Introduction
Last weekend Pam and I, along with Moises Mendez, were in Chile. We went with leaders from a church Summit planted in Santa Rosa, CA, called Living Roots, Grace Church on the west side of town, Reno Christian Fellowship on the south side of town and Sparks Christian Fellowship…right here in Sparks. This was a vision trip.
Our goal was to encourage these churches to help us advance the cause of Christ in Chile by cooperating in mission projects. This trip is an outgrowth of some special personal relationships. For the past ten years I have met for lunch every month with Dan Frank from Grace, Brent Brooks from RCF and Scott Parker from SCF. We’ve become close friends and prayer partners.
Now, it looks like our friendship will be a catalyst for mission work in Chile. This represents a new level of cooperation for our churches! We’re also planning a mission trip next November and I think all of the churches will have people going with us. We’ll have more information about that after the first of the year.
I know some of you prayed for us while we were in Chile…and I want to say thanks! I also want to thank Jim McMorran and Summit’s Global Outreach Team for believing this was a worthwhile effort. One of the most exciting results is that we also hope that Grace, SCF and RCF will help us to lead a region wide serving day next year. So we hope the growing cooperation among our churches will not only be in Chile…but also right here in the Truckee Meadows. Isn’t that amazing!!!
Now, I’d like you to watch this creative rendition of the Christmas carol “Away in a Manger.”
“Away in a Manger” was first published in a Lutheran Sunday School curriculum in 1885. Now, there’s a lot of controversy about who wrote the lyrics. Some think the carol was written by Martin Luther, one of leaders of the Great Reformation. But after careful research now most scholars don’t think that was the case. So there’s a bit of a mystery regarding who actually wrote it. But there is no mystery at all that the carol touches hearts around the globe every holiday season.
Now, there’s a phrase that’s used in the song that I want to focus on today. It’s repeated in every stanza.
Away in manger no crib for his bed…
…the little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.
The stars in the sky look down where he lay…
…the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing the poor baby wakes…
…the little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.
So over and an over again we see this repeated phrase referring to the Lord Jesus. And today rather than focusing on Jesus as a newborn baby lying in a manger, I want to focus on what it means for Jesus to actually be the Lord Jesus. Did you know that 740 times in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as Lord? Do you know what this means? It means that Jesus is Lord! That’s one of the most repeated statements in the entire New Testament! Would you say that out loud with me? (Repeat)
We see this in the first announcement about Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:8-12. I’d like for you to turn there in your Bible or on your mobile device. This is a familiar passage about the birth of Jesus…and from the moment of his birth the angel wants us to know that Jesus is no ordinary child….even in the manger Jesus is the Lord Jesus!
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
The Jews had been waiting for centuries for the Messiah to come. And who is he? Well the angel tells us that he is nothing less than the Lord! So from the very beginning of his earthly life it’s made clear that Jesus is the Lord.
So, the question I want to deal with today is what does this mean for us? If Jesus is Lord what does that mean in everyday life? If we’re married, what does it mean for Jesus to be the Lord in our marriage? If we’re dating, what does it mean? If we’re finishing finals, what does it mean for Jesus to be Lord in our finals? If we’re buying Christmas presents, what does it mean for Jesus to be Lord?
Now, the Greek word that’s translated as Lord is kurios. It’s a rich word that’s full of meaning. Kurios means Supreme in Authority, Controller, Lord.
Now, I can imagine for some of us the idea of Jesus being “controller” is going to be a challenge. I say this because if Jesus is the Controller of our lives…then he’s got some stiff competition…because more than likely you want to be in control. Isn’t that right? Now, thankfully, I don’t have a problem with this. I don’t have to be in control…as long as everything goes my way and everybody does exactly what I say.
Okay…so I do struggle with this…just like you. One reason I hate to be in the passenger seat is because nobody drives right…except me. And don’t even think about grabbing the TV remote in my house.
And my guess is you want to be in control, too. Maybe you want to control your boss, or you want to control your kids, or you want to control your future, or you want to control the outcome of an election. So what does it mean for us to say that Jesus is Supreme in Authority; Jesus is Controller; Jesus is Lord? What does it mean for us to allow Jesus to be the Lord of our life?
Well, unfortunately I think many people answer this question in a half-hearted way. We say that Jesus is Lord with our lips….but we don’t behave as if he’s Lord in real life. I think that’s a fairly accurate description of many Christ followers.
Craig Groeschel is the pastor of the largest church in America today…over 100,000 people attend one of the branches of his church…which is called Life Church. Groeschel calls these half-hearted believers Christian atheists. I know it is strong language…but I hope it catches our attention. A Christian atheist is someone who says they believe in Jesus but they act as if he doesn’t exist.
