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Saturday, September 12, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Common Needs
Ecclesiastes 4.
Last month one of my college buddies and his family came to visit us. It’s so great to have some folks in your life that you know, if push came to shove, if you really had no were to turn, and things were that bad, you could just say, "I need you," and they’d be there. Well, Sam is that kind of friend. When Robin and I were dating, and I was plotting my proposal, Sam and his wife Kim, me and Robin decided to go on a 3 day back packing trip. It was August. The hottest month of the year in our hemisphere. And I had a lot of camping experience. I can rub two squirrels together and make a fire, then roast the squirrels and eat them. (Squirrel is actually really good- I’m not joking.) It was HOT, so I figured, I’m gonna be carrying a lot of rock climbing equipment and other stuff, so I’m going to just take my sheet bag. My sheet bag was my brilliant idea that you don't really need a bulky heavy sleeping bag in August, you just need a sheet. So I sewed up a sheet into a bag, and off we went. We hiked all day and then found a beautiful spot to make camp. We made a fire, we ate a nice meal. The sun set, the fire died down, and they crawled into their bags, the three of them, and I, well, I crawled into my sheet. And then I got up and put on an extra t-shirt, and tied one around my head, and pulled by backpack up on me, and some climbing gear, and started stuffing leaves into my sheet bag, and I don't think I slept a wink that entire night. And in the morning, when they all awoke from their cozy slumber, I was already dead. They asked, "How’d you sleep George?" I informed them that it was only a slight exaggeration to say I froze to death.
And after another day hiking, that next night, because Robin and were not married yet, and because I knew Robin could not keep herself off of my now sweaty, dirty, stinky body after two days of hiking, my dear friend a brother in Christ Sam let me share his sleeping bag with him, and I slept very very well that night.
Now some of you respect me more for not sleep with Robin, some think less of me for keeping warm with Sam, all of you can agree that I’m an idiot for only taking a sheet bag with me, but I learned that night, how can one keep warm alone? But if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
We need to people. We work better in community. We get a better return. We can do more work, better work, when we work with another. In regard to the work of our church, to work of connecting with people who share a common need of God, we can not do this alone. The job is too great, the numbers too many. We need to do this together and get a better return. We need community because we fall down in life. We stumble, we fall, and it’s hard to get up. We need people at times in our life to pick us up from under our arms and to be our strength and get us on our feet again. WE need community to keep warm at night. In the darkness, in the cold, when we only have a sheet bag in life, we need community. When we are attacked, we need someone to have our back.
Folks, a cord of three strands can not quickly be broken. let me remind you of the three strands that how our Connection Groups together. Common Purpose, Place, Possessions. This flows directly out of the teaching of the bible and the way that the church came into existence. I hope that if your a regular and involved with Connections this passage is now very familiar to you,
The church had a purpose: devoted to God, to one another, to their neighbors, guided by scripture in everything. They had a place- they meet in worship at the temple, or for us a theatre, and they meet in homes. They were in such strong solidarity with one another they actually shared their possessions- giving so that the church flourished, and no one was in need. When we weave these strands together the strength of the church is UNBREAKABLE! The impact of this type of church, this type of community, was so astonishing that the church grew daily- people saw the witness of the church, were touched by the church, got involved with the church, gave their life to Jesus, got saved!
Today I want to talk about our purpose, and our purpose we break down in to three parts as well: to belong, to grow, to serve. I want to talk about how these three stands will make for an unbreakable and incredible experience in your life.
Our groups help us to fulfill the need to Belong. We all have a deep need to find a place of belonging. You need a place where you are you, and you are part of something bigger than yourself, you are so intimately a part and involved that when you are gone, the group says, we miss Joe, where is Mildred, has anyone heard from Dorkas (Yes, that really is a biblical name). At the same time, the one absent is saying, dag, I miss my group, I miss my friends, I want to be there.
1 Peter 2: 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
You’ve had that experience of stepping out of a dark theatre and into the light, and it hurts, it burns, you cringe and want to retreat back into the darkness, back into this theatre? We get so comfortable with the darkness sometimes, that we cringe from the light. We get so comfortable living outside of community and connection and true belonging to others that when we begin to step into it, our immediate reaction is to want to retreat.
Here’s the thing about this, here’s why you need this, and what I want to convince you- if you don’t think you need a place to belong, it’s because you have grown too accustomed to the dark, and the light of community, of belong, scares you. You have never had a place to belong, because once you have found a place of belonging, once you’ve experienced life together, as opposed to life in isolation, you realize that you can’t live without it. Once you come into the light, you may want to retreat to the dark at times, but you know, you know, life in the light is better.
I remember my coffee conversion experience. I had just gone off to college, but came back home for my birthday for a weekend. My uncle Ted bought me a coffee grinder, some beans, and a coffee drip. I opened it, I probably had that look, of oh, gee, thanks. But I don’t really like coffee. My uncle ted said, no George, you haven’t experienced coffee. I said sure I have, they have these big vats of coffee in the dining hall and the stuff tastes like- CRAP, he said. Yeah, that stuff is garbage. Here, let me show you how it works, let me help you experience coffee. SO we put the water on, ground some beans, poured the water on. He talked me through the whole process, he was firm, but he was a gentlemen. I breathed in the aroma, it was actually pretty good. We poured the cup. He recommended a little cream for a beginner like me. He warned me, the taste would shock me at first, but give it time. I sipped, I cringed, it was almost too much for my young virgin taste buds. He encouraged me to drink slowly. To savor the taste. With each sip I grew a little more accustomed to this new flavor. I went from doubt, to shock, to acclimation, and eventually, by the end of that cup, I was converted. I was hooked. I was and have been ever since a full-on coffee junkie. I need the stuff, i don;t think I can life without that black, bold, rich nectar of the gods. I’m getting dangerously close to idolatry!
Belonging in community is the same. It’s not that people don’t need it, it’s more that they have never experienced it, or just cheap lousy tasting knock-offs and excuses for real belonging. But once they do, they will become a believer. But the process can be difficult. I was converted to coffee in one cup, but belonging to community, belonging to the body of Christ, that often takes time because it is so radically different that the experience of so many lost in isolation and estrangement from community. People will literally cringe at their first taste of community. The will want to pull back and withdraw. They will slowly acclimate. But over the course of time we will say, how did I ever manage life without this deeper sense of belonging- belonging to Christ, belonging to a church, belonging to a group of people, belonging to something bigger than myself.
Just last weekend I was picking up some diapers and stuff for our second harvest ministry at my father in laws house. I always block out an hour or 2 when I drop by Dan’s house, because you are not going to get out of Dan’s house very easily. I load up my van with stuff and then I’m saying to myself, wait for it, it’s about to come... Boom, George, can you say for a cup of coffee- yes Dan, I am a coffee convert! We start to visit, then Dan says, there are some things I wanted to talk about with you George. And I’m like, oh great here it comes, the uncomfortable Father-in-law, son-in-law conversation, with the added discomfort that I’m his pastor, and he wants to talk with me about something. So I think, I can come up with any number of excuses right now. I’m a busy guy, I’ve got things to do, a church to run, heck, I just want to go and avoid the discomfort of this conversation. But I think to myself, you know, we kind of belong to each each other, I married his daughter, she now belongs to me, I am his pastor, we are in this together, so we go through it. And it’s stuff that none of us like. But if we belong to each other, and if we don;t want to live in the dark, but bring things into the light, and really really really have genuine belonging, then its good. And it was good. And we talked. Then finally I said Dan, I’m a very important guy, and I have a church to run, and people to shepherd, and I gotta go. But thanks for this talk. Thanks for wanting to live in the light.
You need a place to belong. You need a place to grow. Belonging says that we love you, we accept you, we embrace you just as you are. Growing says we love you so much we don;t want to see you stagnate and die. We love you too much to say I’m OK, you’re OK, let’s just all get along! Not reality folks. I’m not OK, you’re not OK, we have trouble getting along. But if we turn to Jesus, if we belong together in community, we can start growing and figuring out how we do this together. I will say this- I believe that foremost our groups are about belonging and this sense of community. But we need something more to move a group forward. We need something to guide us more than the people of the group. We need to be guided to grow in God.
Colossians 1: 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. We have a trajectory for groups to follow- to become more Christ like. People need to grow, groups need to grow. But we need to know what grow looks like. We need to know what the trajectory of growth is to be. So we have a common authority in the bible to direct our growth. Most groups, the standard group model we use, is to play off of the Sunday worship text and topic. The group takes time to be in God’s word together, to read over the texts, to grow in biblical knowledge, and to discuss what they are learning together. In fact, will say this- you will experience exponentially more growth getting into a group rather than just coming to worship. Here is where we hope you can be inspired to love God, to celebrate him, to confess to him, to renew your commitment to him- all that. This is about inspiration. But it is going to be in your group where you will experience personal involvement. You’ll be inspired here, but you get involved there. And when you decide to make that step in your spiritual formation, then you have positioned yourself for growth at a rate in a way that honestly, this just can’t touch.
We are still growing and evolving as a church, and as we do I believe this will come into more clarity, but let me say this- we are working on developing a picture of what that growth will really look like- First, and this is the easy part, we want you to grow in your THEOLOGY-in knowledge- your knowledge of the bible. You’ll learn about the big picture of the bible and the foundations of Christian faith and believe. You’ll learn about the creation, the fall, God’s plan of redemption, and the final plan of creation. You learn about God: father son and holy spirit. You learn the attributes of God the father. You’ll learn about the savior and our Lord Jesus Christ, his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection, his ascension, his return, he eternal reign. You’ll learn about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the spirit, the fruits of the spirit, the gifts of the spirit. You’ll learn learn about the nature of humanity. You learn about the nature of our sin. You’ll learn about the plan of salvation. You’ll learn about the church.
Second, and this gets a little harder, you’ll grow in your THEO-PRAXIS- your practice of actually being in Christ and in being the church- of worship, fellowship, evangelism, mission and service. You’ll learn about the practices of the Christian life- of prayer and fasting and giving and stewardship.
Last, and perhaps most personal and most difficult, You’ll grow in you own personal CHARACTER in the body of Christ. And I’ve only just scratched the surface folks. But over time we will bring more clarity and structure to our program so that you can put yourself on a course of growth in your formation in Christ. Growth is good! Healthy things grow. Dying things don;t grow. This is part of the purpose of these groups - to grow in Christ together.
To belong, to grow, and finally, to serve or reach out. 1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. Everyone one of us has something to offer to other people. Everyone of us is called to use the gifts God has given us for other people. We have been blessed to be a blessing. That the way it goes. More, we think serving and reaching out happens best when we do it as community. This is where get the best return on our work.
There’s a lot to say about, but here’s what it boils down to- we have decided to jump start the reaching out and service element of each group. My wife has made a contact with the London Food Bank and now each Connection Group has been asked to organized themselves to find a date and time to meet at the food bank, learn about their operation, and to help sort food and supplies for 2 hours on a weeknight or on a Saturday. So there you go. No more excuses. No more talk saying we really should do something. Everyone is full of good ideas and hopes and dreams. We have gone ahead and committed our church and our groups to actually do something. it’s a small thing, but maybe a thing that otherwise you would not do. A thing that might spin off into actually doing some other projects.
Belong- grow- serve. That is what the purpose of these groups are all about. We believe you need these purposes in your life. We believe you need this. I want to encourage you to make a step toward connection today.
If you look at that CG Catalog you’ll notice we have 9 groups formed and ready to go. At the very minimum groups have a host and a facilitator, that means we have at least 18 folks on board to provide leadership to these groups. But I’ll tell you that most groups have more- they have a team of hosts and teachers working and preparing a place for you. We have about 30 people involved in leadership in groups at some capacity. You’ll notice that we will also sign up as many as 20 people per group to start. If you do the math real quick, you’ll see that we have space for nearly 200 people in Connection Groups. You’ll also notice that at this stage Connections, when we’re all here, is a church of about 200 people. Huh, coincidence? I think not.
This is by design and desire. We are so committed to community, to home groups, to developing relationships and developing leaders that our teams has literally worked for hours and days and weeks to create a system, a structure for groups that has the potential to reach everyone, EVERYONE who comes to Connections and more.
If you are still exploring Jesus and what it really means to be follower of his, getting into a group is going to be like caffeine jolt in your journey. If you are a follower of Jesus, and you don;t have a place of community, if you are not in a group, I really believe that you are short changing yourself, and you are denying some of your brothers and sisters, you are denying the body of Christ, the blessing and benefit of you. I really do. I believe that strongly in this stuff. As much as I believe people need god and need a worship experience like this, I believe people need a group.
If you are a mature Christian we need you in a group. We need people over 50 in every group. We need mature Godly men and women who are will to be in a group and literally adopt and mentor and guide young people and young families. In fact,I think our church is probably short on older, mature Christians who can really offer something to all the young bucks and does bouncing around here.
We need kids in our groups, because kids help all of us keep it real, and kids need to see what Christian community really looks like. We need babies crying, and kids playing and tweens helping and teens participating.
We have created these groups because the bible teaches that Christians got together in groups in homes. We’ve structured our groups the way we have because we believe that we have to have a structure that doesn’t limit our growth, and doesn’t exclude anyone who wants to get involved. It’s not the only way to do community, and to do groups. But it’s our way. And we want you to be involved. It structured enough that there doesn’t have to be any guess work involved. It’s free enough for groups to work the system in a way that works for them.
Some of you, you are saying nope, no way, never, not gonna happen. Not gonna be in a group, not gonna start a group. And you now what, to that I just say you lack faith. You’re not a bad person. It’s not that you don’t love Jesus. But you lack faith. You rob yourself. You rob the church. Because really, we don;t ask much of you. I mean Jesus ask everything of you, but we don;t ask much of you. We ask you to be a part of worship and to bring your neighbors. We ask you to volunteer. We ask you to get in a home group. That’s what we do. That’s what we ask. And that’s what I’m asking of you right now.
Nate’s gonna play, you’re gonna look at your catalog, you’re gonna sign up, and we’ll all be blessed by connecting with one another.
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Last month one of my college buddies and his family came to visit us. It’s so great to have some folks in your life that you know, if push came to shove, if you really had no were to turn, and things were that bad, you could just say, "I need you," and they’d be there. Well, Sam is that kind of friend. When Robin and I were dating, and I was plotting my proposal, Sam and his wife Kim, me and Robin decided to go on a 3 day back packing trip. It was August. The hottest month of the year in our hemisphere. And I had a lot of camping experience. I can rub two squirrels together and make a fire, then roast the squirrels and eat them. (Squirrel is actually really good- I’m not joking.) It was HOT, so I figured, I’m gonna be carrying a lot of rock climbing equipment and other stuff, so I’m going to just take my sheet bag. My sheet bag was my brilliant idea that you don't really need a bulky heavy sleeping bag in August, you just need a sheet. So I sewed up a sheet into a bag, and off we went. We hiked all day and then found a beautiful spot to make camp. We made a fire, we ate a nice meal. The sun set, the fire died down, and they crawled into their bags, the three of them, and I, well, I crawled into my sheet. And then I got up and put on an extra t-shirt, and tied one around my head, and pulled by backpack up on me, and some climbing gear, and started stuffing leaves into my sheet bag, and I don't think I slept a wink that entire night. And in the morning, when they all awoke from their cozy slumber, I was already dead. They asked, "How’d you sleep George?" I informed them that it was only a slight exaggeration to say I froze to death.
And after another day hiking, that next night, because Robin and were not married yet, and because I knew Robin could not keep herself off of my now sweaty, dirty, stinky body after two days of hiking, my dear friend a brother in Christ Sam let me share his sleeping bag with him, and I slept very very well that night.
Now some of you respect me more for not sleep with Robin, some think less of me for keeping warm with Sam, all of you can agree that I’m an idiot for only taking a sheet bag with me, but I learned that night, how can one keep warm alone? But if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
We need to people. We work better in community. We get a better return. We can do more work, better work, when we work with another. In regard to the work of our church, to work of connecting with people who share a common need of God, we can not do this alone. The job is too great, the numbers too many. We need to do this together and get a better return. We need community because we fall down in life. We stumble, we fall, and it’s hard to get up. We need people at times in our life to pick us up from under our arms and to be our strength and get us on our feet again. WE need community to keep warm at night. In the darkness, in the cold, when we only have a sheet bag in life, we need community. When we are attacked, we need someone to have our back.
