God's Continuing Revelation

 John 16:12-15

This is an apple blossom
from an orchard just down
the road from the church.  This is
a miracle that is just a regular part
of life in this part of the world. 

 Stumbling in the dark: alarm clocks and power cords. 

Order in the Chaos.

Jesus tell us things, Jesus reveals things to us.  When we have the mind of God, when we think the same way God thinks, we start to understand what God wants from us.  We see clear the world as god sees it.  When our spirit is in accord with God’s Spirit we will want what God wants. It is then that all our prayers will be answered.  So who changed? Us or God?

Enjoying the dark: Movie Theater…coming into the light.

I say we need to have the mind of God, the thoughts of God and the Spirit of God but God is too awesome, God is too big, God is too holy for us to even approach being the same! God is too wonderful to fully comprehend. So there is no “getting used to” the light.  If we have become accustomed to God’s presence, it’s not that we have come so far; it’s not that that we are so much like God that we have arrived at some spiritual pinnacle. It’s more likely that we have found a comfortable level of darkness in our lives and have quit seeking more light.

There is no point in this earthly life when we can say “I have arrived.” There is no amount of knowledge of God when we can say “I need to know no more.” There is no amount of light in us that will be enough until all the darkness that is in us is dispelled. We always draw nearer to Christ.

If we are satisfied with what we know.  Then we have stopped growing.  When we are satisfied with the amount of light in us then we have begun relying on ourselves and have stopped relying on the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

God wants more of us.  God wants us Heart, soul, mind, body and strength. 

In the Gospel lesson today Jesus said that he had much more to teach but we couldn’t bear it; that the Apostles he was speaking to couldn’t bear it. But Jesus didn’t say that they would never know these teachings.   Jesus never claimed that it would be some secret knowledge. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised that the spirit would come and give all that Jesus has and Jesus has everything from the Father.  He promised they would know just not right now. We learn to our capacity.  The Spirit gives us knowledge that grows in us. 

When we first come to believe, whether we were raised in the church or came to believe later in life, our eyes were opened.  We were in the dark and we were made aware of the light.  Our eyes were opened but not very much because when we have been in darkness so long even the tiniest amount of light can be overwhelming.  When you are accustomed to the dark like in a movie theater the light from the sun as you head out to your car can be almost blinding.  So we squint.  We shield.  We limit the amount of light coming in because it is uncomfortable. 

?

As we adjust to the amount of light coming into our eyes we can open our eyes a little more and we can see more clearly the world around us. 

Spiritually speaking we can be overwhelmed by the light of Christ we can be overwhelmed by the unconditional and sacrificial love of God.  We can be overwhelmed by the forgiveness of God.  We can be overwhelmed by the wisdom of God; we can be overwhelmed by the providence of God. And we can squint and shield and put on our spiritual sunglasses to put limits on the amount of light we are exposed to.

Why? Why would you limit what God can do in your life?

Jesus fish vs. Darwin fish.

It’s not religion vs. Science. Its spiritual vs. material.

People that consider themselves intellectuals and reject the spiritual have severely limited themselves and are living in the dark. 

Those that accept the light of Christ are called to become mature disciples and listen to the Spirit and to understand the continuing revelation of Jesus Christ.

It is the whole picture of Gods revelation that we need to open our eyes to.  We need to seek to allow more and more of His light to come into our lives. So that we can see more. That light is the Spirit of God’s truth.  As we see more of God’s Truth, more of God’s revelation, we are compelled to change our mind about the way the world is. We are compelled to act in new ways as Christians, because with our rational, spiritual, Scientific, faithful minds we cannot with all that has been revealed to us thus far see a better way of living in God’s world. 

That’s why people should recognize us as Gods people.  Because we are constantly open to God’s revelation.  We are open to God’s Spirit.  God makes all things new.  Not just once a long time ago but is constantly renewing His Creation. 

So how is it with you today?  Is something new being formed in you?  Are you being transformed into His image?  

Spending time away with the family this Memorial Day Weekend
was refreshing.

This is how people can tell if we are in.  No bird...no one home.

I brought the kids to visit great grandma and grandpa's grave site.

...And to Make Him Known

John 17:20-26

It’s been another difficult week.  We lost Andy. A member of our family is gone.  Tomorrow we will celebrate his life. The news of the world is disturbing.  Three young women found to be held captive in a Cleveland basement for 10 years.  A roadside bomb kills several Americans in Afghanistan.  Civil war continues in Syria.  And yet, we as Christians claim that the love of God is always with us.  We lean on Jesus’ promise that where two or three are gathered in his name he is there among us.  But even faithful longtime Christians can feel like God has left them. 

