Working with God
by
Gary MacDonald
Introduction:
Challenged by recent unexpected, but compelling, evidence that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, the theorists of cosmology are reacting as creative scientists should. They are stretching their minds in search of explanations. The immediate goal of their quest is an understanding of what appears to be an unknown form of energy associated with the vacuum of space. Cosmologists are calling it the "missing energy" of the universe.
What is this missing energy? The Camp theme for this year is ’Star Wars’ so I guess you might call this enery, the "force." Actually, in the previous century, scientists believed that this energy existed and they called it the "ether." I think and believe that this missing energy, that is present, even in the vacuum of outer space is nothing other than God, who is present in all places of the universe, which was created by his hand.
If God is present in all things, what is he doing? What is he up to? More importantly, how do I experience him in my life? How do I perceive him?
Read Text~ John 5:16-19
Remember what happened in the first part of ch. 5. Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed. He did that on the Sabbath and it angered the Jews. In case we didn’t understand why the Jewish leaders were after Jesus, John spells it out for us in v. 16. In our passage, Jesus is talking to these Jews who were "persecuting him" as John says. In this passage Jesus explains his relationship to the Father and his own divinity, which angers the Jews even more.
I Experience God by Realizing that God is Continually Working (vv.’s 16-18)
Exposition
Jesus was explaining to the Jews, that the law of not working on the Sabbath had not been broken, because it was a work of God. In v 17, Jesus explains that God is continually working and doing things everyday, even on the Sabbath. When Jesus said, "my Father," it meant much more than what it means to us today. He was claiming kinship with God. He was literally saying that he was a Son of God. Jesus was declaring his divinity. My father is continually working. He is even working today. And, as his Son, I am working also.
Christ’s reasonable explanation did not pacify the Jewish authorities. Observe what John wrote about them in v 18. From this day forward, the Jews tried harder to kill Jesus, because he had broken the Sabbath and because he claimed to be the Son of God.
Application
Jesus said his father was always at work. What did he mean? What is God busy doing?
Illustration:
Most of you live at home with your parents, be thankful. When I lived at home, with my parents, I didn’t realize how good I had it. I had no comprehension of anything they did for me. The fridge was always full. Sometimes it would get nearly empty, but then, overnight, it would always magically refill. We always had water, electricity, and a telephone, I never thought about what they might cost. I always had a place to stay.
When I moved out, things were radically different. I had to pay rent. I had to buy food. I had to pay the electric, the petrol for my car, the water, even the gas. It was tough. The place where I lived was not very nice either. I lived with three other guys and all of our girlfriend’s refused to use the bathroom in our house. It had no air-conditioning and the heating barely warmed the place in the winter. I often found myself thinking back wistfully about the years I lived at home.
Whilst we are living at home, let me tell you, for most of us, we have no comprehension of what our parents are doing for us in our lives. It is the same with God. We maybe have no comprehension of what God is doing in our lives. When I moved out of my parents house, I was shocked, nobody did anything for me anymore, I had to do it all by myself, sometimes I even had to wash and think for myself as well!!!
I had it hard. but let me tell you this, what would happen if God stopped doing things for us? We would not only be utterly shocked, but we would not be here at all if he stopped. Think about it. It is because of God that we breathe, that we have life. It is because of God that the universe exists. It is because of his constant work, that it continues to exist and that we continue to exist.
What would it be like if God stopped working for just one day? God cares for and holds together all that he has created-the rising and the setting of the sun, the rivers, the rain, the seasons----God never stops working.
Let’s put it on a more personal level. What would our lives be like if God had never blessed us? All of us have some things that have happened in our lives that we can only attribute to God, but what about all the little things we don’t even know about? I don’t even want to think about it. . .
Realize that God is continually at work not only sustaining the universe, but your personal life. When you begin to understand what God is doing, you are able to experience and appreciate him in your life.
You need to go farther, than just realizing what God is doing. . .
II. Experience God by Working With God (v 19)
Exposition
Look at v 19, John says that Jesus, "gave them this answer." What was their question? It may have been for Jesus to clarify what he had just said about being the Son of God, or they may have asked Jesus how he was able to perform such a miracle.
Jesus said he could do nothing by himself, that he could only do what he sees his Father doing. Jesus tries to do whatever the Father does. Even Jesus, while on earth relied upon God. Who was the example for his ministry? It was God, His father, which was himself. *grin* The trinity blows your mind when you think about it. God had been working for all of humanity with acts of mercy and grace, sending the sun and the rain. . .Jesus, as God, came to do that same kind of work on an individual level. His death was a work of grace!! Every time he healed someone it was a work of grace, a work of mercy. He was imitating himself on the level of the individual.
Application
Maybe some of you have heard about the discipleship study called, Experiencing God. The premise of the study is to find out what God is doing and go do it with him. What does that mean? Well, it sounds like the words Jesus said in v 19. He could only do what he saw the father doing. All of us must strive to be like Jesus. The goal of our faith is to become more and more like him. We need to be like him in imitating the Father.
To experience God, we need to work with him. Have you ever thought. God must be behind that? If you have, did you help him out? If you see God working in someone’s life, work with him. Encourage that person. Help them grow closer to God. If you feel that God is really doing something in a certain ministry, work with him. See what God is doing and work with him. If you see God comforting someone who is hurting, work with him and give comfort. If you see God convicting someone of their need of Jesus Christ, work with him and witness to that person.
If you see someone growing in their faith, tell them you’ve noticed and encourage them. Wherever and whenever you see God working, jump right in and work with him! That is what Teamwork is all about. That is how you experience God.
Illustration: Isn’t it strange how well you get to know the people you work and play with? I remember all my mates in Army Training. I came to know several people well when I was in the Army. I knew everything about the guys I trained with. When I worked at Anglian Windows in the office, I knew all sorts of things about my co-workers. Since I have been a Christian, however, I know a lot more people even better. Interestingly, I came to know Alistair, one of my mates, much better during the hours we spent recently, building his house, carrying bricks for him, mixing cement. I did’nt know the first thing about bricklaying, I did know how to mix cement however and I could pass Alistair the bricks and do other things. And together we completed the task in half the time. In addition, I would not have known him as well as I do today or feel as close to him, if we had not spent that time together working at a common task.
God is the same way. You will never know him like many people do if you do not work with him. Spend time working with him, seeing that his will is accomplished in your life and the lives of others. It will change the way you think about God, because you will experience him in your life.
Conclusion:
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with #86,400. Yes, every morning. However, it debits what is left over at the end of the day. Every evening, it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every penny, of course! Each of us has such a bank in our lives. It’s name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft . Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the day’s deposits; the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today’s deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running, it is your future. Make the most of today.
That is the link between Star Wars and working with God as a member of his Team?
It is TIME
To realize the value of ONE YEAR,
ask a student who has just failed his exams.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH,
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE,
ask the man who just missed his train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND,
ask the person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND,
ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.
Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called, "the present."
How much time do you spend working with God?
