July 30, 2006

Forgotten Lives - Enoch

Walking with God

Genesis 5:18-27

Opening Words: There are sixty-six books in the Bible, thirty-nine in the Old Testament. The New Testament is dominated by Jesus, himself, our Lord and Savior. The Old Testament consists of a variety of lives. Each one played a small part in God’s plan for the salvation of the world. Most of those lives are forgotten. So what I have been doing this summer is looking at some of those forgotten lives. It is for this reason that I have call this sermon series Forgotten Lives. This weekend we look at Enoch. Let me call this message Walking with God.

Introduction

Gregory P. Elder grew up on the Atlantic Coast. He said, “I spent long hours working on intricate sand castles; whole cities would appear beneath my hands. One year, for several days in a row, I was accosted by bullies who smashed my creations. Finally I tried an experiment: I placed cinder blocks, rocks, and chunks of concrete in the base of my castles. Then I built the sand kingdoms on top of the rocks. When the local toughs appeared (and I disappeared), their bare feet suddenly met their match.”

Maybe Gregory Elder’s simple story is the story of mainline Protestant churches in our time? Many people see the church in grave peril from a variety of dangers: secularism, politics, heresies, other world religions or plain old sin. I refuse to believe those dooms day reports. I believe God is not done with us yet! I believe our best days are yet to come. The church is built upon a Rock (Mt. 16:16), over which the gates of hell itself shall not prevail. If you believe our best days are yet to come then say, “Amen!”

Body

We are in the fifth chapter of Genesis. The entire chapter is nothing more than a genealogy that runs from Adam to Noah. The theme of the entire chapter is judgment. Except for one, everyone mentioned in this genealogy just lived and died. Their deaths were the result of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden. The only exception to that life and death pattern in the entire chapter was Enoch. Verses 22 through 24 say, “And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” Hebrews 11:5 says Enoch never experienced death. God simply took him to heaven. That is the Bible’s way of saying Enoch was a special man. He didn’t just live and die. Enoch walked with God. There is a big difference between just living and dying and walking with God! Are you just going to live and die or are you going to walk with God? Are our churches going to just live and die or are they going to walk with God?

Let me say it clearly. I love church but something is going to have to change if we are going to see a new day. Let me be blunt. We live a time when many churches are dying. We have churches that used to be something! But now they are something else! They used to send missionaries around the world in the name of Jesus but now they have a hard time paying the gas bill. We used to have churches that had ministries to all generations but now they seem to cater to just one generation. We used to have churches that were on the cutting edge but now we have churches that are not worried about the present or the future. They are stuck in those “good old days.” Many churches have stopped walking with God. The end result is dying churches. They are just like Enoch’s family tree. They are just going to live and die. Everyone is asking, “What can we do?”

The answer to our problem is not a new stewardship program. They answer to our problem is not a new church growth workshop. The answer to our problem is not starting a new style of worship. The answer to our problem is not a new form in the Charge Conference packet or moving all the preachers. The answer to our problem comes from Enoch. He was spiritually alive. He walked with God. He didn’t just live and die. He lives for eternity with God because we walked with God. If we want our churches to live for eternity then we better start walking with God again. If not we are just going to just live and die. This weekend I am going to talk about three things we need to walk with God. Each one begins with the letter C. So if you are ready for my three points say, “Amen!” Are you walking with God?

Commonality

The first word is the word commonality. If we are going to walk with God then you better have something in common with God. You don’t walk with strangers. You walk with someone that you know. I walk with my wife, Kathy. I walk with her because we like each other. (I don’t want to shock anyone here but sometimes we hold hands.) There is a sense of intimacy when you walk with someone. Kathy and I share a common past. Kathy and I share the same dreams for the future. We share common values and priorities. What is important to her is important to me! So if you want to walk with God in this world then you better have something in common with God. If you want to walk with God then Jesus better be important to you. How important is Jesus to you? How important is Jesus to the church? Is He just our excuse for gathering or is he our passion? This is the truth. The only thing that really matters in the life of any congregation is Jesus.

