Nov. 23, 2003 John 15
“Getting connected” (pt. 4)
NOTE: All quotes unless otherwise indicated are from Bruce Wilkinson’s book, "The secrets of the Vine"
INTRODUCTION
“One Thanksgiving season a family was seated around their table, looking at the annual holiday bird. From the oldest to the youngest, they were to express their praise. When they came to the 5-year-old in the family, he began by looking at the turkey and expressing his thanks to the turkey, saying although he had not tasted it he knew it would be good. After that rather novel expression of thanksgiving, he began with a more predictable line of credits, thanking his mother for cooking the turkey and his father for buying the turkey. But then he went beyond that. ...
“He said, "I thank you for the checker at the grocery store who checked out the turkey. I thank you for the grocery store people who put it on the shelf. I thank you for the farmer who made it fat. I thank you for the man who made the feed. I thank you for those who brought the turkey to the store."
“Using his Columbo-like little mind, he traced the turkey all the way from its origin to his plate. And then at the end he solemnly said, "Did I leave anybody out?" His 2-year-older brother, embarrassed by all those proceedings, said, "[You left out] God, [dummy]." Solemnly and without being flustered at all, the 5-year-old said, "I was about to get to him."
“Well, isn’t that the question about which we ought to think at Thanksgiving time? Are we really going to get to him this Thanksgiving?
[Getting Around to God, Citation: Joel Gregory, "The Unlikely Thanker," Preaching Today, Tape No. 110.]
That is exactly what we are going to do this morning. We’re going to spend time thinking about Him and give you some tools that you can use to get into and stay in His presence. Our goal here this morning is for God to no longer be an after-thought or a final thought, but to get us to where God is in our every thought every moment of our lives.
Last week, we talked about some practical skills for you to develop for you to be able to deepen your friendship with Jesus. I gave you the acrostic ALMoST to help you remember those skills. “A” was for attraction. There has to be an attraction between you and Jesus in order for you to want a deep frienship. “L” was for listening. You listen to Jesus as you read the Bible and hear Him communicate with you about Himself and His desires for your life. “M” is for memories. Every friendship is going to have memories of experiences that you shared with one another – happy memories, painful memories, exciting memories. It is those memories that carry us through the dry times and keep us committed to one another. They are especially powerful if they are written down. “S” is for speaking. We let God speak to us, and we speak to Him through prayer. And “T” is for time. Not time in the sense of how long we’ve been friends, but time in the sense of how much time we spend together getting to know one another on a day by day basis. It takes a lot of one-on-one interaction to build a relationship that is meaningful and that lasts.
All of these components, if put together, will bring you into God’s presence and keep you there. And since the thrill of heaven will be to forever be in the presence of God, then enjoying His presence now is ALMoST like being in heaven! What is heaven on earth but enjoying the presence of God?!
I know from the very beginning that some of you are looking at this list of things that are necessary, and you’re already thinking that there is no way. You say, “Chris, you almost had me. I was getting excited and even ready to commit until you got to that last one – time. Abiding in God’s presence might be okay for heaven when I’ve got nothing else that is eating up my time, but for right now, my schedule is already so overbooked that I can’t fit one more thing in! So where do I find the time?” I don’t want you to have to wait until you get to heaven to fully experience the presence of God. I don’t want you to have to say, “You mean I could have had this on earth?” This morning, I want to give you some tools to help you make the most of your time and show you how devoting your time to God will help you make the most of the time that you devote to the other important things in your life.
1. Where will I find the time?
Learn to say “no” to everybody except God. This is where pruning comes in.
Children - If your child’s schedule is tying up your schedule so much that you don’t have time to spend with God, maybe you need to do some pruning on your child’s schedule and limit how many activities they participate in. It’s important for your kids to be involved in things and have new experiences, but none of that supersedes your need to have time with God and their need to have godly parents. When you drop off your kids at practice, what do you do with the time that you have while you’re waiting – gossip with the other parents or talk with your heavenly Father?
