The tall, handsome, confident gentleman walked over to the girl and made a disparaging remark about the men who had been chatting her up. She laughed cheerfully, "When I don’t want a man’s attentions," she confided, "and he asks where I live, I just say, ’I’m visiting here’."
"Ha-ha," he laughed, relishing her humor. "Where do you really live?"
"I’m just visiting here."
No one enjoys rejection.
Yet, it is a fact of life.
At one time or another we all face it.
Today, though, our time is not to be spent considering the rejection we have felt.
Rather, our attention is on whom we might accept or reject.
Well today we are going to talk about a decision that people have to make.
Either to reject Christ or accept Christ.
Last week I told you that this is a decision that John is inviting his reader.
John wants you to decide if you believe who Jesus claims to be and if you do then things are going to radically different. You are going to be transformed and changed.
Jesus is such a pivotal person and we think of the great changes that He brought in human history:
Historian Philip Schaff described the overwhelming influence which Jesus had on subsequent history and culture of the world:
“This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science…he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”
It is easy to see Jesus as victorious when we see Churches filled and great cathedrals built in His honor but in John chapter 8 Jesus is coming off of a series of events that have seen many people depart from Him because His teachings are too tough.
In John 6 he tells them that they have to eat his flesh and drink His blood and many depart from Him.
In chapter 7 and earlier in chapter 8 Jesus stands up at one of the greatest feast of the Jews and basically tells them that Zechariah 14 was being fulfilled in Him.
That passage looked forward to the day that Living water would flow from Jerusalem and light would shine even in the night time.
In other words- the Messiah the anointed one of God would bring a time of water and light.
Jesus stands up at this feast and proclaims that living water will flow from the believer because of the work of the Holy Spirit and He would be the light for our path.
Renewal by the Holy Spirit and the word of Jesus would guide our path.
Then throughout John 8 we see Jesus explain to the Jewish leaders that they were living in a lie, they were living in denial.
Jesus came to speak the truth and speak the truth so hard that it might hurt.
Adrian Rodgers once said, It is better to tell the truth that heals instead of lie that kills.
Many people walk around in denial that sin is real, that Satan is real, and that time is running short.
There are two groups of people in this world – those in the Kingdom of God and those in the Kingdom of Darkness and many people are in denial and don’t even know that they are lost in their sins.
Jesus came to reveal the Truth in stark contrast to these lies of the Devil- that we need salvation and without that we have no hope.
Jesus came to reveal that we are sinners and without his blood, without his grace we have no hope. There are two types of people that have sinned and fallen short of God’s Glory- there are people that have been forgiven and saved and those that are still in their sins.
That takes us to the end of John chapter 8 – last week we say Jesus proclaim to be the light of the world.
Today Jesus will make another profound I am statement but it will be subtle and you may miss it today if you don’t pay close attention to it.
EXALTATION
John 8: 39-50
39 They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 "But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God ; this Abraham did not do. 41 "You are doing the deeds of your father." They said to Him, "We were not born of fornication ; we have one Father : God." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying ? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 "Which one of you convicts Me of sin ? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 "He who is of God hears the words of God ; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." 48 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon ?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon ; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 "But I do not seek My glory ; there is One who seeks and judges.
We see this theme of truth versus lies – Jesus calls them out because they have rejected the very Messiah that the prophets in the OT had foretold of coming. They had missed the boat and were dead in their sins.
They make the common accusation against Jesus that He was illegitimate in his birth. This would come up later in the Rabbinic material against Christianity. But we as readers of John’s Gospel really know who Jesus’ Father really is.
We have learned all along that God loved the world that He sent His Son.
Jesus is the Son of God – here are these experts in the OT Law and they are the ones that are illegitimate. They are supposed to be children of Abraham but now they have become children of the Devil because they believe the lies of the Devil.
The Devil has entrapped them.
But look at Jesus and what He is about in this passage.
- They accuse Jesus of the ultimate, they call Him a Samaritan – the most unclean of all – and then the most unclean of all of a demon – This is an ultimate cutdown for a Jew
But how does Jesus respond?
What does he do-
This is one of the Key points that I want you to take from this passage-
Jesus EXALTS the FATHER - Jesus does not seek His own glory he seeks the glory of the Father.
Isnt this totally opposite of how people are today?
Think of today’s sports stars – how the celebrate and act a fool when they do something good.
You have a wide receiver from Cincinnati that changed his name to Ocho Cincho just to get attention.
One of my favorite football players in Alabama football history is Jay Barker – he was a QB with average talent but he played so hard and QBed Alabama to a national championship in 1992
His verse that he lived by was
Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time.
He was about doing God’s will first, giving Him all the glory, and then God would use you how He wanted to.
Exalting God and not ourselves is what Jesus was about.
There is an old Jewish tale that has been told before. It is the tale of a Jewish father.
A Jewish father was concerned about his son. He had not truly raised him to be grounded in the faith of Judaism. So, hoping to remedy this he sent his son to Israel so the boy could experience his heritage. A year later the young man returned home.
He said, "Father, thank you for sending me to the land of our Fathers. It was wonderful and enlightening. However, I must confess that while in Israel I converted to Christianity."
"Oh (groan) what have I done?" the father thought. So in the tradition of the patriarchs he went to his best friend and sought his advice and solace.
"It is amazing that you should come to me," stated his friend, "I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian."
So in the traditions of the Patriarchs they went to the Rabbi. "It is amazing that you should come to me," stated the Rabbi, "I too sent my son to Israel and he returned a Christian. What is happening to our sons?
“Brothers, we must take this to the Lord," said the Rabbi. They fell to their knees and began to wail and pour out their hearts to the Almighty.
As they prayed, the clouds above opened and a mighty voice stated, "Amazing that you should come to Me. I, too, sent My Son to Israel..."
Jesus knew that He was sent – He was sent for a purpose -
We will see later in John’s Gospel that Jesus came to reveal truth.
Jesus came to EXALT TRUTH – Jesus came to exalt the Father and the purposes of the Father
II.ETERNITY John 8: 51-53
51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death." 52 The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.' 53 "Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died ? The prophets died too ; whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Amen is an oath formula – literally So help me God – I am giving testimony (TRULY TRULY)
Jesus is really telling the truth – this stuff is important.
When the word of Jesus is in us, and we do it, Jesus says that we will not even notice death.
Literally, “Death he will not see.”
The believer takes little notice of death.
Why?
Death is a non-issue. This is why when we hold memorial services, they have a celebratory aspect to them. Physical death is a promotion to eternal life.
As He talks about death…
2. Jesus directs our attention to His timelessness.
The Jewish leaders cannot fathom Jesus’ statement.
For Jesus implies that He has what the ancients do not have – power over death.
So their response is, “Can you truly be greater than Abraham?”
“Come on now!” “That is truly unbelievable.”
What is truly difficult for them is that Jesus is aware of the implications and He still makes the claims.
For what Jesus implies here is that He is greater.
He is bigger than the ancients. He is superior over death, so much so, that He can prevent it.
This means that if He is superior to death, He is timeless.
Father Abraham was the greatest of the Patriarchs but here is one that is greater than Abraham ever wanted to be.
He is eternal.
Now Jesus gets to the things that are never going to change.
Thinking of the fullness and duration of this wonderful life, W. B. Hinson, a great preacher of a past generation, spoke from his own experience just before he died.
He said, “I remember a year ago when a doctor told me, ‘You have an illness from which you won’t recover.’
I walked out to where I live 5 miles from Portland, Oregon, and I looked across at that mountain that I love.
I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God’s own poetry to my soul.
Then in the evening I looked up into the great sky where God was lighting His lamps, and I said, ‘ I may not see you many more times, but Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great downpulling of the material universe!’”
This minister understood as we should that we will live forever.
This learning to live forever is a good thing – God planted this desire in so that we will come to Christ so that we can live with Him for eternity.
III. EXPECTATION
John 8: 54-56
54 Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing ; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God '; 55 and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
Abraham had longed to see the day Jesus would come.
This is a direct reference to the time that God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham had his long awaited son and now God was asking him to sacrifice this son.
In Genesis 22 we learn the similarity between the story of Isaac and Jesus. Isaac would climb Mount Moriah the same mountain from which the crucifixion would take place, just like Jesus Isaac carried the wood of the sacrifice on his back.
There were many things that would point one toward the coming of Jesus in this story.
Then Abraham his stopped from killing his son and is told that God would provide the Lamb.
At that point all history and Abraham looked to the coming of this lamb of God.
Abraham had longed for this day.
As a matter of fact Jesus was a part of the promises made to Abraham . Abraham was promised Land, Nationhood, and a world wide blessing- Jesus would be the blessing to the entire world.
Do you long expectantly for Christ to return?
Do you see the world falling apart at the seams and sometimes cry out Maranatha which was the cry of the early Church come Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22: 20
20 He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
I love what this passage says - Jesus tells John the writer that He is coming Quick and then John replies – Amen, Come Lord Jesus
Can we say that with confidence today-
Could all of us here say in confidence – Come Lord Jesus – I am ready for your return. Come and put this world right. Bring Justice, mercy, and peace- we are ready.
IV. ESSENCE
John 8: 58-59
58 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.
