Vivi Diaz: This is the Sandals Church Podcast, a place for real people with real struggles learning to follow Jesus. Wherever you are right now, driving, working, or trying to make it through the day, we are really glad you're here. Let's get into today's message.
Claude Hickman: I keep seeing this phrase, on social media, and maybe you've seen it on memes or something like that. But it's this phrase, no one is coming to save you. Anybody seen that? And I when every time I see that, nobody is coming to save you, it made me think about this, actually, honestly, the first time, I felt like that was the first time I changed a diaper. It's kinda embarrassing, but that's the first time I realized, man, nobody's coming to do this.
And it was our firstborn and I'd never been around babies. I didn't babysit. I didn't get near other people's babies because they're too fragile, afraid they were gonna puke on me or whatever. So I remember we're in the hospital with our firstborn and the nurse is like, all right, dad, you're up. And I literally, like, I looked around for one of those big clothespins.
I'm like, Where's the clothespin? You know? And I realized all my knowledge of diapers comes from Bugs Bunny and cartoons. So somehow I rolled up my sleeves. We got through it.
We both survived. But man, there's times in the Christian life where you're gonna realize nobody's coming to save you. Nobody's coming to do this for you. That's really what this series is about, is about resolving. There's some things that some people can't do for you, you have to decide on your own.
You know, some of you know my story, man. I grew up, I'm an only child, so when I found BMX and BMX Freestyle, like X Games and stuff you see on TV, I really kind of found a family. And my best friend, Matt, really became like a brother to me when we were 15. We rode together every day. We would sneak into places.
We would get kicked out of places together. We turned pro together. And really we had everything in common except for Jesus. My friend, Matt, didn't want to come to church. He was afraid they would judge like his clothes, his hair.
And I always was going, man, who can share the gospel with my friend Matt? Finally, our church, this dude Aaron, who's 25 years old was visiting and speaking all week. And he's like, he's young, he's cool. He just got out of seminary. I'm like, this is the perfect guy.
So I invite Matt all week long. And finally, last night, my friend Matt comes sits in the back with me and I'm praying the whole time. And Aaron shares the gospel clearly. And my friend Matt didn't budge, didn't budge. Like the gospel just bounced off his heart.
And when I left, I remember talking to Aaron afterward. I'm like, man, why didn't God move? Who's gonna share the gospel with my friend, Matt now? Aaron looks at me and goes, Claude, isn't it obvious? God has made you perfectly for this moment.
I'm like, Well, I'm 17 and I don't know the Bible the way you do. He goes, No, no, no. He goes, I'm gonna teach you a really simple ABC way to share the gospel. But really what Aaron did was he gave me permission. He gave me permission.
I realized, man, nobody else is coming to share the gospel with my friend, Matt. Nobody else is gonna save him. And that year we were on a trip to a contest and I shared just ABC, what Aaron had taught me. And my friend Matt said, yes. And God did two things that day.
God saved my friend Matt, but God unlocked something in me that I can share Jesus. I can teach Jesus to other people. We're looking at the life of Ezra and Ezra resolves these three things. Ezra seven ten says this, that Ezra set his heart, he set in his heart to study the law of the Lord, to be a lifelong learner, and then to obey it. Obedience isn't optional.
But then he made it his mission to teach God's statues and rules in Israel. See at the time Israel, men, they'd born, most of them were born in captivity, that even though they were returning to the land, they had the temple, they had lost God. And somebody needed to own this job of teaching them the way back to God. And Ezra is really the perfect person for this because it describes Ezra in the book of Nehemiah, describes him as both the scribe and the priest. Like we get it two different verses.
Look at Nehemiah eight, it says, For Ezra, they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the book of the law. And then the very next verse they say, So Ezra the priest brought out the law before the assembly. He's scribe and priest. In other words, he's the perfect person to do this. His whole life may have been geared for him to do this.
And when I say scribe, Ezra not only wrote the book of Ezra, he wrote Malachi, most of Chronicles. He went back and put in footnotes in Genesis and other books of your Bible. And then he canonized, translated the Old Testament and the Torah and the copy that he came up with, they kept it in the temple. It became like the master scroll that for the next five hundred years, they would compare every other scroll to his. And if you own a Bible today, Ezra's life touches you.