Where is the love of God when you see a loved one suffering?  Where is the love of God when you are unjustly imprisoned, enslaved and tortured while the world goes on just beyond the front door unaware of your presence and your suffering? Where is God in continual death and suffering as ideologies and nationalities clash?

Marjorie and two of my boys.  Different stories.  Same faith. 

The answer is that we carry God with us.  Not like a pocket bible that we pull out when we need it but more like a bright flashing neon light that says “ask me about the good news I have for you.” Because we all have it, even if we don’t think we have enough to share, we all have something that can lift up and encourage and bless another.

Today is the 8^th anniversary of my father’s death.  Two months before he died I had a conversation with him about matters of faith.  He was a Christian. He was baptized on the very same day I was when I was an infant.  He was the one who brought me to church most often as a child. He read the bible.  He believed in Jesus Christ, but when faced with his own death, he looked inside and determined that he wasn’t good enough.  He said, “I’m not a righteous man.”

He made mistakes. He wasn’t perfect. But which one of us is?

That’s when it happened.  There was a shift. He was the father.  He was always the one who did the encouraging.  He was the one who did the protecting.  He was the one who had to be strong.

Now it was obviously my turn.

I reminded him of Jesus’ righteousness.  About how none of us are right with God and it is unity with the perfection of Jesus Christ that we are imparted with righteousness,  That, through Jesus we are given freedom to transcend our past, to rise above it and to live completely for God and to begin our eternal life with Him. The step of becoming the encourager for my father seemed like it was going to be a difficult one but it turned out not to be.  It seemed that was God’s intention for me at that moment.

He thanked me for the reminder.

This is a bracelet for brain cancer
awareness. 

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

We can know Christ, and we can also be so overwhelmed with pain or sickness that we, in our solitude, can forget the love of God. We in our fear, our social position, and our family position can be reluctant to share our faith and our love of God with those who need it.  But that would be a tragedy, because it is Jesus’ will that we would all be one.

…And to make him known.  That is the second half of our mission here at St. Paul.  The “Him” is of course Jesus.  Jesus the man who’s very essence is the same as God the father and God the Holy Spirit.  Making Christ known.  That’s a challenge isn’t it? 

It’s a challenge because there are very few people who have not been exposed to the name Jesus, or Christ. And so there are a lot of people in the world who think they know all they need to know about Jesus and have decided, either consciously or passively that that Christianity thing isn’t for them. Their minds are already made up.  So how do we make Christ know to those who barely know him and have seemingly already made up their minds? Love them, pray for them, and never stop believing that they will hear, or see something that will soften their hearts to the love of God through Jesus Christ. 

But what about the folks here at church?  We assume that the folks next to us at church know Christ because; why else would they be here? 

I sat for a while on Friday and yesterday as some of you came in to get your pictures taken. Not one of you are at the same place on your spiritual journey (if that is even a possibility). You all have come to the relationship you have with God from different places and through different circumstances, yet we’re a family.  We all need each other.  Each one of us needs the rest.

Every person here needs to be encouraged and reminded of God’s love. Every person needs to hear about how you experienced God in your life this week so that when they are facing next week they have the strength to endure whatever may come. We come to worship and to praise God in this place.  Part of your worship should be to sharpen your friends and to let your friends sharpen you.

This is Jesus plan for us.  Jesus was praying to the Father.  He was praying for his disciples. He was also praying “on behalf of those who will believe in me through their (the disciples) word. Jesus was no longer going to be in with world so he was and is counting on those whom he taught to bring others to belief in him. 

There is a saying that some church folk use, its: “we don’t convert anyone to Christ. The Holy Spirit does.” And that is true but that doesn’t relieve us of the responsibility of passing on what we have experienced and learned about the love of God. We don’t convert any one, but no one will fully know the love of God unless we tell them how we have experienced it.

When you have an experience of the love of God and keep it to yourself, you keep yourself set apart.  This is not God’s will. Jesus was praying on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they might be one.” Just as Jesus and the father are one.  Jesus intention is that we are one with each other and one with him.  That means that we share our victories and our pain.  That means we share experiences and freely offer encouragement.

This is part of what it means to “make him known.” It not just to those outside these walls but it is also for each one that comes to this place to be in God’s presence. 

A New Creation?