Jesus says the most revolutionary statement maybe in all of the Bible.
Before Abraham existed – I AM
This is the same word that God spoke in Exodus 3 at the burning bush to Moses. When Moses asked God what His name was – He told him – I AM, I AM – Ega Eimi
Jesus claims to be God in flesh- this is why they want to kill Him. This is the ultimate in blasphemy.
Jesus proclaims His essence – who He really is. He is 100% God – That is the most important thing of all.
Jesus can make all these claims come true – Eternal life, expectancy of His return because of his Essence – He is God
As we close today we are reminded how this gospel of John will end – Jesus will be crucified but will be raised to life again.
He appears to his followers – folks like us, and tells them
AS THE FATHER SENT ME NOW I SEND YOU
What does this mean?
Jesus calls us to the way of life that he embodied-
1) Exalting: Are we exalting Jesus in our life? – is it just about us or do we see ourselves as servants of others to the glory of God.
2) Are we plugged into Eternity – are we living in the Life of Jesus – Jesus taught that Life in Him starts now in this life not just when we die.
Are you living like your life in Jesus has started now? When people look at you do they see advanced signs of what is to come?
3) Are you living in expectation of His return?
Are you living in such a way that you take joy and comfort in the Lord’s Return?
Are you doing things in secret that you would be ashamed of if the Lord returned at that moment?
Are you living constantly saying just like John – Come Lord Jesus?
The sin of this world should make you feel that way, if we don’t feel that way then we are not taking sin that serious.
When we do take sin serious we will want God to return and take care of the injustice of this world.
4) Are we living like the very Essence of Jesus is God – The living God, Creator of the universe came into our world to save us.
Consider
For God So loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son – a radical love that calls us to faith – it calls us to a decision.
John’s gospel is calling you to decide – is Jesus who he claims to be?
If He is you better get right with him today!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Saturday, March 19, 2011
I Am the Light of the World 3/20/11 sermon
Making decisions in the dark can lead to some regrettable consequences. Back in the days before electricity, a tightfisted old farmer was taking his hired man to task for carrying a lighted lantern when he went to call on his best girl. “Why,” he exclaimed, “when I went a-courtin’ I never carried one of them things, I always went in the dark.” “Yes,” the hired man said wryly,” and look at what you got!”
Some people change their ways when they see the light, others only when they feel the heat.
One of the themes that we have noticed early on in John’s Gospel is the idea of light.
John 1: 4-5 and 9-10
4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
9 There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
Prologue tells us that one of the themes of John’s Gospel is the idea of Light coming into darkness.
Another way to frame this is Freedom versus slavery
In our story we will revisit the same feast that we visited last week. Last week we learned that Jesus was at the feast of Tabernacles.
ON the great day of that feast –the eighth day Jesus stood up and said that he came to give Living water.
He told the people that this water would be like a well of living water welling up from their very belly.
We also learned that this water is the Holy Spirit that Jesus would give when He would be glorified.
Later in our study of John in the coming weeks we will witness that glorification and that giving of the Spirit of God.
The backdrop to Jesus teaching was the Priests going to the pool of Siloam and pouring out on the altar.
The water would flow down from the Temple and it symbolized a teaching from the book of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel in 47 prophesied of the rebuilt Temple.
Remember that Ezekiel was in exile in Babylon and the Temple lay in ruins. He foretold of a new eschatological or ends time Temple that would have water flowing up so much that you could swim in Jerusalem.
This image of Ezekiel was of the new Temple and the life that would flow out of it.
We already know from John’s Gospel that Jesus is that new Temple.
Jesus’ body is the reality – the Temple of Jerusalem was type or symbol of the reality of Jesus.
Jesus is God with Us, Immanuel – The prologue has already told us that Jesus is God in flesh or God Templing with man.
So Jesus will be the one to give this life giving water.
Today we shift to John 8.
We shift to another image from this feast that will be used by Jesus to teach the people.
This image is light.
In this passage we are going to see Jesus on trial – This morning we will have to make a decision- Will we believe who He said He was or is he an imposter.
This decision will change or lives once we make it.
John 8 begins with a meeting trying to determine what they will do with Jesus – this entire story is a trial of Jesus.
John 8: 12
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world ; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."
Jesus says this strange thing because He is at the evening of the last great day.
There was a light ritual.
Two priests would go to the Temple of the Women and they would light a set of Candles over 75 feet high. These were more like torches than candles.
The Rabbis said that these lights were so strong that it would light up most of Jerusalem.
Also read during this feast was Zechariah 14 that talks about God bringing light in the messianic times.
This idea of light would not be lost on these Jewish people.
John 8: 13-15
13 So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself ; Your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going ; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 "You judge according to the flesh ; I am not judging anyone.
Jesus said before in John 7:24 not to judge by appearances.
People judge by appearances and by the flesh- Jesus is challenging this type of thinking.
The Samaritan woman fell into this trap in John 4- she mistook the Living water with physical water.
Nicodemus was confused about being born again. He thought one had to be literally born of a woman again, he missed the point.
Jesus is trying to take us to something higher, something that is going to last.
John 8: 16-19
16 "But even if I do judge, My judgment is true ; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 "I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." 19 So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father ?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father ; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also."
Once again we pick up with the idea that Jesus is on trial with these people. John is showing us that you have to make a decision about Jesus. Is He from God, or is He not from God?
They ask Jesus where His father is- they are still thinking in fleshly terms.
Jesus makes an important statement in this passage that we need to pause on and think about.
1) To know Jesus means to know God the Father –
The only way to know God is to know Jesus. That is critical to understand John.
Now lets stop and unpack this and make it very practical.
2) What does it mean to us that Jesus is the light of the world?
The Psalms tell us that God’s word is the light to the path. God’s word illuminates and tells us how to live.
John 6:68
68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go ? You have words of eternal life.
Jesus has the words of Life – what does Peter mean by this? Is this some type of mystic teaching or is it very simple to understand?
Back in John chapter 3 the narrator of the story tells us this about Jesus:
John 3: 34-35
34 "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God ; for He gives the Spirit without measure. 35 "The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
The narrator makes it clear that Jesus speaks the very words of God.
IN the story of the Samaritans we see in John 4 that the Samaritan people believe the word that Jesus speaks.
In John 5:24
24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
John 5: 46-47
46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. 47 "But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words ?"
Jesus words are on par, equal with the Law of Moses – Jesus very words are the new Torah. They are the new Scriptures,
Eventually we will come to call them the New Testament.
The teachings of Jesus are the light to the world. –Jesus illuminates what it means to be true human.
The words of Jesus are rock solid – they don’t change – they are not subject to change based on popularity polls of people.
BATTLESHIP
While on maneuvers, a battleship lookout noted a light in the dark, foggy night.
After noting the light’s coordinates, the captain recognized his ship was on a collision course with the other vessel.
The captain instructed, "Signal the ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees."
The return signal countered, "Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees." The captain signaled, "I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees."
The response was, "I’m a seaman second class, you’d better change course 20 degrees."
By this time the captain was furious. His signal curtly ordered, "I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees."
The reply: "I’m a lighthouse. You make the call." Allow the light of Christ to be steadfast in your life. Shine where He says shine, Go where He says Go.
God’s Word is like this – the word of Christ
Now lets get back to chapter 8 of John – Verse 25 they point blank Ask Jesus
WHO ARE YOU?
John 8: 27-28
27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
Jesus points out that they will know His real identity when He is lifted up on the cross.
In John’s Gospel the Cross proves that Jesus is God – that is for another week but that is what Jesus is teaching – Lifted up – Cross
John 8: 31-33
31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine ; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone ; how is it that You say, 'You will become free '?"
Once again the theme of Jesus word comes back – Jesus is the new Law- His teaching is the new Scripture that we have to abide by.
Now in verse 33 the Jews in this story just point blank lie.
They are living in a lie. They have been in bondage multiple times.
They were in bondage – the Egyptians, The Babylonians, and now the Romans
All they knew was bondage. They are totally missing the point.
Isnt that like people today. Isnt that like us.
Do we believe in lies and see reality in a warped way. Let me explain what I mean by this warped way of thinking.
1) We are clouded by ambition – this comes in all forms –
Ambition to make money
Ambition to be successful in our jobs.
Ambition to recreation – our recreation and sports crowd everything out.
We live like we are in a lie that this life is all that there is. We don’t live like there is an eternity.
Let me share with you part of my past to illustrate – we need to be transparent here. I lived according to a lie. I had Scripture head knowledge – I wanted to learn the bible for one reason alone- to win every argument with everyone I disagreed with. I could thrown in A scripture grenade with the best of them and then walk away.
I also lived to be the best football coach in America. I wanted to win every game. I would loose and mope about.
I think back to Carlin’s birthday parties and being so exhausted I could not stay awake because I spent so much time on football. One year I was videoing the birthday party and fell asleep with the video camera in my hand. I neglected my wife, my children and I really didn’t care.
I had a friend that recently talked to the University of Tennessee’s strength coach and that coach told him that if he were to come work for Derek Dooley’s staff he would never see his family. He said if you are married your wife will have to father and mother to your children. I thought at one time in my life that that would have been okay. I would have justified that as hey that is SEC football.
