Have you noticed lately how some people seem to be getting spring fever? Cindy commented last Sunday afternoon how many people were dressed in springy clothes last Sunday—and ditching the heavy coats of winter. I don’t know about you, but I’m really ready for spring!

As most of you know, Cindy and I were in Ohio just a couple of weeks ago. They’ve had a ton of snow there this year! There was probably a foot of snow on the ground in the Cleveland area when we got there and it seemed like it snowed more every day!—and, from what we’re told, it’s just kept snowing! Enough already! I got home to Idaho, and to my amazement my tulips and daffodils had sprouted through the ground! On taking a closer look, some of our bushes are beginning to bud. Spring is going to be here soon!—at least in Idaho!

It was about this same time of the year when Jesus spoke the words I want us to look at this morning. Maybe things were starting to sprout there, too, prompting him to illustrate his point by referring to dynamics of nature and of farming. Most people in the ancient Middle East knew something about vineyards. They were part of their lives. So, when Jesus spoke about grapevines and its branches, they all got the picture.

It’s actually part of the last things Jesus got to say to His disciples before going to the Cross. He wasn’t days away from the Cross now…just hours…so you know that what He had to say was pretty significant. Listen as I read the words of Jesus from John’s Gospel, chapter 15, beginning at verse 1—
[Read John 15:1-17, NIV]

I really like Jesus’ organic analogy, because it paints a picture for us of the kind of relationship each one of us can have with Him—a living, breathing, growing, dynamic relationship. Like branches that sprout and grow off the main vine, we must remain vitally connected to Christ. We’re the branches; He is the Vine.

I don’t know if you’ve worked with plants before or not, but maybe some of you know what it’s like to work in a garden or flower bed. I know, maybe your mom or dad or maybe your wife made you do it! But have you ever come upon a branch or a stem that looked like it was still alive, but when you got to messing around with it, you discovered that it was barely connected anymore to the main plant. Maybe the leaves hadn’t even withered yet, but all it took was one gentle movement and suddenly you found yourself holding a piece of the plant that was no longer part of the plant! Maybe you were afraid you’d get into trouble for breaking it off, so maybe you tried sticking it back into the middle of the plant…but the truth is that it wasn’t going to live. It had actually already died—it just didn’t appear dead yet. But give it a day or two, and you’d find a limp, shriveled up stalk of your plant—even if you tried sticking it back into the middle of the live plant!

Branches don’t grow unless they’re connected to the main plant—the vine, if you will! Branches that are no longer attached to the main plant shrivel up and die—because they aren’t getting proper nourishment from the plant. They’ve got to have the vine, the plant, from which they can grow! And if they’re not connected, they certainly won’t bear fruit—if they’re fruit trees—or flowers, if the plant is a flower—or grapes, if what we’re talking about are grapevines! It just won’t work. And even those of us who don’t know diddly-squat about growing things can pretty easily figure that out!

Jesus’ point was that the effectiveness of believers is dependent upon us being vitally and thoroughly connected with Christ. If we’re not connected with Christ in a vital relationship, then we’re not getting nourished. If we’re not getting nourished, we’re going to die, spiritually speaking. Whatever fruit is produced in our lives won’t be good fruit—it certainly won’t have come from Him or reflect Him in any way! The fruit of our lives will be unacceptable to Christ.

Jesus took the analogy a step further in saying that the Heavenly Father is the gardener. Now we understand that the gardener is the one responsible for getting water to the plant and nourishing it with fertilizer and trimming it back as He sees fit in order to help it be most productive. He’s an expert in these things—just as the diligent farmer of the vineyard has learned his stuff. So our Father protects and cultivates our growth so that we can produce all the fruit we possibly can.

And we are to bear fruit! Fruit-bearing is the natural consequence of a branch that has a healthy connection to the vine. It’s going to produce fruit! And the fruit of the follower of Jesus is not what we do as much as it is the character of Jesus Christ growing in us—His character reproduced within us and shared with us in love. This fruitfulness in the life of the follower of Jesus is as natural as grapes being produced by the branches of a grapevine. It’s simply to be expected—and if it’s not happening, it’s a clear sign that something’s wrong. The truth is that Jesus, in this analogy, leaves no place among His followers for “fruitless” disciples—those who are not growing in Christlikeness.

And the greatest attribute—the most important fruit we are to see growing in our lives—is Christ’s attribute of love. Jesus was looking around at His disciples—good men that they were, but certainly human—oh, so human! They were imperfect people, as they were about to prove in the scenes of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. But Jesus is expecting them to learn to love one another and learn to love others just as He has loved them! It wasn’t His pipedream for them—it was His absolute expectation of them! And the presence of such love in their lives would be the clear indicator of whether or not they were truly connected to the vine—and the absence of such love the clear indication that they weren’t.

And what He was asking of them was an impossibility, wasn’t it? How many of us can love everyone with a Christlike love simply on our own good nature? Oh, sure, we can love those who are easy for us to love! But God’s love prompts us to love all people—even the prickly ones, the thorny ones, the strange ones! It’s generally easy to love people who are a lot like us, but confronted with people who are entirely different from us we find that love isn’t always so easy!

How deeply are we to love one another? Jesus isn’t talking about just tolerating one another—not picking fights or not further irritating one another when we’re together! He’s not even talking about just being nice to one another! He’s certainly not speaking of some vague sentimental feeling. The kind of love Jesus expected of His followers has far more depth and strength than mere feelings. Rather, it’s a tough reality that is lived out in obedience. The kind of love that Jesus was speaking of is the kind of love that He was about to demonstrate to them all—the kind of love that prompts someone to lay down his or her life for their friends. Now that’s love! And it’s the kind of love we cannot produce in our lives unless we are vitally connected to the Vine, Jesus!

And it’s seen not just in physically laying down our lives for others, but in giving ourselves to them—giving them our time and our energies, taking care of their needs, authentically opening ourselves up to them, rather than hiding behind the masks that make us look so much better than we really are. Loving others means being real with them even about ourselves—because otherwise we come across as these perfectly put-together people who are reaching down to help someone who pitifully needs assistance! We need to somehow recognize that we are on this journey together! Even as your pastor, I’m not before you as someone who has it all figured out, helping pitiful you who must need my noble assistance! No! We’re on this journey together! The Lord may have put me in the front of the pack—but we’re clearly on this journey together! And along the way we’ve got to keep figuring out how it is that we are to love one another.

I was thinking the other day about how some of the things I do and say may have offended some of you or somehow made you feel unappreciated. It’s a challenging thing to come in as a new pastor—even more than two years into it now—without knowing all the rich and wonderful history of your lives and the life of this church. Some of you have been around here a long time. You’ve invested your lives in this church and have served nobly for many years—and then a new pastor comes along and treats you like everybody else—and, of all things, this new pastor occasionally suggests changing some of the things in which you have taken such personal pride and delight. Others of you have come to this fellowship in recent months and years, and we don’t know much about your past. Maybe you’ve been entrusted with a lot of leadership in another church body across many years and have been deeply loved and respected, and now you may feel like you’re treated like nobodies. I’m so sorry.

