Talbot Davis, Author at Talbot Davis

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“The In Utero Leap”: A Sermon Touching On Incarnation, Abortion, & Attention

Talbot Davis December 1, 2014 at 2:00 am 0

Sermons prepared for and delivered on Holiday Weekends (and the Thanksgiving Weekend is one) are tricky things.

You suspect attendance will be down (it was, slightly, but much higher than last year's Thanksgiving), you wonder if the energy level will be off, and so you debate on whether or not you should give a top notch sermon or save it for a "better" Sunday.

Well, as it turns out, I felt good about my preparation for yesterday's message. I thought the bible interpretation was both solid and inventive, the metaphor was memorable, the application into people's lives practical, and the title was one of my favorite: "The In Utero Leap."

All that to say I briefly debated giving this message on a non-holiday weekend in December and coming up with something else for yesterday.

I'm glad I didn't do that, however. I trust that the people who needed this experience and these words were present in our Worship Center. And for those who weren't, here it is: The In Untero Leap, a message with the bottom line of instead of hogging the spotlight, shine it.

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I have a spotlight here. Spotlights, obviously, have that ability to center the attention of an entire room of people on one person. Or on one group of people. That’s the purpose of the spotlight – the shine attention on one individual. Duh.

But isn’t it true that some people have that tendency to, as they say, hog the spotlight? This is true both literally – on stage – and symbolically, where even people who are not on camera nevertheless demand the attention. You know this. You’ve seen this. Kanye West essentially kicking Taylor Swift offstage at the Grammys. Why? He wanted the spotlight that she had. Or the politicians you know and the most dangerous place to be is in between them and a TV camera. Why? There’s a spotlight around and they want it. Even preachers! It is so dangerous to put several preachers in a row in any kind of program, even funerals. Why? They (we!) try to one up each other! Limited spotlight and we hog it! It’s a bit frightening how true this “hogging the spotlight” is offstage as well.

I remember being at a luncheon that followed a wedding recently and as conversation flowed around me I grew increasingly agitated inside. Why? It wasn’t about me! I was like Oh, let me tell you about the church! My kids! My Y! My me! Why? Because there was a spotlight and for some odd reason the bride had it at her own wedding! See, that’s really the most sinister side of hogging the spotlight. Because shy people can do it. Not only in wanting to insert themselves in the middle of every conversation but even in being so wrapped up in themselves and their own problems that they can never look beyond the spotlight they’ve placed on themselves. Complete self-absorption. It’s hogging the self-spotlight and it’s even characteristic of people who wouldn’t be caught dead on stage and under the lights. And here’s the most sinister truth of all: some people are so desirous of the spotlight that they will self-destruct to get there. You may know people like that. You may be a person like that. You might be self-destructing NOW because of it.

But of all the people who hog the spotlight – literally and figuratively – there is one group of people who can hog it effortlessly. Without trying; simply by being. You know who? Babies! They just have to be born!

In fact, being in the spotlight is a baby’s survival technique – if they aren’t being held, fed, or soothed enough THEY WILL LET YOU KNOW! If you aren’t paying attention, they’ll demand attention. Because they have to live! So a baby has the spotlight because they’re cute, because they’re hungry, because they just are, and once that baby has the spotlight, they’re hogging it & not sharing it.

And that understanding helps us understand this in utero encounter between baby Jesus and baby John the Baptist. Here’s what’s happening. Mary – just a teenager – has just heard from an angel that although she is a virgin she is pregnant (don’t try this at home) and the baby will be the son of God. So for reasons Luke doesn’t fully explain she immediately takes a grip to visit her cousin Elizabeth who six months ahead of her in pregnancy. Elizabeth is showing while Mary is more in the morning sickness stage. Note the urgency in the story: READ 1:39-40.

³⁹At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth.

