How’s your bucket list? Remember, we’re dealing with some of the items the Bible teaches are important for us to tend to before we kick the bucket! That means investing in what matters, and figuring out what’s true. Today we add a new item.
Remember also that we’re working on projects that will culminate on Feb. 26, Kick the Bucket Sunday. Each week, I hear more about small groups, SS classes, and others who are working on some project that will have eternal consequences. We want to have the news of those projects all shared as we celebrate on Feb 26.
I want to add a 3rd bucket list item today, and to get to it, I want to begin with an important part of our history. It’s always good to understand how we got here, right?
Sock monkeys. What other icon better characterizes Rockford than those floppy skinny things many of us played with as children?
It all started with a Swedish immigrant named John Nelson in 1852 who got off the train in Rockford because there was a cholera outbreak in Chicago. Nelson partnered with William Burson and introduced the knitting industry to Rockford.
On September 15, 1880, the Nelson Knitting Company formed, producing "Celebrated Rockford Seamless Hosiery," and selling socks that would become known as “Rockfords” – a sturdy work sock worn by farmers and factory workers. It was 1932 when the Nelson company added a red heel to the sock, and the rest is sock monkey history. Those monkeys became one of the top 100 influential toys of the past century. It all goes back to a sock that was the first of its kind – seamless, and knitted. It was more comfortable.
Have you ever considered how much effort we put into our comfort? This morning we have multiple thousands of dollars of equipment working just to keep this room a certain temperature. We’re using a sound system so that you can listen and I can speak more comfortably. You’re sitting on a carefully designed seat, with padding for your backside, positioned in a way that helps you to see.
You’re wearing clothing that is made with your comfort in mind. We spend a lot of our resources just to be comfortable.
I’m not disparaging it. But I am saying that until we add “Get uncomfortable” to our list of things to do while we still have time, we’ve left something out of life that we’re supposed to do. In fact, you can’t read the words of Jesus and leave with the idea that following Him is about being comfortable.
Today, around the world, and in the US, people are meeting to worship under the name of Eastern Orthodox or Russian Orthodox traditions. Most of those will be worship services where the people stand for the entire time. I’m not suggesting we make that our normal routine, but I’d like you to get a feel for it this morning, with a purpose. Everyone stand, please. If that’s physically difficult for you, please don’t sweat it – even the EOC people are allowed to sit if standing is too much on someone. And if you really want to get the point here, try standing on one foot!
As early as the 3rd century, groups of people arose who were convicted they needed to do something to be very holy. Asceticism, it’s called – denying oneself pleasures and comforts in the name of being close to God. So, groups of men who called themselves “monks” separated from society to concentrate on holiness. More extreme examples of them renounced everything in life that could be viewed as a pleasure. They figured that any kind of comfort or pleasure is a distraction that interferes with your relationship with God, so, they made themselves uncomfortable on purpose. Some of the more extreme examples believed that the more uncomfortable you are, the more holy you are. So, for them, uncomfortable meant godliness. Period.
I’m not advocating that this morning. But, I do want us to leave here committed to doing things that need to be done, even though they may not be easy. So, really, “get uncomfortable” will be a listing of a few ways Scripture shows us to do what needs to be done, even when it’s hard.
The first one, and the real foundation for this kind of thinking is because of what Jesus said.
Luke 9:23-24
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
Take up your cross
(Deny yourself for the sake something greater)
Crucifixion was a means of execution adopted and developed by the Romans for over 400 years. It was meant to be horrible in every way imaginable – humiliating, painful, terrifying, and drawn out. Sometimes, people might survive on a cross for up to 4 days before finally dying. One common practice, by the time of Jesus, was to force the condemned person to carry the patibulum, the crosspiece from the top, to the place where he’d be killed. There might be appeals and a reprieve up to that moment. But once a person took up the patibulum, there was no turning back. He was as good as dead from that point on.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship wrote, "When Christ calls someone, he bids them come and die." Bonhoeffer did just that, because of his opposition to the evils of Nazi Germany. I guess you could say he had the right to say such a radical thing.
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Few of us are faced with martyrdom in our current situation, although it’s happening occasionally around us and every day around the world. Most of us just aren’t faced with dying for our faith. But, not everyone who heard Jesus speak was going to be crucified either. Also, notice how Jesus said, “Daily”? Being crucified was a once-in-a-lifetime event, not something a person does “daily.” So it has to mean something more than literally being crucified. Taking up your cross, and losing your life for Him, must have a broader meaning.