And then there are young people who look at this 53-year-old man and wonder how in the world he can possibly understand the world in which you live, and the challenges you face, and the garbage you have to put up with! And he stands before you week after week, so neat and tidy with his coat and tie on, and you’re thinking, “My world just ain’t that neat and tidy!”

I know that one of the greatest challenges within any body of believers is to learn to know one another and cherish one another as we all long to be loved and cherished. And Jesus understood that. I think that’s why He talked about this matter with His disciples on the night before He was crucified. He knew how challenging it would be for them to love one another, deeply and authentically, and how challenging it would be for them to live out His magnificent love for people in their own lives as they encountered people here, there and everywhere. And so Jesus was making it clear that the only way they could ever live out this fruit of Christ in their lives was to remain vitally connected with Him.

We also need to acknowledge that Jesus indicated serious consequences for failing to produce such fruit in our lives. His analogy was that the gardener cuts off any branch that does not produce fruit and throws that dead branch into the fire! Wow! That’s harsh! I don’t like those words from Jesus—but it’s what He said! It seems so much more severe judgment than what is now socially or politically correct in our culture, but Jesus was never one to sugarcoat the truth—and we need to hear His strong words of warning.

The analogy Jesus used was that of pruning. Pruning is necessary for any vine. When we lived next door to Burl and Viv Pipkins our first six months in Meridian, we had a grapevine on our property, right beside their house. Evidently Burl had been pruning it for years and knew what he was doing, and so he did it again. It was a necessary thing for the grapevine. Dead wood is worse than fruitlessness, for dead wood can harbor disease and decay. An untrimmed vine will develop long rambling branches that produce little fruit because most of the strength of the vine is given to growing wood. The vine-grower is concerned that the vine be healthy and productive. The pruning process is a picture of the divine dealing with our humanity. God removes the dead wood and disciplines the life of the believer and the body of the church so that it is directed into fruit-bearing.

Now, I don’t pretend to understand all the complexities of what Jesus is saying here. I don’t want to read things into His imagery that isn’t there, but neither do I want to miss what He was trying to say to the disciples and to us today. But it seems to me that there is a strong word of warning here for Christians that challenges the popular notion which some call “eternal security”—that once we are saved, we can never lose our salvation—regardless of what we do. I don’t believe that the Bible teaches eternal security, but I might also note that neither do I believe in what I’ve often called “eternal insecurity” which has made many Christians feel continually tenuous in their relationship with Christ, never enjoying the confidence that God clearly wants us to have as His children! But without going deeper into this theological argument, let’s just acknowledge that Jesus is clearly indicating here that Christians who fail to remain in Him and who fail to produce the fruit of righteousness and Christlikeness in their lives are treated like the fruitless branch that the Gardener cuts off and throws into the fire. And to avoid that, you and I must carefully give attention to remaining in the vine—in vital union with Christ!

And there are wonderful blessings in store for those who remain in the vine! First is the promise Jesus gave that—
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)
It’s not the first time Jesus had spoken such words. Some have taken it to be the magic genie in a bottle—you rub the side of it just right and you get whatever you want! That’s not where Jesus was coming from. We’ve got to see it in the context of what He was saying—regarding our vital connection to Him and the whole-hearted obedience that thrives on that connection. He wasn’t promising to gratify every whim, but as we give ourselves to seeking the Lord’s will in our lives, the Lord will grant every request that helps accomplish that goal. And it’s a wonderful promise, because we’re not left hanging to our own devices! Jesus walks with us—and supplies everything we need in life to become the persons He wants us to be!

The second blessing I noted is the joy that Christ brings into our lives in the context of this vital relationship with Him. Look at verse 11—
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)
Despite the many who have concluded otherwise, Jesus wants our lives to be full of joy! I like that! I need that!

One author noted that it’s a mystery and challenge to our way of thinking to note that the nearer Jesus came to the Cross the more “joy” became part of His vocabulary. And that does seem strange to our comfort-seeking American perspective! We so often confuse happiness and joy. Joy grows out of an intimate relationship with this One whom we love and serve, while happiness, even though it’s frantically pursued, turns out to be a disappointing illusion—like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow that never ends up being there! But the more deeply we enter into a loving, obedient union with Jesus, the more full and complete is our joy in life. It’s like the music that comes from a musician who works and works on the creative discipline—and delights in the end result despite all the work of the process!

And let’s not neglect the blessing of Jesus calling us His “friends.” Jesus has broken down the wall which separates the master from the servant. Because His disciples are His friends, Jesus has opened His heart to them, holding nothing back from them. And, in the end, the “greater love” of Christ’s death would liberate them so they could give themselves with abandon as Christ’s “friends.” This friendship is more than casual acquaintance—it’s a partnership. Jesus has invited us to be partners with Him in His great mission in our world. Oh, we must never forget Who is Lord and who isn’t, but may we never forget the magnificent mystery of Jesus choosing us to be His friends!

The bottom line for us from this passage? Without Christ, we can do nothing! We’ve got to stay vitally connected to Him by prayer and obedience or we die—spiritually speaking. It’s that simple—and that challenging! No amount of diligent planning or endless effort or spiritual event-making on our own can produce the kind of fruit Jesus wants to produce in our lives! We can’t do it without Him! But if we obey Him and rely upon Him and stay vitally connected with Him, He can and will produce fruit of righteousness in and through our lives which will exceed our imaginations.

Just think of what was ahead for the disciples? Who would ever have imagined that they would have had such an impact on the world as Christ’s Holy Spirit empowered them and worked through them! I’m sure they were as shocked as anyone! But apparently Jesus wasn’t shocked at all…it was exactly what He had in mind for them…and for us.

And as we strive to stay vitally connected with Christ, let’s make sure that it’s Him where clinging to, and not just forms and traditions that have become important to us. We live in a world of rapid change—and for many of us those changes are frightening and unsettling. Our human nature is to resist changes that upset our applecart—and understandably so. But let’s make sure we don’t confuse remaining in Christ with hanging onto our way of doing things—whatever those ways might be. Let’s be careful what we’re willing to bleed for—or what we might want others to bleed for!—when it comes to the many changes taking place in the church world today. Throughout the ages, people have discovered the necessity for change in how the church carried out its mission—but those who have done it right, have done so without doing away with Christ Himself. He is the One Essential that remains changeless—leaving much of what we do vulnerable to change.

I’ve been trying to think of what analogy we might use to help us “remain in the vine” as Jesus has clearly instructed us to do. I was thinking of it in terms of holding hands—holding tightly onto the hands of Jesus. And my mind went back to the childhood game, “Red Rover, Red Rover.” Do you remember that? Two teams would stand facing one another, with every member of that team holding hands. They’d call out to someone on the other team, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send Tyler right over!” And Tyler would have to charge his way, hopefully breaking through the hands held tightly on the opposing team.

And I got to thinking…Jesus wants us to hold that fiercely onto His Hand, and yet somehow I believe He understood what a group effort it would be. That’s why He instructed us to love one another—with a deep love, the kind of love that would cause us to lay down our lives for our friends. I believe Jesus understood that staying connected with one another—fiercely holding onto one another hands—was one way we’d stay vitally connected with Him.

