Taste is a powerful experience
There are four taste sensations: Sweet, Salty, Sour, and Bitter
Chocolate!
I think there is another… chocolate! Right now I’ve asked some folks to hand out some Hershey Chocolate Kisses – one to a person. Please don’t open them yet. We’re going to eat them all together in just a minute.
(Pass out chocolate kisses.)
Can you imagine a world without chocolate? What would it be like? I think it would be a lot like Pleasantville – you remember the movie where everything is in black and white. The world was essentially all different shades of gray – no color – until they discovered love.
Well, in my humble opinion, that’s the world without chocolate – just shades of gray. Chocolate brings all kinds of color into the world. There is the American cuisine: Hershey’s chocolate bar, Reese PB cups, Milky Way, Snickers, and the top dog of American chocolate – the M&M. The biggest argument you’ll get between two American chocolaholics is which is best – plain or peanut. Or for some it is the Hershey kiss!
Chocolate is impossible to describe. You can talk about the appearance – with a shiny glossy look and the snap – that clear crisp sound made when you break a good quality chocolate. You can try to describe the mouthfeel, (which, believe it or not, is a technical term for how a food feels in the mouth) whether it is smooth, grainy, or gritty. You can try to explain how one chocolate is creamy and another is waxy. You can try to tell someone about that initial burst of flavor, the soft melting of the chocolate in your mouth and that wonderful aftertaste – but you can never really get close to the reality of experiencing chocolate – especially that first time.
Do I have your attention? I’ll bet your mouth is watering!
Think of what it would be like to taste chocolate for the very first time.
(Taste chocolate kisses.)
Put one in your mouth – but don’t chew it. Let it melt there and enjoy the texture and taste the richness of the flavors…
A soldier in WWII tells of giving a young child in France a Hershey Bar. This particular child had been raised in the center of a war zone and had never tasted chocolate in his entire life. The soldier tells how the child was very tentative about accepting the gift and then had to be shown how to unwrap the contents. But when the child took his first small nibble his entire face changed. The tiny boy was enraptured. It was like he was saying, “where did this come from? – the world has something good in it!”
Some things simply have to be experienced to be understood. We begin this morning with our understanding of Jesus. John writes and describes to us who he really is.
Jesus Tasted Eternity
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:1-2
“Defining Jesus,” said Max Lucado, “would be a challenge to the best of writers, but John handles the task with casual analogy. The Messiah, in a word, was ‘the Word.’ Be He a fiery verb or a tender adjective, He was, quite simply, a word.” And I might add that He was “just the right Word!”
David Owen in "The Word." on www.sermoncentral.com.
When you read this don’t think of a “word” in the English language sense. Think of the idea of someone giving you the “word”. Logos – literally means the message. Jesus is the message from God to us. He is God’s equivalent of a “Heads Up” shout from one player to another on the ball field or when the golfer yells “fore” to announce the sudden and unexpected arrival of a golf ball.
Jesus is the message from God to us and he was with God at the very beginning of all things. In the beginning was the message. The message of God was with God. The message of God – was God himself.
Jesus Tasted Eternity
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
John 1:3-5
Now in the next few verses look at the evidences of the Godlikeness of the message…
Jesus was there when God rolled galaxies off his fingertips and pushed red dwarf stars into black holes with his a flick of his little finger. Jesus set in motion the sun, the moon, and the clouds above the world. Jesus imagined with God the animals that wander the planet we call earth. Jesus was present and he created it all with his word and by his power as the Almighty God.
Pastor D. James Kennedy said in a sermon, “I remember years ago talking to a man in his home about Christ and asking him who he thought Jesus was. He said, ‘Oh, He’s a wonderful man. He was the greatest man who ever lived, the most loving and gracious person who ever walked upon this earth.’
“I said, ‘Let me tell you something I believe will startle you. According to the Scriptures, and the historic Christian faith, Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter of Galilee was and is the eternal Creator of the universe, the omnipotent, omniscient, and Almighty God.’
“Instantly his eyes filled with tears and this man of about fifty-five or sixty said, ‘I have been in church all my life and I never heard that before. But I have always thought that is the way it ought to be – that God ought to be like Jesus.’”
(Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations and Quotes, p. 486-487)
The Bible is absolutely clear – God designed and built our world – but the world does not get it. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. In fact, the darkness refuses to get it.
I listened in my car last Saturday to a presentation on NPR about where moral thinking comes from. There is a researcher who has shown that we innately know that there are some things that are just wrong… even though we don’t know why. He came up with a little quiz that he asked thousands upon thousands of people from all walks of life and all kinds of back grounds, ethnic groups, and races. Everyone of them had a hard wired reaction to one of the questions – I wouldn’t do it – It’s just wrong.
