Running on Empty

Why is it we can get so frustrated with the people around us?
Why is it that so many things can get us angry?
Why do we react so negatively when someone on the road is driving too slow, or doesn’t seem to know we’re they’re going? We might even call them names (names which we wouldn’t want to be called ourselves).
What about when the server behind the counter doesn’t make our sandwich quite the way we wanted it!
All this while we would have to admit that we’re a little short of perfection ourselves!!
What about the things we sometimes say about family members, neighbours, workmates, schoolmates, or Christian brothers & sisters?

You might say, as I might say, we’re only human after all!
But is that all that can be said?

Jesus has shined his light into our lives, given us of his grace, and offered to travel with us day by day. Jesus has called us into the service of the Kingdom of God – where, whether we like it or not, we are supposed to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of everyone we encounter.

This of course includes: the shop assistant who got our sandwich wrong, the server at Michel’s who made us a latte instead of a cappuccino, the check-out person at Coles who couldn’t pack our groceries properly, our neighbour who plays their music too loud, or the most annoying or uncooperative person at school, work or church.

Why are we here? Why has God created us? More to the point, why has God bothered to re-create us through Jesus? Answer > To share His love to all people – which isn’t just a statement about world evangelism – this obviously starts with the people we naturally encounter daily.

I would confess that if I personally have faults in this area, they are more likely to come out at home (when few people are watching) and be negatively directed at [my wife] Raelene, than at any other time. So what does this say about the state of my heart?

I’m only human!?! I think it actually says more.
I think it says that I have allowed myself to run on empty!

God has made a powerful lot of love available to me – how much of this have I been open to receive and apply in daily living?

If my car runs out of petrol, and therefore is just a useless hunk of metal, plastic and electronics … that is going nowhere, what do I need to do? Go to the petrol station and put some more petrol in the car and head off again!

If I find myself struggling to love others, then what do I need to do???
Go to the source of love, and seek to be refilled!

Our reading today [from Ephesians 4:29-5:2] expressed many important dynamics of living to the believers in the church in Ephesus, for the sake of the health of the church family there, but also for the sake of the integrity of their witness to the community at large.

(a) the control of the tongue, so that any words spoken would sure to be grace-filled and encouraging. Grace-filled words are words that take people closer to the source of spiritual grace. Encouraging words are those words that help people fulfil their potential in life, rather than withdrawing into isolation and despair.

(b) the removal of attitudes that are destructive to oneself and to others; often we prefer to hang on to certain bitterness toward another, or claim a certain sense of justice that gives us permission to remain angry or desire to get even, or feel so offended that we want things to go badly for another, or think we are so right that we can remain quarrelsome and unhelpful. This is rather than looking squarely at these things in terms of God’s grace and forgiveness – that He has already given to us, and wishes all others to experience as well. And we know that we cannot fully appreciate the benefit of forgiveness ourselves, while we hold back on forgiveness to others.

(c) adopting the attitude of kindness; so wonderfully depicted in the book of Ruth. That book was not just a lovely story, but a challenge to us all to adopt the practical everyday loving-kindness of God as exampled by Naomi, Ruth & Boaz. In this way we can truly be regarded as imitators of Jesus and of God.

We will fall back some days, but at least we will know that we are doing everything in our power to run our life with a full tank of fuel. We may even run out of fuel again in some places at some times, but at least we will know very clearly where to find the re-filling station this time around.

And, this is not to say that we should be pushovers for everyone who wants to take advantage of us (or put one over on us); rather this is about the overarching dynamic that directs our lives ie. God’s love! [The love that is truly kind will not hesitate to confront any issue that needs to be confronted, but will do so in a way that differentiates between the person and the problem. The love that is kind can show respect for the person while dealing with any problem. And of course, the first issues that should be confronted are “the logs in our own eyes”.]

We need to think about expressing God’s love in the same way as we are receiving it!

· God’s love will put up with irritating situations, and go on being kind. This is more than being patient with the annoying situation – this is actually seeking the best still for all involved in my irritation.
· God’s love will continue to be forgiving, even when the cost of such forgiveness involves personal sacrifice.

Each morning we should pray something like > “Help me today to open my being to Your invading love – then I can kindly cope with anything that comes to me.”

Having been penetrated by God’s love we are then truly caught up in something larger than ourselves – the higher purpose of life – what we were made for. When we experience God’s love working through us to the benefit of another we can knowingly say “I was made for this”!

Let us stand with those who our humanness may judge to be frustrating, ineffective, hopeless or in darkness, and allow them to see God’s love in us – a love that is more about what they can become (in Christ), than the behaviour that we now see.

After all, Jesus died as much for them, as he did for us.
God wants to relate to them as His children, just as much as He does with us.

So, if you feel that you’re running on empty the next time you face the annoying behaviour of another, remember:
· That God loves that person (as much as He does you)
· That God wants to love that person through you
· Appreciate how much God loves you – remember briefly all the times you have offended God – and then recall how much God is still seeking to love you (forgetting about all those offences following the forgiveness you sought and freely received)
· See Jesus on the cross loving that person annoying you
· Allow God’s love to so infiltrate you that you can’t help being kind to that person anywaySeek to walk in the light of Jesus (for all to see).

