Tag Archives: People

I am a Child of the King

Gallery June 16, 2002 David

I am a Child of the King
Who Am I
June 16, 2002	Sermon by DRW	Passage Matthew 7.24-27

The people in South Central L.A. are having an identity crisis. They have based their hopes on a King, named Rodney. Their whole history was culminated in this one man. They based 27 years of tension, 130 years of frustration and over 400 years of hopelessness in this country in one man, a King. He, through the faulty verdict, proved to be a false hope for them. Their identity as humans and citizens on equal footing with others was literally beaten and the world saw this, and the verdict affirms this, and now they “know” this. What followed was a re-action which the stereotype of these people predicted: they lived up, or down (depending upon your perspective), to what others thought of them. They re-acted as “hoodlums.” The world around them, namely the US and specifically LA, considers most blacks to be gang-bangers: they acted as “gang-bangers.”

Allow me to illustrate this point. I grew up in Carson, home of the Crips and Pyroos. As most know, I was mugged on a daily basis for money and durable goods. My attitude towards blacks has been coloured. Yet, now, my best friend is black. This shows me that my attitude toward blacks have changed. But an interesting incident occurred this past Thursday (30 April 1992) that showed me that I, too, agreed with the stereo-type. One of the people from EFCSB was driving in South Central on Wednesday night, after the riots began. He was one of the many who was injured in the rioting. He was shot in the chest. After Dan bribed a local family, they took him to Martin Luther King Hospital in Compton. On Thursday, Dan and I decided to visit him and present the Gospel to him. Such noble and grandiose plans fell victim to stereo-type. We were heading up Wilmington Blvd. and ran into the locals looting a liquor store. We passed them with great expediency, then came the test. A rather large gentleman was crossing the street with his hand in the air displaying the Crip hand signal (a “C” in sign language). I notice this real quick and told Dan, who was driving the church van. He immediately rabbited out of the area. With much fear and stupidity we did leave the area but not after having objects thrown at the church van. We never did get to see Jean to present the Gospel to him.

We all hold to some stereo-type and we do expect people to re-act to that stereo-type, in one way or another. The people of South Central LA, with sinful re-actions to their false identity, will cry out the truth of the poem in the bulletin.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Lost and hopeless feelings accompany me daily,

pain and confusion are my companions.

I know not where to turn;

looking ahead to future times does not bring forth images of renewed hope.

I see troubled times, pain filled days, and more tragedy.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Hold my hand and hug me;

listen to all my ramblings, recovery seems so far distant.

The road to healing seems like a long and lonely one.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Stand by me, offer me your presence, your heart and your love.

Acknowledge my pain, it is so real and ever present.

I am overwhelmed with sad and conflicting thoughts.

Lend me your hope for awhile;

a time will come when I will heal,

and I will share my renewal, hope and love with others.

(author unknown)

Allow me to ask you a question: Who are you?

Picture this dialogue as an answer to that question:

1. Excuse me, but, who are you? Have you thought about that?

2. Well…sure. I’m Fred Smith.

1. No, I mean who are you? Not just your name.

2. Oh…well, I live in Monrovia, and–

1. Excuse me. But let’s try again. Who are you?

2. You know. I’m the guy who drives the red Mitsubishi. I work at Denny in Arcadia. My sister married the son of the owner of Carl’s Jr.

1. No–you misunderstand me. I’m asking you who you are–way down deep inside. Who are you?

2. Come on now, this is getting stupid. I’m a member of the human race. What planet did you come from?

1. Let’s try it again, who are you?

2. Who am I? I’m a Baptist. Sure am. No–wait–I get you now. I’m a Christian–you know.

1. Tell me.

2. Well, he’s a person who has accepted Christ.

1. But I didn’t ask you what you’ve done. I asked you who you are.

Is who you are determined by what you do, your name, your address, your church, your height and weight; or, is what you do determined by who you are? The people in South Central LA lived up to the stereo-type of who-you-are-is-determined-by-what-you-do syndrome and forgot the what-you-do-is-determined-by-who-you-are truth. We as Christians sometimes forget as-well.

When we think of who we are, we think in terms of what we have done or hope to do. We think in terms of: I’m a student, a businessman, a teacher, a basketball player; I’ll be a father or mother.

What happens though when what you do is taken away?

“I’m a student.” What happens to your identity when you graduate, if you graduate? Then, who are you?

“I’m a businessman.” When the economy goes sour, your place burned down and you are looted, what becomes of your identity? Who are you?

“I’m a singer.” What happens when your voice goes, who are you then?

“I’m a mother.” What happens when the children leave or die? Who are you then?

“A cross-country runner.” What happens when you are kicked off the team or incur an injury, who are you then?

This was my goal, my way of being somebody in high school. While there I was classified as a “nerd”. I had above average intelligence (sometimes I wonder if I still have it). One thing I was not and that was popular. In my senior year I tried for popularity. If I could run far and fast I would finally be somebody, popular.

Believe it or not, I became somebody during those first few months of my senior year. I wasn’t the fastest but I was exciting to watch. I knew how to play the cross-country crowd. I was six-feet tall and weighed 150 pounds–grace in action. I would run the first two-and-one-half miles at a decent pace, with the crowd–even to where I fell behind: 14 minutes. That last half-a-mile was mine. This is where I stood out. I was a fast 200 meter runner and a good half-miler. As we said back then, I booked in that last leg. I ran as hard as I could and as fast as I could. Passing everyone. Hearing the wild cheers of the by-standers (usually cheerleaders). Then with the keen sense of victory in my grasp, I would cross the finish line and tumble to the ground appearing dead tired but soaking the popularity. One thing, it didn’t even matter that I was running with the Junior Varsity.

I was somebody: the number three JV runner at Narbonne High School in Harbor City. Until, when we count on things and people for our identity there is always an “until”, that fateful day. That day when I lost the league championship for our school. They finally brought me up to the big leagues–Varsity. It was the CIF finals. We were to run a course we had never seen before. The course was easy but unfamiliar. Well, as my usual I stayed with the pack, toward the back. I thought the course was longer. All I needed to do was finish sixth and we had victory. I thought the course was longer. “After this corner,” I thought, “after this corner I will speed to victory and steal it from the clutches of the ‘enemies.'” Well, that corner, that lousy corner, was 100 feet from the finish line–no glory only frowns and jeers. I was no longer somebody.

Anthony Campolo once said, quoting from psychologists and sociologists, that we tend to react and think according to what we think the most important person in our life or a large group of people thinks of us. That is, our identity, who we are, is determined by those we uphold as most important or influential in our lives.

He says, if everybody I think is important or a large group thinks that I am brilliant, I will be brilliant; if they think I will be stupid, then I will be stupid. How long, he continues, do you think it would take for me to think I was the best looking person in the entire world, if I was in a room full of people who considered fat white guys to be handsome? It would take no time at all. That room full of people would affirm me.

We will falter if our parents are the most important people in our world. We will falter, like South Central LA, if we place others opinions as our most important influence. We will falter if we hold ourselves to be the most important in the world. Each of these, and others, will fail us, give us wrongs ideas and hopes, will destroy our feelings of self-worth, at one time or another in our lives.

We will not falter if we hold God as the most important person in our life. As Christians, if we believed that God was the most important person in our life, our life would change. Because what He thinks and knows of us is far greater and magnificent than any society or person, including self, could ever be–He calls us His children, we are children of the True King.

Who we are is far more important than what we do or what others may think us to be.

Scripture: 1 John 3.1-3

1 John 3:1-3 tells use something exciting. Lets read those words together. I don’t want you to miss the excitement that John must have had as he was writing. Lets look again at those verses. He said in verse 1, “See how great God’s love is for us, for we are called the children of God.” He must have been really excited as he wrote those words. What follows is an exciting exclamation. “For this is what we truly are!”