I want to ask you to do something this morning that may feel uncomfortable to some of you (but then forgiveness is easier than permission, isn’t it?). I want to encourage you to take the hands of those beside you…even stretching across the aisle if you’re on the end. It may mean you’re holding hands with someone you don’t know, or someone a generation or two removed from you…Good! What a wonderful reminder of how much we need one another in the journey of walking with Jesus and trying to keep hold of His Hand…And I want to pray for you—and for us collectively—as we endeavor to keep hold of the hand of Christ, even as He journeys to the Cross. May the grip of someone else’s hand in yours remind you today of God’s grip upon your hand, and may He help us to stay vitally connected to Christ that we might bear the fruit of Christlikeness in each of our lives and in our life together as a church.

Monday, March 8
5:30 pm Upward Practice ~ Gym
7:00 pm Children’s Department Staff Meeting

Tuesday, March 9
9:15 am Ladies Bible Study ~ Room 162
5:00 pm Upward Cheer Practice ~ Rooms 150, 160, 162
5:30 pm Upward Practice ~ Gym
6:00 pm Quilting ~ Rooms 164-165
6:30 pm Committee Meetings
7:15 pm Board Meeting

Wednesday, March 10
7:00 am Men’s Bible Study ~ Library Coffee House
5:30 pm Family Meal ~ Chicken Tenderloin
(Please RSVP BEFORE noon on Tuesday)
6:30 pm Student Ministry Worship
6:45 pm Caravans/Choir/Adult Studies

Thursday, March 11
6:30 am Men’s Prayer ~ Chapel
5:30 pm Upward Practice ~ Gym
6:00 pm Upward Cheer Practice ~ Rooms 156, 157, 160, 162

Friday, March 12 (Main Event-NNU)
5:30 pm Upward Practice ~ Gym

Saturday, March 13 (Main Event-NNU)
8:00 am Upward Games

Sunday, March 14 CHURCH ELECTIONS
8:45 am Orchestra Practice
9:30 am Sunday School/Membership Class
10:45 am Worship Service/Children’s Church
12:30 pm Ambassador Class Luncheon
5:00 pm Teen Drama ~ Teen Center
5:45 pm Children’s Quizzing ~ Room 157
6:00 pm Prayer & Praise Hr

Second in Sermon Series—“Journey to the Cross”

I found myself in a situation recently where I was confronted with the idealism of youth. We’ve all been there—it’s just been longer ago for some of us! The truth is that it may be so long since you experienced the idealism of youth that you’ve forgotten what it’s like! But trust me, you really were young once!

In the idealism of youth, we aspire to a perfect world without strife, without problems, and without heartaches. We wonder why the world can’t be that way—and get frustrated and irritated when we get disappointed. I suppose the classic though overdone Miss America pageant answer to what is desired most in life is “world peace.” But there’s never been a time when there’s been peace in the world—not since God created people! There’s never been peace in the world because there are people in the world! And people just seem to have a knack for messing up world peace!

And when the unreal aspiration for world peace faces reality, then we begin instead to yearn for meaning and purpose in our lives as we strive to make a difference in the context of a very imperfect world. And in that imperfect world we face unanswered questions, uncertainties, doubts, fears, worries and troubling circumstances that prove to be out of our control. So what’s the solution? Or is there a solution?

Did you know that Jesus Himself was troubled by circumstances in His life? Our sermon series—Journey to the Cross—is centering in on John’s Gospel. In the 12th chapter of John, Jesus is speaking again to His disciples about the fact that He was going to die. At verse 27 He says,
Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour?” No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour (John 12:27).
Jesus was troubled by the circumstances in His life! So we’re not alone! He understands! And yet He continued, even on His journey to the Cross.

And it was that journey that amazingly ushered in a new era of hope for all who would place their faith and trust in Jesus, but not without the plot thickening even further before that could happen. As we approach the 14th chapter of John and the passages we’ll be considering this morning, we find that Jesus has once again addressed His disciples about the fact that He was going to die. It was something they didn’t want to hear. Simon Peter, often seeing himself as the protector of Jesus, promised to lay his own life on the line for Jesus—to which, as you likely recall, Jesus predicted that before the rooster crowed again the following morning that Peter would disown Jesus three times!

All of this was totally unnerving the faithful followers of Jesus. Everything they had come to depend upon was seemingly being pulled out from under them! Have you ever faced circumstances that completely rattled you? If you haven’t, you maybe haven’t lived long enough—for it will surely happen and it will likely happen far more than just once! And the words of Jesus that we’re going to read today are particularly powerful for us when we find ourselves unnerved by things around us. Let me read what Jesus had to say to His followers on that day—
[Read John 14:1-4, 15-21, 25-27, NIV]

As I’ve read and re-read and studied this chapter this week, it appears to me that Jesus has laid out for us what I’d call a two-fold hope—hope for Now and hope for Eternity. And since here and now is where we’re living, let’s start with Now!

The promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit is the primary provision of this hope for today and the foreseeable future. Jesus spoke with calm assurance of the divine provision for them—the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit while we walk this earth. Jesus was dealing with 12 disciples who had come to so depend upon His physical presence with them that they were panicked at the thought of Him not being with them! It was unthinkable to them! They could not bear the thought of Jesus leaving them. It made them feel abandoned—and to those fears Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans…”

“Orphan” is a word we don’t use often any more, though it’s a word we’ve heard quite a bit in recent weeks here in Treasure Valley as some people from our town have been in the national news for their efforts to address the needs of some of orphaned children in Haiti after the devastation of the recent earthquake there. I remember my mother, after losing both of her parents while she was just in her mid-40’s, describing herself as an orphan—and it clearly was a sad label! Jesus was using the term here to describe the way that the disciples were certainly feeling as they contemplated life without Jesus.

If I had read all of chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, you would have heard dialogue that Jesus had with His disciples, as three of them raised objections and questions to what He was telling them. Thomas, known as the doubter, was the first to question Jesus. He was utterly honest and uninhibited in voicing his despair. Philip was next. He was struggling with the abstracts and uncertainties, so He asked for something concrete as assurance for his beliefs. Then one named Judas (but clearly not Judas Iscariot) questioned the way Jesus was going about all this.

Jesus was rocking their boat way too much with all of this talk about Him dying and leaving them! It didn’t make sense to them! They needed something to hang on to! They needed it then and there! And they needed a hope that would not go away—ever! And Jesus’ solution is not philosophical or intellectual. That bottom line is that the hope Jesus was giving was a relationship—an ongoing relationship with Himself through the Holy Spirit. The hope Jesus was giving was personal. Jesus did not claim merely to know the way and the truth and the life as a formula he could somehow impart to the ignorant, but rather He made it clear that He Himself was the way, the truth and the life—the Answer to human problems. Jesus’ solution to the unnerved disciples was not a recipe or formula but rather an ongoing relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit.

