Title: The Growth Choice
Text: “Continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” II Peter 3:18
Thesis: We have not arrived yet! Spiritual growth is a continuous process from start to finish. Our spiritual growth will be determined by the choices we make along the way.
Series: Life’s Healing Choices (Saddleback Resources)
Introduction
I have never run a marathon and it is unlikely that I ever will. Marathon runners initially never run more than twenty miles in their training so the last six miles is something of a no-man’s-land. I would guess that dehydration, cramps, blisters and the like have taken their toll when a runner hits-the-wall between miles sixteen and eighteen and then a couple of miles later, they enter no-man’s-land at mile twenty. It’s a place the runner has never been before and all the marathoner can do is push on toward the finish line. It does not matter that they are passing first-aid stations where they see other runners lying on cots receiving IV drips to replenish their fluids. It does not matter that other runners are doubled up and nauseous. They keep on running and running and in the case of the 2005 Chicago Lakeshore Marathon, they ran an extra mile they did not anticipate running. It seems the organizers miscalculated the distance and laid out a 27.2 mile course rather than the typical 26.2 mile marathon.
Though an imperfect analogy, the Christian life is not a dash. It is a marathon. Sometimes we hit-the-wall, so to speak or find ourselves going into one of those no-man’s lands in life or running further and longer than we bargained to run. And just as people drop out of a marathon for various reasons, sometimes people drop out of “race that is set before us” as followers of Christ.
The writer to the Hebrews, wrote of the Christian life as a marathon, urging us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
Our text today, does not use a race model but opts for a growth model to encourage us in the Christian life. Paul urges us to “continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Inferred in the term “growth” is the idea of continuance. We are urged to keep growing over the years. The idea is to keep on keeping on.
You do not have to keep on keeping on. You do not have to grow in your faith. Keeping on keeping on is a choice. Continuing to grow as a Christian is a choice… it is the Growth Choice. And when we make that choice we set about being intentional about the next leg of the race we are running and being more Christ-like this time next year than we are today.
So what is entailed in deciding to grow in Christ over the years in order to finish our Christian lives well? How do we continue to grow in Christ?
I. Be plugged into Christ
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing….” John 15:4-8
The first and most important thing we do is stay plugged into Christ. The analogy Jesus used in John 15 was that of a branch remaining attached to the vine.
Jesus always used illustrations or word pictures or images that his listeners could capture in their minds-eye. Vineyards were as vivid in lives of the people of Israel as vineyards are vivid in the lives of people living in Napa Valley, CA. They understood that vineyards are very labor intensive operations. They of necessity must be pruned mercilessly. Some branches are fruit-bearing and some are not. So the non-fruit-bearing branches are lopped off so as to not waste the water and nutrients from the soil on branches that produce nothing.
Jesus said that he is the vine and his followers are the branches and it is his hope that his followers will be fruit-bearing branches. What distinguishes the fruit-bearing from the non fruit-bearing people is that profession and practice are consistent. Words and deeds are consistent. Hearing the Word of God and doing the Word of God are consistent.
While vines and branches may be a little obscure for some of us, we do get the image of an electrical appliance and an electrical outlet.
Our son-in-law lobbied for and received a very special gift this past Christmas… a Montel Williams Living Well HealthMaster. It is more than just a blender. It emulsifies fruits and vegetables. It makes smoothies and ice cream. It makes robust soups and sauces. The Living Well HealthMaster replaces twenty kitchen appliances and does thirty-one jobs. It is the one appliance you cannot live without. The motor is large enough to be an outboard motor on a boat. It is a two horsepower powerhouse that spins the stainless steel blades at the amazing rate of 3,000 rpms and is so powerful it can reduce chunks of concrete to powder and still be as good as new.
I was so excited when I saw his HealthMaster emulsifier in action that I immediately suggested to Bonnie that it was the one kitchen appliance we could not be without… but I was wrong.
However it does not matter how large the motor is or how sharp and durable the blades of the Living Well HealthMaster may be. If it is not plugged in, it is just another gadget taking up space on the counter-top. It has to be plugged into a power-source or it is powerless.
That is what Jesus says about us. “Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.” We must have an ongoing, living, relationship or connection with Jesus. A detached and distant relationship with Christ will not result in spiritual growth.
The first question is, are you connected and living in a vital relationship with Christ. Are you walking with Christ? Are you living in the Spirit, so to speak? Are you intentional about being a follower of Jesus Christ?
The second way we can continue to grow in Christ is to eat the Word of God.
