Title: The Sweet Path of Obedience
Scripture: John 6:1 - 21; Genesis 2:16; Revelation 22:14
Theme: Obedience
This sermon focuses on the topic of OBEDIENCE - I. Obedience - A Present Experience II. Obedience is Empowered through Our Daily Walk With God III. Obedience is Transformational
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son - King Jesus - Our Savior and LORD who came to take away the sin(s) of the world.
Have you ever gotten tangled up in a spider's web? It is usually not a pleasant experience. Lately, around our house the spiders have been quite busy doing their best to spin their webs and catch their prey. The other day Rebekah was walking across the porch when all of a suddenly she found herself going through a spider's web.
What do you do that happens?
Immediately, you put up your hands to try to get it out of your face. Then you do your best to make sure that you don't have any dead bugs on you. Finally, you want to make sure that you didn't pick up a passenger that can bite you - the spider. After all, no one wants to go around the rest of the day feeling a spider crawl around on their skin.
Spiders are interesting little creatures. Their ability to spin webs and catch their food is amazing. There is even something beautiful about seeing a spider's web with some dew hanging on it early in the morning. That is, as long as it doesn't end up on your face.
Father Raniero Cantalamessa of Italy ( who works in dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Pentecostal Churches) in a recent sermon describes the method that most spiders use when they spin their webs:
"Descending from the top by this thread it produces, the spider constructs a web that is perfect and taut at every corner. Once the spider's work is finished, this center thread used to construct the web is not removed but remains in place. In fact, the center thread is what holds together all the spider's weaving; without it everything collapses. If one of the lateral (sideways) threads break ( I - Cantalamessa - tested this once), the spider rushes to quickly repair his web, but if that center thread from on high is broken, then the spider moves on because nothing more can be done."
Of all the different threads in a spider's web, the center line (or thread) is the one that is essential. It is absolutely fundamental. Everything hinges on that one center line (or thread) that begins and sustains the whole web.
In all of our passages this morning there is the presence of a clear and distinct center thread - a thread that holds everything together for us as followers of Jesus and for the Kingdom of God as a whole. If you noticed, two of those passages of scripture appear in the first book of God's Word and in the last book of God's Word. All three deal with a fundamental thread that runs throughout God's Word - the Thread of Obedience.
There is nothing more important in Paradise, Paradise Lost and Paradise Anew than this central thread (theme) of obedience. Obedience is the foundation of creation. Obedience is the foundation of faith, humility and love. Obedience is the foundation of listening. Obedience is the foundation that supports and sustains all those different strands. In the life and existence of humankind, to obey is the one necessary thing. Obedience is the gateway of access to God, to the Tree of Life and to the Favor and Blessings of God.
In our story this morning, Jesus obeys His Heavenly Father, the disciples obey Jesus and the crowd obey both Jesus and the disciples. The crowds obey the leading of the Holy Spirit as they were drawn to spend some time with Jesus. We know from Mark's Gospel that they had walked for miles to get this opportunity hear Jesus' preach and teach. Jesus obeys the Father by sharing the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples obey Jesus as they organize the people, pass out the food and gather up the leftovers. The central thread in this story is as it is throughout the whole Bible - the thread of Obedience.
OBEDIENCE - it is such a simple yet compound word. It is such a plain and yet multifaceted idea. Scientist, medical doctors, psychologist, sociologists, military officers and theologians all tell us that in some form or fashion obedience is necessary.
-It is necessary for a body - all the organs must work towards a set direction in order to sustain a healthy life.
-It is necessary for an army to learn and practice obedience to be successful on and off the battle field.
- It is necessary for us if we want to live both an abundant life here on this earth and on the New Earth and Heaven to come.
And yet, the Bible and history are full of stories that tell us that more than once we humans have had a most difficult time in the area of obedience. We have had issues in obeying our parents, the people in authority over us, the laws of the land and especially obeying the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Ruth to David to Esther and even to Mary, the Mother of Jesus - we see a checkerboard history of obedience, disobedience, repentance, obedience, rebellion, refusal, confession and thankfully obedience once again.
