At 7:00 a.m. on December 26 an earthquake called a "mega thrust" quake occurred in the Indian Ocean 160 miles off the Sumatra coast. It was the result of a section of the earth’s crust being driven under another section, rupturing a 600-mile stretch of seafloor and displacing millions of tons of water. That displacement of water created 500 mph tsunamis barreling out of the Indian Ocean. The waves hit the Sumatra coast 15 minutes later at 7:15 and by 3:15, seven hours later, they crashed against the coast of Africa over 3000 miles away. The result of this natural disaster has been devastating to our world as over 150,000 people perished literally in moments and an estimated 100,000 more could die of disease. Millions of lives have been affected and the world—literally—has rushed to the effected areas to begin healing and restoring the lives that are devastated.

Earthquakes all have a point of origin called a hypocenter. That is the depth in the earth where the shift in the earth’s geological structure occurs. The place on the surface that is affected by what happened below is called the epicenter. We cannot see the place where an earthquake occurs without specific equipment to see into the earth’s core. What we see is the surface result, the epicenter where it all began. What happens at the epicenter is that seismic waves are sent out through the earth or the ocean with so much power that its impact is felt on the opposite side of the earth. The earthquake that occurred on December 26 was so powerful it caused the earth to wobble a bit on its axis. It had the power of a million atomic bombs and slowed the earth’s rotation permanently. One scientist said that while it was a powerful quake, "it wasn’t going to turn the world upside down." (Source: Newsweek, Jan. 10, 2005 and CNN.com)

Over 2000 years ago a shift in the eternal destinies of people began on a barren hillside outside of a despised city called Jerusalem. The shift occurred at a place of Roman execution called Calvary with the crucifixion of one called Jesus of Nazareth. This Jesus was said to be the Savior of the world because He was the Son of God. He died there on that cross but the shift in the eternal destinies of humanity continued three days later when He walked out of the darkness of death into the light of eternity and broke the chains of death forever. That shift continued in the eternal destinies of humanity as he would gather around Him less than 120 of those who followed him as disciples and say to them, "I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matt.28:18-20) Then later in Acts 1:8, " But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

The "hypocenter" of that shift in the eternal destinies of humanity began deep in the heart of God before the core of this planet ever existed (Eph. 1:4). The "epicenter" of that shift in the eternal destinies of humanity showed itself there in a city called Jerusalem. Yet every person who personally had experienced a redirection of their eternity became an individual seismic wave that changed the destinies of people. While the quake on December 26 didn’t turn the world upside down, the "quake" of those bearing the gospel of Jesus Christ did! One opponent would say of two of those personal witnesses, "They have turned the rest of the world upside down" (Acts 17:6).

Those personal, individual shock waves called witnesses went out from that epicenter in wave after wave after wave. They have gone out because they believed that a person whose eternal destiny was directed toward an eternity separated from God could be redirected toward spending the rest of their eternity with God if they would believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They went out because they believed that if a person never heard the news that Jesus died on the cross to save them from their sins, they would wind up in hell. They have gone out, and gone out and whenever a person believes the "quake" occurs all over again and the seismic waves continue to change eternal destinies one life at a time.

Where did the force of the world-changing quake begin? Strangely enough, it began with words spoken by Jesus to those who followed him. The words were spoken on a hillside near a lake called the Sea of Galilee in the northern part of Israel. It was there he told those who followed that they in and of themselves would be the messengers of influence and impact for the earth and the world. He said to them, "You are the salt of the earth," and you are, "the light of the world." Two elements that are naturally quiet and unassuming; yet they have the power to alter whatever they touch. Those followers would find themselves three years later transformed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit and would immediately become their own individual epicenter. They would show to those who came in contact with them that they were "salt" and "light." They would by their influence and their impact create a shift in the eternal destinies of those around them.

In the aftermath of the tsunami on December 26 the death toll and destruction have caused persons of all types of faith to ask of God, "Why?" "Why us? Why here? Why now?" Countless souls cry out to God and are displayed in our media through newspapers, Internet, and broadcast journalism. While the world asks spiritual questions about the epic human loss, there are people around us who face their own tragedy and ask, "Why me? Why here? Why now?" They ask the question as our communities bury soldiers killed in a war thousands of miles away. They ask the question as a physician tells them there’s nothing more to be done. They stare blankly and red eyed back into the face of someone whose "I do" becomes "forgive me for what I have done." They ask the question when the one they brought home from the hospital they now bury in the ground. They ask the question when the darkness of winter becomes the despair of their soul permanently. They ask the question when the accounts are empty, the last check is spent and still there is no job. They ask the question when the habit they thought was manageable now is a monster clawing its way through what was normal. And they say, "In this kind of tragedy, there is no religion." Those words are true; there is no religion—no human designed way—that can make sense or bring hope to the brokenness of human life. But there is "salt" and "light" and that is who we are!

