinking about the very pleasant receptionist who worked there and wondered if she still did. On and off throughout the past year I had been lifting that woman up in prayer. My main concern was for the salvation of her and her loved ones. I had also been asking the Lord to deliver her from her own personal demons which, from all appearances had successfully persuaded her she wasn’t slowly eating herself into an early grave. From what I seen at her at her workstation, this big woman was always surrounded by all sorts of goodies. This year a different woman was seated at the receptionist desk and there were no goodies in sight. I made the appointment and left but couldn’t help wondering what had happened to that woman, and I continued lifting her up in prayer hoping she was all right.

When I returned for my appointment she still wasn’t there. Then as I was undergoing the evaluation I kept silently praying for that lady. Then when I checked out I asked the new receptionist what had happened to her predecessor. She looked up at me and gave me one of the nicest smiles I had ever seen and said: “here I am! It’s me! I’m right here! Then she shared about how she and her husband had been inclined to get their appetites under control during the past year, and they were succeeding. She was almost a hundred pounds lighter and was still taking them off. I told her she looked great, because she did.

Pray continually! Pray without ceasing! The great Apostle Paul continues to be one of my role models as I shared with you folks in my last sermon, a sermon in which I acknowledged I couldn’t have preached except through the strength of Christ working within me. Paul led by example and I try to emulate him and other godly people. I encourage each of you folks to try to do your very best to imitate Paul and other biblical role models. For instance, on this Mother’s Day let’s consider the following biblical mothers we all know about. I assume each of you is familiar with these folks so I’m not going to elaborate very much. We’re all familiar with the dilemma Moses mom faced when he was an infant. “When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank,” Exodus 2:3 (ESV). The Bible makes mention of this interesting fact about Samuel’s mom: “And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice,” 1 Samuel 2:19 (ESV). And who can forget the memorable account of the amazing love of that mother during King Solomon’s time, a mom who was willing to give up her son to another woman in order that he might not be cut in half? “…the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him,” 1 Kings 3:26 (ESV). Speaking of the love mothers have for their children, the Lord once asked Isaiah the Prophet this rhetorical question: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb, Isaiah 49:15 (ESV). And how could any of the folks who were present forget the time when Jesus was suddenly approached by an anguished mom? “And behold, a woman who was a Canaanite from that district came out and, with a [loud, troublesomely urgent] cry, begged, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is miserably and distressingly and cruelly possessed by a demon! “Matthew 15:22 (AMP) And then finally we learn from the biblical record the account of the realization of every mother’s worse nightmare where we read “… standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene,” John 19:25 (ESV).

Each of these Mother’s were magnificent role models, and God blessed their children through them. We can be certain that mothers have special demons hounding them just as faithful pastors do as they watch over those folks the Lord has called and ordained them to watch over. And just as each man will one day have to give an accounting for the kind of job he did, (Hebrews 13:17) so too will all mothers, (2 Corinthians 5:10) and everyone else. Yes Paul was a great role model. He led by example and encouraged the early Christians and you and me through them to emulate him. “What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you,” Philippians 4:9 (ESV) .

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,'” Acts 20:35 (ESV).

“I urge you, then, be imitators of me,”1 Corinthians 4:16 (ESV).

“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us,” Philippians 3:17 (ESV).

“What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you,” Philippians 4:9 (ESV).

“For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you,” 2 Thessalonians 3:7 (ESV).

“Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus,” 2 Timothy 1:13 (ESV.

But it isn’t always easy, especially if your world seems to be coming apart at the seams. It takes a lot of strength, doesn’t it? Each of us has our own demons we have to contend with. Doesn’t it sometimes seem as though certain demonic slime-balls have been created just for you? For instance, you may be fearful and worrisome by nature, They know exactly that this is where you are the most vulnerable, where you are the weakest and they relentlessly try to zap you in that area. They fire off a barrage of their fiery darts and flaming arrows in hopes that you will let your guard down. If you do they will materialize in your mind with thoughts such as (and here you can fill in the blanks for yourselves) Suppose—–? What if—–? How will I ever—–? Yeah, but—–. Who can guarantee that —-? How can I sleep knowing—–? How can God expect me to—–? I know I don’t have the strength to—–. On and on your mind races on that demonic treadmill as you do a big time number on yourself. However, the fact remains; God wants his children to be strong at all times. In fact, he commands it.