Folks, a cord of three strands can not quickly be broken. let me remind you of the three strands that how our Connection Groups together. Common Purpose, Place, Possessions. This flows directly out of the teaching of the bible and the way that the church came into existence. I hope that if your a regular and involved with Connections this passage is now very familiar to you,
Acts 2:42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The church had a purpose: devoted to God, to one another, to their neighbors, guided by scripture in everything. They had a place- they meet in worship at the temple, or for us a theatre, and they meet in homes. They were in such strong solidarity with one another they actually shared their possessions- giving so that the church flourished, and no one was in need. When we weave these strands together the strength of the church is UNBREAKABLE! The impact of this type of church, this type of community, was so astonishing that the church grew daily- people saw the witness of the church, were touched by the church, got involved with the church, gave their life to Jesus, got saved!
Today I want to talk about our purpose, and our purpose we break down in to three parts as well: to belong, to grow, to serve. I want to talk about how these three stands will make for an unbreakable and incredible experience in your life.
Our groups help us to fulfill the need to Belong. We all have a deep need to find a place of belonging. You need a place where you are you, and you are part of something bigger than yourself, you are so intimately a part and involved that when you are gone, the group says, we miss Joe, where is Mildred, has anyone heard from Dorkas (Yes, that really is a biblical name). At the same time, the one absent is saying, dag, I miss my group, I miss my friends, I want to be there.
1 Peter 2: 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
You’ve had that experience of stepping out of a dark theatre and into the light, and it hurts, it burns, you cringe and want to retreat back into the darkness, back into this theatre? We get so comfortable with the darkness sometimes, that we cringe from the light. We get so comfortable living outside of community and connection and true belonging to others that when we begin to step into it, our immediate reaction is to want to retreat.
Here’s the thing about this, here’s why you need this, and what I want to convince you- if you don’t think you need a place to belong, it’s because you have grown too accustomed to the dark, and the light of community, of belong, scares you. You have never had a place to belong, because once you have found a place of belonging, once you’ve experienced life together, as opposed to life in isolation, you realize that you can’t live without it. Once you come into the light, you may want to retreat to the dark at times, but you know, you know, life in the light is better.
I remember my coffee conversion experience. I had just gone off to college, but came back home for my birthday for a weekend. My uncle Ted bought me a coffee grinder, some beans, and a coffee drip. I opened it, I probably had that look, of oh, gee, thanks. But I don’t really like coffee. My uncle ted said, no George, you haven’t experienced coffee. I said sure I have, they have these big vats of coffee in the dining hall and the stuff tastes like- CRAP, he said. Yeah, that stuff is garbage. Here, let me show you how it works, let me help you experience coffee. SO we put the water on, ground some beans, poured the water on. He talked me through the whole process, he was firm, but he was a gentlemen. I breathed in the aroma, it was actually pretty good. We poured the cup. He recommended a little cream for a beginner like me. He warned me, the taste would shock me at first, but give it time. I sipped, I cringed, it was almost too much for my young virgin taste buds. He encouraged me to drink slowly. To savor the taste. With each sip I grew a little more accustomed to this new flavor. I went from doubt, to shock, to acclimation, and eventually, by the end of that cup, I was converted. I was hooked. I was and have been ever since a full-on coffee junkie. I need the stuff, i don;t think I can life without that black, bold, rich nectar of the gods. I’m getting dangerously close to idolatry!
Belonging in community is the same. It’s not that people don’t need it, it’s more that they have never experienced it, or just cheap lousy tasting knock-offs and excuses for real belonging. But once they do, they will become a believer. But the process can be difficult. I was converted to coffee in one cup, but belonging to community, belonging to the body of Christ, that often takes time because it is so radically different that the experience of so many lost in isolation and estrangement from community. People will literally cringe at their first taste of community. The will want to pull back and withdraw. They will slowly acclimate. But over the course of time we will say, how did I ever manage life without this deeper sense of belonging- belonging to Christ, belonging to a church, belonging to a group of people, belonging to something bigger than myself.
Just last weekend I was picking up some diapers and stuff for our second harvest ministry at my father in laws house. I always block out an hour or 2 when I drop by Dan’s house, because you are not going to get out of Dan’s house very easily. I load up my van with stuff and then I’m saying to myself, wait for it, it’s about to come... Boom, George, can you say for a cup of coffee- yes Dan, I am a coffee convert! We start to visit, then Dan says, there are some things I wanted to talk about with you George. And I’m like, oh great here it comes, the uncomfortable Father-in-law, son-in-law conversation, with the added discomfort that I’m his pastor, and he wants to talk with me about something. So I think, I can come up with any number of excuses right now. I’m a busy guy, I’ve got things to do, a church to run, heck, I just want to go and avoid the discomfort of this conversation. But I think to myself, you know, we kind of belong to each each other, I married his daughter, she now belongs to me, I am his pastor, we are in this together, so we go through it. And it’s stuff that none of us like. But if we belong to each other, and if we don;t want to live in the dark, but bring things into the light, and really really really have genuine belonging, then its good. And it was good. And we talked. Then finally I said Dan, I’m a very important guy, and I have a church to run, and people to shepherd, and I gotta go. But thanks for this talk. Thanks for wanting to live in the light.
You need a place to belong. You need a place to grow. Belonging says that we love you, we accept you, we embrace you just as you are. Growing says we love you so much we don;t want to see you stagnate and die. We love you too much to say I’m OK, you’re OK, let’s just all get along! Not reality folks. I’m not OK, you’re not OK, we have trouble getting along. But if we turn to Jesus, if we belong together in community, we can start growing and figuring out how we do this together. I will say this- I believe that foremost our groups are about belonging and this sense of community. But we need something more to move a group forward. We need something to guide us more than the people of the group. We need to be guided to grow in God.
Colossians 1: 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. We have a trajectory for groups to follow- to become more Christ like. People need to grow, groups need to grow. But we need to know what grow looks like. We need to know what the trajectory of growth is to be. So we have a common authority in the bible to direct our growth. Most groups, the standard group model we use, is to play off of the Sunday worship text and topic. The group takes time to be in God’s word together, to read over the texts, to grow in biblical knowledge, and to discuss what they are learning together. In fact, will say this- you will experience exponentially more growth getting into a group rather than just coming to worship. Here is where we hope you can be inspired to love God, to celebrate him, to confess to him, to renew your commitment to him- all that. This is about inspiration. But it is going to be in your group where you will experience personal involvement. You’ll be inspired here, but you get involved there. And when you decide to make that step in your spiritual formation, then you have positioned yourself for growth at a rate in a way that honestly, this just can’t touch.
We are still growing and evolving as a church, and as we do I believe this will come into more clarity, but let me say this- we are working on developing a picture of what that growth will really look like- First, and this is the easy part, we want you to grow in your THEOLOGY-in knowledge- your knowledge of the bible. You’ll learn about the big picture of the bible and the foundations of Christian faith and believe. You’ll learn about the creation, the fall, God’s plan of redemption, and the final plan of creation. You learn about God: father son and holy spirit. You learn the attributes of God the father. You’ll learn about the savior and our Lord Jesus Christ, his life, his ministry, his death and resurrection, his ascension, his return, he eternal reign. You’ll learn about the person and work of the Holy Spirit, being filled with the spirit, the fruits of the spirit, the gifts of the spirit. You’ll learn learn about the nature of humanity. You learn about the nature of our sin. You’ll learn about the plan of salvation. You’ll learn about the church.
Second, and this gets a little harder, you’ll grow in your THEO-PRAXIS- your practice of actually being in Christ and in being the church- of worship, fellowship, evangelism, mission and service. You’ll learn about the practices of the Christian life- of prayer and fasting and giving and stewardship.
Last, and perhaps most personal and most difficult, You’ll grow in you own personal CHARACTER in the body of Christ. And I’ve only just scratched the surface folks. But over time we will bring more clarity and structure to our program so that you can put yourself on a course of growth in your formation in Christ. Growth is good! Healthy things grow. Dying things don;t grow. This is part of the purpose of these groups - to grow in Christ together.
To belong, to grow, and finally, to serve or reach out. 1 Peter 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. Everyone one of us has something to offer to other people. Everyone of us is called to use the gifts God has given us for other people. We have been blessed to be a blessing. That the way it goes. More, we think serving and reaching out happens best when we do it as community. This is where get the best return on our work.
There’s a lot to say about, but here’s what it boils down to- we have decided to jump start the reaching out and service element of each group. My wife has made a contact with the London Food Bank and now each Connection Group has been asked to organized themselves to find a date and time to meet at the food bank, learn about their operation, and to help sort food and supplies for 2 hours on a weeknight or on a Saturday. So there you go. No more excuses. No more talk saying we really should do something. Everyone is full of good ideas and hopes and dreams. We have gone ahead and committed our church and our groups to actually do something. it’s a small thing, but maybe a thing that otherwise you would not do. A thing that might spin off into actually doing some other projects.
Belong- grow- serve. That is what the purpose of these groups are all about. We believe you need these purposes in your life. We believe you need this. I want to encourage you to make a step toward connection today.
If you look at that CG Catalog you’ll notice we have 9 groups formed and ready to go. At the very minimum groups have a host and a facilitator, that means we have at least 18 folks on board to provide leadership to these groups. But I’ll tell you that most groups have more- they have a team of hosts and teachers working and preparing a place for you. We have about 30 people involved in leadership in groups at some capacity. You’ll notice that we will also sign up as many as 20 people per group to start. If you do the math real quick, you’ll see that we have space for nearly 200 people in Connection Groups. You’ll also notice that at this stage Connections, when we’re all here, is a church of about 200 people. Huh, coincidence? I think not.
This is by design and desire. We are so committed to community, to home groups, to developing relationships and developing leaders that our teams has literally worked for hours and days and weeks to create a system, a structure for groups that has the potential to reach everyone, EVERYONE who comes to Connections and more.
If you are still exploring Jesus and what it really means to be follower of his, getting into a group is going to be like caffeine jolt in your journey. If you are a follower of Jesus, and you don;t have a place of community, if you are not in a group, I really believe that you are short changing yourself, and you are denying some of your brothers and sisters, you are denying the body of Christ, the blessing and benefit of you. I really do. I believe that strongly in this stuff. As much as I believe people need god and need a worship experience like this, I believe people need a group.
If you are a mature Christian we need you in a group. We need people over 50 in every group. We need mature Godly men and women who are will to be in a group and literally adopt and mentor and guide young people and young families. In fact,I think our church is probably short on older, mature Christians who can really offer something to all the young bucks and does bouncing around here.
We need kids in our groups, because kids help all of us keep it real, and kids need to see what Christian community really looks like. We need babies crying, and kids playing and tweens helping and teens participating.
We have created these groups because the bible teaches that Christians got together in groups in homes. We’ve structured our groups the way we have because we believe that we have to have a structure that doesn’t limit our growth, and doesn’t exclude anyone who wants to get involved. It’s not the only way to do community, and to do groups. But it’s our way. And we want you to be involved. It structured enough that there doesn’t have to be any guess work involved. It’s free enough for groups to work the system in a way that works for them.
Some of you, you are saying nope, no way, never, not gonna happen. Not gonna be in a group, not gonna start a group. And you now what, to that I just say you lack faith. You’re not a bad person. It’s not that you don’t love Jesus. But you lack faith. You rob yourself. You rob the church. Because really, we don;t ask much of you. I mean Jesus ask everything of you, but we don;t ask much of you. We ask you to be a part of worship and to bring your neighbors. We ask you to volunteer. We ask you to get in a home group. That’s what we do. That’s what we ask. And that’s what I’m asking of you right now.
Nate’s gonna play, you’re gonna look at your catalog, you’re gonna sign up, and we’ll all be blessed by connecting with one another.
Monday, August 31, 2009
MANIFESTO- Week 12: Follow Me...
12 weeks ago I started with the last story of the MANIFESTO (Matthew 5-7), the story Jesus teaches of two men- one builds his house foolishly on the sand, the other builds wisely on the rock. Into both lives, because in all lives, a storm hits. The house built on the sand is swept away. the house built on the rock stands. The house, the life, built on Jesus, stands. We don’t escape the storms of life- we weather the storms of life. We survive the storms of life.
What Jesus has taught in these chapters is not esoteric and out there. These are not the dis-connected musing and random thoughts of someone who knows nothing about life and relationships and the realities of our world. This stuff is intensely practical. this stuff is intense applicable. This stuff changes our lives and changes the world when we live it out! Which is why I started with the end in mind to say- this stuff has the change you. You need to do this stuff. We don’t just need to hear this stuff, we need to do this stuff. That’s the whole point. Just hearing what Jesus teaches, that so 2008; doing, that’s so 3000 and late!
So I put it this way- we need to be Outliers. That’s taken from Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book- Outliers are people who stand on the fringe, they are different, they are special. They are connected to the whole, but different enough, unique enough, that they lay outside the norm, or the average. That captures so much of what Jesus wants to do with us- connected, but set apart; unique and different, in a good way.
I put it this way- What’s just about the worst thing, the most stinging comment that could be said of someone who proclaims to be a fully-devoted follower of Jesus? “Why, you’re just like everyone else.” That remark would not only be preposterous, it really should be impossible. To call oneself a fully devoted follower of Jesus, and I realize fully that not everyone is willing to say that about yourself, is to be a different kind of person. To be fully devoted to Jesus, to do this stuff and put it into practice, fundamentally changes us and changes our lives. And if you haven’t been changed, you’ve kinda missed the boat.
So I want to ask you, how have you changed this summer? What looks different in your life because of this? If you’ve been with us, this is a recap of some things we’ve talked about. If you are new or visiting, you’re lucky, you get the hyper-speed recap of this section of scripture. But let me break it down into some categories of being changed- do you now think differently, live differently, or believe differently?
Jesus has been challenging and changing some of fundamental ideas about God and life. So do you think differently about something? Jesus challenged us to think differently about a blessed life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted for righteousness sake. These are the people who are and will be blessed. How do you think about your life- are you salt and light in the world. Has this changed your behavior in any area? Salt and light change things. Salt penetrates and permeates and halts the decay that rots our food. Are you penetrating the rotting places of our world, or peoples lives, bringing life, preservation, even bringing flavor and zest and making it better than it was before? That’s what salt does. Are you light dispelling the darkness that clocks our world and so many lives? Jesus thinks that way about you. Jesus beleives you can make that kind of a difference. Jesus thinks you are that special, that wonderful, that amazing. Jesus thinks you can do that. What do you think about yourself? Your life, the difference you can make. if you haven’t changed in the way you think about yourself in some significant ways. If your thinking hasn’t come more into alignment with what Jesus thinks about you, you’ve kinda missed the point. If you behavior hasn’t be changed by new beliefs about the blessed life, abut being salt and light, well...
Are you living differently now than compared to 12 weeks ago, because Jesus wants to change the way you live for better, for good, for his glory and the blessing and benefit of the world. Are you living differently. Sure, you’re not a murderer, but have you gotten rid of the anger that has lived in your soul for so long? You live a relatively moral and upright life, but have you begun to purge from your heart the lust that drives you to objectify men or women, that dehumanizes other image bearers, that pulls you to porn, or adultery? Have you worked on your lying issues? Have you decided it’s always better to be open, honest, in the light, because being truthful always looks best to God. In fact, you now realize, that being truthful, even when the truth hurts, even makes you look better in the eyes of people because all of us hate hypocrisy. Have you decided to love one of your enemies- to embrace the fact that Christ died for your enemy so they might know the love of God, and that if Christ died for that person, the least you can do is try to make peace with them? Ann Lamont has a great quote, “You can be very sure of this- the person that you hate the most is the person that Jesus wants you to love the most.” That’s brutal.
How about money? Jesus really challenged us to change our relationship with money. Is your first priority with money giving to God and giving to the needy? If not, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Give back to God, give to the needy, help the poor, leverage your money for doing right in the world. Have you begun to break the hold that money has on your heart, to not let it be your master, but to maser your money, to make it your tool for God’s work in the world? Are you actually storing up treasures in heaven now by investing in the things of God. How about prayer and fasting. Have you tried fasting? Have you tried prayer the way Jesus taught us in the sermon? Have you let go of your worry and begun to build faith and trust in God.
There’s a good one- let’s be honest with ourselves right now- do we trust God more now than we did 12 weeks ago? Remember when we talked about prayer for two weeks. We talked about getting an answer to prayer story in our lives, and how that can be an absolute game changer for our lives, that will help is deal with worry, and grow in faith in incredible ways- so do you have an answer to prayer story in your life yet? That’s gonna change you.
The Manifesto messes with our beliefs. It tells us to believe the most important thing we can do in this world is to invest in the next. It teaches us to believe that heaven is at hand when we take hold of Jesus. It tell us to believe that there is a purpose to our success, and our suffering, and that we will in fact suffer for Jesus. We will. All of us will suffer for the cause of Christ when we are fully devoted to him. What do you believe now about heaven and hell, about your relationship with god, about your relationship to people?
