Busy Here and There

Introduction

Okay, you want to play a game? Let’s do a little Bible trivia. But relax, no pressure, there’s no points going to be handed out, and just answer the question to yourself, and so no embarrassment if you get the answer wrong. I want you to, I’m thinking of a Bible character. And I want you again, just quietly to yourself, try to guess the Bible character that I’m thinking of. He’s in the Old Testament. That narrows it down, right? He’s a king of Israel. One of the few kings that we know his wife’s name. He killed somebody because he wanted what he had. And a prophet of God comes and confronts him. And the prophet’s a little sneaky in the way that he confronts him about a sin.

The prophet first tells a story about somebody else. And upon hearing that story, the king issues a judgment about that guy. When it turns out the prophet was talking about the king himself. You think you have an idea who I’m talking about?

I won’t ask for a show of hands, but if you’re thinking David, you’re wrong. Turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 20. Nathan the prophet wasn’t the only sneaky prophet. We have an unnamed prophet in 1 Kings chapter 20 who confronts King Ahab. We know his wife’s name, Jezebel. He killed Naboth because he wanted Naboth’s vineyard, or Naboth was killed because he wanted Naboth’s vineyard. But just prior to that event, God had commissioned this king. Although he was a wicked king, he was still a king of God’s people and still had some responsibilities to God’s people and to God. And so God says, you go attack the Syrians, go attack the Syrians and destroy them. But instead, Ahab joins in a treaty with Ben Hadad, the king of Syria.

And God’s going to send a prophet. But much like that other king and that other prophet that you were probably thinking of, this prophet’s a little sneaky. And maybe even sneakier than Nathan. Because he’s going in disguise. And he needs some help with this disguise. And what’s really kind of just, let’s just admit a strange story here, he asked somebody to beat him up. That guy refuses and ends up getting eaten by a lion. And he asked somebody else, hit me in the face. And that guy agrees. And then it says in verse 38, Are you with me in 1 Kings 20, verse 38? Then the prophet departed and waited for the king by the road and disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes. Now as the king passed by, he cried out to the king and said, Your servant went out into the midst of battle.

And there a man came over and brought a man to me and said, Guard this man. If by any means he is missing, your life will be for his life, or else you’ll pay a talent of silver. And while your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. The king of Israel said to him, So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it. Then he, that’s the prophet, hastened to take the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. And he said to him, Thus says the Lord, because you’ve let slip out of your hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction. Therefore, your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.

So the prophet tells a story, much like Nathan to David, and says, This is what’s happened. While I was, I was given a prisoner to guard, much like you were given a king to take care of, Ben Hadad, king of the Syrians. But I got busy here and there. And I turned around and he was gone. Now that interesting, albeit made up story, is going to be the premise for our lesson because maybe you can relate. You ever get distracted? You ever get busy doing something else and you forget and supper is burnt because you were distracted, or you forgot to meet somebody or pick somebody up at the airport, or you forgot to do something in a task that was assigned to you because you got distracted, because you got busy doing something.

1. While I Was Busy, I Failed to Teach My Neighbor

That’s what the prophet says happened to me. I was given a responsibility, but I got busy here. I was busy doing something else. And in reality, remember he’s saying, King, that’s you. You had your own agenda, you had your own interest, your own what you wanted to do, and then when God told you something, you were distracted by your own wants and wishes and forgot to do what God told you to do. So I want to take the lesson of the story of this son of the prophet to Ahab and maybe apply it to our lives. While I was busy, let me tell a story like the prophet did. While I was busy here or there, I failed to teach my neighbor. We’ve been given a responsibility.

We are, as our Lord Himself would say, we are the not just the salt of the earth, but the light of the world that cannot and should not be hidden by a basket. That we are to radiate the glory, the love, as Rufus talked about this morning, of the righteousness of God Himself through and in our lives. And a part of that is to teach. Look with me if you will. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and in verse 2. This is, we’re just going to look at one passage of scripture because I don’t think you need convincing. I’ve never met a Christian who admitted at least, or would say that we don’t have the responsibility to teach, that we shouldn’t be evangelizing. Unfortunately, I’ve met many, self included, who didn’t do enough in that arena, but I’ve never met anybody who said we shouldn’t be doing that.

