“Why are we sitting here until we die?…We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king’s household.” – 2 Kings 7:3-4,9-10 {ESV}
The above text was the first passage of Scripture I ever publicly preached. It was January 2, 1995 on a Sunday evening at Meadow Baptist Church and about one hundred brave souls dragged in from the New Year’s weekend to watch the train wreck. For me personally it was a blast and I can only assume that there were a handful of clarified truths that might have found the audience that night. In a few hours I’ll preach my first message of this day and I can honestly say that I love sharing God’s Word now more than ever.
The lepers in 2 Kings 7 had been transported from the realm of impending death to lavishly supplied life. In a moment of assertion they decided not to perish as starving men outside Jerusalem’s gate. They approached the enemy army encamped outside, fully expecting to be summarily executed by them. Upon arriving at the campsite they discovered that God sovereignly frightened the army away, leaving all of their provision and treasures behind. The hopeless group of lepers had just become instant millionaires. Upon rejoicing over the stockpile of food and clothing and gold, the previously dying men recognized that this was news far too good to keep to themselves. Within the city gates, all of Israel was starving to death also. They could bear this saving message to all on the inside. They quickly shared the good news and the end result was awestriking.
“Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians.” – 2 Kings 7:16 {ESV}
We have much in common with once-dying-lepers-now-rescued. No longer doomed in by our spiritual starvation, we have been blessed with more than we need for this life and the life to come. Let none of us err as the lepers almost did by enjoying the spoils of victory while keeping silent to others who are dying behind the wall. We are the elect of God, the redeemed of Jesus Christ, the forgiven! The church of Jesus Christ has a sound-problem and it is that fear has mashed the mute button so powerfully that it is as if we no longer have a message to share. Of course, when we gather in so tightly on Sundays into our holy huddles we hear just fine. Yes, those who are already among us need not despair as we go over and over the victory that God has sovereignly provided by defeating our enemy. But what of those who are still perishing? They are students in our city’s schools. They are prisoners in our jails and patients in our hospitals. Financial officers in major corporations are dying behind the wall along with homemakers trapped in endless routine. Astoundingly there are entire people groups who have never heard the name which is so precious to you and me. Yes, there is a problem with the sound.
Please enjoy today’s gathering with the saints wherever it is that you worship. Be moved by the music. Listen closely to the prayers that are offered. Obey the preached Word, as long as it comes from God’s book. But, please, in the midst of all that you are used to hearing, listen for an unfamiliar sound to you. Listen for His permission for you to stand and speak. Listen for the heartbeat of God Himself which may drown out the music of worship and replace it with the cries of the lost. Whom shall He send? Then, add your own sound to this world’s cacophony. Ordain your own voice to speak of Christ to those around you and trust the God who plays you as His own trumpet to sound the tune of victory.
Time is short. The Church must fix the problem with the sound.
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