The point is be be transformed, to be changed, to be different. Not for the simple sake of being different, but that the fully devoted follower of Jesus is so profoundly changed by Jesus that our lives, almost just by default, begin to look and feel and effect everything around us. If you have not been changed, you have missed the point. But great news- it’s not too late for you.
I have been immersed in the MANIFESTO this summer, reading and re-reading and studying these words, and you can’t do that and not be changed. You can’t do that and start to question, well, everything. The bad news is that I have to conclude that I still think being blessed means being happy, healthy and wealthy. I still have anger issues. I still have lust issues. I still hold grudges against some people, and they are hard to let go. I still hold on too tightly to my money even though I give more than 10% away. i still catch myself praying like a hypocrite and a pagan half the time. I still want to make a show of my religion sometimes, like that impressed God or man. I still store up treasures on earth and have not completely put my ambition and focus onto heaven, which, ironically, would allow me to be even more fully present to the here and now. I still worry about a lot of stuff. I still judge other people. i still do not do to others as i wish they would do to me, even though I know that is the best way to live. I still bear some bad fruit in my life. That’s the bad news.
But here’s the good news. No, the incredibly awesome earth shattering, this is the greatest news ever that everyone needs to know- I think I’m getting better. I’m getting better because I’m getting closer to Jesus. I’m getting better because more and more I’m not relying on my own strength, but I’m leaning on Jesus. I’m accepting his forgiveness. I’m embracing his call. I’m following him! And that’s the point! The MANIFESTO in one amazing sweep does two things in my life- it makes me so painfully aware that I am more sinful that I can even grasp. I fall so short of this ideal that Jesus lays out for my life that I will never attain. But at the same time, I begin to understand and accept that I am more loved by God than I have yet to imagine. I’m more sinful that I dare to admit, but more loved by God than I can imagine.
You see, everyone who reads the Manifesto, everyone who hears about or studies the life of Christ is impressed. His teaching is amazing. His compassion inspiring. His death on a cross compelling. It’s probably impossible to give an honest look at Jesus and not be impressed. Many people who do not call themselves followers of Jesus, are impressed, inspired and even effected with the teachings here. They see in this Manifesto a better way to life and do life together. They see a paradigm for community and relationships that if implemented, would serve for the greater good of all people. A world not just without murder, but without anger. A world not just without war, but with peace. Not just without greed, but with generosity. Not just without judgment, but with genuine love. They can see how deep Jesus wants us to go.
But the whole point of this manifesto is that we we can go there without Jesus. The whole point is that the change that Jesus wants to work in us is so deep, so deep it goes beyond jsut tweaking our thinking, tweaking our doing, tweaking our beliefs. The change that Jesus wants to work in us is so deep that it means we have to completely give our lives to Him. We have to come into a relationship with him. We have to become followers of his. Matthew records for us what the point was. He wrote this, and this is so important. I did not see, i did not get this, until this week. I could have easily missed this last part, but it may now be the most important thing for us to see.
The people were rightly amazed at his teaching. Well they should have been, and has been generations of people. But more than his words, they were amazed at the authority of the man. More than his words, they were amazed and awe-struck by the man self, but Jesus. And that folks, is the whole point. To be amazed by jesus, and to follow him. To become not just an advocate of his teaching, a fan of his words, but a follower of his.
As you read over the sermon, and if you’ve been doing that this summer, things about Jesus begin to emerge. Things that tell us, this isn’t just about ideas or beliefs or changing the way we do things. Jesus is saying things about himself that go far deeper. Things about himself that tell us he’s not just about teaching us new stuff. He was all together and entirely different. Let me walk you back through and show you what emerges, and what makes Jesus so different.
When the prophets of the old testament spoke for God they would preface their words by saying, “Thus says the LORD...” They spoke with the authority of God on behalf of God. When the scribes taught they quoted the law and the prophets, and other teachers to try and build their case. But when Jesus taught, he claimed sole authority. In chapter 5 we saw the pattern over and over again, “You have hear... But I say to you...” Jesus said a new thing. Jesus gave the authoritative interpretation. And it was like nothing they had heard before. It was AUTHORITY.
Jesus claimed the authority of the Christ. The people were waiting for the Messiah, the Christ, the one from God. When Jesus began the sermon he said, “I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.” Of course others had said this before. Every generation would have a so-called Messiah. Jesus claimed this title, then he taught, then the people followed him. Essentially they were saying, OK Jesus, we’ll buy in. We’ll follow. We are willing to say, for now, that you might in fact be the Christ. Well, 2000 years later, without interruption, more and more have said I too will follow and believe that you are the Christ.
Jesus claimed the authority of the LORD. People through the title Lord around as a sign of respect, but it could mean so much more. In chapter 7 Jesus embraces it as so much more. People call out to Him Lord LORD. So as to not miss the point the title is repeated for emphasis- Jesus is LORD! He rules, he reigns, he is in charge.
Jesus claimed the authority to Judge. When people call upon him as LORD LORD, he portrays himself seated in Judgement. What what is basis for Judgement? Himself. The people say we did all sorts of things in your name, we knew your teaching, we admired your example. But Jesus says, I never knew YOU. The point wasn’t just to do what I told you, though that was a huge part of the point. The point was to enter into a relationship with me, then to do the things I told you.
As Jesus has the authority to Judge, he has the authority to save. And he offers us the gift of salvation. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. This is how Jesus invites us to relate to him. I love how it increases intensity. Ask, and you’ll receive the gift of salvation. Seek it, and you’ll find it. Knock, and the doors of heaven will swing wide open to you through men, through Jesus.
Finally, Jesus the son of God. Jesus has authority as a teacher, as the Christ, as the LORD, as Judge, as savior because he has the authority of being the Son of God. We see this imbedded in the teaching here. Over and over again he tells us, and offers us this father relationship with God. When Jesus teaches the followers to pray he says to pray like this, “Our father.” And this runs all throughout the sermon: Your father knows what you need, you father watches over you, your father counts the hairs on your head, your father sees what done is secret and will reward you. But in his last statement in chapter 7 it’s almost like he slips, but its not a slip, it there for this reason- he claims a unique relationship with God, calling him MY father. We only relate to God as father through the invitation of Jesus the SON. And Jesus will always have that unique and foremost relationship as the son of God, because he is one with God.
All this to say- the final call of the manifesto is not to simply affirm or even apply these teachings of Jesus. That would mean that this is simply a lecture and this is simly an academic exercise. No, it goes much deeper than that, it always goes much deeper in this manifesto. The final words of the manifesto are not just a concept or idea or moral absolute. They are an invitation. An invitation to embrace Jesus, to build your life upon him because it’s the wisest thing to do, but even more, to follow him. That is why over and over and over again we have used the phrase- to be a fully devoted follower of jesus. Not just a believer in the teachings of Jesus, not even a doer of the teachings of jesus, but a follower. Jesus is looking for followers. Jesus is inviting you to follow him.
That’s what many did starting from that day. They followed Jesus as he traveled from town to town, preaching the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand- so repent, turn, follow me. Jesus healed the sick and the people loved him. he calmed a storm and the people were afraid of him. he cast our demons and whole towns asked him to leave them alone. He invited rich men to leave everythign and follow him, and he did. He invited another rich young man to sell everything and follow him, and he didn’t. he brought a dead girl back to life, and folks hardly knew what to make of him. He sent out his followers, and they performed miracles in his name. He feed thousands by performing miracles and the people loved him. He challenged the status quo of the religious systems, and the people turned against him.
And on the night before Jesus was to be betrayed and he would willingly lay down his life, and allow himself to be handed to his enemies, placed on trial, tortured, beaten, mocked and hung on a cross to die, on the night before the day that the world would see in one act the worst sin of humanity every displayed, and the greatest love of God ever demonstrated, before that day, Jesus gathered with his disciples.
He took a loaf of bread and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and he said take and eat, this is my body, broken for you. And he took a cup and poured it out for them and said this cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood which is shed for you, and for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.
And the next day he was crucified, he died, and he was buried. And three days later, when the women who followed Jesus came to the tomb to see is body, they encountered the rise and living Jesus. And Jesus appeared to his followers, and when he was with them he broke bread, and he offered them the cup.
And for some 2000 years now this has been the practice of the church. this is how we remember Jesus. But more, this is how we can experience Jesus. Thsi is how we come to Jesus and we say we don;t just want good teaching Jesus, we want you. We want you Jesus.
And if you’ve never made that step of faith before, this is the perfect way to do it. This is the perfect way to say Jesus, today, I want to make that leap, and become a follower of yours. When yo come forward to take communion, to take just this little bit of bread, and a little bit of this cup, this is an express of something happening deep within you.
First, by coming forward, you are making a statement. You are professing your faith in Jesus, you are professing your need of Jesus. You are announcing to the world, I stand for Jesus. Jesus says this act of faith is rewarded. He says that anyone who does not deny him before teh world, he will not deny before teh father. When we stand before God, Jesus will say we’ve already been here before. You stood before teh table, you stood before God, and you embraced me.
You are saying Jesus, I embrace your body. I embrace that you, the son of God, took on human flesh, and that you allowed that flesh to be broken and torn for me. And as I embrace the bread, i am begin embraced by your body. You are becoming one with me, as I am being one with you.
You are saying jesus, i embrace this cup, the forgiveness of my sins. Because Jesus, I’m a sinner, and I need that. I need your forgiveness, I need the price of sin paid, the weight of sin lifted, the stain of sin washed away, the consequences of sin meet in your sacrificial death. I need You Jesus.
This the table of our Lord, and he invites you to meet him here at this table, and to be a follower of his. If you have done this before, i know, i know, you are ready to dig in, you are ready to say yes to Jesus once again. You are ready for this bread and this cup, you love this bread and this cup and what it means, and what it does in you.
But some of you maybe have never done this before. Because maybe you have never said Jesus, I’m all in. I going to be a follower of yours. Without pushing it or forcing it on you, today I simply invite you, I invite as Jesus invites you. Come to to table. Follow Jesus. Everyone, everyone who can simply say Jesus, I believe, is welcomed to come.
If you are not there yet, nobody is going to judge you, nobody is going to look down on you. For just as you are respecting what this means, we will respect that you are still on the journey, and we’re just so glad your sharing it with us.
The band is going to play. I invite you to come to the table closest to you, to take a piece of the bread, to dip it into the cup, to eat, then to return to your seat. You’ll bump into folks, it’s kinda crazy, that’s ok, that’s what the church is like sometimes, that’s how family goes sometimes.
What Jesus has taught in these chapters is not esoteric and out there. These are not the dis-connected musing and random thoughts of someone who knows nothing about life and relationships and the realities of our world. This stuff is intensely practical. this stuff is intense applicable. This stuff changes our lives and changes the world when we live it out! Which is why I started with the end in mind to say- this stuff has the change you. You need to do this stuff. We don’t just need to hear this stuff, we need to do this stuff. That’s the whole point. Just hearing what Jesus teaches, that so 2008; doing, that’s so 3000 and late!
So I put it this way- we need to be Outliers. That’s taken from Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book- Outliers are people who stand on the fringe, they are different, they are special. They are connected to the whole, but different enough, unique enough, that they lay outside the norm, or the average. That captures so much of what Jesus wants to do with us- connected, but set apart; unique and different, in a good way.
I put it this way- What’s just about the worst thing, the most stinging comment that could be said of someone who proclaims to be a fully-devoted follower of Jesus? “Why, you’re just like everyone else.” That remark would not only be preposterous, it really should be impossible. To call oneself a fully devoted follower of Jesus, and I realize fully that not everyone is willing to say that about yourself, is to be a different kind of person. To be fully devoted to Jesus, to do this stuff and put it into practice, fundamentally changes us and changes our lives. And if you haven’t been changed, you’ve kinda missed the boat.
So I want to ask you, how have you changed this summer? What looks different in your life because of this? If you’ve been with us, this is a recap of some things we’ve talked about. If you are new or visiting, you’re lucky, you get the hyper-speed recap of this section of scripture. But let me break it down into some categories of being changed- do you now think differently, live differently, or believe differently?
Jesus has been challenging and changing some of fundamental ideas about God and life. So do you think differently about something? Jesus challenged us to think differently about a blessed life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted for righteousness sake. These are the people who are and will be blessed. How do you think about your life- are you salt and light in the world. Has this changed your behavior in any area? Salt and light change things. Salt penetrates and permeates and halts the decay that rots our food. Are you penetrating the rotting places of our world, or peoples lives, bringing life, preservation, even bringing flavor and zest and making it better than it was before? That’s what salt does. Are you light dispelling the darkness that clocks our world and so many lives? Jesus thinks that way about you. Jesus beleives you can make that kind of a difference. Jesus thinks you are that special, that wonderful, that amazing. Jesus thinks you can do that. What do you think about yourself? Your life, the difference you can make. if you haven’t changed in the way you think about yourself in some significant ways. If your thinking hasn’t come more into alignment with what Jesus thinks about you, you’ve kinda missed the point. If you behavior hasn’t be changed by new beliefs about the blessed life, abut being salt and light, well...
Are you living differently now than compared to 12 weeks ago, because Jesus wants to change the way you live for better, for good, for his glory and the blessing and benefit of the world. Are you living differently. Sure, you’re not a murderer, but have you gotten rid of the anger that has lived in your soul for so long? You live a relatively moral and upright life, but have you begun to purge from your heart the lust that drives you to objectify men or women, that dehumanizes other image bearers, that pulls you to porn, or adultery? Have you worked on your lying issues? Have you decided it’s always better to be open, honest, in the light, because being truthful always looks best to God. In fact, you now realize, that being truthful, even when the truth hurts, even makes you look better in the eyes of people because all of us hate hypocrisy. Have you decided to love one of your enemies- to embrace the fact that Christ died for your enemy so they might know the love of God, and that if Christ died for that person, the least you can do is try to make peace with them? Ann Lamont has a great quote, “You can be very sure of this- the person that you hate the most is the person that Jesus wants you to love the most.” That’s brutal.
How about money? Jesus really challenged us to change our relationship with money. Is your first priority with money giving to God and giving to the needy? If not, that’s what it’s supposed to be. Give back to God, give to the needy, help the poor, leverage your money for doing right in the world. Have you begun to break the hold that money has on your heart, to not let it be your master, but to maser your money, to make it your tool for God’s work in the world? Are you actually storing up treasures in heaven now by investing in the things of God. How about prayer and fasting. Have you tried fasting? Have you tried prayer the way Jesus taught us in the sermon? Have you let go of your worry and begun to build faith and trust in God.
There’s a good one- let’s be honest with ourselves right now- do we trust God more now than we did 12 weeks ago? Remember when we talked about prayer for two weeks. We talked about getting an answer to prayer story in our lives, and how that can be an absolute game changer for our lives, that will help is deal with worry, and grow in faith in incredible ways- so do you have an answer to prayer story in your life yet? That’s gonna change you.
The Manifesto messes with our beliefs. It tells us to believe the most important thing we can do in this world is to invest in the next. It teaches us to believe that heaven is at hand when we take hold of Jesus. It tell us to believe that there is a purpose to our success, and our suffering, and that we will in fact suffer for Jesus. We will. All of us will suffer for the cause of Christ when we are fully devoted to him. What do you believe now about heaven and hell, about your relationship with god, about your relationship to people?
The point is be be transformed, to be changed, to be different. Not for the simple sake of being different, but that the fully devoted follower of Jesus is so profoundly changed by Jesus that our lives, almost just by default, begin to look and feel and effect everything around us. If you have not been changed, you have missed the point. But great news- it’s not too late for you.
I have been immersed in the MANIFESTO this summer, reading and re-reading and studying these words, and you can’t do that and not be changed. You can’t do that and start to question, well, everything. The bad news is that I have to conclude that I still think being blessed means being happy, healthy and wealthy. I still have anger issues. I still have lust issues. I still hold grudges against some people, and they are hard to let go. I still hold on too tightly to my money even though I give more than 10% away. i still catch myself praying like a hypocrite and a pagan half the time. I still want to make a show of my religion sometimes, like that impressed God or man. I still store up treasures on earth and have not completely put my ambition and focus onto heaven, which, ironically, would allow me to be even more fully present to the here and now. I still worry about a lot of stuff. I still judge other people. i still do not do to others as i wish they would do to me, even though I know that is the best way to live. I still bear some bad fruit in my life. That’s the bad news.
But here’s the good news. No, the incredibly awesome earth shattering, this is the greatest news ever that everyone needs to know- I think I’m getting better. I’m getting better because I’m getting closer to Jesus. I’m getting better because more and more I’m not relying on my own strength, but I’m leaning on Jesus. I’m accepting his forgiveness. I’m embracing his call. I’m following him! And that’s the point! The MANIFESTO in one amazing sweep does two things in my life- it makes me so painfully aware that I am more sinful that I can even grasp. I fall so short of this ideal that Jesus lays out for my life that I will never attain. But at the same time, I begin to understand and accept that I am more loved by God than I have yet to imagine. I’m more sinful that I dare to admit, but more loved by God than I can imagine.