Have you ever thought about that? If I were to repeat the question, “who are you?” This should be your answer: “I am a child of God.” When you don’t understand the doctrinal truths pertaining to your position in Christ, you have no ground for success in the practical arena” (Anderson, 2000, 54).

If you remember three weeks ago we talked about who we are. Linus, you remember that sermon, it was called “Butterflies and Kings.” In that we learned that we are not called sinners but saints. We do God an injustice when we call ourselves sinners for He calls us saints.

We need to realize that a Christian is not simply a person who gets forgiveness, who gets to go to heaven, who gets the Holy Spirit, who gets a new nature. Remember this a Christian is a person who has become someone he was not before. He becomes a saint. Isn’t this the truth that Jesus spoke of in John 3 to Nicademus? He told him, “You must be born again.” He said to him, “Unless you are born again, you will not see the Kingdom of God.”

What does Jesus mean by being born again? He says, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He makes this new birth analogous with physical birth. Let us consider the similarities. When we are born or conceived we are not being added to something. Being born physically is becoming something that was not there before. Therefore, being born spiritually is to become something that was not there before. It is not getting something added on. In other words, when we received the Holy Spirit, He was not an addition but He caused a transformation. He did not make us to be sinners going to Heaven (Heaven would be the addition). Instead, He transformed us like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly: we once were sinners but now we are saints. I realize that this concept is easy to understand. But the truths of it we seem to miss. We are like the bird who was mysteriously hatched into a family of rabbits. He never knew he was a bird. Oh, he realized he didn’t look like the rest, but they accepted him. He thought he was a rabbit. He hopped with them, ate with them, slept with them. One day another bird came up to him, he said, “Why are you hopping, don’t you know you can fly?” The little bird thought about this. “Sure, I guess if I hopped high enough it would look like I was flying.” But the bigger bird showed him his wings and said, “No, with these you can really fly.”

This is where we are right now. We have just learned an exciting truth. What we do with that truth is of utmost importance. We can either continue thinking we are rabbits or we can start flapping our wings and fly away. Whichever choice we make, the truth will remain the same, we are birds or in this case, saints.

We most remember, who we are is more important than what we do. We must understand who we are. When we understand who we are then we can do the right things. “A productive Christian behaviour system is the by-product of a solid Christian belief system, not the other way around” (Anderson, 2000, 53).

For example, many times in the past few months people have asked me how to get along with people. “… getting right with each other begins with getting right with God. And getting right with God always begins with settling once and for all the issue that God is your loving Father and you are His accepted child” (Anderson, 2000, 56). Therefore, we need to know who we are before we know what to do.

This is seen in Paul’s writings where he writes to the believers who they are before he tells them what to do. Too often we jump ahead to see what we should do instead of waiting to see who we are. We desire to know how to be in right relationship with people. So we jump to Eph 4-6. We forget to read Eph 1-3 which tells us who we are in Christ and the basis for those right relationship. When we skip the first three chapters and try to practice the last three chapters we will fail. Romans 12.1 shows us this in a simple fashion. Paul writes “Therefore”. A rather trite saying concerning this is, “What is the therefore there for?” Paul is saying by that “therefore”, everything that you’ve learned about who you are to God and in God by Christ is now to be applied to your life. In other words, if you don’t know chapters 1-11 of Romans don’t even think you can do what he asks in the rest of the book of Romans.

Can you see how easy it is to understand this and yet how hard it is to practice. The reason why is it’s too great a truth for us to understand. Eph 2.10 tells us that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ. And yet we don’t believe it. We think we’re still a rabbit, nothing but a sinner saved by grace. Yet He says we are his workmanship. Is God’s masterpiece created by simply adding something spiritual onto sinful clay? 2 Co 5.17 tells us that if anyone is in Christ he is a brand new creation; the old is gone, everything is brand new.

At the beginning of the message I talked about being somebody. The only way we can be somebody is to be in Christ. If we are a teacher one day we will no longer able to teach. If we are a parent someday we won’t be. If we are an athlete one day we will be old, fat, and injured; we are no longer an athlete.

Jesus said all things will pass away. This includes jobs, childhood, parenthood, and activities. But he also said in that same breath, I will never pass away. When our identity is in Christ that identity is forever.

The people in Christianity are having an identity crisis. They have based their hopes on a King, named Jesus. Their whole history was culminated in this one man. They base their lives filled with tension, frustration and hopelessness in one man, a King. He, through the faulty verdict, proved to be a false hope. Our identity as humans was literally beaten, crucified and buried while the world watched, and the verdict upon Him affirmed this, until He rose from the dead. What should follow is a re-action of our true identity in this risen King. Do we live up to what God has stereo-typed us to be or do we live down to what others think of us? Do we re-act as “saints” or “hoodlums”?

Today is a simple message of the truth we find in God, a truth tha will never change. Have you ever thought of yourself as something lower than what God does? Some people think that we are more noble than angels yet lower than the worm. This is not so for God calls us His child–now we are His children. Praise Him.

Anderson, N. T. (2000). Victory over the darkness. Ventura, CA: Regal.

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1 Chronicles, Old Testament, Sermons

The Prayer of Jabez

Gallery January 7, 2001 David 1 Comment

The Prayer of Jabez
January 07, 2001	Sermon by DRW	Passage 1 Chronicles 4.9-10

What could I bring to you today, this first real Sunday of the Millennium? I was thinking that I could offer you seven steps to being a great student. Maybe, how to deal with parents with three easy words. Or, 4 ways to wisely choose friends. But, as I thought about these things, I began to think about you. What is your greatest need? It isn’t success in school or at home or with your friends. What is it that will bring about the greatest change in your life, whether it is school, home, or friends? We learned three weeks ago that Jesus is the only option we have in this area. But what can I bring to you today that will effectively bring this about? When you become my age, I want you to be able to look back over your lives and see the pivotal points in your life. I want you to be able to see the handful of people who have brought you to those pivotal points that turned you around to become the people you will be. And, I want this time to be one of them.

I want to direct your attention to a little prayer in 1 Chronicles 4, verse 10. I would like to read it to you. There is a long set of people’s names that the Bible gives us, then it stops at this person and say this:

He was more honorable than his brothers.

The writer then writes one sentence about him and then continues with his long list of names. Wouldn’t it be incredible if God were to stop at your name and say that you were more honorable than the rest? Wouldn’t you want to be known as the one who stood out in your generation, who God used to change the lives of many people?

At the end of today’s message, I am going to ask you to join me in the prayer of Jabez. I will read it to you now. It has four parts and each of these four parts are exactly the opposite of how we have been taught to pray.

“Oh that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will not cause pain.”

Take a look at the first one: “O that you would bless me indeed!” We don’t ask God for blessings because we feel He already does. We feel that there is a limited amount of blessings and that God dispenses only as He feels like it. Jesus tells us there are innumerable blessings that we don’t receive because we don’t ask for them. [Mr Jones story?]. Somehow we think it is wrong to ask God to bless us. I can only imagine what I would do if Joshua would come up to me and ask me to bless him. There would be an emotional charge going through me. This is how I imagine our Father in heaven might feel when I go to Him to ask Him to bless me. When you ask God to bless you, really, time will pass, as you are praying for His blessing, that you will sit down and will think about the blessings that God has given you and you will weep over the knowledge of the fact. There may even come a time when you will ask God to stop giving the blessings, because you are overwhelmed by them.

“God, my Heavenly Father, will you bless me a lot.” Don’t specify what the blessing should be but pray for His blessing. He will bless you. I can almost imagine that most of you haven’t prayed for a blessing today. That you haven’t asked God to bless you today while you are here.

The second part is for God to enlarge his business, his borders, or whatever. It is right for me to ask God to increase the amount of people who come here. It is right to ask God to bless my wife’s work. It is right for me to ask for more ministry opportunities today. When was the last time you asked God to give you more ministry?