Let me tell you that that is not Christian but paganism. That is idolatry. I was there and that is how it works. It is not of Christ and it is contrary to Scripture.
We are delusional if we think that is important.
In a chapel in Southern France, the great Emperor Charlemagne is buried. In that chapel is a large dome and in the center of that dome is where the body of Charlemagne is placed.
It is not unusual that his body is buried in a prominent place. However, the manner of his burial is. He’s seated on a marble chair and wrapped in his emperor’s robes. In his lap is a copy of the N.T., and his finger is pointing to a verse.
It is Matt. 16:26. “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
Charlemagne had all the power in the world but he reminded Himself that it was about Christ and his relationship to Him that made all the difference in the world.
Let us just take a minute and slow down and reason together.
Think of the quake in Japan. What if tomorrow it was all taken away? What if tomorrow our job was gone, our house, our cars, our boats, all the stuff of this life. What would be left in your life?
Will there be a relationship with Christ Jesus that you have cultivated? Would you be like Job in the story where he looses all things but he still has a relationship with God to fall on.
If we think the stuff of this life is permanent than we are deceiving ourselves.
Naked we came into this world and naked we will leave.
In a snap of a finger any one of us could leave here today and be killed in an instant. You may think that sounds morbid or over the top but it is true. If we don’t believe that we are like the Jews in this story we are living a lie and we are delusional.
So what does Jesus propose to us?
John8: 34-36
?" 34 Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever ; the son does remain forever. 36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
Jesus sets the record straight.
Without Him we are locked in the jailhouse of sin – we are hopeless, we are lost, we are going to Hell.
Hell is literally where God is not. Imagine a place where the presence of God has been lifted and taken away.
There is a story of a young man who proposed marriage to a young woman.
He gave her an expensive, beautiful diamond ring enclosed in an attractive blue velvet box.
The following day after their engagement the young woman said, “How can I ever thank you enough for the beautiful blue velvet box? I love it and will always cherish it!”
How do you think that young man felt?
A crazy story?
Yes, except that it aptly describes the care and attention that we give in this life to our body and physical well beings which is like the blue velvet box.
We spend about 99% of our resources and time on something that will return to dust and we neglect the gift of the diamond, which is our living, eternal soul.
We spend so much time living in denial. We can workout, run, eat healthy, do all that stuff but eventually we are going to die.
One day we are going to hear that dreaded statement – you have cancer. Or we are going to watch this body of ours start to break down.
Where have we put our emphasis? Does you spiritual life and your soul matter to you?
All you have to do to answer that question is take an inventory.
Where are your priorities? Are they here with the Church?
Are they with Christ? Are they in developing a healthy prayer life with Jesus and reading His word?
Are they with raising Christian kids that love Jesus and children that will have eternal life with Jesus?
Today let us all take a strong inventory of our lives. Where to you stand with Jesus today?
He wants to rid you of the bondage of sin that besets us. He wants to rid us of our dependence on the things of this world.
He wants us to live with Him forever in peace and happiness.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Water from the Innermost Parts AM Sermon 3/13/11
Since I have been young I have fascinated with two things and they are rivers and old church buildings. I love fast moving water, rapids, rocks and high bluffs coming down to the water’s edge. I love old church buildings where you go in and sit and think about what it would have been like to be a worshiper a long time ago.
That is why I guess I love going to the Smoky Mountains and Cades Cove- the streams you go by on the way out and the old home places with the churches.
Some of my fondest memories of childhood is the canoeing trips that I went on with my Dad. We would canoe the Sipsey River through what is called the Bankhead Wilderness area. The wilderness area is inaccessible by vehicle but you can canoe through it.
Everything is neat about that trip but one part. There is a rapid about ¾ through called the 100 yard dash. People that have canoed that stretch know about the hydraulic called the dash. There is not turning back when you get too close. The current sucks in your canoe through an opening about 15 feet wide.
Once we didn’t realize that the water level was lower than we thought and a rock we usually went right over caught us underneath and flipped us over. I was probably 12 years old and was terrified. On that particular trip my Dad put me in the canoe with a man that we went to church with who was a decorate soldier from the Vietnam war. He was gung ho and was afraid of nothing. We flipped over and I did just as I had always been told to do and that is pull your legs up and go with the current. I ended up 100 yards down river and Elton was also there. Elton’s first words to me were, Have you seen my paddles? It wasn’t are you alright, or are you hurt but it was where are my paddles. My first impulse was to tell him I would like to hit him with his paddles if I found them.
One thing about Rivers is that the Rivers bring life. Everywhere you see a river you see beautiful lush foliage. You see lots of animals that depend on the river for life.
This morning we are going to see a River that brings more life than we could ever imagine. We will be in John chapter 7 this morning for our sermon.
We have made our trek through John’s Gospel. We have been introduced to a cosmic vision of Christ in the Prologue with its glory and grandeur.
We have witnessed miracles that are sings that point to something greater.
We have seen Jesus point to greater spiritual truth that man must be born again – born not of flesh and blood but of God’s Spirit born of above.
Jesus wants to give living water that if a man drinks he will never thirst again.
Jesus brings Healing and a New Sabbath Rest – and continues to work even on the Sabbath because His Father is working.
He is the true bread from Heaven – He is not like the temporal Manna that came to the Israelites but is the true bread that gives His very flesh as our spiritual food.
He gives his entire self up on the Cross for us because He loves us that much.
Today we continue with John’s theme that will run through Chapter 10 with the feasts of the Jews.
The text tells us In John 7:1 that it was the feast of Tabernacles. On our calendar this would have fallen around September or October so it was a Fall Feast.
This is the final feast of the Jewish Year.
This feast occurs five days after the Day of Atonement or what is called Yom Kippur and it ends the Jewish time called the Days of Awe.
It is called the Feast of the ingathering or the feast of booths.
This feast was significant in the history of the Jews because it was during this feast that Nehemiah read the Law and renewed the covenant when Israel returned from Exile.
This was also the feast in which Solomon dedicated his Temple that he built for the Lord.
By the time of Jesus it was considered the most holy and sacred feast of the Jews and this is attested to by Josephus.
For some reason it had grown in popularity beyond even the Passover Feast.
Now this feast fascinates me because I think of camping out as a kid. All kids love to camp out and I can imagine that it wasn’t any different for the Jews of Jesus time.
They would collect twigs of willow, myrtle and palm branches and would build a booth to stay in during the feast.
They would also bring an ingathering of the best of the Fall crops with them to the feast and they would hang up examples of their best of the crops in their booth.
It was a time to remember the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness as well as God’s Provision.
This would be a time the people would celebrate God’s Shekinah presence leading them through the wilderness as well as the water from the rock that God provided for them.
On the eighth and final day of the feast, the high priest of Israel, in a great processional made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam.
This would also think back to the time of Moses and the water from the rock.
A pitcher was filled with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple Mount.
Here, in the midst of great ceremony, the high priest poured the water out of the pitcher onto the altar.
The people would cry out from the book of Isaiah,
“With Joy we shall draw water from the wells of Salvation!”
And with this trumpets would blast as this ritual took place.
Since in Israel the rains normally stop in March, there is no rain for almost seven months!
If God does not provide the "early" rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep.
This ceremony, then, was intended to invoke God's blessing on the nation by providing life-giving water.
Jesus is at this great feast and the last day of this 8 day feast Jesus will cry out.
John 7: 37-39
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive ; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
This is the day that they pour water out from
97 % of the Earth’s Water is found in the Oceans as Salt water, 3 percent is drinkable water.
2 % is found in the ice caps which leaves just 1 percent for us to survive on.
The good news is that 1 percent is enough for planet earth to survive.
The Jews understood that water was critical to life.
Living water was even more critical – living water had to be moving and was not stagnant. Living water was life giving.
As I said earlier this feast was a time when the Jews celebrated God giving the water to them in the wilderness from the rock.
The Apostle Paul ties together this teaching of Jesus with the wilderness wanderings.
I Corinthians 10: 1-4
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea ; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food ; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Paul tells us specifically that the rock in the wilderness was a foreshadowing to Jesus – it was pointing forward to a time when God would provide more than just water from a rock but spiritual water that would quench our soul forever.
This feast looked forward to God’s provision of water.
Physical water is so important but God in Christ wants to give us much more than just physical water.
Christ wants to give us water that is going to transform us and make us new creatures.
Now in this passage Jesus repeats something almost identical to what He said to the woman at the well in John 4 – John repeats a theme and it means that it is very important.
Jesus changes the message that he said in John 4. He makes it different than the woman at the well.
The differences is that now Jesus is speaking at a great feast to a crowd of people instead of just one person.
One word that inverts our understanding of our relationship with God.
STREAMS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW FROM WITHIN HIM
WE ARE THE SOURCE OF THIS WATER – YOU WOULD EXPECT THESE STREAMS OF LIVING WATER TO FLOW TO US FROM JESUS.
THIS IS NEW STUFF- SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
STOP AND LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING!!!
It is coming from us and not to us – this water will come from us.
Christianity is different – what Jesus is bringing to the world is new – God wants people that have hearts that have been transformed. God wants people that have been transformed from the inside out. It is our heart that he wants.
