On September 3, 1989, Varig Airlines Flight 254 was at Brazil’s Maraba Airport preparing for takeoff. Under normal circumstances the hop to Nearby Belém would only take 48 minutes. Captain Cézar Garcez consulted a computer-generated flight plan and read the number 0270 which corresponded to the magnetic heading from Maraba to Belém. Gut Garcez inadvertently dialed 270 into the Horizontal Situation Indicator. Minutes later, flight 254 took off and climbed to an altitude of 29,000 feet. Instead of heading northeast toward the Brazilian coastline and the city of Belém, the plan turned west and headed straight toward the Amazon forest.

Captain Garcez sensed something was wrong. At this point in the flight plan he expected to be able to have visual contact with the Belém airport. Frustrated, the captain executed a 180-degree turn, not recognizing the absurdity of his due west/due east course. Having been notified by the flight attendants that the passengers were wondering what was happening, Garcez lied. He announced there was a power failure at the Belém airport, and that he would circle the area waiting for the power to be restored. Despite not know where he was, Captain Garcez informed the Varig flight coordinator on the ground he estimated the plane would be landing in Belém in five minutes. He then ordered the flight attendants to serve a fresh round of drinks to the bewildered passengers.

At 7:39 p.m., when the flight was 68 minutes overdue, the first officer identified the problem and started to explain to the captain his mistake. But the captain dismissed his explanation. Refusing to ask for help, he began counting the minutes until the plan would run out of fuel. All the while he searched the ground hoping to find an airport where he could land the plane.

About an hour later, out of fuel, Garcez made a remarkable crash-landing in total darkness in a dense tropical forest. The plane was 700 miles from the intended destination. Although all six of the crew survived, 13 of the 48 passengers were killed. Both Captain Garcez and the first officer had their commercial licenses revoked. They never flew again. (The Mercer Island Reporter, 12-12-02)

What makes this incident so tragic was the pilot knew he was headed in the wrong direction but he refused to turn around.

This morning we continue our series called "Exiting the Lost Highway." Jesus’ words from Matthew 7:13-14 remind us that people are following one of two pathways in life. One leads to a connection and relationship with Him. The other, he says, is a "highway to hell," what I’m calling "the lost highway." Last week we talked about the need to recognize which path you are on. Once you realize you are headed in a wrong direction it is your decision as to what you will do next—keep on going in the same direction or take the exit that turns you around and lets you get on the right path. The first exit sign on the Lost Highway is called "Recognition." The next exit sign to turn around is called "Repentance."

The word "repent" or "repentance" is a word we rarely hear in our Christian experience any more. Yet it was the very heart of Jesus’ preaching. As Jesus first began his ministry, the Bible says that he went out preaching, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). That message was one he gave to a church in the city of Ephesus. Calling them to repent and return to the passion for Christ they had once known.

The word "repent" or "repentance" is a combination of two words meaning to change your mind or change direction. It’s similar to a platoon of soldiers who are marching in one direction and they are told to "halt"…"about face"…"forward march." We repent in our spiritual life when we recognize that a specific sin is taking us down a path we know will hurt or destroy us and change our mind about that and head in the right direction. It’s one thing to recognize where our sin will take us but it is another step to make the changes necessary to turn around. The reason is that to make the changes necessary to turn around will mean the pain of confession before God and perhaps before others before we can ever exit the lost highway. Knowing you are wrong and changing what is wrong are two different things.

How do you transition from recognizing the direction you are going and then turning around? That’s what Jesus shows us in the verses we examine this morning.

Turning around on the lost highway starts with remembering where you started (Rev. 2:4b-5a). Jesus told this church, "You don’t love me or each other as you did at first. Look how far you have fallen from your first love!" The church at Ephesus was a key church in the area of what we know as central Turkey today. It was special to Paul, Timothy and John. They were a church that was known for their commitment, courage and devotion to the truth. They were also admired by Jesus himself for their passionate love for him and for follow believers. Yet something had happened—not to their commitment to the truth but in their passion for him. Jesus tells them they have fallen completely away from their first love. If they ever hope to turn around they were going to remember where they started.

From time to time couples will approach me for help with problems in their marriage. I don’t see myself as a skilled counselor but more as listener and guide for persons have struggles in their relationship. One of the things you realize that whatever problems or issues a couple may have at the moment is that they didn’t start out that way. No one decides to fall in love with someone because they think, "Oh, we will really crash and burn in our relationship and our lives will be miserable. Let’s get married." No, they begin with feelings of love, romance and joy for one another. So I will ask a couple, "Tell me what it was like when you started dating or when you were first married. Tell me about when it was good." It’s amazing. Their eyes will light up and they will smile then tell me what it was like. I do that because often if you can get a couple to remember what it was like when they started, it helps them find their way to change in the present.

Then let me ask you, if you find yourself headed in a direction that is leading you away, farther away from the relationship with God you know you want, can you remember what it was like when you first started? Was it a relationship that was new, fresh, exciting and alive? Was there a strength in your decisions about purity and impurity? Was there a clarity about your behavior and character that was distinct and solid? Is that where you are now? If not, then Jesus’ words for you are to remember where you started! Ask yourself, "How far have I fallen away in my relationship with Jesus Christ?"