Community – It’s important for us to be involved in our community. That’s the only way that we can be “salt” and “light” so that we can influence people’s lives for Jesus. But that doesn’t mean that we have to serve on every committee that we get asked to be on. We don’t have to coach every team, chaperone every field trip, and be involved in every community service project. Our church is a part of our community too. I’m about to say something blasphemous here, so listen up. You don’t have to be at church every time that the doors are open in order to be in the presence of God. In fact, if feeling like you have to be at every church event and serve in 10 different capacities in the church is keeping you from having the energy, time and desire to spend intimate time with God, then maybe a little bit of your time at church needs to be pruned.
Comfort – But in reality, I don’t think that it is time at church that is stealing time from God. I think it is time that we devote to our own personal comfort. We spend lots of time, money and energy getting stuff – homes, cars, furnishings. And then we have to spend lots of time, money and energy taking care of that stuff – mowing the lawn, getting the car fixed, dusting the furnishings. I remember when they said that computers were supposed to make our lives easier and give us more time for friends and family. But then they came up with computer games, instant messaging and e-mails. I heard the results of a survey that said that some company employees spend 30% of their time just answering e-mails!
How many of you would agree with the statement: “My life is too complex.” How about this one: “I am no longer in control of my stuff. My stuff controls me.” All of us need to simplify our lives. That means getting rid of those components that are costing us more enjoyment than they are providing for us.
A rich man came to Jesus one day. He was comfortable, but he knew he was lacking something. He wanted to be in the presence of God. So he asked Jesus what was necessary. Jesus answered, “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22, NIV) Can I paraphrase that a little bit. “Simplify your life. Say “NO” to your own comfort. Then come, be in my presence. That will give you what you really need.”
Learn to say “no”. Saying “no” is going to disappoint some people. Get used to not being able to please everybody.
An old fable that has been passed down for generations tells about an elderly man who was traveling with a boy and a donkey. As they walked through a village, the man was leading the donkey and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal’s back. When they came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal’s back and continued on his way. In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off again. In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the donkey because he was made to carry two people. The frustrated man was last seen carrying the donkey down the road.
We smile, but this story makes a good point: We can’t please everybody, and if we try we end up carrying a heavy burden. That’s why we need to remember that the One we must please above all others is Christ. And we do that by abiding in Christ.
Learn to delegate.
Give some jobs to your children.
Ask for help. If you don’t have anybody that you can delegate jobs to, then find people that can help you in your jobs. A job that I can do alone in 3 hours, I can probably do in 1 hour (not 1½) with someone else’s help. Why? Because I can lift something with someone else’s help and carry it faster than I can drag it. Because I have a better attitude when I am working with someone else, and I work faster with a better attitude. After they help you, then you go help them. You both end up saving time.
“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.” Eccl. 4:9 (NLT)
Learn to prioritize.
Disciples had great power in ministering to people – healing, teaching, boldness – they almost lost it as a result of the events of Acts 7. They had a choice to make – wait on tables or wait on God. It wasn’t that it wasn’t important. Somebody needed to do it or at least coordinate it [“true religion and undefiled...”]. But their responsibility was to spend time in prayer and in the Word. That’s where their power came from.
Some of you are saying, “I already have established my priorities – my family is my priority.” There are Christians out there who stay away from church because they are so busy that they feel like their only time to spend time with their families is on Sunday. They give up an opportunity to spend time with Jesus in order to spend time with family. “He who does not hate father...” The way to make sure that your time with your family is the most effective, enjoyable and meaningful is by first spending time with Jesus.
Some of you are like me. You think in concrete terms. You have to have a tangible goal to shoot for. You like the parameters to be very clear. You’re thinking, “Ok, Chris, I’m thinking about this whole presence of God thing, but I need some more specifics. You tell me: how much time am I going to have to spend with God in order to get into and stay in His presence. 30 minutes, an hour, two, three – how long is it going to take?” In order to answer your question, I need you to answer a question of mine.