I notice this, that Jesus didn’t say, “Deny yourself of things. Just say ‘no’ to dessert, or don’t go anywhere for vacation this year.” Jesus said a person must [deny himself.] As surely as Peter 3X denied knowing Jesus, we need to place “self” so low on the list that it’s like we don’t acknowledge our rights, our comforts, our desires. It’s hard to downplay this when Jesus talks about being executed and losing your life for Him. At the very least, it means that our personal comfort isn’t the priority when we plan to follow Jesus. Deny yourself for the sake of something greater. What if you were to put that on your bucket list?
Story - One time, while I was sitting in my recliner at home watching TV, a commercial came on, and it was too loud. We have a few remote controls, but none of them was close enough for me to reach. I had to put down the footrest, get out of the chair, and walk over to where the remote control was. Can you believe it?!!!!
Now, you’ve been standing for (4-5 min?) or so. Was it a little uncomfortable? Maybe. Let’s check ourselves to see if we’ve lost perspective! Jesus set the standard when “He said If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
The next situation comes from a scene recorded in Matthew 14…
Get out of the boat
(Enter a situation that’s scary and depends on Jesus – sermon in 2 weeks!) Mt 14:28-30
Jesus has sent the 12 disciples across the Sea of Galilee while He remains on shore and prays. Late that night, while the disciples are fighting rough water and wind, Jesus comes walking out to them – walking on the water! They’re scared…
Matthew 14:27-32
But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
I realize that none of the 12 disciples were comfortable, out in the middle of rough water, scared. But once Peter jumped onto that water, he chose to do something even more uncomfortable. It was beyond uncomfortable. It was downright terrifying!
Peter placed himself in a situation that depended on Jesus. He also created a situation that put a lot of stock in Jesus. If Jesus couldn’t be trusted, if Jesus hadn’t been there working a miracle, Peter would have a much shorter career than we know of. We tend to focus on the way that Peter became scared and sank…like a rock. The only reason he was there was because he was following orders – he got out of the boat and walked away from it. He was far enough away from the boat that when he did start to sink, he was closer to Jesus. Hmmmm.
Peter was the only one of the 12 who managed to get out of the boat. The rest were just fine where they were! (“We’re behind you, Peter! Waaaaay behind you!”)
For the rest of his life, Peter would be able to have checked off of his bucket list: “climb out of boat and walk on water.”
By the way, I’ve done this. Just last year, I walked a few hundred yards on Candlewick Lake…in January! (If you go ice fishing, you can check this one off!)
What I really think we’re supposed to take away from this story about Peter walking on the water is a challenge to enter a situation that’s scary and depends on Jesus. In 2 weeks, I’ll be talking more about that. Until then, let’s allow this story from Mt 14 to challenge us.
Somewhere along the line, while there’s still time, each of us needs to be able to say that the Lord placed a challenge in front of me, and even though it was scary, I did it! Too often we let our fears decide what we will and won’t do instead of the clear calling of Jesus to get out of the boat. Maybe that calling isn’t real clear for everyone, but could it be that for a few people here today, you know who you are, that you’ve been resisting doing something God is pushing you to do but you’ve held off because you’re afraid?
So you don’t make the move, take on the ministry, get out of your comfort zone. And it doesn’t get done. If that’s you, try putting this on your bucket list. Get out of the boat.
The next example involves Peter again. As I study it and think this through, Peter is a bucket list kind of guy! This next one may not be an item as much for thrill-seekers, but I think it’s probably close to home for most every person who has been a Christ-follower for more than a few years, and probably more uncomfortable than the thought of getting out of the boat…
Eat with a Gentile
(Get close to someone you otherwise wouldn’t) Acts 10
The story is from Acts 10. This can be hard to relate to, because you and I are Gentiles. I eat with Gentiles every day! To appreciate it, you have to consider the background.
Peter grew up in a Jewish household. That meant that from his earliest years he had been taught the Scriptures, including the story of how God raised up a nation of people to be His personal possession and to be a light to the rest of the world: the Jews. God gave to the Jews the Covenant, the Law, the temple, His promises, and from them brought the Messiah into the world. The rest of the world, the Gentiles, were not a part of all this before Jesus came. At some point in his life, Peter most likely made the trip to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. There he would have seen the temple, including the wall with a written warning for Gentiles to go no further into the temple, or they’d be put to death.
Peter grew up with the understanding that you don’t associate too closely with non-Jews. It was against the law, which meant you certainly don’t eat a meal with them.
The message of the gospel was to be given first to the Jews, and then to Gentiles. That’s how the Church began. It was, at first, very much a movement from within Judaism. But all along, God’s plan was to include not only Jews, but everyone else too.
When it was time to get to that, Peter needed a shove.
He was on a rooftop deck, praying one day in Joppa. He fell into a trance, and God spoke to him in a special vision. While Peter didn’t understand it at first, the basic message was that it was time for him to start associating with the very people he had spent his whole life avoiding: the non-Jews.