Let me tell you a few stories about how God helped me to have more ministry. There was a woman at the Chevron station by my house. I had prayed that God would bless me with an opportunity to minister to someone that day. This woman got out of her car and began to swear over the Camaro. I was remembering my prayer of the morning and, looking to heaven, I thought that this couldn’t be it. God wouldn’t want me to minister to this cranky, cursing woman. So, I continued to pump the gas and she continue to swear at the car. I was getting ready to go. I thanked God that this wasn’t the ministry opportunity that He had for me. But, being the nice guy that I am, I asked Him one last time: “God, if this woman is someone that You put into my path, let me know that she is without a doubt in my mind.” Don’t ever do that, because God will answer that prayer. The woman quit swearing for a brief moment and look around the gas pump and looked at me. She asked me to help her. I did, she was still cursing at the car. I left that area not telling her about Jesus, but I did help.

Another time, I was praying on Christmas for opportunities to help people. I find it hard to be around Karen’s grandma because of her mental condition. But that night, she was walking around frustrated and confused, so I talked with her. I then found myself doing something that I thought that I would never do, I hugged her. It was so difficult for me, but that was what God had planned for me.

One last story, I have been praying that God would bless this ministry. About four weeks ago I specifically asked God to bring people to FNF. I decided to set up 12 chairs to see what would happen. Well, 12 people came. That next Sunday, I printed 31 bulletins (I normally make 25). I had asked God to bring more people. He brought 31 that day. The next Friday, the amount of chairs I had set up was the amount of people that came. The next Sunday, the amount of bulletins I printed (35) were the amount of people present. I don’t know what that means, but Karen told me to print 1,000 bulletins. I guess she has more faith than I do.

The reason God left you here on earth was for more ministry. Don’t define how the ministry should come but merely ask for more opportunities. Beg Him for more. Tell Him you want to do more for Him. He will bless you with that ministry. Press beyond your comfort zone and ask God to enlarge your ministry. That He would give you more opportunities. Think of Isaiah 6. “Who will go for us, who can we send?” He is looking for people to be used in miraculous ways. There are so few people who are willing to say, “Here am I, send me!” Beg Him for more ministry. That He would put people within your borders, that He would direct people to you; that He would bring the opportunities to you! He will! “Lord, give me somebody who needs You.” He will bring somebody to you that has a need that needs to be met. When that person comes, ask them what you can do for them. Ask them, “How can I help you?” That person is your ministry for that moment. You have been called to meet his need. Then you tell them, “That’s why I am here!”

I remember just this past week. I was asking someone how they were doing and they wouldn’t answer me. I thought about it for a bit, I asked them, “How can I help you?” It was at this point they started to share with me how I could help them. It was interesting to watch God at work.

When was the last time you asked God to send somebody to you that needs Him? He will send the ministry to you. God will send you this appointment, if you ask Him. God won’t send someone to you that you are incapable of helping. He knows your abilities.

What would your life be like if you started praying this on a daily basis? God would give you the wisdom and the knowledge to help those He sends to you.

You need God’s blessings, so ask for them; you can have ministry opportunities that He will bless you with, if you ask Him for them. This will get you to live beyond your box of comfort. He will enlarge your borders. This will bring you to your uncomfortable zone. In the box, you are comfortable. When your borders are enlarged, you will become uncomfortable and you will feel fear and you will be overwhelmed. You will be uncomfortable, as I was hugging Karen’s Grandma, because you have never been there before. It is not a pleasant feeling and will make us not to want to go there. We don’t want to go there because we are so used to comfort and peace that we don’t want to step out of it and begin to lose control of the things around us. You are telling God that you want to enlarge your ministries, to move you out of your comfort zone. God is excited about this and He gives you the opportunities. Now you are faced with giants that you have never faced before. This is why God always told the leaders before He sent them out not to be afraid because He would be there with them (Joshua 1).

Listen to this, it is so important. When you break through from the comfort to the discomfort zone, that will become the comfort zone. And God can now use you in this bigger box. If you don’t stop and you continue to ask Him to give you more ministry, your box will grow larger. You will find yourself saying, “Change me so You can give me more ministry.” God will then give your ministry and will change you and you will grow. “Take me from the comfort to the discomfort zone.” The fear of being overwhelmed comes at every single point that you are about to break through from comfort to discomfort. It doesn’t matter how many giants you have killed before, they will get bigger. Most people become uncomfortable and think that God couldn’t be calling them to this and they back off. This is not true. God takes you to the uncomfortable so you can rely on Him to break through in your life and the lives of others through you. Through this come miracles in our life. How many times has God sought to move you and you refused because you thought you weren’t able to do so? He will then ask, as He did with Moses and others, “I created all things and I can use all things, so let Me! If I can use a donkey to convince Balaam, I can use you. I indwell you, what makes you think that I can’t do this? Get your eyes off of yourself and get them on Me!” If you do this you will never question whether your life is significant or not. But, you have to ask for God to bless and enlarge your sphere of influence.

The third part of that prayer sounds wrong if we focus on the prayers of today. Lord, bless me greatly. Lord, give me more ministry. Think about this next statement. See, when the Lord blesses us and gives us greater ministry opportunities, we will be overwhelmed. We will be so overwhelmed that we will shout out that we cannot do it. This is where you will pray the statement that Jabez prayed next. “That Your hand might be with me.” When was the last time that God expanded your ministry so much that you had to exclaim, “Lord, unleash Your strong arm on my behalf. I can’t do this!”

Think about this: when was the last time you were so overwhelmed with what God had for you to do that you had to fall down and exclaim, “God help me!” The problem with Christianity today, not all Christians but Christianity in general, is that she doesn’t live this way. The majority of Christians in the world today will shrink back from the feeling of being overwhelmed until they get back to the point where they feel they are in control, where it is comfortable. God is calling us to live beyond this, He wants us to be Spirit led and not led by the flesh. Any point that we are in control of our lives, we are in the flesh. Any point where we are so overwhelmed with life and ministry that we call out to God for help, we are living by the Spirit. We wonder why we don’t see the mighty hand of God at work in our lives. Here is the reason: we won’t let it.

What does it take for God to do this. God says that He is searching throughout the earth to find a heart that is loyal to Him so He can show His arm strong in his behalf. The arm of God is shown strong as we expand our borders and our ministry. It happens when we get to the point where we say to God, “Father, I can’t do this on my own. It is too big for me. I need Your help!” There are times when Joshua realizes taht he has gotten into something to big. That is when he begins to scream and look to Daddy or Mommy to come and help him. When nothing is in his way, he is running around like crazy. He doesn’t need me there. He is comfortable. It is only in the places where he feels out of control, uncomfortable that he calls on me. When was the last time you needed God’s help? When was the last time you called out to Him to be there to help you do His work? That is what life is all about.

You ask God to bless you and He will. You ask God to expand your ministry and He will burst through your borders and allow you to influence people and change this old world. He will give you exceeding abundantly beyond what you can even imagine. If you were to pray this prayer everyday, you could never begin to imagine what He will do through you. When you ask Him to have His hand on you, here is what takes place: God will bless you, expand your borders of influence, and He will be with you.

You will go from here into darkness, to a place you have never been before. As you go into the darkness you will bring back those people who have strayed, who need your light. God will only send those people to you that He knows You can help. This will become normal for you. As you move out into the darkness, you are really moving out into the darkness. You are now in Satan’s territory. Here is what happens here. You will feel the enemy coming after you. That is why the last part of the prayer is there. The fourth part of the prayer: “Keep me from evil,” he says. Why? Because that is where you are going. Most people don’t pray this way. When was the last time you prayed to God, “Lord, keep evil away from me!” We don’t pray this way. We are not to pray to be kept through temptation. When Jesus was asked how to pray, He didn’t say, “Lord, keep us in temptation.” He said, “Lead us not into temptation.” He was praying what Jabez prayed: Keep me from evil! Keep evil away from me!