John 14:23-29

I have had many friends through the years that have also been faithful Christians.  I have had and continue to have friends that are not Christians. I have known people who have come to faith while I have known them and I have watched as the faith of those I care about get tested and stretched.  The one Characteristic I have found consistent with those who are mature in the faith is that they aren’t often surprised by God. When blessings come they seem to have a peace and a demeanor that everything is as it should be and the faith they profess is being reaffirmed.  When trouble comes, these giants of faith have a calm assurance that the storm will pass and they remind the rest of us where we can find shelter from the storm. 

Back when Alex was just a little guy and Savannah was still a baby, I was making my way through the process of becoming a pastor.  Diane and I came to some bumps in the road.  We had some financial difficulty and I could see past our problems.  I went to my pastor, Pastor Harry and told him that I didn’t think I would be able to continue the process.  He just asked me, “When has God ever let you down?” I didn’t need to answer; he knew I didn’t need to answer.  That was all I needed to hear. All I needed was a reminder of what I already knew. Some people have the gift of faith.  They know, not just with their intellect but with their whole being that God is present and in control. God wants us to be blessed and to have the best.

Some of those folks are sitting in the church this morning.  I know because others have told me about them.  I have heard your stories about how this person said the thing you needed to hear or that person was there at a critical time.  I heard about how this community of believers was the very presence of the love of God and that was enough to get someone through.  It’s those mature disciples that help keep the rest of us focused on Jesus.  The goal for the rest of us should be to grow into spiritual maturity; to be like those great examples in our community; more so, to be like Jesus, our prime example.

So how do we do that?  I know some will tell you, and is strongly taught in some circles that when you come to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and accept him as your savior that there will be an instantaneous change and you will never sin again and you will be like those wise sages sitting among us. Well, let me tell you, I have heard of this happening.  I have heard stories of great conversions like this, but I have never met anyone like this. 

I’ve met people with dramatically changed lives because of their faith in Jesus Christ but it wasn’t an overnight transformation.  It was a decision at a moment in time, yes.  It was turning point in their life where everything before that moment was one way and everything after that was another. But if you were to talk to any of the people in this place or any place that are clearly faithful and mature Christians, you will find that there are a lot of stories of battles fought, of wounds endured and inflicted and of scars that still remain that are reminders that it was not by human power that we are saved but despite ourselves God’s grace prevails.

So how does that happen?  How does God’s grace prevail over our broken and sinful nature? How does one become a sage?  How does one become a mature follower of our Lord Jesus Christ?

It happens when God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit make their home with us. 

As any college freshman moving into a dorm for the first time or a newly married couple can tell you making a home with someone is a difficult thing to do. There is a lot of give and take.  There is lots of compromising. It doesn’t often work out so well.

The thing is with God, He doesn’t compromise, but he does forgive.  So if God, The Father, son and Holy Spirit is going to make a home with you the only one that is going to change is you.

So how do we change? What do we change?

If we want God to make our home with us I suppose we ought to find out what God is like and be more like that.  That is, if we want this new living arrangement to work out. 

The best way to know what God is like is to come to know God in his human form, Jesus Christ.  Everything that Jesus did, everything that Jesus said, showed us what God is like.  Jesus is forgiving.  Jesus did not tolerate those that kept people from God.  Jesus loved people.  He loved them through his actions by healing them; by feeding them; by teaching them; by guiding them to the truth. Jesus loves us so much; God loves us so much that there was a crucifixion.  Jesus gave his life for us so that we could have eternal life. 

Jesus loves us and if we love him, he says in scripture, we will keep his commandments. We will keep his commandments to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength.   We will keep the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves not because these are the rules to be saved not because we are compelled to do so but we will keep his commandments so that we will be more like him.  We will walk in his way.  We will understand his mind.  When we desire and strive to do that, Jesus promised that they would come and make their home with us. 

God reached out to us when Jesus born in Bethlehem.  God is waiting for us to reach out to him and to grasp his outstretched hand.  It’s one thing to come to church and to be a part of the fellowship of believers, which is a blessing in itself, it is still another thing to walk in his way and to deepen your relationship with the Lord and commit to a more mature faith life. 

Jesus told his disciples, “I have told you this before it occurs so that when it does occur, you may believe.”

Jesus was reassuring the disciples that he would be back for them, though they didn’t understand how. We have the promises of the faith laid out for us in scripture.  There is nothing hidden.  The way to live is plain and simple. It may not seem easy it may seem near impossible but answer this, “when was the last time God failed you?”

So how is it with you today?  Do you know and love Jesus? Do you know what he commands of us? Do you want Jesus as an honored guest in your home or do you want him to make his home with you?  May we all walk in his way.