As I said last week, there are over 27,000 persons in our community who are very likely non-churched, hell-bound lost people. They are persons who need that shift of their eternal destiny to occur for them individually and personally. They need the "seismic" shock wave of your "salt" and "light" to create the epicenter of a redirection of their eternity. The truth is that unless you and I individually and as a congregation are not involved in the process of that redirection, odds are, friends, they will wind up in hell.

Where does my "epicenter" begin? It begins with you and me building a spiritual friendship with someone whom we believe does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s where it starts! It doesn’t begin with me here in the pulpit. It doesn’t begin with a book that you have read. It doesn’t begin by your bringing them to church. All of those things are good and are part of a process but it all starts with you and me building a relationship with someone whom you believe does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

How do I create that "epicenter" of hope for someone’s eternal destiny? Well, it begins by my choosing to show someone I care about them. We do not impact our world in groups or as an entire church but individually. Matthew 5:13 tells us that Jesus considers his disciples as individuals who have the power to impact and influence others. He said, "You are the salt of the earth." That simple analogy makes clear that believers have the capacity to impact and influence others. Salt has chemical properties to preserve, flavor and cleanse what it comes in contact with. The danger, Jesus says, is that the salt can lose its potency, its flavor, its ability to impact and influence. When that occurs, Jesus said, it’s useless. So the connection for us is that we have to wonder about the level of our potency spiritually if others are going to be impacted by our life.

When you know someone who needs to trust Jesus as their Savior that person is someone with whom you have the potential of developing a spiritual friendship. Saying you have a personal spiritual friendship with someone is different from saying, "I witnessed to a lost person." I can witness to a lost person by knocking on the door of the majority of doors in Jonesboro. I can only impact a spiritual friendship by caring for someone personally. To show someone I care will require us to step outside of our comfortable relationships with other Christians. You don’t care unless the caring is personal.

How do I show someone I care? I believe it begins first by my being willing to be real, just who I am. A person without Christ has all kinds of questions and misperceptions about what it means to be a believer. When you are a true friend with someone, they know all about you—your anger, joy, pain—what makes you "tick". A person with whom you have a spiritual friendship needs to know the same. They also need me to show compassion about what is occurring in their life. Sometimes our compassion level drops to zero because we are too judgmental or preoccupied with our own lives or because we are just not connected spiritually to the source of compassion found in Jesus Christ. That person may want to see you care before they can ever hear what you say.

Showing someone you care will expose you, it will place demands on your compassion but it will mean that you are willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to change their destiny. That sacrifice may come in the giving up of your time or your resources. The question that challenges us is "How long are you willing to give?" How long are we willing to show we care for someone—several hours or several years? What is a person’s eternity worth to you? Creating a shift in someone’s eternal destiny begins by showing someone I care.

You would understand that showing someone you care is going to mean a close personal connection with their life. Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor?" (Matt. 5:13) Salt’s purpose is to influence the area wherever it is placed. If it is in food or used in healing, its purpose is to cause change. Yet what is obvious is that the salt has to be close to something, in something, with something for it to have any effect. Unless salt touches or connects with something it hasn’t fulfilled its function.

Most of us as Christians have tremendous spiritual potency and live a God-honoring life but never connect with someone closely in a spiritual friendship. The result is a low impact on our world. Over 90% of you have become Christians due to the influence of a family member or friend. The reason more people are not becoming Christians is that they are not being influenced by a family member or friend. The problem is the most authentic, caring and sacrificial Christian will not influence spiritual friendships without connecting with them closely!

Yet why will we not do this? The reason is that we are afraid to risk the security of our Christian relationships to intentionally build a spiritual friendship with someone who is lost. Doing that gets messy, uncomfortable and inconvenient. But here’s the bottom line for each of us: On a regular basis, we’ve got to leave the circle of close Christian relationships, take some risks and get to know someone in a spiritual friendship. We’ve got to build intentional relational bridges to those persons. When we do, those spiritual friendships open up for some real heart to heart connecting! This means that we care enough about non-churched, hell-bound, lost people that we will risk building an intentional relationship with them. If we as members of First Baptist Church are not connecting closely with people in spiritual friendships, the odds are, friends, they’ll wind up in hell. Why? Because God has established that relational connections are the primary way persons come to faith! So, if we don’t connect, they won’t hear. If they don’t hear they won’t believe. If they don’t believe, they will spend eternity in hell. It’s just that clear. And it’s just that radical. You can’t care without connecting and you can’t connect without being close and you’ll never be close unless you intentionally make the choice! The "epicenter" of hope starts with your connecting to someone closely!

