We have, at our house, a small miracle. I can only call it a miracle. Maybe we ought to build a small shrine to house this miracle.
The miracle is the incredible, indestructible fish. Our own private incredible, indestructible fish.
You see, from time to time somebody in our household will decide to keep a small tank of tropical fish. The urge to create a little indoor pond and to maintain life in it will overwhelm somebody, and we will try to sustain a tank of fish. But always the same thing happens. Without fail, the scenario is the same. Except for this time. This time we have an exception to the rule. Let me share the story.
Every time we do the same thing. The tank is duly cleaned up, some exotic-looking plants are bought, the tiny house with openings through which the fish can travel is carefully set in place, the water 1s prepared at just the right temperature, a box of fish food is purchased. And then, when everything is absolutely ready, perfectly correct, just the right environment ... at that moment three or four little finny friends are introduced to the fish tank.
Now typically, for a few days, all goes well. They are fed right on time, not too little and not too much. The water temperature is monitored, not too hot and not too cold. The air pump is kept going and the light is kept burning. We do everything by the book. We are going to keep these fish alive and swimming. I started to say alive and happy, but for the life of me I have no idea how to tell whether a fish is happy!
But always the same thing happens. Without fail, the scenario is the same. One morning you go downstairs to put in the pinch of fish food, and somebody is belly up. The next evening there’s another one. And another, and another. And before long the sound of flushing is heard in the land, until all of them are gone, finished, kaput.
But, as I say, this time something is different. This time, although nearly everything was the same, this time, there is the incredible, indestructible fish.
This time, three or four fish, once again, were duly installed in the tank. This time, once again, we did everything right. We fed them, we monitored the temperature, we cleaned on schedule and we lit on schedule and did it all. We did everything but hold their fins and pray with them.
But they began to die, one by one, until there was only one fish left. And so we said, "Let’s give it up. This, as usual, is going nowhere. We just cannot succeed in fish farming. Let’s give it up."
We unplugged the heater and the lamp. We put in food. We cleaned no more. We nothing. We just set the whole apparatus intending to throw everything away.
Well, that’s been several months ago, and I want you to know that that one fish is still alive. still swimming, still cruising, without any attention from us, without food, without clean water, without air, without anything. It is still swimming.
And it’s incredible. Because there is by now scum on top of the water and a kind of murky yuck throughout the tank ... but, like that battery bunny, this fish just keeps going and going and going.
The incredible, indestructible fish. It has become a symbol for me of something profound. It is a symbol of God’s world, in which nothing is ever lost. God’s world and God’s intention, that nothing should be lost.
Listen: "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away. … And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me."
Do you hear all those inclusive pronouns? "Everything ... anyone ... nothing." Our God has created a world in which everything belongs to Him, anyone may come to Him, and nothing, no one, need be lost.
This incredible, indestructible fish. It survives without much material satisfaction, it persists under the scum, it clings to life. It is a symbol of God’s economy, in which nothing need be lost.
I
You see, you and I are looking for satisfaction. We want to be happy, we want to feel satisfied. But we look for satisfaction in all the wrong ways.
We look for satisfaction in things, for example. We keep on thinking that the latest, the newest, the most expensive things will make us happy. That to have this piece of jewelry, that car, this clothing, that house … that things will make us happy. But it never works. It never works.
And do you know why the mere possession of things does not make us happy? The possession of things does not make us happy because things decay, things deteriorate, things get broken or lost or stolen or worn out. Things do not last. The world of things is a world of the temporary. And the human heart will not be satisfied without something that lasts, something that cannot be lost.
As we are fully launched into the Christmas shopping season by now, let me elaborate on this a little more.
I saw a cartoon this week. The cartoon showed one fellow in top hat and striped pants opening his bills, and it said, "When the government gets itself deeply into debt, it’s called a deficit.” Then the cartoon showed another fellow, just an ordinary guy, sitting at his desk opening his bills, and the caption said, "When the rest of us get ourselves deeply into debt, it’s called a Christmas economic upturn."
Oh, friends, let’s face the truth. What is driving us at this season? We shop ’til we drop because merchandisers persuade us we must. We shop ’til we drop because the pressure of expectations pushes us. We shop ’til we drop because we are trying to achieve satisfaction for ourselves and for those we love, and we are trying to do it with things.
But the Lord Jesus says that, "A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses." Things do not satisfy. Why? Because things are temporary. Things don’t last. Things get used up, things get worn out, things get lost.
