When Following Jesus is Hard

Could it be that God is willing to compromise your immediate happiness for something greater? It's called redemption!
        - Paul Tripp

Statistically speaking, you and I will never win the lottery.  You have a better chance of dying in a plane crash.  Yet people buy millions and millions of tickets every year. 

Why?

Because quick and easy money is the dream.  40 years of dedicated work of 40+ hours a week and a job that doesn't fulfill your greatest passions is....NOT easy.  We see the dream of retiring with a nice house, solid income and golfing and we want to get there now.  The vast majority of Americans have less than 5,000 dollars in savings.  Is it because they don't make any money?  Nope.  We buy more and more stuff that we don't need, but want RIGHT NOW. 

Our self-centered and short-sighted lives avoid difficulty and long term planning and focus on the pleasures of right now.  Often at the expense of long term responsibility.  Every work out and diet plan offers us immediate results with little effort.  Try selling a 2 year weight loss plan that includes a lifetime of changed eating habits and daily committed exercise. 

 

 

Our spiritual lives are influenced greatly by this pernicious attitude we have accepted into our mindsets.  We think of religion, faith, Jesus, all as tools to have our "best life now".  If we don't get an immediate payoff in the form of greater "peace", increased "happiness", all of our questions "answered", lots of "fun".  Well.....then it is not for us. 

 

The perception is that Jesus is supposed to be our great Holy Vending Machine in the Sky.  We add Him to our lives and everything should just be worked out.  Whenever we feel challenged or confused, the expectation is we just need to twist and contort Jesus and the Bible to better accommodate our desires so we can keep the good times rolling. 

 

In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, we see this play out.   Not in the privacy of ones own home and mind, but in the midst of fellowship with the Son of God Himself!

 

Jesus has been rocking it with amazing miracles and feeding the people.  The crowds are growing, everyone wants to be a part of this.  It is easy to visualize.  You hear about this guy doing miracles AND handing out free food to everyone.  Of course you would show up for the party! 

 

But then Jesus changes up the tone.  He begins to talk about how He alone is the Bread of Life(directly contrasting with the Jewish understanding of God) and how everyone must partake of His flesh and blood if they are to truly have eternal life....this was somewhat less successful than the miracles and feeding part of the show....

 

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

        - John 6

 

When Jesus was spoon feeding them and showing them a good time, they were all about it.  When he started challenging them and inviting them to participate in something a lot more difficult than sitting around and being served, people hightailed it out of there.

 

Jesus than turns to Peter and says, "Will you leave too?" 

 

Here is the moment where each of us have to be ferociously honest with our lives and heart.  We want so much for God to just give us stuff, to make life make sense, to have everything work out in our favor RIGHT NOW!  Many of us will turn away when the bells and whistles are no longer entertaining us.  And Jesus says, "Will YOU turn away as well now that the show is no longer rocking for your personal enjoyment?"

 

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life"

         - John 6

 

This world will throw you lots of baubles and immediately gratifying gifts.  The distractions can be without number.  And, let's be honest.  Following Jesus is rarely the formula for having a bunch of fun right now.

 

But here is what Peter gets, that we desperately need to understand.  Everything in life can be a distraction from the truth.  The truth that everything is going to burn and be found wanting.  The fun you have today at the expense of tomorrow will break your heart.  And even if following Jesus can seem hard, it is the ONLY place where true life LIVES. 

 

All the things we do to distract and fill ourselves up with are lies that set us up for the ever increasing sense of emptiness that will take over our hearts. 

 

Following Jesus can be hard.  But it is ultimately harder when we do not. 

 

When you compromise to get something now, you will always lose it later

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting and Acting

My wife and I have wildly different personalities when it comes to getting things done.  On one far end of the spectrum you have me, the cautious personality.  Not knowing exactly how to do something causes me to lock up and do nothing until I know more about it.  For those who know me, it will come as no surprise to hear that I am the worst handyman in the world.  My wife recently asked me if I could try to fix our hose roller upper thingy(I think that is the technical term).  The thought of doing something that I don't know how to do has caused me to not even think about it....for two weeks.....My wife is saint like in patience.....

On the other far end of the spectrum my wife likes to jump without looking.  She may have no clue what she is doing, but she is going to, by force of will, fight her way through it.  Even if she ends up breaking something.  Which has often happened. 

