Jesus, I'm Just Not Feeling It #4 Series

Over the last three weeks, we have been walking through the book of Philippians in a message series we have entitled “Jesus, I’m just not feeling it.” We have been on this journey together because we know that we all have gone through or will go through times when, well, we just not feeling it too. It’s part of the Christian walk.

So what have we learned so far from our time together and the scriptures? First, we have learned that Christian friendships are ultimately about witnessing to the glory of God and therefore fundamentally different than your social media, work or neighborhood friendships and that they carry with them some basic tenets which hold us together. As a part of that glue, we are to act in humility, service and obedience to God and to one another. It is through these basic sustained actions we find that our faith and our friendships growing stronger and are not so susceptible to being derailed when we are in either the desert or on the mountain top. Ultimately, Christian life can be defined by creeds and covenants but in the end it must be experienced to mature.

Today, we continue by looking at the final chapter of Philippians and ask one final time, “Where are you Jesus, when we’re just not feeling it?” The answer is almost intuitive isn’t it? God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have never left. They are right beside you, in front of you, behind you and even within you. It was never God who moved. It was us. We moved away. So how do we get back?

The answer is simple. However, most of us do not want to hear it. We want to think God moved away and the reality is we have and we must chose to move back. It is for this reason I find the traditions of the church so rewarding. People have moved away from God and back to God for centuries. In so doing, they have left us breadcrumbs on their journey on how to find your way back. One of those ways is through the reciting of creeds and covenants that clarify what it means to called a Christian. Last week, we read the Wesley Covenant Prayer. It is a powerful witness to what it is we are called to. The prayer itself was written and part of a service in 1755 and became a part of being Methodist in the 1780’s. In the covenant is a distinct moment of recommitting oneself to the Lord. It’s a surrender moment.

Remember these words: <slide with the whole covenant prayer on it>

The beginning of this screams surrender. As someone said last week, as we read it in service, I couldn’t stop thinking do you all know what we are committing ourselves to and then the final lines came. In the 2nd to last line there comes a sense of we make this commitment not out of our power but with God. The line “You are mine and I am yours, so be it” is like saying, “I Surrender to you and your love and power so ‘whatever!’”

“Whatever you bring.” “Whatever you want.” You got this. Whatever!” Look to your neighbor and say, “Whatever”

Now a really cool aspect of being part of this movement we call Methodism is how the tradition connects to the history. John Wesley didn’t make this covenant up. It came about as a part of his connection and study of God’s Word. As I review this prayer, it screams a section of scripture from the 4th chapter of the book Paul wrote to the Philippians. Let’s read it together…

<Phil. 4:8-14>

I would summarize the whole scripture in three phrases: Surrender, Practice and Rejoice. <Slide>

As long as I live, I will never forget one of my first forays into serving at a gift mart. One of my small group friends was encouraging me to get involved so I let him sign me up for a shift at gift mart to help out. I was bit taken a back at how nervous I was going there the first time but how great I felt when I went home. The next year I signed up again and some of you were there. I was serving in the gift wrap area when a volunteer from the church, a new Christian herself, came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, “It’s really blowing me away that every time I try to give back to God , he out gives me.” We both started to get misty eyed and I think it’s a universal truth of Christianity.

One the apostle Paul seems to sum up pretty well in verse 9-10a: “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me.”