As soon as he awoke, the HS told Peter to go downstairs and meet the 3 men who had come to the door, and to go with them. It turns out they were Gentiles. God had sent them to Peter, and Peter was supposed to go with them to Caesarea. The next day, he arrived at the house of a Gentile man, a Roman military commander named Cornelius. A whole houseful of people had gathered to hear what God was going to tell them through Peter, who now found himself standing in house filled with the very people he had spent his life avoiding.
Acts 10:28-29a He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection…"
What took off there from Caesarea was one of the most important transitions the Church ever tackled. What used to be a Jewish-only thing was now open to everyone, everywhere. It was God’s plan all along, but it sure felt like a new thing to the Jewish people who had become followers of Jesus. Even Peter still struggled with it later.
What this has to do with you and me as Gentiles is pretty simple. It’s as simple as getting close to someone you otherwise wouldn’t get close to. Put that on your bucket list. The reason is because God has made it clear that we should not call any person impure or unclean; we should be ready to share Jesus with anyone – including people we normally don’t associate with.
Wouldn’t you hate to find out later that the Lord had picked you to share the message with someone, and you didn’t do it because you “didn’t feel comfortable” around that person? Maybe that person had a foul mouth, or dressed funny, or didn’t share your worldview, or was a homosexual, or homeless, or was more intelligent that you, or not in your age group, or voted for the other guy, or from a different culture, or just plain gives you the willies?
God taught Peter to do the uncomfortable thing, because God wanted others to hear the good news about Jesus. Doing what God wanted done was more important than being comfortable. It still is.
Here’s another example that you can put on your list. It’s about going where you’re needed, even though it’s not easy.
Go where I send you
(Go somewhere that you’re needed, even though it’s not easy – Jonah)
Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.
You know the rest of the story. God sent a storm and a whale to get the man back on track. After all that ordeal, Jonah did go where God sent him, and he did preach to the Ninevites, and they did repent! But even beyond that, the whole book of Jonah teaches us about the way we should go where God sends us, even when it’s uncomfortable. In fact, running the other way is much more uncomfortable! Would you rather?... “Go somewhere that God sends me that isn’t easy” OR “Get swallowed and vomited up by a whale.”
So, where is God sending you that’s not easy? We could run over the list of people from CCC that have gone somewhere, and it would include several countries like Mexico, Italy, Tanzania, Japan, and Oklahoma! It may not be as exotic as that. The fact is, we’re all commissioned by Jesus to have gone into the world, and we all have a variety of ways to do that now. So, where is God sending you?
Is it next door, to your neighbor? Your teacher? Short-term mission trip? A new vocation of ministry?
You need to take a look at where there are needs and how the Lord has prepared you to meet them. It may be that He has been laying the groundwork for you to go do ministry for Him. Where will it be? Go where He sends you.
The next item on the list you’ll see is to say something awkward. I’m excited that the students of our student ministry have been deliberately engaging in this for several weeks now. Next Sunday is a youth Sunday. Among the special things we’ll get to hear that day will be a panel of our students discussing what it has been like to say something awkward on behalf of Jesus. Next Sunday! You won’t want to miss it!
Say something awkward
(next week - will be covered by our Student Ministry)
The last example comes from Acts 4.
Obey God rather than men
(oppose what’s commonly acceptable when it opposes God) – Acts 4:19-20
It’s Peter again. This time, him and John have healed a lame man and created quite a stir. The religious leaders of the Jews arrested them and warned them to never preach or teach in the name of Jesus. Jesus had given them a different set of orders. What do you do in a situation like that? It’s already an uncomfortable situation. What do you do when God has clearly told you to do something, but someone else tells you to quit it?
Acts 4:19-20 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."
We may not be called in front of a Jewish council and told never to preach or teach in the name of Jesus. But we all understand what it’s like to live in a society where there’s opposition to what God tells us. We understand how uncomfortable it is to oppose what’s commonly acceptable when it directly opposes God.
Trending wisdom tells us to be tolerant of everyone and everything they do.
It tells us to be quiet when the innocent suffer, and to affirm things that just aren’t right or true. Trending wisdom tells us to keep our narrow-minded ideas about Jesus quiet.
I’m just wondering, Church, have you ever been in a situation where you were told to keep silent about your faith? Wouldn’t you like to say, at the end of your life, that you made a choice to obey God rather than men? Wouldn’t you like to check that off your bucket list, rather than looking back with regrets to the time God was expecting you to speak up, but you didn’t? It may be uncomfortable. Obey God rather than men.
Maybe some way of getting uncomfortable needs to be on your bucket list.
