A TALE OF TWO MEN

BIBLE QUIZ!!!!  Are you ready? Who are Diotrephes and Demetrius and where in the New Testament do you read about them?  

 

Sound of Jeopardy theme. . . . . . . . . . . Time’s up!!

They are two men of whom the Apostle John refers in 3rd John, verses 9-14.

Of Diotrephes the Apostle says:

•  He loves to have the preeminence in the church
• He refused hospitality to John and those he sent

• (Instead) he “pratted” against them with malicious words (pratted: to talk foolishly)

• He wasn’t content just to refuse to offer hospitality himself, he also forbid others from offering hospitality, even putting them out of the church for wishing to do so.

 

John said that when he came to visit, he would call Diotrephes on his deeds.  And then he had some harsh words to say:

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.  He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

Pretty strong words coming right after John's description of Diotrephes!  

John sees the fruit of this man’s life – both words and deeds – and says, don’t imitate this guy.  His deeds demonstrate that he does not know God.

Have you ever met anyone like Diotrephes at your church?

• Maybe he’s bossy, or proud, always drawing attention to himself?   
• Maybe she avoids hospitality – not because she’s shy, or has a small house – but so as not to let anyone get close enough to see the REAL, HYPOCRITICAL her.

What kind of testimony does that person have in the church, do you think?  

I would think not many would want to be friends with someone like that, or serve together in ministry, or feel free and safe to express a true opinion.

I’m thinking people would be afraid to cross her for fear of getting snubbed, thrown off a committee, or facing her disapproval and possible censure, or of having their head bitten off!

Okay, now the hard question, “Have you ever BEEN that kind of person?”  

John’s opinion of Diotrephes is that his deeds indicate the condition of his heart – he doesn’t know God.  

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty confident I belong to Jesus, and so I do know God – and yet. . . . . sometimes I am capable of actions like that of Diotrephes.

• Far too many times pride wells up in me.  I may not tell anyone about it because it shames me, and I might just avoid hospitality so no one knows that about me.
• Sad to say, I’m also capable of malicious words – maybe not always vocalized – but often thought.  
• Sometimes when I don’t agree with something someone did or said, I’m sure they can read the disapproval on my face.

All of these Diotrephes’ like qualities shame me.

How grateful I am for grace, because when I confess my sins, I know I have received the forgiveness Jesus died to purchase for me.  

I don’t think Diotrephes knew about grace. I take it, given John’s words about him, that he cherished his sin, he did not ask forgiveness, he did not think that his words and behavior were wrong.  He didn’t KNOW the grace of God, and so he was incapable of giving it.  “Do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good,” John says.

Then there was Demetrius.  John has just one sentence to say about him:

“Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself.”

And then he says:

“And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.”

Contrast Diotrephes with Demetrius. John’s testimony about the former is that he wants to be first, he is inhospitable to John and other believers, he lords it over those who want to practice hospitality, he speaks malicious words against John.

Demetrius, on the other hand, has a good testimony, not only from John and the other apostles, but from ALL.  

Demetrius is a kind of “what you see is what you get” person.  No falsehood, no wanting to be the center of attention.  The things that describe Diotrephes are not true of Demetrius. His is undoubtedly the person John is thinking of when he says, “Do not imitate what is evil, IMITATE WHAT IS GOOD.”

Here's the rub, both of these men were in the church. 

Which do you think was a blessing to his pastor and church family?  Which had the better Christian testimony before his co-workers and neighbors?  Which made the greater impact for the kingdom of Jesus?  My money is on Demetrius.

Let's make it personal.  Which are you more like: Diotrephes or Demetrius?

What is your testimony among your: brethren, family, neighbors, co-workers, ministry partners?

Would you be one of whom God would say, “Imitate what is good”, or “Do not imitate what is evil!”

John said that when he saw Diotrephes he would, “call to mind his deeds”.  John had every intention of confronting Diotrephes face to face.  

If someone in authority were to call you out for your Diotrephes’ like deeds, how would you react?  

Would you proudly defend yourself, turning your anger on the one who called you out, or would you, in humility, confess and repent?  I asking myself the same questions.

I don’t want to be a Diotrephes, do you?  But when I occasionally commit a Diotrephes like deed, I know what to do - I practice those other words John spoke in 1 John 1:9:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  

THE GRAND DESIGN

There’s a Bible verse in the book of Romans that has always intrigued me.  It’s Romans 1:19-20:

“what may be known about God is plain. . . because God has made it plain. . .  For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (when they say there is no God)”.

Before I knew Jesus, nearly 40 years ago now, I saw things differently.  I looked around me like everyone else and noticed the variety of trees, many of which changed color every fall.  I noticed the variety of birds, each with their own unique song.  I too saw and appreciated the seasons.  However, I never did SEE them the way I do now that Jesus has entered my life.

Now I see the beauty around me with eyes of faith, eyes wide open to the intricacies, variety, and uniqueness of creation.  Now I see shades of color I hadn’t noticed before.  Trees that are a yellow green in spring, deep green in summer and yellow, red and orange in fall.  I notice the different sizes, colors and songs of birds and can’t wait to spot them!  I revel over the bunnies, chipmunks and groundhogs that inhabited our yard.  In each and every thing now, I see the hand of Jesus, about whom the Bible says: “For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth . . . . all things were created by Him and for Him. . . . and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17)

On Monday Jim and I were visiting our daughter and son in law in central Florida.  Since they were working, we decided to go to Sea World for the day.  We did the usual things, saw the Orca show, the seal show, the dolphin exhibit.  As usual, I was blown away by the genius of God!  

