Pivot Series# 4, Greatness

Pivot Series# 4, Pivot to Greatness
By: Bobby Sullivan

The story is told of a small church where the small congregation had tried for years to get the biggest “sinner” in town, Sam, to come to church.

Sam the sinner would have nothing to do with the church. He wouldn’t even come on Easter or Christmas.

One day the small church building caught fire. Being the days before fire engines, the town’s folk all pitched in to for a bucket brigade.

From the local stream, all the way to the church, they formed a human chain. Passing along the buckets of water, they desperately tried to extinguish the flames.

The pastor of the church was so engrossed in the struggle, that is was several minutes before he noticed that Sam was standing next to him, passing along the buckets. 6. The pastor looked at Sam with sweat rolling down his brow and said “Well it looks like we finally got you to come to church, huh Sam?”

Sam handed the pastor another bucket and said “Yep, I guess you’re right.  But pastor, this is the first time the church has been on fire!”

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A Polish man with poor eyesight decided to have his vision tested. An optician showed him a wall chart with the letters J A N U S Z N O S A C Z and asked him if he could read it.

“Sure I can read it,” the man replied, “In fact, I actually know that guy!”

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Pivot to Greatness

Today I want to talk to you about pivoting to greatness

How many people all the time say, “Well, nothing great has ever happened to me.” And when I hear them say that I look at them and I say, “I can believe that. It makes a lot of sense to me. In fact, after you just said it I can understand why.

So, when do I get to a place that I go, “I have achieved greatness.”

Is greatness an aspiration?” Am I sitting there going, “Hey guys what are you doing?” “I’m chasing greatness.”   I wonder about that word and wanting it to be said about me or wanting it to be an aspiration of me.

I think greatness is when we don’t have a win or an MVP or a trophy to show for greatness, but greatness is when I step aside from my leadership role and somebody from the next generation steps in and begins to take it to the next level. That’s exactly what John did when he prepared the way for Jesus.

It’s such a big, heavy, high word. Greatness is what we leave in people, caring about people, doing something for them, loving them, showing up for them consistently. We can persevere in that knowing that we are created and called, designed for greatness.

One thing I know is, you can only fake it until you make it so long! Authenticity has no competition. BE the best version of you.

“You can’t be the best version of someone else.”

The big question you need to ask yourself and insert your picture in the question is, “is it possible for me not only to be great, but do even greater things?”

When you are around a person of greatness they continually think about the possibilities and responsibilities that are before them.

Brother Lawrence, way back in the 15th century. said “All things are possible to him who believes, they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easy to him who loves and they are simple to anyone who does all three.”

Dr. Caroline Leaf says this in her book, Switch On Your Brain, “As we think, we change the physical nature of our brain. As we consciously direct our thinking, we can wire out toxic patterns of thinking and replace them with healthy thoughts.”

In essence, she says, science is proving free will and relationship between thoughts and reality.

Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Romans 12:2

Changing the way you think changes your perspective which changes how you act in the world. Paul’s words aren’t new. “Change your mind” is the central theme of Jesus’ first sermon (Matt. 4:17).

Jesus challenged people to change their thinking because regardless of how many times you read through the Bible, if your mind doesn’t change, you will simply impose your biases and labels on the words you read.

FOR SOME PEOPLE GREATNESS IS LEARNED, FOR OTHERS THEY ARE BORN WITH IN.

^{Luke 1: 11-19} Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” ¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

In March, Sports Illustrated’ cover story featured  “The 10 Greatest Players” in the 75 years of the NCAA basketball tournament.  In sports we love greatness.  Great plays.  Great players.  Great teams.

In America they admire greatness in all fields. Business,  Politics.,  and Military.

I googled “great people.” Let me list some of the names: Jesus, Newton, Mohamed, Buddha, Confucius, Jefferson, Churchill, Gorbachev, Shakespeare, Lincoln, Apostle Paul, Washington, Tesla, Edison, Ford, Beethoven, Franklin, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates. Ask a Canadian, “Who is the Great One?” and they will tell you it is Wayne Gretzky. Ask a boxing fan, and they will say “the greatest” is Mohammed Ali. Baseball fans point to Roberto Clemente.

How do you measure “greatness”? What makes some people great? There are different ways to measure greatness: fame, money, social media presence, admiration of society, celebrity status, entertainment value, achievements, impact on people and society, sports hero.

“He will be great …” Not because John the Baptist has lots of money. Not because the people said he was great. Not because he had the biggest crowds ever. Not because he did more baptisms than anyone else.