The more you do these things the more miraculous your life will become and the more you will give God glory. If this church really did this, if you really did this, you would never go back to the mundane life you had before.

This is your life as a Christian. I just want to say, “It is time for you to enjoy it.”

I am asking you to commit to praying this prayer of Jabez for thirty days. If you do commit to this, please stand. Please keep standing. Our usher has a gift for you. It is a little book called “The Prayer of Jabez.”

Please be seated. Let’s all pray this prayer together.

Dear God,

please bless me a lot,

give me more ministry,

put your hand on me

and keep me from evil.

Now, with your eyes open, look up and ask Him, mean it:

Dear God,

Would You please bless me a lot

Give me more ministry

Put Your hand on me

And keep me from evil.

Now, Father, I stand as your minister here at Cerritos and ask that You truly bless this church. That You would cause us to grow spiritually and numerically in this community. Give us a double portion of Your blessings. We ask Father that You would give us the ministry that would affect our community. We pray Father that You would keep us from evil and help us to be a light to those in darkness. Father, we cannot do any of this without You. Be with us and guide us, in Jesus name, amen!

Exodus, Old Testament, Sermons

Alfred, I’m Tired

Gallery October 22, 2000 David

Alfred, I’m Tired
October 22, 2000	Sermon by DRW	Passage Exodus 20.8-11

In Chuck Swindoll’s book “To Laugh Again,” he writes this anecdote.

“The population of this country is 200 million. 84 million are retired. That leaves 116 million to do the work. There are 75 million in school, which leaves 41 million to do the work. Of this total, there are 22 million employed by the federal government.

“That leaves 19 million to do the work. 4 million are in the armed forces, which leaves 15 million to do the work. Take from that total the 14.8 million who work for state and city governments and that leaves 200,000 to do the work. There are 188,000 people in the hospital at any given time, leaving 12,000 to do the work. Currently, there are 11,998 people in jail. That leaves just two people to do the work – you and me. And you’re just sitting there listening. No wonder I’m stressed” (Swindoll, 1992)!

Now, that’s the perspective of a person who needs a break, wouldn’t you say? Of course, many of us from time to time have that same feeling. Many of us came here this morning stressed-out from the demands of the job, the family, school and a host of other assorted activities. The question is, what can we do about it? How can we break the power of stress and strain in our lives?

Before we begin, let me tell just how pervasive stress is in America.

1. 65 million people suffer with high blood pressure.

2. 1 million people die of heart disease, yearly.

3. Millions of people are afflicted with ulcers and stomach problems.

4. Millions of people have panic/anxiety disorder.

1. This is number one for women

2. This is number two for men (number one is substance abuse)

3. Panic attack is an out-of-the-blue attack

Stress comes from anxiety.

5. 40-50 million people have sleep disorder.

1. The average American under-sleeps an 1 ½ – 2 hours a night.

6. 80 million people suffer with headaches.

7. Millions of people suffer from depression.

This is a picture of stress. Although we will be discussing stress and its consequences, what I want to talk to you this morning about a solution that God has prescribed in the Bible. And let me come right out and say it:

God’s answer to the stress and strain on us is what the Bible calls the Sabbath, which to the best of my understanding means a “regular time of leisure” – a consistent pattern of breaking from the routine of our responsibilities.

I’ll explain that definition in a bit more detail in just a minute, but let me first show you why I say this is God’s answer to the problem. In at least two places in the Bible, God makes some amazing promises concerning the Sabbath principle.

“Happy is the one who refuses to work during my Sabbath days of rest, but honors them.” Isaiah 56:2aTLBM

“… if you call the Sabbath [in this case, a regular day of leisure] a delight and the LORD’S holy day honorable, and if you honor it … then you will find your joy in the LORD and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land …” Isaiah 58:13―14NIV

God promises that the byproducts of building a Sabbath – a regular time of leisure – into our lives are happiness and joy. Last time I checked, those were at one end of the mental health spectrum and stress was at the other.

But even at that, I have to admit that this idea of a “Sabbath” sounds a little out of place in the twenty-first century. It sounds like something associated with people who still dress in clothes from the 18th century and travel by horse and buggy. Even the word “Sabbath” has an odd ring to it, something that’s reserved for monks. In fact, when they hear the word “Sabbath,” most people think of getting up on Sunday morning, wearing uncomfortable clothes, sitting in a boring church service and walking around with a serious look on your face for the rest of the day. But that’s not what the Sabbath principle is about. The Sabbath is a direct response to the nature of stress.

Stress by nature is the fast pace of modern life. “We are designed for camel travel—but continue to behave like supersonic jets.” This has its price if pushed to the limit. It is also found in the tyranny of time where, as the song goes, “Everyone is in a hurry to get things done, we rush and we rush until life’s no fun.” It is also evident in Emergency living (urgency). Stress response is for emergencies. However, most of us live in a perpetual state of emergency, which is equivalent to great stress. We are so stressed out that our stress hormones go up and never come back

What are the effects of stress?

1. Increase in blood pressure (this causes the second effect). In an emergency this should rise (fight or flight). But it shouldn’t stay up, which is what is happening in today’s society.

2. There is an increase in blood cholesterol (the cardiovascular system is effected)

3. Release of fatty deposits in arteries

4. Narrowing of capillaries

5. Peripheral vaso-constriction

6. Fatigue where the adrenal system becomes exhausted.

7. If you are tired a lot it may be from stress

A Description of Leisure

In fact, all of those impressions are incorrect. None of them represent what God had in mind when He prescribed this stress solution. Very simply, God said ..

“Keep the Sabbath holy [by the way, that word does not mean “religious” – it means “different.” God is saying “make this day different from the other days”]. This is my command. [Here’s how it’s to be different.] Work the other six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God; no work shall be done that day by you or by any of your household — your sons, daughters, servants, oxen, donkeys, or cattle; even foreigners living among you must obey this law. Everybody must rest as you do.” Deuteronomy 5:12―14TLB

In this case God is talking about a weekly Sabbath that takes an entire day. But that’s not the only pattern mentioned in the Bible. In other places God tells the people to take off several times every year and – to put it bluntly – party. A Sabbath can be something that happens for part of the day every day. The bottom line is that there needs to be a regular and consistent pattern of leisure in your life.

Well, what is leisure? How do you define it? Leland Ryken in his book, Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective, gives a great three-point definition of leisure (Ryken, 1989) He says …

1. Leisure is time devoted to activities that are freely chosen.

The first question you have to ask yourself whenever you approach any activity and wonder whether it’s leisure is, am I freely choosing to do this or am I serving someone else’s agenda?

Let’s take golf. Is golf leisure activity? If you’ve got a golf game scheduled for this Tuesday afternoon with one of your strategic clients and you’re taking him or her out to play golf in the hopes that it will make your professional relationship more profitable, it’s not pure leisure because it’s not freely chosen. It’s a “have to,” a responsibility.

On the other hand, if you’ve got a free day coming up and you don’t have any pressure or responsibility and you play a round of golf because you want to, that could be leisure. Of course, that depends on how well your golf game fits part two of the definition.

2. Leisure is time devoted to activities that are pleasurable and satisfying.

If you get angry and frustrated when you play golf, it’s not leisure, because leisure is supposed to put a smile on your face. Leisure is something that you get excited about doing. That’ll be different things to different people.

3. Finally, Ryken says, leisure is time devoted to activities that relax and refresh.

For it to be true leisure, it needs to recalibrate us. It needs to send us back to work with our batteries physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally, spiritually recharged.

Lots of activities fit into this definition, don’t they?

