UNSTOPPABLE: Worshiping God
My Lord and My God!
July 6, 2008
Do You Get It?
How many times has someone asked you the question, "If you could go back in time, would you do it?" And how many times have you answered that question with: "I would do it only if I could go back knowing what I know now."
Would you go back and do High School again? I would – but ONLY if I could go back with what I know today. The reason is simple – now I get it! Today I understand so much more than I did then. I have experienced enough of life that I could go back and I’d run the place. But back then when I was 16 or so I just didn’t get it.
We learn from experience. We learn from mistakes and from things that go well. It’s just the way things seem to work in life and in faith!!! This Sunday we’ll talk about the value of "Worshiping" at Meridian Christian Church and how faith transforms you from being a watcher into a worshiper who falls to their knees and cries out, "My Lord and my God!"
Meridian Christian Church VALUES
There is no place like this place anywhere near this place! MCC is a place of acceptance, of encouragement. There is no pretense or posing here. This is a place of honesty and integrity. This is a place where people matter – not their color, not their upbringing, not their economic stature, not their clothes style, not their political leanings, not their sexual orientation, or even their faith background. Every person ever born into this world is a child of the creator God – there are no exceptions – none. God loves them all just the way they are and he loves them too much to leave them that way… MCC is about the transformation based on five fundamental values.
For the next several weeks I would like to talk with you about each of these values and what they mean to us. I am not going to “preach” as much as I want to simply share with you my heart for the future of Meridian Christian Church as we move into a new future.
Helping People Find The Way Home
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:24-31
Did you even wonder why God demanded sacrifices in the Old Testament? It seems more than just a little barbaric doesn’t it!
I heard of a Youth Minister several years ago that did a summer camp program. On Monday he introduce the campers to a young lamb. For the entire week the campers got to play with the lamb, feed it and care for it. It wasn’t long until every kid loved that little lamb. On Friday morning he informed the kids that God had told them they were to kill the lamb as a sacrifice on Friday night. Believe you me… the entire camp was in an uproar. Kids called their parents. Parents called the camp, the church leaders, and some called the ASPCA. If PETA had been around they would have been called.
Well, that Friday evening the Youth Minister took the sheep up on the platform amongst the sobbing of these callous teenagers and announced that the lamb would be spared.
The fact is that God ordained the sacrifice of animals so that in we who actually participated in the killing of an animal would be reminded how serious the issue of sin is to God. It is sin that is the root cause of separation from God – and it is this separation that becomes death.
Recently, I had to climb up into the rafters of my attic to clean out a vent pipe from my bathroom. A bird had somehow wandered into this pipe and being trapped with no way out – he died in there. The result was a dirty, smelly job in a space that was roughly 1200 degrees. Let me tell you that when I lifted out that little baby bird – I felt badly for the helplessness of this tiny animal. God instituted the sacrifice of animals so you and I would understand the pain of sin to him.
And then – and this is the incomprehensible piece He sent his own son to die, as his sacrifice for our sin.
Do you get it? Jesus died for you and then he rose out of the tomb into a new and forever life so he could lead us home! Do you get it?
Let’s talk this morning about one who got – a little slowly maybe – but he got it!
Doubting Disciples
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
John 20:24-25
Thomas wasn’t any different than the others. Despite Mary’s “breaking news” of having seen the risen Christ, the disciples were still hiding behind locked doors… they were shaking in their boots “for fear of the Jews.” That evening we are told that the disciples were together, with the doors locked because they were afraid that the same fate which had befallen Jesus—the crucifixion—would befall them.
It wasn’t until “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you,’” and then showed them His hands and side that the disciples believed the resurrection had taken place, but they still did not seem to understand it’s significance. It didn’t change them all that much. They still hid behind locked doors.
They didn’t get it yet! How about you? Do you get it yet – or do you feel as if your faith hasn’t changed you all that much? Are you still hiding in fear behind locked doors?
I personally think that Thomas gets a bad “rap” from those of us who refer to him as “doubting Thomas.” The fact is, beginning with Mary who stood outside the empty tomb crying Easter morning telling the supposed “gardener” (who was really Jesus) that someone had stolen Christ’s body on down to every single one of the other disciples… …they had all been doubting …they had all been clueless, is the better way to put it. They just didn’t get it!
Jesus’ appearance to Thomas just happened to take place a week later… …other than that it was no different from His appearance to the others. We are told plainly in verse 20 that it was not until Christ showed the other disciples His hands and side that they “saw the Lord.” We are all doubting Thomas or clue-less Thomas, or doubting Mary or clue-less Mary, or doubting Peter or clue-less Peter until… the Risen Christ… through His amazing and completely unmerited grace enters into our lives and speaks our name: “Mary, Peter, Phillip, Ken, Barbara, Valorie… Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, I am sending you.”
That is when you get it! That’s when Thomas got it.
Look at verse 26 and look at what this new understanding brings.
Worship brings Peace
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
John 20:26-28
Has the Risen Christ yet appeared in your life and said this… bringing you peace? And even if Christ has appeared to you—bringing you peace—you probably still have times when you doubt… you might still have times when you have trouble believing.
You probably still have areas of your life where you need to cry out: “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!”
The Christian life is a journey. It’s not a destination. And that is one thing that makes it so exciting!!!
I was taught from an early age to believe in God. I was raised in church. I remember complaining about having to go so much! I missed all of the good Sunday night TV shows like Lassie, Bonanza, and Ed Sullivan.