But what is true greatness?  And is greatness compatible with Christianity?  When the angel Gabriel appeared to the Priest Zacharias and foretold of the birth of his son, John, he made this prediction “He will be great in the sight of the Lord” (Lk. 1:15).

Webster describes Greatness as unusually, considerately or comparatively large in size, dimensions, degree, power, intensity, etc.

Greatness means wonderful, first rate, or very good. Greatness may also mean immense, enormous,  gigantic, huge, vast, grand.

A great person can be referred to as a champion, notable, remarkable, exceptionally outstanding, a famous, distinguished etc. He must have been a person who has achieved importance or a distinction in a field.

There should be something going on inside of you right now that is calling you to greatness because that’s how we are created.

You should be saying within yourself, “Oh my goodness, there’s room for me.” And by the way, let me tell you something, there’s a lot of room at the top. It’s not overcrowded at the top. You have mass traffic problems at the bottom. You understand, you’ve got to have all kind of people helping you navigate through the crowd at the bottom because the bottom is Times Square on New Years Eve but at the top there is tons of room. In fact let me say this, there’s room for you at the top right now.

SHOUT WITH ME! “There’s room for me at the top. There’s room for me at the top. There’s room for you at the top.” 

1. Great in the Sight of the Lord

A “He will be great …” I doubt if anyone in Israel saw John’s greatness. Look at John. Nothing about him looks great.

Look at his family: He had no royal or noble genealogy;  He was born to a humble, plain, ordinary couple.

Look at where he lived: He lived in a small, unremarkable village; we don’t even know its name — only that it is a town somewhere in the hill country of Judea (Lk 1:39).

Look at his accomplishments: He didn’t invent anything; he didn’t start a new religion.

Look at his schooling: We have no record of any formal education. Look at his circle of friends: Verse 80 makes it sound like he grew up in isolation — that is, he grew and became strong in spirit and lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel. Look at his clothing: John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.

Look at his diet: His food was locusts — sometimes dried and sometimes fried — covered in wild honey.

Look at his friends: He wasn’t associated with the priesthood, though both parents were part of the priestly line; he wasn’t associated with the Pharisees or Sadducees. No, nothing about John makes him look great.

In any way that the world measures greatness, there was nothing great about John. In fact, he ended his life hated and despised and beheaded. There is nothing great about John from a human point-of-view.

Yet, the angel states, “he will be great …”

“He will be great …” It is important to ask, how great is John the Baptist? Jesus tells us in Luke 7:

(Lk 7:28) I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John …
(Mt 11:11)

The phrase “among those born of women” is a Hebrew expression which includes everyone. According to Jesus, John not only is the greatest, he also is the greatest who has ever lived.

Try to wrap your mind around the greatness of John. There is Enoch who walked with God — John is greater.

There is Noah who built the ark — John is greater. There is Abraham the friend of God — John is greater. There is Joseph who interpreted dreams and ruled Egypt — John is greater. There is David a man after God’s own heart — John is greater. There is Daniel who faced the lions — John is greater. There are Daniel’s three friends who were thrown into the fiery furnace — John is greater. There is Elijah who declared there would be no dew and no rain in Israel and was later taken into heaven in a chariot of fire — John is greater. There is Elisha who raised to life a dead son — John is greater.

There are the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel who all spoke the word of the Lord — John is greater.

There are all the Old Testament heroes of faith listed in Hebrews 11 — John is greater.

C “He will be great …” In what way? What is the angel talking about? Here is the rest of the sentence: “in the sight of the Lord.” “He will be great in the sight of the Lord” (Lk 1:15).

The phrase “in the sight of” is used many times in the Bible: 94 times in 86 verses. Luke uses it 32 times total in his gospel and in the book of Acts. Paul uses it 10 times in his letters.  So it was a common expression. And when applied to God, it means divine approval.

John may never get the approval of men, but he will have the approval of God. In this way he is like his parents who “were upright in the sight of God” (Lk 1:6). They also received God’s stamp of approval.

“He will be great in the sight of the Lord.” John has God’s approval on his life; before he was born, before he did anything for good or for evil. Telling us what? Telling us it is all of grace and not of works so John can’t boast.

“He will be great in the sight of the Lord.” If you believe in Jesus, what is said about John is also said about you.

WHAT MADE JOHN SO GREAT?

I get how John was great, but I struggle with how I can be great! Because I still grapple with, 1 John 4:4 Greater is he who is in me than he that is in the world. IF the greater is in you, what does that make you? GREAT!!!!