So many people in Jesus time were caught up in pomp and circumstance- Just look at the feast he was at – So much pomp circumstance and things and moving parts but what does Jesus say,
Things are different God wants to start this transformation inside of you – it starts with your heart your innermost person and works its way out.
He is claiming this so much when we look at the Greek of this passage it even makes more sense.
FROM WITHIN – Translators from the Greek to English made if very vague and not general. Somewhere vaguely within us.
The actual Greek word is out of HIS BELLY – From his belly or stomach these streams will come forth. What is He talking about?
Ancient world – certain body parts contained certain attributes. The believe blood was the container of life force – which we would in a sort agree.
Soldiers before battle would drink blood because they felt that it was like energy drink or full of life.
The Belly and kidneys they believed that that was the seat of our emotions and feelings and our emotional life. If you remove the belly you would have no more feelings or emotions.
Jesus is saying this water that I will give you, that you find welling up in you, is fundamentally something that will control everything about you. It will alter your emotions and your thinking.
This is critical because emotions can take us captive and can even overrun our mental faculties – but not with Jesus – His living water will take us over and change us.
Two things are necessary to understand this teaching of Jesus.
1) You must be thirsty – As I get older and more mature I am starting to understand this part of what Jesus is saying.
I get so frustrated when you think other people don’t care about spiritual matters.
I would get so frustrated when people seem unmotivated about Church and their spiritual life.
But Jesus makes it clear – you have to be thirsty – Come to Me if you are thirsty is what he says.
You have to be thirsty but also realize that you are thirsty. There are people here that are thirsty for what Jesus wants to give but you don’t realize it.
THRIST:
1)Anger - Here is what I mean – some people here are angry – that is a thirst for God’s Justice- Only God can put it right for you.
2) Some are lonely - You need companionship – but it is not human companionship that we need but we need the help of God. We need God in our lives
3) We are anxious – if you are anxious today it means that you need God’s peace.
4) If you are empty- God wants to fill that empty feeling with His love
We have to see this thirst
From this story we can take three things to APPLY to our Situation:
1) We can GRASP Christ – we can take hold of His promises
He proclaims COME TO ME – an open invitation to all to Come to Jesus
There is a story told of an author named Elsie Wagner. She and her husband were in town shopping, they ran into some friends who invited their whole family to have dinner with them that evening. Elsie said she would check with the others and call to confirm plans.
Later Elsie phoned to say that there would be five of them coming for dinner at six o’clock. At the other end of the line, there was an ominous silence. "Have I got the wrong number?" Elsie asked.
"I sure hope so," came the reply.
Well she may have had the wrong number but in Jesus you will never be rejected.
You can take great confidence in the call of Christ that He will not turn you away if you come to Him Thirsty for the Living water that he wants to bring to your life.
Isaiah the prophet makes the invitation:
Isaiah 55: 1
1 "Ho ! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters ; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.
2) We must GULP away – the water Jesus has for us will do us no good if we don’t buy in.
We have to jump in all the way. There cant be any half way with Christ – Jesus offers a free gift that costs everything – Jesus wants us to crucify our old person and put them to death. He wants us to be brand new and take hold to his water of salvation that He wants to give us.
Pliny the Elder, was a Roman writer who lived during the same time period as Jesus. He told a story of the setting of an obelisk, which when erect would stand 99 feet tall.
Twenty thousand workers where chosen to pull on the ropes and activate the hoisting apparatus.
There was great responsibility and risk in the operation. Just one error could cause the obelisk to fall, ruining years of work. The King demanded one act which insured the complete attention and best direction of the engineer. He ordered the engineer's own son to be strapped to the apex of the obelisk, so that his heart as well as his head would be given to the task.
When we come to Jesus it is the same type of commitment that we need.
It must be something where our heart and head are tied together.
Imagine dying of thirst in a hot desert while holding a huge glass of cold water, that would be ridiculous.
The same is true for a person to not be all out committed to Jesus.
Jesus is here to fulfill all of our longings that the world has warped out of whack.
We must give up all the things that will not fill us up and drink from the waters of life that He wants to give.
Conclusion:
In the book Sahara Unveileda story is told of an Algerian named Lag Lag and a companion whose truck broke down while crossing the desert:
They nearly died of thirst during the three weeks they waited before being rescued.
As their bodies dehydrated, they became willing to drink anything in hopes of quenching their terrible thirst.
The sun forced them into the shade under the truck, where they dug a shallow trench. Day after day they lay there. They had food, but did not eat, fearing it would magnify their thirst. Dehydration, not starvation, kills wanderers in the desert, and thirst is the most terrible of all human sufferings.
Physiologists…use Greek-based words to describe stages of human thirst. For example, the Sahara is dipsogenic, meaning "thirst provoking."
In Lag Lag’s case, they might say he progressed from eudipsia, "ordinary thirst,"
through bouts of hyperdipsia, meaning "temporary intense thirst,"
to polydipsia, "sustained excessive thirst." Polydipsia means the kind of thirst that drives one to drink anything.
There are specialized terms for such behavior, including uriposia, the drinking of urine, and hemoposia, the drinking of blood.
Radiator water is what Lag Lag and his assistant started into when good drinking water was gone. In order to survive, they were willing to drink, in effect, poison.
Isn’t this just like human behavior and doesn’t this story describe us here this morning.
If we were really honest and open we are all thirsty for something. We all want something and we are frustrated when we don’t get it.
WE are willing to quench our thirst on the poison that Satan will give us. Satan gives us drink to quench our thirst but it is the type that leads to more and more despondency.
Jesus gives us water that quenches forever and leads to fulfillment and contentment in our life.
John Piper puts it this way…
“He frustrates the human race again and again. He causes every wreath to wither, every gold cup to tarnish, every muscle to sag, every face to wrinkle, every sexual exploit to go sour, every sin to sting, until we have put Him off too long.”
Piper puts it so well.
All these things of this life lead to nothing – the pleasures that we pursue that crowd out God will fade away.
We may chase winning, money, working out or our physical appearance but they are all going to fade and all that is left is nothing.
God is calling us and he wants us as Ephesians 5 tells us to be fruitful in His Spirit – God wants to gush out his living water from our very innermost being
He wants to start His work of setting things right in this world with each one of us. DO YOU THIRST FOR HEAVEN TODAY?
That is why I guess I love going to the Smoky Mountains and Cades Cove- the streams you go by on the way out and the old home places with the churches.
Some of my fondest memories of childhood is the canoeing trips that I went on with my Dad. We would canoe the Sipsey River through what is called the Bankhead Wilderness area. The wilderness area is inaccessible by vehicle but you can canoe through it.
Everything is neat about that trip but one part. There is a rapid about ¾ through called the 100 yard dash. People that have canoed that stretch know about the hydraulic called the dash. There is not turning back when you get too close. The current sucks in your canoe through an opening about 15 feet wide.
Once we didn’t realize that the water level was lower than we thought and a rock we usually went right over caught us underneath and flipped us over. I was probably 12 years old and was terrified. On that particular trip my Dad put me in the canoe with a man that we went to church with who was a decorate soldier from the Vietnam war. He was gung ho and was afraid of nothing. We flipped over and I did just as I had always been told to do and that is pull your legs up and go with the current. I ended up 100 yards down river and Elton was also there. Elton’s first words to me were, Have you seen my paddles? It wasn’t are you alright, or are you hurt but it was where are my paddles. My first impulse was to tell him I would like to hit him with his paddles if I found them.
One thing about Rivers is that the Rivers bring life. Everywhere you see a river you see beautiful lush foliage. You see lots of animals that depend on the river for life.
This morning we are going to see a River that brings more life than we could ever imagine. We will be in John chapter 7 this morning for our sermon.
We have made our trek through John’s Gospel. We have been introduced to a cosmic vision of Christ in the Prologue with its glory and grandeur.
We have witnessed miracles that are sings that point to something greater.
We have seen Jesus point to greater spiritual truth that man must be born again – born not of flesh and blood but of God’s Spirit born of above.
Jesus wants to give living water that if a man drinks he will never thirst again.
Jesus brings Healing and a New Sabbath Rest – and continues to work even on the Sabbath because His Father is working.
He is the true bread from Heaven – He is not like the temporal Manna that came to the Israelites but is the true bread that gives His very flesh as our spiritual food.
He gives his entire self up on the Cross for us because He loves us that much.
Today we continue with John’s theme that will run through Chapter 10 with the feasts of the Jews.
The text tells us In John 7:1 that it was the feast of Tabernacles. On our calendar this would have fallen around September or October so it was a Fall Feast.
This is the final feast of the Jewish Year.
This feast occurs five days after the Day of Atonement or what is called Yom Kippur and it ends the Jewish time called the Days of Awe.
It is called the Feast of the ingathering or the feast of booths.
This feast was significant in the history of the Jews because it was during this feast that Nehemiah read the Law and renewed the covenant when Israel returned from Exile.
This was also the feast in which Solomon dedicated his Temple that he built for the Lord.
By the time of Jesus it was considered the most holy and sacred feast of the Jews and this is attested to by Josephus.
