“Dyed in the Wool”
District Superintendents Annual Sermon
Appalachian District Council of the Assemblies of God
May 14, 2009
Marvin R. Dennis
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:18-20 NKJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)
The term “Dyed in the Wool” comes from the process of making colored cloth. Wool can be dyed before spinning into thread, or the yarn can be dyed after spinning, or the cloth itself can be dyed after it is woven. It’s when the wool is dyed before spinning, in the earliest stages of the process, the color is the deepest, truest, and longest lasting. We often use the term to signify someone who is “fixed in his opinion,” or “set in his ways.” The term is sometimes used in a negative sense of someone we don’t agree with, but there are some things that need to be set and set deep! I’m glad that the values my parents taught me are imbedded deep! These values have guided and kept me through many, many difficult times. Values are the compass of life!
The scriptures above speak of deep change, a change that is more than superficial. A change that comes through an encounter with God. When a person receives God, and allows the Word of God and the Spirit of God free access, it is like radioactive material taken into a person’s body. Changes are certain! A person’s very nature changes. At certain times a person is more open to life changes; these formative periods are very important. They set a path that determines the future for years to come. This sermon looks at three important formative periods in life: childhood, becoming a new believer in Christ, and when entering a new ministry or vocation. These are periods when the wool is ready to take the dye.
Teaching children is important!
Early in life we learn values and concepts that stay with us for life. First experiences are some of the most powerful.
Teaching must start when children are young. The nursery is a very important place to learn that “Jesus loves me!” Get the dye to the very core.
○ Without effective teaching, the Church is only one generation away from extinction.
○ God intends for teaching to take place in the home. We protest loudly about government taking the Bible out of the schools and removing the Ten Commandments out of the courtroom, and rightly so, but we allow Sunday school to die in our churches, and give very little thought to what is being taught, or not taught, at home.
○ Neglect of teaching in our nation has produced a Biblically illiterate generation. In most homes in America children are not taught the Bible, it is definitely not taught in the public schools, and the church is also failing to teach beyond its four walls, and often very weak in teaching children inside its four walls.
○ However, never underestimate the power of even a little teaching.
When I was growing up, my family didn’t go to church. I think of us as American heathens. We had strong values, but church was not one of them. ‘When I was about seven or so, I had an uncle who took an interest in me and took me to Sunday school. It was a small church, a new work that hadn’t been open very long. My cousin Sylvia was teaching the little kids. My Sunday school experiences didn’t last long, but they made an impact. I can still remember the flannel board, cut out figures, and the story of pharaoh’s dreams. Even though I didn’t go to church from about when I was about eight years old until I was sixteen, I believe that early experience sowed seed that prepared the way for what God wanted to do later in my life. Look beyond the present and have confidence in God’s Word!
○ Church leaders have differing opinions on the best way to teach. Sunday school has been a tremendous tool. Other may be trying new models, but whatever institution the church uses, teaching must take place or the Church is in trouble!
Many years ago when we served as pastor of First Assembly of God at Seminole, Texas, a young Hispanic boy began attending our Royal Ranger ministry. He worked hard and applied himself to studying and earning his merit badges. On evening I took him home after the meeting. He told me about his life and how much the Ranger program meant to him. When we neared his home, he said, “Just drop me off at my grandmother’s house over there. My mother is with her boyfriend and won't be home until very late." Then he pointed to a house down the block, "I think the man who lives over there may be my daddy, but I'm not sure.”
My heart broke! Here's a young man who from a terribly mixed up home, yet he is finding meaning and identity in the Church. I often wonder what fruit the Word of God produced in his life. I was very thankful we had a ministry that opened the door for these young kids to find Jesus. Oh, how important it is to be a father to the fatherless!
Sunday School has been one of our greatest discipleship tools.
The history of Sunday School is very interesting. Here's an overview summarized from the book Revitalizing the Sunday Morning Dinosaur by Ken Hempill:
○ Robert Rakes is credited with starting Sunday school about 1780 to teach the children working in the factories basic skills like reading and writing. Being a Christian he used the Bible as the text. We still see the effects of his work in the universal value placed on educating children.
○ When Sunday school came to the colonies, it was a para-church organization whose main mission was to instill values and build character in those who were to be citizens of the new nation. Back then it was understood that to be a great nation the people must be God-fearing, moral, and ethical in character and in deed.
○ Then the churches took Sunday school and made it one of the most effective evangelization tools ever! As long as evangelism was at the heart of Sunday school, the Church grew.
○ Then the focus of the core mission shifted more toward fellowship, education, and maturation. All great goals, but somewhere, the salt seems to have lost its saltiness. Any institution that doesn’t have a passion to reach the lost and touch the world soon grows weak in vitality and passion. Our mission is to reach and keep the lost, nurture new believers and mature the saints and equip them for ministry. When it comes to teaching, we need to be “dyed in the wool!”