When asked where this knowledge comes from this scientist postulated an answer. He said that it must come from our ancestors when we were chimps. This guy – from Princeton mind you, one of the top intellectuals among us today – actually said that our morality must come from the “little chimp” within us.
Do these guys know how foolish they sound? Talk about faith! They exhibit far more faith than Christianity requires!
Jesus was in the place, time, and space of God’s heaven. Eternity was his playground… and he came to our world and tasted our life…
Jesus Tasted Life
…Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5b-8
Many people today would like to see Jesus as a great teacher, philosopher, and leader – and then leave him there as one of many. Others would see him as a zealot who was killed for his fanaticism – and leave him in grave no matter what the evidence to the contrary. There are even some who would suggest that Jesus never lived at all. They would deny his very existence – much the same way that some in our times would deny the holocaust, believe that John Kennedy was shot by at least two men, or claim that the towers came 9/11 because US government agents planted bombs.
Listen, the scriptures reveal something far different. Jesus is more than a man. Jesus is God in the flesh. This morning I’d like to explain why this is so very important to us in understanding how much God loves us.
You see, God did not simply create human kind. He shares with us in every aspect of life. Jesus is God. We must begin here – with this simple and powerful fact. Jesus is God.
God gave up the wonders of eternity to experience the fullness of life.
Jesus Tasted Life
Life can be sweet
A baby is born – Sweet! Weddings are sweet. So is a graduation after four years of study, a job promotion, a new really hot car, or a new house. But that’s not the end of the list. What about when you sit back and listen to some good music, or enjoy a warm fire on a cold night with a bowl of buttery popcorn? Life is sweet when you sit on a bench and watch your grandchildren play in the water and it’s especially sweet when they stop, look up at you and smile.
Life can be salty
When Adam and Eve messed up in the Garden of Eden they were cast out. One of the consequences was that from that time forward human kind would have to make it’s way by the “sweat of the brow.” Sweat, perspiration, work becomes part of life.
Life can be a battle. It’s tough to go to work every day and sweat and strain to make things happen. It isn’t easy to have to earn a pay check. You have to get your hands dirty and put some effort into it to make things go your way.
I’ve had experiences with work… really. I have carried 12 foot sheets of 5/8ths inch drywall – doubled up from a truck into the church building we were constructing in Marquette. I’ve pushed wheelbarrow loads of concrete and mortar. I’ve carried packs of asphalt shingles on my shoulder up ladders and onto roofs. Listen, this kind of work is tough, salty work.
Life can go sour
You can be walking down the street one moment and then suddenly your world crashes and what was sweet is suddenly sour. Even the salty taste of hard work and the tough battle of everyday living is gone – replaced by the sour taste of defeat.
A flat tire or suddenly there are new noises in the undercarriage of the car. Thunks, squeaks, squeals, or rumbles are almost never good. So the transmission suddenly blows out of your car and you are looking at a budget breaking bill.
The boss hands you your last paycheck and you are escorted to the door with a cardboard box containing a picture of your family, some personal papers and knick knacks that used to hang on the wall of your cubicle.
Life can be bitter
For all the good times there are also moments of depression and weariness that makes life become almost unbearably bitter. Some have felt the loss of a close friend because of terrible misunderstanding. Others have seen their families erupt into soap opera quality dramas because of fights over an inheritance or feelings of being less loved. Many have seen the love of their life become an angry enemy through the rejection of separation and divorce. All of us have endured the loss of a person we love to disease and death.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death
We live not only in a world of sweet moments, salty hard work, and tough times. We also deal the four horsemen of this world – pestilence, war, famine and death.
Lately the horseman of pestilence seems to have galloped across our community. I seem to have been in the hospital a lot lately visiting people who are dealing with some pretty major pestilence. Every room that I walk by has a bed or two and people laying there – struck down by disease. I’ve been reading the blogs of Micah’s parents and Pam’s family and I’m reminded how fragile life really is.
Lately, I’ve been reading the dispatches of Michael Yon, an independent reporter in Iraq, as he tells about the path of the horseman of war.
We have all heard news reports of thousands upon thousands who lie weakened and impoverished because of drought and the horseman of famine that has traveled across the continent of Africa.
And the horseman of death has stopped at every home in this assembly today – or he will someday. Sometimes his coming is announced by the other horsemen – sometimes he comes like part of a charging cavalry rushing at us in dark and frightening robes with no warning at all.