For some reason it had grown in popularity beyond even the Passover Feast.
Now this feast fascinates me because I think of camping out as a kid. All kids love to camp out and I can imagine that it wasn’t any different for the Jews of Jesus time.
They would collect twigs of willow, myrtle and palm branches and would build a booth to stay in during the feast.
They would also bring an ingathering of the best of the Fall crops with them to the feast and they would hang up examples of their best of the crops in their booth.
It was a time to remember the Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness as well as God’s Provision.
This would be a time the people would celebrate God’s Shekinah presence leading them through the wilderness as well as the water from the rock that God provided for them.
On the eighth and final day of the feast, the high priest of Israel, in a great processional made up of priests and tens of thousands of worshipers, descended from the Temple Mount to pause briefly at the Pool of Siloam.
This would also think back to the time of Moses and the water from the rock.
A pitcher was filled with water, and the procession continued via a different route back to the Temple Mount.
Here, in the midst of great ceremony, the high priest poured the water out of the pitcher onto the altar.
The people would cry out from the book of Isaiah,
“With Joy we shall draw water from the wells of Salvation!”
And with this trumpets would blast as this ritual took place.
Since in Israel the rains normally stop in March, there is no rain for almost seven months!
If God does not provide the "early" rains in October and November, there will be no spring crop, and famine is at the doorstep.
This ceremony, then, was intended to invoke God's blessing on the nation by providing life-giving water.
Jesus is at this great feast and the last day of this 8 day feast Jesus will cry out.
John 7: 37-39
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' " 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive ; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
This is the day that they pour water out from
97 % of the Earth’s Water is found in the Oceans as Salt water, 3 percent is drinkable water.
2 % is found in the ice caps which leaves just 1 percent for us to survive on.
The good news is that 1 percent is enough for planet earth to survive.
The Jews understood that water was critical to life.
Living water was even more critical – living water had to be moving and was not stagnant. Living water was life giving.
As I said earlier this feast was a time when the Jews celebrated God giving the water to them in the wilderness from the rock.
The Apostle Paul ties together this teaching of Jesus with the wilderness wanderings.
I Corinthians 10: 1-4
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea ; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea ; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food ; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.
Paul tells us specifically that the rock in the wilderness was a foreshadowing to Jesus – it was pointing forward to a time when God would provide more than just water from a rock but spiritual water that would quench our soul forever.
This feast looked forward to God’s provision of water.
Physical water is so important but God in Christ wants to give us much more than just physical water.
Christ wants to give us water that is going to transform us and make us new creatures.
Now in this passage Jesus repeats something almost identical to what He said to the woman at the well in John 4 – John repeats a theme and it means that it is very important.
Jesus changes the message that he said in John 4. He makes it different than the woman at the well.
The differences is that now Jesus is speaking at a great feast to a crowd of people instead of just one person.
One word that inverts our understanding of our relationship with God.
STREAMS OF LIVING WATER WILL FLOW FROM WITHIN HIM
WE ARE THE SOURCE OF THIS WATER – YOU WOULD EXPECT THESE STREAMS OF LIVING WATER TO FLOW TO US FROM JESUS.
THIS IS NEW STUFF- SOMETHING SPECIAL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
STOP AND LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS SAYING!!!
It is coming from us and not to us – this water will come from us.
Christianity is different – what Jesus is bringing to the world is new – God wants people that have hearts that have been transformed. God wants people that have been transformed from the inside out. It is our heart that he wants.
So many people in Jesus time were caught up in pomp and circumstance- Just look at the feast he was at – So much pomp circumstance and things and moving parts but what does Jesus say,
Things are different God wants to start this transformation inside of you – it starts with your heart your innermost person and works its way out.
He is claiming this so much when we look at the Greek of this passage it even makes more sense.
FROM WITHIN – Translators from the Greek to English made if very vague and not general. Somewhere vaguely within us.
The actual Greek word is out of HIS BELLY – From his belly or stomach these streams will come forth. What is He talking about?
Ancient world – certain body parts contained certain attributes. The believe blood was the container of life force – which we would in a sort agree.
Soldiers before battle would drink blood because they felt that it was like energy drink or full of life.
The Belly and kidneys they believed that that was the seat of our emotions and feelings and our emotional life. If you remove the belly you would have no more feelings or emotions.
Jesus is saying this water that I will give you, that you find welling up in you, is fundamentally something that will control everything about you. It will alter your emotions and your thinking.
This is critical because emotions can take us captive and can even overrun our mental faculties – but not with Jesus – His living water will take us over and change us.
Two things are necessary to understand this teaching of Jesus.
1) You must be thirsty – As I get older and more mature I am starting to understand this part of what Jesus is saying.
I get so frustrated when you think other people don’t care about spiritual matters.
I would get so frustrated when people seem unmotivated about Church and their spiritual life.
But Jesus makes it clear – you have to be thirsty – Come to Me if you are thirsty is what he says.
You have to be thirsty but also realize that you are thirsty. There are people here that are thirsty for what Jesus wants to give but you don’t realize it.
THRIST:
1)Anger - Here is what I mean – some people here are angry – that is a thirst for God’s Justice- Only God can put it right for you.
2) Some are lonely - You need companionship – but it is not human companionship that we need but we need the help of God. We need God in our lives
3) We are anxious – if you are anxious today it means that you need God’s peace.
4) If you are empty- God wants to fill that empty feeling with His love
We have to see this thirst
From this story we can take three things to APPLY to our Situation:
1) We can GRASP Christ – we can take hold of His promises
He proclaims COME TO ME – an open invitation to all to Come to Jesus
There is a story told of an author named Elsie Wagner. She and her husband were in town shopping, they ran into some friends who invited their whole family to have dinner with them that evening. Elsie said she would check with the others and call to confirm plans.
Later Elsie phoned to say that there would be five of them coming for dinner at six o’clock. At the other end of the line, there was an ominous silence. "Have I got the wrong number?" Elsie asked.
"I sure hope so," came the reply.
Well she may have had the wrong number but in Jesus you will never be rejected.
You can take great confidence in the call of Christ that He will not turn you away if you come to Him Thirsty for the Living water that he wants to bring to your life.
Isaiah the prophet makes the invitation:
Isaiah 55: 1
1 "Ho ! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters ; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.
2) We must GULP away – the water Jesus has for us will do us no good if we don’t buy in.
We have to jump in all the way. There cant be any half way with Christ – Jesus offers a free gift that costs everything – Jesus wants us to crucify our old person and put them to death. He wants us to be brand new and take hold to his water of salvation that He wants to give us.
Pliny the Elder, was a Roman writer who lived during the same time period as Jesus. He told a story of the setting of an obelisk, which when erect would stand 99 feet tall.
Twenty thousand workers where chosen to pull on the ropes and activate the hoisting apparatus.
There was great responsibility and risk in the operation. Just one error could cause the obelisk to fall, ruining years of work. The King demanded one act which insured the complete attention and best direction of the engineer. He ordered the engineer's own son to be strapped to the apex of the obelisk, so that his heart as well as his head would be given to the task.
When we come to Jesus it is the same type of commitment that we need.
It must be something where our heart and head are tied together.
Imagine dying of thirst in a hot desert while holding a huge glass of cold water, that would be ridiculous.
The same is true for a person to not be all out committed to Jesus.
Jesus is here to fulfill all of our longings that the world has warped out of whack.
We must give up all the things that will not fill us up and drink from the waters of life that He wants to give.
Conclusion:
In the book Sahara Unveileda story is told of an Algerian named Lag Lag and a companion whose truck broke down while crossing the desert:
They nearly died of thirst during the three weeks they waited before being rescued.
As their bodies dehydrated, they became willing to drink anything in hopes of quenching their terrible thirst.
The sun forced them into the shade under the truck, where they dug a shallow trench. Day after day they lay there. They had food, but did not eat, fearing it would magnify their thirst. Dehydration, not starvation, kills wanderers in the desert, and thirst is the most terrible of all human sufferings.
Physiologists…use Greek-based words to describe stages of human thirst. For example, the Sahara is dipsogenic, meaning "thirst provoking."
In Lag Lag’s case, they might say he progressed from eudipsia, "ordinary thirst,"
through bouts of hyperdipsia, meaning "temporary intense thirst,"
to polydipsia, "sustained excessive thirst." Polydipsia means the kind of thirst that drives one to drink anything.
There are specialized terms for such behavior, including uriposia, the drinking of urine, and hemoposia, the drinking of blood.
Radiator water is what Lag Lag and his assistant started into when good drinking water was gone. In order to survive, they were willing to drink, in effect, poison.
Isn’t this just like human behavior and doesn’t this story describe us here this morning.
If we were really honest and open we are all thirsty for something. We all want something and we are frustrated when we don’t get it.
WE are willing to quench our thirst on the poison that Satan will give us. Satan gives us drink to quench our thirst but it is the type that leads to more and more despondency.
Jesus gives us water that quenches forever and leads to fulfillment and contentment in our life.
John Piper puts it this way…
“He frustrates the human race again and again. He causes every wreath to wither, every gold cup to tarnish, every muscle to sag, every face to wrinkle, every sexual exploit to go sour, every sin to sting, until we have put Him off too long.”
