Cricket Theology.

I love a good sermon illustration.

This past Sunday, I wrapped up a four week series called, “No Regrets; the Art of Living the Life You Were Created to Live”. We looked at the heartbreak of holding on to regret. If your hands are still holding on to the mistakes of yesterday, how can they be open to take what God has in store for us today? We dove into the topic of Identity and how we should find that in Jesus. And then there’s Margin. We discovered that God created us for breath and breathing. Now, I don’t profess to be the smartest guy in the world, but here’s the way I see it. In the Gospel’s, Jesus is constantly sneaking away to spend some time alone with His Heavenly Father. If it was necessary for Jesus, who are we to think that giving a pastor 30 minutes on Sunday to speak truth into our lives is enough for us on a weekly basis to sustain us? We need margin and space DAILY where we’re reminded whose we are and we need to fight for it. And that leads me to this past Sunday.

In the Top Five Regrets of the Dying, the last regret we focused on was this one: “I Wish I Would Have Been Happier”. I spent some time looking at Acts 16 and an encounter that Paul and Silas had on a way to prayer. Early on in the passage we see Paul and Silas are being antagonized by a demon possessed girl taunting them and telling those they encounter that, “these men are telling you about the Most High God”. After days of this happening (my patience meter would have been depleted within 10 minutes, honestly), Paul has enough and drops six powerful words on the demon possessed girl: “In the name of Jesus Christ…” come out of this girl. Then? Silence.

Here’s the fun part. As worship started, Jessica Lagrone leaned over to me and said, “You hear that?” I listened. Then, I heard it: a rogue cricket SOMEWHERE in the sanctuary. What followed for the duration of the service was this little cricket just making a joyful noise to the Lord (and, ironically, driving many people crazy in the sanctuary). The fun part for me was, as I was preaching, watching Rob Renfroe search the sanctuary trying to locate the said noisy cricket. Honestly? The cricket couldn’t have made my point any better.

There’s often distractions in this world as we seek to hear a fresh word from the Father. Some distractions big, some not so big. But they are distractions, none the less. In Acts 16, I used to believe that the pivotal moment was when Paul and Silas chose to worship and sing in the midst of the circumstances they found themselves in. And, don’t get me wrong, it’s a HUGE response that we should take note of. But, honestly, I go back much earlier in the passage to Paul’s response to the possessed girl: “In the name of Jesus Christ…” spirit come out. There it is. See it? Paul chose to put the name of Jesus in the midst of the distraction.

Can I make a suggestion? What are the circumstances that are shouting at you today? What are the nagging voices that are pulling you away from the power of God at work in your life? Where are the cricket’s that won’t stop chirping? Do me a favor. Call on the name of Jesus. Lift up a holy hand of prayer and, In the name of Jesus Christ, put God on it.

Hear this. God is near, Jesus is alive, and the Holy Spirit is very much at work in the world today.