I think many people miss the point: God loves us. The
evidence is crystal clear. The days of punishment are over. Jesus took care of
that on the cross. 1 John 2:2
2 He
is the propitiation for our sins,
and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
So why don’t we accept our free gift of salvation. I like
free things; I’ll bet you do too. And yet… we are stubborn. It’s like we don’t
trust him. Why? Why aren’t there more people in church today? Why? I’ll bet if
there was free gas down at the Shell station right now, the line would be down
the street. Heck, I’d be there. The fuel (notice I didn’t say gas) offered here
is free, yet we are a small church.
I know, I know, it’s difficult to get people to come. But
understand this: the responsibility for getting people in line for the free
fuel here is not yours alone. God is in control, always. Jesus understood this
perfectly in Luke 22:41-42
41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s
throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove
this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
One of the things I appreciate about Steve Mason is his
understanding of this fundamental fact, and his willingness to accept it. Steve
knows what is being offered and he realizes the emptiness in all of our lives
that can only be filled by Jesus. And yet, as hard as he works, as hard as we
all work to share our testimonies and live godly, righteous lives, we are
inadequate and unable to affect those around us anymore than God will allow.
But don't stop praying, and don’t stop believing. We all
know how this ends. Isaiah 45:22-23
22
“Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is
no other.
23
By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that
shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear
allegiance.’”
So, regardless of our personal agendas, God has that part
covered. Our families, friends, and neighbors will come when the time is right.
While we wait, let’s join together and pray for our community.
Prayer: Father God, I pray today for my brothers and sisters
here. Please strengthen our faith through your word. Please continue to love us
and provide for our families. I also pray for our community. Please use Oasis
Church as a magnet for those in need of your word and your love. In Jesus name
I pray, Amen.
The title of my message today is “Fill ‘er up.”
I am not a pastor; I am, however, a teacher. God blessed me
with the skillset required to teach young people, and yes, I will accept your
daily prayer and encouragement.
A few moments ago I asked why more people don’t seek God to
fill in the very obvious God shaped (not apple shaped) hole in their souls. I
suspect that the answer has to do with our being willful and stubborn. And
that’s interesting because God clearly made us that way.
Back in the day, Adam and Eve spent time in the garden with
God who gave them everything they could ever need, all they had to do was…
nothing.
Now, I want to pause there for just a minute and imagine
what that must have been like: Adam and Eve hanging out in the garden with God.
Think of it: a private audience with the creator. All questions answered and an
infinite amount of everything. Sounds heavenly, right? I can’t wait.
But Adam and Eve couldn’t just do nothing. They were curious. That led to deception which led to
disobedience, and that was the end of the party. Genesis 3 tells the story.
1 Now
the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God
had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of
any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat
of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not
eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall
you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You
will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be
like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the
tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she
also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the
eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed
fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. 8 And they heard the
sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from
the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the
Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he
said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He
said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I
commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be
with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God
said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The
serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Do you think the apple was worth it? Worth the price paid?
I’m sure it tasted amazing at first; but that flavor quickly faded while the
penalty was permanent.
The Israelites had all the manna they could eat along with
protection and clear instructions from God; yet they quarreled, groaned and
complained while wishing to return to slavery. They even built a golden calf to
idolize in place of their loving father. Moses himself, who had direct contact
with God, got frustrated and overplayed his hand drawing water from a rock.
That penalty kept him out of the Promised Land. Listen to Numbers 20:10
10 Then
Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to
them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?”
11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice,
and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.
12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of
the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land
that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the
people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.
David, a man after God’s own heart, clearly chosen as a
leader of his people, whose lineage would eventually lead to Jesus himself,
sinned again, and again, and again. Why? Why do he push God away? Why do we
think we know better than the Creator of the Universe? The UNIVERSE people??
Remember the saying: big God equals little problems? Our
problems seems larger than the universe to us; but they are nothing to our
Father who actually created this universe AND loves us. Yes, US includes you
and me specifically.
Why do people like Adam, Eve, Moses, David, you and I push
God away? When he wants to fill our tanks, why do we try to keep running on
empty? The answer can be found in one of the most quotes verse in the New
Testament. But people rarely read it in context, so here is all of John 3:16-20
16 “For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned
already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light
has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light
because THEIR WORKS WERE EVIL. 20 For everyone who does wicked things
hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be
exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that
it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
I want to review two verses here, John 3: 19-20
19 And
this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than
the light because their works were evil.
20 For everyone who does wicked
things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be
exposed.
Combine that with Judges
21:25
25 In
those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone
did what was right in his own eyes.
Here we start to understand the issue. While God is
omniscient, ever-present, and everywhere we look, he is not, for many, our King.
Even though many have heard the messages about the importance of God sitting on
the throne of our lives, and how that leads to happiness, for some stubborn
reason, we resist.
If Adam, Eve, Moses, and David had consistently held God in
his proper position, then perhaps their lives could have been better. But then
of course, we would not have the benefit of their experiences to learn from.