1. GREAT IN HIS VISION
2. RECOGNIZED THE TIMES
3. The Bible says that the men of King David’s time, came together to make him king. They were those who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. 1 Chron. 12:32  This great compliment applied to John the Baptist as well.

John the Baptist entered a world of great change.

The near-Eastern cultural tradition that had dominated for 3000 years, was giving way to the pagan Greek influences.

The Jews who returned from Babylonian captivity withstood the influence of the Persian, the Egyptian, and the Greek empires.

The Sadducees controlled the high priesthood and didn’t accept the supernatural. The Pharisees controlled the synagogues,  but became too legalistic and theological hair-splitters.

The Romans had begun to rule this area of the world and to maintain order. It was time for a great change.

Onto this stage came John the Baptist. He was a trailblazer, a spiritual pioneer. He had no prophetic model like Samuel or Elijah. No prophet had arisen for 400 years.

No man lives beyond his vision. John the Baptist got a clear vision of what he was supposed to do to make things different. Many of us don’t have a clear vision of the purpose of our lives and so we don’t achieve the alteration we’re supposed to bring.

1. HE KNEW HIS ROLE
2. Someone has defined greatness as “living your life for a cause greater than yourself.” ARE YOU DOING THAT? This is one of the traits that made John the Baptist great.

Defining greatness is almost to me as challenging as achieving it. Significance is how well I have done for myself and others.

“Success is about me but significance is about others. But greatness is how well I have inspired others to do well for themselves and for others.”  John Maxwell

Pascal said, “Man’s greatness lies in the power of thought.”

2. His father Zechariah was one of the sons of Aaron who served as priest in the Temple. What a high calling! But John saw an even greater need; the people of Israel must be turned back to their God.
3. He knew who he was & what he was supposed to do.

“When the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was, He … confessed freely, “I am not the Christ.” “Who are you?…What do you say about yourself?”

4. John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation'” Jn. 1:19-23; Lk. 3:4-6. One of the things I’ve learned about greatness is that they prepare to prepare. They get themselves ready to make room for others greater than themselves because great people find value in others.

Always look at people as 10’s

Great people don’t rely on giftedness to make them great. John Wooden said, “When opportunity comes it’s too late to prepare.”

Great people prepare. They are continually preparing. Now, there are two types of people. Number one;  the person who says, “I will wait for an opportunity and then I’ll get ready.” And number two, “I will get ready and find the opportunity.” Do you see the difference?

Great people are always getting ready, Why wait for something to happen to you before you make something happen? Why not make something happen so you assure that something happens to you? And you can either hit and miss on this or you can absolutely become a person who disciplines themself daily to prepare.

Champions do not become champions in the ring, they merely are recognized in the ring. Their becoming happens in their daily routine.

That’s greatness. Greatness understands that you prepare continually.

Great People prepare visually because your expectation determines your preparation. Expectation, visualization, how do you see it? Because how you see it will determine how you prepare.

Do you see yourself in a picture of success? I mean when you think of what you want to become and what you want to do are you in the middle of that picture or do you have the picture and it doesn’t have you in it?

How many people all the time say, “Well, nothing great has ever happened to me.”

Because you never had an expectation. You never visualized yourself as successful.” You cannot perform in a way that is inconsistent with how you see yourself. You cannot consistently do things of greatness if you see yourself in terms of average, you just can’t, I can’t, you can’t. We perform and behave in a way that is consistent with how we see ourselves.

So, greatness prepares continually, it prepares visually, thirdly it prepares realistically. Greatness has a sense of reality about it that gives it a foundation to build on. William Arthur Ward said, “The pessimist complains about the wind, the optimist expects it to change but the realist adjusts the sails.”

Jack Welch’s wrote in his book Winning. “control your destiny or someone else will. You are a fool to give your future to someone else. Control your own destiny.”

Alex Haley said, “Either you deal with what is the reality or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.”

5. John’s mission was to go before Christ and plow the hardened ground, bringing the people of Israel to repentance. Then Christ could come and plant the seed.

6 We don’t have to do as much thinking about God’s will for our lives; it’s very clear. Jesus is coming back and we must gather in the harvest before the judgment falls.