And Jesus was making it clear to His disciples that He was not disbanding them in anticipation of His departure but, rather, He was expecting them to continue His work and actually to do even greater things than He had accomplished. That seems impossible in light of Who He is and the power He possessed, but the truth is that through the power of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to them there were more converts after Peter’s initial sermon at Pentecost than are recorded during Jesus’ three-year ministry! And so Jesus was encouraging them and reassuring them that He would continue to be with them—through the Holy Spirit.

And in this talk, Jesus explained a bit more just Who the Holy Spirit is—though we have to acknowledge that the mystery of the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is a mystery you and I are never going to fully solve. God has revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit—they are three and yet they are One. We do not worship three gods; we worship One God. And if it bugs you that you can’t fully describe or define the Trinity, just get over it!—because of all the things God clearly is He is a mystery and our inadequacy in defining God is merely a reflection of our limited understanding and not of some kind of inadequacy on God’s part! He has no inadequacy!

So how did Jesus describe the Holy Spirit? In verse 16 Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16). And at verse 26 Jesus goes on to say—
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

Various translations of the Bible use other terms in place of “Counselor” in these verses: Helper, Friend, and Advocate. The truth is that we have no word in our English language that can express the rich and powerful meaning of the original Greek word, which is “Paraclete,” to describe this Holy Companion. The literal translation of “paraclete” is “to call alongside,” so this “Helper” or “Counselor” whom Jesus will send will come alongside the followers of Jesus to counsel, to guide, to help, and to encourage.

The Paraclete comes into the world just as Jesus was sent into the world, and He is given only to those who have received Jesus Christ—who love Him and who obey Him. Those are the conditions given. And the Holy Spirit would direct their decisions, counsel them continuously and remain with them forever. He would be invisible to all, for He will not operate on the world’s wavelength.

Even though the Holy Spirit was already with the disciples insofar as they were under His influence, Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit would dwell within them when Jesus left them. The Holy Spirit would abide with them continuously. He would make His home in them. It’s so personal and so relational!

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. He addresses our questions and concerns, our fears and our doubts—speaking truth into our lives. In verse 26 Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will “teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” In that way, the Holy Spirit imparts wisdom to the followers of Jesus—in ever-increasing ways as we journey with Him.

As we journey with Christ, we find ourselves invited into a divine relationship—personally and corporately. And I say “corporately” because it is the Holy Spirit who gathers us together and makes us one. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus together become the Body in whom He dwells and works and moves. As Jesus was present with the disciples throughout the years of His earthly ministry, so the Holy Spirit is with us now. The Holy Spirit wasn’t born or created after Jesus’ death and Resurrection. The Holy Spirit was active from the beginning of time—and we witness the working of the Spirit of God in the pages of the Old Testament as He interfaced with the people of God. But what Jesus was looking toward was the time when the Holy Spirit would “be in you”—and that was about to happen at the event we know as Pentecost (Acts 2).

In speaking the word of promise that Jesus would not leave them as orphans and that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with them, Jesus spoke peace into their lives. I love the words of John 14:27—
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
And I suppose that ultimately the great hope in our lives is Christ’s word of peace to us! Jesus speaks such peace into our lives today. His Message is clear: “I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned and adrift. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught. Don’t be afraid.”

Now the peace of which Jesus spoke could not be an exempt card from conflict and troubles in life. Remember, even Jesus was “troubled” by His impending Crucifixion. The peace Jesus spoke of is the calmness of confidence in God. Jesus had this peace because He was sure of the Father’s love and approval. Jesus could continue on His journey to the Cross without fear because He had every confidence in the Heavenly Father’s purpose and power. And this same peace would be poured out upon the followers of Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit. And I cannot help but connect peace and hope in this context. With such peace, we can be free from fear and free from hopelessness. And the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit is with us forever.

And that brings us to the other dimension of hope—there’s first hope for Now but there’s also hope for Eternity, hope beyond this life. The first few verses of John chapter 14 are words I’ve used many times in funeral services. I actually used them this week in the graveside service for Margie Howard—
Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1-3)
And at funerals I have often tagged on the words of John 14:27—
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)
They’re incredibly appropriate words, aren’t they, for the funeral of someone who knew the Lord?! But these words from Jesus weren’t intended just to be read at funerals. These words were intended for the living—to give a strong, unshakable hope that could not be snuffed out by the unnerving circumstances of life!

Jesus speaks here of our heavenly home. Jesus referred to heaven many times. Other places in scripture describe it in further detail. I’ve concluded that trying to fully comprehend heaven is like trying to fully comprehend God—we just aren’t capable. Scripture gives us some images—but I think, more than anything, that those words are intended to whet our appetite for that which is beyond our comprehension. And what’s most wonderful about heaven is being with the Lord—in the presence of the Lord forever!

And in this passage, Jesus paints a picture of Him going ahead of us to prepare our room in God’s heavenly home. Jesus tells us, “There’s plenty of room for you in my Father’s home…there’s more than enough room for you.” He wasn’t speculating about a future life but rather speaking as One who was as familiar with eternity as we might be familiar with our hometown. And, to the ears of his listening disciples, Jesus was building on imagery familiar to those in that culture who knew what it was for multiple generations and multiple families within the extended family to live together under one roof.

This was far more than just a pep talk by Jesus. He was on His way to the Cross. He wouldn’t minimize the agony of it, but His leaving was opening the door for something so much more wonderful for each of them. Through His death and Resurrection, Jesus would open the way for these people to live in a place where there is ultimate union with Him. This eternal dwelling place is great and spacious, with lots of rooms—one that is being prepared for each of us. And Jesus has promised to return some day and take us to be with Him forever.

What wonderful hope when we face the reality of our own mortality or the mortality of those we love! We love this life and we cling to it—but we need to remember that we weren’t created just for the life we enjoy on earth. We were created to live with God forever! And while we can truly be “at home” with Jesus wherever we are because of His grace and acceptance, we live with a hope that transcends the limitations of this world. We live with a hope that supercedes all the heartaches and challenges of this life. We live with the hope of someday going to be with the Lord forever!—that He is even now preparing a place for us where we will be with the Lord forever and ever!

I don’t think it’s any secret that I have high regard for Dr. Jerry Johnson—my predecessor as pastor of Valley Shepherd, the man that the Lord used in tremendous ways to help this congregation turn some critical corners so that we can be most effective for the Lord’s work in our community. And when I consider that he’s 82 years of age, I find him even more amazing!

Dr. Johnson spoke at the funeral of Margie Howard this week. And I love the analogy he built on in his message. The obituary had told of Margie coming from Arkansas with her family when she was just a little girl of 3 or 4 years of age. And knowing that the family had settled in Emmett, Dr. Johnson painted the picture in our minds of her family coming over the ridge where you can see down over the valley where Emmett sits. And he imagined with us her father stopping the old car that transported the young family back in the 1920’s and announcing, “This is your new home!” as they looked out upon the wonder and beauty of that little town.

And toward the end of Dr. Johnson’s message he took us back to the imagery as he helped us envision the Heavenly Father, just a few days before, welcoming Margie Howard as she breathed her last breath and stepped from this world into the next. And as her Heavenly Father welcomed her into her new heavenly home, He used the same words, “This is your new home!”—as He welcomed her to explore all the wonders of this place that He’d been preparing for her.