The pace of the story here is designed to leave you breathless; I suspect her hurry is both a “you’re not gonna believe this, cuz!” AND it is a rush to obedience. God has spoken, God has promised, I believe him, so I am taking him at his word. Now: just so you know – Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah are OLD, the baby in her womb is going to be John the Baptist and when Z first got the news of THAT he scoffed and so God renders him speechless for the duration of E’s pregnancy. So when Mary arrives (to stay for 3 months!), E is 6 months pregnant, she’s OLD, and she’s got a husband who can’t talk back when she orders him around. Cousin Mary is young and her baby daddy speaks less than Z and he’s invisible to boot – but that’s later.

Yet look at 1:41:

⁴¹When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting and the baby leaps up in her womb. Now: can we acknowledge something? I don’t know what that feels like. I’ve seen it and heard about it but don’t know it like, um, some of you. I remember when Julie was 8 months pregnant with Taylor we “took her” to a Don Henley concert in Cincinnati. I was like, “this is great! She’ll hear this now, it will seep in and she’ll grow up a DH fan!” And she was ACTIVE that night in utero! But it didn’t translate beyond. Nope. All Kenny Chesney (AV) and no DH. But apparently this in utero leap is a whole nutha level from any that came before or after it. And it is somehow linked in 1:41 to giving E a fresh anointing of the HS – which makes me curious: celeb Pentecost at Xmas?

And then look at 1:43:

⁴³But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

READ. My Lord. Whoa! Jesus in Mary is an embryo, inches long at this stage, a collection of cells, dare I say it, what some would call a choice . . . and to Elizabeth he is already Lord! Many of us already believe that he is the King of Kings, but it’s fascinating to me to think that at this stage he is Embryo Of Embryos! Above every embryo ever. EVER.

Which brings us to 1:44 where Elizabeth repeats (for emphasis) what Luke has just said:

⁴⁴As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

Ah, for joythis time. Football fans know of the Lambeau Leap but this is better because it is the In Utero Leap and the leaper is John the Baptist. And so what would make a baby – who remember, whether it’s in the womb or out of it hog the spotlight & do not let go – leap for joy?! Why the in utero leap by JtB? Here’s why: 1:43 and my Lord. Something supernatural is going on, someone supernatural is there, and baby JtB recognizes in the womb that he has been suprassed, outshone, outpace, outdone. He realizes the spotlight has shifted from him to Him! And that’s the best, most liberating thing about him! John’s life begins, in a sense, when he gets surpassed. When he is in the presence of embryonic royalty.

Joy arrives for baby JtB when he becomes the first baby EVER to get out of the spotlight so he can shine it on someone else. He’s the first and only baby to realize he wasn’t put on earth to command attention; he was put here to give it. He had a prenatal education that some of us have yet to learn: the world does not revolve around us! Hogging the spotlight brings ever diminishing returns – and ever dimming light.

So where does that leave us? Here: Instead of hogging the spotlight, shine it. This baby did what no other baby has done. I’ve been surpassed, my life isn’t about me, I’m leaping because he is Lord & whatever spotlight I had I now give to him. What a radical re-orientation of life! Instead of THIS side of spotlight you shift to this side so you can shine it on the leap-worthy Lord! (Demo)

Here’s why this is so true & why I have been waiting weeks to get in the spotlight to tell you this as we begin Xmas: this is for shy people, too. Those who wouldn’t dream of hogging the spotlight . . . yet they hog the spotlight. Meaning: those folks, including many of you, who although they are private people, cannot get away from having their lives revolve around themselves. People who are so wrapped up in their own unhappiness that they can’t gaze up from it even to ask, “What does God want? What does God say?” Someone here today is in that exact place. You are so absorbed in the unhappiness of your marriage, in the instability of your kids, in the emptiness of your job, that you are unable to look beyond yourself and to your Father. And the more you focus on you, the worse it gets and the more painful the decisions you make.

