COULDN'T WAIT: The shepherds were eager to go see what God was doing.
- Luke 2:15-16.
- Consider for a moment the eagerness, curiosity, and enthusiasm of the shepherds. They’re genuinely excited to go look into what God is doing.
- They were deeply affected by the good news.
- I want to talk for a while this morning about our enthusiasm for the good news – or our lack thereof.
WHICH IS THE GOSPEL LIKE: Is what God is doing in the world more like broccoli or chocolate-chip cheesecake?
- Matthew 13:44-46.
- Over here we have some broccoli. Nutritious, blah broccoli. (I know some of you like broccoli, but that doesn’t make any sense to me!) Yes, it is a good idea to eat it, but we are certainly not excited to have to do so. If we eat it at all, it would just be out of duty.
- Over here we have my favorite dessert that my wife makes me: chocolate-chip cheesecake. (Again, I know some of you don’t like cheesecake, but that doesn’t make any sense to me!) You don’t have ask me twice to enjoy a piece. When I hear that there is some in the fridge, I can’t wait to get to the fridge. I don’t eat it because I have to – I eat it because I want to!
- Many of us see the gospel like broccoli. Yes, it’s necessary. Sure, it’s healthy for me. But it’s not exciting. It’s not enjoyable. And it’s certainly nothing to be eager about – it’s something you do because it has to be done.
- But here in this passage we have the shepherds running to see what God is up to. What if that’s not an isolated instance, but a clear picture of the type of thing that God is doing in the world?
- Look with me in Matthew 13:44-46.
- Here we see Jesus sharing two stories that tell us what He thinks about the Kingdom of God. In both cases, what’s emphasized is the incredible opportunity. They can’t believe their good fortune at being able to be a part of this! It’s the type of news that you would run to with eagerness.
- That doesn’t sound at all like a broccoli experience.
- Not just salvation, but the ongoing experience.
- Do we see walking with God as an exciting opportunity or a tedious necessity?
- Salvation is amazing – that God would forgive us through Jesus’ cross. But walking with God is amazing too.
- What are some ways that the gospel is like chocolate-chip cheesecake?
a. God answers our prayers.
- We get tangible evidence of a God working on our behalf as He answers our prayers.
b. God changes our hearts to be more like Him and less like the muck of sin.
- “You mean there is a way I can have victory over this sin that’s dragging me down? Sign me up!”
c. We get to participate in God transforming lives with forgiveness and grace.
- We get to see people’s hearts moved with the powerful impact of God’s mercy.
FOUR THINGS THAT KILL OUR EXCITEMENT:
1. I would run to look, but God doesn’t do big stuff anymore.
- Matthew 9:29.
- Some will respond, “Yeah, I’d run too if I got to see the newly-born Son of God! But God isn’t doing big miracles anymore.”
- The amazing moves of God that we read about in the Bible are ancient history. Does God do great things anymore?
- Yes, He does. He is still the same God doing miracles.
- Often we don’t see it because we are faithless.
- In Matthew 9:29, we see a representative statement for what Jesus had to say about faith. “According to your faith will it be done for you.” The amount of faith we have determines the size of the move of God that we see.
- We are content with what we have. We are confident that we can answer our own prayers most of the time. We never pray for things that require God to show up or it will fail.
- To see big answers we need to believe we serve a big God. Our expectation of an answer from God is a major factor in seeing the answer from God.
- God is still doing miracles.
2. I would run to look, but why would God want me there?
- Luke 10:21.
- There are other people who believe that God does still do big things today, but not for them. Why would God want me to know about the good news? Why would God want me to be there?
- We live in an age where mental illness is perhaps more prominent than it’s ever been. There are many reasons for that (and we’ll leave those to another time). But depression and a lack of self-worth seem to be everywhere.
- Along with that comes a sense that you are unworthy of anything good happening in your life. Even many Christians presume that God puts up with them and don’t buy that He wants to do great things in your life.
- In Luke 10:21 there is an interesting and telling passage. The disciples have returned from a trip to do Kingdom work on their own and Jesus is filled with joy over their success. It’s a striking picture of how much Jesus loves it when His power and love flow through His followers. He wants to see the gospel flow powerfully through you and me.
- It brings Jesus joy to see His power working in your life. Yes, you – not just those around you.
- If you haven’t seen God’s power recently in your life and you’re not surprised by that, maybe this morning consider the possibility that He wants to work through you.
3. I would run to look, but I’m scared God might ask too much when I get there.
- Luke 14:26-27.
- Lots of people like to have a little of God in their lives. They want a Sunday morning God where they get to wear their new dress and hear a nice little sermon (that ends before noon!). But they don’t want too much.
- They don’t want to get too close to the action. People start getting serious about God and then He calls them to Africa or something crazy like that. So you need to stay back a little bit.
- Now, you might be expecting me to say that you should go ahead and get close to God because He won’t ask you to do anything that you’re not comfortable with, but that’s not what I’m going to say. In Luke 14:26-27, Jesus told His disciples that they needed to be willing to carry a cross for Him. What’s that mean? Well, we could take a whole sermon to unpack it, but for our purposes this morning we can just say that it means that we need to be willing to sacrifice for Him.
- We need to know that following God can be challenging. He will push you out of your comfort zone. He will ask you to step out in faith. He will work on transforming you into Christlikeness. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.
- Now, honestly, there is little chance that you’re going to Africa. But there is a great chance that He is going to push you in challenging ways. And although it won’t be easy, it will be a great thing for your life. Because God wants to change us in ways that are good for us.
4. I would run to look, but I’m tired.
- Galatians 6:9.
- Some Christians start out excited about what is doing. They think that the gospel is good news. But over time that starts to fade.
- We get tired. Sometimes we just get lazy. But, in any event, we lose our excitement. We lose our passion.
- When new believers get fired up about opportunities to serve, we smile condescendingly at them and think, “Just wait a few years.” When preachers urge the congregation to give their all, we think, “You’ve got to pace yourself.” When a fellow believer shares with us what all God is doing in her life, we think, “You need to calm down.”
- Life wears us down. It’s easy to lose your enthusiasm. But should not allow our fire to be diminished.
- In Galatians 6:9, Paul tells us not to be weary in doing good because a harvest is coming. It’s easy to get weary, but we are push ahead. We’ve got great news to live out. We’ve got good news to share with others.
- If you’re in that position this morning – a long-time Christian who isn’t as excited as you used to be – you need to ask yourself, “When did I lose that fire? When did I become complacent about my faith?”