Piper puts it so well.
All these things of this life lead to nothing – the pleasures that we pursue that crowd out God will fade away.
We may chase winning, money, working out or our physical appearance but they are all going to fade and all that is left is nothing.
God is calling us and he wants us as Ephesians 5 tells us to be fruitful in His Spirit – God wants to gush out his living water from our very innermost being
He wants to start His work of setting things right in this world with each one of us. DO YOU THIRST FOR HEAVEN TODAY?
Saturday, March 5, 2011
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE am sermon 3/6/11
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
Bread can be a controversial thing and I found that out in college.
I had a roommate that was a very interesting person. When you play football in college the coaches pick out your roommate and it is usually a person that plays the same position as you do. My roommate was a fellow Linebacker and when I first met him I realized he was a few French fries short of a happy meal.
We lived on the 7th floor of a dorm at UAB and he decided he would start entertaining himself by throwing bread on people’s balcony. Well in a city like Birmingham pigeons are a plenty and they like bread.
When my roommate would do this flocks and flocks of pigeons would swarm those balconies that were lucky enough to get his assault of bread.
Well to simplify this story my roommate had to appear before the school disciplinary council and he was quickly informed that bread had a purpose and that purpose was for things like sandwiches and not balconies.
In today’s story we will come in contact with another controversial bread story.
Let’s get our story today up to speed.
A few weeks ago we saw Jesus multiply five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 men and their families
A young boy brought all he had and gave it to Jesus and Jesus used it to work this great miracle.
Jesus becomes very popular quick because he fills their stomach for free. People want a free meal.
Jesus withdraws to the Mountain because they want to force Him to become a king. You might be confused by this because we realize that Jesus is the king of the Jews so why does He almost run when they try to force Him to become King.
Well something might be learned by the type of King they want – they want a king like the king of their times.
One of the main roles of the Caesar was to provide bread to the masses. When Rome had their worst uprisings was when Caesar could not provide bread.
Jesus doesn’t want a kingdom set up on people just wanting a king to provide welfare but wants a kingdom of people with their hearts transformed to see a deeper truth.
Right after this episode the Disciples cross the sea of Galilee and Jesus walks on the water to meet them.
This is another way for John to put a big flashing light up saying Jesus is God. We miss it many times but the Jewish people knew only God could walk on water.
Job 9: 8 tells us that only Jehovah can tread on the waves of the deep.
When Jesus walks out on the water to them they understand that this is only an act of God.
In John 6:19 we see that the apostles are terrified and Jesus lets them know – It is I
Literally in the Greek Ega Eimi –
This is the same name that God gives Moses at the Burning bush – Jesus is telling the Apostles that He is God – the Great I AM
This episode is called an Epiphany or a revealing of who God really is.
It is from this episode that we pick up on our story for this morning.
John ‘s Gospel will focus on the feast of the Jews from chapters 5 -10 That will be the backdrop of these teachings.
Chapter 6 has the background of the Passover and the teaching today we will learn in John 6:59 that Jesus is in a Synagogue on Passover
In this Passover synagogue service there would be certain things read as lectionary readings for the feast days.
During this day Exodus 16-17 we be read and the teaching of God’s giving of the Manna would have been read.
As a matter of fact the fascinating thing about this story is that Exodus 16-17 is a backdrop for this story.
In John 6: 31-32 Jesus discusses the Manna that came from Heaven the
This bread that Gods sent in the morning would only be enough for that particular day. It was literally DAILY BREAD – the expression give us our daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer comes from this reality.
Jesus corrects them and reminds them that God sent the bread from Heaven and now Jesus is the true bread that comes from Heaven. Jesus is from Heaven.
Let us pick up in the story this morning in John 6
John 6: 31-40
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life ; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." 41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." 42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven '?" 43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God ; He has seen the Father. 47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 "I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven ; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever ; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." 52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat ?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven ; not as the fathers ate and died ; he who eats this bread will live forever."
This is the First I AM Saying of John’s Gospel
I am the BREAD OF LIFE – there are seven I AM sayings in John’s Gospel – seven keeps in line with John’s vision that Jesus is bringing about New Creation – seven days of Creation – Seven I AM’s
This particular phrase I am the bread of Life is repeated four times in John’s Gospel
This teaching seems odd and vague. I would propose that this is some of the toughest teaching the New Testament.
Jesus says strange things that seem like he is proposing Cannabilism. One of the main accusations the Romans made against the Church was cannibalism – because of the Lord’s Supper.
But what is Jesus trying to do here?
I. 1st of all – trying to rid them from their temporal view of the world – they don’t see it as God’s world and God as their provider of all needs.
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well-fed. Despite excellent care, they slept poorly. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep.
It seems that regardless of the socio-economic group to which we belong, or how sophisticated our palette becomes, every one of us recognizes the significance of bread as a staple of our basic human existence.
St. Augustine rightly observed that every single person has a God-shaped vacuum in his soul. We can attempt to fill that cavity with a host of other things, but finally nothing satiates thirst for our redemption and our hunger for significance except Jesus and His gospel.
You are all familiar with the old saying:
Money can buy you a house, but not a home;
money can buy you an education, but not wisdom;
money can buy you a bed, but not restful sleep;
money can buy you influence, but not respect;
it can buy you medicine, but not health;
a spouse, but not love; quiet, but not tranquility.
Despite the failure of money, power, pleasure, drink, drugs, or the host of other glittering distractions that promise peace and fulfillment but cannot deliver, we still scramble and claw
Biblical commentator Ravi Zacharis writes:
Jesus’ words were intended to lift the listeners from their barren, food-dominated existence to the recognition and acknowledgment of the supreme hunger of life that can only be filled with a different bread. Food and power blind the mind to the need for nourishment and strength of soul. Unfortunately, many fail to pause here long enough to really hear what Jesus is teaching and understand the life-transforming power contained in this truth.”
Our soul longs for something more.
This point speaks to me personally. I am the most anxious person in the world. When Paul said that Christ came to die for all sinners and He is the chiefest of all, I can identify with that statement.
This morning Jesus comes to rid of us of spiritual anxiety and fleshly anxiety and the chief of all anxious people.
We live in a world driven to success, driven to provide, driven by the latest terrible news from Libya, Egypt, wherever, the unemployment numbers all of the bad stuff.
How do we respond to this situation?
1) Some people respond by worry, anxiety, fretting about what they can’t solve.
2) Some people respond by drugs and alcohol to cope with this world.
3) Some people respond by recreation. They cope with the world by going golfing every moment, some allow working out to get in the way, some allow going to the lake, fishing, hunting, sports, to help them cope with this world.
None of those are evil to themselves but they become evil when we neglect God’s Kingdom to do them.
Here is the remedy – Here is how we get the point Jesus is trying to emphasize in this passage.
It is this simple - A Kingdom Mindset – We see ourselves part of something greater than anything in this world.
We are like aliens from another country living in this world. No wonder this world alarms us and makes us feel like things are upside down.
They are upside down – this world is wrong way up – we are not supposed to fit.
Here is a good test case – look at the people around you that are not commited to their faith – they don’t go to church – I hestitate to say they are not Christians because in our country being a Christian is a more of a cultural saying than what the Bible means but nonetheless – are you different than those people, do you stand out? Are you odd or out of place?
Are we like the Jews in this story of Jesus just caught up in what man sees? The temporal, the food, the cars, the house, the stuff of this world?
Are we caught up in what God cares about? The things that last – the building of his Kingdom.
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says:
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink ; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing ?
Then he goes on to say:
33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
What if we could get to this point as Christians where we were different?
If I were to ask a show of hands about how many of us are worried about money? Our appearance? Our health?
What if we were, with the help of God able to change our minds to where we could let God have those things and allow His Kingdom to become first?
This is exactly what Jesus is proposing – If we seek God’s Kingdom first it will all fall in place.
So consider that statement – Seek His kingdom first.
Do our lives align with that.
What about our time – does our time commitment show that God’s Kingdom is first in our lives?
Money – how we spend our money- I would say in America this is NUMBER 1- MONEY is king – our next president will be elected not on his values but on the ECONOMY – you mark it down now. If the economy is thriving people will elect a president that will lie cheat and steal as long as there are jobs and people are making a lot of money.
How we spend our money tells us about our priorities – Do you spend more money on recreation and the luxuries of this life or do we put our money into God’s Kingdom and God’s work.
American Christians are in a unique situation in that we have the money to help others in need. The American Church should never have to worry about the money to do God’s work.
A preacher once told me that if we ever start a project in our Church that we know is going to expand God’s Kingdom and we start off worrying about the cost it is doomed to failure.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. We have a group of parents that got together and have raised money and commitments to put turf on our practice field. This is noble and great for our kids but how many of these people that do these things would be willing to give that much to their church for projects and missions.
That hits us where it hurts but it is true.
II. Jesus gives his life, his very flesh all of Himself to us
Jesus speaks in this passage of eating His flesh and likens his body to bread
Where have you heard something like this in the Bible? Is there anyplace else in the Bible where Jesus connects bread to his body?
Last Supper
Take Eat This is My Body
The Bread of the Supper is in some way to us the body of Christ - Why did Jesus give us the Lord’s Supper?