They, like us, were stubborn and independent thinkers, made that way by God,
and given a choice.
It is a daily decision to pick up our crosses and walk with
Jesus as described in Luke 9:23
23 And
he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
And that is where we fail, each and every one us, and
everyone else who is not here. We forget to pick up our cross daily and follow
him. Now, this is not for lack of effort. I pray every (most) mornings and
evenings. I read my bible (almost) daily. And yet, moment-to-moment in my life
I lose my focus on God. Not because I don’t want him, but because of my
humanity. I am not God. I am made perfectly imperfect.
Did Adam and Eve sin? Of course. However, they were prompted
by evil. The temptation was always there, but it wasn’t until the serpent
stepped in to influence the originals that they succumbed to their curiosity. They
chose their own way instead of God’s way. I wonder why God would allow the
temptation and the deceiver to spoil the garden experience?
I think the answer is in God’s desire to have us CHOOSE him over the temptations in our
lives. God wants us to want him more
than sin, more than stuff, more than everything else he has created for us. He created all of this for us;
but he wants us to want him more than the gifts.
It’s like Christmas presents. Don’t you buy others the gifts
they desire because you love them and want to see them happy? I do. As a
parent, one of my greatest joys is watching my children be joyful. That feeling
is enhanced when I can connect it directly to something I have purposefully done
for them. And there is no better feeling in the world then when one of my kids
hugs me and tells me they love me. When was the last time you gave God and hug
and told him you love him? (Ok, well, maybe not a bear hug, but you get my
point.)
But like children, sometimes spoiled children, I think many
people sometimes exploit God’s giving nature: if God has created all this for
me, then why can’t I have it all now? Why didn’t God want Adam and Eve to eat
they Apple? Because once they did they learned of good and evil and immediately
hid themselves from each other and
from God himself. God doesn’t want you
to hide from him; he wants you to fellowship with him. That was his design
in the Garden of Eden.
God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jews to bring them
closer to him and back to the garden model. But what did they do? They
immediately backslid to what was more comfortable to them and wandered further
away from God himself.
Moses had a terrible task: Leading the Jews through the
desert for 40 years, and then 40 more. I can’t even imagine it. I hope they
brought Yatzee or Uno, or something with them from Egypt to pass the time. I
can’t even drive more than an hour with my little girls in the car before the,
“Are we there yets?” start. Just put yourself in Moses shoes for a moment.
Personally, I would have struck that rock way sooner.
God used the Jews and their time in the desert to make a
huge point that we can learn from today: Patience.
I’ve learned that the only way to learn patience is to experience challenges
that force me to be patient. It’s hard for me. I think it’s hard for most of
us. Especially in our “Burger King” culture: you know, “have it your way.” But
our way is not always God’s way, unless we put God’s way first, and that is a
real challenge in patience. Just ask David.
David won favor with God early in his life. God pursued
David, but David continued to choose his own path over God’s, even to the point
of murder. After trying to manipulate Uriah, David purposefully placed him in
danger just so he could have Bathsheba to himself. Yet God continued to pursue
David. God does the same for us. No matter what your sins may be, no matter how
many times you turn away, God will invite you back, like the prodigal son, and
celebrate your return to Him.
So return to Him, and fill yourself up with his love. John
relates the story of Jesus at the well speaking to a Samarian woman in John 4:7-15
7 A
woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The
Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from
me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is
saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have
given you living water.” 11 The
woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is
deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our
father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons
and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this
water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever
drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water
that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal
life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I
will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
At the risk of being redundant, allow me to repeat:
…whoever drinks of the water that I will
give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will
become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Sounds good to me; way better than free gas. So, I encourage
you to fill yourself with the living water of Jesus Christ. Yes, we are all
stubborn. Yes, we have all sinned. And yes, God is waiting for you to return to
him today, right now. He’s also waiting for your family, your friends, and your
neighbors. God loves us and wants to spend time with us in the garden.
Whatever it is that keeps you from God: temptation, impatience,
or repeated sinfulness, repent. Lay your burdens down at the cross of Jesus
Christ. Then, pickup your own cross, daily, hourly, moment-to-moment, and seek
him in all that you do. Will you lose focus? Yes. Will you misstep? Yes. Will
you sin? Yes. But understand that God knows all of things already, and Jesus
has already paid the price. God is waiting for you in the Garden right now (so
to speak)!
Live the victory
over sin for which Jesus suffered. He did it so that you could release yourself
from the guilt you feel over your own sin and join him in the Garden. Remember,
God made you perfectly imperfect the way you are. God accepts and loves his
creation. Will you love yourself enough to allow him back into your heart?
Let’s pray. Father God, I ask your blessing on everyone here
today. Please strengthen us and give us all that we require to repent of our
sins and return to you now. Thank you for Adam, Eve, Moses, and David, your
children, and our predecessors whose lives we study and from whose examples we
benefit. Please continue to encourage, protect, and love us. Please fill our
souls up daily with the living water of Christ. In Jesus name, Amen.