To find satisfaction, you need something permanent. You need something which lasts. Then what will that be?
I give you one word: relationship. Relationship. All that finally matters in the end is an authentic relationship. All that counts in the last analysis is to love and to be loved. Relationship. Permanence. Not to be lost, not to be forgotten, not to be counted out. Relationship.
II
And so I want you to hear the good news. Hear the good news about a world in which nothing need be lost. Hear the good news, the best news, about a love which will not let us go, about a relationship which can persist not just for today or for tomorrow, but throughout eternity.
"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."
"Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away... And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me."
You know, the message this morning is really very simple, very straightforward. It is this:
The most valuable and lasting possession you can have is a relationship with the eternal God. The one thing which will last and last and last is your spiritual encounter with the living God. He has promised unequivocally that He will not lose you. All you have to do is to receive Him. "Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.
Now let’s look at this. This is important.
I’ve said that the most valuable and lasting possession you can have is a relationship with eternal living God. Let me describe what that and what that is not.
A relationship with God is not just having the right ideas about God. It is not just holding correct theological opinions. Some of us seem to think that if we learn a few Bible verses and memorize a few theological propositions, we’ve got it.
But no, a relationship is a whole lot more than right ideas and correct propositions. A relationship is a personal encounter, nourished by dialogue and fed by love. It’s not just information.
Someone has pointed out that a scientist is a person who can describe everything in terms of mathematical equations and chemical formulas. Therefore presumably a scientist could describe his wife by giving you her genetic code and a very complex equation that would describe her appearance. Would you then know the scientist’s wife? That would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it? Formulas and equations do not describe a personality, and, deeper than that, all the information in the world does not create a relationship.
A relationship with the eternal and living God is not just having the right information. It is a personal encounter, nourished by dialogue and fed by love.
Nor is a relationship with the eternal living God a matter of doing the right things and showing up at church on Sunday morning. A relationship with God is not just a matter of being a decent person, a law-abiding citizen, and a pillar of the church. All of those things are fine; all of them are important; but, I tell you, none of them are permanent and none of them will satisfy in the end.
Let me do some confessing at this point. Let me share a portion of my own spiritual struggle. I find that I am so task-oriented that I do not take the time just to be, just to relate to my Lord. I am so bent on getting done the myriad of things that need to be done that I am continually pushing aside by own spiritual growth. And so, sadly, I have shaped too much of my own spiritual life by what I do rather than by whose I am.
I look at my prayer life. Prayer? Maybe tonight after the last committee meeting is over. Bible reading? Next Friday when it is sermon preparation time. Personal reflection and counsel? Whenever I’m finished counseling other people, then maybe I’ll take time for my relationship to God. Over and over again I violate what a loving God wants to give me, because deep down somewhere I think that I’m going to be justified by being busy. And I am so deeply mistaken!
No. The mere accumulation of good things to do is like the accumulation of pretty possessions on your shelves. It may feel good at the moment. And it may be a record to which you can point with pride. But in the end that too will be forgotten, it will be lost, and it may even have become a barrier to authentic, satisfying, lasting spiritual relationship.
The most valuable and lasting possession we can have is a relationship with the eternal God. The one thing which will last and last and last is our spiritual encounter with the living God. An encounter nourished by dialogue and fed by love. Our Christ has promised unequivocally that He will not lose us. All we have to do is to receive Him.
It’s so simple, and yet so misunderstood.
It’s so available, and yet so ignored.
It’s so powerful, and yet so devalued
It’s so redemptive, and yet so little used.
"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." ... will give you.
"Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away... this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me."
In the early Christian church, the symbol for Christ was the sign of a fish. When a Christian needed to identify himself without calling down persecution, the secret symbol he could trace on the ground or mark on his doorpost was the sign of a fish.
There were two reasons why the image of a fish was used. First, it recalled the earliest disciples, many of whom were fishermen, and the Lord’s call, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." And second, the five letters which spell ichthus, the Greek word for fish, were an abbreviation for the basic Christian confession of faith, "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior". It was the sign of the fish which told you that here was a person with a relationship, a satisfying, permanent relationship, to the eternal and living God.
In my basement, our incredible, indestructible fish is a sign that under the dirt and neglect in my life; beyond my preoccupation with things and activity; beneath everything temporary, He is eternal. He is alive. And His is a world in which nothing need be lost.
"For God so loved the world ... so wanted a relationship with us ... that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life.. that the world might be saved through Him."
"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."