If God is pure spirit why do we baptize people in water?
Why do we do these physical acts of worship if God is a pure spirit?
Consider this – we are strange beings – we are Physical and spiritual – we are both. Somehow, mystically there is an intertwining of our spiritual and physical being.
We can see our spirit or soul but we know it is there.
We are more than just physical – Science has proven that there is a part of us that is above and beyond our physical selves – We have a supra personality that is not part of our physical bodies
Brain research has shown that when a person that is alert has their brain stimulated during brain surgery they will see various body parts move and twitch. An electric shock makes the brain send a signal from the brain to the muscles.
What is fascinating is that the person that is awake while this stimulation takes place knows that they are not making the action happen. They know that an outside force is causing their biomechanics of their brain to make their appendage move.
There is something about that person that is not part of their physical anatomy or even their brain mechanics that tells them that they are above and beyond the physicality of the body- this is profound and proves scientifically that man has a soul or spirit.
We can see it we can’t quantify it but it is there.
Now the same is true of God’s grace and God’s work in our lives – it cannot be seen with physical eyes. It is a mystery – Jesus in John 3 likened the work of God’s Spirit with the blowing of the wind – the wind is invisible and it is a mystery as to where it comes from and where it is going.
God understands that we are physical and spiritual so he communicates to us in ways that we understand. Things that make sense – God became a man to show us how to live is the ultimate example of this.
Now consider the very ordinances of the Church – Baptism – God connected one’s entrance INTO Christ with the act of water baptism – Water = life in the ancient world
God said if you are sick in James to call upon the elders of the Church and have them anoint you with oil. Olive oil was a staple of the their diet and well being. It was a part of life Basic.
Bread and Wine – The Lord’s Supper – two of the most common food items for all ancient people, rich or poor.
Now think about how this works – God took Oil, Water, Wine, and Bread the very staples of life and connected them in with His invisible work in the spiritual realm.
The message is simple – God is the author of life – every time we see these elements we are reminded.
But what is more is that God elevates this basic items of oil, wine, Bread, water and gives them greater spiritual reality – Just like Jesus did – the Isrealites were so caught up in the temporal idea of the manna that they falsely attributed to Moses –
Jesus is taking us to new heights out of the shackles of just fleshly desire and sanctifies this elements and uses them to point to a greater life that God is calling us to.
It is not just about physical sustenance and nourishment but it is about Spiritual feeding on Christ.
This is profound and deep but we need to understand that the Lord’s Supper is much different than we could imagine.
Let me ask this question,
When did we ever get the idea that the Lord’s Supper is simply just a memorial feast?
Some of us get that idea because Jesus said do this in Remembrance of Me but when we hear those words as just remembering a sad past event we get it all wrong.
The word Remembrance in our translations cannot do justice to the original word ANAMNESIS – The original word was used by the Hebrews for Passover - they saw each Passover as a Participation in the Exodus event – they were somehow mystically connected to that event.
The Supper of the Lord is the same – it is so significant that the early Church made it the focal point of their assembly.
From the NT to the Early Church to the Reformation with Calvin and Luther all the way to the American Restoration Movement with Alexander Campbell and James Harding and David Lipscomb – they all saw the Lord’s Supper as more than just a symbol or just a memorial.
CS Lewis spoke of the Lord’s Supper as a time that a hand from a far off country reached out and touched us.
It is a place where Heaven and Earth have interlocked not to be torn apart. The Irish Christians back a long time ago talked about thin places – thin places to them was where it seemed that Heaven was invading earth.
I would propose the worship services, baptisms, and the Lord’s Supper are places where Heaven’s grace and power long to invade our world. If we cant believe that Heaven can invade earth then why are we Christians?
The very act of God becoming a man is evidence that it can happen.
Today we will commune at the Lord’s Table – we will remember but more than just remember we will commune.
Paul says that we should examine ourselves before we consider partaking of the Supper. Don’t you think that is serious business?
Don’t you think that if Paul says you will sin against the body of Christ if you take it an unworthy manner we should really consider this act of worship to be something that is the highlight of Sunday but also something we look forward to all week.
We are literally eating in the presence of God –we are invited to His Table – Just as Moses and Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel went up on Mount Sinai to eat in God’s presence we are invited to Mount Zion –
We are invited where there are myriads of angels attending to God – there are the ones that have died and gone on to their reward – we are invited to get a fore taste of the banquet feast of the Lord. This is so rich in meaning that we need to leave the milk of the word on things like baptism and the Lords Supper and get to the meat.
We need to get to where we understand that this Table fellowship with one another and with God is made possible through the sacrifice of the Cross.
Today let us celebrate, reflect and glory in the cross as we partake – let us consider the salvation extended to all of us.
Bread can be a controversial thing and I found that out in college.
I had a roommate that was a very interesting person. When you play football in college the coaches pick out your roommate and it is usually a person that plays the same position as you do. My roommate was a fellow Linebacker and when I first met him I realized he was a few French fries short of a happy meal.
We lived on the 7th floor of a dorm at UAB and he decided he would start entertaining himself by throwing bread on people’s balcony. Well in a city like Birmingham pigeons are a plenty and they like bread.
When my roommate would do this flocks and flocks of pigeons would swarm those balconies that were lucky enough to get his assault of bread.
Well to simplify this story my roommate had to appear before the school disciplinary council and he was quickly informed that bread had a purpose and that purpose was for things like sandwiches and not balconies.
In today’s story we will come in contact with another controversial bread story.
Let’s get our story today up to speed.
A few weeks ago we saw Jesus multiply five loaves of bread and two fish to feed 5000 men and their families
A young boy brought all he had and gave it to Jesus and Jesus used it to work this great miracle.
Jesus becomes very popular quick because he fills their stomach for free. People want a free meal.
Jesus withdraws to the Mountain because they want to force Him to become a king. You might be confused by this because we realize that Jesus is the king of the Jews so why does He almost run when they try to force Him to become King.
Well something might be learned by the type of King they want – they want a king like the king of their times.
One of the main roles of the Caesar was to provide bread to the masses. When Rome had their worst uprisings was when Caesar could not provide bread.
Jesus doesn’t want a kingdom set up on people just wanting a king to provide welfare but wants a kingdom of people with their hearts transformed to see a deeper truth.
Right after this episode the Disciples cross the sea of Galilee and Jesus walks on the water to meet them.
This is another way for John to put a big flashing light up saying Jesus is God. We miss it many times but the Jewish people knew only God could walk on water.
Job 9: 8 tells us that only Jehovah can tread on the waves of the deep.
When Jesus walks out on the water to them they understand that this is only an act of God.
In John 6:19 we see that the apostles are terrified and Jesus lets them know – It is I
Literally in the Greek Ega Eimi –
This is the same name that God gives Moses at the Burning bush – Jesus is telling the Apostles that He is God – the Great I AM
This episode is called an Epiphany or a revealing of who God really is.
It is from this episode that we pick up on our story for this morning.
John ‘s Gospel will focus on the feast of the Jews from chapters 5 -10 That will be the backdrop of these teachings.
Chapter 6 has the background of the Passover and the teaching today we will learn in John 6:59 that Jesus is in a Synagogue on Passover
In this Passover synagogue service there would be certain things read as lectionary readings for the feast days.
During this day Exodus 16-17 we be read and the teaching of God’s giving of the Manna would have been read.
As a matter of fact the fascinating thing about this story is that Exodus 16-17 is a backdrop for this story.
In John 6: 31-32 Jesus discusses the Manna that came from Heaven the
This bread that Gods sent in the morning would only be enough for that particular day. It was literally DAILY BREAD – the expression give us our daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer comes from this reality.
Jesus corrects them and reminds them that God sent the bread from Heaven and now Jesus is the true bread that comes from Heaven. Jesus is from Heaven.
Let us pick up in the story this morning in John 6
John 6: 31-40
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life ; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. 36 "But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. 37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. 38 "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." 41 Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down out of heaven." 42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know ? How does He now say, 'I have come down out of heaven '?" 43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 "It is written in the prophets, 'AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God ; He has seen the Father. 47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 "I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven ; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever ; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." 52 Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat ?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven ; not as the fathers ate and died ; he who eats this bread will live forever."
This is the First I AM Saying of John’s Gospel
I am the BREAD OF LIFE – there are seven I AM sayings in John’s Gospel – seven keeps in line with John’s vision that Jesus is bringing about New Creation – seven days of Creation – Seven I AM’s
This particular phrase I am the bread of Life is repeated four times in John’s Gospel
This teaching seems odd and vague. I would propose that this is some of the toughest teaching the New Testament.
Jesus says strange things that seem like he is proposing Cannabilism. One of the main accusations the Romans made against the Church was cannibalism – because of the Lord’s Supper.
But what is Jesus trying to do here?
I. 1st of all – trying to rid them from their temporal view of the world – they don’t see it as God’s world and God as their provider of all needs.
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well-fed. Despite excellent care, they slept poorly. They seemed nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep.
It seems that regardless of the socio-economic group to which we belong, or how sophisticated our palette becomes, every one of us recognizes the significance of bread as a staple of our basic human existence.