“But you take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded,” 2 Chronicles 15:7 (ESV).”

“Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you,” Isaiah 35:4 (ESV).

“Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts,” Haggai 2:4 (ESV).

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Let your hands be strong, you who in these days have been hearing these words from the mouth of the prophets who were present on the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built,” Zechariah 8:9 (ESV).

Now listen to these words the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to tell those first century Christians and through them Christians today in the twenty first.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, 1 Corinthians 16:13 (ESV).

You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy 2:1 (ESV).

To which all your personal demons do their utmost to get you to say something such as: “Yeah right! Be real! How many times do I have to say: I’m weak? I don’t have the strength. What am I supposed to do”? And then your angels may remind you of another fact: “So what else is new? Of course you don’t have the strength. Apart from Christ you can’t do anything.” and then they jog your memory with passages you have already locked up in your heart like the treasured possession each of them are; passages such as:

“but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint,” Isaiah 40:31 (ESV.

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand,” Isaiah 41:10 (ESV). And in imitation of Paul you and your brothers and sisters in Christ will:

“bow my [your] knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” Ephesians 3:14-20 (ESV).

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,” Colossians 1:11 (ESV).

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” Colossians 1:9-14 (ESV).

If we trust and obey God we will have all the strength we need to overcome every one of those divinely ordained challenges he planned for us to struggle with as we make our way through the kingdom of darkness headed towards our real home. However, it is only possible by surrendering ourselves to Christ and getting out of His way in this unrelenting spiritual warfare. We must strive to get to the point where we can echo Paul who said: “for me to live is Christ.”In other words, Paul is saying: for me to be alive in Christ, I have to die to myself. It is no longer I but Christ living in and empowering me. Christians today have so much more spiritual truth available to them than those Old Testament believers did. The Bible is full of the amazing things God accomplished through those obedient ancient Jews. If we struggle real hard to obey everything he has commanded us, we will have the strength to overcome those cosmic forces of darkness. We must obey commands such as “seek first my kingdom and my righteousness and then everything you need will be given to you. Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you. All those who honor me, I will honor. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess,” Deuteronomy 11:8 (ESV).

“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” Joshua 1:7-9 (ESV).

All too often we Christians think we’re all alone in the daily struggles of life and we act as though everything depends on us. Karol Ladd in her excellent devotional/journal, “The Power of a Positive Mom,” expresses that misperception as it applies to many Christian mothers:

“The Supermom Syndrome seems to run rampant in our culture. A supermom does it all. She is the protector of her children, the coordinator of the overloaded family calendar, the provider for all her kids’ needs. The supermom believes the livelihood and success of her children depend upon her careful planning, preparation, and follow-through. She is self-sufficient.”

“God, however, calls us to be God-sufficient. Gideon started out with a superarmy. But God was not looking for an army that could “do it all.” He wanted a humble army that would look to him for its success and recognize that victory was found in him alone, not in self-sufficiency. God eventually whittled down Gideon’s army to three hundred men. He granted the victory, and the honor went to him.”

“God isn’t looking for supermoms who can do it all on their own. He is looking for moms who will look to him for guidance, wisdom, direction, and strength. If a supermom’s kids turn out great, then she gets the glory. But when children are raised by wise and humble moms who depend on God for strength and guidance, then the glory is his.”

God has given us many role models to encourage and inspire us. The Apostle Paul was a great one back in the first century just as he is for Christians living today in the twentieth first. A few weeks ago the Lord blessed me greatly by bringing a remarkable role model back in to my life. I hadn’t seen or heard from this mom in almost ten years. Last year she authored and published an insightful book which I can’t speak too highly of. Please pray for me this week as I craft my sermon and try to glean the biblical principles she applied which gave her Christ’s strength to draw upon during a tragically agonizing period in her life; spiritual strength enabling this mom to be used by God to become a sort of spiritual steamroller he used, and continues to use, to crush those evil cosmic forces of darkness under her feet. Her name is Elvia. Lord willing, next week…