You see, everyone who reads the Manifesto, everyone who hears about or studies the life of Christ is impressed. His teaching is amazing. His compassion inspiring. His death on a cross compelling. It’s probably impossible to give an honest look at Jesus and not be impressed. Many people who do not call themselves followers of Jesus, are impressed, inspired and even effected with the teachings here. They see in this Manifesto a better way to life and do life together. They see a paradigm for community and relationships that if implemented, would serve for the greater good of all people. A world not just without murder, but without anger. A world not just without war, but with peace. Not just without greed, but with generosity. Not just without judgment, but with genuine love. They can see how deep Jesus wants us to go.
But the whole point of this manifesto is that we we can go there without Jesus. The whole point is that the change that Jesus wants to work in us is so deep, so deep it goes beyond jsut tweaking our thinking, tweaking our doing, tweaking our beliefs. The change that Jesus wants to work in us is so deep that it means we have to completely give our lives to Him. We have to come into a relationship with him. We have to become followers of his. Matthew records for us what the point was. He wrote this, and this is so important. I did not see, i did not get this, until this week. I could have easily missed this last part, but it may now be the most important thing for us to see.
7:28-8:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him...
The people were rightly amazed at his teaching. Well they should have been, and has been generations of people. But more than his words, they were amazed at the authority of the man. More than his words, they were amazed and awe-struck by the man self, but Jesus. And that folks, is the whole point. To be amazed by jesus, and to follow him. To become not just an advocate of his teaching, a fan of his words, but a follower of his.
As you read over the sermon, and if you’ve been doing that this summer, things about Jesus begin to emerge. Things that tell us, this isn’t just about ideas or beliefs or changing the way we do things. Jesus is saying things about himself that go far deeper. Things about himself that tell us he’s not just about teaching us new stuff. He was all together and entirely different. Let me walk you back through and show you what emerges, and what makes Jesus so different.
When the prophets of the old testament spoke for God they would preface their words by saying, “Thus says the LORD...” They spoke with the authority of God on behalf of God. When the scribes taught they quoted the law and the prophets, and other teachers to try and build their case. But when Jesus taught, he claimed sole authority. In chapter 5 we saw the pattern over and over again, “You have hear... But I say to you...” Jesus said a new thing. Jesus gave the authoritative interpretation. And it was like nothing they had heard before. It was AUTHORITY.
Jesus claimed the authority of the Christ. The people were waiting for the Messiah, the Christ, the one from God. When Jesus began the sermon he said, “I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.” Of course others had said this before. Every generation would have a so-called Messiah. Jesus claimed this title, then he taught, then the people followed him. Essentially they were saying, OK Jesus, we’ll buy in. We’ll follow. We are willing to say, for now, that you might in fact be the Christ. Well, 2000 years later, without interruption, more and more have said I too will follow and believe that you are the Christ.
Jesus claimed the authority of the LORD. People through the title Lord around as a sign of respect, but it could mean so much more. In chapter 7 Jesus embraces it as so much more. People call out to Him Lord LORD. So as to not miss the point the title is repeated for emphasis- Jesus is LORD! He rules, he reigns, he is in charge.
Jesus claimed the authority to Judge. When people call upon him as LORD LORD, he portrays himself seated in Judgement. What what is basis for Judgement? Himself. The people say we did all sorts of things in your name, we knew your teaching, we admired your example. But Jesus says, I never knew YOU. The point wasn’t just to do what I told you, though that was a huge part of the point. The point was to enter into a relationship with me, then to do the things I told you.
As Jesus has the authority to Judge, he has the authority to save. And he offers us the gift of salvation. Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. This is how Jesus invites us to relate to him. I love how it increases intensity. Ask, and you’ll receive the gift of salvation. Seek it, and you’ll find it. Knock, and the doors of heaven will swing wide open to you through men, through Jesus.
Finally, Jesus the son of God. Jesus has authority as a teacher, as the Christ, as the LORD, as Judge, as savior because he has the authority of being the Son of God. We see this imbedded in the teaching here. Over and over again he tells us, and offers us this father relationship with God. When Jesus teaches the followers to pray he says to pray like this, “Our father.” And this runs all throughout the sermon: Your father knows what you need, you father watches over you, your father counts the hairs on your head, your father sees what done is secret and will reward you. But in his last statement in chapter 7 it’s almost like he slips, but its not a slip, it there for this reason- he claims a unique relationship with God, calling him MY father. We only relate to God as father through the invitation of Jesus the SON. And Jesus will always have that unique and foremost relationship as the son of God, because he is one with God.
All this to say- the final call of the manifesto is not to simply affirm or even apply these teachings of Jesus. That would mean that this is simply a lecture and this is simly an academic exercise. No, it goes much deeper than that, it always goes much deeper in this manifesto. The final words of the manifesto are not just a concept or idea or moral absolute. They are an invitation. An invitation to embrace Jesus, to build your life upon him because it’s the wisest thing to do, but even more, to follow him. That is why over and over and over again we have used the phrase- to be a fully devoted follower of jesus. Not just a believer in the teachings of Jesus, not even a doer of the teachings of jesus, but a follower. Jesus is looking for followers. Jesus is inviting you to follow him.
That’s what many did starting from that day. They followed Jesus as he traveled from town to town, preaching the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand- so repent, turn, follow me. Jesus healed the sick and the people loved him. he calmed a storm and the people were afraid of him. he cast our demons and whole towns asked him to leave them alone. He invited rich men to leave everythign and follow him, and he did. He invited another rich young man to sell everything and follow him, and he didn’t. he brought a dead girl back to life, and folks hardly knew what to make of him. He sent out his followers, and they performed miracles in his name. He feed thousands by performing miracles and the people loved him. He challenged the status quo of the religious systems, and the people turned against him.
And on the night before Jesus was to be betrayed and he would willingly lay down his life, and allow himself to be handed to his enemies, placed on trial, tortured, beaten, mocked and hung on a cross to die, on the night before the day that the world would see in one act the worst sin of humanity every displayed, and the greatest love of God ever demonstrated, before that day, Jesus gathered with his disciples.
He took a loaf of bread and he broke it and he gave it to his disciples and he said take and eat, this is my body, broken for you. And he took a cup and poured it out for them and said this cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood which is shed for you, and for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.
And the next day he was crucified, he died, and he was buried. And three days later, when the women who followed Jesus came to the tomb to see is body, they encountered the rise and living Jesus. And Jesus appeared to his followers, and when he was with them he broke bread, and he offered them the cup.
And for some 2000 years now this has been the practice of the church. this is how we remember Jesus. But more, this is how we can experience Jesus. Thsi is how we come to Jesus and we say we don;t just want good teaching Jesus, we want you. We want you Jesus.
And if you’ve never made that step of faith before, this is the perfect way to do it. This is the perfect way to say Jesus, today, I want to make that leap, and become a follower of yours. When yo come forward to take communion, to take just this little bit of bread, and a little bit of this cup, this is an express of something happening deep within you.
First, by coming forward, you are making a statement. You are professing your faith in Jesus, you are professing your need of Jesus. You are announcing to the world, I stand for Jesus. Jesus says this act of faith is rewarded. He says that anyone who does not deny him before teh world, he will not deny before teh father. When we stand before God, Jesus will say we’ve already been here before. You stood before teh table, you stood before God, and you embraced me.
You are saying Jesus, I embrace your body. I embrace that you, the son of God, took on human flesh, and that you allowed that flesh to be broken and torn for me. And as I embrace the bread, i am begin embraced by your body. You are becoming one with me, as I am being one with you.
You are saying jesus, i embrace this cup, the forgiveness of my sins. Because Jesus, I’m a sinner, and I need that. I need your forgiveness, I need the price of sin paid, the weight of sin lifted, the stain of sin washed away, the consequences of sin meet in your sacrificial death. I need You Jesus.
This the table of our Lord, and he invites you to meet him here at this table, and to be a follower of his. If you have done this before, i know, i know, you are ready to dig in, you are ready to say yes to Jesus once again. You are ready for this bread and this cup, you love this bread and this cup and what it means, and what it does in you.
But some of you maybe have never done this before. Because maybe you have never said Jesus, I’m all in. I going to be a follower of yours. Without pushing it or forcing it on you, today I simply invite you, I invite as Jesus invites you. Come to to table. Follow Jesus. Everyone, everyone who can simply say Jesus, I believe, is welcomed to come.
If you are not there yet, nobody is going to judge you, nobody is going to look down on you. For just as you are respecting what this means, we will respect that you are still on the journey, and we’re just so glad your sharing it with us.
The band is going to play. I invite you to come to the table closest to you, to take a piece of the bread, to dip it into the cup, to eat, then to return to your seat. You’ll bump into folks, it’s kinda crazy, that’s ok, that’s what the church is like sometimes, that’s how family goes sometimes.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
MANIFESTO- Week 10: Worry
Here’s what Jesus says about this issue of worry...
People love this passage. People are drawn to this passage. People write really bad songs inspired by this passage because people really like the thought of a worry free life. But let me tell you something that is most often missed on the passing glance at this passage. This passage isn’t primarily about not worrying. If Jesus purpose in this passage was to simply say “don’t worry,” this would be VERY bad news. That’s not really helpful. Try it, next time someone you care about is worried, just say hey, I have an idea, stop worrying! They might just punch you in the face! If this was only about eliminating worry, then this would leave us worse off than before because you can’t just get rid of worry. You can just will worry out of your life. How many times have people focused so much on the worry, they only end up worrying more! Nature abhors a vacuum- it has to fill it. Worry abhors a vacuum. Some of you, you abhor vacuums too! Worry abhors a vacuum, try to get rid of it, and it will just step right back in with greater force.
If we are going to get rid of worry, it is going to need to be replaced. We are going to have to get to the root cause of worry and deal with it at it’s source. Remember, that’s what so much of this MANIFESTO is about- Jesus wants to take us deeper and deeper, as deep as we are willing to go: let’s go deeper into your life, let’s deal with you lust, with your anger, with your hurt, with your betrayal. Let’s deal with you greed, with your love of money, with your lack of devotion. Let’s go deep into righteousness, deep into prayer, deep into your issues with worry.
What do we need to fill the vacuum of worry in our lives? Trust. It’s trust. But this issue of trust and worry as Jesus talks about it, is really an issue of your life’s pursuit or ambition. Pursuing one set of priorities will inevitably lead to worry. Pursuing another set will lead to deeper trust. One direction lead to worry, another to trust. One build anxiety, the other build faith. Today I want to talk about those two sets of priorities. First we want to unpack on set, one direction on life, that leads to worry. Then we want to look at the other- the direction, the desire that leads to deeper trust and faith.
Let’s address the first issue- pursuing the wrong things, namely the things of this world, leads to worry. This passage starts with one of those “therefores,” so we have to read this in context. Jesus just finished saying, you can’t serve both God and money, you can’t serve God and anything else. You can’t serve two masters! You’ll end up serving one, and the one you serve will have profound implications for your life.
Jesus gives us some examples- you worry about food- look at the birds, they don’t worry about food, and God thinks even more of you. You worry about clothes, look at the wild flowers, they are the most beautifully dressed in all of creation. Just look at what the worry Jesus talks about is focused on- will you have enough to eat? Enough to drink? clothes to wear? Now I’m not saying that none of us have never had to worry about these things in our lives, but, for nearly all of us, we have never had to worry about such basic things. We may not be able to eat filet mignon every night for dinner, but we can certainly find a loaf of bread. We may not drink champagne, but we have clean water. We may not wear the latest fashion trends, but we have something to wear.
The thing is, these were real concerns for the people Jesus spoke with. They were one dry season away from starvation and thirst. Most had one set of clothing, and if something happened to it, then they might very well have no back up sandals, no robe, no jacket for the winter. And so, we might think, the logical flow is that if we can meet our most basic human needs for survival, we will eliminate the source of our worry and anxiety. Meet the basic needs, life will be just fine. But as we know- it just doesn’t seem to work out that way. There is something deeper going on. It’s goes to the issue true ambition or pursuit of your life.
If you decide to serve the ambitions of this world, you will live a life of worry. If you seek what this world has to offer you, your life will rightfully be consumed with worry. If you seek money above all else, if it’s number one in your life, you are going to have a lot to worry about in this world, and especially in today’s market. If you seek beauty and health more than anything else, if that is what you are about, then everyday is going to bring a little more worry into your life. If you are all about success, you are always going to worry about the next up and comer. If you are all about fame, then you will always worry about being a media darling. If you worry about pleasing other people, you are always going to worry about their opinion more than Gods.
This is the issue with worry- worry is merely a symptom. Worry, this passage teaches us, is a result of having the wrong priorities. It’s a result of seeking first the things of this world. We see that worry is actually a response of our real priorities. Worry is your litmus test to what really matters the most in your heart. Worry is going to tell you what matters most to you at any given moment of your life. Worry is huge, it plays a huge role in our lives. And worry, in a strange way, is a gift from God. It’s a grace from God, not because we are supposed to worry, NOT AT ALL- it’s that anytime we start to experience worry it is like an early warning system. It’s like the check engine light has gone off in our souls. The check engine light of our priorities is beeping and flashing and then, being aware of our worry, we can do something about it.
But the good news is that another set of priorities is going to lead to greater faith. If we start to seek first God, we grow in faith. We seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all this things that we used to worry about, food and shelter and whatever else, starts to fall into place in our life. This passage is really calling us to ask the question of ourselves- what is it you are after in life- the things of this world, or the things of the kingdom, of God?
The REAL antidote to the worry-free life is making sure you are seeking first God. It’s getting so singularly and sincerely focused on seeking God, that your faith in God begins to consume your fear of tomorrow. Jesus says two things about this. First his says seek first his kingdom, then he adds his righteousness. Within the context of this passage, let me just say a few things about what worry and seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness really means.
First, worry is incompatible with common sense. My son Justin is obsessively worried about dogs. He’s afraid that every dog is going to attack and eat him. I’ve asked him many times- Justin, have you ever been attacked, bitten, terrorized by a dog? No. Why are you so worried about dogs. Because they have teeth! He’s seen those teeth and he’s smart enough to know that they could do some damage. They never have, but the might! So he has spent now his whole life afraid and worried about dogs. The few times we’ve gotten him to pet a small dog, he has actually seemed to enjoy it. But still, even based on positive prior experience, he worries. Worry, worry about what has not yet happened, and probably never will happen, or at least, when it does happen, you have no control over it anyways, flies in the face of common sense.
Because worry is really about tomorrow, it based things that may not, and probably won’t come into being. Has anyone here ever starved to death? Frozen to death? If you did, tell me how you got better. We may have worried about stuff, but most of that stuff never happened, and even if it did, we’re still here. You can’t add one hour to your life by worry.
Second, and this is a little more counter-intuitive, worry is actually very selfish. Some of us think no, I have noble worries! I worry about my children, and i worry about my spouse, and i worry about my community, and I worry about our carbon footprint, and I worry about war in Afghanistan, and I worry about the economy... Are you beginning to notice the common factor in all those possible worries? It’s me! It’s the worrier. Worry has a way of actually making us very self-centered in our outlook an approach to life and relationships. And this is what fundamentally flies in the face of what God is trying to do- he wants you to get more focused on loving him, and loving your neighbor, and loving yourself, and that is a very hard thing to do when you are consumed with worry. Worry, in an ironic and sad way, is actually and incredibly selfish and self-centered outlook to life.
Which is why Jesus doesn’t want us to be consumed with worry, and offers to re-set our ambition on something that will cause our worry to dissipate as it’s filled with trust and faith- see his kingdom, and his righteousness.
Third, Worry is not a sin, but worry is basically incompatible with faith and trust. Sometimes people will talk about worry in such grave terms that people with sincere faith will begin to see their worry as a sin. I don’t believe that’s the right way to view worry. Remember, worry is more like this litmus test. When we feel worry creeping into our lives, it can serve a call to prayer and more active pursuit of faith and trust in God. It serves as the springboard to really go deep with God over what it is you are worry about.
SO talk to him about it. Remember, we just learned all about prayer. God, I’m worrying about my grades. OK, why are you worrying- if it’s because you’re aware that your not studying enough, then, study more. Your priorities are messed up. If it’s because you study all the time and your grades are your measure of worth and value in life, then your priorities are messed up. If you are worrying about your job, that may very well be very well grounded in today’s economy. So what is it about losing your job that is so troubling? Will you lose you value and worth as a person? Do you think you’ll never find another job? Are you so over extended financially that you have no margin- if you miss one paycheck, the repo men will literally be knocking on your door? So really, what is it that’s worrying you.
