What does walking with God mean for you?
Tim and Patricia had been married for 17 years.
They were faithful members of the church.
They went to church regularly, helped out where they could
and were committed in helping their children learn about God.
For most of the years they felt they walked with God.
Sometimes they sensed God was very close,
other times they felt God was a little distant from God.
But generally they walked closely with God.
Despite some difficult times both Tim and Patricia felt God blessed their life.
Tim and Patricia had a good life.
There had been times of struggles.
But during these times they hung onto the promise from God that he was always with them.
They knew the good things in their life were blessings from God.
They tried following what God as much as possible.
Everything looked good.
That was until the day,
their 15 year old daughter Felicity had come home late one night,
not just a few moments but around 6 hours late.
As she walked into the house
Tim asked her, “What had happened? Why were you late?”
And before he could say any more Felicity snapped back,
“None of your business.”
To which Tim raised his voice, “It is so my business. I am your father.
You need to respect me. And whilst you live under this roof you need to live by our rules. It is not right for a girl to be walking the streets late at night”
And before long a shouting match erupted
until Felicity stormed to her room and slammed the door.
When Tim went to talk to Patricia about had happened he was somewhat surprised and disappointed at her response.
To Tim’s surprise he didn’t expect Patricia to say what she did.
Patricia was quite upset with Tim.
And said to Tim, “You always jump to conclusions,
and even though Felicity had done the wrong thing, the way you handled it was not right either, remember two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“But what about the fourth commandment, You should honour your father and your mother.” Tim hollered
Yes but you are just like my father you always forget about the other part of that commandment.”
Grumpy gruff Tim replied, “What other part?”
To which Patricia snapped back, “the part in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 4 which says Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.“
By this stage Tim was not only angry but also frustrated and he said, “That’s what I am trying to do…I am trying to bring our children up knowing the Lord and what He wants. So they walk with Him throughout their life.”
“But Tim”, Patricia replied, “your intentions are right, but you are not listening fully to God.”
“What do you mean?” Tim snapped back
“Put it this way if I made your coffee without two sugars, would you say I had made you your coffee.”
“No, I would have said you made a coffee for yourself because that it is how you like it, but for me a coffee is milk and two sugars.” Tim replied.
“Well when it comes to God’s word don’t you think you interpret them how you like them. You often choose to skip over some important things. For instance when I mentioned the reading from Ephesians you were very quick to pick up that your job was to train and instruct children in the right way, as if the only important thing is that they learn what God wants them to do. But you seem to take little notice of the fact that God was saying it is also important that we do not to exasperate or stir up our children. So whilst Felicity did wrong, surely God is also highlighting that you also did wrong. That not only was Felicity straying in her walk with God, but you also were straying walking with God.“
Friends in Christ, does that story sound familiar in any way.
Have there been times in your life,
when someone has sinned against you and you then have responded in ways that are also not pleasing to God?
Walking with God involves not only doing the right things to avoid sin.
But when someone sins against us,
as Christians walking with God involves dealing with sin in the way Jesus calls us to deal with sin.
And Jesus not only informs us what to do, but also show us what to do.
I invite you to hear Jesus’ main focus for coming to earth.
From John 3:16-17
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus was prepared to forgo his life so the sinner could have life.
One of the things that I find striking in scripture is this;
That frequently when God is dealing with sin.
His emphasis is not to highlight sin so that He can get rid of people.
Instead it is to mention sin so that relationships can be restored.
So that the relationship between the sinner and Him can be restored.
And the relationship between you and others.
And the only way this is possible is through forgiveness.
Is through the forgiveness God creates through Jesus death and resurrection.
That is the number one purpose of the Christian Life.
Relying on God’s forgiveness and sharing God’s forgiveness.
If you have a bible I invited you to look at 2nd Corinthians 5:18-19 and you will also find this as a bulletin insert.
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
Walking with God involves us receiving God’s forgiveness.
And sharing God’s forgiveness.
So I have three questions for you?
First
What areas in your life are you most aware that God has forgiven you?
This is good to hold onto.
Continually thank God for it.
Secondly
Is there anything you need forgiveness for?
Have you sinned against God in any way?
Have you sinned against someone else in any way?
And importantly Have you allowed God and the other person to deal with that sin in a Godly way?
And this involves forgiveness so that the relationship can be made new again.
So have you allowed God to speak the following words to you, about that sin, Your sins are forgiven!!
Have you accepted that God forgives you.
And if there are other people involved have you given the other person the opportunity to say they forgive you?
As God says to us in Jeremiah 33:8
8 I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.
Have you allowed God to do that?
Have you allowed another person to do that?
In 2 Corinthians 5:20 we hear
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Walking with God involves having a major priority in our lives accepting God’s forgiveness.
Thirdly
Is there someone you need to forgive or reconcile with?
Maybe at church there is someone who bugs you, gets under your skin or who has even hurt you.
Maybe there is an issue between you and someone in your family.
Maybe at work someone has hurt you, you don’t trust.
Is there anyone in your life that you have problems with?
Listen to what God says to us if we have problems with someone.
From Matthew 5:23-24
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
In other words God is saying to me and you if you have a problem with anyone.
Before you come praising me, be active in reconciling with other people.
Take steps to deal with that issue.
So who do you need to reconcile with?
Who have you not forgiven?
Who do you hold a grudge against?
When we fail to address the issues between us and others we are not living the joyful abundant life God has meant for us.
Instead we are allowing sin to influence our lives and relationships rather than God.
And when this occurs God calls us to be people dealing with sin.
Being active in dealing with our hurts and grudges.
For some this can be difficult.
Quite frequently people say forgiveness doesn’t work.
Well what does our reading say to us today.
From 2 Corinthians 5:16 to 17 says
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Often when we say forgiveness doesn’t work.
It is because when we are involved in Godly forgiveness we are worried about not getting what we want.
But aren’t we involved in something far greater than ourselves,
Isn’t forgiving people being involved in what God wants?
Also there are times when forgiveness does work not just to secure our heavenly relationship but also to help us in our life now.
And when it does work it can be a marvelous thing.
At the start of the 2007 the Geelong Football Club were being canned by the media.
They had under performed.
Their coach Mark Thompson was under pressure there was a move to replace him if he didn’t perform.
Amongst this pressure Steve Johnson, a player with talent was in trouble
And not for the first time, but probably the fifth time.
But unlike other clubs,
Geelong had decided that punishing players was not the solution.
They realised it didn’t help the player and it didn’t help the club.
So whilst the media and many other experts were calling for his sacking.
The club put a plan in place with Steve Johnson to rectify the situation.
He had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
He agreed that he failed to meet team rules.
He agreed not to drink alcohol for the season as this was one of the issues he had as a person.
And he agreed to work at rebuilding trust between himself and the club.
The club also offered to help him in many areas of his life.
And for those of you who follow Geelong Football Club in 2007 something amazing happened.
By round 5 they had won only 2 out of 5 games,
by the end of the season they had won 18 out of 22 games.
Then they went onto win the Grand Final.
And the best player on that day was Steve Johnson.
Something that was only possible for him and the Geelong Football Club,
because both were willing to deal with His problems in a constructive way.
A way that enabled their relationship to develop and grow in a healthy and constructive way.
Likewise for each of us,
When forgiveness and reconciliation is the number one thing in our lives,
we are living as God wants us to live.
We are walking with God and reflecting who He is and what is important to Him.
So live knowing Jesus died for all your sins and live sharing His forgiveness with others
AMEN