The virtue of Obedience has fallen on hard times in recent years. Today there are as many articles written that promote the virtue of Disobedience as there are that promote the virtue and need for Obedience. There exists this general attitude that one must always stand up for one's self and never allow anyone or anything to tell them what to do, how to think or what to say. An attitude that says that no one should be able to tell or has the right to tell another person what to do or even what to consider what is right or wrong for another person. We live in what some people have labeled as the Age of Disobedience/Rebellion.
To a great many people the concept of obedience is not seen in a positive light. One of the most common misconceptions is that obedience automatically means surrendering all of one's responsibilities and becoming some mindless lump of flesh that has joined a cult. It does not help that our American culture tends to idolizes the rebel, the person who goes against the grain and who refuses to submit to authority.
With all of that in the mix, I would like for us this morning to take a few moments and look at this thing called - OBEDIENCE. Especially how it relates to us and the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. For I believe that the more we understand the value and importance of living out a life of obedience in Christ, the more we will become genuine human beings reflecting God's Glory and the more we will be living an abundant and blessed life.
I. Obedience is first and foremost - A Present Experience
Past obedience may provide for us a wonderful foundation and a platform. Future obedience may provide for us a wonderful goal and a target. But the reality is - Obedience lives in the present. Obedience is a today word. Obedience is a here and now word.
For example, we all know that at the beginning King Saul knew how to obey. For years he practiced obedience. When God told him to go to battle, he went to battle. When God told him to stay home, he stayed home. He lived in the present a life of obedience.
But one day something happened that changed all of that. We read about it in 1 Samuel 13. Saul had been given specific instructions by the LORD. He was to go to battle and trust God's will. He was to obey without question.
However, Saul refused. He disobeyed. He decided in that moment that he would not listen to God. He would do his own thing. He would decide what was best for him and what was best for him was to disobey God and do his own human will.
The Bible tells us clearly that things did not end well for Saul. Disobedience radically changed his life and the lives of his children and grandchildren. Living a life of disobedience removed God's anointing and protection. Living a life of disobedience caused him to reject repentance and God's mercy, grace and love.
King Saul had many moments in which he had to decide whether to listen and obey God or rebel. We all do. Those moments come many times in our life time. They come while we are reading God's Word, during our prayer times and when we are faced with some very important decisions. We are faced with all kinds of questions:
+Do we believe that God is Sovereign - that we are to obey Him above all things?
You see, if we don't believe that the Good God of Creation is Sovereign then we will not obey Him or His Word. It is just that simple.
+Do we do what the Bible tells us to do?
That is to say - Do we believe the Bible is God's Word? Do we believe that God has spoken to us through His Word so that we might be able to be rescued, redeemed and restored into the image of purity, holiness and sanctification?
+Do we listen and then follow the leadings of God's Holy Spirit?
+Do we place our hands in God's hands - trusting in His wisdom and care?
+Do we choose to go our own way thinking that we know what is best for us?
+Do we choose to believe that we can follow the LORD and at the same time live a life in which we also practice a measure of rebellion and disobedience? Can we be 90% obedient and just 10% disobedient?
+Do we believe that it really doesn't matter in the long run? That God will grade on some kind of spiritual curve anyway?
It doesn't help that we live today in what has been called the AGE OF REBELLION. It doesn't help that many of us may have been taught or have watched people be trained to embrace disobedience. You see it happen at times with young parents. Their children misbehave and instead of there being any type of discipline or correction there are only empty threats. And believe it or not some of those empty threats are then followed with rewards for the bad behavior. We all have seen some child misbehave only to have that misbehavior reinforced with the giving of some toy, game, candy bar or gift.
Now, I don't think young parents or people understand in general what they are teaching. If we reward bad behavior or we give a reward after a period of bad behavior what we are doing is actually reinforcing bad behavior. We are saying that bad behavior brings good results and that is neither good for the child, for their future or for the world at large.
At times you see the same type of folly at work. Someone by passes the rules and instead of there being some type of accountability that same person may be honored with a promotion. Their disobedience does not lead to correction. Instead, it leads to a bigger office, a bigger paycheck and more responsibility.
