Can You Hear Me Now?

| Want them to Know? | * We need clear communication to build one another up and share the gospel

• Christians are to be more concerned about others than about what others think of them
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| Want them to do? | * Challenge them to clearly communicate encouragement to other Christians and clearly communicate the message of Jesus to people who have not heard it. 

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• As we endeavor to encourage one another and be a voice to those who have not yet given their life to Jesus good communication is a non-negotiable. 
• We thank God for tongues they are useful to worship God and for building up personally the believer. 
• God is a God of order not disorder.  This statement is made in the context of a church that had so many people speaking in tongues that nothing of meaning for the building up of the church was taking place. 
• Paul is telling the church at Corinth that when they are gathered as the church the gift of prophecy is of greater value than the gift of unknown tongues.  The church seems to have viewed the gift of tongues as the supreme mark that someone had reached a new level of spirituality, they were in a real sense as angels since they were speaking in the languages of angels.  They saw this as a goal of the Christian faith and therefore something that was to be lauded and shown off in a corporate setting.  They seem to have had a very individualized view for the purpose of corporate gatherings.  They had a very individualized view of Christianity.  For them Christianity was a personal thing not something that was shared.  The heart of the matter is a belief that Christianity is just a personal relationship with Jesus and does not involve responsibility to or for other people. 
• Is there a danger of falling into this same way of thinking today and what biblical arguments can be made against such thinking?  We fall into this thinking today when we get decisions and forget about making disciples.  When we focus on our individual walk with the Lord and forget to ask people about their walk.  When we demand that songs that lift us up and build us up are what the worship team must sing.  When we only give money if it is used for projects that we are personally interested in. 
• The people in the church at Corinth are more concerned about what other people think about them than they are about the souls and eternal destiny of other people.  …Than they are about building up other people and effecting their eternal destiny.  Their concern is that other people notice how spiritual they are; in turn they fail to make the connection that the mark of a spiritual person is their selfless love for God and for others. 
• Followers of Jesus Christ are focused more on others than on what others think about them. 

Me – Communication is often a challenge for me.  Even though I stand up hear and endeavor to communicate the Word of God nearly every week, it is something that I have to work at and something that I think is worth working at. 

• Times when our friends will laugh at us because of the things that Wendy and I will not communicate about.  I mean we talk about important stuff, but often everything else will fall through the cracks.  I often tell people there is no problem with confidentiality between Wendy and I because we usually forget it before we get around to talking about it.
• Wendy gets frustrated with me because, and maybe I am the only guy who does this, but she alleges that I ask her the same question 10 times.  Like for example, “Are we doing anything next Saturday?”  Her response will be something like, “Uhhh, sigh” then I know I am in trouble, “I told you five times already that I have an appointment for my nails.”  Oh yeah.  You have to understand, and this is terrible if something does not directly effect my schedule it’s like off my radar.  I think Mary is starting to learn this about me working in the church office.  

We – Have you also found communication to be a challenge?   Maybe you have had communication challenges in your marriage or with a friend or family member. 

The Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal printed the following questions actually asked of witnesses during a trial. The responses to some of the questions were given by insightful witnesses:

Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

Were you present when your picture was taken?

Were you alone or by yourself?

Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?

Did he kill you?

How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?

You were there until the time you left, is that true?

Q: She had three children, right? A: Yes. Q: How many were boys? A: None. Q. Were there any girls?

Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement? A: Yes Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?

Q: How was your first marriage terminated? A: By death. Q: And by whose death was it terminated?

Q: Can you describe the individual? A: He was about medium height and had a beard. Q: Was he male or female?

Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.

Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? A: The autopsy started around 8:30 P.M. Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time? A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.

Q: Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you? A: I went to Europe, sir. Q: And you took your new wife?

God – Clear communication is not just important to you and me, it is also something that is important to God.  Think about all the ways that God has communicated with people throughout history and all the ways he continues to communicate with people. 