How much time did you spend grocery shopping for your Thanksgiving meal? How much time are you going to spend Christmas shopping? Regardless of whether you’re shopping for one or for twenty, we all spend the same amount of time shopping. As long as it took. You were willing to shop as long as it took to get all the ingredients for the perfect Thanksgiving feast. But it was worth it when you saw the contented looks on everyone’s faces. You are willing to shop until you find the perfect gift for your spouse. But it will be worth it when you see that look of love and thanks on her face on Christmas morning. How much time do I have to spend praying, reading my Bible, etc. to get into the presence of God? As long as it takes. Bruce Wilkinson says it this way: “Decide to seek the Lord until you find him.” It will be worth it when you glow with the radiance of God all over your life. What is important to me – what I consider to be absolutely necessary – I allocate time to that. It’s all about priorities.
“Principle 2: To break through to abiding I must broaden my devoted time – taking it from a morning appointment to an all-day attentiveness to His presence.”
“Too many of us leave God in the study or beside our favorite chair and go on with life.” – p. 109
“But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2 (NIV)
“Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thes. 5:17 (KJV) “Pray continually.” (NIV) For those of you who like to use the internet, think of prayer as your DSL connection to God – constantly on. He can constantly talk with you, you can talk with Him, and there are no secrets on either end regardless of how strong your firewall is. One of the hymns that we sing says, “Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe. It will joy and comfort give you, take it then wherever you go. Take the name of Jesus ever as a shield from every snare. When temptations round you gather, breathe that hold name in prayer.” Don’t compartmentalize Jesus into one section or time of your life. Carry Him with you all day long in every activity of your day.
Let me give you an example of how this works. “Brother Lawrence ... worked in a monastery kitchen [in 1600’s] ... ‘I do nothing else but abide in His holy presence, and I do this by simple attentiveness and an habitual, loving turning of my eyes on Him. This I call...a wordless and secret conversation between the soul and God which no longer ends.’ – p. 110 You might be tempted to think that it’s easy for monk in a peaceful monastery to constantly abide in the presence of God. But this monk worked in the kitchen. Have you ever seen a kitchen that was peaceful? How peaceful was your kitchen over the holidays? One of his contemporaries had this to say about him:
The rest of us would worry, and rush around and get ulcers or take tranquilizers – and there he’d be, serene and smiling in the middle of it all, doing twice as much work as we did, without panic or complaint, ...We tried to relate our faith to the changing, chaotic world around us, to our daily work, and to the problems of suffering, loneliness, and fear. But Laurie seemed to do it without trying. – p. 5, Practicing the Presence of God
Will this work in today’s fast paced society? Would you agree that no one is busier than a mother. A modern day mother of 4 by the name of Annie had this to say about her experience with God – “I try to take Jesus with me wherever I go. We keep each other constant company.” – p. 111
Remember that we defined abiding as consciously choosing to stay in the presence of God. That means that along with my concentrated chunks of prayer at the beginning, middle, end or some other part of the day, I keep in constant contact with Him the rest of the day. When I’m driving in my car, and He brings someone to my mind, I pray for them. When you’re working at your desk, and you see a co-worker looking frustrated, angry or sad, bring their needs into the throne room of God.
Every time you pray, it is a statement of faith that He is present where you are – not just that He is listening but that He is present. Don’t give in to the temptation that God is only present in “holy” places like churches. One person noted that: God is a lot like our pastor. I don’t see him through the week and I don’t understand him on Sunday. If you don’t see Him, then you are not looking for Him or recognizing that He is already there. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matt. 5:8) They will see God in their everyday lives. He is present with you when you are putting your kids to bed, when you are working in the garden and when you are talking on the telephone at your work place. As Brother Lawrence says:
…what makes you think God is absent from the maintenance shop, but present in the chapel? …holiness doesn’t depend on changing our jobs, but in doing for God’s sake what we have been used to doing for our own. …repair the equipment for God, answer the abusive phone calls for God, concentrate fully on the job you’re doing for God. …consciously turning it over into his hands. Then whatever we’re doing – provided it is not against his will – becomes an act of Christian service. …the very best way to draw closer to God…is to do my ordinary, everyday business without any view of pleasing people, but as far as I can, purely for the love of God. – p. 26, Practicing the Presence
(1 Cor 10:31 NIV) So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Can God’s presence really be in my workplace? My home? Pastor Chris, you don’t know all that goes on at my workplace – the language, the affairs, the lies, the manipulation. You don’t know what goes on at my home. My husband views pornography on the internet, my daughter is sleeping around with guys at school, my wife constantly complains and yells at the kids and me, etc. Yes, God’s presence can be clearly felt and expressed in all of those situations because God is present within you if you are one of His children. You carry Him wherever you go.
