Drummondtown Baptist Church
May 29, 2016
Ephesians 5:16
The Blue Light Special

Introduction:

Come with me to Delphi, high atop Mt Parnassus overlooking the Corinthian

Gulf not far from ancient Corinth. I stood here many years ago before the grand Temple of Apollo that still stands on the top of Delphi.

There is an ancient story about a man who once came here for a message from the mysterious Sibyl who was a wild-eyed priestess of the temple who hair scattered in the mountain breeze. He paced restlessly before the temple doors waiting desperately for an answer to some life predicament.

He heard her wild incantation behind the doors and wondered what she would tell him. Finally, the creak of door hinges signaled the Sybil’s appearance. He stood transfixed below the portico and watched as she silently laid out a row of delicate leaves on the ground each leaf containing a word scrawled with a prophet’s pen.

He was excited. This is my answer, he thought. Then without a word or a blessing the Sybil slid back into the darkness of her sacred retreat slamming the door behind her. The man stood alarmed yet hopeful. But before he could scoop up the leaves and read the words, a breeze blew across the mountain top scattering the leaves, lifting them, sifting them, stealing them in a small delicate swirl of wind that devoured the prophecy.

*I see our text here in this great tragedy: The leaves are like Time—fragile, demanding immediate attention—easily blown away and lost forever.

 

Blue Light Special

            Paul tells us to walk into the marketplace and look for a bargain on Time ( ἐξαγοραζόμενοι  τὸν  καιρόν,).

*Once long ago I went to Kmart. Saw a flashing blue light. Asked about it. Everybody rushing to the light. I followed. Get real bargains they said if you act quickly. Candy bars. The last one was taken just as the light went dead. My hand was outstretched—too late!

Paul says walk with the utmost of care into the market and buy up Time before it slips away.

Three Blue Light Specials to consider. Act quickly. They will not last long. The blue light is spinning.

1. Make time to help someone in need. Had the Good Samaritan not acted quickly to offer his help the poor man would have died on the lonely byway where he had been robbed and left for dead. —-All about us in today’s evil world there are people in desperate need. Find someone to help before it is too late.

            *Ta’nyla—Tough kid. Attitude. Barked back at me. –Mentor program—mocked it at first—Then I chose here—One day we sat and talked—she told me of her mother in jail. How shoe stated boxing.—Then we played a game of corn hole tossing and a strange little-unexpected bond formed. —A month ago—she got in a fight with a huge black girl twice her size. David and Goliath—Expelled. Sad email from her.   “I need your help. Could you write me a letter on behalf? They’re going to put in a reform school.” —My reply—Never saw her again but heard she got home schooling instead of reform school.

Find someone to help before the chance is blown away like leaves on the Delphic porch.

2.  Make time to forgive somebody. Life is too fragile to hold grudges. The Grace of God within us compels us to forgive others.

*I’m reading a fascinating book: Thomas Carlyle’s The French Revolution. A brilliant writer. He spent s summer writing what would be book one long multi-volume set on the French Revolution. He was proud of his effort. —Friend to read—left it at his fireplace. Maid tossed it into the fire. But Carlyle forgave the man and rewrote it from memory.

*1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

*Onesimus–a slave of Philemon from Colossae. Stole from his master–ran away. Found Paul in jail in Rome. Saved. Sent home with a letter. “Please forgive him. He’s a new man.

   3.  Make time to love someone deeply. (The blue light is spinning. You must act. Find someone to love.

My wedding anniversary was Thursday.   43 years! Math is difficult here since I’ve been telling everyone I’m 29 for so long I actually believe it.

*(My students can’t figure ages out. I tell them I’m 29 and they look at me after hesitating seem to accept it).

*I met my wife on Treasure Island in Lynchburg. First year of Lynchburg Baptist College. Liberty University.   Bonfire–Long hair. I ditched the girl I was with and walked with her to the fire and that was 43 years ago.

Find someone to love. When you learn to love someone deeply you begin to fathom the deeper love God has for you. John 3:16.

Loving others is the heart of the Christian faith. We see Jesus toiling beneath the burden of the cross as he carries down the Via Dolorosa to Golgotha. His love for us is why we are here today. His love changed our lives. And we are to pass on that love to others. Find someone to love.

Love thy neighbor as thyself, said Jesus. Find someone to love.

Love the lost. It’s the core of the Great Commission.

*My dad loved the Japanese. He was saved in Billy Graham crusade and when he was shipped off to Tokyo, the first thing he did was start a home Bible study for the Japanese. …He loved them. I went to sleep each night he held a study to the sounds of What a Friend we have in Jesus.

Conclusion:

These Blue Light Specials are like the leaves blowing away in the breeze. They won’t last long. Paul tells us to go into the marketplace and buy up Time. It doesn’t linger long. So make the most of your time and help someone in need—forgive someone–love someone in the name of God.