He was the scribe, but he was also the priest. He was also the priest. He had a ministry family. He came from a lineage that there was the last high priest of the first temple and his other relative was the first high priest of the second temple. Ministry was his family.
It was in the family business as part of his family. Now, this is what, first Peter says, You are a chosen people. You are a royal priest. I think you are both scribe and priest somewhere in the world right now. God has created your life and you're both scribe and priest.
You're a royal priest, a holy nation. Listen to this, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God. Some things aren't pastor Matt's job or my job, some things, some ministry God has placed before you. Ministries in your family business, if you're a Christian.
You can show others the goodness of God for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful life. The Bible's given you permission. And there's some segment of your life right now where you're the only Christian. Nobody else is coming to tell them. Maybe you're the manager and priest.
Maybe you're the stay at home mom and priest, or the transmission specialist and priest. God has called you to this ministry. So why do we share the gospel? One reason is, man, the gospel is good news. The gospel is good news.
When Nehemiah starts reteaching the law to the people, look what happens. He trains the Levites and they read from the book of the law of God and clearly explain the meaning of what's being read, helping the people understand each passage and listen. So the people went away to celebrate with great joy because they'd heard God's words and they understood them. Man, we forget that the message we have is joy. It's good news.
It's great news for the world. I remember when I moved here, man, I still really had a heart for my BMX family my whole life. It's like God has called me to that people, and God has called me on a mission to that world still. So when I moved here, I met a guy named Pat Casey. He grew up here, he's a legendary BMX athlete, literally known around the world, lives in Riverside.
And I was always kind of a little bit nervous around him. Like I would run into events in China and like all around the world, I'd run him to a Lowe's, you know, here in Riverside. And he's one of the few people that kind of made me nervous because he's such a big deal. But I was always afraid to invite him to church. I thought, man, I don't know how he's gonna experience it.
Is he gonna feel judged? Is he gonna feel like his clothes aren't right or whatever? And then finally in 2020, when everything shut down and his Catholic church shut down, a friend of mine and I invited him to Sandals Woodcrest, and he came, he brought like an entourage of people with him. And afterward, I'm like, man, what'd you think? And he goes, I love your pastor.
He goes, he actually reads the Bible and then he explains what it means, right? Like, I've never heard what it means. This is awesome. His wife, the next year got baptized. Dude, his kids love Sandals kids so much.
One time they took their stickers off and threw them away. Like, we're gonna stay here forever, you know? Like, they loved it. And actually I'll never forget it. One time he told me, we were on a trip back from somewhere and he said, Claude, I feel like God brought you into my life to get our family back into church.
Yeah, it was joy. Right? It was joy. I'm like, why did I wait so long? All the things I was worried about didn't happen.
And I forgot, man, the gospel, do you know the gospel means good news? It means good news. Matthew 13 says this, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up, and then in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. It's a joy. It's good news.
We share the gospel because it's good news. We also share the gospel because it's a warning. It's a warning to the world. You know, when your kids are little, I feel like you're always warning them about every danger. You know how little kids are, dude, they wake up every day and it's like, their mission is to go to urgent care, amen?
So you're just constantly on alert. I remember our kids like every day, dude, they're doing something dangerous. And then our oldest, praise God, like he became a Christian, but then I had a new problem, heaven. All right, like now he's not afraid to die. He's like, I got heaven.
So we're out in the front yard and the ball rolls in the front yard toward the street. Aiden runs toward it. I'm like, No, no, no, buddy. Don't Don't run to the street. That's how you die.
And he turns around and looks at me like I'm a moron. He's like, Dad, I'll be with Jesus. You know? And then his little brother, who's like five, goes around toward the ball and he's like, No, no, no, Hudson. He like tackles Hudson, holds him down.
He's like, You're not a Christian yet. You're still going to hell, man. So doing the Lord's work. Listen to Proverbs though. Listen to Proverbs.
We should rescue those being led away to death. Hold them back. Rescue those being led away to death. Hold back those staggering toward the slaughter. We have a responsibility.
