Thinking About Relevance
Psalms 119:97-104
January 9, 2022
Tonight I want us to think about the issue of RELEVANCE.
• Maybe more specifically, what makes you relevant?
• Or perhaps we should say, what makes the church relevant?
It is a huge issue especially among church growth strategists
And those who are particularly interested in posting growing ministries.
For years now we have heard words like:
• Relevant
• Cutting Edge
• Trending
• We could perhaps even add the word “woke” to the list now.
It all carries the same idea
And it is the idea of maintaining relevance in the culture.
What is it that makes me someone that people should listen to?
Where do I get my voice?
It used to be that relevance wasn’t as big of an issue
Because OPPORTUNITY to be heard was so LIMITED.
There were very few who had the resources
To actually make their voice heard.
• Most didn’t have a TV station where they could broadcast into people’s homes.
• Most didn’t have a radio frequency to put their message on the airways.
• Most weren’t published journalists or authors that would be read by people in
their homes.
And so relevance was limited really to those
Who even had the opportunity to get their message out.
But then the internet came along and now everyone has a voice.
In the last 25 years we have been flooded with new voices broadcast on the scene.
• Everyone can get on Youtube and publish video content of their message.
• Everyone can get on Facebook or Twitter and publish their thoughts.
• Everyone is a journalist
• Everyone is an author
• Everyone has a message
So now with anyone and everyone having the ability
To broadcast their message the question has become even greater.
What makes me someone that people should listen to?
WHAT IS MY CREDENTIAL that sets me apart
As one who has valuable input to society?
YEARS AGO IT WAS YOUR AGE.
Those who had lived a long time and had experienced life’s many issues were considered to have obtained wisdom and their input was seen as valuable and so when the aged spoke you listened.
But as our culture adopted more electronics and cyber communication
The elderly began to be seen as ignorant because they couldn’t program a VCR or because they didn’t use YouTube or don’t know what “The Cloud” is.
And their voice lost it’s clout and relevance in our culture.
FOR A WHILE YOUR LEVEL OF EDUCATION WAS SEEN AS VITALLY IMPORTANT.
If you could put letters behind your name such as PHD you were seen as an expert who should be listened to. If you could boast multiple degrees you were seen as someone worth listening to.
But in our culture of relativism has been adopted where truth is relative and your message only has value if it agrees with me.
So even in very recent years we have seen men of education stripped of their clout if they dared to disagree with the social message.
IN OUR DAY THE CURRENT TREND IS VICTIM STATUS.
It is experience in suffering that seems to be the current message that makes one relevant. If you’re not a minority or have not been poor or have not suffered some sort of social injustice then you are not qualified to speak to today’s culture.
And so people try to elevate their voice by checking off boxes of victimization.
But that won’t last either.
But it has left even the church in some sort of a confusion
Regarding what makes her relevant.
If it’s not the elderly then maybe we need a trendy youth movement…
If it’s not education then maybe we need to be gritty and crude…
If it’s victimization then maybe we need to be woke and up on social injustice…
Far too many times we’ve seen the church shift her entire identify
In order to try and find a relevant voice.
SO WHAT MAKES YOU RELEVANT?
• What if you have no experience?
• What if you have no education?
• What if you have no resume of persecution or injustice?
• What if you aren’t famous?
• What if you have no achievements?
• What if you are a nobody in this world?
WHAT IS YOUR CREDENTIAL that makes you someone
Who has a voice in our culture?
Welcome to Psalms 119:97-104
This is my favorite stanza of all of Psalms 119
Because it hits so close to home for me.
I AM NO BRAINIAC.
It is true that I am somewhat quick witted
But that really only tends to get me in trouble more than anything.
When it comes to what is generally considered to be high intellect, I am on the short end of that stick.
I graduated middle of my high school class.
• I think my GPA was somewhere around a 90, but honestly I didn’t care enough to know for sure.
I graduated college with a 2.6 GPA to be an Ag Teacher.
To this day I don’t know how I passed Chemistry or College Algebra.
I did enroll in seminary and took about 18 hours but I never finished or earned a degree there.
I grew up in church but none of my family members were ministers,
• Though my dad was a Sunday school teacher.
And yet here I am called by God
To stand before you multiple times a week and deliver a sermon.
I joke with people that I always hated having to write papers in college
And now God has seen fit for me to write two a week.
In addition to sort of the job requirements there is the Biblical mandate.
When Paul gave the qualifications of elders to Titus he wrote:
Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
The calling of an elder is to be able
To exhort in truth and refute that which is error.
Paul said that in the world there are many empty talkers and deceivers
And it is the job of the pastor to be able to see through their deceptions,
Expose them, and then rightly instruct his flock in truth.
Paul told Timothy
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”
Timothy was called to “reprove, rebuke, exhort”.
SO
• Despite my limited intellect…
• Despite my less than impressive transcript…
• Despite my average GPA…
• Despite my limited experience…
• Despite my humble education…
I am called to stand week in and week out
And not only expose the lies of the culture
But rightly exhort men and women to walk in the truth.
If you come in my office with a family burden,
I am called to give truth to the situation.