In contrast to that, what I’m talking about is so liberating. Liberation from self-absorption. Leaping for joy when you realize suddenly, shockingly, that you are not the most important thing in the word. Instead of hogging the spotlight, shine it.

And I believe that while this mindset begins with a moment of clarity, such recognition continues with habits. Those massively small steps you take every day to reorient you from a spotlight hogger to a spotlight shiner. Consider this: Your #First15 (AV). First 15 minutes of every day. What is it usually? Check messages, turn on TV, make breakfast. Wired up, connected in, on the go. Man, what a difference it would make if the first 15 minutes of every day from now til Xmas was given over to the Lord. Take a breath, find a chair, and open your bible. We’ll even give you the Scriptures and send you the prayers. I’m not asking for the rest of your life; just the rest of Christmas. It is a God-honoring tradition of beginning the day not in your head but at his throne. Even if you are not a religious person today, start your next 31 days with the #First15. Sit and rest and count up all those things for which you give thanks. The day begins with the spotlight off you & on him. Because this kind of long-term humility is not microwaved into your life in a momentary decision; it is marinated in. Instead of hogging the spotlight, shine it.

And though I’ve already spoken of how this truth intersects with private people, it also speaks to spotlight grabbers as well. To extroverts. You know. Those ppl who have a knack for bringing every conversation back to themselves. Let me tell you what I did. That reminds me of the time I. Oh yeah, we did that and more! You, know, the one-upsmanship. People who so clamor for the spotlight, they will kick you out of the way when no one is looking. Some of you have been kicked. And some of you do the kicking. You’ve done it so often and for so long you don’t even know you do it anymore. Listen: you know what today’s truth remind you? It’s not about you. Gosh, what a great line to repeat to yourself all Xmas. My life is not about me. My life is about the one who made me alive. When was the last time you brought Jesus into conversation? You know folks who don’t have a living relationship with Jesus Christ because at some point they were sold a dead religion. And you, you have been divinely appointed to their lives to point them to the Savior. Xmas is the ideal time. That baby saved me. That baby made me sober. That baby restored me. You know if you talk too much about you. Time for some him. Instead of hogging the spotlight, shine it.

If you do that, you’ll be in good company. Because what baby JtB started in the womb, adult JtB completed 30 years or so later. Because what is the best saying we have from JtB, the one that preachers ought to use before preaching? John 3:30:

He must increase and I must decrease.

Ah, not a spotlight hogger. From the in utero leaper to the adult preacher a spotlight shiner. How about you join him?

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Baby Invasion Begins With “The In Utero Leap”

Talbot Davis November 28, 2014 at 10:25 am 0

I love this upcoming Christmas Series.

I love the title: Baby Invasion.

I love the premise: people act in strange ways when a baby invades their lives. Especially the baby whose name was Jesus.

And I love the talk that I get to give this coming Sunday: "The In Utero Leap."

I believe you will learn a great deal about Scripture and even more about yourselves.

Sunday.

8:30. 10. 11:30.

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Scenes From A 99th Birthday Party

Talbot Davis November 26, 2014 at 9:02 am 1

How often do you get to attend, much less host, a 99th birthday party?

The answer is embedded into the question, isn't it?

Here I am with my siblings surrounding my mother, Betty Davis, who turned 99 on Tuesday. We had a gathering with about 50 of her Austin-area friends.

The best line of the night? When she said, "See you all next year!"

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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Steps To Continual Improvement

Talbot Davis November 25, 2014 at 2:00 am 0

Over the last several weeks, a young man has begun attending church with some friends and family.

That's not all that unusual or extraordinary, with one difference: he grew up in this church, drifted away when he graduated college, and so is returning to worship after an absence of about ten years.

And so what I so want to ask him is this: am I any better at this than I was ten years ago when you last saw me up there yammering away?

Now that question supposes that as a teenager he was a) listening consistently and b) listening closely enough to evaluate quality. Both suppositions are possible; neither are probable.