You know what else should be included in leisure? Attending church! You should go because you freely choose to – not because you have to; it should be pleasurable – even when we address the heavy issues as we do from time to time; and it should be relaxing and refreshing.

Why Leisure Is Necessary (Dethmer, 1990)

So far we’ve defined leisure and seen that God tells us to do it on a regular basis. But why? Why is it so important that we do it? Jim Dethmer, who was a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church, says …

1. Leisure is necessary because we tend to forget that we are more than what we do.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the pressure of getting a job done that we begin to think of ourselves as being merely workers — high-paid plow horses. When we make time for leisure, when we get away from the to-do list that perspective is restored.

2. Leisure is necessary because we are created in the image of God and even He “leisured.”

On the seventh day, having finished his task, God ceased from this work he had been doing, and God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he ceased this work of creation. Genesis 2:2―3TLB

If I understand this verse, leisure is one of the most spiritual things we can do, because God did it. But in addition to that, because we are created in the image of God, we are designed to experience rest and refreshment and leisure. The Sabbath principle is part of what it means to be fully human. It’s part of our makeup to require that downtime.

Types of Sabbaths (Rieland, 1996)

So, let’s talk specifics – how do you integrate this idea into your life on a regular basis? Another pastor remarked that there were four areas of life where the Sabbath principle could a make real difference. He said, “there is a Sabbath of the body, a Sabbath of the mind, a Sabbath of the soul and a Sabbath of the heart.” I want to talk about them and the frequency at which I think they should occur.

3. Sabbath of the body – sleep and proper exercise on a regular basis. Sleep is a daily issue, exercise several times a week.

I want to spend a few minutes talking about sleep at this point in the message.

We need to pay attention to sleep habits. Let me ask you a question. Why did God create sleep? He created sleep to restore the immune system, because it gives tranquility to the brain so it is rested and refreshed, and it provides for growth in young children. According to some experts in sleep, a minimum of 9 hours of sleep to be maximumly effective. This is God’s provision as a valley to help us deal with success and the mountains that we travel through during the day. If we don’t get enough sleep we will begin to see more “accidents” happening because of us, our work at school and our job diminishes, etc.

How can you improve the quality and quantity of your sleep? Darken your environment. A few hours before (1-2 hours) going to bed begin to dim the lights. The invention of electricity has effectively shut down melatonin production (used for sleep). If the area is darkened, the brain produces melatonin and sleep occurs.

You should try going to bed at the same time everyday. Our body clock will go away if we don’t regulate our sleep. Bright lights will basically stop your body’s clock.

You can reduce the noise levels around you. Wear earplugs if necessary.

There is something that we often neglect and that is trying to makeup sleep. If you can’t get enough sleep during the night, you have up to a week to make-up that sleep. That is why most teenagers sleep in on Saturdays.

As for the exercising, people who sit at a desk job the whole day need to exercise; those who have a physical job or sport, need to rest.

4. Sabbath of the mind – “visionary thinking.”

It’s when you mentally step back from the details and contemplate the big picture.

A few years ago in the Final Four of college basketball, Mike Krzyzewski, the coach of Duke University, called a time-out at a critical point in the game. The pressure was intense. He gathers the players around him and he says, “Hey, guys. Take in the moment. You’ll never have another one like it'” (Dethmer). That’s a Sabbath of the mind.

In our lives, this is where we find a quiet place with a pad of paper, maybe some books, and think and write stuff down – “what am I going to do in my relationships? What about my finances? What barriers are keeping me from accomplishing my vision?”

I have a pastor friend who regularly goes to a monastery with a Bible and a yellow pad. and talks to God and thinks. I think once a month is about the minimum frequency for this kind of Sabbath. It helps us to slow down and realize that our life isn’t to be lived in a perpetual state of emergency.

5. Sabbath of the soul – fun that makes you feel alive. (some fun makes you feel dead!)

I’ve neglected this one recently. As I have neglected the day off. I’ve felt exhausted, stressed out. I realized this week that I needed a day just to have some fun.

I need that day, as do each of you.

6. Sabbath of the heart – time alone with God

I think this should happen every day. Ten minutes a day where you sit down and say, “Daddy <which is what Jesus told us to call God>, it’s me. Would you remind me how much you love me? … Thanks, Daddy for … And Daddy, I’ve got some things that are weighing me down. Could you help me?” If you don’t do anything else from this message – ten minutes of that every day will change your stress level.

Here’s what I’m saying: when I observe a Sabbath of body, the mind, the soul and the heart – when I do these things on a regular basis, I find the power of stress breaking up in my life. On the other hand, when I neglect them, I become exhausted and fatigued. Life stops being fun. I become relationally detached. I begin to see people as just another obligation or responsibility. I become suspicious, cynical, impatient and irritable. Ever feel that way?

Common Objections (Dethmer)

But the question that really bugs me is, “Knowing this is the case, why don’t I take the Sabbath principle more seriously?” I thought about it and I realized that there are two thoughts that pop up in my head on this.

1. “I don’t have the time!”

I have too much to do already without making time for a Sabbath. My stress level will only go up if I have to try and squeeze all of this in!

2. “I benefit more by working”

Working is what gets you ahead. Let’s face it: in our world, the badge of honor goes to people who worked 60 hours last week not to people who say no to work so they can say yes to, say, the Sabbath of the mind.

Those two reasons on your list aren’t the real reason you neglect the Sabbath in your life. They’re not the reason you don’t really take off on your day off. They’re not the reason you feel too rushed to sit down and talk to God during the day. It’s a trust issue.

The real reason: “I don’t trust God enough to call time out from what I’m doing and do the Sabbath stuff.”

When it comes right down to it, I’ve got the same problem with the Sabbath principle that many people have with the tithing principle. “God won’t provide.” God won’t help me to do the daily work if I take a Sabbath of the heart – 10 minutes with Him. God won’t help me enough on the other six days to be able to completely relax on the seventh.

How Sabbaths Break Stress

For me, I’m realizing that this whole thing is a trust issue. That’s why God makes such a big deal out of it in the Bible.

1. Let me put it this way: observing a Sabbath (in whatever form) is a declaration that “I am dependent on God.”

“Hallow (respect) my Sabbaths; for they are a symbol of the contract between us to help you remember that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:20TLB

Why should you keep the Sabbath? It is because you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out with a great display of miracles. Deuteronomy 5:15TLB

What’s he saying? “You didn’t do it all by yourself. I did the hard part. When you regularly build a time of leisure into your schedule, when you set up a consistent pattern of breaking from your regular responsibilities, it reminds you that I am your strength. I am your provider. You can depend on me!”

2. Guess what? Dependence on God is what alleviates stress.

“If you obey me,’ says the Lord, “and refuse to work on the Sabbath day and keep it separate, special and holy, then this nation shall continue forever. There shall always be descendants of David sitting on the throne here in Jerusalem; there shall always be kings and princes riding in pomp and splendor among the people, and this city shall remain forever [sounds pretty stress free doesn’t it?] … But if you will not listen to me, if you refuse to keep the Sabbath holy, if on the Sabbath you bring in loads of merchandise through these gates of Jerusalem, just as on other days, then I will set fire to these gates. The fire shall spread to the palaces and utterly destroy them, and no one shall be able to put out the raging flames.'” Jeremiah 17:24―25, 27TLB

Now that’s stress!

Conclusion

What are you going to do? I challenge you to come up with a plan today.

May I suggest that you take a Sabbath of the mind to determine where you are living your life today.

Ephesians, New Testament, Sermons

What would Jesus Want You to Do (part 2)?

Gallery August 12, 2000 David

What would Jesus Want You to Do (part 2)?
August 12, 2000	Sermon by DRW	Passage Ephesians 5.1

The question we pose this week is the same as the one from last week: What Would Jesus Want You to Do? We have already seen that we must learn the Bible, listen to the Holy Spirit, lean on the resurrection power of God, and love Jesus. But, what will we look like when we do these things? What would our life be characterized by? If we begin to do the things that Jesus would want us to do, by following those four steps, what would we look like? We know that our life would be characterized by those characteristics that were consistently demonstrated in the life and ministry of Jesus Himself.