I’m glad that the hope Jesus gives us gives us hope for this life—hope that brings peace and assurance despite the many uncertainties and perplexities of life! I want my life to count and to make a difference, and the hope Jesus gives us through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit makes that possible! I need the Counselor to guide me, to encourage me, to teach me, to help me discern Truth! And I need Him every day! And the promise of Jesus to us all is that the Holy Spirit comes to those who have come to know Jesus and who seek to obey Him with their whole hearts. And in this relationship we can live with hope of life being purposeful and meaningful! And I believe we all want that!

But I also know that sometime we’re all going to have to face the fact that this life isn’t going to last forever. And I want each of us to be ready for the day when we breathe our last breath. I don’t believe Jesus wants us to fear that day, but to approach it with a buoyant sense of everlasting hope and the peace that goes with such a hope.

May I ask you today, are you living with such a two-fold hope? Are you being able to live with peace in your heart each day because of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit? And do you have a hope that you know is going to carry you even through your last days on earth—whenever that may be? Our Heavenly Father offers to each of us such hope today—and I want to invite you to embrace that hope this day.

Saturday, April 3rd      10:00 am
Bear Creek Park in Meridian

God’s Son was special! And He died for a purpose. These crosses behind me—that are indeed before us week after week—remind us that God gave His Son—who died for a purpose. We who call ourselves Christian—we who are followers of Jesus Christ—are forever impacted by the event of the Cross. This morning we’re beginning a series of sermons in which we’re going to Journey to the Cross with Jesus, as told in the Gospel of John.

We are now officially in the season of Lent—a time of Christian reflection on Christ’s sacrifice for us. At the heart of the Gospel is the wonderful truth that God gave His Son for us—that Jesus willingly went to the Cross in order to provide for our salvation, for the forgiveness of our sins. He paid the penalty for our sins, and He was in every way “the Last Sacrifice.” The purpose in Christ’s death was our salvation.

The passage of scripture which I want us to look at this morning comes from the 10th chapter of John’s Gospel. Jesus, the masterful story-teller, was teaching the people. Many of those in the crowd were His followers. They had discovered new hope in their lives as they had come to place their trust in Jesus, but there were also among them those who refused to accept that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus was using a scene quite familiar to them all to help them understand Who He was and why He had come. Let’s turn to chapter 10 of John and let me begin reading at verse 1—
[Read John 10:1-18, NIV]

Jesus was already on a journey. He clearly had a mission. His miracles had captivated the masses. His teaching had challenged the very foundation of their religious practices. He’d rubbed many of the religious leaders the wrong way. But in it all, He was on a journey…He had a mission…and there was purpose in what He was doing.

By the time we reach this tenth chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus is nearing the end of His earthly ministry. Slowly, the reality of Who He is was sinking into the minds and hearts of His followers. And as we begin this journey to the Cross once again with Jesus this morning, I thought perhaps a good place to start is for us to deepen our understanding of just Who we are following on His journey to the Cross. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus identified Himself as “the Good Shepherd.”

The imagery which became the framework for Jesus’ teaching here is that of the common “sheep pen” in Palestine in those days. It was usually made of rough stone or perhaps mud-brick structure, and would only be partially roofed, if covered at all. Sometimes it was actually a cave out in the hills. But whatever the composition of the sheep pen, it had only one opening through which the sheep could pass when they came in for the night.

The pen served for the protection of the sheep—protection against wild animals and against thieves. The thief who would try to steal sheep would not have any right of access through the gate, but would find his own way into the sheep pen. The sheep pen often held several flocks, and when the time came to go out to morning pasture, each shepherd separated his sheep from the others by his peculiar call. Wherever they went, the shepherd led them and they followed as a unit. The shepherd’s role was to provide protection and guidance, leading them to the best pasture and guarding them against unnecessary dangers.

Jesus’ shift to speaking about Him being the gate for the sheep refers to the fact the shepherd stood in the doorway of the pen. When he slept, he laid across the entrance to the sheep pen. His body became the gate to the sheep pen, not allowing any to enter or leave without His awareness.

Now, with that imagery in mind, listen to Jesus’ words again, this time from the paraphrase of Scripture called The Message—
“Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”
Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. “I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn’t listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:1-10, The Message)
We need to remember who it is Who is journeying to this Cross—and why He’s on that journey. This is the Good Shepherd. He’s not a thief. He’s not come to make our lives miserable; He’s come to give us life—that we might “have it to the full.” He has come so that we can have real and purposeful life, more and better than we could ever dream of without Him.

Have you ever thought of Christianity as a “kill-joy”? Be honest. If not now, was there ever a time when you wondered if God’s greatest delight was making life miserable for you—and so He imposed all kinds of rules and regulations on your life that would so bind you that you couldn’t have fun one day of your life without feeling guilty about it?! My Aunt Miriam has a typical response for such thinking—“that’s hogwash!” It’s just not true!

Jesus came to set us free from our sins. While the Enemy deceives us into thinking that the acts of sin are the expressions of personal freedom—“I can do whatever I want to do!”—the truth is that sin is the great enslaver. I couldn’t help but think of that when I saw the confession of Tiger Woods televised over and over again in the past few days. He made an interesting comment in his public confession and apology, by the way. He said,
I knew my actions were wrong. But I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled…Thanks to money and fame…I was wrong. I was foolish. I don’t get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.

It doesn’t sound like sin offered ultimate freedom, does it? But that’s exactly what the Enemy of our soul says.

But the Enemy of our soul—Satan himself—is the thief and the robber that Jesus was speaking of! We cannot trust what he tells us! He wants to manipulate our lives. He wants to control us. He wants to draw us into his web and ultimately destroy us. That’s what he’s about! And the messages we get over and over again from our culture are so often propagating his lies!

But Jesus came to save us from that snare! He came to offer us freedom from the bondage to sin. He came to give us life—life that is full and free and rewarding; life with joy and peace and contentment. There is safety and security in Christ. He came to provide that for us. He came to offer it to us. He is the Good Shepherd.

At verse 9 Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” The footnote in many of our Bibles gives an alternate wording—“whoever enters through me will be kept safe.” While I hope we don’t ever feel we need to get away from the terminology of “being saved”—representing what Christ alone does for us when we seek His forgiveness and the new start He alone can offer—I also like the phrasing that whoever comes to Christ for salvation is “kept safe.”

We’re all seeking safety and security in some way. The whole insurance business is based on people’s need and desire to feel safe and secure. Mental health professionals deal constantly with individuals’ need to feel secure. Lots of people are stressed out day after in a frantic effort to provide financial security for themselves and for their families. But Christ came to provide for any who will call upon Him a special kind of security that covers all the hurdles of life. In Him alone are we kept safe and secure.

Let me ask you something: How do we know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd? How do we know that He’s not just another “thief or robber” who’s trying to take advantage of us or somehow make fools of us? The simple answer that Jesus gives Himself in this passage is that only the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—and that’s exactly what Jesus was about to do. It’s what He was so mindful of as He journeyed to the Cross.

