Transcript
I did not realize it until brother Gutshaw referred to it that the conferences began in the same summer that I was born. If you didn't know my age you can now compute it accurately. I guess that the conferences and I were meant for each other because then I was born again right here in this tabernacle, sitting over on that side just a few rows behind where Charles Martin is sitting this morning. And then as a young boy, as a teenager, as a young man I attended many, many of the sessions in this tabernacle. And I can't even begin to compute all of the truth from the word of God that I was exposed to in this very building.
And so I want you to know that it's a very special privilege and honor to be up here and to attempt at least to give back just a minuscule part of what I received from the ministry of the word in Greenwood Hills tabernacle.
Will you turn with me therefore in the word of God this morning to the Gospel of Luke chapter 8? Gospel of Luke chapter 8. And we would like to begin reading at verse 19 of Luke chapter 8.
Luke chapter 8, beginning to read at verse 19.
Then His mother and His brothers came to Him and could not approach Him because of the crowd. And it was told Him by some who said, ‘Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.’
Now it happened on a certain day that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake. And they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased. And there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him.”
At the tender age of eight he was a real mystery boy. He was discovered on November the 7th, 1987, wandering around the streets of Ciudad Juarez, which as you may know is right across the border from El Paso, Texas. He was partially deaf and he couldn't talk. He could only communicate with signs and with pictures and with his crooked tooth grin. Yet he was courageous. He was smart. He was streetwise.
The mystery of this young boy's identity captured the attention of the world press for eight months. Social workers tried to figure out who he was, never guessing that he was 700 miles away from his home in Tampico, Mexico. Finally however the mystery was solved when his mother, Micaela Aguilera, found out where he was. Apparently her son had run away from the crowded two-room hut and the meager meals which he shared with his mother, his grandmother, and four siblings.
His name turned out to be Jose de Jesus Garcia Aguilera. His mother was a poor barmaid who was separated from her common-law husband. And when she found her son she realized that she could not take care of him. And so she turned him over to a government-sponsored school called Casa Hogar El Nino, which means something like the child's house of the Lord.
At last report that's where little Jose was, along with about 120 other children ranging all the way in age from newborn infants to 15 years of age. The instructors at the Casa Hogar soon found out however that this was a very smart and brainy little boy. The psychologist at the school said this. He said, “I swear to you that in one day he learned the entire alphabet in sign language.” When he used to wander around the streets of Juarez he drew pictures of airplanes and flames. And sociologists speculated that he might be the survivor of an airplane crash. But now they decided that these pictures were simply the product of an active imagination fueled by his imagination and TV and by the fact that his home in Tampico was next to an airport.
And that meant that little Jose had taken the entire trip from Tampico to Juarez on his own. My hat is off to a little boy of eight who can take care of himself on a 700-mile trip away from home. And if you ask me that shows courage and self-sufficiency and determination that augurs well for his future life. In fact plans were afoot to take him to a specialist in Los Angeles to see if the hearing deficiency could be corrected.
And yes, for a while the identity of this little boy was a big mystery. But then after it was discovered the name of Jose de Jesus Garcia Aguilera became one of the best-known names of any little boy in the entire land of Mexico.
And so if you'd like to tell a story about solving an identity crisis it would be hard to improve on a story like that, don't you agree?
And this morning that's what I'd like to talk to you about. An identity crisis. An identity crisis.
Do you realize that a very real spiritual identity crisis often lies at the root of the frustrations and failures that we experience in Christian living? And because that is true I would like to give to my message this morning a title that is expressed in two questions. Two questions that I want each of you to ask yourself. And the questions are these. Who am I? Who is He? And that's the title of my message to you this morning. Who am I? Who is He?
You know I'm never going to forget those very special occasions that I experienced as a little boy in Momo's house. You say, “Who in the world is Momo?” Momo was my grandmother on my father's side. I was her very first grandson. And I modestly confess to you I was the light of her eyes. And at a very tender age I called her Momo. And she loved it. And that's what she wanted to be called from then on. And that's what I always called her even after I was grown. I don't ever remember calling her grandmother. I called her Momo until the day that she went home to be with the Lord.
And you probably will not be surprised to discover that I called my grandfather Paw Paw.
Well Momo and Paw Paw lived in one of these fascinating old three-story houses located in Georgetown, Washington. And that house had one of these great big old-fashioned dining rooms with a great big table.
Now you need to understand that counting my father Momo and Paw Paw had five sons and two daughters. And on special occasions when almost the entire Hodges clan was gathered in that dining room, husbands and wives, sons and daughters and grandchildren, I want to tell you that was a very crowded dining room indeed.
But Momo knew how to load that dining table with enough food to make a little boy's eyes pop out of his head. You want to ask, “Could Momo cook?” I reply, “Can the sun shine? Can the wind blow?” Momo could cook.
And on those very special occasions when the entire Hodges clan was gathered together there was not only a lot to please our palate but there was also something to warm and satisfy our hearts. Because you see on those occasions when the whole clan was together there was a very real sense of family solidarity, a real sense of family unity.
