John 14:6
December 2, 2007
I am the Life
In 2006 a study was done on the lifespan of people. It was determined that the average person would be alive for around 65 years. That is 3,380 weeks, or 23,725 days, or 569,400 hours, or 34,164,000 minutes, or 2,049,840,000 seconds that the average person is alive. Of course I just wasted like 10 of those seconds…so sorry about that. When you look at that…do you ever wonder: why? I mean when you see that life is really only a few thousand weeks, or a few million hours do you ever wonder what’s the point? What is life? How are we to understand what the purpose of life is? Do we exist simply as a countdown of seconds, a perpetual ticking clock? What is this life?
Jesus says “I am the Way the Truth and the Life no one comes to the father except through me.” What is life? Jesus boldly says that He is life. What does He mean? What is life all about? What life is Jesus talking about?
This life is not always fun. While there certainly are good moments, sometimes this life can be hard, and full of pain. We have this void inside of us…this emptiness that we cannot understand to we need to fill. Sometimes we just feel so alone…so hurt…so burdened. Where do we turn in such times of pain? To things that satisfy. The most obvious of these things: alcohol. Drink enough alcohol and everything seems better. It is the lovely little vacation for your mind. I mean sure it impairs your judgment but that’s half the fun right? Alcohol makes life’s problems seem bearable…tolerable, or at least manageable. Alcohol makes you feel good…it helps you forget. Alcohol satisfies. At least…that’s what the world says. Of course there are some hurts too great for alcohol to heal…so there are drugs. These are the ultimate escape, the ultimate euphoria. Take drugs and your life will be care free. All your worries go away…and life is good. Right? That’s what the world says. The world says that it has all the answers. The world says that it can satisfy your every desire. Let’s not forget our lustful desires now. The world has an answer to that too. The world has pornography…and sex. Sure all those Christian do-gooders say wait until marriage…but sex feels good…enjoy it. Go on, you do not have to be married…you don’t even have to be serious. Sex is fun, you had a long hard week…go out, have some fun. That is what life is all about. Having fun, getting what you want, living it up. The world boasts that the happiest people are those who satisfy their desires.
But the world is full of all kinds of lies. For years I worked in restaurants. It was really the only job I had in High school and college. I cooked, worked on the line, and waited tables. It is an interesting life. You see some waiters wait tables to get through school, or on the side while other waiters wait tables all their lives. There is good money to be made in waiting tables. If you are good at your job you can make a great deal of money. The best part is: there is really no responsibility in it. You want to take time off, schedule a vacation and take time off. Want to take a light week, get people to cover your shifts. For the most part waiters can work when they want, and get off when the do not want to. Yet for what it is they make a good amount of money. So what you have is a job that is low on responsibility, that is not difficult, that does not require much of you, that at worst is stressful at times, that pays really well. Waiting is a pretty sweet gig if you have the personality for it. A lot of people love waiting. I noticed one thing about waiters though. At every restaurant I worked at all the waiters would for the most part seem happy on the surface. The go around wearing a smile all day long. Most waiters that I met would go out after work. They would go party, drink, and smoke either at a bar or at someone’s house. No body really parties like waiters do. They seem to have such a great life. Yet I started to notice a trend with the waiters I worked with…they all seemed to be empty inside. Once you cracked that surface they all seemed lost… alone… depressed. They started drinking and partying because it was fun…but now…they do it just to cover up the pain…just to get away from it all. All of these things that the world promises will satisfy…but they don’t. They drain instead.