It is that type of behavior that has led to the down fall of many people later on in their lives. They begin to feel that no matter what they do that some way or other they are going to be rewarded. That bad behavior does not result in discipline or in accountability but instead is just another path way to getting what you want. That while the rules may apply to some people they don't apply to them. After all, their parents taught them this misconception and at times society at large has taught them.
However, the reality is there are consequences when we rebel and disobey the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. God takes obedience and disobedience very seriously. Disobedience to God always leads to sin and sin always leads to chaos, confusion and destruction. God did not reward Adam and Eve with Tree of Life after they disobeyed. God removed it from their sight and removed them from the Garden of Eden. Disobedience did not led them to experience Paradise but the very opposite. Disobedience opened up the door to suffering, death and Hell.
Let me reiterate - Obedience is always a moment by moment experience. We cannot rest on our past record of obedience nor on our goal of being obedient in our future. The only thing we can do is to listen and obey today - right now, this moment. The only way to live obediently is to live obediently moment after moment after moment.
The questions we must ask focus on are not - Have I obeyed? or Will I Obey? But am I obeying? Am I doing my best to hear the LORD and to follow His leading right at this moment? Am I doing my best to say "Yes" to God's Will and Way in the here and now, today? Am I putting that into practice in my everyday life - right now? And if we are not doing that then we need to have a " come to Jesus" meeting with ourselves.
II. Obedience is Empowered through Our Daily Walk With God
The more we know someone and have a relationship with them the more we find ourselves being comfortable to follow their leading. The more we know someone and trust someone the more we are able to surrender our will and be obedient to them.
That was the way it was for Abraham. Abraham's life was a faith life that was fleshed out through obedience. It was a life of learning how to discover and obey God's Will. It was not the life of a person who immediately did everything right every time. It was the life of a person who moment by moment revealed himself to the LORD as the LORD revealed Himself to Abraham. It was through that growing relationship that we see Abraham growing in obedience. The closer he got to the LORD the more he trusted God and the more he trusted God the more he was obedient.
Our English word "obedience" comes from the Latin word - "Obaudire" - which means to listen well. The idea is that if we listen well then we will obey. In many cultures there are not two separate words - listening and obeying - there is only one word - with the idea that to listen is to therefore obey. To not listen is to not obey. The better we listen the better we obey.
It is what is behind the command of God to Israel - HEAR O ISRAEL - not just open your ears - but ISRAEL - OBEY - LISTEN AND OBEY.
We are not to obey just for obedience sake as if God needed someone to boss around. The LORD our God loves us and knows if we follow His will then we will experience the best life possible. He created us that way. He created us to live a life of obedience. Obedience opens the door to a multitude of blessings and favor.
This is why Jesus was trying to teach his disciples obedience. In our passage Jesus isn't some Enneagram 8 that is merely wanting to boss people around. He is not some Enneagram 1 who is a perfectionist wanting people to sit around in these perfect 50 and 100 small people groups. No, Jesus knows if his disciples can learn to obey him in the present then it will open the door to them enjoying a deeper and deeper relationship with one another and with His Heavenly Father.
The Bible tells us that the Prophet Daniel enjoyed this amazing relationship of obedience and favor with God. Moses, Joshua, Deborah and Mary also enjoyed this amazing relationship of obedience and favor with the LORD.
How did they do it? They listened and responded with obedience. They listened some more and immediately obeyed. But please don't think that they were some kind of spiritual robots or windup spiritual toys. No, they were real people. Real people who as they listened and as they obeyed they came to know the LORD better and better. And the more they knew God, themselves and God's plan for their lives the more they were able to obey, to have faith and trust in God.
So often the reason why we don't obey is that we don't fully trust God. We know that we should because we know that is what the Bible tells us to do but we are not always sure that God has our best interests at heart. The more we trust someone the better we can obey and follow their directions and leadings.