Nevertheless, the question remains: am I better the preaching task than I was ten years ago? Five years ago? Last year? Is any preacher better?

And, if improvement is possible, how does it happen?

Well, since I'm asking the question (silently) and writing this post, I believe preaching improvement is not only possible but pivotal. And here are five ways I attempt to go about it:

1. Read Novels. Over the last ten years, I'm sure I've read 100 novels but only one book on preaching (of course, that was Andy Stanley's extraordinary Communicating For A Change, so that counts for way more than one). I have found that in reading fiction I can gain insights into truths about human behaviors and motivations that I never could if I stuck to more general preacher fare. Plus, good novelists write with the kind of effortless grace that you know takes a lot of effort -- much like a strong sermon. Just yesterday, while reading Stephen King's Revival, I came across this gem: Christ drove the money-changers from the temple, but we all know those quick-buck artists never stay away for long." Indeed.

2. Tweet. Yep, Twitter helps preaching. It sounds sacrilegious -- or at least my attempt to justify something I'm already doing -- but the ability to craft meaningful statements in compelling ways is at the heart of a sermon that sticks. And a twit that tweets.

3. Read Sermons. MethoHeresy Confession: I read John Piper's stuff. Often. Sometimes it makes me mad; more often it makes me think; occasionally it makes me weep. Learning from his sermon design helps my own.

4. Exercise. I'm so glad my YMCA keeps pens and pieces of paper handy, because that's where my best inspiration occurs. So I'll run over, write it down, put it in my locker, and the rest of the workout goes that much better.

5. Find A Wordsmithing Friend. One of my colleagues at Good Shepherd knows that he'll be asked each week to weigh in on which version of a sermon's bottom line "pops" with more emotional punch and theological accuracy. When possible, I return the favor with him. I believe we are making each other better. I just hope the recently-returned Good Shepherder notices.

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Hidden Heroes Finale — The Sugar Momma Hero

Talbot Davis November 24, 2014 at 2:00 am 0

For the final message of the Hidden Heroes series, I left Colossians 4 and went to Romans 16.

Why?

Some complicated but (I think) ultimately sound reasoning.

1. I knew we needed a "shero" -- after six weeks of male heroes, I felt the church needed to hear about an early church heroine.

2. The only female in the Colossians 4 roll call has the name of . . . Nympha. I honestly didn't think I couldn't on that name in English with a straight face.

3. In Romans 16, Phoebe's brief reference centers on generosity, and that was a subject we needed to reinforce at Good Shepherd.

So here is the Sugar Momma Hero, a message with this bottom line: Your money allows your reach to exceed your touch.

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One of the most gripping descriptions of what Ebola is like in Liberia comes from Aryn Baker of TIME magazine:

It is strange to be in a place where you can’t touch anything: no shaking hands, no comforting a woman whose mother has just died, no tap on the back when you want to get someone’s attention. I never thought before how much touching is a part of how we communicate, she says. I saw a little girl the same age as my daughter fall down in the street the other day, and it went against every instinct I have as a mother not to rush in and pick her up. One of the nurses at the temporary orphanage I visited told me that sometimes she puts on a protective suit just so she could hug a crying child in need of comfort.

I saw a headline that went along with it: Ebola’s cultural casualty in Liberia: Hugs. Sad, sad stuff when touch gets taken away.

Because I know you, you people of Good Shepherd. I see you with your families, with the ones you love, I see your desire to help even people you don’t know. I know that you want to help in dire situations, and I know from watching you in Kenya, India, Haiti, and Guatemala that you love to touch, you love to hold, and that children in particular are on your heart.

Yet there are a lot of ways in which you feel something like those parents and those volunteers in Monrovia: your touch only goes so far. Because of geography and circumstance and time . . . you have a life here. You have your own health to protect here. And so although you want to touch more people – maybe to comfort some, to teach others, offer water, or even do work with your hands like build a house or dig a well – circumstances prevent it. I know in my case I have a friend in prison in VA and that distance and those circumstances make speaking difficult enough, much less a strong handshake or an affirming hug. My touch is so limited.