• The Bible tells us that he took walks with Adam in the garden before sin ever entered into the world.
• We know that he often has spoken through dreams and visions that he has given to people.
• Before he talked to Moses on the mountain, he spoke to him through a burning bush.
• He also sent angels to communicate with people.
• For a long period of time he sent prophets to bring messages from him to his people.  Usually these were not well received messages and prophets were not the most popular people in the city, but God used them to speak to people.  In fact I can imagine that being called by God to be a prophet was quite a scary thing.  I mean if you were wrong the penalty was pretty stiff – death. 
• What has got to be the most amazing way that God communicated with humanity is by sending his son Jesus who is God down here to walk among us.  Think about it, take for example your pet.  If you want to communicate with your dog and let him know how much you love him there are many ways you can do it.  The actions you take etc., but the most effective way would be if somehow you could become a dog.
• Jesus became a human and we have a record of his communication in the Bible.
• God continues to communicate with us, through the words of the Bible, through the His Spirit that dwells within us, through other people. 

Clearly, clear communication is something that is important to the God of the universe.  In fact the great church planter Paul recognized how important clear communication was when he was writing his letter to the church at Corinth.  In the midst of a discussion on spiritual gifts Paul says something that would have sounded very peculiar to the church at Corinth and perhaps might sound very peculiar to you and me this morning. 

If you have your Bibles turn to 1 Corinthians 14 with me and let’s read what he says.

He said in 1 Corinthians 14, “He who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues.”  Those two words probably sound strange to many of you this morning and especially to those who may not be from a church background.  Let me explain a little what we are talking about with the words tongues and prophecy. 

• These are both gifts, Paul calls them spiritual gifts that God has given to the church.  God gave many gifts to the church, some of the more familiar and popular are healing and faith.  Some of the less well known and maybe less popular are serving and in some places people count it a gift to suffer for God. 
• Prophecy and tongues are also spiritual gifts.  Tongues is a gift of a prayer language that most often is not a human language.  I say most often because I have heard many stories when someone thought God had given them a tongue that was not a human language only to find out years down the road that someone could understand them.  In fact Pastor Jack Hayford tells of a time he was on a plane and a native American was able to understand him as the ancient language of his nation. For the most part tongues is a gift of an angel between the Christian and the Lord.  Often it is a private prayer language, sometimes it is used in a corporate setting and there will be an interpretation.  The interpretation is as divine as the gift of tongues since the interpreter does not know the language. 
• Prophecy is a little more straight forward.  It is a word from God at a particular time for a particular people.  It is in the language of the audience so all can understand.  It is to be tested against Scripture and by the spiritual leaders who are present at the meeting. 

But, when it comes down to it, they are both pretty cool gifts, so why does Paul say that one is better than the other?  That doesn’t sound fair.  It comes back to what we were talking about a few minutes ago, communication.  Paul is talking with them about the context of the church and in the church it is more important to understand one another than to be personally edified with the language of tongues. 

Let’s look at it in 1 Corinthians 14:1-9. (NLT)

·         In the church at Corinth they have many people who are speaking in tongues.  In fact the gift of tongues has been elevated in their midst. 

·         In this section Paul gives at least 3 different arguments for prophecy over tongues, what he is really arguing for is intelligibility. 

o       In verse 7 he uses the example of a flute or a harp.  The instruments need to be played clearly for anyone to recognize the tune.  I play neither the flute nor the harp so if you brought one up here and I just made a sound with it you would have no idea what I was trying to play.

o       Next he uses the bugle.  The bugle was used as a way to call people to battle over long distances.  But, if the call is not clear they will not respond.

o       Finally, he uses the example of speaking in a foreign language.  Have you ever been someplace and everyone speaks a language except you?  They might be trying to communicate helpful, even life saving information, but even if they scream it at the top of their lungs, it will be of no use to you. 

·         Therefore Paul’s argument is that it is of much greater value to speak in words that are intelligible in so that the church might be built up. 

