Focus Your Faith
John 3:1-17 (New International Version)
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
INTRODUCTION: It’s all about focus.
In Al Ries’ book, Focus, the introduction begins with these lines, “The sun is a powerful suorce of energy. Every hour the sun washes the earth with billions of kilowatts of energy. Yet with a hat and some sun screen, you can bathe in the light of the sun for hours at a time with few ill effects. A laser is a weak source of energy. A laser takes a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. But with a laser, you can drill a hole in a diamond or wipe out a cancer. It’s all about focus.”
John 3 is a focus chapter of the Bible. This encounter between Jesus and a leading Jewish religious leader named Nicodemus deals with focus questions. Who is Jesus? What is His purpose? What exactly does Jesus come to do? Jesus answer to these questions are found in the faith focus that He shares with Nicodemus and with us. Today let’s look at 3 focal points to Focus Your Faith
Focal Point 1. Start over with God through new birth. Did you see the new Staples commercial that features the easy button. Having a tough time on a test, press the easy button under your desk for the answer. Baby’s diaper a bit too messy, press the easy button for the diaper to be changed. Are you a cowboy ready to ride a bucking bronco, press the easy button to calm that horse down. Or are you a doctor facing intense surgery, press the easy button to take over?” Then the commercial asks this question, “Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy button for your life?”
In golf the easy button term is mulligan. A mulligan is a chance to start over with a shot. If your drive went into the water, you can take a mulligan, and start over. Some amateur golf tournaments allow players to buy mulligans. I’ve always been a proponent of having as many mulligans as one can when playing. But what about in life, where do you buy a mulligan? Is there an easy button to push?
A religious leader named Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night to talk about what Jesus is doing and teaching, and Jesus moves the discussion to do overs, to starting again, to what Jesus calls being born again. Look at how Jesus responds to Nicodemus in John 3:3, Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, unless one is born again, he cannot be in God’s kingdom.” -- (New Century Version)
Few people seemed to know his real name or age. Everyone just called him "Slusher," which is the job description for someone loading ore into an ore car in an underground mine. He was the kind of person who looks ancient when you’re a child, and when you see him forty years later, he looks the same. He lived in the desert in buildings and trailers that had been abandoned.
Southeastern California is a harsh landscape of desert valleys and towering mountain ranges of battered stone with little or no vegetation, a uniquely beautiful habitat for some of nature’s most dangerous snakes and insects. It’s a highly mineralized region and has been the focus of continuous mining and prospecting since it was first explored 200 years ago.
One day Slusher came into the hospital complaining of a nasty scorpion bite on his arm. While the doctor treated him, Slusher explained that he had been working a mining claim out near Death Valley and staying in an abandoned mining shack nearby. He had found an old sleeping bag there and was using it.
"I’ve seen thousands of scorpions and they never bothered me," Slusher said. "I woke up a couple of times while I was a-sleepin’. I knew the scorpion was in bed with me. The dog knew it too, but we didn’t think it would bite."
Just for curiosity, how is having a scorpion in your bed like having a hidden sin in your life? What scorpions are you in bed with? The scorpion sting of sin, especially those familiar sins, we love so much, call for a mulligan, a do over, a brand new start. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:23, "Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself!" -- (The Message)
For the key to starting over is as simple as John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
What seems impossible, may be an opportunity to start over with God’s love. You say, “I don’t think I can make it through another day at my impossible job.” You can start over, “For God so loved the world ...”
You say, “I am facing an impossible situation with my kids.” You can start over, “For God so loved the world ...”
You say, “There is a problem in my life that I am finding it impossible to face.” You can start over, “For God so loved the world ...”
Out of God’s love, you and I can start over. God can make it happen. Out of God’s love, you and I can start over if we see the problem, and grasp the solution. Out of God’s love, you and I can start over, and when we get in touch with the life of God, our lives will be different. Out of God’s love, we can start over, when we realize God sees us with a heart of love. We can start over, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Focal Point 2: Bring the eternal love of God into the daily circumstances of life. Though 41-year -old Steve Cunningham has been blind since the age of 12, he has his sights on setting a new world record. Cunningham wants to be the first blind person to fly an airplane around the United Kingdom. Cunningham has already been recognized as the world’s fastest blind man, driving a sports car at more than 147mph in 1999. A year later he broke the speed record for a blind person in charge of a speedboat off the English coast.