When people saw Him, they knew He was different. It wasn’t because He looked different (Isaiah says He was no different than any man in appearance); not because He was wealthy (the Gospels tell us that He relied on the gifts of those who followed Him); not because He had power (His power was withheld; He told the officials that He could send down legions of angels to destroy them and yet didn’t). What made Him different was that His message aligned with His life. He was what He preached, first and foremost. If we truly want to have an impact on the world around us, we need to portray those same things that Jesus did on a daily basis.

1. What Jesus would do, I should do . . .

1. He was gracious, I need to be too (Luke 4.22; John 1.14f, John 1.18f)

Jesus was grace personified. He came to explain the Father and His words were gracious, that is filled with grace. His number one priority in life was to allow people to experience that grace in salvation. Our lives need to have the number one priority of allowing people to experience the grace of God through our lives. God’s riches at Christ’s expense for our sake is a good definition of grace. This means displaying our personal relationship with God before others and to live a life that personifies forgiveness. For this is grace, the art of graciousness.

2. He was angry, I need to be too

In a dramatic scene, Mark portrays Jesus “looking around with anger” at religious leaders (3:5). They were concerned only to see if Jesus would break their rules by healing a man on the Sabbath. When Jesus did, they immediately plotted to kill Him. But though Jesus was angry with these religious rulers, He was also “grieved by their hardness of heart.” While the cruelty of their callousness deserved His anger, the condition of their stony hearts caused Him grief.

Aristotle saw clearly that “anyone can become angry — that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way — that is not easy.” That is the challenge before us.

Jesus felt “indignant” (Mark 10:14) when His disciples did not allow mothers to bring their children to Him for his blessing. The disciples’ self-importance irritated Jesus. Jesus slapped them with stinging rebukes: “Let the children come to Me; stop preventing them.” Jesus then hugged the children, blessed them, and laid His hands on them (10:16). Jesus’ feeling of annoyance with the disciples quickly gave way to an outpouring of warm affection for the children.

In another instance, commercialism in the temple inflamed the zealous anger of Jesus and moved Him to a violent action. The words of the prophet were like fire in His bones: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” (Mark 11:17, quoting Isa. 56:7). …Though the terrified merchants running from the crack of His whip saw only the destruction of business as usual, Jesus’ anger was motivated by “zeal for [God’s] house” (John 2:17, quoting Ps. 69:9).

Our anger is often sparked by a threat to our own self-interests and usually results in bitter hostility. We need to heed Paul’s warning: “Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Eph. 4:26-27). The temple-cleansing story is too often used to justify incivility and unforgiving animosity. Paul knew of our propensity to legitimize our self-centeredness, and so his words on anger are full of warning. Anger is fire. When it burns destructively, it harms and destroys life. But the anger of Jesus kindles a flame within us that warms and restores life.

It is this passion for the holiness of God that must consume us in holy rage. To be angry like He was angry is to know the Word of God so deeply that we know what angers Him and we get involved with Him. What angers Him today in your life?

3. He showed grief, I need to as-well

Think about the story we call Jesus’ “triumphal entry” (Luke 19:41-44). In Roman tradition, a triumphal procession showcased a victorious general riding in a gold-covered chariot pulled by powerful white horses. His army marched in resplendent array behind him. Wagons loaded with spoils and slaves attested to his power.

But Jesus rode on the colt of a donkey. A motley parade of peasants and children cheered Him on His way as their long-awaited king. And the emotion that best describes Jesus’ state as He rode was grief.

Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem as He rode down the Mount of Olives into the city. His words describing the impending catastrophe were hyphenated by sobs. He wept, He wailed with grief over the coming desolation of Jerusalem.

Jesus also wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Witnesses said, “See how He loved him” (John 11:36). When Jesus saw Mary weeping, “He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved” (11:33). When He stepped near to the tomb of His friend, “again He was greatly disturbed” (11:38). When the word “disturbed” was used for animal sounds, it denoted the loud, angry snorting of horses. When used for human emotions, it emphasized the mixture of anguish and rage. Jesus wept. His groans welled up from the depths of His spirit, racked His body, shook the tombs, and echoed back from them. He raged against death, that terrible enemy that had attacked this, and every, family.

Likewise, Jesus was “troubled in spirit” when He told His disciples that one of them would betray Him (John 13:21). He grieved over this betrayal by His friend Judas. Jesus had lavishly given His love to Judas. He called Judas to be one of the inner circle with the Twelve, to be close to Him, and to participate in His work. He gave Judas the moneybag. He washed his feet. He gave Judas the place of honor next to Him at the table. He gave him the dipped bread, a sign of love. All the time He knew that Judas would betray Him. But still Jesus did not withdraw to protect Himself. He gave himself to Judas without measure, and so he set Himself up to suffer the pain of betrayal. When Judas led the temple troops to arrest Jesus in the garden, Jesus called him “friend.”

The Gospels portray Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane as one who is crushed by a heavy load of grief. He did not shrink from disclosing His deepest and darkest emotions to His disciples: “I am deeply grieved, even to death” (Matt. 26:38). He begged them to stay awake and keep Him company, but they “slept because of sorrow.” His emotions were too heavy for them to bear. They escaped into sleep, leaving Jesus alone. “Terror-stricken and in terrible anguish” (Mark 14:33), Jesus agonized over the awful choice to endure or to escape the cross. As He wrestled in prayer, He was drenched in His own sweat “which ran like blood to the ground” (Luke 22:44).

Jesus’ familiarity with grief should give us pause. Too often we hear Americanized versions of the gospel that offer quick fixes, easy solutions, and suffering-free Christianity. We need the reminder that the man who knew God most intimately and fulfilled His will most completely was described by Isaiah as a “suffering servant”: “Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows” (53:4).

What is grieving you today? Your sins grieve Jesus, do they grieve you? Are you hurting over the loss of a loved one, have you grieved. Today, Karen isn’t here so I can tell the story of the year I grieved. JUDI.

Do you see others around you who are grieving? Are you ministering to their hurts or adding to them by passing them up? Think of someone who needs comfort, will you comfort them today? Write them a letter, call them, e-mail them. Let them know you care.

4. He was joyful, I need to be too (Luke 10.21f)

While Jesus was a “Man of Sorrows,” Luke also paints a scene where Jesus “rejoiced very greatly in the Spirit” (Luke 10:21)—which implies more than cracking a smile. The occasion for this outburst was the return of the 70 from their successful mission. They had been given spiritual authority over all the powers of the enemy and had liberated hostages. There was good reason to celebrate.

But Jesus cautions them, “Do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (10:20). No matter how much power they exercised in their ministry, the ultimate source of their joy was to be rooted in their heavenly community: their names were written in heaven. Ministry is temporary. Life in the Kingdom is permanent. Then Jesus joyfully thanked the Father for opening the hearts of the disciples to see this and to enter into the fellowship of the Father and the Son (10:21-24).

On the evening of His execution, Jesus told His disciples that all He had revealed to them was so that “My joy may be in you and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11; 17:13). They should abide in His love as He always abides in the love of the Father (15:10), and they should be one as He and the Father are one (17:11). Here again joy is the mark of life within divine love relationships.

Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, was also the Man of Joy. He obeyed the will of the Father and endured the cross by focusing on the joy set before Him—the joy of unshakable love relationships in heaven (Hebrews 12:2, 22).

What brings you joy? Not happiness, which is temporary, but lasting joy? Where did Jesus joy come from? It came from His relationship with the Father and His brothers. 1 John 1.1-4 reminds us that our joy comes from the same place: our relationship with God and our brothers.

