This Sermon “Never Underestimate Jesus” was preached on Sunday 28th January 2024. “For those of you who are currently in a place of underestimating Jesus – DON’T! He’s more powerful than you could ever dream.”
Sermon Transcript
I was never any good at athletics and for some reason I just assumed my children would be the same!It was 1993, when a race was organized for all the preprimary children at the Roleystone Primary School athletics carnival. This race was to include my little Leacy Lou.Now I was ready (as a parent should be) for my child Alyce not to win, and that morning I had given her a little pep talk in the car on the way to the carnival – It went something like this,‘I want you to enjoy your race today Alyce. But remember, it’s not all about winning it’s having a go that counts and being happy for others to win. It’s called being a good sport. And mummy is proud of you no matter what happens. So just enjoy yourself even if you lose.’Alyce didn’t say much back to me because she didn’t really talk much at the age of five and when she did I couldn’t understand her. Her brother and sister could understand her but nobody else could.And so just before the gun went off, for the race, I was casually chatting with some other mums letting them know that my little Alyce was looking forward to the race, but I had prepared her for losing because I never used to win…Anyway, the preprimaries were all lined up, both girls & boys, when the gun finally went off and so did most of the kids. Some of them, of course, ran in the opposite direction to what they should have, and some just stood there wondering what they were supposed to be doing.But my little chubby chops Alyce with those muscley legs she just took off like a rocket (in the right direction) leaving all the other girls and boys behind in the dust!She was one seriously determined little girl and I looked on in amazement!To begin with I found it hard to believe; I was dumb struck for a couple of seconds,and then when reality sunk in I began to shout and yell and scream encouraging words to my baby, ‘like RUN, RUN, RUN ALYCE, you’ve got this! GO GO GO GO GIRL!I had changed from this rather quiet reserved parent who was ready, and expecting, for her daughter to face defeat, to one who was jumping and shouting and screaming excitedly.My baby Alyce finished that race streets ahead of all the other children, both boys and girls, it was a great run.I think the other parents weren’t so surprised in Alyce winning but they were certainly surprised by the dramatic change in my behaviour. Laughingly they encouraged me, for the future, to not ‘underestimate my children’s abilities in anything’.The Bible is full of interesting accounts where people have been underestimated.One glaring account, which would be one of the world’s most famous, is that of David and Goliath.The Israelites were in a dead lock with the Philistines because…A heavily armed Philistine warrior who happened to be a giant, day after day, would come out before the Israeli army and challenge them to send a man to fight him. No one in the whole of Israel wanted to face this monster of a warrior.Let me give you a little more detail so you understand why….His height was three meters. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing 58 kilograms; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed 6.9 kilograms.Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”The Israeli army were quietly terrified. No one wanted to face this monster of a warrior. No one that is until the young shepherd boy, David, showed up.His attitude was totally different from the rest.Instead of being intimidated by the threats of the giant, he was totally appalled that the Philistine giant was defying the armies of the LORD.David said to the king of Israel, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; I, your servant, will go and fight him.”The king replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to the king, “I have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When these creatures turned on me, I seized them by their hair, struck them and killed them. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”Then David took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. Buff!The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.So, David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand, he struck down the Philistine and killed him.David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath cutting off his head.When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp! Hallelujah!What an exciting true account. I’ve never got tired of reading it for it is so applicable to us Christians who are in spiritual warfare.To underestimate someone according to the Oxford Dictionary is to think insufficiently highly of.Underestimate means to undervalue; underrate; misjudge; miscalculate; take too lightly.To say that Goliath underestimated the skill of David is an understatement.Goliath was overestimating his own strength and totally underestimating the strength of David.And to be trueful, everyone in the account was underestimating the strength of David. Even his own people, including king Saul, didn’t think he had it in him to defeat the giant. It’s just that he was the only one willing to have a go, after all they had to send someone, and they didn’t want to go themselves, so go do your best David, there’s a good boy!Everyone underestimated David but GOD.David, on the other hand, had the best perception of them all because David measured people’s worth according to the value system of God.When David looked at that giant he saw him for who he really was. A pathetic pitiful enemy of God who was stupidly defying the power of God. You don’t speak ill of your all-powerful Creator! Dumb move.But David also knew exactly who he was. He was the man who represented the all-powerful God.Afterall, God had used him before to protect His father’s sheep. Of course, God’s going to use him again to protect His chosen people.This giant is a nothing when lined up with the all-powerful God of the universe.God’s strength was David’s strength, and you can never ever ever ever overestimate the power of the LORD.Sadly, we all too often underestimate the power of God working in and through us.So often we the church can be just like the Israelite army quaking in our boots, standing at a distance not prepared to enter the battle and represent the LORD because we’re too busy underestimating His awesome power.I believe one of the reasons why the church of Jesus Christ in Australia today does not evangelize like the church does in other regions of the world is because we UNDERESTIMATE the power of God’s ability to change lives.We underrate Him; We miscalculate Him; we take Him too lightly. So, we say nothing. Or we may look for someone else to do the work because we’re not ‘feeling’ the power of God.The power of God is not something that is felt it is an act of faith.For those of you who are currently in a place where you are underestimating Jesus let me tell you what God wants you to know right now.Are you ready? This is straight from His mouth.Ephesians 3:20God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us…2 Timothy 1:7God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.1 Corinthians 6:14By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also.Matthew 19:26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”Philippians 4:1313 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.Acts 1:88 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;Romans 1:16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…Ephesians 6:10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power…Jesus said over and over again to those who did not believe in His power,‘Oh you of little faith.’‘Oh you of little faith’In other words‘You are underestimating me!’‘You are underestimating me!’Come on church lift your faith.Give God a chance to do something in the lives of the desperate people around you.They are there. They’re everywhere.If David hadn’t have fought on behalf of His people they all would’ve died at the hands of the Philistines!He had to fight.We too must fight the good fight and allow the power of God to do His work.When there’s an opportunity to pray for someone – PRAY!Where there’s an opportunity to share Jesus with someone – SHARE!If someone is in need of a bible – Give them one!Be bold, be strong because God is with you.And He can work a miracle for a person in need.As a Christian you are obligated to share Jesus because it might be the only time that person will ever have someone speak to them about His saving grace.DON’T UNDERESTIMATE WHAT JESUS CAN DO THROUGH YOU.I’m going to finish with a story that hits hard. It’s a sad story but it’s in line with what I’m speaking about so here goes.Erwin Lutzer who wrote the book Hitler’s Cross tells the story of a German man who had lived in Nazi Germany. This man said:I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because what could anyone do to stop it?A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized it was carrying Jews like cattle in cars!Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to the death camp. Their screams tormented us.We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians and yet did nothing.People are still crying out in our community.They need the saving grace of Jesus Christ.He is the answer.Don’t underestimate Him, don’t underestimate what He can do through you, and don’t underestimate what He can do for them.Will you stand with me and pray a prayer of commitment to Him?I am going to say a prayer and if you feel God has been speaking to you, would you make this prayer your own.This week, Lord, use me.Use my mouth,use my hands,use my feet for Your glory.Increase in Me.Let me put You first in every situation.God, I want your Holy Spirit to guide and empower me.Give me a chance to be your witness.Give me a chance to show someone the Way to You.May Your awesome power move through me. And may I never underestimate Your strength.Amen