Not So Fast!!
Isaiah 30:15-18 Ps. 46:10 John 15:1-8
Here it is, the year 2015. Do you wonder where 2014 went so fast? Do you sometimes stop and ask where the last five years have gone…or 25 years? And do you ever get the feeling the world is moving faster than you are? Somewhere in our youth, we learn one of the mantras of modernity, and that is; “Time stands still for no man.” Somehow, I feel like I’m always behind and forever trying to catch up. I’m not sure with what or who, but do you ever feel that way? Perhaps we human beings forget an important theological truth, and that is that we are creatures of eternity. In fact, while the while the world is screaming at us to hurry up, the Bible is telling us that we can and should slow down, stop, and stay still every so often. Perhaps that’s why God wrote the Sabbath into the founding principles of humanity.
Driving across 64 between Franklin and Hayesville recently, we came across a sad, but familiar sight. There along the shores of Lake Chatuge, piled high on one another like the rusting carcasses in an automotive junk yard, were the skeletons of newly used Christmas trees. As I drove by, it seemed a rather sad end to such a brilliant symbol. I also noticed that many of the holiday decorations were already down, and several of the Nativity sets that had just a week earlier heralded the birth of Jesus, were already safely packed away—forgotten until next November.
We Americans are in such a hurry to get there—you know, to Christmas, and in such a hurry to move on. Stores begin playing Christmas music in late October, the day after Halloween, and play it until December 25th. Then, after Christmas day, Valentines stuff magically begins to pop up on the store shelves and you don’t hear another note of Christmas music until the next Halloween. Even Christians seem to be in a hurry to get to the manger…but we don’t stay very long. By New Years, our minds and our hearts have already raced on to something else.
I have a grandson who has Attention Deficit Disorder and it tires me out just watching him. He moves from one thing to the next, never staying with anything very long, like a hummingbird endlessly moving from flower to flower….and I wonder if he ever fully experiences things or people. I’ve noticed it makes learning difficult. It makes relationships difficult too. Maybe in some ways, since the Fall that is, the entire human race has A.D.D. We do seem to have difficulty staying focused on important things…like mangers and Christmas---which is weird. If a person has a son or a daughter, or grandchild or niece or nephew born in the hospital, they can’t stay away from the place! They want to hang out there and see the baby, and hear the baby—want to hold him and cuddle her and feel the soft skin and smell that new baby smell. Usually, the nurse has to come in and tell everyone it’s time to leave because everyone wants to hang out with the baby. But if you want to get to know the baby, and a chance to fall in love with the baby, you’ve got to spend time with the baby.
Lots of folks go to church, sit in a pew, kneel at the altar and have even visited the manger….but never took time to get to know the baby. It takes time to know a baby. It takes time to get to know Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me, you will bear fruit.” You can’t be fruitful in your life unless you REMAIN in me, He said. He seems to place a lot of emphasis on that word REMAIN because He uses it 8 times in 8 verses. Maybe He knows something of our A.D.D. nature. If asked to describe their lives, there are a lot of Christians who would never use words like, “Fruitful”, “Rich”, “Full”, “Meaningful”, or, the word Jesus uses is, “Abundant”. Would you describe your life using these words? Would you describe your Spiritual Life this way?....Because, if our spiritual life is not full, or meaningful, or rich, or fruitful, the rest of our lives will feel barren and empty and meaningless too. Jesus said, “You won’t flourish---won’t have much of a harvest in life unless you REMAIN in Him. REMAIN means stay---spend time---hang out, have a relationship with-- and if we don’t do that with Jesus, then our spiritual lives become like dead and dying branches. They may be present, but there is no life in them.
Of course, this isn’t anything new. The people in the Old Testament sometimes made the same mistake. The religious people we read about in Isaiah 30 wanted to be religious---wanted to be God’s special people—His family, but they never spent time with Him. They wouldn’t REMAIN in Him. They would visit once a week or so on the Sabbath, make an occasional offering, but never stopped long enough to get to know the One who loved them and protected them and provided for them. God told them in Isaiah 30, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength…but you would have none of it!” Isn’t that sad? I wonder if God sometimes says that about me? Or you? Everything the Hebrew people needed and that their hearts longed for escaped them because they were in too much of a hurry. They didn’t stop. They wouldn’t stay. They refused to remain and they couldn’t rest long enough to receive all that God wanted to give them. God loved them, but they never slowed down long enough to love God back.
