Has God Called Us to Build Castles?

I. OUR GOD-GIVEN ROLE

Last Friday Roberta and I met a lady from Oklahoma City that now serves as a missionary to the college students in Budapest, Hungary.  As she told her story she told us of a student that led a college kid to the Lord. She showed us his picture. You could almost feel the joy that radiated from him!

I hope that by the end of this you will desire to have the same privilege – and the same joy!

II. A MAN THAT FAILED

This picture of the Royal Castle Neuschwanstein is one of our favorites. It hangs on the wall of our den. We bought it in Bavaria, when we visited our son in Germany in 1999. Roberta’s 89 year old dad went with us – for him it was the fulfillment of a life-long dream.

The castle was completed under the direction of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 1880s. It took about 25 years to build and was completed shortly after his death.

Ludwig was 18 ½ years old when he became the king at the death of his father, King Maximilian II. Unfortunately his dad had failed to teach him that his role was to represent the people to the nation and the world, but not to rule the nation as the kings of the Bible did.

Ludwig tried his best, but was never really able to appreciate his role. Eventually he gave up and spent his time and energy in pursuing the arts and building castles, which plunged the nation into debt. When we toured the castle they told us that building the castle kept the people of the nation gainfully employed, and now, over 125 years later, it keeps them employed giving tours and maintaining the building.

After a while the legislature tried to label him insane to stop him from spending so much money, but the people of Bavaria protected him. Ludwig died at the age 41. They were never able to determine if he died of natural causes, of murder, or suicide.

The castle is beautiful and inspiring, and a real tribute to his taste! The tragedy of the king’s life is that he did not fulfill his calling as king.

There is a parallel between King Ludwig and many Christians – Christians who never fulfill their holy calling.

We have a dynamic, powerful church. We have a strong prayer ministry and we support many other ministries, but I wonder about the empty benches in our sanctuary.  Is there more we need to be doing to accomplish God’s will for this church?

Our goal is not to draw believers from other churches, but to lead others to Christ, to disciple them, and then to enable them to fulfill their high and holy calling!

III. HOW TO KNOW GOD’S WILL

If we are to fulfill God’s will for our lives we must become totally submerged in God’s Word – even if you are not a preacher or a teacher. When Joshua was given the leadership of God’s people after the death of Moses he was instructed:

“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:5-9

Jesus certainly followed this counsel. After He was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit sent Him into the wilderness to be tempted. When Satan came against Jesus, Jesus quoted scripture and stood on scriptural authority.

Because He did not have a Bible with Him, He had to quote it from memory.

On another occasion Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”  John 5:19

Furthermore, in John 15:5 Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.”

By following scripture closely, we are empowered to accomplish great things for God as long as we follow God’s lead. Jesus could not accomplish His task without reliance on His Father, and we cannot without our remaining in Christ Jesus!

That being said, we must be careful not to pressure ourselves too much. We are, after all, only human. In a healthy marriage each partner provides the other partner time and space and a loving environment in which the other can grow.

When the children come we must provide them a loving environment in which they can make mistakes, face the consequences, and lovingly be guided back to the right path again.

God allows each of us time and space to grow. James readily acknowledged, “We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” James 3:2

The Living Translation states, “We all make many mistakes.”

None of us doubt that!

Jesus taught the disciples well – after all, He was the perfect teacher – but they did not absorb the information!  So don’t worry if you don't catch it the first time around.  God allows us growing space.

IV. THE NEED IS GREAT!

Our society is changing rapidly. There were 300,269,040 in the U.S. as of 7:52 PM Thursday. The population is growing constantly. In July 2006 the CIA said that the religious breakdown was as follows:

More conservatively, it is estimated that approximately 205 million Americans do not know Jesus as Savior. Alton Garrison, Executive Director of US Missions for the Assemblies of God states that:

• America has 400,000 evangelical churches and half did not record a single convert last year.

• 150,000 Americans die from drug and alcohol abuse every year; there are 1.2 million abortions each year, and teenage suicide takes 4,000 lives each year.

