“Jesus 101: Do you Really Want God to Come?”
Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-14
Many liturgical prayers end with the phrase “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” One of our communion prayers ends the same way. Even the book of Revelation (22:20) ends with “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” And why shouldn’t we long for His coming? A new heaven, a new earth, no more sin, no more pain, no more death, no more tears, no more sorrow…it certainly sounds good to me. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
This desire, the prayer, is nothing new. The Old Testament ends with the prophecy of Malachi. (4:2-6): “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies… “Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers.” So for 400 years God’s people lived with the expectation of God coming and breaking in again.
I say ‘again’ because GOD HAS A HISTORY OF BREAKING IN. And every time He comes down and breaks in it’s a new beginning. THROUGHOUT THE OLD TESTAMENT WE SEE GOD BREAKING IN WITH NEW BEGINNINGS. The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning, God…” Then after the flood of judgment God began again with just Noah and his family. Then, after He judged the world for their attempt to build a tower in Babel that would reach the heavens, God provided another new beginning (Gen 12): “The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." God was saying to Abraham “There is a better world and better life out there. Go to it.” When God breaks in, things will not be the same. Life will be better. To travel with God is to go to a better place.
And so it continued. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and formed a people, Israel. He then came down and broke in again – through a series of plagues and disasters – to free them from slavery; He came down and opened up the Sea so they could escape the enemy; He provided them manna every day for 40 years; He led them with a cloud and a pillar of fire. Then, with Joshua as their leader, God moved His nation in to a Promised Land full of provision and blessing. It was a new beginning. In the centuries that followed He sent them prophets to teach them, judges to deliver them, and kings to rule them. With each prophet, judge, and king there was a new beginning.
It’s no wonder, then, that MARK BEGAN HIS GOSPEL WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW BEGINNING. “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” “Jesus” – the name comes from the common Hebrew name Joshua, which means ‘Jehovah salvation.’ But Mark makes it uncommon by adding “Christ” – ‘the anointed one.’ In other words, this Jesus is not common – He is the anointed one, chosen one, of God; He is the Messiah. Mark’s announcement was exciting, cause for anticipation and joy, because it communicated that something new and different had broken into his readers lives – God had come down and broken in through Jesus Christ.
And Jesus continually provided people with new beginnings. He drove out evil spirits, healed all who came to him, cured lepers, ended paralysis, gave sight to the blind, calmed stormy seas, raised the dead, and fed large crowds with a few loaves and fishes. He even claimed that He had come to give His life as a ransom for many. What an awesome God; what an awesome Savior! Whenever and wherever God comes down and breaks in there are new beginnings. Why shouldn’t we long for His coming? Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Really? Are we sure? Perhaps we should look at the rest of the story; let’s be sure the picture is complete. The truth is GOD’S BREAKING IN HAS CONSEQUENCES. I lift up two for us to consider this morning. First, God’s coming is sometimes DISTURBING AND UNCOMFORTABLE. God did provide a new beginning with Abraham. But Abraham had to pull up roots, leave his home and family, and go to a place he had never been. That’s uncomfortable. God did provide a new beginning through Noah. But Noah had to endure the ridicule of neighbors and countrymen as he labored to build the ark and had to live with the death of all his friends and neighbors; only his family survived. Certainly uncomfortable. God broke into Jeremiah’s life and called him to be a prophet. But his life was filled with rejection and opposition – he wound up writing a book we call Lamentations. That’s disturbing. God came down to Mary and told her she would give birth to His Son. But she was young – and a virgin. She faced the scorn and condemnation of her townspeople as all she could offer in her defense was “My baby came straight from God.” Mighty uncomfortable.
Think of God coming down and breaking in through Jesus. Shortly after Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah, was born innocent baby boys were slaughtered all throughout the land. That’s disturbing. Jesus healed a blind man (John 9) who was then condemned by the religious leaders who also condemned and rejected Jesus. Mighty disturbing! Jesus healed a demoniac who then wanted to follow Jesus; but Jesus told him he was to go back home and tell his family and friends what had happened. That’s uncomfortable. Jesus soundly criticized the religious leaders of His day; that’s uncomfortable. Jesus said that to follow Him we need to deny ourselves, take up a cross and follow Him, that we must lose our lives to find them. That’s uncomfortable and disturbing.
I clearly remember her. This wonderful mother and grandmother was battling a second round of cancer. X-rays had just shown another large tumor. As some Elders and I sat with her prior to praying and laying on hands, she said she was ready to die but that she really wanted to live long enough to see her son-in-law graduate from seminary. We laid on hands and prayed. Shortly thereafter she went to the doctor. He told her that the blood counts all indicated that the tumor was still present – but the new X-rays couldn’t find it. Her blood counts remained off but the tumor stayed away. She saw her son-in-law graduate. Exciting – but uncomfortable. I mean, just how do you explain that to a skeptical world and medical community?
Sometimes God’s coming makes life DIFFICULT AND CONFUSING. God broke into Job’s life – and allowed Satan to take away all his wealth and children, and to put Job in physical misery. Really difficult! Very confusing! God sent Jesus as the Messiah – but He wound up being crucified – the mighty conqueror conquered. Certainly confusing. Jesus called his disciples to follow Him – they had to leave everyone and everything to be with Him. That’s difficult. Jesus said that those who follow Him will be persecuted. That’s difficult and confusing. Saul was making it his life’s aim to persecute and, if necessary, kill Christians. Jesus broke into his life and Saul became Paul, the greatest missionary the world has ever known. But he endured beatings and floggings and imprisonment – and eventually execution. Talk about difficult and confusing!