1. GREAT IN HIS PRAYER LIFE
2. HE DISCIPLINED HIMSELF TO HEAR FROM GOD
3. The Bible tells us that he broke from his culture, probably early in life, and withdrew to the desert areas of Judea, along the Jordan.
4. He suffered in the food and clothing department; he lived off the land eating locusts and wild honey and wearing clothes made of camel’s hair , like Elijah, 2 Kings 1:8.
5. The apostle Paul, when he was first converted, also went three years into the desert. What was the result? These men heard from God! Good point is isolation isn’t always loneliness! It is imperative to learn how and when to say, NO! Not out of disobedience but out of obedience.
6. Now you and I don’t have to eat bugs and go live in the woods to hear from God! But God does want us to seek his face, to know his will for our lives and to hear His voice.
7. Sometimes it takes turning off the television, the iPod, Facebook, the radio, and the computer, and getting some lengthy QUIET TIME with God.
8. BUT SOME ARE OF US ARE HARD OF HEARING so we keep convincing ourselves that such and such is of God and when it doesn’t succeed, we blame God.
9. It’s possible that God can be speaking so loud that most people hear Him, yet we won’t! God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” We must get still to hear from God!
10. OUR PURPOSE? FROM GOD’S MOUTH
11. We can’t really know what God wants us to do unless it’s revealed to us from God. The revelation of his call came to John suddenly; “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.” Luke 3:1-2.
12. Of the Prophet Isaiah, it says, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings….And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!

For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

3. Once Isaiah got a personal revelation of the reality of God and dealt with his own personal issues, THEN he began to hear the voice of the Lord and received his calling from God. This is God’s pattern for us to follow.

III. GREAT IN HIS COURAGE

1. HE SPOKE WITH AUTHORITY
2. His vision of God and his knowledge of his purpose gave him the ability to speak God’s message with authority.
3. L. Moody stated, “I may be only a common man, but I pledge from this day forward to have an uncommon devotion to God!” His devotion made an incredible impact on his generation; ours can too.
4. Mark 1:5 tells the impact of his preaching; “The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.” This was quite a feat, people travelling many miles into desert country to hear a ragged man yell about judgment, but the attraction was the anointing of God on him!
5. Let’s don’t neglect to get the anointing of God on us. Simple prayer for God’s presence will make a lot of difference when you go to witness to someone!
6. HE REBUKED PEOPLE IN SIN
7. He rebuked the religious leaders (Sadducees and Pharisees) when they came to hear him. That’s a sure-fire way of becoming unpopular! He called them”You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Matt. 3:7.
8. John also rebuked King Herod, telling him it wasn’t lawful he should have his brother Philip’s wife.
9. What gave John such courage? He knew he had been entrusted with authority to speak for God. Christian, so have YOU! Jesus said, “As the Father has sent Me, so send I You.”
10. Jesus said, “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven” Mt. 10:32.
11. Let’s be courageous in our faith and unashamed to speak openly of our Savior, Jesus Christ!
12. GREAT IN HIS MENTORING

One of the greatest things about John was his mentoring. He gathered about him the most hungry and sincere seekers of God and taught them what he had learned.

When Jesus appeared on the scene, John pointed him out and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world.” Taking a cue from him, Andrew, the brother of Peter, who was one of John’s disciples, immediately followed Jesus and became His disciple. Many of John’s disciples became Jesus’ followers.

We’re not only to tell the good news, but to make disciples. Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (28:19).

One of the things that made John great was that he trained others who were to follow after him. Many of the early Christians had been John’s disciples.

Isaiah prophesied that he would “pave the way” for Christ. John did this by mentoring many of the people that eventually formed the early church. What a great legacy!

CONCLUSION

1. ILLUSTRATION
2. This is the true story of a soldier who was at Pearl Harbor. On the night before they were attacked by the Japanese imperial fleet, he and about 12 of his buddies went to a Bible study. He was asked to quote his favorite Scripture from memory. Although he had gone to church all of his life, he froze and couldn’t remember a single one. He had to say, “I’m sorry, I just don’t know any verses.”
3. He went home that evening, spiritually whipped. He thought, “Here I am. I’ve grown up in church and I can’t even remember a Scripture verse. I’m still a baby.”
4. Little did he know that on the next day the sirens would be raised high, and he would go to his battle station. He said, “I looked overhead and there was smoke all over the harbor, and those Japanese planes were flying all over us.”
5. He continued, “I grabbed my gun, but all we had in them was fake ammunition. But in panic, I grabbed my gun and fired into the air at the planes. I was firing blanks for 15 minutes.
6. And while I was there God spoke to me. God said to me, “That’s exactly how your life is; your life is full of blanks. There is no power, no effectiveness, no salt, no light, just blanks. And there’s a real enemy all around you bombing you a shooting you, but you have no power!”
7. The soldier said, “On the deck of that ship, I looked to God and said, “If You will let me live through this, I’ll get out of this baby carnal Christian stage, and I’m going to grow up and become Holy Spirit-filled so that I will no longer fire blanks in my life!”