In contrast, clearly the thief and the robber are only out after what they can get for themselves. They’re not going to lay down their lives for the sake of the sheep! They don’t give a rip about the wellbeing of the sheep! Jesus goes on to point out the hired hand isn’t the good shepherd either. It’s just a job for the hired hand. If a wolf attacks the sheep, the hired hand’s going to first and foremost take care of himself—so that the wolf doesn’t attack him! He’ll run away if he needs to—leaving the sheep at the mercy of the wolf. The hired hand may lead the sheep out to pasture and generally take care of the sheep, but when push comes to shove, he’s not likely to risk his life for the sake of the sheep. He’s not going to put his own life in danger in order to protect the sheep! Only a good shepherd would do that—because only a good shepherd has a deep sense of ownership and responsibility toward the sheep.

The Good Shepherd knows his sheep. When he calls out his flock of sheep from the others in the pen in the morning when he’s ready to lead them to good pasture, they recognize his voice and follow him. They trust him. They somehow have learned that this is one who can be trusted—so they follow him.

Jesus is clearly identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd. And in doing so He’s relating to the rich Old Testament teaching that God is our Shepherd, our Ruler, our Protector and Leader, and our caring Companion. Jesus had already lived out such love and care in His response to hurting people and in His prolific healing ministry. Over and over in the Gospels we see Christ’s warm, pastoral concern for people in need. He is the embodiment of the word “good”—the winsome, loving, caring, responsible Shepherd.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He gives His life for the sheep. That’s what the Cross was all about. It’s why Jesus came. He cared for the sheep daily—watching, feeding and protecting them—but in the end He must finally deal with their greatest danger. Jesus must face the mightiest thief, the evil one, who spreads darkness and disorder and chaos into every life he can. Jesus must give His life in order to win the ultimate victory over the Enemy of our souls. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who cares so deeply about us, His sheep.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows the sheep—and His sheep know Him! There is a loving relationship between Him and His sheep. The Shepherd knows the weak and the strong, the stubborn and the submissive ones, the hurts and the needs of every sheep. And the sheep know and trust their Shepherd—every inflection in His voice, the way by which He leads them out to pasture, and even His courage in the face of danger. He is their Shepherd. It is in such a relationship, such a love, that the Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

I don’t know if we can consider the concept of Jesus as the Good Shepherd without somehow being reminded of the immortal words of Psalm 23—
The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD
forever. (Psalm 23, NLT)
Truly, Jesus is the Good Shepherd!

So what was Jesus’ point in this teaching recorded in John chapter 10? What are we to glean from it today? It would seem to me that one of the great truths we need to grasp from this is that because Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, He is the One whom we can trust! If I know someone who will lay down their lives for the sake of my wellbeing, that is a person worthy of my trust! If they care so much about my welfare that they would put their own life at risk for the sake of mine, there can be no doubt of the depths of their love and genuine care for me! This One who is journeying to the Cross is the One whom we can trust. It’s really that simple!

Like many of you, I’ve been captivated by much of the Olympic broadcasts in the past week. While I’m not one who watches a lot of sports on TV, I’m always fascinated by the Olympics. Have you been as amazed as I’ve been at the speed of so many of the Alpine skiing events? I suppose I appreciate the dangers even more having had a chance to be on snow skis myself now. Those guys are amazing! And did you see the huge tumbles in the Men’s Super G competition Friday? It’s amazing that the guy didn’t have more serious injuries. And the snowboarding and the ski jumps where they’re gliding through the air for what we realized was the length of a football field! Amazing! I would most certainly break my neck if I even tried such a thing!

They’ve had to learn to trust certain people and certain things in order to even attempt such feats. They’ve certainly had to learn to trust their coaches. They trust their equipment and those who prepare it for them. They trust those who put together such events and set the courses for such competition. And it takes a lot of trust in themselves to venture to do such things. We see in Olympic competition those who made it—and not the hundreds and thousands of hopefuls who fell along the way, who never tasted success. We are drawn to the top three winners—those who win the gold, the silver and the bronze. And we seldom see on TV the coming in of those in 49th place—though it’s certainly a major accomplishment to compete in any way in the Olympics.

While I admire their athleticism and their sheer guts to do the things they do, I can’t help but wonder how many of them “get it”—that the things we pursue in this life can end up being the very thief and robber whom Jesus said came to “steal and kill and destroy.” I wonder if they realize that the gold medals they cherish today all too quickly become the relics of the past that gather dust on shelves and ultimately have little meaning in the broad scope of life. But it’s true, isn’t it?

Despite all the other things and ambitions and desires that compete for first place in our lives, only Christ is the gateway to life that is full and free and eternally significant. And while many religions offer their way to God, Christ claimed an exclusiveness in his statement, “I am the gate for the sheep.” It was Christ alone who said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

From Jesus’ day and throughout the ages, there have been those who have rejected the idea that Christ alone is the Good Shepherd, the One whom we can trust for forgiveness, for protection, for peace, for life that is meaningful and purposeful. I was reminded again this week of the words of C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, when he said—
I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity)

As we journey to the Cross with Jesus during this season of Lent, may we be reminded over and over Who He is. May we see and experience Him as the Good Shepherd, the One whom we can trust with the very foundation of our lives. He’s proven His love for us. He’s laid down His life for us. We can trust Him—with the burden of our sins, with the temptations that come our way day by day, with the cares of life, with our heartaches and burdens, and with the challenges of life which offer success and prosperity. We can trust the Good Shepherd with it all. And we must be listening for His voice and seeking out His guidance, trusting Him to lead us to the experience of life that is full of peace and joy and purpose. And wherever you are on your journey today, let me declare to you that you can and must trust this Good Shepherd, Jesus—who gave His life so that you might experience life now and forever at its best.

This last week I was able to go up to Bogus Basin area and go snow shoeing with my wife Alyssa.

We bought snow shoes last year and want to do it more often but this was the first time getting out this year.

We started up a pretty steep hill and soon found it was going to be more difficult than we expected. We made it up a little ways before we needed to stop and rest.

Finally, after moving side to side, we made it to the top…only to be disappointed by the view. It was fairly foggy that day and even from the top of the mountain, we couldn’t see more than 100 feet in front of us. We rested for a little bit and then began contemplating which way we could try going in order to get back to our car. We had a rough idea of which way we needed to go. It was not snowing at all, so our tracks were still easily visible. Not long after beginning the trek down had we run into our own tracks from hiking up. We made it back to the bottom of the mountain with ease. I don’t doubt we could have made it back without our tracks; my manly instincts would have kicked in and I would have never needed to even ask for directions…right? But it was still nice to know that we “for sure” were heading in the right direction.

I was reminded about this incident later on when my Upward team went through the Gospel message and the salvation prayer (all teams did so this week). We had our prayer time and then following our prayer time I was able to meet with each boy to see if they “knew” which direction they were going. We talked about Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And then verse 13 of the same chapter says that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

The direction I want to go is the one where God is leading the way. We can be assured that God does not turn his back on us, he continues to be there waiting for us to open our arms to Him. Knowing that by following our tracks in the snow, I knew we would never be lead toward the wrong direction. The same happens when you put your sites on God. Following His plan for your life is exactly what He longs for. We can not get lost when we keep our eyes on Jesus. You may feel distracted but no matter how off course or distracted you feel, God is still waiting to help you get right back on track. No map required…good thing for most men.

