Fill ‘er up?

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.