• I have no degree in Psychology…
• I have no experience with grown children…
• I don’t know what it’s like to be in an abusive relationship…
• I don’t live in poverty…
• I’m not a minority…
But I am called to give wise counsel into such situations.
THE QUESTION I FACE IS,
• What am I going to give you?
• Why should you listen to me?
Ever feel that way as you are called to share the truth?
HERE IS MY POINT.
All I have going for me is ONE THING.
I’ve only got one thing.
I’VE GOT A BIBLE
That’s really it.
I don’t have anything else.
• There’s no great accomplishment in my life.
• There’s no great achievement or degree.
• There’s no great experience.
I don’t have anything to offer you in this game of life except one thing.
I’VE GOT A BIBLE.
And that is why I love Psalms 119:97-104
Because that’s exactly what the Psalmist says.
• I face enemies I can’t outwit.
• I face scholars I can’t outsmart.
• I face experienced men I can’t relate to.
AS A MAN I DON’T BELONG IN THE CONVERSATION.
BUT…
(98-100) “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.”
• “wiser than my enemies”
• “more insight than all my teachers”
• “understand more than the aged”
And it’s not because I’m smarter or more experienced than them.
The Psalmist says I surpass them only because I have the Bible.
• Your commandments “are ever mine” – that is to say always with me.
• Your testimonies “are my meditation”
• Your precepts have been “observed” by me – that is to say I watch them.
ALL I HAVE IS YOUR WORD.
The only thing that makes me relevant in this world is Your word.
What I want to encourage you with tonight is THAT IT IS ENOUGH.
You do not have to be intimidated by this world.
• You don’t have to be educated to be relevant.
• You don’t have to have experience to be relevant.
• You don’t have to be a victim to be relevant.
If you have God’s word you have everything you need.
And I just want to show you that a little tonight.
Let’s start here:
TURN TO ACTS 4
(keep your finger in Psalms 119)
• You know that back in Acts 3 Peter and John were entering the temple.
• They saw a crippled man and healed him.
• A crowd gathered and Peter again preached the gospel
• He called men to repent of their sin and of rejecting Christ
• He called them to trust in Jesus
And in Acts 4 the really important people get involved.
(READ 1-12)
This is an intimidating scene.
• It is one thing to stand among the rabble and speak definitively but now you are standing before the scholars.
• Not only that, but these men are dangerous and have authority.
But of course you notice that it didn’t stop Peter,
He preached boldly to them.
And the interesting statement comes in verse 13.
“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”
What were Peter and John’s credentials?
• No education
• No training
They only had one thing, they had been with Jesus.
These men had walked with the Incarnate Word.
• It all started for them first when John the Baptist told them Jesus was the Messiah.
• But then there was the day when Jesus called them leave their fishing business and follow Him.
• From that day they spent time hearing the very words of God.
• GOD HIMSELF TAUGHT THEM.
Do you understand that?
They didn’t have a worldly education they learned from God.
TURN TO GALATIANS 1
The youth are studying this on Wednesday nights.
Paul is defending his ministry and explaining his credentials.
• Now we know that Paul was educated under Gamaliel
• We know that Paul had training
• But you’ll notice that is not what he puts on his resume
READ 1:11-24
What do you hear Paul saying?
• I don’t have a human education, I have a divine education.
• I didn’t learn this from the world, I learned it from God.
Paul says I didn’t even try to confirm it with the world.
My only credential is that God taught me.
TURN TO: MATTHEW 16
Early on in the ministry of the disciples.
(READ 13-17)
Did you catch that regarding Peter?
“flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
Peter, you learned this from God.
These men had what the Psalmist spoke of.
They had an EDUCATION THAT CAME DIRECTLY FROM GOD.
NOW LOOK BACK AT Psalms 119:102
(102) “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.”
Do you understand what is happening when you read the Bible?
• You are sitting in a front row seat.
• It is a one on one tutorial lesson where you are hearing directly from the Creator of the universe.
• God who is the very epitome of wisdom is teaching you directly.
That is what the disciples had.
THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE.
It is enough.
I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
THIS NEW TESTAMENT THAT YOU HAVE
IS NOTHING SHORT OF THE VERY WORDS OF GOD.
What the apostles recorded for us is not the words of men,
It is the word of God.
When you read your Bible, you are learning directly from God.
TURN TO: 1 THESSALONIANS 2
Paul will reminisce about when he approached them and gave them the truth.
(READ 9-13)
Did you catch how Paul categorized his message to the Thessalonians?
Paul said when we preached to you, you didn’t get the word of men,
You got “the word of God”
I mean, we’ve read this verse over and over in 1 John lately.
1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
John said, we gave you what we got.
When you got the word of the apostles you were getting the word of God.
TURN TO: 2 PETER 3
• This is a fascinating statement.
• This is Peter talking about the writing of Paul.
(READ 14-16)
Did you catch what Peter had to say about Paul’s letters?
Peter said some of what Paul said is hard to understand (that should comfort you that even Peter thought some of what Paul had to say was pretty deep)
Peter also said that people distort Paul’s letters.