Garrison quotes Josh McDowell as saying of our youth:

                        63 % do not believe that Jesus is the Son of God

                        58 % believe that all faiths teach equally valid truths

                        61 % don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead

                        65 % do not believe that Satan is a real entity

                        68 % do not believe that the Holy Spirit is a real entity.

Garrison concludes his editorial in the Pentecostal Evangel for Nov 26, 200606 by asking us to ask ourselves:

1.     Was there ever a time in my life when I completely surrendered to Jesus Christ as my Master and made Him Lord?

2.     Am I willing to give up all sin for God?

3.     Do I consistently forgive those who have wronged or offended me?

4.     Am I as much in love with Jesus as I have ever been?

5.     Are my conversation and behavior pure and above reproach?

6.     Do I have a burden for the lost and do I pray specifically, fervently and faithfully for revival in my life, my church and this nation?

These are powerful questions!  Honest answers here will help us know if we are Christians building castles for our own glory or if we are dedicated to fulfilling the destiny to which God has called us.

Wednesday evening we will be hearing from the Rev James Barnes, a Regional Director for the Evangelical Association. As we listen to him, we need to ask ourselves if this is a way for us to fulfill our destiny!  I did not attend the EA Convocation, but in my spirit I feel that this is the way God is leading us.  If not, we will keep searching!

We have two exciting events planned for Sunday, Dec 10^th.  First, we will be baptizing Ron and Charla Wiens’ two children.

Secondly, we will be hearing from Beverly Blake, a Campus Crusade for Christ missionary from Oklahoma City to Budapest, Hungary. Roberta and I met her Wednesday and she is committed to serving Christ – winning and discipling college kids for Christ.

Beverly has a Master’s degree in Business Administration. Prior to accepting this call she had worked for the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, an agency she helped set up, and had served as a Vice President of the Bank of Oklahoma.

She said in Budapest they do not use paper plates – too wasteful! They do not have dishwashers, clothes dryers, and cars are only used when absolutely necessary because gas is over $5 a gallon. Her water heater is tiny, and the water only hot in the morning. If she runs out, so be it.

I kept wondering what sort of salary they pay her – but she told us – she has to raise her own support and still needs to raise another $2,000 in monthly pledges before she returns. Most pledges are $50 per month or so.

I hope you feel challenged by her story. I believe that we, as God’s people, need be challenged and pray a prayer similar to what Jabez prayed: “Oh that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10

I prayed similar prayers in 1973 and 1992. After the 1973 prayer God led me to start the University Hospital Chaplaincy program. The 1992 prayer preceded our pastoring one church and keeping another open for a year while they found another pastor.

It is time for this church to pray a similar prayer… with the full knowledge that God may allow us to stretch our ministry. Not to build castles for our glory, but to reach more and more people for the Lord. Are you willing?

V. WILL YOU GO?

The title of this message is, “Has God called us to Build Castles?” The answer is no, unless a castle is needed. What He has called us to do is to reach out to those that do not know Jesus Christ as their personal savior! As our scripture says, we must “go out in the highways and hedges and compel them to come in.”

When one reads the parable in Luke 14, one wonders why the man who hosted the banquet was so upset when the people refused to come. In those times it was normal to issue two invitations. The first invitation was sent out when preparations were being made for the banquet… an advance notice, if you please. The second invitation was sent at the time arranged. So, they knew when to expect the banquet!

            The Life Application Bible states that there are two lessons:

1.     Those who start to serve God and turn back

2.     Those who believe that God calls us to earn our salvation by working hard.

Salvation is a free gift, available to all.  However, it must be accepted.  Our role, as the Body of Christ is to put the invitation in an understandable, appealing manner – and to urge people to come!

How on earth do we make someone to come in?  It isn’t as hard as you may think!  Rick Warren in his book, “The Purpose Driven Church,” states that if we love the lost and meet their needs in dramatic ways we won’t be able to keep them out of the church!

Let’s do it!

Pastor Leon