Way back at the beginning of this study in John 15, we said that the fruit that God wants in our lives is of two varieties – good character and good works. If abiding in Christ is going to require all this time and energy from me and require me to say “no” to good activities around me, how is that going to produce “much fruit” in my life? “One reason is that when you abide, God rewards you by supernaturally multiplying your efforts.”
Abiding helps us to sense the leading of the Lord.
“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.” Proverbs 3:6 (NLT)
Abiding helps us to tap into God’s spiritual riches.
“ ...they (the religious leaders) realized that they (the bold disciples) had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NIV)
There was great power (for disciples, Israelites, etc.) whenever they had God’s presence. They were undefeatable. Doing God’s work without God’s presence is doomed to failure. (i.e. Israelites who tried to enter Canaan without God’s presence were quickly defeated) You’re busy, but are you really accomplishing anything?
Remaining makes producing a lot of fruit not just a possibility but a promise.(vs. 5 – “he will bear much fruit”)
Abiding gives us the rest we need to bear a much greater yield.
“The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” Exodus 33:14 (NIV)
“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8 (NIV)
“I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.” Philippians 4:13 (NLT)
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
“Since a dull ax requires great strength, sharpen the blade.” Ecclesiastes. 10:10 (NLT)
result – “...you will see fruit of such quantity and size in your life that you will be amazed, and you will know that you had nothing to do with it. – p. 115
The stock market has been going up lately. That’s a good thing. People were wondering if they should get out of the stock market when things were way down. One of the principles of successful investing in the stock market is to buy and hold. Stick with it. You will reap large dividends if you don’t give up and hold out even through the tough times.
In your quest to abide in the presence of God, there will be dry times when you don’t feel like you are getting through to God and when you can’t feel His presence. But remember; abiding isn’t about feelings. It’s about faith. In a marriage, when the feelings ebb for a while, they think it’s over and give up on the relationship. Buy and hold. Your investment will pay off. Don’t give up when you feel like you’re not getting anywhere.
2. What are the other options?
We live in a world of choices. People don’t like to have only one option. It’s kind of like the ads for Progressive.com – an internet service that provides different insurance options. You may look at what we’ve talked about so far this morning and the cost that it is going to require from you in order to abide in the presence of God, and you may decide that you want to find out what else is available before you make up your mind. After all, the cost is kind of steep. So here are the other options. You can live your life...
Abiding in sin
“Those who keep on sinning [abide in sin] have never known him or understood who he is.” 1 John 3:6 (NLT)
If you choose this route, you won’t be able to enjoy the benefits of a relationship with God along with the benefits of sin. Sin will cut you off from the enjoyment of the presence of God. (i.e. Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of God because of sin (Gen. 3:8). Cain left God’s presence (Gen. 4:16))
leads to...
Abiding in guilt
“...now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” John 9:41 (NIV)
leads to...
Abiding in darkness
“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness.” John 12:46 (NLT)
If you choose to abide in sin, in guilt and in darkness, then eventually, that will become your forever home in a place called hell. There, you won’t have to worry about the presence of God ever again.
CONCLUSION
A man’s daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.
"No, who are you?"
"I’m the new associate at your local church," the pastor replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. "I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head.."
I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ’Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here’s what I suggest. Sit down on a chair, place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ’I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now."
"So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old guy to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church.
Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange, In fact, beyond strange--kind of weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."
INVITATION
You have to begin a relationship with Jesus before you can see that relationship deepened into a friendship.