Basically this is when people say…
• Jesus is Lord…but they still want to be in control.
• They say Jesus is Lord, but they still want to do everything they want to do.
• They say Jesus is Lord, but they still want to live life on their own terms.
• They say Jesus is Lord, but they want to control their money and they never let Jesus be the Lord of their finances.
• They say Jesus is Lord, but they don’t want him messing with how they express their sexuality.
• They say Jesus is Lord, but they only worship in church when it’s convenient or when they’re not tired…or when it’s not football season.
Basically what many people do is to claim that Jesus is Lord…but then they do this with God’s Word. (Rip up Bible) Now, some of you are about ready to leave the building because you’re afraid I’m going to be struck by lightning because I ripped up a Bible.
But let me remind you that what I just did was to rip up some paper and ink. But many people do something far more serious…they rip up God’s truth by the way they live…by ignoring the things in the Bible that they know God wants them to do.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is a passage of Scripture that refers to the blessings that come from a fully surrendered life. It’s a passage that many of us know. “Trust in the Lord with only part of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In only some of your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” Would you repeat that out loud with me? (Repeat)
Now, if you are new to church you might not realize that this is not what Proverbs 3:5&6 actually says. The version we just repeated is what we might call the partially surrendered version. It’s not what the Bible says….but it’s how we sometimes live. You see, Jesus wants us to surrender completely to him because he IS the Lord; he is Supreme in Authority, he is the Controller.
But many times we don’t live that way…so we only trust him with part of our heart and we only submit to his authority when it’s convenient or when it lines up with what we already want to do. And when we do that, in a sense, we’re tearing up God’s Word and tossing it out the window.
Now, listen closely to the correct version of Proverbs 3:5&6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.” Would you repeat that out loud with me? (Repeat)
Do you know what the word ALL means? It means ALL. When we trust in the Lord with ALL our heart…it means we trust in the Lord completely! Do you know what it means to submit to God in ALL our ways? It means we submit to God in every area of life…
• not just when it’s convenient…
• not just when it makes sense to us…
• and not just when we have the time.
When we do that…when we trust in the Lord with ALL our heart and when we submit to him in ALL our ways, we begin to live out a fully surrendered life…not a partially surrendered life…but a fully surrendered life. This is vital to understand because either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all.
I love the way the Apostle Paul describes this in Romans 14. “For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord.” (Romans 14:7-8) This passage describes a fully surrendered life. So let me ask you this: If you are alive, please raise your hand. (Pause) Okay….most of us are alive. Now, do you see what Paul is saying? He’s saying if we are alive…then we live for the Lord. This means if we are alive and if we claim to be a Christ follower then…
• Jesus is Supreme in Authority
• Jesus is our Controller
• Jesus is our Lord.
And if we die Jesus is still Supreme in Authority, he’s still our Controller and he’s still our Lord. “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord.” This is because we belong to Jesus…every part of us…and that’s what it means to be completely surrendered to his Lordship.
This is similar to how I look at my marriage with Pam. Now, I know that some guys take off their wedding ring when they go to the gym….but I never take mine off. I want everybody to know that I belong to Pam. Now, my wedding ring is not fancy and neither is Pam’s. I bought Pam’s ring when we got engaged some 40 years ago….and I think it cost about $150. That’s all the money I had, so that’s all I spent. I think the ring that Pam got for me cost about the same.
But the price is not the issue, is it? It’s what the ring represents. And when Pam slipped my wedding ring on, I made a vow that I would give my life to her. I was no longer free to do whatever I wanted. From that moment I belonged to Pam. From that moment God’s call on my life has been to love Pam in the same way that Christ loved the church…which means sacrificing for her, giving up my rights for her, serving her and putting her first.
And this is also what it means to live with Jesus as the Lord of our lives. It means we sacrifice for him, we give up our rights for him and we put him first. Now, this makes complete sense when we see that Jesus is not merely “the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay…” He may have been that on Christmas morning…but now Jesus is the soon returning King of kings and Lord of lords.
The Bible says that Jesus is now sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. Sitting at the right hand is a symbol of power and authority. This means that Jesus is now ruling and reigning with supreme authority. That’s why it makes sense for us to submit ourselves completely to him!