Listen to me: The single most important thing that happens on this planet---in this life—is when a person falls head over heels in love with God.
My nephew Steve came to visit us a while back, he and his wife and son. Steve lives in Florida and works at a golf course…and he dives and skis, and he surfs. Steve plays a lot. We were talking about how old we all were getting and he said that he is now 39 years old and struggles in his marriage. I asked Steve where God fit into his life. Steve grew up going to church, but I don’t think Steve ever met Jesus. He told me that they’ve been to church a couple times in the past 8 years, and he liked it ok, but it wasn’t anything really special. I told him churches are ok. In fact, some of them are really terrific…some are really boring. But Jesus is never boring. I told Steve that if he took the time to meet Jesus, to get to know Him, He would fall head over heels in love with Him and that would make all the difference in the world in his life and his marriage and in eternity. But you’ve got to meet someone to really love them. And you’ve got to spend time---remain with them if you’re gonna fall in love with them. Even in those rare “Love at first sight” cases, you’ve got to spend time with that other person if they are gonna make any difference in your life.
That’s why every so often, I’ll mention the Emmaus Walk and encourage you to attend a weekend event. It’s not church, but it is a place where you can hang out with Jesus---spend 72 hours of uninterrupted, wonderful, heart warming and life-changing time with Him and a bunch of folks who love Him and follow Him.
I don’t know if God ever gets lonely, but I think He does. I believe God misses us when we don’t talk with Him or hang out with Him. You might think God could never be lonely. After all, there are millions of people praying to Him at any particular time. But you know what? God only created one of you, and He knows you, and He loves you. I have lots of people that I enjoy spending time with. But I find that no matter how much time I spend with other people, people I care about and love, if I don’t spend enough time with Katarina, I begin to miss her-miss talking with her and hanging out with her. There’s only one Katarina.
There are a lot of people who are lonely for God these days—good Christian people who ache with an emptiness they can’t quite identify. They long for something or someone greater than themselves—they long for God believe in God and so they go to church, but they never seem to meet God in a personal way. Listen, church is ok; actually, Church can be really wonderful, but even in church, you kind of have to be still, quiet, open and honest if you and Jesus are going to connect at the heart level. Believing in God is just the first step. I can believe in something or someone without ever meeting them or loving them. I can believe in something, like love, and never experience it. Believing is just the beginning. Falling in love with God is the result and reward of a relationship with God…and that takes time, and that takes you.
If there seems to be a lack of wonder and awe in your life---no magic and nothing miraculous in your spiritual life—if you don’t feel a passion and excitement in your religious life, then maybe it’s time you met the one who loves you and who gave up all of heaven and earth for you. But it won’t be done in a religious pit stop. Jesus said, abundant life comes when we REMAIN in Him.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want an average life---I don’t want an average spiritual life. I want an abundant, full, rich, exciting, meaningful life. And yet, the average Christian in America spends 1 hour each week in church. If we added another hour for table grace and evening prayers, that’s two hours out of 168 hours in a week. I don’t believe you can have much of a relationship with anyone if you don’t spend more time with them than that.
Today is the beginning of a new year. Wouldn’t it be a great way to start the year by getting to know God in a personal way---falling in love with Jesus. That’s the only thing that will make your life full, and rich, and abundant, and meaningful and exciting…and eternal.
The clear message of the Bible is that God loves you, and that Jesus would give anything for you…He gave His life for two reasons: so you would not have to die for your sins and in order for you & God to have a personal relationship through Him. Don’t rush past the manger. Don’t leave Christmas too quickly. Instead, why not take a few minutes this morning and meet Jesus. See for yourself the love He has for you. Experience for yourself, the compassion He has for you. Feel the tenderness of His hand, the healing of His touch, the forgiveness in His voice. That may sound kind of strange, meeting Jesus in person. But I’m telling you it can happen for you right here, right now. People meet Jesus every single day. And today could be your day. I hope so.
The Table here at the front of the sanctuary…it’s called the Lord’s Table. On it is bread that represents Jesus’ body. There is also a cup of dark red grape juice that represents the blood of Jesus that He shed for you and me on the cross. When He died on the cross, He died in our place, wiping away our every sin and making a new day, a new year, a new life and a new eternity possible.