Changing someone’s eternal destiny starts by showing that I care about them personally and being willing to connect closely with them. But here’s the problem: Somewhere in the process of your showing you care enough to really connect with their life, you must verbally communicate your faith clearly. Jesus said, "You are the light of the world…Let your light shine before men…" (Matt. 5:14, 16). Light illuminates the darkness around it. And while Jesus affirms the value of our lifestyle being a brilliant reflection of our faith, it also implies clearly communicating the truth of the Good News. Paul said in Romans 10:14, "But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?"

So the question is when it comes to a spiritual friendship: "Do you know how to verbally share your faith in a clear and compelling way?" There are truths about our faith that people will never know unless they are verbally communicated. Do you know how to do that? That usually is the thing that stops most of us. It’s not that we are uncaring; it’s just that we just don’t know how.

Where does that communication begin? It begins with a spiritual conversation that you intentionally direct. It can be through a topic or question that comes up in your conversation but you are alert to what is said and intentionally create a verbal bridge in the conversation to talk about spiritual things. What’s next is that in that spiritual conversation I allow God’s Spirit to provide a way to tell the story of how I came to faith personally and how God’s story of love seen in Jesus’ death on the cross are connected.

Does that mean that every time I share my story and the story of God’s love that there will be no objections or questions? No, because there will be objections and questions because you are talking about changing someone’s eternity, not changing their opinion! That question or objection may be sincere or insincere but that’s really not the issue. The issue is will we be honest enough to tell the truth! Creating an "epicenter" of hope for someone’s eternal destiny will require me to share my faith clearly.

In order for God to use you to shift someone’s eternal destiny it will mean ultimately that the person with whom you have a spiritual friendship is brought to a place or point of decision. All kinds of choices present themselves to us but there is one decision point that is the most crucial of all and that is whether or not a person will accept Jesus Christ as the one who can forgive our sins and be the leader of our life now and for eternity. Crossing that line from unbelief to belief is the most important decision they will ever make. Stepping across the line means enjoying the eternity that God has planned for us. Choosing not to cross means living forever with the pain of our own rejection in hell.

There comes a point when in our spiritual friendship where we have to ask the hard question: "Have you come to a place in your life where you know for certain that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or are you still thinking about it?" That question presents to a spiritual friendship the line that they can choose to cross. It doesn’t mean that this is their one and only chance. It just means that life and relationship have come to a defining decision point. By asking that question we find out how close they are to crossing that line. We find out what they understand. We find out if they are ready and how they feel about what they understand. But we will never know if we don’t ask the question. They may be waiting for us not to give them any more information but they are ready to commit their life fully to Jesus Christ.

We must simply and clearly invite someone to respond in faith to what they know and feel, release their sense of guilt for their sins to the Lord Jesus Christ and accept that when they do this the result will be that they become God’s child for all eternity! In doing that, it is just one of those God moments when we trust that if God has brought them to this point then he will help them cross the line to believing. Just relax, forget trying to keep to some formula of words and phrases, help them to pray in their own words and watch God do the rest! Because this is simple doesn’t mean it’s simplistic. Truly, all eternity is coming together for this point in time and space. All of that starts with you and me showing them how to commit their life fully to Jesus Christ by asking one question: "Have you come to the place in your life…?"

On the morning of December 26 a schoolteacher from Scotland named John Chroston, his wife Sandra and daughter Rebecca were enjoying the marvelously clear morning on the beach in Phuket, Thailand. John was about to take a picture of his daughter when he suddenly noticed that the keel of a Thai fishing boat was beached. In seconds the sea had retreated from its normal shoreline, leaving scrambling crabs and flopping fish and excited children rushing to investigate this unexpected treasure.

John said that the alarm bells in his head started going off and he began to scream, "Tsunami, tsunami!" He commandeered a Thai hotel shuttle and was pleading for anyone who could to get on the bus. He was able to save his wife, daughter, a surgeon from Bangkok, a pregnant woman and a local woman with her baby. John said he was thankful to have saved some lives but that questions of what more he could have done still bother him. He said: "I wonder if I could have alerted more people on the beach because they were largely standing mesmerized, almost hypnotized, by what was happening around them. I think we were probably the only people to clear the beach that day and it still haunts me." Mrs. Chroston said she also has many thoughts for the people they left behind. She said, "It just difficult to come to terms with what happened and we’re trying to do that the best we can." (Source: News.bbc.co.uk, 2005/01/05)

John Chroston did something radical because he knew the lives of innocent people were at stake. Those around us stand equally mesmerized, hypnotized by the things that are happening around them. You and I are those whose eternities have been shifted by the force of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet there are 27,000 people on the beach around us waiting to hear how their eternity can be redirected. You are that epicenter of hope where that shift can begin. Without John Chroston’s quick action his family and others he saved would have been lost. Chuck Swindoll says, "Had Christ not taken a drastic step, sinners like us would’ve never survived the fall. We would never have been rescued. We would be permanently lost. The cross was God’s incredible response to our extreme dilemma. Christ did something radical. Now it’s your turn." (Building a Contagious Church, p. 111)

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org