There is a group of inventors of a sort at Disney World.  They are called the Imagineers.  It’s their job to pool their collective creativity to come up with new rides, exhibits, and displays that will keep Disney World fresh.  Sometimes I think it would be fun to sit in on one of their meetings and throw out my own ideas, but I know that when it comes to creativity, I’m challenged.  

I was thinking though, that even if the Imagineers were brilliantly creative, to the point where the ideas just flowed out of them non-stop, there would probably come a point where they would exhaust their supply.   I actually saw evidence of this when I compared some things at Disney with things I had seen at Universal Studios and also at Sea World.  All three parks were doing similar things with entrance bracelets, seasonal passes, and fast access to rides and shows.  Each park works hard to try and come up with a new and fresh idea before one of the other parks does.  But many of those ideas are just variations on a theme.

In the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “there’s nothing new under the sun”.  Eventually, when we run out of ideas, we begin looking around to see what everyone else is doing and we borrow one of theirs and put our own spin on it.  

 Not so with God.  When He made the world, He started with nothing and in the vastness of His greatness, He created myriads and myriads of creatures we could never have imagined.  Why?  To prove that He IS, that He is glorious, that He is God!  So that when we looked at the world around us, we would have no excuse for saying, “What God?”

Who but God could have come up with the mind boggling mammal we call the manatee?  And create it from SCRATCH???  These gentle creatures populate the waters here in Florida.  If you happened to be populating a body of water at the same time, you just might lose your lunch if a manatee swam up beside you.  

Also called “sea cows”, the adults are enormous, with broad tales and bodies that look as if they’ve been inflated with gas, so that a pin prick might send them flying like a deflated balloon.  Only the Great Imagineer could have designed something so awe inspiring!

And who but God would ever have thought of an animal with eight legs covered in suction cups and a defense system that squirts ink at its predators?  No think tank of human Imagineers could have come up with the octopus!

What about those serendipitous sea horses?  They are adorable!  With a perfect face just like a horse, and a tail like that of a monkey, who but God would think of them, and then MAKE them, IN MINIATURE?   

And then there is the “sea dragon”.   I didn’t even know such a creature existed until we went to Sea World.  If you’ve been to Disney World, then you may have seen the imaginary character of Figment.  I’m convinced the Disney Imagineers must have used the sea dragon as their model for him.  We can copy, but we can’t create out of nothing.  Only God can make the original “sea dragon”.

To me it is the most outlandish thing in the world to suggest that our world was created by chance, as the result of a big bang, or even evolution.  This kind of beauty and variety and intricacy doesn’t happen by chance!  

No, of this I AM convinced - the world “happened” by the grand design of Jesus, who created it for His glory and our enjoyment.  We just need eyes to SEE, not only the creation, but the Creator, to appreciate His Grand Design!

SEEK THE WELL-BEING OF THE PLACE WHERE GOD HAS YOU

Jim and I are in a place that is unusual for us.  We’ve finally moved to Florida, but ultimately we’re not staying here in North Fort Myers.  We’re going to a church, but we know already it won’t be our church home.  It’s a little less exciting to try and make friends here or get involved in church ministry when we – and those we meet – know it isn’t going to be permanent.  We’ve never been in this position and it’s weird!

On the last Sunday we were in our church in New Jersey our pastor preached a sermon in which he said the following, “Seek the well-being of the place where God has you.”  With a major move just two days away, I knew he was speaking directly to me.  

We were leaving the familiar – neighborhood, friends and family, the state we each grew up in, the church and church family we loved - for the new, and unknown, and at least at first, the impermanent.  It was sad and also exciting.

Three weeks later and I thought I was doing pretty well.  The first week or so it was an adventure.  Then last week I began noticing that my jaw was bothering me, I was having trouble sleeping, I felt achy, lethargic, and fatigued, and I wasn’t as interested in doing things.  After some confusion and a bit of whining and complaining, I think I figured it out.  The stress - physical, emotional, and maybe even spiritual - of moving has caught up with me.  Just identifying it has helped.

That first week here I was eager to get busy. I cleaned, swam, washed blinds, bought a jaunty fall tablecloth.  Then the lethargy set in.  Back in New Jersey when things were slow I couldn't wait to volunteer at church and outside of it.  That's how I became involved in volunteering for hospice and tutoring in English as a Second Language.  But. . . . we’re not going to be here long.  I can't really make those kinds of commitments here. So, what to do?

The words of our pastor came back to me – "seek the well-being of the place where God has you".  Maybe I can’t serve in the church we attend here, but I can pray for the pastors, I can send letters of encouragement to them, I can pray for the woman who leads the small group in the Bible study I attended, I can reach out to a couple of ladies I met who are friends of my step sister.  I can make a difference for a little while in the lives of those who live here – in my new neighborhood, my new church – even if we’re ultimately not staying.