How are you doing in those very important relationships? Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your brother as yourself? This is your cause for joy. The way you can tell whether your relationship with God is good is if your relationships with people are good (1 John 4). If you want joy in your life, check your relationships with others. Are they godly?

5. He was truthful, I need to be too (John 1.18; Ephesians 4.15; John 14.6)

This quality of Jesus often got Him into a lot of trouble. When He told the Pharisees the truth, they sought to kill Him. If you claim to be honest, claim to have integrity, you set yourself up to be shot at. Jimmy Carter once said, “I won’t lie to you”. A correspondent on the White House staff said that as soon as the president said that, a whole group of correspondents determined to prove that he lied. They weren’t interested in anything else. This is Jesus, and needs to be us.

Jesus was honest with the rich young ruler, the Pharisees, the Samaritan woman, and many others in the Gospels. Even though this might have estranged them, He spoke the truth. It was more important to have integrity, to be truthful, than to be accepted with dishonesty. Even though He was rejected by many and accepted by few, He felt it necessary to always speak the truth in love, to wrap His words in grace.

How do you speak to your friends? Are you always truthful? What about with your parents? Your boss? Your teachers? Do these people trust you? Do they say that your word is as good as gold? I remember watching Kung Fu: The Legend Continues where Kane was asked if he was lying by someone who didn’t know him. The person asked him, “How can I believe you?” His response was, “I never lie.” That needs to be our response as-well. No matter the circumstances, we always bear a truthful witness. When we lie, we are letting others and God know that we don’t trust God. Tell the truth.

6. He was flexible, I need to be too

1 Thessalonians 5.14-we must realize that we meet the needs of people in different ways. As the old saying goes, “Different strokes for different folks.” Or as Paul said, “I become all things to all men that I might win some to the Lord. To the Jew, I am a Jew; to the Greek, a Greek.”

Jesus confronted the Pharisees; admonished James and John; comforted Timothy (2 Timothy 1.7); and prayed for Peter.

We must admonish the unruly; encouraged those of little faith; and support the weak. This is being flexible. How do you fare? When dealing with your brother or sister, do you treat them as if they were older, younger? Do you treat you friends, family, co-workers, etc., as they need to be treated? That is, you don’t treat a 28 year-old as if he were a 12 year-old. And you don’t treat an 8^th grader as if he held a degree in engineering. How you treat people is important, but how you change to meet their needs is even more important. That is the art of being flexible.

7. He was patient, I need to be too

1 Thessalonians 5.14 reminds us to be patient with all men. Jesus was patient with the sleeping disciples. He gave them a gentle admonition. Jesus is very patient with us because He loves us. God is waiting for people to come to know Him as Saviour; His love waits. Love motivates patience.

There is a story of a mother who took her six-year-old boy into a doctor’s crowded waiting room. As they waited their turn, he began to ask her all kinds of questions. In half an hour he managed to cover almost every subject known to humanity. To the wonder of all the others sitting in the room, his mother answered each question carefully and patiently.

Inevitably, he got around to God. As the other people listened to his relentless “how’s” and “why’s,” it was plain to see by the expressions on their faces that they wondered: “How does she stand it?” But when she answered her son’s next question, she answered theirs too. “Why,” he asked, “doesn’t God ever get tired and just stop?” “Because,” she replied after a moment’s thought, “God is love; and love never gets tired.”

How patient are we toward people? I dare say, not as patient as we should be. Our love for God determines our love for people and our patience towards them.

If we are truly patient with people we will build a hopeful future for them. Jesus was being asked many questions during the last supper. He could have tired. But He continued answering questions. In John 14 we see why. He wanted to give them a hope that tomorrow will still be there, and He will be with them in the Holy Spirit. Do we provide people with hope? We do when we show them patience.

8. He was empowering, I need to be too

Jesus enabled the 70 to evangelize, the 12 to change the world. And He empowers us to do mighty works today through the power of the Spirit who dwells in us. The Holy Spirit is our ally. He produces in us conviction, regeneration, and transformation. He is the agent of change in our lives. He enables us to do what we previously were incapable of doing.

At one time a group of men were attempting to raise an obelisk in Egypt to its base, and the work was under the supervision of a very exact and careful engineer. They had raised the great mass of granite to within a few inches of the level of the base and then were unable to lift it further. They could not get it up to the level of the pedestal by their utmost efforts. But there was a secret in nature that they did not know. There was a sailor there who knew all about it. He shouted, “Wet the ropes!” As they did so, the ropes began to groan, and strain, and shrink, and the great mass rose, and rose, till it came to the level of the base, and they could push it over and establish it firmly on its pedestal. It was a little secret, but it was an effectual one. The men had pulled at the cordage and strained away at it, but the obelisk was in mid-air, and there it hung until the cry came to wet the ropes. The instant you let the Holy Spirit saturate your soul, the Lord Jesus Christ brings into it all His infinite forces of love and power. One touch of God will do all that your tugging and struggling could not do.

This is what Jesus has done for us. Are we doing this for other people. I am not saying that we become the Holy Spirit for them. But that we enable them to trust the Spirit, that we free them to trust the Word of God by our trust, that we trust the Spirit’s power and direction so that it is contagious and others will want what we have.

9. He was humble, I need to be too

Although He is the Creator of the universe, He became a creation. Although He deserves to be praised and worshiped by all living creatures, He served those around Him even to the point of washing their feet.

How are we doing here? Are there things you won’t do because you feel it is below you to do them? Did Jesus? No. Are there people you won’t talk to because they don’t fit in with your kind? Did Jesus? No.

10. He was cooperative, I need to be too

Jesus had the 12 disciples helping Him. Today, He has us as His ambassadors to this world. We need to be cooperative with His people and with His Spirit so we can accomplish great things here in Southern California.

During World War II, over China and Burma, the Flying Tigers of General Claire Chennault were out-numbered—in the air, on the ground, and in planes, pilots, and parts. Yet they destroyed 217 enemy planes and probably 43 more, according to James Wilson in his book “The Principles of War.” Chennault had 20 operational P-40s and this remarkable record was accomplished in 31 encounters. His losses were six pilots and 16 planes.

Throughout the campaign, Chennault used a strategy that the enemy apparently never discovered. His men flew in pairs firmly committed to each other. Even when out-numbered 10 to one, Chennault never sent up 10 planes to the enemy’s 100. He sent up five pairs of two; each pair went after one enemy plane at a time. His two aircraft always out-numbered the enemy’s one.

Chennault was using the principle of concentration. Before, his pilots engaged in individual dogfights which as sport were superb, he said, but as war were all wrong.

We are at war against the prince of the power of the air—Satan, the deceiver, who can still be overcome by those who use cooperation and other sound principles found in God’s Word. Jesus used cooperation when He sent out the disciples in pairs.

Who are you in ministry with? Who do you have to confide in? Who do you know will support you? Who do you know that will back you up and help you out?

11. He was prayerful, I need to be too

One of the survival tactics of Jesus was prayer. Whenever a decision came, He prayed. Whenever a need arose, He prayed. Whenever He was hurting, He prayed. Whenever He was thankful, He prayed. This is why Paul tells us to pray without ceasing.

Why don’t we pray? There are at least five reasons we don’t pray, according to Richard Halverson:

1. Unbelief.

1. We don’t think it really works.

2. It’s just something you have to endure in church.

2. Indifference.

1. We don’t pray until a problem is huge because we think we can handle it.

3. Priorities.

1. Other things are more important to us and we think it will work itself out.

4. It is hard work to focus on God and give Him our daily life and all it entails.

5. We are focused on this world.

1. We limit our goals to what we expect here and now.

2. The things of God do not mean much to us because they deal with something other than the here and now in our minds.

We are called to be like Jesus in prayer. He prayed as if His life depended on it, do we?