However, he goes on to say it is not just so that the church might be built up, but also for those that are not yet a part of the church.  Look at 1 Corinthians 14:23.

• Literally, Paul is saying that when people from outside come into your assembly they will think you are insane.
• But, if you are speaking in a language they understand.  If you are prophesying, they still might not understand the nature of spiritual gifts, but they can understand the language and they might fall under conviction and be changed. 
• Someone coming into our church this morning as a visitor, very well might not understand everything that we do, but we do it in the language of the people so that even though they understand not everything, they can still hear the Word preached. 

So what?  Frankly, what difference does that make for you today?  Why should you care that the gift of prophecy is greater than the gift of tongues?  Because with that Paul is identifying something of fundamental importance for all Christians and for all churches, that being the importance of clear communication of encouragement to one another and clear communication of the gospel for those who are not apart of the church. 

The root of the problem for the Corinthians was that they wanted other people to see how spiritual they were.  When it came down to it they cared more about what other people thought than about other people.  Followers of Jesus Christ are to be just the opposite, we are to Care more about other people than about what other people think of us.

You – It is not the responsibility of the person who does not know Jesus to try and figure out what you are saying.  The responsibility is on you and me to work at it and make sure that we are heard.  There is a great value not in speaking or in being heard, but in being understood.

• Remember Paul’s example of a person speaking a foreign language.  It is not the responsibility of the hearer to learn a new language; it is the responsibility of the speaker to speak in such a way as to be understood. 
• When I started middle school I remember taking a class called LASS, it stood for language arts study skills.  I don’t remember a lot from that class.  I remember that the teacher brought a Dunkin Doughnuts Great One to class every single day.  But, I also remember the distinction she made between hearing and listening.  I had before that never thought there was a difference.  People might hear us, but do we speak in such a way that they are listening to us?

This Scripture challenges us.  It is a challenge to regularly and especially when we gather together as a church to communicate encouragement to one another. 

It also challenges us to communicate the gospel clearly to those we know.  Some of you might listen to Father DeLorenzo on the radio.  Someone told me last week he was talking about when he got ordained.  The cardinal who ordained him was walking by and said, “Always meet the people where they are.”  Father DeLorenzo in his matter of fact quick witted style replied back, “But, I’m not going to leave them there.” 

That is our call to.  We are to meet people where they are and then lead them where they need to go. 

We – We want to be a church that communicates encouragement clearly and regularly, and we want to be a church that communicates the gospel clearly.

Billy [Graham] was so focused on bringing his message in every venue…that he would somehow always find a way to do it. His use of the microphone check illustrates the intensity of his focus.

The A. Larry Ross firm handled media and public relations for more than twenty-three years for the Graham organization. Ross says, "One of the distinctives of Mr. Graham's ministry has been his ability to make positive points for the gospel in any situation. You can ask Billy Graham how he gets his suits dry-cleaned on the road, and he'll turn it into a gospel witness.

"I cut my teeth in the corporate world before I worked with Mr. Graham," says Ross, "and I set up numerous media interviews. Almost always before a TV interview, they do a microphone check, and they ask the interviewee to say something—anything—so they can adjust the audio settings. Often a corporate executive, for that check, will count to ten, say their ABC's, or recite what he had for breakfast. Mr. Graham would always quote John 3:16—'For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.'

"When I asked Mr. Graham why he does that, he replied, 'Because that way, if I am not able to communicate the gospel clearly during the interview, at least the cameraman will have heard it.'"

Even the pre-interview time is focused on his overriding purpose.

Illustrations:

This is a true story. A businessman moved over slightly as a young man crowded into the airplane seat next to him. They both fastened their seat belts, and the businessman good-naturedly inquired as to whether the young man was traveling on business or pleasure.

"Pleasure," the young man replied. "I'm on my honeymoon."

"Your honeymoon?" the businessman asked, mystified. "Where's your wife?"