Listen to this next verse. If you say, we knew nothing about this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? This almost sounds like it's our duty. Will he not repay everyone according to what they've done?
It is your duty. In the Old Testament, in ancient times, when a city got attacked, the city would appoint a watchman to watch for enemies and to blow the trumpet and warn the people. And listen to what Ezekiel 33 says, If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people, God says, I hold the watchmen accountable. And then he says this, Son of man, I've made you a watchmen for the people. So when you hear the word I speak, give them warning from me.
And when I say to the wicked, the wicked person, you will surely die and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, the wicked person will die for their sin, but I'll hold you accountable. Most of you have never seen that. We have a moral responsibility to share the gospel in the world. Last year, New Zealand did this test of their tsunami warning system and all 45 sirens failed. You know why?
Because the one guy that's supposed to pull the lever in Auckland was distracted with something in his front yard. You think that's a good system? They're like, that's a bad system. You know what I'm saying? Japan, they monitor a thousand earthquake sensors.
If something happens, dude, you get a text message within minutes. I want that system. Amen. You know what you are? You're God's system.
You are God's early warning system in the world. That's what you are. You're the watchman. Listen to what second Corinthians says, so we are Christ's ambassadors. God is making his appeal, his warning through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, come back to God. The Old Testament and the New Testament say that you're the watchman. You're the watchman. So we're talking about things that Ezra resolved, and resolution number three is this, to take personal responsibility. Have you ever taken personal responsibility for the mission of God?
That's what Ezra does. He says nobody else is gonna do this. Nobody else is coming to teach them. So he takes personal responsibility for a nation. How do I bring a nation back to God?
And we know from Nehemiah, it's interesting, it's the first time they build a platform and someone gets up and preaches the Bible. That that's what's happening every weekend at Sandals Church. When you see someone get up on a platform and speak, that's modeled after Ezra, and I was reading about this. This is Ezra or I'm sorry. This is Nehemiah eight.
Ezra, the scribe, stood on a high wooden platform, but this is the phrase that caught my heart this week. It was made for this occasion. That'll preach. You know, your life, your life is a platform that's made for this occasion. You're made for this purpose.
It gives your life purpose. It gives your life meaning. God has put you here on a mission in the world. You're not an accident. So how do we live out our mission?
How do we live on mission for God? First, the platform made him visible. So first we make Jesus visible. We make Jesus visible. Matthew five says this, You are a light.
You are the light of the world and a city on a hilltop cannot be hidden. There's times that I wanna be hidden, right? It's a little scary to identify yourself as a Christian. It's a little scary to make your faith visible to others. There's pressure.
Some of you are like, man, I feel like a hypocrite, or I feel like I might mess it up, or I might have a bad day. You know, I feel the same pressure. You know what? A couple years ago when I turned 50, I had to start doing 50 year old stuff. So I had to get a doctor, you know, like I didn't even have a primary doctor.
So I'm like, I got to go to the doctor and at least do some fifty year old doctor stuff. Amen. And so I go and I'm in my gown laying there and the doctor comes in with this clipboard and he's like, I got three questions. And he goes, is there history of this in your family? And I was like, no.
He's like, have you ever done this procedure? No. And he kind of looks a little nervous. He's like, I have one more question. He goes, are you a pastor at Sandals Church?
And I was like, wow dude, this guy's good. Right? Did you get that from my labs? Know? He goes, no, all the nurses out front recognize you.
And then these 20 year old girls come back like, we're gonna wheel you back pastor Claude. And that was my colonoscopy appointment, okay? I know. And it's my last one because I'm just gonna die, all right, after that. You don't think I wanna hide the priest, right?
Like you don't think sometimes I wanna hide the priest part of my life, but man, God says, there's no such thing as private faith. Man, you can't be a secret Christian, a private Christian. God's calling you to be a light. You are the light of the world. A city on a hilltop cannot be hidden.
No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed where? On a platform. On a platform, a stand where it gives light to everybody in the house. In the same way, listen to this, let your good deeds shine out for all to see so everyone will praise your heavenly father.