But here’s a sobering reality. Some of those who think they are Christians are living under a false sense of security because they have never fully surrendered their lives to Jesus. Jesus warns us about this in Matthew 7:21-23. Keep in mind these are Jesus’ words….not mine. And he makes this warning because either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all. And this is what he says…
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
That’s sobering, isn’t it? Not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is one. Not everyone who comes to church will be in heaven. Not everyone who posts Bible verses on Face Book is saved. Not everyone who does “Christian things” like speaking out in Jesus’ name or driving out demons or performing miracles is actually saved. Just because you got wet or repeated a prayer or checked a box does not mean you will necessarily be in heaven. This is exactly what Jesus is saying in Matthew 7.
So, how can we make sure that we’re in?
• How can we know that we’re truly part of the family of God?
• What is the evidence that we’re not just playing religious games?
• What are signs that prove in concrete ways that our faith is genuine?
Well, Jesus spells this out in this passage. “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven…but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” So the only way to know for certain that our faith is genuine is to actually do what God asks us to do. “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Basically, this means that either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all. So, with that in mind, I want you to think about two questions…
1. Is there a consistent pattern of obedience in your life? Now, this does not mean perfection….you know that! But it does mean that generally speaking you’re not blowing God off. It means that whenever God’s Word instructs you to do something, for the most part, you respond. It means that generally speaking you try to follow Jesus because you recognize that he’s not just a good luck charm—he’s the Lord. He’s Supreme in Authority. He’s Controller.
2. Is there any evidence of character change in your life? In Matthew 7:17 Jesus says that a good tree will be known by its good fruit. This means if a person is a genuine Christ follower we will see it by the fruit in their lives. So, you need to ask yourself: is there any evidence of character change in your life?
If you used to gossip…do you gossip less today? If you used to tear people down…do you tear people down less today? If you used to worry…do you worry less today? If you used to be selfish…are you less selfish today? If you used to be negative and critical…are you less negative and critical today?
I love how the Apostle Paul describes a mature Christ follower in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These qualities perfectly describe Jesus and they also describe the kind of people God wants us to become.
So, you need to ask yourself. Are these the qualities that you see developing in your life? Are these qualities that other people would use to describe you? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self- control. The fruit of the Spirit is one of the best ways to know for certain that you not merely playing games with faith. And this is important because either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all.
Conclusion
(Underscoring begins) Now, for Jesus to be Lord of all begins first and foremost with relationship. Jesus was once asked this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Do you know how he answered? He said the most important commandment, the most important thing God wants for us is relationship. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)
Now, love is a relational word. I love Pam. It describes my relationship with her. I love my kids and grandkids. Love describes my relationship with them. And I love Jesus. It describes my relationship with him. This is because love is a relational word.
Thus, when Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, soul and mind…he’s describing the kind of love relationship that God wants us to experience with him. And it’s a full-throttle relationship. There’s nothing half-hearted about it. Of all the things God hopes to see in us…the most important is that we would love him above all else…which means that we love him with all our heart, soul and mind.
God wants this because when we love him in this wholehearted way it leads us to experience a fully surrendered life. And a fully surrendered life is what God has wanted from us from the beginning. Do you know why? Because he’s the Lord; he’s Supreme in Authority; he’s Controller….not us.
So, how will you respond to this? What are you going to do with this? My hope and prayer is that you would submit your life completely to Jesus, if you haven’t already. Because either Jesus is Lord of all or he’s not Lord at all!
So, I’d like to offer two invitations today. The first will be for those who may have never made a decision to receive Christ. This is the first step in our relationship with him. It’s not the last step by a long shot….but it is the first step. By receiving Jesus into your life, you are recognizing that he is the Lord and that he died to pay the penalty for your sins. By receiving him into your life, you are accepting his grace and forgiveness and you are also submitting to him as Lord, Supreme in Authority and Controller.
If you would like to do that today, I’m going to ask you to do something that will take a great deal of courage. I’m going to ask you to stand up right where you are so that we can recognize you and then I will lead you in a prayer. I know this won’t be easy but when Jesus died for you on the cross it wasn’t easy for him either. He did that for you, the least you can do for him is to stand up so we can pray for you. (Stand/pray)
Now, I want to offer another type of invitation. This is an invitation of surrender. Some of us may have been shaken up by this message. Some of us may have realized that we’ve been playing Christian games but we haven’t ever fully surrendered ourselves to the Jesus as Lord, Supreme in Authority, Controller.
Now, if you want to make that decision today…a decision to fully surrender to Jesus as Lord, Supreme in Authority, Controller of your life, I want you to do what I just asked the others to do. I want you to stand up so we can pray for you. And just like I mentioned a few moments ago, I know this may not be easy. But it wasn’t easy for Jesus to hang on the cross for you. But if he did that for you, the least you can do as you fully surrender to him is to stand up so we can pray for you.