For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, (Psalms 78:5-7 NKJV)
The Church must provide teaching for parents.
We must not only teach our children, but we must also teach parents to teach their children! Teaching and living the Bible must be the lifestyle of the Christian home.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. (Deuteronomy 6:4-7 NKJV)
Teaching teachers is vital to the future of the Church!
All too often we throw someone into a teaching job with little or no training and wonder why that person crashes. The Church must teach all ages, teach parents, teach teacher and leaders, and, its teaching must be alive and full of life. Teaching should communicate the wonders of life, the marvels of God and His creation, the awfulness of sin, the blessing of salvation, strong values, and also lead students into the joy of discovery.
George Edgerly, when he was the national Sunday school director, told a story of when he was a student in the Junior Boy’s Class. The lessons that quarter was based on the geography of the Bible. The teacher took the boys to the pastor’s unused garden plot and had them make a relief map of the Holy Land in the soil. When George recounted this experience, he smiled and said, “I know where the Dead Sea is, because I dug it!”
The greatest teaching we do is that which we model.
No amount of words can override what is taught by a person’s actions. At the conclusion of the book, Developing Dynamic Disciples, Thomas Trask shares a heart-rending story:
“From the pages of history comes the story of a frontier preacher who took in a stray dog. The dog quickly became the family pet. The preacher’s two sons were especially fond of the dog. The dog was as black as coal, except for three very distinctive white hairs on his tail.
“Later, an ad appeared in the paper for a lost dog that fit the description of the stray, right down to the three white hairs. With the help of his boys, the preacher carefully plucked each of the white hairs. The owner, hearing that a dog fitting the description was at the preacher’s farm, went looking for his pet.
"The dog, seeing the man, showed every sign of recognizing him. When the apparent owner started to take the dog, the preacher asked, ‘Didn’t you say your dog had three white hairs on his tail?’ The owner looked and was unable to find the identifying hairs. He left without the dog. Later, a saddened father wrote of this incident, ‘I kept the dog, but lost my boys.’ The names of his two boys were Frank and Jesse James."
What we are makes an even deeper impact than the words we speak. Let’s get the Word of God into our children early and also model the Christian life in action! When it comes to values, we need to be “Dyed in the Wool.”
Another vital period is when a person is a new believer. Three important elements in helping a person grow and be established in the faith are: Deep experience with God at conversion, practical and sound Bible teaching, and incorporations into the family of God. Paul told the Ephesians, “Ye have not so learned Christ” when they began to stray from their early teachings. If the foundation is solid that is always something to come back to.
It is important that new converts have a deep experience with God.
In all four gospels, in the parable of the sower, Jesus taught the importance of how a person receives the Word of God. Some seed didn’t produce because the soil was shallow. Farmers in mountainous regions in ancient times built terraces to provide level ground for cultivation. The stones of these terraces would be covered by a thin layer of soil. Look what happens to seed that falls on these stones:
Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. (Mark 4:5-7 NKJV)
○ A shallow experience is not usually a lasting experience. Conversion must go deeper than the emotions. Three levels of faith: mind, emotions, and will. Some stop at intellectual accent, but never having a life changing experience. Some receive emotionally, but have little depths and soon fall away. Those who bear great fruit are those who believe, receive with joy, and truly make Jesus Lord of their lives with a whole hearted commitment that grips the heart and captures the will!
○ With a deep experience there is a deep conviction of sin. I long to see tears at the altar! In this “feel good” age we may try to bypass the brokenness of repentance, but if we do, the fruit of repentance will be missing. Something is not right when sin no longer appears sinful! Maybe we sometimes rush things too much. It’s been said, “Never pick green fruit. Ripe fruit will fall off in your hand.” Those who come to Christ just to have a more successful life, or to feel more fulfilled, or maybe to have all their problems solved, or who think maybe God will indulge them with material blessings, will be shaken when faced with the trials and hardship of the Christian life. Jesus didn’t come to make life easy, but to make men good. There must be a hunger for God, repentance from sin, a desire for righteousness, and a thirst to know Him who is life eternal! The Holy Scriptures tell us that on the Day of Pentecost when the multitude heard the message of Jesus, “they were “cut to the heart!” The greatest sin of all is not believing on Jesus Christ!
○ There must be a revelation of the Grace of God in Jesus Christ. If a person’s conversion experience is just a rededication to live better, a resolve to quit certain sins, to attend church, and maybe give something in the offering, that person’s experience is only legalistic and very shallow! Conviction must bring a person to the point that he knows that he is a sinner rightfully deserving judgment. It’s only when we are realize our wretchedness that we can wholly trust God and the grace that is revealed in our Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus is the only answer! Conviction without grace soon becomes a religion of legalism and pride, filled with self and self works. Sin reigns. Holiness of heart and hand flows from the life of one who loves God and trusts completely in the grace that is in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Incorporate the new believer very quickly be brought into the life and fellowship of the Church. A new believer in Christ needs a spiritual parent! God designed teaching and nurture to be in the context of relationship. The greatest relationship of all is with God! Being connected and made a part of the family often makes the difference between a lasting experience or one that quickly falls away.