Turning around on the lost highway will also mean restoring what is missing (Rev. 2:b). Jesus tells this church to "turn back to me again." Some of your translations just have the word "repent." The NLT fills out the thought behind the word by saying that repentance involves a return or restoring of a relationship that is broken. The word Jesus uses is a command that means "do it at once." It involves a personal, willful choice to change your mind about an action or activity of your life that has caused you to fall away from the closeness to Christ that you once had. Notice how the plea is to return to the relationship with him—turn back to me again. Something caused the breakdown.

Here’s the problem, though – we haven’t truly repented unless we change our mind about what has caused the damage to our relationship with Christ. Two years ago Dan Leach made national headlines with his response to The Passion of the Christ. After seeing the movie, Leach confessed to murdering his girlfriend, Ashley Nichole Wilson. Her death had been ruled a suicide but Leach admitted to murdering her and successfully avoided suspicion, until turning himself in three months later.

The surprises did not end there. On May 3, 2004, Leach stunned everyone but his attorney by pleading not guilty. Outside the Texas courtroom, lawyer Ralph Gonzalez explained the decision t reporters. "If I entered a plea of guilty, I waive several valuable rights that I’m not prepared to do so for my client at this time." Gonzalez told Leach that if pled guilty he would need a new lawyer. (Christ Film Confessor Pleads Not Guilty to Murder," Reuters.com (5-3-04.)

Dan Leach may have confessed to a crime but he couldn’t afford to admit his guilt. In the same way, it’s one thing to admit that we are not where we once were in our relationship to Christ but unless we personally admit and own our guilt then we have never repented. Unless we repent then we can’t restore the relationship that is missing in our lives. This is not something we do alone, but by his power. Jesus longs and aches and waits for you to return to his fellowship and his love. "Turn back to me again"—restore what is missing!

The next thing that Jesus tells this church to do to turn around is to "work as you did at first" (Rev. 2:5c). He is telling them to return to the activities that they did at the beginning that made them effective and successful. If we are going to turn around on the lost highway, we will not only remember where we started, restore what is missing but we will return to the beginning of what made us effective as a believer.

The words that Jesus uses are started as a command for them to do at once. It would take action, both inwardly and outwardly, for them to turn things around. That same principle works for us. One of the things that is necessary for us to turn our spiritual life around is to return to some of the practices and habits that put us on the right road in the beginning. It’s not just that we feel sorry for what we have done and stay in a place of brokenness; we also must act by doing those things that we once did that connected us to Jesus Christ. Have you quit praying? Have you stopped reading God’s word? Have you dropped out of being with other Christians at Sunday School and church? You say, "It’s not that simple." Then you tell me what it was that made your spiritual life successful, that made it meaningful and whatever that was then "work as you did at first." You may say, "Well, it was my church, Sunday School class, college friends, and BSU and I can’t go back there." No, you can’t go back there physically but you can return to that place of beginning. Is it easy? No, that’s why Jesus called it "work"! The issue is, though, just how hard do you want to turn around? It may mean you have to go back a lot of miles to get to the beginning but that’s where you need to return.

Turning around on the lost highway begins by remembering where you started, restoring what is missing, and then returning to the beginning. There’s one more thing, though, that seals this in our minds and it’s this: we must realize the results if we refuse to change. Jesus said, "If you don’t (turn around), I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches" (v. Rev. 2:5d). Jesus wasn’t making some idle threat. He was warning them that the key to their future rested in their choice to repent. If they didn’t, they risked losing everything that made them a viable spiritual force.

Today there are some of you here that need to realize the result of refusing to turn your life around from the direction you are going. It may not be that you are involved in some type of gross immorality or obvious spiritual failure. Yet you know your life is not what it once was. You know that there is a deadness in your soul that continues to grow colder and colder. You can keep up the charade that there is nothing wrong but deep within you realize that if things don’t change, you are on a collision course with the results of your refusal.

There are others of you here who are involved in things that are bringing shame to the name of Christ, to you, to your family and to his church. You know they are wrong and you know no matter how much you pretend that it doesn’t affect anyone you are on a collision course with the results of your refusal to turn around. You may say, "Bruce, are you threatening me?" No, I am not. Jesus is promising you, just as he did this church, that if you don’t turn around, the results of your refusal are going to wreck your life!

I know this story has been around but it is still powerful in its application. Max Lucado tells the story of an incident recorded in the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute. The writer, Frank Koch, illustrated the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse. Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: ‘We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.’" Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." The captain said, "Send: ‘I’m a captain, change course twenty degrees.’" "I’m a seaman second-class," came the reply, "you had better change course twenty degrees." By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: ‘I’m a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.’" Back came the flashing light, "I’m a lighthouse." We changed course. (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, Word Publishing, 1991, p. 153)

If you don’t change your course, you are going to experience the results of your refusal! Today, do you need to turn around from where you are on the lost highway? Then I invite you to (1) remember where you started; (2) restore what is missing; (3) return to the beginning; and (4) realize the results that can come if you continue to refuse. Turn around today! There’s no need to go one more mile down a lost highway.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org