12. He was goal oriented, I need to be too

Jesus was seeking change in the lives of people. Whenever He met someone, their lives changed. Simon became Peter; the Samaritan woman turned her life around; Martha quit being busy and sought Jesus; the rich young ruler refused to change. He was asking each of these to consider what they live for. If it wasn’t eternal, He asked them to change their goals.

What do you have to live for? Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that “Hope without an object cannot live.” If you have ever lost the focus of life, you understand hopelessness. Perhaps you have invested much into your job, marriage, or the struggles of life; and then you saw it all destroyed. The object of your hope is gone, and you feel dead and aimless.

Psychologist William Marston asked 3,000 people this question: “What do you have to live for?”

94 percent responded that they were merely enduring their lives, hoping someday that things would get better. This is something that we need change. This world is living for a hopeless end. The Christian has an endless hope. How can we live our lives in such a way as to offer life changing, goal oriented hope?

I like what Thoreau said: In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore . . . they had better aim at something high.

I believe this is important for us today. As people are looking for something to live for, we can offer them something mediocre or something great, depending upon what we are aiming at. I am aiming at becoming Christ-like. What are you aiming for? If it is anything less it will produce anxiety and hopelessness in the long run. If we achieve our goals, we have no purpose for living; if we don’t, we are left hopeless. The good news of the gospel is that the goal of becoming Christ-like is attainable when we reach Heaven. But, I can see the progress down here too. What changes do you need to make in order to be more like Him?

13. He was peaceful, I need to be too

Although Jesus did lash out in holy anger at times, for the most part He was a very peaceful man. When times were tough, He was at peace. When they were trying to frame Him in the courts, He was peaceful. He found His rest in God (Isaiah 30.15).

We need to know that God is in control. Then we shall have peace. If we truly want to live a peaceful life, we must know that God is in control of everything.

14. He was forgiving, I need to be too (Luke 23.34)

When Jesus was on the cross, He asked the Father to forgive the people who crucified Him. When Jesus was asked how many times should we forgive someone, He answered cryptically. We know He told Peter, 70 times 7. This doesn’t mean 490 times. It may not even imply an infinite amount of times. The book of Daniel tells us that Jesus will come back to establish His throne at the end of 70 times 7 weeks. Could Jesus be telling us to forgive until He returns, when no forgiveness will be necessary?

What happens when we don’t forgive? When somebody’s done me wrong, my gut instinct is to lash back, to let the anger burn, to plot revenge. Often, forgiveness is the last thing on my mind. But then I start to get these weird feelings. I get tense. Upset. Mad.

When I don’t forgive, those feelings get even uglier, going through a typical progression. When I don’t forgive, I often feel…

* judgmental (“You’re a jerk!”)

* hateful (“I despise you!”)

* guilty (“I feel bad about the way I reacted.”)

* unforgiven (“If I don’t forgive you, do I deserve God’s forgiveness?”)

There’s a reason, of course, that my thoughts progress to the point of feeling unforgiven:

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15).

When I don’t forgive others, I’m essentially saying, “You’re a sinner, and I’m not.” But God can’t forgive me until I admit that I, like everyone else, have “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and that I need his forgiveness.

When I do choose to forgive, I go through a whole new set of feelings, feelings that free me, alleviate my stress, and generally make me more fun to be around. Feelings that, pretty much, are just the opposite of the ones I’ve already described.

When I forgive, I feel:

* non-judgmental

* merciful

* guilt-free

* forgiven

Those are good things. But they’re not the only reasons to forgive. The main reason is this: God tells us to forgive.

Forgiveness is healing—not only for me, but also for those I forgive. When I choose to forgive, relationships can be restored—not only between me and others, but between me and God, too.

Now, forgiveness isn’t easy. Sometimes, it seems downright impossible—and without God’s help, it would be. God never said forgiveness would be easy. Do you think it was easy for Jesus, His hands and feet nailed to the cross, to forgive the people who so mercilessly carried out such a cruel execution (See Luke 23:34.)?

It’s not easy for us to forgive others either—even though the “trespasses against us” that we experience almost every day are pretty insignificant compared to Jesus death.

But forgiveness is the right thing to do. Not only because it brings the nice, warm feelings of freedom and joy, but because God wants us to do it. And that’s reason enough to forgive.

Who do you need to forgive today? Who do you need to seek forgiveness from?

15. He was loving, I need to be too

Love permeated, guided, and empowered the spectrum of Jesus’ emotions. He felt compassion, was angry, grieved, and rejoiced because He loved. Love is an unshakable commitment of the will. Love transcends feelings and keeps on going when feelings falter or vanish. But love also involves and expresses emotions.

Jesus loved with strong desire. He told His friends, “I have desired with great desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15). The combination of the verb “desire” and the noun “desire” doubles the intensity in Jesus’ expression of His deep longing to be with His friends.

When a wealthy young man ran up to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked how he could inherit eternal life, “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21). As soon as He saw him, affection welled up in His heart for him, just as sometimes when you meet someone, you get a strong feeling that this person could be your best friend.

His love led Him to suffer and die. Jesus pointed to His sacrificial death as the ultimate measure of His love. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He asks His friends to live up to that standard of love. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you…. You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:12, 14). To live by that standard of love requires much more than emotions. It calls for total commitment to give up your life for someone else and to trust in the power of God to keep that commitment. But loving as Jesus loves also includes emotions—intense, diverse, deep emotions. His kind of love will arouse emotions of compassion, anger, grief, and joy.

Sometimes we want insurance against the heartbreaks of love. The way of Stoic “apathy” seems safer than the emotional traumas that inevitably accompany the way of loving as Jesus loved. But hardening ourselves against the pains of love kills the capacity to love. As C. S. Lewis warns us in THE FOUR LOVES: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

I am spellbound by the intensity of Jesus’ emotions: not a twinge of pity, but heartbroken compassion; not a passing irritation, but terrifying anger; not a silent tear, but groans of anguish; not a weak smile, but ecstatic celebration. Jesus’ emotions are like a mountain river, cascading with clear water. My emotions are more like a muddy water or feeble trickling. Jesus invites us to come to Him and drink. Whoever is thirsty and believes in Him will have the river of His life flowing out from the innermost being (John 7:37-38). We are not to be merely spellbound by what we see in the emotional Jesus; we are to be unbound by His Spirit so that His life becomes our life, His emotions our emotions, to be “transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory.”

As we follow the four “L’s” from last week (learn, listen, lean, and love), these will things that we have spoken on today will become parts of our lives. Some will come more easily than others; some will require work on our part; but the good news is that God will develop them in our lives as we submit to Him.

Father,

The gospel writers paint their portraits of Jesus using a kaleidoscope of brilliant “emotional” colors. Jesus felt COMPASSION; he was ANGRY, INDIGNANT, and CONSUMED WITH ZEAL; he was TROUBLED, GREATLY DISTRESSED, VERY SORROWFUL, DEPRESSED, DEEPLY MOVED, and GRIEVED; He SIGHED; He WEPT and SOBBED; He GROANED; He was IN AGONY; He was SURPRISED and AMAZED; He REJOICED VERY GREATLY and was FULL OF JOY; He GREATLY DESIRED, and He LOVED.

In our quest to be like Jesus we often overlook the emotions that characterized His life. We know, Father, that Jesus reveals what it means to be fully human and made in the Your image. His emotions reflect the Your image without any deficiency or distortion. When we compare our own emotional lives to His, we become aware of our need for a transformation of our emotions so that we can be fully human, as He was.

Help us to do this. Help us to recognize our need to be more like Jesus. Look over the incomplete list before you. Ask God to take one of them and help you become more like Jesus this week in that area. Make a commitment to Him to do what Jesus would want you to do.

Father, we commit our lives to You. Help us to be more like You.

Amen.

Scriptural Truths for Today's World