These differing approaches to life have been no small source of conflict in our marriage.  She gets frustrated with my constant waiting to act until I "know" more....and I become a stress ball when she decides, at midnight, that she is going to cut a hole in our basement door......without first measuring it for a potential kitty door.....

There needs to be a balance in life between these positions.  Running head first into a problem can often lead to head trauma.  Sitting on your hands too long can cause you to miss the window of opportunity. 

When the Gospels end Jesus has given the disciples all the "information" they need and gives them the universal Christian marching orders to "go and make disciples".   So....game on....?  Nope....they go and "wait". 

In Acts 1 Jesus' final words was to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.  And so they go and wait on God.

As a Pastor, husband, father, and amateur chicken farmer I am really good at "knowing" the right things to do.  I would be perfectly competent to compile all the pertinent information and data into a reasonable instruction manual for anyone to operate in these capacities.  If you would ask me what should be the first 5 things a Pastor should do in leading a church, I could quote you chapter and verse the tried and true formulas of "success". 

If the best information is so readily available why do so people experience "failure" at the virtually same rate they experience success in their marriages and ministries?

We act with the right information at the wrong time.

To illustrate this let me take a hypothetical scenario from my own marriage......My wife is currently in the final few weeks of pregnancy.  She is tired, can't sleep great, sore, etc.  And like most pregnant people with two small children to deal with as well, she can get a bit ummmmm.....irrational......(don't hit me).  Say my beautiful bride forgot to do something she said she would do, and then later she is feeling exhausted and emotionally frayed and is expressing her burn out to me.  Who thinks it would be a good time to bring up her mistake????

If you said yes....welcome to the couch.....

The information is correct, and in most contexts addressing the problem is probably a good thing.  But the wrong timing is destructive! 

The disciples have all the information they need to preach the Gospel, but they need to wait on God's timing.  In Acts 2 we get the amazing story of the Holy Spirit causing them to preach to the crowds that can each hear the message in their own native tongue.  The event is so powerful that vast crowds place their faith in Christ. 

What would have happened if they hadn't waited on God's timing?

Surely they would have still experienced success.  The Gospel does not come back empty.  But the powerful testimony of Christ resurrected would have not been infused with the very real and present power of God Himself.  It would have been just the words spoken by mere men.  In God's timing it became not the disciples testimony, but the active and visible work of a risen Savior. 

In the church "industry" there is no small number of self-help books and leadership manuals that promise greater returns on your ministry investment.  Many of them directly contradicting the others in their proffered operational paradigms and practices.  And, don't get me wrong, the information and insights they provide can be extremely beneficial to grasp and utilize.  But....we have a tendency to take that information and then apply it through the lens of our own planning and understanding. 

To take a silly example that many people may have experienced in some capacity.  We know studies show that unchurched millenials appreciate contemporary music more than an organ and hymns.  Armed with that information churches will often start exclusively doing contemporary music.  One church that I have dealt with dropped traditional music in their older church(median age 45+) and started contemporary style worship.  Which frustrated the older and faithful members. 

So did they at least reach the young and unchurched?  Nope.  Their idea for contemporary music was singing along with 20 year old CD's of songs that were "cool" in the mid-90's.  Not exaggerating.  So they frustrated their older people, and looked embarrassingly idiotic to the young people that did find their way in the doors on a Sunday morning. 

The information wasn't wrong, they just mishandled it and mistimed its application. 

How do we get our timing right then?  Whether in ministry, marriage, careers, or, family?

The backdrop to the miracle in Acts 2 is that the believers were gathered TOGETHER, seeking God's will.  It doesn't explicitly state they were praying.  But we know from the New Testament testimony that prayer and worship communally was what believers did when they got together. 

There will rarely be a time when you get some audible instruction to "go".  But your timing will not be right if you aren't worshiping and praying with God's people and seeking their fellowship, encouragement and advice. 

Whether you are trying to nail down the right time at home or in church....who are YOU praying with?  Who are YOU waiting with?  Who are YOU seeking counsel from?

Do you want to get your calendar aligned with God's? 

Be with His people.

Getting the timing right will profoundly shape your future

What The Kingdom of God Looks Like

Matthew 10:7-8
As you go, preach this message, "the kingdom of heaven is near".  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.