Seeking God’s kingdom means you don’t worry about what you will eat. Does it mean you shouldn’t work? Does it mean you shouldn’t labor and toil? Does it mean you shouldn’t work to feed and clothe others? No, it’s doesn’t say that anywhere in the text. It says, you don’t worry about those things because you trust in God’s provision.
He’s what else it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say that you will never go hungry. You might. You may very well pursue God and seek Him, and find yourself in times of want. You may find yourself thirsty, needy and exposed. You may even find yourself persecuted and martyred for the sake of the kingdom. Living a life wherein you do not worry about yourself doesn’t mean that you, yourself, may experience all the things that you are not to worry about. It just means you are worried about them.
Seek God’s kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things of life- food and shelter and everything else, will fall into God plan. And in God’s plan, tomorrow with take care of itself, just as eternity will fall right into place according to God’s plan.
First, we must pursue being a part of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is where he rules. It’s where he dwells. This makes the first priority of the Christian life to simply become a part of the kingdom. It’s saying God, I want in. I want to be a part of where you rule and dwell. In other words, it’s saying I want to be a Christian. The first priority of our life, the thing of ultimate importance, is surrendering our life to God. This has deep implications for general state of worry an anxiety in life. If we in fact believe deep down, in the core of our being, that our lives are now consumed by the kingdom, that we are now a part of the kingdom, that our eternity is secure in Jesus, then we really have nothing else to worry about. We may experience hunger. We may be persecuted. We may be martyred for our faith, but none of that matters in the big picture because we have eternal security. We have the ultimate insurance program- We are a part of the kingdom, and that’s the most important thing. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, Cast all your anxiety on Jesus because he cares for you!
Seek his kingdom, and his righteousness. So that we don’t get so heavenly minded that we don’t do any earthly good, he says seek his righteousness. We start to live now like citizens of the kingdom. We lay down our lives, our rule, our reign, and we reorient ourselves to the reign and rule of God. For some of us, this is not radically of course with the existing direction of our life. You have been a follower of Christ, you’ve laid down your life, you seek him. You’ve made some practical steps and practices into your life to make this happen. You make worship a priority. You make christian fellowship a part of your week. You make prayer and bible reading and conversation about the things of God the center piece of your day with yourself, in your marriage, with your kids. You make service and charity and giving a priority. You are well on the way to to seeking God’s righteousness. Good, keep it up, get better!
Some of us are farther from this. We realize that seeking God’s righteousness first is going to cost us, it’s going to change things, it’s going to be work. We have a lot of righteousness to seek in our lives, and in our world. But please never forget this, never reverse this. We passionately pursue the righteousness of God NOT because that’s how we receive the kingdom. No, we receive the kingdom as a gift from God. We pursue righteousness as our response to the kingdom. It’s about gratitude, it’s about thanks.
And that’s my final word on worry- where ever and whenever we are fostering a spirit of gratitude, worry will find no foothold. When ever we are grateful to God, we trust in God, and worry becomes the furthest ting from our minds and our hearts.
Today I don’t want to end without giving you a change to re-orient your priorities. To make seeking the Kingdom, and his righteousness, your ambition in life. And one of the best ways to do that is to take this litmus test of worry. What is it that you are worrying about? What does that say about you on a deeper level? I want you to pursue that right now. I want you to pray about that right now. I want you to change that right now.
Ph. 4:6 says do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God. You can present that request to God today.
25" Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
People love this passage. People are drawn to this passage. People write really bad songs inspired by this passage because people really like the thought of a worry free life. But let me tell you something that is most often missed on the passing glance at this passage. This passage isn’t primarily about not worrying. If Jesus purpose in this passage was to simply say “don’t worry,” this would be VERY bad news. That’s not really helpful. Try it, next time someone you care about is worried, just say hey, I have an idea, stop worrying! They might just punch you in the face! If this was only about eliminating worry, then this would leave us worse off than before because you can’t just get rid of worry. You can just will worry out of your life. How many times have people focused so much on the worry, they only end up worrying more! Nature abhors a vacuum- it has to fill it. Worry abhors a vacuum. Some of you, you abhor vacuums too! Worry abhors a vacuum, try to get rid of it, and it will just step right back in with greater force.
If we are going to get rid of worry, it is going to need to be replaced. We are going to have to get to the root cause of worry and deal with it at it’s source. Remember, that’s what so much of this MANIFESTO is about- Jesus wants to take us deeper and deeper, as deep as we are willing to go: let’s go deeper into your life, let’s deal with you lust, with your anger, with your hurt, with your betrayal. Let’s deal with you greed, with your love of money, with your lack of devotion. Let’s go deep into righteousness, deep into prayer, deep into your issues with worry.
What do we need to fill the vacuum of worry in our lives? Trust. It’s trust. But this issue of trust and worry as Jesus talks about it, is really an issue of your life’s pursuit or ambition. Pursuing one set of priorities will inevitably lead to worry. Pursuing another set will lead to deeper trust. One direction lead to worry, another to trust. One build anxiety, the other build faith. Today I want to talk about those two sets of priorities. First we want to unpack on set, one direction on life, that leads to worry. Then we want to look at the other- the direction, the desire that leads to deeper trust and faith.
Let’s address the first issue- pursuing the wrong things, namely the things of this world, leads to worry. This passage starts with one of those “therefores,” so we have to read this in context. Jesus just finished saying, you can’t serve both God and money, you can’t serve God and anything else. You can’t serve two masters! You’ll end up serving one, and the one you serve will have profound implications for your life.
Jesus gives us some examples- you worry about food- look at the birds, they don’t worry about food, and God thinks even more of you. You worry about clothes, look at the wild flowers, they are the most beautifully dressed in all of creation. Just look at what the worry Jesus talks about is focused on- will you have enough to eat? Enough to drink? clothes to wear? Now I’m not saying that none of us have never had to worry about these things in our lives, but, for nearly all of us, we have never had to worry about such basic things. We may not be able to eat filet mignon every night for dinner, but we can certainly find a loaf of bread. We may not drink champagne, but we have clean water. We may not wear the latest fashion trends, but we have something to wear.
The thing is, these were real concerns for the people Jesus spoke with. They were one dry season away from starvation and thirst. Most had one set of clothing, and if something happened to it, then they might very well have no back up sandals, no robe, no jacket for the winter. And so, we might think, the logical flow is that if we can meet our most basic human needs for survival, we will eliminate the source of our worry and anxiety. Meet the basic needs, life will be just fine. But as we know- it just doesn’t seem to work out that way. There is something deeper going on. It’s goes to the issue true ambition or pursuit of your life.
If you decide to serve the ambitions of this world, you will live a life of worry. If you seek what this world has to offer you, your life will rightfully be consumed with worry. If you seek money above all else, if it’s number one in your life, you are going to have a lot to worry about in this world, and especially in today’s market. If you seek beauty and health more than anything else, if that is what you are about, then everyday is going to bring a little more worry into your life. If you are all about success, you are always going to worry about the next up and comer. If you are all about fame, then you will always worry about being a media darling. If you worry about pleasing other people, you are always going to worry about their opinion more than Gods.
This is the issue with worry- worry is merely a symptom. Worry, this passage teaches us, is a result of having the wrong priorities. It’s a result of seeking first the things of this world. We see that worry is actually a response of our real priorities. Worry is your litmus test to what really matters the most in your heart. Worry is going to tell you what matters most to you at any given moment of your life. Worry is huge, it plays a huge role in our lives. And worry, in a strange way, is a gift from God. It’s a grace from God, not because we are supposed to worry, NOT AT ALL- it’s that anytime we start to experience worry it is like an early warning system. It’s like the check engine light has gone off in our souls. The check engine light of our priorities is beeping and flashing and then, being aware of our worry, we can do something about it.
But the good news is that another set of priorities is going to lead to greater faith. If we start to seek first God, we grow in faith. We seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness, and all this things that we used to worry about, food and shelter and whatever else, starts to fall into place in our life. This passage is really calling us to ask the question of ourselves- what is it you are after in life- the things of this world, or the things of the kingdom, of God?
The REAL antidote to the worry-free life is making sure you are seeking first God. It’s getting so singularly and sincerely focused on seeking God, that your faith in God begins to consume your fear of tomorrow. Jesus says two things about this. First his says seek first his kingdom, then he adds his righteousness. Within the context of this passage, let me just say a few things about what worry and seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness really means.
First, worry is incompatible with common sense. My son Justin is obsessively worried about dogs. He’s afraid that every dog is going to attack and eat him. I’ve asked him many times- Justin, have you ever been attacked, bitten, terrorized by a dog? No. Why are you so worried about dogs. Because they have teeth! He’s seen those teeth and he’s smart enough to know that they could do some damage. They never have, but the might! So he has spent now his whole life afraid and worried about dogs. The few times we’ve gotten him to pet a small dog, he has actually seemed to enjoy it. But still, even based on positive prior experience, he worries. Worry, worry about what has not yet happened, and probably never will happen, or at least, when it does happen, you have no control over it anyways, flies in the face of common sense.
Because worry is really about tomorrow, it based things that may not, and probably won’t come into being. Has anyone here ever starved to death? Frozen to death? If you did, tell me how you got better. We may have worried about stuff, but most of that stuff never happened, and even if it did, we’re still here. You can’t add one hour to your life by worry.
Second, and this is a little more counter-intuitive, worry is actually very selfish. Some of us think no, I have noble worries! I worry about my children, and i worry about my spouse, and i worry about my community, and I worry about our carbon footprint, and I worry about war in Afghanistan, and I worry about the economy... Are you beginning to notice the common factor in all those possible worries? It’s me! It’s the worrier. Worry has a way of actually making us very self-centered in our outlook an approach to life and relationships. And this is what fundamentally flies in the face of what God is trying to do- he wants you to get more focused on loving him, and loving your neighbor, and loving yourself, and that is a very hard thing to do when you are consumed with worry. Worry, in an ironic and sad way, is actually and incredibly selfish and self-centered outlook to life.
Which is why Jesus doesn’t want us to be consumed with worry, and offers to re-set our ambition on something that will cause our worry to dissipate as it’s filled with trust and faith- see his kingdom, and his righteousness.
Third, Worry is not a sin, but worry is basically incompatible with faith and trust. Sometimes people will talk about worry in such grave terms that people with sincere faith will begin to see their worry as a sin. I don’t believe that’s the right way to view worry. Remember, worry is more like this litmus test. When we feel worry creeping into our lives, it can serve a call to prayer and more active pursuit of faith and trust in God. It serves as the springboard to really go deep with God over what it is you are worry about.
SO talk to him about it. Remember, we just learned all about prayer. God, I’m worrying about my grades. OK, why are you worrying- if it’s because you’re aware that your not studying enough, then, study more. Your priorities are messed up. If it’s because you study all the time and your grades are your measure of worth and value in life, then your priorities are messed up. If you are worrying about your job, that may very well be very well grounded in today’s economy. So what is it about losing your job that is so troubling? Will you lose you value and worth as a person? Do you think you’ll never find another job? Are you so over extended financially that you have no margin- if you miss one paycheck, the repo men will literally be knocking on your door? So really, what is it that’s worrying you.
Seeking God’s kingdom means you don’t worry about what you will eat. Does it mean you shouldn’t work? Does it mean you shouldn’t labor and toil? Does it mean you shouldn’t work to feed and clothe others? No, it’s doesn’t say that anywhere in the text. It says, you don’t worry about those things because you trust in God’s provision.
He’s what else it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say that you will never go hungry. You might. You may very well pursue God and seek Him, and find yourself in times of want. You may find yourself thirsty, needy and exposed. You may even find yourself persecuted and martyred for the sake of the kingdom. Living a life wherein you do not worry about yourself doesn’t mean that you, yourself, may experience all the things that you are not to worry about. It just means you are worried about them.
Seek God’s kingdom, and his righteousness, and all these things of life- food and shelter and everything else, will fall into God plan. And in God’s plan, tomorrow with take care of itself, just as eternity will fall right into place according to God’s plan.
First, we must pursue being a part of God’s kingdom. God’s kingdom is where he rules. It’s where he dwells. This makes the first priority of the Christian life to simply become a part of the kingdom. It’s saying God, I want in. I want to be a part of where you rule and dwell. In other words, it’s saying I want to be a Christian. The first priority of our life, the thing of ultimate importance, is surrendering our life to God. This has deep implications for general state of worry an anxiety in life. If we in fact believe deep down, in the core of our being, that our lives are now consumed by the kingdom, that we are now a part of the kingdom, that our eternity is secure in Jesus, then we really have nothing else to worry about. We may experience hunger. We may be persecuted. We may be martyred for our faith, but none of that matters in the big picture because we have eternal security. We have the ultimate insurance program- We are a part of the kingdom, and that’s the most important thing. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us, Cast all your anxiety on Jesus because he cares for you!
Seek his kingdom, and his righteousness. So that we don’t get so heavenly minded that we don’t do any earthly good, he says seek his righteousness. We start to live now like citizens of the kingdom. We lay down our lives, our rule, our reign, and we reorient ourselves to the reign and rule of God. For some of us, this is not radically of course with the existing direction of our life. You have been a follower of Christ, you’ve laid down your life, you seek him. You’ve made some practical steps and practices into your life to make this happen. You make worship a priority. You make christian fellowship a part of your week. You make prayer and bible reading and conversation about the things of God the center piece of your day with yourself, in your marriage, with your kids. You make service and charity and giving a priority. You are well on the way to to seeking God’s righteousness. Good, keep it up, get better!
Some of us are farther from this. We realize that seeking God’s righteousness first is going to cost us, it’s going to change things, it’s going to be work. We have a lot of righteousness to seek in our lives, and in our world. But please never forget this, never reverse this. We passionately pursue the righteousness of God NOT because that’s how we receive the kingdom. No, we receive the kingdom as a gift from God. We pursue righteousness as our response to the kingdom. It’s about gratitude, it’s about thanks.
And that’s my final word on worry- where ever and whenever we are fostering a spirit of gratitude, worry will find no foothold. When ever we are grateful to God, we trust in God, and worry becomes the furthest ting from our minds and our hearts.
Today I don’t want to end without giving you a change to re-orient your priorities. To make seeking the Kingdom, and his righteousness, your ambition in life. And one of the best ways to do that is to take this litmus test of worry. What is it that you are worrying about? What does that say about you on a deeper level? I want you to pursue that right now. I want you to pray about that right now. I want you to change that right now.
Ph. 4:6 says do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition, present your requests to God. You can present that request to God today.
Monday, August 17, 2009
MANIFESTO- Week 9: Prayer pt. 2
I remember as a child being taught to pray by my parents. I was taught to pray to God as my heavenly father. A relationship that made sense to me as I was blessed, am blessed, with a wonderful earthly father. I was taught to end my prayers in Jesus’ name, because the bible tells us to pray in the name of Jesus. I remember being taught to say thanks before every meal. I was taught to kneel at night at my bed. To thank God for the day. To pray for family and friends and anything else that was on my mind. To pray for the coming day.
But more than any method or mode of prayer, I was moved by answered prayer. I didn’t know how it all worked, and despite all the information and knowledge, verses and quotes regarding prayer that I could spout out to you now, the fact is, when I’m completely honest with myself, despite years and years, hour upon hour of prayer that I have now banked in my life, I still can’t tell you exactly how it works. Just that in some wild and amazing ways, it did, and it does.
I remember sitting in church one Sunday. I didn’t dislike going to church, as I believed in God and believed in Jesus as His son, my savior. But to be honest, I didn’t particularly like going to church. We sang old hymns that didn’t sound like anything I listened to outside of one hour Sunday morning. I usually didn’t mind the prayers, except there were a few people, who when they got up to lead a “congregational prayer,” I knew it was gonna be a while. What I didn’t mind was the message.
Pastor Streets always made us laugh, always made us feel welcomed. And no matter what the bible story he was talking about, every Sunday, one way or another, it was going to come around to singing “Just as I Am” and an invitation to come forward, to make a public profession of faith for the first time, or a chance to re-commit your life to Jesus.
I remember one Sunday a man sat in our families pew who I had never seen before. Apparently he didn’t get the memo about wearing a suit and tie. I could only assume that for this reason, he was a horrible man, probably a murderer and drug dealer, deeply in need of Jesus. Actually, he really did look like he needed Jesus. He seemed disheveled, and sad. He sat alone, he didn’t say a word. And when Pastor Streets started preaching, I have no idea what he was talking about, but I knew where it was going to end. So I started praying.
I prayed for that next 30 minutes, “God, make that man step forward. Make him a Christian. Make him accept you.” That’s what I prayed. That’s what I was taught to believe, it’s what I had done myself, and in truth, it’s what I still believe- all of us, everyone, needs Jesus. All of us need to step forward, to step up to Jesus, and give our lives to him. The best thing we can do with our lives, and the way to eternity with God, is giving our lives to Jesus.