Cunningham’s Piper Warrior is equipped with computer software that translates the data from the instruments into spoken words. Cunningham is updated on the plane’s altitude, position, and speed at the touch of a button. Though he has a co-pilot, Cunningham is in complete control of the plane. The co-pilot is onboard to keep a look out for other aircraft and to make sure the information from the instruments is correct. He will not be allowed to touch the controls. Cunningham insists his challenge isn’t as difficult as one might imagine. He says sighted pilots often fly "blind" through clouds or at night, so his chore is not too different from ordinary flying. He says, "You don’t fly an aircraft on what you can see, you fly an aircraft on the information that you’re getting back from the control panel." A spokesperson told reporters that Cunningham has been training toward the challenge for seven years and was looking forward to setting the new record. (--http://news.bbc.co.uk, Blind Pilot on Target for Record, July 12, 2004)
According to Cunningham, acting on information received, not the act of "seeing" is the key to flying an aircraft. When it comes to Spiritual things, the ability to ignore what we see, and focus on what we know through faith is the key to walking by faith. Perhaps that’s why in a world that at times seems so devoid of love that we can see, we must remind ourselves of the love that we can see with God at work in our lives. Jesus reminds us in John 3:16-17, "16For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior." -- (Today’s English Version)
In the movie, "The Karate Kid", there is a scene of Mr. Miyagi and young Daniel engaged in some carpentry around Miyagi’s home. Miyagi hits a nail into the wood with a single blow, then turns to Daniel to do the same. Daniel is strong enough, but he lacks one thing: the ability to "focus." He misses the nail and is instructed by Miyagi, "When fear of losing focus, always return to basic of life." "Praying?"asks Daniel. "Breathing," responds Miyagi, "Now breathe ... in ... out."
We are told in Hebrews 12:2, We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God. -- (GOD’S WORD)
Despite suffering 3 broken bones in her right foot 6 months prior to the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000, Laura Wilkinson of the United States pulled off an upset in the women’s platform final, taking the lead with her third dive and holding it through the final round to win the first U.S. gold medal in the event since 1964. After winning the event, the announcer asked the predictable questions. "How do you manage the fear of leaping off a thirty meter tower?" "I just pick a spot and focus on it," Wilkinson replied.
Later in the interview the announcer asked, "Tell us how you managed to come from behind to win this event." Laura’s reply, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Again, her answer had to do with focus.
Focal Point 3. Thank God for tomorrow, today. Paul says in Romans 4:21, He was completely sure that God was well able to do anything he promised. -- (The Living Bible) All the time while Abraham was waiting for the promise to be fulfilled he was thanking God, praising God, glorifying God. The highest form of faith is thanking God in advance. There is tremendous power in praise. Faith brings glory to God. The people who glorify God the most are those who believe God for the most.
Abraham never doubted -- the Greek means to have two minds or opinions, or to stagger. The word was used when a man would argue with himself. When you’re walking you walk straight. When you stagger, you kind of move back and forth, you’re double minded. James says a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Abraham was not unstable because he glorified God. He thanked God in advance. Abraham instead of staggering focused on God’s plan so he knew where his life was headed and what he was to be about. Abraham understood what the psalmist would later write in Psalm 136:1, “Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; his love is eternal.” -- (Today’s English Version)
That verse is present through out the Old Testament. Why? Because it is true. Abraham reminds us to not just give thanks for what God has done in the past, but to go ahead and thank him for what he is about in the future and how that is already at work in our lives today. I focus my faith when I thank God for tomorrow today.
CONCLUSION: Live a life of significance.
Each year there is a "Sand-Sculpting Contest" near the ocean in Newport Beach, California. Artists create incredible works of art: castles, faces, dragons, cars and so on—all built with sand. It takes incredible talent to be able to do this, and thousands of visitors come each year to ooh and aah over these masterpieces. However, if you go visit the same stretch of beach a few days after the competition you’ll see that all these magnificent works of art are gone. The beach looks like it did before the contest. Those incredible works of art have all been washed away by the tide.
Your life doesn’t have to be that way. It doesn’t have to be washed away and forgotten. You can live a life of significance. Such a life happens when you focus your faith – start over with God through new birth, bring the eternal love of God into daily circumstances, and thank God for tomorrow, today. Such a focus of your faith leads to a life of significance. Amen.