Do you identify with Christ in your neighborhood? Do you publicly identify with Christ in your workplace? How do you do that? You know, when someone says, man, good luck. Sometimes it's like, dude, I don't believe in luck.
I believe in God. And when somebody asks me like, why don't you smoke pot or drink or whatever it is? I'm like, dude, God gave me a life that I don't wanna escape from. And sometimes I just offer to pray for people, but it's a way to identify. I've learned to just actively put myself out and go, man, I'm gonna identify as a spiritual person, as a Christian, somebody who follows Jesus.
Now that'll open the door, but we still have to be clear what the gospel is. And you know who's the worst at being clear? Sometimes it's pastors because they know too much. They're experts and they just mess it all up. You ever talk to somebody who's expert in crypto?
It's like, man, talk to me like I don't know what blockchain and where does the gas go? Talk to me like a normal person. You know who's great at sharing the gospel? Brand new Christians. Brand new Christians because they make it simple.
They keep it simple. Next thing, Colossians four says this, pray for us too that God will give us opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That's why I'm here in chains. Pray that I may proclaim this message, listen, as clearly as I should. As clearly as I should.
Live wisely among those who are not believers, make the most of every opportunity and let your conversation be gracious, attractive, so that you will have the right response for everyone. Make it clear. How do we live on mission? We gotta make the message of Jesus simple and clear for people. I'm gonna show you what I remember and what Aaron taught me, however many years ago that was.
And, I actually just remember one verse. It's Romans six twenty three, and I connect everything to one verse. Romans six twenty three says this, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord. And I just write it out. The first thing I do is I just underline sin and go, man, we all have sin.
We all have sin. Sometimes I have to be the first one to confess that, that we all have sinned. I gotta lead in that. Two years ago, took our whole family to Indonesia and we decided to do this kind of bike ride down a mountain. It's through these streets and neighborhoods.
So there's cars and I'm trying to watch our kids and I'm the expert. So I'm in the back and I got my iPhone and I'm filming, and we're going downhill pretty fast. I've looked back for cars and then I hear the sound I don't want to hear in front of me, which is my son Hudson crashing, because he crashes every time we do something like this. But he crashes in front of me, like slide tackles me. I got no time.
I hit him, my bike, and I kind of turned backwards. And if you've ever fell back in a chair, it's just that slow motion process of like, Oh no, this is gonna hurt. And then I crack my head on the street with a helmet. I crack my helmet on the street and I'm bleeding in my elbows. Hudson is standing there, his eyes, he looks like he's seen a ghost.
He's standing over me and he doesn't ask about my bloody elbows, my cracked helmet. He goes, dad. He goes, did you just say the F word? I'm like, bro. And I brush myself off.
I get back on my bike and I ignore him because the truth is, yes, I did say that word, but I'm not gonna tell him that. So we keep going on a ride and I get convicted. I'm like, man, why should he be surprised that I'm a sinner just like him? So I pull up next to him like, yes, your dad, pastor Claude did that. When I got my, when I cracked my head, that's what came out, but just don't tell mom, okay?
So A is this, if you want to ABC admit my sin, we're all sinners, but we gotta get good at admitting our sin, inviting other people to admit your sin. This shouldn't be surprising anybody. And by the way, if you can't admit that you're a sinner, what gospel are you sharing with people? You know what I'm saying? What religion are you in?
Admit that we're a sinner. Now you might go, Hey, but that didn't really hurt anybody. You know what I'm saying? Like, I don't know if that's a sin because I mean, who's that really hurt? Sin isn't a sin because it is against a person.
If it was, that would still be bad. If it was against a king, you'd imagine the consequences would be worse. If it's against Vladimir Putin, you better look out. But your sin was not against a human. It was against a good and holy God.
So you wonder why are the wages of sin death? It's because it's against God. It's against God. But the next phrase gives us good news. It says, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus.
What's this gift? Like, do you mean a gift? In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Abraham, God comes to him and says, I want you to sacrifice your son Isaac on an altar. It's this crazy story. And Abraham goes to obey God.