I have a friend who called me several months ago to tell me about an experience he had at his church. He is a pastor and as he stood at the back door of his service saying good-bye to all his parishioners something unique happened. Everyone walked by and expressed their appreciation for a fine sermon. Everyone was happy expect one woman at the end of the line. Her body language said she was upset. When everyone else was gone she walked up to him and said, “I am so upset! I am leaving this church and I want to tell you why.” He asked, “Why?” She said, “I am leaving this church because of Jesus! All we ever hear about is Jesus! Don’t you know something else? Doesn’t anything else matter? Isn’t anything else important? All we ever hear about is Jesus!” And my friend said, “NO!” Nothing else in church matters except Jesus. If we are going to walk with God then we better have a passion for Jesus. He is God’s one and only son! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” If our church is going to see a new day then we better have a passion for Jesus.

Communication

The second word is the word communication. When Kathy and I are walking we are also talking. We talk about things that are going on at home. We talk about the girls. We talk about our jobs. We talk about bills. We talk about friends. We talk about the latest details of the Russian trip and the progress on the pavilion. We talk about our lives! If you want to walk with God then talk to Him! Share your life with Him. Nothing frustrates a parent more than a mute child.

When my nephew, Jeffrey, graduated from college he owed a small fortune in student loans. To help pay those loans back he enlisted with Americore. It is like the Peace Core but you serve in this country. His assignment was in Colorado. My sister hated to see him go. She made him promise to call every Sunday at 6:00. When the first Sunday came I called my sister at 2:00. I asked, “How was church today?” She said, “I didn’t go.” I said, “Why?” She said, “I didn’t want to miss Jeff’s phone call.” I said, “I thought he wasn’t going to call until 6:00?” She said, “I though he might call early. He might be homesick so I stayed home from church. I didn’t want to miss the call.” Just then her call waiting clicked and she said, “That might he him now and she hung up on me.” A few seconds later my phone rang it was my sister. It wasn’t him. A few seconds later the call waiting clicked again. Again, she hung up on me. The next Tuesday I called her back and said, “What did Jeff have to say on Sunday night?” She never answered. Jeff never did call on Sunday. She called him on Monday and only got a series of yes and no answers to her questions. Do you know what? I could hear the frustration in her voice. She loves her son and she wanted to talk to him. She was so frustrated! Can you imagine how frustrated God is with us? He wants us to share our lives with Him! He is waiting for us to call but the phone never rings. If you want to walk with God, then you better talk to God. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” If you want to walk with God then you better have something in common with God and you better talk to God.

Community

The third word is the word community. The world is not always a safe place to walk alone. That is why the church exists. There is safety in numbers. The church at her best is a collection of people united in the name of Jesus. The church is wonderful because the church supports one another during hardship. The best friends you will ever have in this world are church friends. They support you when you are down and correct you when they are wrong.

During WW2 the Allied forces launched an assault upon the Anzio Beach in southern Italy. Their enemy was ready for them, and the Allied were soon pinned down on the beach and facing annihilation. Mary Wilson was head of the fifty-one army nurses who went ashore with the troops. As she stood assisting in surgery for wounded soldiers bullets ripped through the tent. Things were so bad it was arranged for the nursing staff to leave. But Mary Wilson would not go. As she reflected on the episode years later she said "How could I possibly leave them. I was part of them." I hope you will feel that way about your church. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!” Let me end with a quick story.

Conclusion

A rabbi's grandson was once playing hide and seek with a friend. He found a great hiding place and waited for his friend to find him. And he waited and waited. But his friend never came. In fact his friend had never even started looking. He'd left the little boy and gone home. With tears streaming down his face the little boy ran to his grandfather and told him what had happened. His grandfather also broke into tears and said "God says the same thing - 'I hide, but no one tries to find me' ". Are you looking for God? Are our churches looking for God? Or are some of our churches existing for other reasons?

Enoch walked with God and he never died. Could it be that some of our churches have stopped walking with God? Could it be that some of our churches have lost their passion for Jesus? Could it be that some of our church have stopped talking to God? Could it be that some of our churches have lost their sense of intimacy? The world is not always a safe place. Everyone liveed and died in the fifth chapter of Genesis, except Enoch. He walked with God. May that be our story! And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”