So, hey there, good to see you, and thanks for spending a little bit of your precious weekend time with us as we kick off this New Year together. We want to give a special shout out and welcome to you if you are brand new and to those of you who were with us for Christmas services and are back today too. You need to know that you are safe and welcome here regardless of what you believe or how your story reads, we are privileged to have you with us and hope you want to come back and do this all over again with us real soon. (As always, a special shout out and welcome to anyone out there tuning in to watch online now too, good to have you with us.)
ILLUST> So, even if we aren’t really New Year’s resolution people, who make a list and write them all down, most of us have already decided in a variety of ways that this year 2020, this next decade is going to be different. We have plans to improve ourselves physically, intellectually, educationally, emotionally, vocationally, relationally, financially. It looks a little different for all of us, but according to some research I was reading this past week diet, exercise, and losing weight are at the top of the list for most of us. That’s why we are calling this series Build Your Core. Now, when most of us hear that we think of the core muscles that make up our torso. When those muscles are strong our balance, agility, posture is better, we are healthier, life just better. Here we are only 4 or 5 days into the new year and some of us are sitting here today really sore because we decided to make 2020 different by building our core. It’s a good decision. Most of us need to take better care of ourselves. It’s actually more than just a good decision. It’s theologically correct too. We are going to pick things up with a story in the book of Mark in just a minute but first things first as we start this new year and decade together. What if we made this our primary focus as we kick off this new year? Listen to this 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7...
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
So statistics tell us that physical training is at the top of the list for most of us and God says run with that, it’s a good thing. He tells us that our bodies are his temple and he loves it when we decide to take care of ourselves. So, our decision to build our core has some value, but Godliness, training ourselves to be Godly has so much more value. It’s building a different kind of core and that’s what we are after in this series. So, that’s great but what does that mean? What does that look like? Practically speaking, how do we do that heading into this New Year and decade? Before we get to the hows and whats we have to address this one big thing standing between us and the life that most of us have already decided is going to be different this year. See, regardless of what we have decided to change, to do, to improve (even if that has little if anything at all to do with God or church) the journey has to start with this. What this? We need to get the Bible out and spend the rest of our time together talking about that. Why? Because nothing really changes without this.
If you brought a Bible we are going to be in Mark chapter 10 today. If you don’t have a Bible they are back on the back tables that you can grab right now if you would like if you close or on you can always grab one on your way As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Okay, so this young guy falls on his knees before Jesus and asks how he can find the life he’s looking for and Jesus says you know the commandments, keep them. His response...yep, done that since I was a little boy. That’s a bold statement isn’t it? I think Jesus would call him on it if he were lying. Which means it must be true. So, think about that. I mean I can’t even say I kept all of the ten commandments this past week. You are like, oh really, so which ones...none of your business. Nosey people. If you think about how this young man is living it’s pretty impressive. So here’s a question, if he is doing everything that he is supposed to do, why is he bothering Jesus with this question? That’s a great question. So, two things to think about one question to ask ourselves as we begin this quest of trying to build our core this year. The first thing we need to know, and we are seeing it with this young man who approaches Jesus, is this…
CHURCH OFTEN LEAVES US EMPTY. It sounds like this young man is a good church boy. I think he is. His problem is the same as many of ours. Church alone often leaves us empty. Now, I realize that as I say that, it is not the best marketing I could do or what church growth experts would tell me to say if I really want you to come back. But, isn’t it true? Have you ever experienced that? Yeah, me too. See the church answer that I grew up with, maybe you have grown up with this too, seemed to be this, come to Jesus, take care of your sin issue, learn the Bible, behave yourself and get busy at getting better and better at what this young man has gotten really good at…obedience. Not saying obedience is not a great thing it is. What I am saying is this. Some of the most obedient and knowledgeable Christians I know are some of the most miserable people I know. That’s what happens when life becomes all about what we know and what we do or don’t do. We don’t drink, smoke, swear or chew or date girls that do. We pursue that and we are afraid to say it around church, but as we pursue that life we often find ourselves losing heart. We are doing a lot of things right and yet it feels like something is still missing in our lives.