II. Eat the Word of God
In the Old Testament account of the Israelites and their wilderness wanderings, God wanted them to know that living in obedience to his Word was of utmost importance for their well-being. He said, “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and enter and possess the Promised Land.” He went on to say, “…man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:1-3
During his temptation, Jesus, upon being tempted to turn stones into bread to satisfy his physical hunger said to Satan, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4
Jay Leno often conducts “man-on-the-street” interviews. One night he collared some college-age young adults to ask them questions about the Bible. He asked two young women, “Can you name one of the Ten Commandments?” One replied, “Freedom of speech?” He asked the other to complete this sentence: “Let he who is without sin…” The young woman responded, “have a good time?” (Christina Hoff Summers, from the files of Leadership)
In contrast to their striking ignorance of the Bible, there is a story told of the Prince of Grenada, who was at the time an heir to the Spanish throne... He was thrown into solitary confinement at the famous Madrid prison known as “The Place of the Skull.” He was given one book to read – the Bible. He read the Bible from cover to cover hundreds of times over his thirty-three years of confinement. After his death, when they cleaned out his cell they found that he had scratched notes into the soft stone of the prison walls. Among them:
• Psalm 118:8 is the middle verse in the Bible
• Ezra 7:21 has every letter in the alphabet except the letter J
• The ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest verse in the Bible (Leonard Sweet, Your Church in Today’s Fluid Culture, Group Publishing 1999, P. 59)
These contrasts speak of both a tragic ignorance of Bible trivia as well as an intriguing knowledge of Biblical trivia. However, knowledge of the Bible is not the spiritual objective of the Christian.
Sustenance and spiritual nutrition is the objective.
Well-known Christian author, Eugene Peterson is convinced that the way we read the Bible is as important as reading it. “Do we read the Bible for information about God and salvation, for principles and truths that we can use to live better? Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience?” (Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book, Eerdmans, 2006, i/s cover)
Occasionally we hear that an infant or a child is not gaining weight and growing in accordance with established markers. It may also be an issue in geriatric care as well when an individual begins to lose weight and shows signs of diminished alertness. Poor nutrition can have negative effects of physical and mental wellness. When a person fails to thrive we take quick action to find out what is the underlying factor and then we take steps to correct the problem so the person is receiving the necessary nutrition to thrive physically and mentally. The concept is readily transferred to the necessity of receiving necessary spiritual nutrition in order for the spirit to thrive.
Our bodies need physical food and our spirits need spiritual food. The Bible is the food of which Jesus speaks when he says, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.”
God says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” II Timothy 3:16-17
If we hope to grow spiritually we must make the Growth Choice and begin to “eat the Word of God.”
How many among us here today eat one meal a week? Of course it is a silly question… but to make a point, if it is necessary for us to eat regularly throughout the week in order to receive the nutrients necessary for good physical and mental health, why would we not understand that we need to read and reflect on and digest and do the Word of God regularly throughout the week for our spiritual health?
James instructs us, “The person who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom [the Word of God], and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it, he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25
Every day: Read it! Digest it! Do it!
Conclusion:
For several years now the Covenant Church has had a program funded by the Lily Foundation grant called Sustaining Pastoral Excellence. There are three aspects of a pastor’s life they hope to reinforce:
• Character
• Competency
• Constancy
Constancy is what our text is about today… it is about continuing to grow in the Christ. It is about continuing to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ from the onset to the finish. Constancy is being faithful everyday…
I read an interesting poem this week in which the poet has returned home after a trip to Ireland and finds everything just as he left it.
Home Again by Billy Collins
The black porcelain lamp / painted with boughs of cherry blossoms
Still stands on its end table, / unlit, the little chain untouched,
Just what way I left it.
Just the way it remained while I was off / leaning into the prow of a boat,
Doused with spray, heading for a limestone island / or sitting at the base of a Celtic cross
Eating a green apple.
While I balanced a pan of hot water on a stone wall / and shaved outside a cottage
Overlooking the Irish Sea / this stack of books, this chair, and paper weight
Were utterly still, as they are now.
And you, red box of matches on the floor, / you waited here too, faithful as Penelope,
While I saw the tiny fields / disappear under the wing of my plane,
Or swam up and down the flowing Corrib River.
As I lay in a meadow near Ballyvaughn, ankles crossed, arms behind my head,
Watching clouds as they rolled in - / billowing, massive, Atlantic-fresh –
You all held your places in these rooms, / stuck to your knitting,
Waited for me to stand here again, / bags at my feet, house key still in hand
Admiring your constancy, / your silent fealty, your steadfast repose.
The poem ends with the poet admiring those things that remained behind while he went away on a trip for their constancy… and for their silent fealty. Fealty means fidelity. Fidelity means intense faithfulness.
I understand that the poet anthropomorphized when spoke of inanimate objects remaining faithfully in their places in his absence but that same kind of fealty or fidelity or intense faithfulness is what is required of those who would continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
It is the choice the follower of Christ makes when he or she chooses to:
• Continue to be Plugged into Christ and
• Continue to Eat, Digest and Do God’s Word Daily!
Living in Christ and obeying God’s Word are the nutritional requirements for a thriving, growing spirit.