A college student was heard to confess: “The thing that bothers me, is that I’ve received Christ as my Savior, but I have all the same problems I had before. I don’t have victory…It seems all I do is struggle, struggle, struggle, and it isn’t a pleasant experience. Jesus Christ is my Savior, but I don’ feel He’s real to me. I want to feel He’s alive to me, that He’s right here controlling and directing me as I try to walk with God.”

We have an example of this same problem in the life of the Apostle Peter. He tended to live by feeling and not walk by faith. He was reflecting immaturity and the fact that he had not advanced in his Christian walk. He was incredibly slow to catch on, insecure, loudmouthed, hot headed, and with his foot never far from his mouth. But Peter, having failed so miserably in life became repentant, broken and submissive. We see a picture of this changed man one morning after breakfast when Jesus begins to probe deeply into the quality of Peter’s commitment to Him. The Scriptural account is as follows in John 21:15-17, “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these”? “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Why did Jesus question Peter in this manner? He needed Peter to affirm his deepening faith. Indeed Peter was moving from living on milk, as a infant Christian, to taking on the meat of the Word. His love for Christ was not just a feeling but was becoming a strong walk by faith. .

Lets take a moment and do a self evaluation to see if there is a need to move from milk to meat in our Christian journey.

__I often feel like I’m standing still as a Christian

__I know I’m a Christian and Christ has definitely made some changes in my life. I think I should be more mature.

__I often feel frustrated at myself for yielding to the same temptation over and over again.

__Too often I live under the circumstances and fail to experience the joyful abundant life Jesus desires.

The steps to maturity are the same as Peter experienced, repentant, broken and submissive. The Christian life is a journey and it can be a joyful one as we live in obedience to our wonderful Lord.

Can anyone tell me what “stewardship” means? It’s basically the teaching from the Bible that everything we have belongs to God and that He asks us to use them as He would. We are to honor God with what we have. Pastor Casey tells me that you’ve been talking about this in Children’s Church—and we’ve been talking about it in our services in the sanctuary too. So, with what things are we to honor God? (Our money, our possessions, our bodies, our talents) This morning in my sermon I’m going to talk about how we are to be good stewards of our time.

In the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, we read in chapter 3 a section that begins—
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot…(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
God cares about how we use our time! God cares about how you use your time and He cares about how I use my time!

How many hours are there in a day? How many minutes in an hour? How many seconds in a minute? Did you know then that there are 1,440 minutes in a day and 86,400 seconds in a day?! That seems like a lot, but it goes by so quickly! And we only get to live each day and each hour and each minute once—and then it’s gone forever!

Sometimes we talk about “wasting” time. What are kids’ greatest time wasters? (TV, video games, computers) A recent study said that among all kids ages 8 to 18 they average watching TV 4 ½ hours every day! They also average 1 ½ hour on the computer and 1 ¼ hour playing video games. Now they may be doing other things while they’re doing that, and some of the computer time may be legitimate schoolwork, but still, that’s a lot of hours a day! It’s over 7 hours a day! (Have 24 kids line up to represent 24 hours/day; then have 7 turn around to illustrate how much of the day is consumed with media.)

Now, once that time is spent, you’re never going to get it back. Do you think that if that’s how you spend your time that maybe you ought to consider whether or not it’s wise for you to spend so much time this way? I think so. And the only way we can make a wise decision on this is to make sure we’re seeking direction from the Lord. So let’s bow our heads and do just that. (Pray) (Dismiss kids to sit with their parents.)

[Video: “In Time” (1:21)]

Let’s talk about being good stewards of our time this morning. And I’ll admit that it’s a bit interesting for me to be dealing with this topic today because I’m operating on a very tight time frame! I have a new granddaughter I’m anxious to go meet, and, in trying to arrange a flight out today, the only time that would work was a 1:13 flight out of Boise heading to Cleveland! So you’ll have to forgive me for darting out this morning, but I have places to go and people to meet, as they say! But I am glad not to live on such a tight time frame every day!

How do you feel when you hear someone say, “You should be a better steward of your time”? Do you feel a little guilty? Maybe weary? Maybe frustrated? Maybe stressed? If you’re like me, you think of all the things you should stop doing—liking watching TV too much—and remember all the important things you should be doing or should be doing better!

I’m guessing most of us have heard talks or read books about being better time managers. And I agree in principle with the idea—and I do believe that it’s a stewardship issue. But it seems like what the time management experts want to do is schedule every 15 minutes of every day—from morning until night! And the truth is that I’d go nuts if I had to approach every day in such a way! Most of my days are full from early morning until evening—and often late evening, but if I had to schedule every 15 minutes of my day there would seemingly be no time left to make a difference in the lives of people—not all of whom will schedule ahead when they see a crisis coming or when they suddenly need a word of encouragement! Someone posted in Facebook just this week the statement, “A day’s most important meetings may not be the one we’ve put on our calendar.” And I agree with that! Besides that, I truly believe that we need “breathing” time in life that brings balance into our lives.

It would be tempting to think that being good stewards of time simply depends on you and me developing better time management procedures in our lives—go to a time management seminar and put into practice all of their suggestions and surely we’ll be better stewards of our time! And I suppose some of us very much need to do that—so if the shoe fits, as they say, wear it. But I’m guessing that the greater need in most of our lives goes well beyond principles of efficiency.

You see, scripture actually says very little about being good stewards of our time. Proverbs specifically addresses the need for us to learn to be diligent (14:23) and we certainly are given a lot to do in the New Testament passages which challenge us as Christ’s Church to give ourselves to the accomplishment of His mission in our world and to do so everyday. What scripture does focus on is being good stewards of our hearts. The constant drumbeat of Proverbs declares, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). And it would seem then that if we want to be good stewards of our time that we need to first focus on our hearts.

This will require pausing a bit from our busyness and asking ourselves some tough questions. Questions like:
• Why am I doing this activity?
• What is it that God wants from me?
• Am I making this choice to satisfy someone else’s desires—even if they’re good ones—or am I hearing from God on this?
• Am I carving out in my week time to do the things that God wants me to do?
• How am I investing in the lives of people?

While western culture presses efficiency, I believe that being good stewards of our time goes beyond time management and way beyond matters of efficiency! Efficiency can be a deceptive master. In the short haul, learning to work more efficiently results in greater productivity. Over time, though, our hearts can become frayed from our constant activity. But the questions I suggested a moment ago have the potential for taking us a totally different direction. What’s most needed is learning to attune our hearts to the heart of God and letting Him guide the way in which we approach each day—rather than simply trying to manage our time.