And on those occasions I knew who I was. I knew who I was. I was a Hodges.
And if you will permit me to say it very reverently to you this morning there is a sense in which the Lord Jesus Christ is the Momo of every true Christian disciple. The Momo of every true Christian disciple.
Did you notice in the passage that we were reading a few moments ago that Jesus was teaching the word as He so often did? And He was surrounded as usual by a crowd. And that His mother Mary and His brothers, maybe all four of them, James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, came to the outskirts of that crowd. And somehow or other the word was passed forward that His mother and His brothers were outside seeking to see Him.
And the answer that Jesus gave to this information is totally unexpected. It is even a little astonishing. For when informed of the presence of His family He replies, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
Now please don't misunderstand these words. I do not think for a moment that Jesus was renouncing His connection with His natural family. And if you were to ask me what I think I think that after a while He met with His family and had fellowship with them.
But obviously Jesus is speaking on this occasion of those who are closest to Him in that large crowd of hearers. And He is talking especially I would think of His disciples who no doubt filled the inner circle of the people who were gathered around Him. And He is saying to them, “Would you like to know who is close to Me? Would you like to know who is My spiritual family? My mother, My brothers,” and the Gospels of Matthew and Mark add the word “sister,” “My mother, My brothers, My sisters are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
I said a moment ago that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Momo of every true Christian disciple. And that's true. You see from one point of view discipleship to Jesus Christ can be described as sitting around a great banqueting table. And that banqueting table is loaded with nourishing spiritual food which is the word of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the host. He is the provider. He is the teacher. And His disciples are those who eat that food, who digest that food, who assimilate that food into their lives and into their experiences. They are those who hear God's word and do it.
And don't you see that out of this kind of Christian experience there arises a very special Christian identity? For those who are obedient followers of Jesus Christ are close to Him as close as His mother, His brothers, and His sisters.
Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy, better known to us as Leo Tolstoy, was one of the great Russian writers. He is the author of that famous work called War and Peace.
But one day Tolstoy was walking down a street somewhere in Russia. And He was approached by a beggar who wished to get from Him a donation, a handout. And so Tolstoy began to go through His pockets to see if He could find anything at all to give to this beggar. And He couldn't find a thing.
So He said to the beggar, “Please don't be angry with me my brother. I don't have anything with me. If I did I would gladly give it to you.” And immediately the beggar's face lighted up with joy. And the beggar replied, “You have given me more than I asked. You have called me brother.”
And here we are this morning my friends. A collection of spiritual beggars having absolutely nothing to offer to God for our eternal salvation, having no work that we could do to pay Him for the marvelous gift of eternal life. But when we asked for that in faith He gave it.
But He gave us more than we asked. He gave us more than we asked for. When we learn to eat and assimilate His food into our lives He becomes more than our Savior. And we become close to Him. We become members of His innermost spiritual family.
Tell me Christian friend, is that who you are today? I'm not asking you if you're saved. You've trusted Jesus Christ for the free gift of eternal life. You're saved and you're going to heaven. But I'm asking you if this, the obedient disciple, is your spiritual identity today. Is it? Is it?
But let me warn you. Even for the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ it can be a long trip home. A long trip home.
And the very next thing that we read in this passage of Scripture is about a very dangerous trip that Jesus took with His spiritual brothers.
One day Jesus said to them, “Let's go across the lake.” And they all got into the boat. And they started sailing across the Sea of Galilee. And Jesus went to sleep in the boat. According to the Gospel of Mark in the stern of the boat. And He lay down. And He was found asleep.
Now when I tell you that He was sound asleep I mean He was sound asleep. He didn't even wake up when that violent squall of water came rushing down on the lake as it often does over there in the Sea of Galilee. He didn't even wake up when the waves were rocking the boat so violently and throwing so much water into it that it was almost about to sink.
He only woke up my friends when His spiritual brothers came to Him. And they said to Him, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
A songwriter has captured this so beautifully. “Master the tempest is raging. The billows are tossing high. The sky is overshadowed with blackness. No shelter or help is nigh. Carest thou not that we perish? How canst thou lie asleep when each moment so madly is threatening a grave in the angry deep?”
And it was then that Jesus woke up. It was then that He stood up. And it was then that He rebuked the wind and the wave. And immediately there was a wonderful calm on that Sea of Galilee.
And then grieved by the unbelief of His spiritual brothers He turned to them. And He said, “Where is your faith?”
And folks if it weren't written down here on the pages of the Bible I would hardly believe what the disciples said next. The Bible tells us that they were terrified. And they marveled at one another. And they said, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him.”
Wait a minute. Did I hear you guys right? Did you say what I thought you said? Did you say, “Who can this be?” Why you of all people on the face of the earth ought not to be asking that question. What in the world do you mean?
Now please understand that if you had taken the disciples aside and they were all away from the Sea of Galilee and the storms and everything like that and if you would ask them in a moment of calmness, “Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of men who gives eternal life?” they would certainly have said yes. Because we can find this out from the opening chapters of the Gospel of John.