That is why this young man comes looking for answers from Jesus and why it is so important that we see this. It’s possible to find church and religion and miss Jesus. See, it took me a long time to figure this out. Church doesn’t really change anyone. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love it when I hear people say DCC changed my life forever. I was talking with a couple who moved away 5 or 6 years ago at our Christmas services two weeks ago who were saying that. The truth is though that we didn’t change their lives forever. That’s way above our pay grade. We simply got them in a room over and over again with Jesus, kept pushing them toward him so He could do what only he can do. We just kept pointing them to him and encouraging them to take their junk, mess, stuff to Him and work it out with him. A lot of us can relate to this young man. Obedience, knowledge, church alone has left us empty. Not the best marketing campaign but I have to say that. In fact, it’s so good, so healthy for us to see that. Let’s keep reading, there’s more…
21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
There are so many take aways for us from just one verse here. I want to spend a few minutes unpacking it but first let me start with a summary statement. How about this? It’s not about what we do and what we know as much as it is who we know and how well we know Him. I suppose the point that I am making here is this…
RELATIONSHIP, NOT RELIGION, LEADS TO THE LIFE WE ARE LOOKING FOR. Again, not relationship with us. There is no question that real relationships with people who are chasing after things that are important to you. That’s why family is a core value here and we want to help you find your small tribe or family to do life with. That really helps but that’s not the relationship I’m talking about here. Jesus is trying to help this young man see that what will change his life forever is exactly what he is inviting him into, a relationship with Him. Come and follow me.
ILLUST> On New Years Day this week, I was in my chair reflecting and decided to do what I normally do, look back on where I was this time last year. As I was flipping back in my journal it occured to me that this was the beginning of not only a new year but a new decade too. I felt like God was suggesting to me that heading into 2020 it might be good to remember what life looked like heading into 2010 too. So, I went down and dug out my journal back then. I was quickly reminded how dark my world was back then. I had been at Discovery for about a year and a half. The church was a little over a hundred people and not really growing. We had rented a new space over at Barnes and Powers, couldn’t afford the rent, and were crashing financially. The ship was sinking. Because of my own story of crashing as a pastor 15 years ago and people who said I should never be in ministry again and that God would never bless it I really believed that I was the problem. 10 years ago this weekend my prayer was pretty straight-forward and simple. God if you will get my family out of this mess, out of Colorado Springs, I will walk away from ministry for the rest of my life and never return. About 10 days later 50 new people showed up on one Sunday and we started this incredible growth thing that leads us to today. As I read through the next 6 months of my life after the prayer I was struck by how much of pain, darkness, and brokenness remained. So, I’m sitting there reflecting on that when a good friend called to catch up on how 2019 was and how I was doing. I described the challenges that we faced in 2019 which wasn’t easy. When I finished he said man you sound great. I don’t think I have ever heard you sound this good.
Here’s the point. Religion didn’t do that. A growing personal relationship with Jesus over the past 10 years of my life is what has done that. It’s the work that Jesus has done and continues to do in me. He has been building my core. No, I’m still not who I want to be, I’m not who I used to be either. We just sang about Jesus being our resurrected king. The resurrected king not who has, not who once, but is (present tense) resurrecting me. When I read of this young man’s moment with Jesus I am reminded of how much Jesus loves the very guy that I struggle to love when I look in the mirror. Jesus looked at him and loved him. When we think about building our core at this time of year it is often about how we look, changing how we look. When I do that it may change the way you see me or feel about me. When I allow Jesus to do this thing, to get to the core of who I am, it really changes how I see me or feel about me.
ILLUST> Relationship with Jesus is what leads us to the life we are looking for. Question. As we look at what we have decided to do this next year is that even on the list? Church will always leave us empty if it is not continuing to point us to and challenging us to chase after all that Jesus came to do for us. We are more committed than ever as a church to help you do that this year. It is why we have spent so much time, energy, and sweat equity developing Trailhead, Incline, and Summit. All of these things that we are launching later this month to launch you in your relationship with Jesus and give you the tools and resources to continue to grow in that relationship for years to come. We want every single person here to go through it. That’s why we are running Trailhead two weeks in a row right after 2nd service on Sunday right here in the auditorium. It all starts the weekend of January 19th. If you can’t make that you can catch it on the 26th. Be sure to RSVP and let us know that you are coming.