So I prayed and prayed and prayed. And when they sang the first verse of Just as I am, he sat. And I prayed harder. We sang the second verse, and he sat. So I prayed harder. We always skipped the third verse, apparently we didn’t like third verses. Then Pastor Streets said we’re gonna sing the last verse. He said don’t wait if God is speaking to your heart today. So prayed as hard as a little boy could pray. And that man walked forward and gave his life to Jesus.
I remember a few year later my Grandmother, who passed away this year, was diagnosed with a large lump in her breast. I remember seeing the fear in my mothers eyes. I remember her telling us, not asking us, telling us to pray for Gram. I don’t know if it was childish naiveté, or if I still just had some child-like faith left in me, but I was not a bit worried.
Then day came for her surgery. They took her into the emergency room. She was prepped and prepared and anesthetized. And my mom came home in tears. She told us that the doctor came out, and said the lump was gone. He didn’t remove it- the lump was gone. What was there before, what the x-ray showed, was gone. And I remember then, in a feeling that I wasn’t expecting to feel- I shuttered, and a wave of fear ran through me. And I realized in a way I had never seen before, that God answers prayer, but that God was also bigger, and more powerful, and more mysterious, than I had yet to grasp.
I also remember, and live with, stories of prayer that didn’t turn out the way I had hoped or asked, which are every bit as significant in my life. When my sister-in-law’s brother, only 3 years younger than me at the time, 18 years old, was diagnosed with liver cancer, and died within a year. Prayers for friends who have walked away from faith, and have yet to return. Prayers for things that I thought surely were the will of God, which apparently, were in fact, not a part of His plan. Prayers that I won’t say were not answered, but were not answered in the way or in the time that I hoped.
And I have remembered your prayers, your hopes for a story of answered prayer, this week. Together we have prayed for a friend who nearly took his own life.
We have prayed for a son who likewise tried to end his life.
We have prayed for a young girl who in critical condition, with burns and bruises too suspicious not to ignore.
We have prayed for a child that awaits a diagnosis of a disability that no parent wants to hear. We have prayed for neighbors wrapped up in an affair that might tears at least two families to shreds.
We have prayed for a new job.
We have prayed as someone stepped out in faith to quit a job.
We have prayed for physical healing for pain that has persisted now for months.
We have prayed for children who have strayed far from the faith.
This week, with all these prayers and more, is really not unlike any week.
We have prayed for God to step in, to intercede on our behalf, to fix things, to change lives, to save lives. But we have also prayed that God would step ahead. There have been many prayers for God to do great things for our church, and for his glory.
We’ve all prayed. And it may seem counter-intuitive to you, it may seem like it makes it less spiritual, but we can get better at prayer. We can learn to pray and improve in prayer as we grow and mature as followers of Jesus. That’s what we’re talking about today. Last week we started our discussion of prayer. We learned about the two biggest prayer mistakes that people make, that we all make. Praying like hypocrites and praying like pagans. Hypocrites pray like it’s a show, a performance. They are not really seeking communion with God, they are seeking the praise of people. The cure for hypocritical prayers- get real. Start to get real. Don’t dumb it down, don’t be irreverent or disrespectful. Humble yourself. Engage your mind. But get real with God. The cure for pagan prayers- get to the point. Cut to the chase. God know all your needs, better than you do. So get real and get into it. You’ll find a growing sense of peace about your prayers, hey, I’m really starting to sense that God and i have something going on here. Or you’ll say, hey, I’m a praying like a hypocrite, I’m praying like a pagan.
Once you say that, you are teachable. You are ready to learn how to pray like the disciples were ready to learn, like Jesus was ready to teach. Here what he says- let me say the whole prayer with you, then we’ll break it down... Matthew 6:9-13
This is how you should pray. This means two things. First, because Jesus says this is how you can pray, it is entirely appropriate to pray this exact prayer, word for word. It is never a bad thing to memorize scripture, to store it up in your heart, to be able to recite it word for word. So please, let’s take Jesus at his word here. He is not telling a story. He's not using hyperbole. He’s not illustrating a point. He simple and clearly said, this is how you should pray, and he gives them an example of prayer.
I find myself praying this prayer just about every time I pray, every day. More often than not this is how I begin my times of prayer. I just quiet myself for a moment, then I pray, My father in heaven... More than anything else I think of this as my centering prayer. It pulls me away from other thoughts and distractions, it centers my heart and mind on Christ. And it serves as a reminder for what all my prayers should encompass.
But the second thing is that this an example of prayer. What I’m about to tell you is nothing new. This has been around for ages. It is a profitable way of understanding the prayer that all Christ-followers should know. Five verses. Five movements. For the sake of alliteration we can make them all start with the letter P. (Have you ever notice how many 3-5 point sermons use P-words?)
Seek God’s Presence
...Purpose
...Provision
...Pardon
...Power
First, we seek Gods presence in our lives when we enter into prayer. Look at the words- our Father. This has both a communal and a personal connotation. Our father means we are in this together. We are a spiritual family. God is doing something bigger than me. God is up to something in the world. This is our father, this is our faith. We must stand in solidarity together with everyone who calls upon God as father- we are family- men and women, rich and poor, upper class, lower class, no class, young and old, red and yellow black and white (I’m not even sure if that’s politically correct anymore), people from every tribe and nation. There is something very communal about prayer that is to be acknowledge right from the beginning. Those that call upon God the father through Jesus the Son are family, and family there ain’t no denying your family.
God is our father, but he’s also my father. It’s that communal- God has a relationship with all who call upon him; it’s that personal- I have a relationship with God as my father. And while the father is unchanging, eternal, almighty and all that, his relationship with me us one in a billion upon billion upon billion. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating often- God’s relationship with us is a unique and any of our relationships. I’m the same father to all of my children (Think about that one)- but each is unique. Justin can’t sleep until I read him a book. Karis just wants to snuggle. Eden is needing more and more to be her own person. I relate to each of them in unique, wonderful ways. God invites us into that same relationship with him as our heavenly father.
Now let me just add that I know many of us have had great fathers, but many of us have had real dead beat dads, distant dads, or even just lost our dads too early in life. But you know, I’ve never found I need to shy away from this revelation of God as our heavenly father because one, it’s the bible, but also, for those that have not had that great earthly-father relationship that many of us enjoy, the promise and relationship of God as our heavenly father means all the more.
Seek God’s Presence in the most personal of relationships- your heavenly father. Give him praise. Another P word, a sub-point to seeking his presence. Every time you go to him, praise his hallowed, his holy name. Giving praise, giving thanks, must be learned. And I can’t say strongly enough how this needs to be fostered in our lives. I’ve learned the importance of thanking God the father, not surprising, through becoming a father. First, I’ve learned that I really have no choice or option but to love my kids with all my heart- that’s just the way it is. But as my kids have grown I’ve learned how meaningful their praise and thankfulness means to me. When they thank me for treating them to something, when they thank me for showing them something. From the simple- thanks for dinner dad (or usually mom), to the big things- thanks for taking us on this trip, thanks for the new bike. As they grow and mature, so their ability to show thanks and praise, and so our relationship deepens and grows.
Second, seek God’s Purpose. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Please don’t miss this- in the presence of God the first thing you do after praising him, you get past yourself. It’s all about god now. It’s all about HIM. His kingdom, his will. Remember, the whole message of Jesus is wrapped up in the kingdom of God. That is Jesus’ message. That is the good news. The kingdom of heaven in near- come and be a part of it in Jesus Christ.
Since God is so praise worthy, it begins to make more and more sense to us that we want to be about his purpose and plan and will in the world. In fact, as we really get deeper into prayer, we begin to realize that great God’s purpose is, and how much we need to be a part of it. We know that God’s purpose is for you. He created the world for men and women, his image bearers. He is for a relationship with you. He is for redeeming you. He is for renewing you. He is for restoring you. His purpose if for you, not against you.
Third, seek God’s provision. The first thing we can come to God with is the most daily, practical, necessary things, things as simple, but as important, as a loaf of bread. We are so out of touch with this until we seek way to get back in touch with this. God taught this to his people early on with a lesson that lasted some 40 years. For an entire generation God provided the Israelites with bread from heaven, manna. They were never allowed to store it up. But everyday when they woke up it was there. That would be such a hard lesson for me to learn, as it is a hard lesson for me to learn- the daily provision of God.
I am wired to horde. I’m a hoarder. You’d think I lived through the great depression or was born in abject poverty they way I feel I have to stock pile supplies. Now there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, for even God was preparing them for a future time even as he was providing them daily bread. But this kind of prayer for provision bring us back to the daily bread of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s goodness in our lives. the great thing about Gdo is that daily we come into his presence, daily we praise him, daily we seek his purpose, daily he provides for us. Daily he encounters our lives. We don;t have to wait until Sunday morning. We don;t have to wait until Christmas or Easter. daily he is our provider.
Fourth, seek God’s pardon. His forgiveness. There is a story of a man whose friends brought him to Jesus. He was crippled. Jesus said your sins are forgiven. Then he said, that you know that i have the power to forgive sins, which is really the most important thing, get up and walk. Jesus knows we are very fleshly creatures. very incarnate. And it’s hard for us to trust Him in the big stuff, if we don't trust him in the little stuff. So i love that Jesus says first pray and trust me in what is really the little stuff- food and daily provision. then you’ll trust me better in the big stuff- that I can forgive your sins and give your eternal life.
But he doesn’t let us off the hook. No, there is a catch my friends. Don’t let anyone offer you cheap gospel and cheap grace- as you forgive. God forgives us, and we must be forgiving, reconciling, redeeming people as well.
Finally, seek God’s power. Power to overcome temptation. Jesus actually personifies temptation and evil here and refers to the evil one. I’m not sure what you all make ot that just yet, but Jesus says there really is an evil one, the devil, Satan, the deceiver, the one disguised as and angel of light who is really the agent of dead. The evil one. Give us power over his temptations.
Last week I challenged everyone to start working out an "Answer to Prayer" story. I want to tel you that there is an answer to prayer story that all of us can tell, but it's a prayer that is always answered by God- the prayer of offering your life to God. I told a story about answered prayer to start this morning- a prayer answered when a man gave his life to Jesus. Today, right now, I want to give you the chance to say that prayer. A prayer that simple says today Jesus, I believe. I believe in you. I believe you are the son of God, you show us God. I believe I need you. I believe I need your forgiveness for my sins. I believe I need you to have eternal life. I believe I need to to live the way life was meant to be lived here and now. Jesus, my prayer is that you take my life and save me. You take my life and make me new again.
I want to give you the opportunity have this prayer answered in your life...
But more than any method or mode of prayer, I was moved by answered prayer. I didn’t know how it all worked, and despite all the information and knowledge, verses and quotes regarding prayer that I could spout out to you now, the fact is, when I’m completely honest with myself, despite years and years, hour upon hour of prayer that I have now banked in my life, I still can’t tell you exactly how it works. Just that in some wild and amazing ways, it did, and it does.
I remember sitting in church one Sunday. I didn’t dislike going to church, as I believed in God and believed in Jesus as His son, my savior. But to be honest, I didn’t particularly like going to church. We sang old hymns that didn’t sound like anything I listened to outside of one hour Sunday morning. I usually didn’t mind the prayers, except there were a few people, who when they got up to lead a “congregational prayer,” I knew it was gonna be a while. What I didn’t mind was the message.
Pastor Streets always made us laugh, always made us feel welcomed. And no matter what the bible story he was talking about, every Sunday, one way or another, it was going to come around to singing “Just as I Am” and an invitation to come forward, to make a public profession of faith for the first time, or a chance to re-commit your life to Jesus.
I remember one Sunday a man sat in our families pew who I had never seen before. Apparently he didn’t get the memo about wearing a suit and tie. I could only assume that for this reason, he was a horrible man, probably a murderer and drug dealer, deeply in need of Jesus. Actually, he really did look like he needed Jesus. He seemed disheveled, and sad. He sat alone, he didn’t say a word. And when Pastor Streets started preaching, I have no idea what he was talking about, but I knew where it was going to end. So I started praying.
I prayed for that next 30 minutes, “God, make that man step forward. Make him a Christian. Make him accept you.” That’s what I prayed. That’s what I was taught to believe, it’s what I had done myself, and in truth, it’s what I still believe- all of us, everyone, needs Jesus. All of us need to step forward, to step up to Jesus, and give our lives to him. The best thing we can do with our lives, and the way to eternity with God, is giving our lives to Jesus.
So I prayed and prayed and prayed. And when they sang the first verse of Just as I am, he sat. And I prayed harder. We sang the second verse, and he sat. So I prayed harder. We always skipped the third verse, apparently we didn’t like third verses. Then Pastor Streets said we’re gonna sing the last verse. He said don’t wait if God is speaking to your heart today. So prayed as hard as a little boy could pray. And that man walked forward and gave his life to Jesus.
I remember a few year later my Grandmother, who passed away this year, was diagnosed with a large lump in her breast. I remember seeing the fear in my mothers eyes. I remember her telling us, not asking us, telling us to pray for Gram. I don’t know if it was childish naiveté, or if I still just had some child-like faith left in me, but I was not a bit worried.
Then day came for her surgery. They took her into the emergency room. She was prepped and prepared and anesthetized. And my mom came home in tears. She told us that the doctor came out, and said the lump was gone. He didn’t remove it- the lump was gone. What was there before, what the x-ray showed, was gone. And I remember then, in a feeling that I wasn’t expecting to feel- I shuttered, and a wave of fear ran through me. And I realized in a way I had never seen before, that God answers prayer, but that God was also bigger, and more powerful, and more mysterious, than I had yet to grasp.
I also remember, and live with, stories of prayer that didn’t turn out the way I had hoped or asked, which are every bit as significant in my life. When my sister-in-law’s brother, only 3 years younger than me at the time, 18 years old, was diagnosed with liver cancer, and died within a year. Prayers for friends who have walked away from faith, and have yet to return. Prayers for things that I thought surely were the will of God, which apparently, were in fact, not a part of His plan. Prayers that I won’t say were not answered, but were not answered in the way or in the time that I hoped.
And I have remembered your prayers, your hopes for a story of answered prayer, this week. Together we have prayed for a friend who nearly took his own life.
We have prayed for a son who likewise tried to end his life.
We have prayed for a young girl who in critical condition, with burns and bruises too suspicious not to ignore.
We have prayed for a child that awaits a diagnosis of a disability that no parent wants to hear. We have prayed for neighbors wrapped up in an affair that might tears at least two families to shreds.
We have prayed for a new job.
We have prayed as someone stepped out in faith to quit a job.
We have prayed for physical healing for pain that has persisted now for months.
We have prayed for children who have strayed far from the faith.
This week, with all these prayers and more, is really not unlike any week.
We have prayed for God to step in, to intercede on our behalf, to fix things, to change lives, to save lives. But we have also prayed that God would step ahead. There have been many prayers for God to do great things for our church, and for his glory.
We’ve all prayed. And it may seem counter-intuitive to you, it may seem like it makes it less spiritual, but we can get better at prayer. We can learn to pray and improve in prayer as we grow and mature as followers of Jesus. That’s what we’re talking about today. Last week we started our discussion of prayer. We learned about the two biggest prayer mistakes that people make, that we all make. Praying like hypocrites and praying like pagans. Hypocrites pray like it’s a show, a performance. They are not really seeking communion with God, they are seeking the praise of people. The cure for hypocritical prayers- get real. Start to get real. Don’t dumb it down, don’t be irreverent or disrespectful. Humble yourself. Engage your mind. But get real with God. The cure for pagan prayers- get to the point. Cut to the chase. God know all your needs, better than you do. So get real and get into it. You’ll find a growing sense of peace about your prayers, hey, I’m really starting to sense that God and i have something going on here. Or you’ll say, hey, I’m a praying like a hypocrite, I’m praying like a pagan.
Once you say that, you are teachable. You are ready to learn how to pray like the disciples were ready to learn, like Jesus was ready to teach. Here what he says- let me say the whole prayer with you, then we’ll break it down... Matthew 6:9-13
This, then, is how you should pray:
Our father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
This is how you should pray. This means two things. First, because Jesus says this is how you can pray, it is entirely appropriate to pray this exact prayer, word for word. It is never a bad thing to memorize scripture, to store it up in your heart, to be able to recite it word for word. So please, let’s take Jesus at his word here. He is not telling a story. He's not using hyperbole. He’s not illustrating a point. He simple and clearly said, this is how you should pray, and he gives them an example of prayer.