Let me take you this morning to something written by the Apostle Paul. It’s found in the 5th chapter of the book of Ephesians. In this chapter, Paul has been challenging his readers to give careful attention to living as Children of Light—referring to Christ being the Light, the direction, the Guide, of our lives. He tells us to stay away from “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Then he says this, beginning at verse 15—
[Ephesians 5:15-17, NIV]

Let’s back up just a little and talk about Jesus’ perspective of time. Because Jesus was human, He lived within the framework of time and carried out His ministry in that framework. He didn’t ignore time—or He would have preached half of His messages during the middle of the night when the crowds weren’t around to hear Him. He accepted the constraints of time and the framework of time within a culture. And while His time was precious and brief, He never seemed to exhibit a sense of panic about time. If I had been Him, I would have been panicked about all that had to happen in the three short years of His ministry—and I would have stressed myself and everyone else out in the process running around frantically trying to reach as many people as possible in that short amount of time! I’d have layed awake at night stressing about the huge task! But time clearly did not threaten Jesus’ peace nor His focus in life.

While Jesus lived within the framework of time, Jesus wasn’t a slave to time. He honored its constraints but made time for what was most important. Actually, I can’t think of a time when He was too busy for people who truly needed Him, though He clearly needed and found “breathing room” in life when He pulled away from the crowds and even from His closest followers and quietly spent time with His Father.

And we must learn to do as Jesus did—make time for the matters that are important from the vantage-point of the Heavenly Father, living within the constraints of time and making the most of every opportunity. We also can learn from Jesus not to let time stress us. There is surely enough time in each day to accomplish everything the Lord wants us to accomplish.

There certainly are times when, in order to accomplish all that the Lord has put on our plates, that we are pressed from one thing to the next in tight fashion. Chances are, we all have days and perhaps even stretches of days like that. However, God gives us grace when we’re under the gun in such a way—and most of us have experienced that grace and strength of the Lord so many times when life seemed to mount up around us! But, if we look at the example of Jesus, we do not see One who lived in a sense of panic nor in a state of exhaustion. I believe God has better for us than that! Even Jesus found “breathing room” in life—and the truth is that our Heavenly Father knows that we need that! When you consider the huge challenge on Jesus’ shoulders during His short life on earth and the fact that He didn’t live life in a sense of panic, don’t you suppose we should be able to do the same—with the help of the Lord?

Let’s consider now the New Testament model for stewardship of time—after Christ ascended into heaven and turned His mission over to His followers, to people who weren’t that different from you or me. Let’s go back to the Ephesians passage. Paul says that we need to live as Children of Light—that’s what he said at verse 8, just prior to the passage we read. We are to “make the most of every opportunity.” We are not to be foolish, “but understand what the Lord’s will is.” When we apply this to the stewardship of our time, this does not mean running around frantically trying to do everything others expect of us. Rather it means that we need to carefully explore how God wants us to invest our time and then simply do so—as Children of Light. And Paul makes it clear that Light not only illuminates, it also transforms. It literally shapes who we are—and even who we aren’t!

Paul applies this first to the matter of living a life of purity. Read through the first part of chapter 5. He admonishes us to be sexually pure and chaste, and to not even let obscenities, foolish talk or coarse joking come from our mouths! That’s a novel thought in our culture today! (a whole other sermon!) He contrasts the Light of Christ with the darkness of this world apart from God—and instructs us to have nothing to do with “the fruitless deeds of darkness.” Rather, we are to spend our lives trying to figure out what pleases the Lord! Sounds like a plan, doesn’t it?! And while we are not to withdraw from this world, we are not to fall into its ways. And He acknowledges that when the Light of Christ shines into our world, it exposes sin for what it is—and we are to let the Light of Christ shine into our lives and let God expose what He wants to expose, in order that nothing will remain that will draw us into the “fruitless deeds of darkness.”

Because we as followers of Christ are indeed Children of Light, we must give such careful attention to how we live our lives. And as it relates to our topic this morning, we must allow the Lord to direct our ways. Each one of us must seek the heart and mind of God in how we are to invest our time and our energies! We must continually seek the heart and mind of God regarding the stewardship of our time!

We are to “make the most of every opportunity”! We are to “redeem” our time! To “redeem” something is to buy it back, so to speak—like someone sold into slavery would have been bought and set free. We are to buy back our time and set it free to do the work of Christ in this world! We would do well to apply the truth of Romans 12:1-2 to the stewardship of our time:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

Part of what I’m reminded of in this passage is that the ways of the Lord and what He desires for us and from us is often altogether different than “the pattern of this world.” Let me give you an example. Let’s just acknowledge that love itself isn’t generally very efficient!
• When your child woke up in the middle of the night crying from having had a bad dream, it wasn’t a very efficient use of your time to sit and hold her until she calmed down and went back to sleep, was it? But it was the loving thing to do. From our Heavenly Father’s perspective, you were being a good steward of your time—but apart from your love for your child, waking up in the middle of the night and sitting and rocking a crying child wasn’t a very efficient use of your time!
• In the midst of a busy, demanding day, you really don’t have time to deal with other people’s problems, do you? But when someone steps into your office, holding back tears as they quietly tell of some personal tragedy that has just occurred in their life, love demands you alter your schedule a bit to somehow address their pain. Love isn’t necessarily efficient—love always costs us something, and sometimes what it costs is our time.

You get the idea, don’t you? Being a good steward of my time requires that I tune in to God’s heart and see the opportunities to love those He puts in my life. Paul reminds us to “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity…” Only when we examine our lives in the light of biblical wisdom and in the light of the Holy Spirit’s Presence in our lives are we able to make the most of our time. Otherwise, we absorb the wisdom of our culture and get caught up in the kingdom of busyness.

May God deliver us from that! May He help each one of us be wise stewards of our time, bringing honor and glory to Him and truly making a difference in the lives of others! Let me encourage you to do exactly what we did with the kids a few minutes ago—ask the Lord to help us be good stewards of our time—of every day, every hour, even every minute. Let’s ask the Lord to guide us as we seek to honor Him with our time.

My problem is that I think I know enough about life and what it’s all about that I don’t ever need to ask for anyone’s advice. Ah, but I’ve noticed that the wiser I get in my old age the more I solicit other’s advice. I read this proverb one day in a devotional book by Chuck Swindoll which said; “A Freshman doesn’t know that he doesn’t know. A Sophomore knows that he doesn’t know. A Junior doesn’t know that he knows. A Senior knows that he knows.” I don’t know that I know which one of those stages I’m in right now in life. I’m pretty sure I’m not the Freshman and I know that I know I’m not the Senior.

So why am I blogging about this? Well, I guess because I watched a movie last Sunday night with our teen group – “To Save A Life”, in which the main character stood up in a youth group meeting and gave some very stern “unsolicited advice”. In the scene he said something to the effect of “If we’re not going to allow this stuff to change our lives then what are we doing here?” Well, what are we doing here? Why are you reading a blog on a church website? Why do you attend church? Why do you read the Bible? Is it all just a bunch of unsolicited advice to you? Or do you let it change your life? I’ll be honest, at times it’s been the former for me, but at other times and especially as of late it’s been the latter.

So here’s my bit of unsolicited advice for you; Read God’s Word, listen to Him when you pray, go to church, get involved with the Body of Christ, and let His love change your life. Hey, and if you don’t like it, re-read the first sentence in paragraph one.