And so you don’t need much convincing, but let’s look at one passage. 1 Timothy 2, or 2 Timothy 2, I’m sorry, 2 Timothy 2, verse 2, that says, and the things, Paul talking to Timothy about his responsibility to others, and the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who’ll be able to teach others also. Timothy, you’re a gospel preacher. An apostle has instructed you, we maybe make the assumption, since Paul calls Timothy his son in the faith, that maybe even Paul taught him the gospel initially. And he says, I’ve taught you something, Timothy, about God, about the gospel, about salvation. Now, you, as an evangelist, you have a responsibility to teach others. And they have a responsibility then to teach others.

Possibly the only good, and certainly the only God-approved pyramid scheme. Is that we’re to spread this gospel and it will spread like wildfire if we follow this formula? You teach somebody, then they’ll teach somebody, then they’ll teach somebody. We have that responsibility.

I got busy here and there. And when I turned around, my responsibility was gone. Would we like Ahab say, you’re kind of guilty there? You did wrong. You should have been doing what God told you to do and not get distracted by other things, not by being so oppressed with your own agenda that you forget the agenda that God has placed before you. And would that prophet then turn to us and say, You’re that one who was busy. You’re the one who neglected the responsibility. Do we really believe what Paul would say to the Romans? For I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God into salvation. I’m going to make a bold statement right here. And understand I’m making this somewhat tongue in cheek.

If we’re not fulfilling our God-given responsibility to teach the lost, then maybe we, like another king, need to take a knife and just cut that passage out of our Bible that says, I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God into salvation. Do we really believe that? And so instead of getting so distressed, and let’s just admit, it is so easy to do to get busy here and there and forget our neglect, our shirk the responsibility that God has given us. Be honest. What can you do? We’ve talked about this before in another setting, but but just briefly to summarize, Paul talks in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 12 about the pieces of the body, that we all have a different function, we all have different talents and abilities to this arena of evangelism.

Maybe you’re not the best teacher to be able to sit down with someone and to teach them the gospel and to open up the word of God and say what someone needs to do in order to be saved. By the way, if you’re not, maybe it’s something you need to be cultivating and working in. But maybe you’re a different part of the body. Maybe you’re the recruiter part of the body who just goes out and finds people who are interested, and you bring them to someone who can powerfully or at least adequately sit down at a kitchen table and open the Bible and teach them. What can you do? Maybe you have the talent and the ability to invite someone to a teen weekend, to a gospel meeting, to a Sunday morning or a Wednesday night time when we’ll be studying the Word of God.

2. While I Was Busy, I Failed My Children

What can you do? God has given you that responsibility. While I was busy, the prophet could say, while I was busy here and there, I failed my children. Turn with me, if you will, to the book of Ephesians. Again, we could look at several passages of scripture, both old and new testament, but again, I don’t know that we need to look at that many because we know the responsibility, don’t we? I’m turning to Ephesians chapter 6 and look at this God given responsibility that is just as important for us as what God assigned the king of Israel, King Ahab to do. When he says, Ephesians 6 verse 4, and you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.

Fathers. Let me spend a little time with that one word there. Fathers. God has given you the responsibility. Now that’s not to say that the mother doesn’t have a role in this. But God has assigned fathers the responsibility. Now, men, let’s be honest. We might prefer the earlier chapter or a few verses in the earlier chapter that talk about me being the head. But please understand when God assigns you that role of being the head of the family.

The yours is the only voice that carries any weight in the household, and that you get to rattle your tea glass that’s empty and somebody jumps and fills it back up. That’s not what God had in mind when he says you’re the head. What God had in mind is you have responsibility, a weighty responsibility.

I’ve yet to find a passage where God tells parents that it’s your responsibility to make sure that your children receive a great education. Now that’s not a bad thing. We could find some passages where it says that you’re supposed to feed your children and not let them starve if.

Canning and freezing vegetables from our garden and making a homemade meal. But I would celebrate the most when we had corn dogs from the freezer. Why she didn’t kill me, I don’t know. And she worked with her own hands. We didn’t have a lot of money. She worked with her own hands and made me clothes out of whole cloth and a sewing machine. I even had a suit and a tie as a kid that she made from her sewing machine. All my classmates had alligators on their chest, which was a status symbol. I didn’t have an alligator on my chest. My mom caught wind that I was a little bit ashamed and embarrassed that I didn’t have the stylish clothes. At one point I pointed out I don’t even have a tag in my shirt that says I Levi.

And she sold them into every garment that she made for me. So I would at least have a tag in my clothes, like all the other kids.

That I was well dressed. But she knew, and my father knew that she had a greater responsibility.