And as we wind up Hidden Heroes, we come to a Shero TODAY. Her name is Phoebe and she is not from Friends (AV, Lisa Kudrow), nor is she from Colossians 4 where we have been parked this month. Instead, Phoebe appears at the tail end of the book of Romans, in the same kind of section of that letter – all the greetings, the names, the salutations – that we have explored on Colossians 4. Paul is writing this letter from Corinth and it will be delivered to Rome (AV map). And here at the conclusion he drops a clue as to who is the actual deliverer of the letter: READ

16 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon^[a]^[b] of the church in Cenchreae. ²I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you

So – his words here are almost like a letter of reference for the person carrying the letter in the first place. Phoebe probably shows up unannounced at one of the house churches that make up the church in Rome, says “hi,” and all of a sudden needs some credibility, some bona fides, so that this church will trust her. Paul knows all that in advance and so he inserts this brief letter of recommendation. But you know what all that means?

Phoebe carried the letter. From Cenchraea, which was a suburb of Corinth (its Steele Creek?) and so she was given the task of undertaking that long and dangerous journey to deliver the letter. Courage, craziness, responsibility all wrapped up into one! Which brings up the whole & very interesting question about the role of women in leadership in the early church. Some NT sections advocate against it – even to the point of silence – and yet other NT sections (like here) indicate something else entirely was going on and so this is one of those conversations with the bible that continues beyond the bible and of course I would ask, “what would we do WITHOUT women who were strong leaders in the church?” And Phoebe, courageous land-traveler that she was, is among the first for sure.

But there’s more to this she-daredevil letter deliverer. Paul tells the Roman church to whom she will deliver his letter to help her when she arrives. Why? Because:

for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me.

So she apparently was well-off. A woman of independent means with likely an independent streak. I say that because according to the text, she has been the benefactor, the patron to many people including Paul hisself! You know what that means? She was Paul’s Sugar Momma! He needed money to finance his ministry, to underwrite his letter writing, to support his travel, to extend the churches and apparently she provided it. She must have known that Paul a unique ability with his writing and preaching and simply by the force of his personality to multiply ministry, to make the name of Jesus famous in a way she never could. She could touch dozens with her ministry; she knew Paul could touch thousands with his. We don’t know how or when she came to faith . . . all we knew is that she saw a capacity in Paul that she lacked in herself and she decided to invest in him. And her investment in him became an investment in the fame of Jesus. Supporting Paul permitted Phoebe to have an influence that circumstances (geography & gender?) prevented.

And I can hardly fathom the significance of the fact that she delivered Romans. Now it was pretty cool the Tychicus (from 10.12.14) delivered Colossians but no matter how much I love that book even I have to admit its influence does not measure up to Romans. The letter to the Romans is Paul’s version of Beethoven’s 9^th, of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, of George Lucas’ Star Wars, of the Eagles’ Hotel California, of Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achy Breaky Heart (play clip) . . . in other words, in terms of influence it is his Best. Letter. Ever. Influenced the church massively in its history, reinforcing periodically that truth that we don’t have to DO anything to earn God’s favor; that’s been DONE for us in Christ. It’s called grace. Even for us Methodist, Romans has this enduring influence because that’s the book that set John Wesley on fire and his fire turned into to the Methodist movement. Of all the books in the biblical library this one might have the most reach of them all.

And Phoebe not only delivered it; she underwrote it. Her money made this masterpiece possible. She realized that her resources were to resource the spread of Jesus’ fame. Her own words and presence likely would not have had the same impact, but she enabled it to happen. Why? Because her money allowed her reach to exceed her touch. And that’s what’s true for us today. You’re not going to walk from Corinth to Rome. You’re not going to deliver the letter to the Romans. You’re not going to influence John Wesley. But but but you – You! Your money – whether you live in an abundance of it or you struggle to eke out an existence – your money allows your reach to exceed your touch. Because, like Phoebe, your touch is limited by geography, circumstance, and time. Yet your money given to God for the advancement of the kingdom and the fame of the king extends and exceeds all that. It has a multiplier effect. I mean look at what Phoebe’s money is still doing!

