You know, things have changed a lot since I was a kid. I remember when everything revolved around the church and these days it seems we juggle church around everything else and I think it causes society to lack something, and sometimes I wonder, do people still want to see Jesus, do folks still want a relationship with Christ? Let’s look at our text today. (Read John 12:20-23)
People were excited about Jesus, and why wouldn’t they be? He was healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. The Pharisees were afraid, they had even said “look, the world has gone after Him.” In the text today we see that the Greeks that had come to Jerusalem weren’t concerned with directions to the temple or any other part of the festivities they wanted to see Jesus, not just as part of the crowd, but to actually see Him and talk with Him. Excitement was everywhere.
Back when I was young things seemed different than they do now. Our values and moral compass was anchored on God, The Bible and the Ten Commandments. Peoples mind and actions were wrapped around Christian values, worshiping God, honesty and integrity were important. People knew all the great Bible stories, they knew about Moses, Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego, Samson, David and Goliath. People knew what you meant if you called them a Pharisee or a Jezebel. Our parents were worried that if we played some of our music backward we would hear the devil talking. My how times have changed.
Now we worry that our teenage daughters can take a morning after pill or get an abortion and we as parents may never know, we worry about what are children do, say and see on social media. We worry if they will make it home from school or a trip to town safe. We worry about our children because this world seems to have gone to Hell in a handbasket and we wonder if people still want to see Jesus. Christianity seems to be dying, prayer has been abolished in almost all of our schools, workplaces and legal establishments our kids and young adults think Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are some new Pop group, and that Samson and Delilah are the newest country duet. In today’s world it seems that Science and feelings have replaced religion as the bases of social morality. We are certainly not living in the same world that we were 20 or 30 years ago.
In today’s world we have Biotechnology, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and micro surgery. Technology is moving faster than it ever has and is moving forward faster and faster every day it seems. We have cell phones and I pads that can hold thousands of songs and 100s of pictures we can even watch movies and television shows on them. Thanks to this technology many Christians have the Bible at their fingertips with the touch of a screen. Even though we seem to be leaping forward each day in some ways we seem to be crawling backwards spiritually and our moral compass seems to be slipping. In a world that seems to applaud abortion, genetic engineering, euthanasia, and designer genetics I think we may wonder “does anyone still want to see Jesus?” As Christians we may be tempted to hide our light under a bushel and keep Jesus to ourselves, but we cannot not.
When astronauts are training for a space mission they practice working in zero gravity, during their work they must be tethered to a stable object or they will simply drift away along with all their tools. We live in a culture that is trying to live morally untethered and is drifting every which way, without a moral tether we will wind up spiraling out of control.
We need to ask ourselves not what, but who will tether our moral compass! Do people still want to see Jesus? I think so, and we must show Him to them! People today are much like the Greeks that asked for an audience with Jesus.
People today aren’t asking “where is your church?” they can see them plainly they are asking questions like “why do you care, Why are you so happy, why are you so honest and trustworthy?” When they ask you these questions tell them “I’ve got Jesus.” Then you want hear “show me your sanctuary or show me your family life center.” You’ll hear them say “Show me Jesus?”
People still want to see Jesus but they want hard evidence, they want to see that following Jesus really does make a difference. People are hungry and thirsty they just don’t know what they are looking for and it is up to us as Christians to give them Jesus, not just by our words but by our actions and deeds. We have got to show them Jesus by living a life for Christ.
The key to reaching the spiritually hungry is this:
Prayer: When we pray we are saying that we believe God exist and we want to have a relationship with Him and He with us. I think when we pray God puts us in the right place at the right time and gives us the right words to say to those that are seeking something more, to those that are open to the Holy Spirits moving in their lives.
Care: We must genuinely care about people and the lost. You can’t fake this people will know if you truly care or not. Think about what is said in James 2:14-16 “What good is it if a person claims to have faith in Jesus but has no deeds? If you say “I wish you well, keep warm and well fed but you do not offer a blanket or food… What good is it? Faith without action is dead.” Believe me people will know if you truly care.
Communicate: Today isn’t like it was 30 years ago when a deal was sealed by your word and a handshake. Our challenge in today’s world is to learn how to communicate Christ to a world that doesn’t believe in ultimate truth, a world that believes there is always another choice or another way. In our culture today we always have choices, Baskin Robbins give 30 something flavor choices for ice cream, and theaters have several movies playing so that we have a choice. In today’s world we see a choice as a given. So how do we tell people that Jesus said “I am the way the truth and the life and no one comes to the father but through me”? Their response is there must be another way, what are my other options?
As believers we know that God so loved the world that He sent His Son….We know that God didn’t just say Choose this day who you will serve and leave us hanging, we read in the Bible where the prophets constantly called out to the people to come back to God, and we know that when the time was right God sent His Son to bring us back to Him.
So what do we do? We have a responsibility to pray and expect the Holy Spirit to bring those who are spiritually lost and hungry into our area of influence, because we care and we want to show them Jesus.
I believe people are searching for more than what this capitalistic world with no moral restraints can give them. I believe people are beginning to realize that more of the same is not the answer, that we need something more. I believe that people still want to see Jesus and it’s up to us to gain them an audience with Him.
Who wouldn’t want to hear about Jesus, one minute he’s walking on water, and the next He’s washing his disciples feet. One day He dies on the Cross then the next we hear he has risen from the dead. Who wouldn’t want to see The Lamb of God who is also The Lion of Judah, who is King of King and Lord of Lord, the one who is, who has come and will come again. Who wouldn’t want to see the one who died to set us free?
Our culture is full of religious choices but only one can fulfill the longing we have in our souls. Keep it Simple let me see Jesus. Souls are Thirsty they need to see Jesus, the fields are ripe for the harvest, Show them Jesus.
A truck driver stopped at a roadside diner and went inside, the waitress asked “Coffee?” He said what are my choices? She said, Yes or No……….. We just need to keep it simple, do you want to be saved? Yes or No.
There is only on choice and that’s “I want to see Jesus”