"Oh, she's a few rows back. The plane was full, so we couldn't get seats together."

The plane hadn't started rolling yet, so the businessman said, "I'd be happy to change seats with her so that the two of you can be together."

"That's okay," the young man replied. "I've been talking to her all week."

A married couple had a quarrel and ended up giving each other the silent treatment. A week into their mute argument, the man realized he needed his wife's help. In order to catch a flight to Chicago for a business meeting, he had to get up at 5 a.m.

Not wanting to be the first to break the silence, he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5 a.m."

The next morning the man woke up only to discover his wife was already out of bed, it was 9 a.m., and his flight had long since departed. He was about to find his wife and demand an answer for her failings when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed.

He read, "It's 5 a.m. Wake up."

In 1993 FBI agents conducted a raid of Southwood psychiatric hospital in San Diego, which was under investigation for medical insurance fraud. After hours of reviewing medical records, the agents had worked up an appetite. The agent in charge of the investigation called a nearby pizza parlor to order a quick dinner for his colleagues.

According to snopes.com, a site dedicated to sleuthing out urban legends, the following telephone conversation actually took place.

Agent: Hello. I would like to order 19 large pizzas and 67 cans of soda.

Pizza Man: And where would you like them delivered?

Agent: We're over at the psychiatric hospital.

Pizza Man: The psychiatric hospital?

Agent: That's right. I'm an FBI agent.

Pizza Man: You're an FBI agent?

Agent: That's correct. Just about everybody here is.

Pizza Man: And you're at the psychiatric hospital?

Agent: That's correct. And make sure you don't go through the front doors. We have them locked. You will have to go around to the back to the service entrance to deliver the pizzas.

Pizza Man: And you say you're all FBI agents?

Agent: That's right. How soon can you have them here?

Pizza Man: And everyone at the psychiatric hospital is an FBI agent?

Agent: That's right. We've been here all day and we're starving.

Pizza Man: How are you going to pay for all of this?

Agent: I have my checkbook right here.

Pizza Man: And you're all FBI agents?

Agent: That's right. Everyone here is an FBI agent. Can you remember to bring the pizzas and sodas to the service entrance in the rear? We have the front doors locked.

Pizza Man: I don't think so.

** Click **

Old Fred's hospital bed is surrounded by well-wishers, but it doesn't look good. Suddenly, he motions frantically to the pastor for something to write on. The pastor lovingly hands him a pen and a piece of paper. Fred uses his last bit of energy to scribble a note, and then dies.

The pastor thinks it best not to look at the note right away, so he places it in his jacket pocket. At Fred's funeral, as the pastor is finishing his eulogy, he realizes he's wearing the jacket he was wearing when Fred died.

"Fred handed me a note just before he died," he says. "I haven't looked at it, but knowing Fred, I'm sure there's a word of inspiration in it for us all."

Opening the note, he reads aloud, "Help! You're standing on my oxygen hose!"

The Massachusetts Bar Association Lawyers Journal printed the following questions actually asked of witnesses during a trial. The responses to some of the questions were given by insightful witnesses:

Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?

The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?

Were you present when your picture was taken?

Were you alone or by yourself?

Was it you or your younger brother who was killed in the war?

Did he kill you?

How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?

You were there until the time you left, is that true?

Q: She had three children, right? A: Yes. Q: How many were boys? A: None. Q. Were there any girls?

Q: You say the stairs went down to the basement? A: Yes Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?

Q: How was your first marriage terminated? A: By death. Q: And by whose death was it terminated?

Q: Can you describe the individual? A: He was about medium height and had a beard. Q: Was he male or female?

Q: Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people? A: All my autopsies are performed on dead people.

Q: Do you recall the time that you examined the body? A: The autopsy started around 8:30 P.M. Q: And Mr. Dennington was dead at the time? A: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy.

Q: Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you? A: I went to Europe, sir. Q: And you took your new wife?