This is one of the reasons why Jesus had his disciples follow him and go where ever he went. Jesus wanted to do more than teach doctrine and theology. Jesus wanted to teach His disciples how to obey Him and live a victorious life. Jesus knew that a life of continual obedience is impossible without also a life of continued fellowship, learning and assimulation. Jesus was teaching them that they could trust Him, put their faith in Him and know that He had their best interests at heart.
One of the main reasons why Adam did not obey God was that the Devil had convinced him and Eve that God was holding back on them. The Devil convinced them that God did not have their best interests at heart and could not be trusted. The Devil lied to them in telling them that God did not want them to enjoy the best life possible. The Devil caused them to doubt God. The Devil caused them to believe that they could disobey God and nothing bad happen. Sadly, they believed that lie.
It took a while for Abraham to understood how to live a life close to the LORD in obedience. The truth is, it took Abraham about 40 years to get to the point where he put his whole faith in God. It took his grandson Jacob even longer. The Bible reveals to us that it took Jacob about 80 - 90 years to learn how to trust God and to obey God. Thankfully, he lived a long time and more thankfully God did not give up on Jacob. The wonderful thing is that God doesn't give up on us either. Whether we are quick learners or slow learners the wonderful thing is our Heavenly Father works with us and will teach us how to be obedient people if we are willing.
Have you ever noticed that over time a man's wife has more authority over his mind and life than his doctor? No matter how many degrees or surgeries that a doctor has done the normal husband trusts more in his wife's words and opinions than he does in some Mayo Clinic grad or in some well respected Vanderbilt surgeon. Why? Because of history. Because of relationship. Because of trust.
It is the same way with the LORD. The closer we walk with God the more we trust Him and the more we trust Him the more we will obey Him. It was that way with the disciples. The more and more they trusted Jesus the more they opened themselves up the God's Holy Spirit and the more they found themselves obeying God's perfect divine will.
This is one of the biggest reasons why we humans have trouble in the areas of stewardship and obeying the Sabbath day. We mistakenly think that if we tithe then we won't have enough resources for a rainy day when the direct opposite is true. God tells us that if we are faithful in our stewardship then He will met our needs. We mistakenly think that if we don't work 7 days a week we won't make ends meet. The truth is when we don't practice Sabbath all we are doing is ruining our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
God's People had this similar problem throughout the Bible. But the closer they got to listening, to trusting and yes, to obeying the LORD the less they had this problem. They began to take the LORD at His word. They began to depend on God as their source of wisdom, knowledge, protection, safety and salvation.
It is not easy to believe something point blank. It is not easy to obey someone or something that we are not familiar with. But the really amazing thing about the LORD is that the closer we get to the LORD the more we understand that we can trust and obey the LORD. The closer we get to the LORD the more we understand that the Creator of the Universe has all kinds of blessings and anointings at our disposal.
III. Finally, this morning the Sweet Path of Obedience Will Transform Us for the Better
Obedience will transform you. Obedience will change you from the inside out. Obedience to a unit, to a set of principles, to a group and more importantly to the LORD will make a radical difference in your life.
We see this visually displayed in the lives of some military people. After 10 - 20 - 30 years of obeying orders, being able to trust and believe in the "army" way the people become the army way. Their whole mindset becomes the "army" way. They enjoy the freedom that obedience brings to their lives. They enjoy the safety that it brings into their lives and they enjoy the order that it brings into their lives.
To have an unmade bed or to go around looking sloppy is no longer a part of their everyday routine or character. They make their beds, they follow the rules and they defend the weak and the innocent. Day after day of obeying the rules and following orders has transformed them in becoming the army in personalized form.
You see it in the lives of people who are successfully kicking the habits of addictions and substance abuse. They realized that they must obey certain principles in life if they are going to stay sober and clean. They realized that over time they have to become those very principles. Obedient moment after obedient moment has led them to living an obedient lifestyle. Obedient moment after obedient moment has led them to learn how to live sober and clean.
Years ago, when many of us were going to school we understood what it meant to be transformed by daily acts of obedience. When the teacher told you to be quiet - you became quiet. When the teacher started class you got out your paper, pencil and started taking notes. When you dropped something on the floor you picked it up and put it in the trash can. You did not speak back to the teacher nor did you wander around without permission. You learned how to walk in a line to lunch or to the playground being respectful and obedient.