And right before he sacrifices Isaac on the altar, God intervenes and says, Wait, I've sent a gift. And there's a lamb, a ram caught in the bush. He says, I want you to substitute the lamb for your son. And then all through the Old Testament, this becomes the system where a lamb takes the sin and the lamb dies as a substitute for us. Then through the temple for two thousand years, through Moses and the temple, this becomes the system over and over every year.
A lamb takes the sin as our substitute and the lamb dies and we go free. And so when we get to the New Testament and you see Jesus walk out to meet John the Baptist and John sees him, John says this, Behold, look, it is the lamb of God who's come to take away the sin of the world. Someone is coming to save you. He's the substitute. So B, A is admit my sin, B is believe that Jesus is my substitute.
He's our substitute. Many of you may know John three sixteen, right? One of the most famous verses, but have you ever thought about what John three sixteen is really saying? What it means? It's saying that God sent his son as a substitute.
John three sixteen, For God so loved the world that he sent and gave, he gave a gift. Who talks like that? He gave his son as a gift. He traded his son as a gift. He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him would not have the death, would not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus, the substitute. But the last two words, the last two words, Romans six twenty three is this, He's our Lord. And these are very personal, Our Lord. He's our Lord. Nobody else can do this for you.
This is a personal decision and to make Him Lord means absolute surrender. It means absolute surrender. So C is just this, that we commit in faith. If you can teach someone those three things, you can share the gospel, to admit your sin, believe that Jesus is a substitute, and that we commit in faith. There's nothing you can do.
It's surrender. Put it in business terms, it's like bankruptcy, but not chapter 13 bankruptcy where you get back on your feet, you recover and you pay the debt back. That's religion. Christianity is chapter seven bankruptcy, where you close the books, you are done, and you call out for mercy. You surrender.
That's why Paul says in Romans 10, everyone, listen to this promise, everyone who calls, that's it. That's it. Everyone who calls out on the name of the Lord will be saved. But Paul says there's a problem. In the next verse, he says there's one problem, the warning system.
He says this, But how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? In other words, nobody else is coming to save them. Nobody else is coming to share with them but you. One of the ways I remember this is I keep a picture of Pat Casey in my Bible. It's been there for a few years.
It's actually one of the last pictures I have with him because 06/06/2023, he was in a motor accident and died instantly. And the response was global, like people loved him. And when I say global, I say, Man, people spray painted murals of his name from Woodcrest to Sydney, Australia to Paris, like it was global. It was shock. And right before the X Games, it all happened right before the X Games, there was a memorial, and it was right before the X Games so that all his athlete friends could come from around the world.
And all those guys, all the the whole BMX world gathered at the most unlikely place, a church called Sandals, and a thousand people came to this memorial. Listen to me. I mean, if you've ever wore Vans shoes, the Van Doren family was there. Their friends got on the mic to share, and it was a safe place for them to just be real and hurt and grieve. I learned the word zooted, okay, that day with Sandals Woodcrest, but 14,000 people watched online and they asked me, will you share the message?
And I was terrified. I was terrified. And I met with pastor Dan Crowley and you know what Dan said to me? He's like, Claude, isn't it obvious? Isn't it obvious that your life, the whole arc of your life may be created for this occasion, for this occasion.
And then God gave me another gift. You know what they spray painted everywhere in the world? One phrase, Pat Casey forever. There's my sermon. Because you know what?
Anybody could talk about Pat Casey, but nobody else was gonna tell them about forever. Listen, you are created with a platform to be scribe and priest somewhere in this world. God's given you a platform. God has sent you here on a mission. He sent you here on a mission to be a light in the world.
Nobody else is coming to share this, if not for you. Nobody else is coming to give them warning. Nobody else is gonna give them the best news in the world. So will you resolve with me to be a light in the world? Take responsibility for God's mission on this earth.
Let's pray together. God, we just remember life is short. Life is short. And we know one day this world is going be gone and most things that we worry about aren't going to last, but the people around us will. So God give us urgency to warn.
God give us courage to be visible. And God remind us we have the best news in the world. When we could not save ourselves, someone did come to save us forever. Help us go and tell of your grace, tell of your salvation. And we pray this in Jesus name.
Amen.