3. While I Was Busy, My Soul Is Lost

What would the prophet say to you, parents? While I was busy here than there, I had work and I had obligations in the community and other things, and I was busy trying to get my kids ahead in this, but I failed. The greatest responsibility that God has given me as a father or a mother. And while I was busy here or there, busy getting ahead at work, working extra hours and overtime so that we could afford that good vacation or that second vehicle or that nicer house or that boat that we could take to the lake. While I was busy here or there with my hobbies and my interest and doing those things, while I was busy doing things that mattered a lot to me, my soul is lost.

And let’s take that one a step further.

Going to church, always being there when the doors were opened and dressed appropriately for the occasion, and always being at Bible class and even teaching Bible class when it was my rotation and having my obligations, whether it was leading, singing, or doing a Bible reading or giving a talk or teaching a Bible class. I was busy doing all of those things. But still my soul was lost. Look with me in Matthew chapter 23. Jesus would speak to the religious people of his day, who, if his condemnations are any indication, whose soul was lost. Though they were immersed in religious activities, their soul was lost. You remember this passage famously, Matthew 23, verse 23 says, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. Let’s pause there and remind you what the word hypocrite means.

The English word hypocrite comes from the Greek word, hypocrite.

But a hypocrite was someone in the first century who wore a mask.

Think of, if you’re old enough, if you’re my age or older, think of the cheap uh Halloween mask we used to wear. They put a mask on. That’s who I’m playing. If I was playing a bad villain, he’d have some scowl on his face and maybe a scar here. But if I was playing the romantic lead, I’d really have to wear a mask. They would have this flowing hair and good looks. And when it comes to theater, that’s okay to pretend to be something that we’re not, isn’t it? But notice how Jesus used that word for an actor who’s wearing a mask, who’s pretending to be something that he’s not, and gave it a very negative connotation when it comes to relationship to God. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees.

You mask wearing pretenders. That’s another way we could translate that. You hypocrites, he says, you pay tithe of mint and anis and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law. Justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone. See, they were involved in religious activity. I want you to think about the task of tithing mint and anis and cumin. I’ll give you a homework assignment. We did a test today. This is like school, isn’t it? We had a pop quiz to begin with, and now I’m giving you a homework assignment. After lunch today, clean off the dining room table and go get a jar of spice from your cupboard and pour that out on the table. And then count each grain.

That’s what you’re gonna have to do if you’re gonna tithe. Count every grain in that spice bottle. And then go back and do the math. What’s one tenth of that, and then count one tenth of that. And you’re just starting. You’re like us, you got like 57 spice bottles. You’re gonna have to do all of them. Do them one at a time, or you’re going to have some interesting meals. But think about how the time consuming that was of tithing mint and anis and cumin. And they were so busy with that that they had neglected what the Lord says were the weightier matters of the law. What really doesn’t say the tithing was bad, but what he says was that this was greater. Justice, mercy, and faith.

You can dress up and go to church. And it just be a mask. Hiding injustice, a merciless heart, lacking in faith. And so don’t get so busy that you forget what God has given you to do.

Conclusion

And so slow down. Pause. And reevaluate your life. And ask yourself am I doing what’s important? I want to go back to you, 1 Kings chapter 20. We didn’t finish our reading, did you notice? The prophet comes, much like one had earlier to King David, and kind of in a sneaky way pointed out the sin of the king. We remember David, the man after God’s own heart, after being, and let’s just be honest, after being tricked into saying, I’m wrong. What did David do? He humbly bowed his head and said, I have sinned. What does Ahab do? Just as predictable as David. It says in 1 Kings 20, the last verse, verse 43, so the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased and came to Samaria.

And it’s the very next chapter where Naboth is killed just so Ahab can have his piece of real estate. He’s confronted with his neglect. He goes away sullen and displeased and becomes worse for it. And so what will you do when confronted with neglect and shortcomings and sin in your life? You’ve got two choices. Will you be a David or will you be an Ahab? The gospel is to rebuke and to reprove. And if it’s done that this morning, would you come in obedience to that gospel? Maybe you never become a Christian and you know the responsibilities and the obligations that you have. Don’t get busy and forget to do the only thing that matters in this life. Maybe you’ve become a Christian in the past, but you’ve gotten kind of busy and distracted and more interested in your own agenda.

And why not vow today to do better? To not go away sullen and displeased, but to say, I have sinned. But starting today, God will be first in my life. Can we help you this morning? Can we help you in any way as you reach out to God as He reaches out to you? Then why not come?