Now Tommy if I could get you to come up here. Some of you may know Tommy. You may have seen him or even talked with him before…but I doubt many of you know his story. I have asked Tommy to come up here and share with you his testimony. So for the next few minutes if you would give him your attention, listen to what he has to say. Tommy:
TOMMY’S TESTIMONY
Thank you Tommy. I tell you what…stories like that amaze me. They blow me away. Tommy has gone through a lot in his past. He tried pretty much all of the things the world says satisfy. The thing that strikes me the most though…is that he is here. Tommy had tried drinking but he is here. Tommy tried drugs…but he is here. All of the things the world loves. All of those things the world says satisfy left Tommy feeling empty and void. It is in the house of God…in the presence of his fellow believers that Tommy comes to find his satisfaction. I am so grateful for Tommy and his willingness to share his testimony with us. You see…I am a church kid. I was born into the church and have lived in the church my whole life. If you cut me, I bleed church. There are good things to this…and some bad things. But stories like Tommy’s reaffirm my life. Whenever I might be tempted to try something…whenever I might wonder what it would be like to get drunk…or do drugs…I can think of Tommy’s testimony and know that of all the places he has been…he found no satisfaction. I can take strength in knowing that Tommy tried everything else…and in the end He came here to find what he needed. Do you see? The world offers so much…but it is all a lie. Drugs, sex, alcohol…all of these things the world says will fill that void in your life only end up deepening it. They satisfy at first sure…they satisfy just long enough to get you addicted…to get you needing them…until you fall so far that now you do drugs to hide the pain that you feel because you started doing drugs. You drink to wash away the hurt that you caused yourself by drinking. Don’t you see? This is the life. Right here…right in front of you. These people, your brothers and sisters…the fellowship, the worship, the service…this is the life. We have it right here…we have had it all along. The life is not out there…that is the lie…this place…this body of believers…we are the life. It is here that we find our satisfaction…here that we find our peace…here that we find meaning and joy and strength. The church…not the building, but the fellowship of believers…that is the life. You want the life…this is it.
This world has nothing to offer us. Their lies do not satisfy, their appetites do not please. We do not belong to this world…we are strangers…aliens here…what we need…the world does not have Christ does. He is the life. Every breath…every thought…every step that we take with Him will bring us greater satisfaction than the wealth and things of this world ever could. Jesus is the life. But this means more than that. Not only is Jesus the life here and now…He is a greater life as well. This is a statement with a dual fulfillment. Jesus is the life here on this earth…but He is talking about so much more than that.
Jesus says: I am the Life. But He is saying more than we think He is. Jesus is not saying that He is the way to this life…He is talking about so much more. The word He uses for life always means ‘future life’. It refers to a life that is given by God. The life that Jesus is…the life that He embodies is eternal life. Not some existence like a clock ticking down as our bodies slowly decay away to death…Jesus is eternal life. He is the life that is entered into through the narrow gate. Jesus is not saying that He is life here…but that He is the life to come…He is the future…eternal life. But that life is not limited to the future. It is not a life only for the age to come. For the one who believes the life that Jesus offers can be realized on this very day. We as Christians can share in the life that Jesus offers right here and right now. We have a better life. As if that was not enough…we get eternal life thrown in. A life that is far to great to ever imagine. A life without pain or suffering or hardship or loss. A life of infinite joy, happiness, and intimacy with God. With every breath we should hunger and eagerly await the life that is to come when we may enter into the glorious presence of our maker and dwell in His house forever.
Jesus is not only the creator of life, He is the sustainer through which all life exists. He made life and continues to enable life to exist. We have life…because we have Jesus…He is the source…He is the sustainer…He is the life. In Him and in Him alone do we find the way to eternal life. In Christ we find our hope. In Christ we find life. In Christ we have access to eternal life with the Father. No one else offers that. No other religion, no other man, no other ‘god’ truly gives what Jesus offers to all of those who believe in His name. Eternal life. Jesus is the only way to salvation. He is the only way to eternal life…the question is…will you follow Him?
The way to God is not a road…its not a ritual…it is a relationship. A relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the way to life. Will you develop that relationship with Him? Will you pay the cost? Will you follow Christ and get the life that He offers? Today I want to end with a challenge. I want you to take at 30 minutes out of your day…one day get away from everything else…from work, from fun, from school, from family…and spend 30 minutes in real conversation with God. Build that relationship that will take you down the road that leads to eternal life. That is my challenge…your assignment for this week: start building a relationship with your God and Savior. Get away from everything else. Get away from all distractions, people, and interruption, and take some personal time with your God.