Immediately get the new believer into reading the Bible. Reading the Bible, listening to the Word being preached, and participating in Bible studies are vital to establishing the new believer in the Christian walk.
Introduce the new believer to the Holy Spirit very quickly. Every devoted follower of Jesus Christ needs the life and power of the Holy Spirit continually. The Church must teach and model the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit baptism.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11-14 NKJV)
A healthy church will have healthy converts. Preach, teach, and model a healthy faith that facilitate growth and instills godly values deep in the lives of the new believer, dyed in the wool!
Be a mentor to ministers and leaders. We all start in our calling as learners. As soon as a person steps into a leadership position, that person should start raising up others. Every minister who reaches maturity should be identifying, encouraging, and being a mentor to an emerging minister or leader. Ministers and leaders are very open to spiritual formation in the early periods of their ministries.
Always have at least one emerging minister that you keep close to you. Take someone under your wing.
The importance of mentorship is illustrated in the story of Elijah, Elisha, and Gehazi in 2 Kings. Elijah was a mentor to Elisha. When Elijah was taken to heaven, his mantle fell upon Elisha. Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah. Gehazi was the disciple of Elisha. Gehazi became covetous and failed, so Elisha ended up taking his anointing to the grave in his bones! This is evident by the account of the time when some men burying a man decided to put him in Elisha's tomb. When the dead man touched Elisha's bones, he came alive again! Don’t take this anointing to the grave in your bones; pass it on to the next generation!
If you are an emerging leader—pursue a mentor! Maybe several. Don’t wait to be invited. You may feel like a nuisance, but you will learn! Take in and evaluate your mentor’s experiences and wisdom even if you don’t fully agree. Hebrews tells us, “Whose faith follow!”
Mentors, share your life and experiences. Talk about the Bible, about ministry, and model it. Stress the value of the Word of God and your dependance on the Holy Spirit. Understand where a person is along the journey of life. A person in his or her twenties generally wants to learn; the thirties bring a desire to advance; when the forties come, there is a desire to rule or oversee, to expand. Each stage of life is unique and important.
We learn the best by doing. Assign tasks that teach and that build people skills. Learning to work with people comes before learning a lot of other leadership and technical skills. Instill deep inside the learner a love for the Church and the value of each individual: praise, critique, correct, and encourage.
Don’t be afraid to challenge the one you are training, to demand accountability, but be there when discouragement hits. Encourage, give hope! Remember, Jesus didn’t come to make life easy, but to make men good!
Most of all, share you life, your dreams, your experiences. Involve your charge in as many of the functions of ministry as possible.
Don’t be afraid to push the little fledgling out of the nest! God will catch him and help him fly. When God says it’s time, don’t try to hang on to the person. The mentor receives a lot of gratification from having someone look up to him. Be willing to release and launch. Sometimes the mentor never feels his charge is ready, but it’s God’s time anyway. Not very many of us were ready when we launched out in ministry. This is an exciting day, let him fly! You can’t walk on water unless you get out of the boat! I’ve seen emerging ministers with a tremendous potential fall so far short of attaining that potential because either the mentor or the emerging minister were afraid of failure. Ministry is adventure! It is taking a risk. God is continually stretching us, assigning us tasks beyond our abilities, but He is faithful!
Conclusion.
It’s never too late. Our text declares that though sins be as crimson and as scarlet, they shall be white as wool. The metaphor is wool died a deep scarlet color. The dye has colored the deepest fibers of the wool; impossible to remove. Yet, what seems impossible to man is what God does every day. The Holy Spirit can penetrate to the deepest depth of a person’s being, and make that person new. The heart of the gospel is change! God can take a life that is scarlet with sin and make it shine like new snow. The Holy Spirit can take a life sin-stained, as red as crimson with sin and iniquity, and restore it to virgin purity. God wants more than an outward dye job, more than socialization and reforms; he wants true transformation! God responds to genuine repentance and turning in faith to God! His grace is abundant! The Holy Spirit imprints every fiber of a person’s being with the loveliness of Jesus our Savior.
This poem, quote by Cy Homer, former president of Southeastern University, at an Appalachian District Ministers Retreat many years ago, touched my heart:
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man.
When God wants to mould a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall praise –
Watch His method, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects;
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which only God understands
While his tortured heart is crying and he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends, but never breaks,
When his good He undertakes. . . .
How He uses whom He chooses
And with every purpose fuses him,
By every art induces him
To try his splendor out –
God knows what He’s about.
Anonymous