One last thing before we leave what Jesus is saying here. None of us really like it when other people point to our gaps or where we are falling short. It is so easy to tell people what they want to hear, the most loving thing to do is what Jesus is doing here. One thing you lack. For this young man it’s money. Relax, we are not talking about money. It’s money for this young man, but the important question is what is it for you and me? If we were to have this kind of encounter with Jesus, if he were to pause and point to one thing in each of our lives what would that one thing be? That’s the question. Would it be money, time, relationships, sexuality, drugs, alcohol, work, pornography, fitness, diet, yoga, titles, success, prominence, position, fortune, houses, power, prestige. What is our one thing, that thing that we really can’t imagine letting go of, that thing that seems to provide something that we really can never imagine that God and/or a relationship with him could or ever would provide for us?
Here is what Jesus is trying to help us see through this young man in the story. This faith thing is about pushing all of our chips to the middle of the table not hedging our bets by setting aside one or two chips. This sell everything and give it all to the poor is not about Jesus love for the poor or helping the poor. Jesus is saying look this is not about what I am trying to get you to do. It is all about what I am trying to do in and for you. This one thing is getting in the way of that. So before we leave it we owe it to ourselves to ask the question. Are there things that I am holding onto that are getting in the way of what life with God could be for me? Let’s finish this…
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
This young man walks away sad, not sad because he was unconvinced, or because he felt like Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about. This young man is sad because deep in his heart he knows that he is simply not willing to do what Jesus is asking him to do. See, he is not really opposed to following Jesus, he just wants to do that on his own terms. Does that sound familiar to any of us? Here’s the last question for today as we walk into this new year and decade together…
ARE WE REALLY FOLLOWING JESUS OR ARE WE INVITING HIM TO FOLLOW US? ILLUST> As I think about that question and this rich young rulers story I can’t help but think about the stories of two other men. A.W. Milne was a man who decided over a hundred years ago to go as a missionary to a tribe of headhunters on some remote island in the South Pacific. Every other missionary who had ever gone to this tribe had been killed by the natives. Not one had survived. But Milne had a far different experience. He lived among that tribe for 35 years. Here’s another story that is probably more familiar to us, Cortes. Cortes was a great Spanish explorer, who set sail for Mexico in 1519. He had about 600 people on his ships. Two previous expeditions had attempted to do the very same thing that Cortes was trying to do but had failed to establish any kind of settlement in the new world. Yet Cortes conquered much of the South American Continent, a continent with an indigenous population of over 5 million people. So two guys with similar stories to those people who had gone before them…but far different results. Why? How about this? When A.W. Milne decided to go, he sold everything he had, packed everything he owned in a coffin shipped it to the island, and here it is…he bought a one way ticket there. As soon as everyone with Cortes was off the ships and ashore Cortes gave the order burn the ships, sink the ships. You see the difference between these two men and all the others that had gone before them really boils down to one word…commitment. No turning back…I am all in.
We live in a world that is slow to commit to anything or anyone. Commitment ties us down and it narrows our options. Most of us naturally want to leave our options open to see if something better comes along. Commitment by definition is an obligation that restricts freedom of action. It limits our options. Regardless of what we want to change, decide to change or dream about changing in our lives we know it’s true. Nothing changes until we commit to change, commit to doing some things that will lead to real change in us.
ILLUST> In his book All In, Mark Batterson describes it this way. “We all want to spend eternity with God. We just don’t want to spend time with Him. We stand and stare from a distance, satisfied with superficiality. We Facebook more than we seek His face, text more than we read The Text. Our eyes aren’t fixed on Jesus. They’re fixed on our iPhones and iPads — emphasis on “i.” Then we wonder why God feels so distant. We wonder why we’re bored with our faith. It’s because we’re holding out. We want joy without sacrifice. We want character without suffering. We want success without failure. We want gain without pain. We want a testimony without the test. We want it all without going all in.”
Making 2020 a different kind of year for us is going to require us to commit to doing some things differently. The commitments we have made to change things physically, intellectually, educationally, financially, vocationally, emotionally and relationally all have value. God makes it clear commitment to change things when it comes to life with God has more value, the most value. So, are we really following Jesus or are we headed into a new year and decade continuing to invite him to follow us? That’s a great question. What would it look like for us to flip that? How do we begin to do that? Those are even better questions, questions that we are going to begin to answer next week. So, thanks for being with us today, hope to see you back for round two next week. Let me pray for us.