• And then Peter said, “as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”
Do you see that Peter considered Paul’s letters to be Scripture?
WHAT IS MY POINT?
Just like the Psalmist, when we read the Bible
It is God Himself who is teaching us.
And that is the only credential we need.
• It is God’s word which makes us “wiser than [our] enemies”
• It is God’s word that gives us “more insight than all [our] teachers”
• It is God’s word that allows us to “understand more than the aged”
BECAUSE IT IS GOD HIMSELF WHO IS TEACHING US.
YOU DON’T NEED ANY OTHER CREDENTIAL.
• You don’t have to have old age
• You don’t have to have a worldly degree
• You don’t have to have life experience
• You don’t have to have had worldly success and fame
• You don’t have to have victim status
• You don’t even have to have had some great vision
TURN TO: 2 PETER 1
(READ 16-21)
Now you see again there that Peter explains what the Scriptures are.
He says that “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”
It wasn’t Paul speaking
It wasn’t Peter speaking
It wasn’t John speaking
It was God speaking.
These men were moved by the Holy Spirit to produce God’s word.
But in reference to the sufficiency of it look back up at verse 16.
Peter talks there about how he saw Jesus transfigured.
• That’s a pretty remarkable experience.
• One might think that such an experience would give a person all the credentials they need.
• I mean Peter could write books and get speaking engagements and they might make a movie about his experience.
• Peter said he was an eye-witness.
But notice what he says in verse 19.
(but it is a misleading translation)
“So we have the prophetic word made more sure”
That is accurate, but it is misleading.
What Peter is saying is “We have the even more sure prophetic word”
Peter ISN’T SAYING that we trust the Bible
Because I saw the vision on the mountain.
No Peter is saying do you know what gives us more confidence Even than that experience? God’s word.
It is “the even more sure prophetic word”
And that is why Peter tells you to pay attention to it
Like you pay attention to a light in a dark place.
DO YOU SEE THE POINT AGAIN?
In this world men are constantly chasing something
To make them relevant.
EVEN THE CHURCH has far too often bought this notion
That we need a gimmick or something to make us relevant.
And maybe you’ve been negligent to share in the world
Because you don’t think that you are smart or educated or experienced.
I just want to remind you that you don’t need those things.
The apostles didn’t have those things.
All they had was time spent with Jesus.
JESUS HIMSELF TAUGHT THEM AND THAT WAS ENOUGH.
(102) “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.”
What else do you need?
What other message where you going to take to the world?
I base my whole ministry on this fact.
This is the only confidence I ever have when I walk behind this pulpit.
I don’t suppose that I have a single thing of any value to offer you at all
Except what is contained in the Bible.
It is enough.
Let me give you another great passage to this regard.
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 23
Jeremiah is struggling with all the false prophets.
And I love the passage because he is actually
Placing their credentials side by side with his credentials.
The church needs this reminder.
(READ 25-32)
What a great reminder!
• So what if you don’t have a degree in molecular biology
• So what if you’ve never managed a fortune 500 company
• So what if you’ve never had some radical life experience
What does any of that have in common with the words of God?
“what does straw have in common with grain?”
AND THIS IS MY POINT.
As the church…
As believers…
We only have ONE THING that makes us relevant.
We only have ONE THING that gives us clout.
We are entrusted with the very words of God.
1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”
Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
2 Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”
You can’t say that about any other degree.
You can’t say that about any other experience.
God’s word is all you need.
• You see that.
• The Psalmist understood it.
HE HAD NO OTHER CREDENTIAL.
But he knew what he had and
THAT EXPLAINS HIS GREAT LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD.
(97) “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
When you know that God’s word is all you have
And it alone makes you wiser than your enemies
THEN CERTAINLY YOU SPEND YOUR TIME FOCUSING ON IT.
And his commitment to God’s word was sincere.
(101) “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.”
Raise your hand if you know what “hobbles” are.
For those that don’t, a set of hobbles is basically a rope or chain that you use to tie an animals front feet together so it can’t run off.
• The Psalmist says that he has hobbled his own feet.
• He has taken steps to make sure that he never strays from God’s word.
See, if he loses God’s word then he’s got nothing in this world
And nothing to offer this world.
So he takes precautions
To make sure he maintains a commitment to God’s word.
BUT THAT IS NOT A BURDEN
(103-104) “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”
• It’s not a burden, it’s a blessing.
• It is truth and it is sweet.
• And it is right.
And compared to it everything else is false.
I know that this has been sort of a random and wild ride tonight,
BUT IT IS ALL JUST TO MAKE A SIMPLE POINT
And one that is very important to me.
There is only one thing that makes us relevant in this world
And it definitely makes us relevant.
• God Himself has taught us.
• God Himself has spoken to us.
• We have been with Jesus.
• We have the truth.
• It is enough to counsel the weary
• It is enough to correct the foolish
• It is enough to instruct the naïve
• It is enough to exhort the sluggish
• It is enough to face the enemy
• It is enough to debate the scholar
• It is enough to speak to kings and rulers
It is all we have, but it is all we need.
We are relevant as long as we are proclaiming the words of God.