They taught me to believe in Jesus and I never had reason to doubt that these good folks were not telling me the truth. I remember, very early on praying at bedtime. I never had a problem with going to church and singing the hymns. I believed. It was part of my life.
But, my faith wasn’t mine, shall we say, until the Risen Christ showed Himself to me. My faith was my parents faith… it wasn’t my own. I remember coming to that realization when I was a young boy and made my initial decision to follow Jesus at age 9. But it was when I was 16 that I really got it… That is when I fell to my knees and said, “My Lord and My God.”
This summer one of the goals we have set is to survey all of our HS grads over the last 4-5 years and to find out where they are in their faith-walk. We want to learn where their faith is and whether their parents faith has become their own and what we can do to help them really meet Jesus.
Only when you come face to face with Jesus does faith become a worshiping walk that brings peace.
But it had been a part of a much larger life journey.
And I don’t always feel like “I’m on top of the world” but over-all life gets better and better the longer I practice my faith—making an intentional choice to believe-- walking more and more out of the darkness of doubt and unbelief and into the sunshine of faith.
Much in the same way that we must learn from our own experiences—no matter what others tell us…
…We must experience Christ for ourselves…
…no matter what others have told us…
…before we will finally, to some extent, “get it” and our faith “comes to life!”
Some folks describe this as having their faith “become their own.”
Others describe it as their “born again” experience or “conversion” experience.
When this happened to John Wesley… …the founder of the Methodist Movement… …Wesley too had been a “believer” all his life. At 36 years old and living as an Anglican priest, on the morning of May 24th, 1738 Wesley found himself crying out: “Lord, help my unbelief!” And he wrote in his journal that morning that “he felt dull within and little motivated to pray for his own salvation.” But that evening a friend persuaded Mr. Wesley to attend a meeting on Aldersgate Street.
It was a Bible study of some sort. And at about 8:45 p.m. while someone in the meeting was reading Martin Luther’s preface to the Romans… …while this person was reading Luther’s words “describing the change which God works in the heart through faith,” John Wesley records in his journal, “I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”
In other words, the Risen Christ had appeared to Wesley and Wesley’s faith had finally become a living, breathing reality… …not just something written on a piece of paper… …not just what he had learned about in seminary.
And then Wesley spent the rest of his life cultivating that living organism called faith…through study, and through standing up for the poor, the uneducated, the marginalized, the widow, the orphans, the workers and being an “eyewitness news reporter” to the Resurrection of the Lord!
Has it happened to you? Have you come to truly believe in the Resurrected Lord… …only when we ourselves begin to be resurrected as well!!!
Worship brings Purpose
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29
In verse 28 we read, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Well, hey, wait a minute here.
How could it be that those who do not see and believe will be so blessed? Does God give an extra special approving nod to blind faith? Or is something more going on than meets the eye?
Could it be that seeing isn’t really believing?
Think about it, we can only actually see a fraction of that which is real anyway. We can’t see microbes nor can we see distant galaxies. But even though we can’t see these things we believe they exist. And what about folks who happen to be blind?
They can’t see anything! Could it be that real faith isn’t about seeing at all? Could it be that it is more profound… …the effect is more real… …the transformation is more pronounced… …when one does not see Christ’s physical body, but instead is brought to faith through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and conviction of the Holy Spirit touching them like tongues of fire… …bringing them to life…
…causing them to choose love over hate…
…salvation over sin and death…
…heaven over hell…
…good over evil…
…service over being served…
…humility over pride…
…peace over war…
…and light over darkness!
When we choose to believe in the gift of faith through our own free-will we find ourselves possessing a new confidence and conviction.
And, over time--time which is spent cultivating our faith—we suddenly find that we are no longer hiding behind locked doors trembling in our boots!
Worship is so much more than something we can isolate and relegate to an hour on Sunday morning. Worship is about so much more than something that is contemporary or traditional. Worship is about falling on your knees with the words, My Lord and My God on your lips… Worship changes who you are and how you think about life – and it does it with power!
Worship brings Power
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:24-31
Is there a greater power than the power of life? Who among us has not dreamed as a child of being able to touch a dead bird and bring it to life? Who has not thought about what it would be like to live and never die?
We have this power
…Believing is not seeing… …believing is experiencing the Resurrected Christ for oneself!!!
This is the power of God in us… Alive forever.
From Watching to Worshiping
23 “ ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
Mark 9:23-24
We see through believing or we remain in the darkness.
If this believing comes hard to you pray along with John Wesley: “Lord, help my unbelief.”
Continue to search the Scriptures, and to come to church.
Water the seed of faith you do have through living what you believe and wait to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and to receive power and to be given living faith and living mission!!!
Blessed are you who rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, sharing your gifts with everyone you encounter!! !
Blessed are you who, together with the apostles, are captured by God’s living Presence, imagining the infinite possibilities in being used to create a world that believes without seeing!!!
A world that loves unconditionally.
A world where Peace reigns.
A world where the hungry are fed.
A world where good news is preached to the poor and the captives are set free!!!
A world where Christ’s Resurrection has vanquished any need to fear death, hell, or the grave!!!
It is a glorious mystery, this faith of ours.
And it is more precious than silver and “of greater worth than gold”!!!
What a reason to rejoice!
What a reason to live!
What a reason to share the most precious thing in the world—our faith—with everyone we meet both through our actions and by our words!!!