Does God understand know our pain? Yes he does because he became one of us !
Not only does he know our pain, but he experienced our pain first hand. If you look for Christ in the N.T. during his life, you will always find him among the hurting, the sick, the deprived, the destitute.......you will find him not where the pleasure is, but where the pain is.......you’ll find him at the side of all who suffer.
Ronald Reagan
During President Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign in 1979, a woman of about 80 spoke out from the audience at the end of one of his campaign speeches. "Mr. Reagan, everything you’ve said sounds just fine. But what about the old folks? Haven’t you forgotten us?" The man who was to become the oldest president of the United States smiled down at her and replied, "Forget you? Heavens, how could I ever forget you? I am one of you."
Jesus is one of us because he tasted it all. Jesus not only tasted life – he tasted death.
Jesus Tasted Death
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Hebrews 2:9
There is nothing you have gone through that your God does not understand – first hand.
This fact changes everything in life for us.
I’ve been in ministry since May of 1973 when I left GLBC and went to a small church in St. Joseph, MI. I’ve started churches in Marquette, MI and Beavercreek, Ohio and now I serve you here in Meridian Township. In all those years of ministry I’ve heard lot’s of stories. I’ve seen lots of sweet moments, watched many salty times, and experienced much that was sour. And I’ve seen many a bitter time.
You know, the older I get the less I am surprised by what people go through. I’ve seen too much to be surprised by much any more. It still happens from time to time – but understand this – Jesus is never shocked by what you have lived through in this life – because he has experienced it all.
Now we can come to God confidently – we know he understands what we have been through and what we are going through. There is nothing you can tell him that will shock or surprise him.
Lisa Goertz story
Lisa Goertz was a Jewish lady who lost most of her family in the Nazi holocaust, including her mother, husband, brother, son and daughter. At one point, when 16 members of her family had disappeared, she decided to end it all. In her book, I Stepped into Freedom, she tells what happened:
I walked out into the night, feeble with hunger, half crazy with fear and fatigue, and made my way down to the river Neisse. In a few hours all would be over, I told myself. What a relief! And there it happened. Across the dark river I saw the Cross and Jesus Christ on it. His face was not the face of a victor; it was the face of a fellow-sufferer, full of love and understanding and compassion. We gazed at each other, both of us Jews, and then the vision disappeared.
We are not here to worship a God that doesn’t understand. Our God is not only on a throne in celestial heaven – he is also on a cross, beaten with a whip and bloodied by the blows of a Roman soldier. He endured the mocking of an angry mob and the sarcastic digs of a thug hanging on the cross next to him. Jesus tasted not only life – he tasted of death so that we can have life through his sacrifice for us.
Paul says it this way in Hebrews 4:15
We Can Taste Eternity
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.
We Can Taste Eternity
16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Dorothy Sayers
"The God who gave us the dignity of freedom of choice now takes upon himself the consequences of our wrong choices.
For whatever reason God chose to make people as they are - limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death - he had the honesty and courage to take his own medicine. Whatever game he is playing with his creation, he has kept his own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from us that he has not exacted from himself. He has himself gone through the whole human experience, from the trivial irritations of family life and the cramping restrictions of hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain and humiliation, defeat, despair, and death. When he was man, he played the man. He was born in poverty and died in disgrace and thought it all worthwhile.
Standing somewhere in the shadows you’ll find Jesus;
He’s a friend who always cares and understands;
Standing somewhere in the shadows you will find him,
And you’ll know him by the nail prints in his hands.
So why does God allow salty, sour and bitter times as well as the sweet moments? Wouldn’t it be nice if life was all sweetness?
Maybe we need more. Could it be because it is in the salty, sour, and bitter moments that we come to see him.......that we find him........that we cry out to him.........that we depend upon him.
It has been my experience that it is during the salty, sour, and bitter times in my life that I look for God the most........that I pray the most......and it is also the time when I sense his presence the most. Though their have been times in my life when I have questioned the very existence of God, he has never once failed to come to me.
What about you. Will you now come to him? I’d like to ask all of you to stand and bow your heads in the quietness of this moment.
If you would – repeat with me these words:
I believe that Jesus is the son of God.
I believe that he was with God in the beginning,
And that he made all that has been made.
I believe that Jesus came to my world,
And tasted all of life and death.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins
And that he was resurrected to new life.
I have determined to repent from my former ways,
I commit to follow Jesus as the Lord of my life
For the rest of my life!
God bless all of you. You are God’s children and he has