It started off in first grade or younger. By the time you were in 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade it was just natural. You didn't have to think about it. Obedience in those areas were a given. You obeyed because you knew your school, your teacher and your principal. You obeyed because that was the environment of the classroom and the school.
Oh, there were moments of disobedience and rebellion but they never lasted long. For one there was an authority that made sure that things stayed in order. And secondly, you had learned that life is better with a plan, with order, with discipline and obedience.
And all of this obedience affected other areas of your life. You wouldn't think of running a stop sign or passing a car on a double yellow. You wouldn't think of disrespecting a senior adult or cutting line at a buffet meal. You wouldn't think of making a scene at the mall or yelling obscenities in public.
All of that happened not because we lived in some fascist state or were overly concerned about some authoritarian legal system. It happened because from the moment we could remember the culture of the day was to be a person of obedience to a decorum of decency and order. We were taught to be obedient to our parents, to our teachers, to those in authority over us, to our commitments and values and most importantly to God.
Living life that way transformed our country and our society. It made certain areas of our country much like what we see on shows like Mayberry and the Walton's. Those shows were not so much fiction as they were mirrors of small town values and principles.
Today, people may think that such a life is a little too old-fashioned and quaint but the reality is life was safer, kinder and more compassionate. It was not perfect but the more we as a people obeyed the LORD and the leadings of the Holy Spirit the better life was then and can be for everyone today.
Obedience does its best work in the spiritual realm. If you want to be more like Jesus then simply obey the LORD. If you want to be more loving then obey the LORD. If you want to live the best life here on earth today and in the future to come - then obey the LORD.
In the book of Deut. the LORD tells Israel that the key to their becoming His Chosen People is through the door way of obedience. No other book uses the word "obey" more than Deut.
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing ... if you obey ... and the curse, if you do not obey" (11:26, 27, 28).
We are to understand that obedience brings newness of life, success and even great rewards. Go back to our story. Because Jesus obeyed the Father, because the disciples obeyed Jesus and because those crowds obeyed Jesus and the disciples a great miracle happened. A miracle that touched the lives of over 5,000 people.
God has promised that if we obey that we will be the recipients of His favor and his blessings. Listen to these words of promise that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY gave His People through Moses His Prophet:
Deuteronomy 28 New International Version (NIV)
Blessings for Obedience
28 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Those words are not my words this morning. If they were you could easily reject them. But those words are from the mouth of the Good God of Creation. Those words are from the Great I AM. It is He who holds the galaxies in the palms of His Hands that tells us that if we walk with Him down the Sweet Path of Obedience that He will bless us beyond measure. It is He that tells us if we will be Obedient to His Will, His Word and to the leading and guiding of His Holy Spirit that we will be amazed at the wonders and miracles that He does around us.
I. This morning - Obedience can be a past statement. It can also be a goal. But it needs to be a Moment by moment experience. Obedience is first and foremost a Now Word - a Now Experience - A Now Event.
II. Obedience finds more power the closer we place ourselves to God. The better we know God, the closer we are to the LORD the more obedient we will be in this life and in the life to come.
III. Obedience will change us. Obedience will transform us. Obedience will open doors of favor and blessing that we so desperately need today.
This morning as we close we have to ask ourselves some very personal and important questions:
+Are we committed to do our best to Obey the LORD?
+Are we committed to put all things into His hands?
+Are we committed to start or continue our walk down the Sweet Path of Obedience?
+Are we ready to obey the LORD with all our heart, mind and soul - not as a testimony to the past or as a goal for the future - but right now, here in the now?
If we are then I believe and the Bible testifies that the LORD will bless us beyond measure.
This morning as we sing our closing hymn - let it either become your testimony or continue to be your testimony.
Closing Hymn/Open Altar/Blessing
+Traditional - Trust and Obey
+More contemporary - Yes, Lord, Yes (Lynn Keeseker)