During my teenage years I made my profession of faith – I stood before my church family and said Jesus was my Lord and Savior, and promised to follow Him. What a wonderful step to take! Yet it meant that my life would, often, be so very different from others around me, even friends. Sometimes it was difficult. During my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college God closed all the doors to what I liked most and did best – music. It was very confusing. When I graduated from seminary I had two opportunities – one here in Michigan, close to family and friends, and one in northwest Iowa where I had one friend and no family. You’d think it would be an easy choice – but God is often not for easy. What made sense to me didn’t make sense to God. God often doesn’t make sense to us. So Barb and I had to leave family and friends and go. It was difficult and confusing. So we settled in Iowa and fell in love with the people and the congregation. Then the Sr. Pastor with whom I worked was accused of some indiscretions. Consistory looked to me – the still wet behind the ears associate pastor – to help them through. We wrestled and did our best to move forward – only to have God tell us it was time to move after only two years there. We didn’t want to go. We were tired of farewells and moving; we were confused. WE moved to Holland Michigan – after we had been there for 6 months the Sr. pastor shared that he was seeking a call to go elsewhere, that it was time for him to move on. And within a few months he did. So less than a year after we arrived, I was being asked to do two jobs - his and mine. Confusing. Difficult. A few months later – barely 18 months after we arrived in Holland, God told us to move again. Not fair. Some years later our youngest son missed an entire year of elementary school because of constant headaches. No one – not even Chicago Children’s Hospital nor Mayo Clinic were certain of the cause. Here I was – giving my all serving as a pastor and my son was going through all this. Lord, why him? Why not me? Confusing. Difficult. That seems to be life with God.
So, do you really want God to come, to break in to your life? Do you really want to say “Even so, come, Lord Jesus?” I pray that you do, and that you will. But if you do, be prepared. Consider some LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT GOD’S BREAKING IN. The first lesson: when God breaks in IT’S TIME TO REPENT. It may well mean that God wants us to seek forgiveness for some aspect of your life. If you have unconfessed sin, deal with it! If you’re trapped in some sinful habit, deal with it. It’s time to repent. Yet repentance is more than that. It represents a reorientation of one’s whole life and personality, the adoption of a new ethical line of conduct, a forsaking of sin and turning to righteousness. When God breaks in He will show us changes we need to make, places we need to go. We need to turn around and head in another direction in those areas of our lives. When God breaks in, life will never again be the same. If you want Him to come, be prepared to change, to turn around.
Second, when God breaks in IT’S TIME TO GIVE UP CONTROL. In one of my previous congregations we decided to have a weekend focus on the role of healing and renewal with the church. So we brought in an RCA pastor experienced and gifted in healing ministry. Our Vice-President of Consistory was, to put it mildly, skeptical but agreed to support it. That Sunday we set aside a time for healing prayers during the service. At one point our guest pastor said, “I sense that someone here has a severe back issue and is in need of healing. Why not come forward now for prayer?” Unknown to our guest, our Vice-president was indeed suffering from back issues and was close to finally submitting to surgery. When he heard that invitation the Spirit of God stood him up and moved him to the front for prayer. He was healed. He never had the issue again. I wondered why my prayers or his own hadn’t done it, why the congregations’ had not been effective. After the wonderful, intense weekend ended, I began to realize that God is in control – not me or anyone else. When God breaks in we need to let go of control. In fact, we need to let go of control so God can break in. You know why I’d often rather drive then fly somewhere? Because when I’m driving I feel a sense of control. I make the decisions where to go, when to stop, how far to go. But when I fly it’s totally out of my hands and in the hands of the pilot. I have to give up control.
There’s a wonderful, revealing scene near the end of John’s Gospel (21:17-23 MSG). “Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me." Turning his head, Peter noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him, he asked Jesus, "Master, what's going to happen to him?" Jesus said, "If I want him to live until I come again, what's that to you? You—follow me." Give up control – just follow where God leads you.
Thirdly, when God breaks in IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE. We need to examine and perhaps REVERSE OUR VALUES. Mary (Lk. 1:51-53) sang that God scatters the proud, brings down rulers, lifts up the humble, fills the hungry and sends the rich away empty. John the Baptist preached that we are to “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (3:8) When asked what that meant he responded (3:11-14), “‘Whoever has two shirts must give one to the man who has none, and whoever has food must share it.’ Some tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what are we to do?’ ‘Don't collect more than is legal,’ he told them. Some soldiers also asked him, ‘What about us? What are we to do?’ He said to them, ‘Don't take money from anyone by force or accuse anyone falsely. Be content with your pay.’ Jesus said (Mt. 5:3-12) that those who are blessed are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful and pure in heart, who are peacemakers, and who are persecuted. When God breaks in, it’s time to evaluate and perhaps change our values.
When God breaks in we are also to REFORM OUR CHARACTER. Peter, in his 2nd letter, wrote that since we are waiting for Jesus to come again, for God to break in again, we are to live holy and godly lives, making every effort to be found spotless, blameless, and at peace with God. So what kind of character are you?
We also need to REORDER OUR PRIORITIES. Are we loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Are we loving our neighbor as we love ourselves? Every time God breaks in He asks for more from us. Jesus, in fact, said that we are to deny ourselves, to lose our lives, and that we are to die for Him. After all, it’s the way Jesus went. John 12:23-26 – “Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has now come for the Son of Man to receive great glory. I am telling you the truth: a grain of wheat remains no more than a single grain unless it is dropped into the ground and dies. If it does die, then it produces many grains. Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal. Whoever wants to serve me must follow me, so that my servant will be with me where I am. And my Father will honor anyone who serves me.’”
Do you really want God to come? “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Can you say, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus?”
(i) From A Theological Word Book of the Bible, edited by Alan Richardson, MacMillan Company, New York 1962, © 1950