And if you had said, “Do you believe that He's the Son of God?” they most certainly would have said yes.
But don't you see that in the aftermath of this storm, in the aftermath of this awesome miracle, the disciples are besieged by an identity crisis? And the identity crisis concerns the identity of Jesus Christ Himself.
And let me tell you. You and I in the midst of the storms and difficulties of life can be besieged by exactly the same identity crisis.
There was a Filipino tourist one time. He was traveling in Chicago. And he checked into the Sherman Hotel. And his bags were deposited in his room. And then he went out for a walk. And he walked a long time. And then he realized that he didn't remember the name of the hotel into which he had checked. He didn't even remember its location. He didn't even remember what it looked like.
And so he searched and he searched and he searched. And finally had to give up. And he checked into the Astor Hotel.
Well this Filipino didn't want to go to the authorities and have to admit that he was lost. So for the next five days he searched for his original hotel. And with no success. He did that out the baggage that was stored in his room at his original hotel. And finally at the end of five days he gave up. And he went to the police. And they were able to check and find out where he had originally registered.
And guess what folks? I kid you not. The Sherman Hotel into which he had originally checked was right next door to the Astor Hotel.
And there are times my friends in the midst of our difficulties and trials that the Lord Jesus Christ becomes to us like an unrecognized hotel. Maybe it was years ago that we checked in when we first trusted Him. But somehow under the pressures of life we forget who He is. We forget what He 's like. We forget the greatness of His power, the sufficiency of His strength, the abundance of His mercy, the plentitude of His grace. We forget all these things. And He becomes like a stranger to us.
And yet He has all our baggage. He has everything we could possibly need. He has everything we could possibly want. And He is always right there. Right beside us. And sometimes we have trouble figuring out who He really is.
Years ago a London newspaper offered a substantial cash prize for the very best answer to this question. “What is the shortest way to London?” Would you like to know what the winning answer was? The winning answer was this. “The shortest way to London is good company.”
Good company.
And my friends the shortest way to the borders of the kingdom of God where every Christian is heading, the shortest way to the end of our frustrations and difficulties and perplexity, is the company, the companionship, the friendship, the presence, the power of Jesus Christ the almighty Son of God.
And if you know who you are, an obedient disciple of Jesus Christ, and if you know who He is, the almighty Son of God, then it can be a very, very wonderful trip.
The songwriter has put it so beautifully. “The winds and the waves shall obey thy will. Peace be still. For whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and sky. They all shall sweetly obey thy will. Peace be still. Peace be still. They all shall sweetly obey thy will. Peace, peace be still.”
The ancient Persian storytellers report to us that Shah Abbas ruled magnificently. But the Shah liked to disguise Himself and to mingle with His people.
So one day disguised as a poor man He descended the long flight of steps that led to the basement of His own palace. He went down those long dark stairways. At the bottom He found the furnace that kept the palace warm. And He found the fireman who stoked His furnace sitting there on a pile of ashes.
So the Shah sat down next to him. And they began to talk. When mealtime came the fireman pulled out a piece of coarse bread and a jug of water. And they shared it together. But the Shah left. But He came back again and again. Because His heart felt sympathy for this poor and lonely man.
The Shah's counsel was wise and kind. And the fireman opened his heart to this newfound friend of his, so wise, so kind, and yet poor like himself.
One day the Shah said to Himself, “I will tell this man who I am. And I will find out what gift he will ask from me.” So one day as He was down there with the fireman He said to the fireman, “You think that I am poor but I am not. I am your Shah Abbas.” And then He paused to see what gift the fireman would ask.
But the man just simply gazed at Him intently. So Shah Abbas said, “Haven't you understood? I am the Shah. I can make you rich. I can give you a city. I can make you a noble ruler. Have you nothing that you want to ask from me?”
The fireman replied very gently, “Yes my lord I have understood. But what is this that you have done? Leaving the glory of your palace, coming down to this dark and dismal place, sharing with me my coarse food and my water, caring whether my heart was happy or sad. Even you can give no greater gift than that. To others you may give rich presents. But to me you have given yourself.”
And it only remains for me to ask of you that you never withdraw from me this gift of your friendship.
And do I need to tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Shah Abbas? Who came down from the glory of heaven. Who joined Himself with our humanity. Who experienced what was to be experienced in this dark and dismal world.
But even more than that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who gives Himself to us. First as our Savior when we trust Him for that. And then as we learn to obey Him He gives Himself to us as our brother, our companion, and our friend.
And if you know who you are and if you know who He is that is a treasure that you will value above all other treasures here on earth.
Jesus Christ is made to me all I need, all I need. He alone is almighty. He is all I need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power, holiness for every hour. My redemption full and free. He is all I need.
Shall we pray? Father what can we say but hallelujah? What a Savior. Help us to know Him more and more in the days ahead we pray in His name. Amen.