I find myself praying this prayer just about every time I pray, every day. More often than not this is how I begin my times of prayer. I just quiet myself for a moment, then I pray, My father in heaven... More than anything else I think of this as my centering prayer. It pulls me away from other thoughts and distractions, it centers my heart and mind on Christ. And it serves as a reminder for what all my prayers should encompass.
But the second thing is that this an example of prayer. What I’m about to tell you is nothing new. This has been around for ages. It is a profitable way of understanding the prayer that all Christ-followers should know. Five verses. Five movements. For the sake of alliteration we can make them all start with the letter P. (Have you ever notice how many 3-5 point sermons use P-words?)
Seek God’s Presence
...Purpose
...Provision
...Pardon
...Power
First, we seek Gods presence in our lives when we enter into prayer. Look at the words- our Father. This has both a communal and a personal connotation. Our father means we are in this together. We are a spiritual family. God is doing something bigger than me. God is up to something in the world. This is our father, this is our faith. We must stand in solidarity together with everyone who calls upon God as father- we are family- men and women, rich and poor, upper class, lower class, no class, young and old, red and yellow black and white (I’m not even sure if that’s politically correct anymore), people from every tribe and nation. There is something very communal about prayer that is to be acknowledge right from the beginning. Those that call upon God the father through Jesus the Son are family, and family there ain’t no denying your family.
God is our father, but he’s also my father. It’s that communal- God has a relationship with all who call upon him; it’s that personal- I have a relationship with God as my father. And while the father is unchanging, eternal, almighty and all that, his relationship with me us one in a billion upon billion upon billion. I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating often- God’s relationship with us is a unique and any of our relationships. I’m the same father to all of my children (Think about that one)- but each is unique. Justin can’t sleep until I read him a book. Karis just wants to snuggle. Eden is needing more and more to be her own person. I relate to each of them in unique, wonderful ways. God invites us into that same relationship with him as our heavenly father.
Now let me just add that I know many of us have had great fathers, but many of us have had real dead beat dads, distant dads, or even just lost our dads too early in life. But you know, I’ve never found I need to shy away from this revelation of God as our heavenly father because one, it’s the bible, but also, for those that have not had that great earthly-father relationship that many of us enjoy, the promise and relationship of God as our heavenly father means all the more.
Seek God’s Presence in the most personal of relationships- your heavenly father. Give him praise. Another P word, a sub-point to seeking his presence. Every time you go to him, praise his hallowed, his holy name. Giving praise, giving thanks, must be learned. And I can’t say strongly enough how this needs to be fostered in our lives. I’ve learned the importance of thanking God the father, not surprising, through becoming a father. First, I’ve learned that I really have no choice or option but to love my kids with all my heart- that’s just the way it is. But as my kids have grown I’ve learned how meaningful their praise and thankfulness means to me. When they thank me for treating them to something, when they thank me for showing them something. From the simple- thanks for dinner dad (or usually mom), to the big things- thanks for taking us on this trip, thanks for the new bike. As they grow and mature, so their ability to show thanks and praise, and so our relationship deepens and grows.
Second, seek God’s Purpose. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Please don’t miss this- in the presence of God the first thing you do after praising him, you get past yourself. It’s all about god now. It’s all about HIM. His kingdom, his will. Remember, the whole message of Jesus is wrapped up in the kingdom of God. That is Jesus’ message. That is the good news. The kingdom of heaven in near- come and be a part of it in Jesus Christ.
Since God is so praise worthy, it begins to make more and more sense to us that we want to be about his purpose and plan and will in the world. In fact, as we really get deeper into prayer, we begin to realize that great God’s purpose is, and how much we need to be a part of it. We know that God’s purpose is for you. He created the world for men and women, his image bearers. He is for a relationship with you. He is for redeeming you. He is for renewing you. He is for restoring you. His purpose if for you, not against you.
Third, seek God’s provision. The first thing we can come to God with is the most daily, practical, necessary things, things as simple, but as important, as a loaf of bread. We are so out of touch with this until we seek way to get back in touch with this. God taught this to his people early on with a lesson that lasted some 40 years. For an entire generation God provided the Israelites with bread from heaven, manna. They were never allowed to store it up. But everyday when they woke up it was there. That would be such a hard lesson for me to learn, as it is a hard lesson for me to learn- the daily provision of God.
I am wired to horde. I’m a hoarder. You’d think I lived through the great depression or was born in abject poverty they way I feel I have to stock pile supplies. Now there’s nothing wrong with planning for the future, for even God was preparing them for a future time even as he was providing them daily bread. But this kind of prayer for provision bring us back to the daily bread of God’s love, God’s grace, God’s goodness in our lives. the great thing about Gdo is that daily we come into his presence, daily we praise him, daily we seek his purpose, daily he provides for us. Daily he encounters our lives. We don;t have to wait until Sunday morning. We don;t have to wait until Christmas or Easter. daily he is our provider.
Fourth, seek God’s pardon. His forgiveness. There is a story of a man whose friends brought him to Jesus. He was crippled. Jesus said your sins are forgiven. Then he said, that you know that i have the power to forgive sins, which is really the most important thing, get up and walk. Jesus knows we are very fleshly creatures. very incarnate. And it’s hard for us to trust Him in the big stuff, if we don't trust him in the little stuff. So i love that Jesus says first pray and trust me in what is really the little stuff- food and daily provision. then you’ll trust me better in the big stuff- that I can forgive your sins and give your eternal life.
But he doesn’t let us off the hook. No, there is a catch my friends. Don’t let anyone offer you cheap gospel and cheap grace- as you forgive. God forgives us, and we must be forgiving, reconciling, redeeming people as well.
Finally, seek God’s power. Power to overcome temptation. Jesus actually personifies temptation and evil here and refers to the evil one. I’m not sure what you all make ot that just yet, but Jesus says there really is an evil one, the devil, Satan, the deceiver, the one disguised as and angel of light who is really the agent of dead. The evil one. Give us power over his temptations.
Last week I challenged everyone to start working out an "Answer to Prayer" story. I want to tel you that there is an answer to prayer story that all of us can tell, but it's a prayer that is always answered by God- the prayer of offering your life to God. I told a story about answered prayer to start this morning- a prayer answered when a man gave his life to Jesus. Today, right now, I want to give you the chance to say that prayer. A prayer that simple says today Jesus, I believe. I believe in you. I believe you are the son of God, you show us God. I believe I need you. I believe I need your forgiveness for my sins. I believe I need you to have eternal life. I believe I need to to live the way life was meant to be lived here and now. Jesus, my prayer is that you take my life and save me. You take my life and make me new again.
I want to give you the opportunity have this prayer answered in your life...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
MANIFESTO- Week 8: Prayer
What comes to mind when you think of prayer? Some folks grow up in a strict religious tradition where prayers are memorized, recited and ritualistic. They may even be so structured that the really important prayers have to offered up by the professions with a lot of pomp and circumstance. If you’ve ever wanted to understand where all that comes from read Rev. 8. Others may be at the other end of the spectrum. Prayer had little or nothing to do with your life. In fact, you may still be wondering if there is any value to prayer at all- it may just be superstitious wishful thinking, and if it has any value at all, it’s merely psychological. Many of us find ourselves somewhere in between on the spectrum, but all of us at some point have at some point said some kind of prayer.
Have you, at any time, for whatever reason, ever said a prayer? I suspect that’s 99.9% of us.
Now, who here would say they are good at praying? It’s OK to say you’re good at praying- I really hope we have some good prayers in our church. But even if there are several, I’m betting most of us would say, not so good.
Some of us might have the gift of prayer, but all of us still have a lot we can learn. I fact, let me begin with with this point- of all the stories we have of Jesus, we only have one recorded incident where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them something. That’s not to say they didn’t not ask him to teach them other things, but we have recorded for us in the bible only one account where the people closest to Jesus ask him directly to teach them something. The one thing we have recorded that they asked was, this, “Teach us how to pray.”
It wasn’t anything we might consider practical- leadership skills, preaching skills, conflict resolution, or anything like that, though Jesus taught on those things.
It wasn’t anything spectacular or miraculous- teach us how to heal the sick, control the weather, perform miracles, feed multitudes, though Jesus demonstrated all those things, and said we, his followers, would do even greater things. Many people might think that a wasted question. If you had only one question to ask Jesus, why throw it away on that!
But I’m going to suggest to you that we have this question and answer recorded for us because it really it the best question that could have been asked. If YOU could ask Jesus one question, you would want to ask this question. The great thing is- you can, and you can get the answer!
This is the best thing for Jesus to teach us. This is the thing that will lead to every other thing! Getting this right gets us access to ask all the other things we want to ask and talk to God about. This disciples got this, and we need to get this. There was something about the way that Jesus prayed that they must have seen, they must have known, this is the source for everything that Jesus does. Before something big happens, Jesus prayers. After something big happens, Jesus prays. Early in the morning, Jesus gets up to pray. Later at night, Jesus sneaks off to pray. There is just something about Jesus, and prayer, that we need to know more! We want to pray like Jesus.
So we are going to learn the very prayer Jesus taught his followers- next week. Today we are going to start begin but looking at what prayer is really all about. We’ll actually look at the too biggest prayer mistakes. Then I’m going to issue you a great big giant audacious challenge that I hope everyone of you will take me up on. Then next week we are going to pick apart the actual model for prayer that Jesus gives us.
Now to put this in context- Jesus has gone through his whole set up for this sermon on the mount. He talked about the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. He’s called us to a unique, a set apart kind of life, a life that’s like salt and light in a rotting and dark world of sin. He’s smashes to pieces some old ideas about being religious and invited us to go much deeper into relationship now with him. Now he’s talking into the actual disciples of devoted follower of his. First he talks about giving. I talked about this a few weeks ago in our series on money. You can go back and listen to that message online, May 10th. Suffice to say the first thing that jesus says the serious follower of his will do- give money to the needy. It’s assumed, no matter what your age, stage or income level, that you will give. So Jesus teaches about giving. The next thing tackled- prayer. He says...
First thing- the assumption here is that the fully devoted follower of Jesus will cultivate a prayer life. The assumption is that everyone has the potential to be a great prayer, to have a great prayer life. This is not some spiritual discipline reserved for monks and missionaries. This is at the heart of a life, any life, every life, devoted to God. It is within your grasp and you ability to be a truly incredible prayer! I hope that is incredible exciting to all of you. You can be a great prayer because prayer is simply communicating with God. It’s engaging in a genuine communication with God.
First, communication takes at least two living parties. I can talk all I want to an empty theatre, but it would not be communication. The empty seats are not going to receive, process, evaluate, apply interact with my or my words. Communication takes to living, active engaged beings. So this is really the first incredible thing to acknowledge regarding prayer- that God is living, active and engaged with us. The living God of the universe hears our prayers. More so, he is interested in our prayers. He wants to foster a relationship with us.
Second, communication involves giving and receiving. Genuine communication means that the two living parties have a kind of give and take, a back and forth. It’s not one sided. That’s just giving a speech. The communication of prayer is much more like a conversation. We need to speak, and we need to listen. We need to listen, and we need to respond. Prayer changes us, and prayer changes God! It moves us, and it moves God- that’s amazing!
Third, communication is multifaceted. Prayer happens in a multitude of ways. Even the briefest overview of prayer in the bible shows numerous ways that men and women engaged God in prayer. Morning, afternoon and through the night. Spoken prayers, and silent prayers. Eloquent prayers, and sometimes just a sigh, and sometimes, just being quiet. There are thankful prayers, and angry prayers. Prayer of confession, and prayers for vengeance. Happy prayers, and tearful prayers. Moses spoke to God like a friend. David sang songs of prayer to God. Daniel went to his bedroom, opened his windows, got on his knees faced Jerusalem, and talked with God. Jeremiah wept prayers before God. Job argued with God in prayer. All this to say, as complex, and frankly, as sometimes complicated communication in any relationship can be, so our prayers, our communication with God, can be complex, varied and diverse. But all of this is about a genuine communication, a genuine relationship, with God.
Prayer is essential to our relationship with God. Prayer, is assumed, expected even, by Jesus. And since we are going to be a praying people, Jesus wants us to pray in the right way. But first, he says, let me tell you what it doesn’t look like. Don’t pray like the hypocrites, and don’t pray like the pagans. Jesus is so sweet and nice sometimes.
You’ve heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question...only stupid people.” right? Well folks, when it comes to prayer, that expression doesn’t hold up. There is such a thing as stupid prayers. There are some very bad, very wrong things we could pray. There are many awful prayers! The bible records some really stupid prayers as examples. Jonah, the guy who got swallowed by a fish. That guy prayed some really bad prayers. A guy named Job, some real winners where he drones on an on trying to defend himself before God. Elijah, he prayed to die once because he was afraid. Abram, he prayed for Sodom, and that didn’t work out so well. Moses, he just sounds like a whiner half the time.
I would bet that there might be a lot more bad prayers, than great prayers. Now that’s NOT to say that they aren’t honest prayers. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t keep trying. Can I be the first to say that I’m the most guilty of praying a lot of stupid, immature, selfish prayers. Prayer so bad, that God in his incredible love and grace didn’t answer them, he didn’t smote me on the spot, he didn’t laugh and write me off as a lost cause, but that God has been, and continues to be incredibly patient with me as i pray some horrendously bad prayers, but, more and more, I actually get some good quality communication going. I’ll go so far as to say that I think it better to pray a bad prayer, a stupid prayer, than to not pray at all. Because if you are at least giving it a try, if you are at least acknowledging God at some level, entering into a communication with Him, asking something of Him, then you might very well be on your way to becoming a great prayer. But, you can not, you will not, say great prayers, be a great prayers, enter into a genuine communication with the living God if you simple continue to pray like the Hypocrites or the pagans.
Who are the hypocrites- actors. The term came for the actors that put on masks, and put on a show. And the title became an adjective for the kind of people who in the very act of going to God, put on a mask, and put on a show. How many of you, when you pray, go into prayer voice, or prayer words. For some reason we go down an octave or two, we suddenly speak in old english and words with 4-5 syllables. “We beseech thee great God of all the universe, the all powerful pantocrator of the pantheon of all peoples...” Come on, get real. Really, get real. When we come to prayer we need to take off the mask, we need to get off the stage, we need to get real.
Now I’m not saying dumb it down. Trust me, God is more intelligent than you. He knows more languages and more big words than you know, don’t dumb it down, but don’t feel the need to spruce it up either. Get real. And I’m not saying don’t some reverence and respect. Definitely show reverence and respect. Definitely know your position as you come before God. But get real.
I think of it like this- when we come to the prayer room, as Jesus here says for us to do, getting real means the only thing that is going to impress God and move you deeper into a relationship with him is gut level absolute honesty. There was an expression a few years back, it came out of a song, and it was simply this- pray naked. Pray naked, because God sees you for who you are anyways. So why not embrace the fact that God may be the one person in your life who knows you, who really really knows you, know everything about you, knows you inside and out, your beauty and your blemishes, knows everything you’ve ever said or done or even thought, and who still loves you and accepts you and takes you just as you are. That is an awesome thing, a freeing thing, and incredible thing- finally- someone who can truly bear my naked being. Don’t pray like hypocrite- pray naked before God.
Second, don’t pray like the pagans. The pagans were the folks who chased after every form and fashion of spirituality that they thought they could use to advance their position in the world. If they wanted crops, they prayed to a rain god. If they wanted victory, they sacrificed a child to a war god. If they wanted sexual gratification, they worship with the temple prostitutes. And the thing with the pagans was that they figured they could just pray or do what they had to do, no matter how long it took, to eventually get what they wanted.
Jesus says God knows what you need before you pray it, so don't waste your breath trying to win God over to your position. I’ll let you in on a trade secret I use as a pastor. When I go to visit someone ...
Just get to the point, and then start praying that point through with God. Just cut to the chase- he knows already, he knows your heart better than you do, but through prayer, you’ll start to know you own heart in ways you can’t now imagine.
Prayer isn’t for hypocrites who want to put on a show. Prayer isn’t about entering into a negotiation with God. Prayer takes us to the heart of God, and it begins to reveal our own heart to us. Prayer is about entering into a conversation, a dialogue, a relationship with God. And that is what Jesus says next is so important. Really, it is so incredible important. What Jesus is about to say changes everything. Nobody ever heard this before. Nobody was taught to pray like this. In fact, if anything, they were taught to pray NOT like they. What Jesus was about to say changed everything. It is paradigm shifting, no, that too weak, it is a kind of earth shattering revelation on par with saying the world isn’t flat, that we’ve replaced the gourmet coffee we usually serve with folders crystals- we didn’t, don;t worry.
Jesus says, when you pray, pray like this- our father in heaven. The word there, father, is Abba, and might also be translated Dad, or even daddy. Without being childish, it was the most endearing and intimate expression of the parent/child relationship. It is in this way, like a child coming into the presence and into the arms of their daddy, that we enter into a relationship with God.