In case you haven't noticed, there is a lot of terrible things going on.  Disease, war, genocide, depression, death.  Whatever your personal belief system there is something intrinsic to our innermost being that cries out against the darkness.  We can argue philosophies and worldviews until we are blue in the face, but it doesn't change this simple reality;  Somehow this world is full of brokenness. 

Our beliefs have to ultimately answer this question;  Why is what I sense should be so, is not so?  In a comfortable western civilized world we can hold onto incomplete answers because we never have to really face the most difficult of circumstances.  From the safety of wealth, materialism, white picket fences and 2.5 kids, we can avoid asking ourselves the difficult questions.

Our answers also have to be helpful to those who are suffering.  Even if we feel we can wrap up our viewpoint with a tidy little bow in the case of our own existence, can your answer bring comfort to those who are in the deepest pains that a broken world can give them?

A few years ago I read a book by the Dali Lama that started by summing up his driving life philosophy and purpose of life.  He said it was to be happy.  That each of us has a purpose to seek happiness, in ourselves and others.  That this is the ultimate purpose of our existence.  If we can find happiness and assist someone else on their path towards happiness, we have led a successful life.

Have you ever noticed where the Dali Lama does the majority of his teaching and work?  Comfortable western democracies.  Speaking to a bunch of the most privileged individuals in the history of the world.  Our modern universities love to host this "great" leader, because this view point perfectly aligns with the bubble we want to exist in.  Whatever makes you happy is what is important.  And happiness is only a new toy, job, or relationship away.  I CAN find my own way to happiness!!!!

You know where you don't often(if ever) see the Dali Lama talking like this?  The aids orphanages of sub-Saharan Africa.  Where the only thing these dying children can look forward to is maybe a bit less pain tomorrow then they felt today.  A philosophy of self-centered and defined ambiguous concepts like "happiness" does not bring much comfort to those in the greatest need.

Jesus has a very simple command to His disciples in Matthew.  Go and preach that the kingdom(of God) is near.  What does that even mean?

Everything that we recognize as wrong, broken, evil, is exactly what we think it is; wrong, broken, evil.  When our hearts cry out that this can't be the way it is, we are speaking truth to ourselves.  We were not created for pain, loneliness, loss, death.  You have been created for peace, fellowship, life.  When God brought forth life from nothingness it was made to be good.  YOU were designed for good things. 

Even as we cry out against the injustice and evil in the world our own words condemn us.  In Malachi God illustrates how this is:

"You have wearied the Lord with your words
How have we wearied him YOU ask
By Saying, "All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and is pleased with them", and, "Where is the God of Justice"
    -Malachi 2:17

On one hand we want to celebrate and justify our own injustice and sin, but, then turn right around and be angry at God not punishing those other sins we are offended personally by.  We want God to judge and deal with the murderer, but want Him to be ok with our lying. 

At the heart of our broken world is this truth; we have broken ourselves, and we break others. 

So what is the kingdom of heaven?

It is the promise of what God will bring about to set all things right for all time.  In God's kindgdom there will be no pain and death and every tear will be wiped away.  The brokenness that we see and experience every day will be healed perfectly and permanently.  God is not silent in the midst of our pain.  But He is patient. 

The ministry that Jesus sent His disciples to was two parts; Proclaim and heal.

That is still our ministry today.  To proclaim the promise and the hope of the Kingdom, and, to foreshadow and prove its promise by how we serve, love and heal a broken world. 

The power of the Gospel is not found in fancy words and clever slogans.  It is found in the lives that are forever changed by the foreshadowing work of the coming Kingdom.  And God desires for your life to be a living testimony to that promise.  Where are you hurting, where you lonely, where are you lost?  God is calling you to healing.  Maybe not in just the way you would think, but in a way that changes everything about you and proclaims to those around you the truth of the Gospel. 

No matter what it is that is you are broken by, or, in, it can be healed.  Because that is the Kingdom of God.  Alive and moving.  But here is where we have to get honest with ourselves.  The following verses in Matthew 10 have a chilling instruction.  If they(those you go to) won't let you proclaim the Gospel, leave them alone. 

Right now, the Kingdom is announcing its coming to you.  Are you willing to welcome it in?  

This really struck me.  We love to wax poetically about what our lives mean, while at the same time pretending we aren't exactly what we are criticizing.