Every moment we live we have been affected or influenced by someone, some event or some thing.
There are many things that affect our lives,
that change the way we look at life,
and how we approach life.
Sometimes these changes are the result of new discoveries.
One discovery that has affected just about all of us occurred in 1946.
As Dr. Percy Spencer was testing a component of a military radar called the magnetron tube he reached into his pocket to grab a chocolate bar that he had stashed for those times he felt a little hungry.
When he grabbed it he was surprised to find that the chocolate had melted.
At first Dr. Spencer thought that the enemy had sabotaged his food, so that he could not continue with his experiments. (remember this is 1946 when people thoug the communists were attacking everyone).
However later he thought that just maybe,
the military radar that he was playing around with had cooked his chocolate.
So to test his theory he took a handful of popcorn and placed it in front of the magnetron tube.
And to his amazement popped kernels of corn began shooting across his lab in all directions.
Imagine that some white coated science dude watching popcorn fly around the room.
Then like every big boy he began trying other things.
He blew up a few eggs and he literally ended up with egg on his face.
A little later he designed the first primitive microwave….
A 340 kilo, 1.6 metre tall machine, ladies how would you like one of those?
This changed the way restaurants served food.
They were able to serve fresher and hotter food and significantly reduce their waste.
And by 1976 more microwaves were being sold than any other oven.
And now just about every household has a microwave.
This certainly has affected the way people live and cook.
And when we,
when people discover the power of the resurrection of Jesus,
this affects how we approach life, how we live.
Many of us have heard of Darren Beadman.
His is one of the celebrity jockeys, in one year the horses he rode earnt $9.6 million dollars.
In 1990 and 1996 he rode Melbourne Cup winners.
However God was stirring in his heart a message that there is something better.
In an interview with the 7.30 report he said
"I can’t deny the power of God.
I’ve seen the workings of God, the miracles.
I’ve seen the blessings -- the word of God explains it all."
And in 1997 he announced to the world that he had retired from racing to pursue a calling as a pastor.
For two years he studied at a bible college in Sydney.
Then in 2000, to some people’s surprise he returned to racing as a jockey.
But he was a different person, a different jockey.
No longer was his life only about racing horses.
In fact horse racing was merely a way to involve himself in ministry.
He sees his return to racing as God calling back to horse racing,
so others in racing can share in the wonderful life God offers.
And he continues ministry not as a pastor but as a jockey.
He is currently a member of St Martin’s Anglican Church in Kensington,
which is very close to Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.
He looks for opportunities to connect people to Jesus and the church.
He is regularly introducing his pastor and other parish leaders to others in the racing industry.
He is regularly encouraging people who work in the horse racing industry to participate in on course bible studies and seek pastoral help when they need it.
The resurrection of Jesus makes a difference to the life of Darren Beadman.
And it makes a difference to us, to you.
And why?
Because the resurrection of Jesus means we are not stuck in this world.
That life gets better than this.
That death can not hold us back.
That because Jesus defeated death, we too have victory over death.
This is something that the Sadducees did not get.
The Sadducees lived a life focussed only on the here and now.
For them life was about earning yourself a future.
They did not believe in the resurrection.
And so their reality was determined by what was happening in the world around them.
And so they viewed everything based on their experiences and knowledge of their world.
They could not see outside their world.
Their question regarding marriage,
was totally based on their earthly understanding of life.
And because they couldn’t see an answer to this question from a heavenly perspective
heaven did not seem to make sense to them, they wanted to dismiss the entire possibility of heaven.
Do you anyone like that,
pray for them that they may see God’s perspective?
Seeing another perspective is essential.
One of my best learning experiences occurred when I undertook work experience as a year 10 student.
It wasn’t because I had fantastic work experience place.
It was because I was taken from an environment I was so familiar with, a country town and placed in a city, amongst people who saw life differently.
This experience helped me to see that I had lived a sheltered life,
and most of my conclusions were based on what I had experienced and knew as a country boy
and yet the world was bigger and far more diverse than my little life in Horsham.
There was far more to life than what I had experienced.
And when I understood this some things started to make more sense.
Another learning experience occurred just after I moved to Melbourne
when I was reintroduced to the bible and the Christian faith, but in a slightly different way.
As a young person growing up I had two views of Christianity:
One what was that my involvement in Christianity meant I should receive something good now. In the ways I determined good!!
So i get frustrated with God when my football team didn’t win, or I didn’t get a car.
The other was that I saw Christianity as a necessary nuisance.
In other words I needed to attend church and other churchy things otherwise I would miss something.
In other words Christianity was like a chain around my leg that held me, and probably made me a little resentful of church and God.
Now I need to say some of the things I learnt during this time was very helpful and foundational for later on.
I am now happy that my parents forced me to participate in church activities
and at the same time continued to encourage me even when I was distant from the church.
What happened in Melbourne however changed my view entirely on Christianity.
As I reconnected to church life and the bible,
someone mentioned
Christianity is about the future
the future that influences and affects our present, today.
My life outlook changed from just being influenced by my experiences
to seeing how God influences and affects my life.
Rather than Christianity being a means to gain a better job, more money, a better house and enjoy life more.
It was more about how can I use my situation, job, house, opportunities, lifestyle and wealth to share the future good news God promises.
I looked forward to interacting with God in the scriptures, in worship and in discussion with other Christians to discover God’s ways and attitudes.
It also gave me the confidence to talk openly about Jesus in my workplace and social occasions amongst people who had rarely encountered the resurrection message.
Not in a religious way, but in a way that others related to.
Why?
Because I was not bound to just the rules of God,
but was focussed on the short and long term benefits God delivers.
Last week I asked a question for us to consider in relation to our congregation,
‘What does God want us to be doing here?’
Not what do I want?
But what does God want us to be doing here?
This is also a question we ask not just of a our congregation,
but also of our ourselves.
‘What does God want us to be doing in our lives?’
We can take this question two ways.
Either very legalistically, that is bound only to the rules that we see in the bible.
And nothing else.
So we could grab a bible and search frantically to find out what rules we have to obey.
Is this a way to have a relationship with anyone?
You know what happens when we do this.
We look at what the least we can do.
We look at what are the rules we need to abide by and then see what we can get away with.
However the rules of the bible are only one part of God.
We gain great benefit when we see how God interacts with all of humanity.
This is particularly evident when we read the stories of God interacting with humans.
Like the story of the Exodus when God saved so many Israelites,
or the story Jesus’ conversation with the adulterous woman, who he forgave,
or the story of Jesus freely giving a place in paradise to the thief on the cross.
It is here that we see his approach to life.
That we see how much he loves us and is so willing to saturate us with forgiveness.
Is so keen for us to take and share his forgiveness.
The question of what God wants us to be doing here then automatically ties us to being influenced by the resurrection and everything good.
Our life then is not just about today.
Our life then is not just about sin.
When we see other Christians as only sinners, we have dismissed an entire amount of scripture.
Remember God has been working in people’s lives in some cases many years...
So as David Stark in his book Christ-Based leadership mentions we need to see people as mixture of bad and good.
This is because of the resurrection.
Our life is also about a future.
A future shaped and set in place by God,
and underpinned by the resurrection of Jesus.
This week as you work, play, attend school, shop, interact with friends, family and your neighbours, I have one question I encourage you to keep asking, ask how is the resurrection of Jesus influencing and affecting my life today?
AMEN