Jesus is about to springboard from this radical new revelation in how we relate to God, in how we understand God, in who we see God to be in our lives, into a model for what real communication, real prayer, with our father in heaven, is going to look like. We are going to go through this prayer movement by movement next week. But as I promised, I want to wrap this up today with a challenge for you. Perhaps challenge isn’t the best word. I want to invite you to experience something in prayer that perhaps you’ve never experienced before. Like I said at the very start of this series- this who section of the bible is about doing. It’s about applying this stuff to our lives and making a difference in our lives. So I want to invite to experience the difference that real prayer can make in your life. So let me put it this way:
Do you have any answer to prayer stories?
Most of us have probably heard about answer to prayer stories. I’m asking, do you have an answer to prayer story. I hope all of you do. And I’m inviting you to get yourself an answer to prayer story. Because if you don’t, the problem isn’t God. it’s you. It’s because you’re praying like a hypocrite, it’s a show, so you are praying all the wrong things in the wrong way. Or it’s because you are praying like a pagan, you are trying to negotiate something with God, and it just doesn’t work that way. You have to start learning to communicating with God like your heavenly father.
Now if you are going to have an answer to prayer story you need to pray enough to actually know what you are praying about, and you need to pray enough to specifically know what an answer to prayer would look like. So here the challenge:
Prayer sometime, somewhere about something.
When and where are you going to pray? You can pray all the time everywhere unless you pray sometime somewhere. I want you to pick a time an place that you can do this. They you keep the appointment. You keep all you other appointments- keep this one.
How long? Keep it short. Because I don’t want you to fail and feel more guilty, make it 5, maybe 10 minutes tops. If you’re a long time prayer, you have this disciple down, go right on through and keep praying. This is for us beginners.
Now, lastly, what? You will need to get specific here. You need to work through what going on in you enough to be able to articulate in writing what you are praying about. You need to know, because only then, when God answers it, will you be able to recognize that God has answered your prayer, and then you will be able to give thanks.
THIS IS NOT putting God to the test. I’m talking about putting you to the test. Because real prayer never puts God to the test, real prayer, honest prayer, open prayer, always leads to a real relationship, and real communication with God, and that put sus to the test. I’m serious about this folks. I’ve learned now that real prayer doesn’t test God, it tests me. It tests my faith. it tests my strength. It tests my character. It tests my values. it test my beliefs. It tests me, NOT God. And I want you to rise to the occasion, and put yourself to the test, because I know God is real, and God is alive, and God is active, and God is ready to meet you in prayer, and do some incredible work in your life. You’ve got to put yourself to the test.
Maybe you need to pray for a relationship...
forgiveness...
a job...
a way out...
an opportunity....
What is going to be your answer to prayer story? I don’t know. But I can’t wait to find out. Because God if we start praying some real prayers, not the prayers of a bunch of hypocrites or pagans, not putting on a show and not babbling about stupid stuff that God already knows we need, We are going to see God move in our lives, in our church, in our community, on phenomenal ways.
There are now stories, already, in this church, in our lives, of answered prayers and incredible things that God has done. The very fact that we are here, that Connections launched, that Connections exists, that people have come to know Jesus, that relationship have been formed, that relationships have been healed- they are stories to answered prayer...
Have you, at any time, for whatever reason, ever said a prayer? I suspect that’s 99.9% of us.
Now, who here would say they are good at praying? It’s OK to say you’re good at praying- I really hope we have some good prayers in our church. But even if there are several, I’m betting most of us would say, not so good.
Some of us might have the gift of prayer, but all of us still have a lot we can learn. I fact, let me begin with with this point- of all the stories we have of Jesus, we only have one recorded incident where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them something. That’s not to say they didn’t not ask him to teach them other things, but we have recorded for us in the bible only one account where the people closest to Jesus ask him directly to teach them something. The one thing we have recorded that they asked was, this, “Teach us how to pray.”
It wasn’t anything we might consider practical- leadership skills, preaching skills, conflict resolution, or anything like that, though Jesus taught on those things.
It wasn’t anything spectacular or miraculous- teach us how to heal the sick, control the weather, perform miracles, feed multitudes, though Jesus demonstrated all those things, and said we, his followers, would do even greater things. Many people might think that a wasted question. If you had only one question to ask Jesus, why throw it away on that!
But I’m going to suggest to you that we have this question and answer recorded for us because it really it the best question that could have been asked. If YOU could ask Jesus one question, you would want to ask this question. The great thing is- you can, and you can get the answer!
This is the best thing for Jesus to teach us. This is the thing that will lead to every other thing! Getting this right gets us access to ask all the other things we want to ask and talk to God about. This disciples got this, and we need to get this. There was something about the way that Jesus prayed that they must have seen, they must have known, this is the source for everything that Jesus does. Before something big happens, Jesus prayers. After something big happens, Jesus prays. Early in the morning, Jesus gets up to pray. Later at night, Jesus sneaks off to pray. There is just something about Jesus, and prayer, that we need to know more! We want to pray like Jesus.
So we are going to learn the very prayer Jesus taught his followers- next week. Today we are going to start begin but looking at what prayer is really all about. We’ll actually look at the too biggest prayer mistakes. Then I’m going to issue you a great big giant audacious challenge that I hope everyone of you will take me up on. Then next week we are going to pick apart the actual model for prayer that Jesus gives us.
Now to put this in context- Jesus has gone through his whole set up for this sermon on the mount. He talked about the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. He’s called us to a unique, a set apart kind of life, a life that’s like salt and light in a rotting and dark world of sin. He’s smashes to pieces some old ideas about being religious and invited us to go much deeper into relationship now with him. Now he’s talking into the actual disciples of devoted follower of his. First he talks about giving. I talked about this a few weeks ago in our series on money. You can go back and listen to that message online, May 10th. Suffice to say the first thing that jesus says the serious follower of his will do- give money to the needy. It’s assumed, no matter what your age, stage or income level, that you will give. So Jesus teaches about giving. The next thing tackled- prayer. He says...
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
First thing- the assumption here is that the fully devoted follower of Jesus will cultivate a prayer life. The assumption is that everyone has the potential to be a great prayer, to have a great prayer life. This is not some spiritual discipline reserved for monks and missionaries. This is at the heart of a life, any life, every life, devoted to God. It is within your grasp and you ability to be a truly incredible prayer! I hope that is incredible exciting to all of you. You can be a great prayer because prayer is simply communicating with God. It’s engaging in a genuine communication with God.
So you want a simple definition-But anyone, with any amount of life experience knows that communication, real communication, good communication, clear communication, is not easy. It takes time, it takes work. It needs to be practiced. It needs to grow and mature. It needs to seek understanding. Communication, we know, is key. It is key in any relationship, especially any genuine relationship. A counselor was once asked what the key to a successful marriage and the expert said three things are vital for any marriage to thrive- communication, communication, communication. Folk, three things are paramount, they are vital, for us to have a thriving relationship with God, and I’ll give you three guesses to what they are...Let me say three things here about communication with God.
prayer is communicating with God.
First, communication takes at least two living parties. I can talk all I want to an empty theatre, but it would not be communication. The empty seats are not going to receive, process, evaluate, apply interact with my or my words. Communication takes to living, active engaged beings. So this is really the first incredible thing to acknowledge regarding prayer- that God is living, active and engaged with us. The living God of the universe hears our prayers. More so, he is interested in our prayers. He wants to foster a relationship with us.
Second, communication involves giving and receiving. Genuine communication means that the two living parties have a kind of give and take, a back and forth. It’s not one sided. That’s just giving a speech. The communication of prayer is much more like a conversation. We need to speak, and we need to listen. We need to listen, and we need to respond. Prayer changes us, and prayer changes God! It moves us, and it moves God- that’s amazing!
Third, communication is multifaceted. Prayer happens in a multitude of ways. Even the briefest overview of prayer in the bible shows numerous ways that men and women engaged God in prayer. Morning, afternoon and through the night. Spoken prayers, and silent prayers. Eloquent prayers, and sometimes just a sigh, and sometimes, just being quiet. There are thankful prayers, and angry prayers. Prayer of confession, and prayers for vengeance. Happy prayers, and tearful prayers. Moses spoke to God like a friend. David sang songs of prayer to God. Daniel went to his bedroom, opened his windows, got on his knees faced Jerusalem, and talked with God. Jeremiah wept prayers before God. Job argued with God in prayer. All this to say, as complex, and frankly, as sometimes complicated communication in any relationship can be, so our prayers, our communication with God, can be complex, varied and diverse. But all of this is about a genuine communication, a genuine relationship, with God.
Prayer is essential to our relationship with God. Prayer, is assumed, expected even, by Jesus. And since we are going to be a praying people, Jesus wants us to pray in the right way. But first, he says, let me tell you what it doesn’t look like. Don’t pray like the hypocrites, and don’t pray like the pagans. Jesus is so sweet and nice sometimes.
You’ve heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question...only stupid people.” right? Well folks, when it comes to prayer, that expression doesn’t hold up. There is such a thing as stupid prayers. There are some very bad, very wrong things we could pray. There are many awful prayers! The bible records some really stupid prayers as examples. Jonah, the guy who got swallowed by a fish. That guy prayed some really bad prayers. A guy named Job, some real winners where he drones on an on trying to defend himself before God. Elijah, he prayed to die once because he was afraid. Abram, he prayed for Sodom, and that didn’t work out so well. Moses, he just sounds like a whiner half the time.
I would bet that there might be a lot more bad prayers, than great prayers. Now that’s NOT to say that they aren’t honest prayers. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t keep trying. Can I be the first to say that I’m the most guilty of praying a lot of stupid, immature, selfish prayers. Prayer so bad, that God in his incredible love and grace didn’t answer them, he didn’t smote me on the spot, he didn’t laugh and write me off as a lost cause, but that God has been, and continues to be incredibly patient with me as i pray some horrendously bad prayers, but, more and more, I actually get some good quality communication going. I’ll go so far as to say that I think it better to pray a bad prayer, a stupid prayer, than to not pray at all. Because if you are at least giving it a try, if you are at least acknowledging God at some level, entering into a communication with Him, asking something of Him, then you might very well be on your way to becoming a great prayer. But, you can not, you will not, say great prayers, be a great prayers, enter into a genuine communication with the living God if you simple continue to pray like the Hypocrites or the pagans.
Who are the hypocrites- actors. The term came for the actors that put on masks, and put on a show. And the title became an adjective for the kind of people who in the very act of going to God, put on a mask, and put on a show. How many of you, when you pray, go into prayer voice, or prayer words. For some reason we go down an octave or two, we suddenly speak in old english and words with 4-5 syllables. “We beseech thee great God of all the universe, the all powerful pantocrator of the pantheon of all peoples...” Come on, get real. Really, get real. When we come to prayer we need to take off the mask, we need to get off the stage, we need to get real.
Now I’m not saying dumb it down. Trust me, God is more intelligent than you. He knows more languages and more big words than you know, don’t dumb it down, but don’t feel the need to spruce it up either. Get real. And I’m not saying don’t some reverence and respect. Definitely show reverence and respect. Definitely know your position as you come before God. But get real.
I think of it like this- when we come to the prayer room, as Jesus here says for us to do, getting real means the only thing that is going to impress God and move you deeper into a relationship with him is gut level absolute honesty. There was an expression a few years back, it came out of a song, and it was simply this- pray naked. Pray naked, because God sees you for who you are anyways. So why not embrace the fact that God may be the one person in your life who knows you, who really really knows you, know everything about you, knows you inside and out, your beauty and your blemishes, knows everything you’ve ever said or done or even thought, and who still loves you and accepts you and takes you just as you are. That is an awesome thing, a freeing thing, and incredible thing- finally- someone who can truly bear my naked being. Don’t pray like hypocrite- pray naked before God.
Second, don’t pray like the pagans. The pagans were the folks who chased after every form and fashion of spirituality that they thought they could use to advance their position in the world. If they wanted crops, they prayed to a rain god. If they wanted victory, they sacrificed a child to a war god. If they wanted sexual gratification, they worship with the temple prostitutes. And the thing with the pagans was that they figured they could just pray or do what they had to do, no matter how long it took, to eventually get what they wanted.
Jesus says God knows what you need before you pray it, so don't waste your breath trying to win God over to your position. I’ll let you in on a trade secret I use as a pastor. When I go to visit someone ...
Just get to the point, and then start praying that point through with God. Just cut to the chase- he knows already, he knows your heart better than you do, but through prayer, you’ll start to know you own heart in ways you can’t now imagine.
Prayer isn’t for hypocrites who want to put on a show. Prayer isn’t about entering into a negotiation with God. Prayer takes us to the heart of God, and it begins to reveal our own heart to us. Prayer is about entering into a conversation, a dialogue, a relationship with God. And that is what Jesus says next is so important. Really, it is so incredible important. What Jesus is about to say changes everything. Nobody ever heard this before. Nobody was taught to pray like this. In fact, if anything, they were taught to pray NOT like they. What Jesus was about to say changed everything. It is paradigm shifting, no, that too weak, it is a kind of earth shattering revelation on par with saying the world isn’t flat, that we’ve replaced the gourmet coffee we usually serve with folders crystals- we didn’t, don;t worry.
Jesus says, when you pray, pray like this- our father in heaven. The word there, father, is Abba, and might also be translated Dad, or even daddy. Without being childish, it was the most endearing and intimate expression of the parent/child relationship. It is in this way, like a child coming into the presence and into the arms of their daddy, that we enter into a relationship with God.
Jesus is about to springboard from this radical new revelation in how we relate to God, in how we understand God, in who we see God to be in our lives, into a model for what real communication, real prayer, with our father in heaven, is going to look like. We are going to go through this prayer movement by movement next week. But as I promised, I want to wrap this up today with a challenge for you. Perhaps challenge isn’t the best word. I want to invite you to experience something in prayer that perhaps you’ve never experienced before. Like I said at the very start of this series- this who section of the bible is about doing. It’s about applying this stuff to our lives and making a difference in our lives. So I want to invite to experience the difference that real prayer can make in your life. So let me put it this way:
Do you have any answer to prayer stories?
Most of us have probably heard about answer to prayer stories. I’m asking, do you have an answer to prayer story. I hope all of you do. And I’m inviting you to get yourself an answer to prayer story. Because if you don’t, the problem isn’t God. it’s you. It’s because you’re praying like a hypocrite, it’s a show, so you are praying all the wrong things in the wrong way. Or it’s because you are praying like a pagan, you are trying to negotiate something with God, and it just doesn’t work that way. You have to start learning to communicating with God like your heavenly father.
Now if you are going to have an answer to prayer story you need to pray enough to actually know what you are praying about, and you need to pray enough to specifically know what an answer to prayer would look like. So here the challenge:
Prayer sometime, somewhere about something.
When and where are you going to pray? You can pray all the time everywhere unless you pray sometime somewhere. I want you to pick a time an place that you can do this. They you keep the appointment. You keep all you other appointments- keep this one.
How long? Keep it short. Because I don’t want you to fail and feel more guilty, make it 5, maybe 10 minutes tops. If you’re a long time prayer, you have this disciple down, go right on through and keep praying. This is for us beginners.
Now, lastly, what? You will need to get specific here. You need to work through what going on in you enough to be able to articulate in writing what you are praying about. You need to know, because only then, when God answers it, will you be able to recognize that God has answered your prayer, and then you will be able to give thanks.
THIS IS NOT putting God to the test. I’m talking about putting you to the test. Because real prayer never puts God to the test, real prayer, honest prayer, open prayer, always leads to a real relationship, and real communication with God, and that put sus to the test. I’m serious about this folks. I’ve learned now that real prayer doesn’t test God, it tests me. It tests my faith. it tests my strength. It tests my character. It tests my values. it test my beliefs. It tests me, NOT God. And I want you to rise to the occasion, and put yourself to the test, because I know God is real, and God is alive, and God is active, and God is ready to meet you in prayer, and do some incredible work in your life. You’ve got to put yourself to the test.
Maybe you need to pray for a relationship...
forgiveness...
a job...
a way out...
an opportunity....
What is going to be your answer to prayer story? I don’t know. But I can’t wait to find out. Because God if we start praying some real prayers, not the prayers of a bunch of hypocrites or pagans, not putting on a show and not babbling about stupid stuff that God already knows we need, We are going to see God move in our lives, in our church, in our community, on phenomenal ways.
There are now stories, already, in this church, in our lives, of answered prayers and incredible things that God has done. The very fact that we are here, that Connections launched, that Connections exists, that people have come to know Jesus, that relationship have been formed, that relationships have been healed- they are stories to answered prayer...
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