St. Augustine rightly observed that every single person has a God-shaped vacuum in his soul. We can attempt to fill that cavity with a host of other things, but finally nothing satiates thirst for our redemption and our hunger for significance except Jesus and His gospel.
You are all familiar with the old saying:
Money can buy you a house, but not a home;
money can buy you an education, but not wisdom;
money can buy you a bed, but not restful sleep;
money can buy you influence, but not respect;
it can buy you medicine, but not health;
a spouse, but not love; quiet, but not tranquility.
Despite the failure of money, power, pleasure, drink, drugs, or the host of other glittering distractions that promise peace and fulfillment but cannot deliver, we still scramble and claw
Biblical commentator Ravi Zacharis writes:
Jesus’ words were intended to lift the listeners from their barren, food-dominated existence to the recognition and acknowledgment of the supreme hunger of life that can only be filled with a different bread. Food and power blind the mind to the need for nourishment and strength of soul. Unfortunately, many fail to pause here long enough to really hear what Jesus is teaching and understand the life-transforming power contained in this truth.”
Our soul longs for something more.
This point speaks to me personally. I am the most anxious person in the world. When Paul said that Christ came to die for all sinners and He is the chiefest of all, I can identify with that statement.
This morning Jesus comes to rid of us of spiritual anxiety and fleshly anxiety and the chief of all anxious people.
We live in a world driven to success, driven to provide, driven by the latest terrible news from Libya, Egypt, wherever, the unemployment numbers all of the bad stuff.
How do we respond to this situation?
1) Some people respond by worry, anxiety, fretting about what they can’t solve.
2) Some people respond by drugs and alcohol to cope with this world.
3) Some people respond by recreation. They cope with the world by going golfing every moment, some allow working out to get in the way, some allow going to the lake, fishing, hunting, sports, to help them cope with this world.
None of those are evil to themselves but they become evil when we neglect God’s Kingdom to do them.
Here is the remedy – Here is how we get the point Jesus is trying to emphasize in this passage.
It is this simple - A Kingdom Mindset – We see ourselves part of something greater than anything in this world.
We are like aliens from another country living in this world. No wonder this world alarms us and makes us feel like things are upside down.
They are upside down – this world is wrong way up – we are not supposed to fit.
Here is a good test case – look at the people around you that are not commited to their faith – they don’t go to church – I hestitate to say they are not Christians because in our country being a Christian is a more of a cultural saying than what the Bible means but nonetheless – are you different than those people, do you stand out? Are you odd or out of place?
Are we like the Jews in this story of Jesus just caught up in what man sees? The temporal, the food, the cars, the house, the stuff of this world?
Are we caught up in what God cares about? The things that last – the building of his Kingdom.
In Matthew 6:25 Jesus says:
25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink ; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing ?
Then he goes on to say:
33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
What if we could get to this point as Christians where we were different?
If I were to ask a show of hands about how many of us are worried about money? Our appearance? Our health?
What if we were, with the help of God able to change our minds to where we could let God have those things and allow His Kingdom to become first?
This is exactly what Jesus is proposing – If we seek God’s Kingdom first it will all fall in place.
So consider that statement – Seek His kingdom first.
Do our lives align with that.
What about our time – does our time commitment show that God’s Kingdom is first in our lives?
Money – how we spend our money- I would say in America this is NUMBER 1- MONEY is king – our next president will be elected not on his values but on the ECONOMY – you mark it down now. If the economy is thriving people will elect a president that will lie cheat and steal as long as there are jobs and people are making a lot of money.
How we spend our money tells us about our priorities – Do you spend more money on recreation and the luxuries of this life or do we put our money into God’s Kingdom and God’s work.
American Christians are in a unique situation in that we have the money to help others in need. The American Church should never have to worry about the money to do God’s work.
A preacher once told me that if we ever start a project in our Church that we know is going to expand God’s Kingdom and we start off worrying about the cost it is doomed to failure.
Let me give you an example of what I am talking about. We have a group of parents that got together and have raised money and commitments to put turf on our practice field. This is noble and great for our kids but how many of these people that do these things would be willing to give that much to their church for projects and missions.
That hits us where it hurts but it is true.
II. Jesus gives his life, his very flesh all of Himself to us
Jesus speaks in this passage of eating His flesh and likens his body to bread
Where have you heard something like this in the Bible? Is there anyplace else in the Bible where Jesus connects bread to his body?
Last Supper
Take Eat This is My Body
The Bread of the Supper is in some way to us the body of Christ - Why did Jesus give us the Lord’s Supper?
If God is pure spirit why do we baptize people in water?
Why do we do these physical acts of worship if God is a pure spirit?
Consider this – we are strange beings – we are Physical and spiritual – we are both. Somehow, mystically there is an intertwining of our spiritual and physical being.
We can see our spirit or soul but we know it is there.
We are more than just physical – Science has proven that there is a part of us that is above and beyond our physical selves – We have a supra personality that is not part of our physical bodies
Brain research has shown that when a person that is alert has their brain stimulated during brain surgery they will see various body parts move and twitch. An electric shock makes the brain send a signal from the brain to the muscles.
What is fascinating is that the person that is awake while this stimulation takes place knows that they are not making the action happen. They know that an outside force is causing their biomechanics of their brain to make their appendage move.
There is something about that person that is not part of their physical anatomy or even their brain mechanics that tells them that they are above and beyond the physicality of the body- this is profound and proves scientifically that man has a soul or spirit.
We can see it we can’t quantify it but it is there.
Now the same is true of God’s grace and God’s work in our lives – it cannot be seen with physical eyes. It is a mystery – Jesus in John 3 likened the work of God’s Spirit with the blowing of the wind – the wind is invisible and it is a mystery as to where it comes from and where it is going.
God understands that we are physical and spiritual so he communicates to us in ways that we understand. Things that make sense – God became a man to show us how to live is the ultimate example of this.
Now consider the very ordinances of the Church – Baptism – God connected one’s entrance INTO Christ with the act of water baptism – Water = life in the ancient world
God said if you are sick in James to call upon the elders of the Church and have them anoint you with oil. Olive oil was a staple of the their diet and well being. It was a part of life Basic.
Bread and Wine – The Lord’s Supper – two of the most common food items for all ancient people, rich or poor.
Now think about how this works – God took Oil, Water, Wine, and Bread the very staples of life and connected them in with His invisible work in the spiritual realm.
The message is simple – God is the author of life – every time we see these elements we are reminded.
But what is more is that God elevates this basic items of oil, wine, Bread, water and gives them greater spiritual reality – Just like Jesus did – the Isrealites were so caught up in the temporal idea of the manna that they falsely attributed to Moses –
Jesus is taking us to new heights out of the shackles of just fleshly desire and sanctifies this elements and uses them to point to a greater life that God is calling us to.
It is not just about physical sustenance and nourishment but it is about Spiritual feeding on Christ.
This is profound and deep but we need to understand that the Lord’s Supper is much different than we could imagine.
Let me ask this question,
When did we ever get the idea that the Lord’s Supper is simply just a memorial feast?
Some of us get that idea because Jesus said do this in Remembrance of Me but when we hear those words as just remembering a sad past event we get it all wrong.
The word Remembrance in our translations cannot do justice to the original word ANAMNESIS – The original word was used by the Hebrews for Passover - they saw each Passover as a Participation in the Exodus event – they were somehow mystically connected to that event.
The Supper of the Lord is the same – it is so significant that the early Church made it the focal point of their assembly.
From the NT to the Early Church to the Reformation with Calvin and Luther all the way to the American Restoration Movement with Alexander Campbell and James Harding and David Lipscomb – they all saw the Lord’s Supper as more than just a symbol or just a memorial.
CS Lewis spoke of the Lord’s Supper as a time that a hand from a far off country reached out and touched us.
It is a place where Heaven and Earth have interlocked not to be torn apart. The Irish Christians back a long time ago talked about thin places – thin places to them was where it seemed that Heaven was invading earth.
I would propose the worship services, baptisms, and the Lord’s Supper are places where Heaven’s grace and power long to invade our world. If we cant believe that Heaven can invade earth then why are we Christians?
The very act of God becoming a man is evidence that it can happen.
Today we will commune at the Lord’s Table – we will remember but more than just remember we will commune.
Paul says that we should examine ourselves before we consider partaking of the Supper. Don’t you think that is serious business?
Don’t you think that if Paul says you will sin against the body of Christ if you take it an unworthy manner we should really consider this act of worship to be something that is the highlight of Sunday but also something we look forward to all week.
We are literally eating in the presence of God –we are invited to His Table – Just as Moses and Aaron and the 70 elders of Israel went up on Mount Sinai to eat in God’s presence we are invited to Mount Zion –
We are invited where there are myriads of angels attending to God – there are the ones that have died and gone on to their reward – we are invited to get a fore taste of the banquet feast of the Lord. This is so rich in meaning that we need to leave the milk of the word on things like baptism and the Lords Supper and get to the meat.
We need to get to where we understand that this Table fellowship with one another and with God is made possible through the sacrifice of the Cross.
Today let us celebrate, reflect and glory in the cross as we partake – let us consider the salvation extended to all of us.
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