My goodness. I can’t speak for money given to all churches or all non-profits, but I can say something about here. A dollar you give her trains pastors in India and those same pastors baptize people away from the worship of local gods into the worship of the infinite Christ.

Another dollar provides those same pastors with bicycles to travel from village to village.

A dollar given here trains business leaders in Russia . . . and uses US-based training as an entrée into sharing faith. A dollar given here helps to restore the body, mind, and spirit of an adolescent girl rescued from domestic sex trafficking in the Hope House. It serves lunch at Dove’s Nest. It allows our ministries to children and students. Think of it! Some of you can’t are scared of teens and can't talk to children. You may not do that ministry, but your generosity ensures that the ministry happens. Your money allows your reach to exceed your touch.

Now is it OK if I name what’s going on in the room right now? There is some natural objection occurring. Especially for those of you who aren’t really sure where you stand with Jesus. You’ve heard that all we want is your money and now it seems as if that is the case. And others of you arebelievers in Jesus; you’re money just hasn’t gone where your faith is. And so you hold on to your money. You hold on to it so tightly that it holds on to you. You’re holding on to it with such tenacity that there’s no way it helps your reach exceed your touch. Almost like the guy in Germany who had a “friend” cut off his thumb and forefinger so he could collect insurance money. For real! But the 8 fingered crook got caught and is now serving time for insurance fraud. Oh, that’s extreme but it does show what happens when your money holds you tight instead of you holding it loosely. Because what you keep increases your anxiety but what you give produces serenity.

So . . . what? I invite non-givers here to become % givers. Find a % and stick with it all the way through Christmas. I suspect you won’t miss it because it wasn’t yours to begin with. And you’re not just a non-giver but you are a non-believer as well, please hear this: even if you don’t believe in Christ, your soul still needs for you to give your money. Somewhere. Put someone else in front of you in the line. Choose the Salvation Army or the Rescue Mission or a charity you believe in. And don’t give randomly; give with a purpose and to a percentage. 2%, 3%, whatever. Find one and stick to it. See?! We don’t want your money . . . but we DO want you to understand that giving more of it away is the key to your emotional health and we believe to your financial health as well. Your money allows your reach to exceed your touch.

And to those of you who are % givers . . . man, I invite you to increase that %. Move it towards that OT standard called the tithe, which is 10% of your income. That’s where Julie and I started out as newlyweds, and we have never missed what is not ours. And if you want to move more to the realm of NT giving, listen to the Spirit but be prepared because in the NT church he almost never said that 10% was enough. They tended to give it all. Julie and I started out at that 10% as newlyweds 30 years ago but for the last 15 years or so we’ve been inching well beyond the 10%. We never miss what’s not ours to begin with. Why? Out of obligation? No! But because I want my reach to far exceed my touch. I can’t touch all the kids personally here, but I can make sure it’s done. I can’t touch all the Russians, but can make sure it’s done. Even though I go to India, I can’t touch the 36 million ppl in Orissa, but I can make sure it gets done. It’s almost like that guy who said to his pastor, “I don’t think I can give a tenth, preacher. Is it OK if I just give a fourth?” REFRAIN.

And young people, just making your way, you’d probably give anything to tithe that first million, wouldn’t you? Well you know the best way to tithe on your first million? Tithe on your first one. Your money allows your reach to exceed your touch.

That’s no doubt what Phoebe, the Sugar Momma Hero, did. Her reach went much, much farther than her touch. Her money made a masterpiece possible. May yours as well.

Talbot Davis

Talbot Davis

The Heart of the Matter

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