Jesus, Light of the World - a sermon on John 9:1-41

Introduction

Here is the story of a man who was blind from birth receiving his sight through
Jesus. So on one level this was a beautiful glimpse into the compassionate, life-transforming nature of Jesus.

But there is more to this text than just a miracle. This text teaches us about the importance of spiritual sight, and that it is Jesus who brings light into where
there was previously only spiritual darkness.

Further, there is the encouragement to the first century followers of Jesus (for whom this Gospel was originally written). As these early ‘Christians’ tried to express their faith in Jesus, and participate in Christian groups in their homes alongside their worship in the synagogues, they were being excommunicated from the religion of the Jews, being persecuted for their faith in Jesus, and stringently told of their error in giving their first allegiance to Jesus. [Those who gave their highest allegiance to Jesus infuriated leaders of the Jewish religion.]

To be denied synagogue worship was to become a religious and cultural outcast … ostracised from mainstream society, where even family and friends would disassociate themselves, and people would not buy from or sell to them (nor employ them).

In this text we hear Jesus showing those opposing his followers to be in error and darkness; and those who were being oppressed were actually in the “light”. This gospel reassures these early Christians that they were making the right choice in following Jesus (even if it meant being ostracised or persecuted) because Jesus offered true light and his opponents were in the dark.

So as we consider this text we look at it through three levels of interpretation:
1. The story of a man who was blind from birth receiving his sight through a compassionate Jesus.
2. The importance of spiritual sight – it is Jesus who brings light into where there was previously only darkness.
3. The encouragement to the first century followers of Jesus, who as they tried to express their faith in Jesus were being persecuted. [This third level is also hugely relevant to us at any time we are criticised for our faith, or doubt that we have
aligned ourselves wisely.]

Text

You could imagine that Jesus was moved with compassion as soon as he saw this man who had been blind all his life. But when he heard the question that his disciples asked (in v.2), that compassion would have even gone up a further cog, through appreciating the stigma that this blind man was living under. The community around him believed the theory that for this man to be in such a state, either he or his parents must have sinned, bringing God’s wrath upon him in the form of blindness. This was the belief of the time – a very primitive, uninformed belief. Whereas it may be that the collective human sin that has so badly affected God’s creation is responsible overall for such medical problems as blindness, we would know that this situation can not necessarily be directly related to an individual’s sin. [A misunderstanding of Exodus 20:5-6, seems to be corrected in Ezekiel 18:19-20.] The cause of his blindness being his own sin was of course a ridiculous notion; as the man was born blind how could it have been his own sin – unless we believe in sin in the mother’s womb.

The people saw someone deserving of derision; the disciples saw an unsolved dilemma; Jesus saw a child of God in need.

Jesus, before giving this man his sight, took the opportunity to try to set some theology straight. God is not vindictive, rather wants to promote a relationship
with all people.

It would be dangerous to take from this text (v.3b) that this man had only been born blind so that one day when Jesus came across his path God’s power could be seen. Rather, better to understand that we are all born to come into a “believing” relationship with God, through which God will be glorified. And this man’s blindness, although regrettable from a human standpoint, was not going to limit God from working in this man’s spirit.

The question as to who was responsible for this blindness is actually the wrong question – this situation rather serves as an opportunity for the healing power of God to be demonstrated … through an exchange between this blind man and Jesus. These words of Jesus (v.3) were an attempt to allow people to grasp even more Jesus’ unique representation of God. As Jesus would bring light out of darkness for this
man in a physical sense, this was a demonstration of bringing light into darkness
in the spiritual realm as well.

Here is a man forced to beg at the temple gate (in Jerusalem) if he is to survive life, at the same time having to experience a degree of ridicule (because of certain viewpoints about the origin of his blindness). Both to express compassion to a man who was poor and oppressed, and to demonstrate light impacting darkness, Jesus gave eyesight to this man. What was missing in this man’s life from his point of birth … was now given to him by Jesus … as yet another demonstration that Jesus was the very “Word of God”. This was no trick, as Jesus used saliva, which was regarded as having healing qualities, to demonstrate that a remarkable change was to take place. The making of “mud” perhaps recalls a man being formed from the dust of the ground (in Genesis 2:7). Jesus very publicly supplied what had not been formed (for whatever unknown reason) in the womb, thus showing the ongoing creativity of God (available right through a person’s life).

The man himself would have to show trust in the power of Jesus to transform reality, by going off to “wash in the pool of Siloam” at the south end of the temple area. Although he hadn’t asked to be healed, this man seemed to understand that he had been remarkably touched by God. The man seemed to head off to “the pool” without hesitation. We don’t read about this, but this man would have needed help – still blind, with mud over his face; you could imagine him excitedly calling out for help … ‘get me to the pool of Siloam’!

It had been known for people who had been blinded through life to get their eyesight back, but never had anyone born blind gained their sight. No wonder the neighbours and acquaintances alike couldn’t believe what had happened! If this was true, then the one responsible had performed the impossible.

Some neighbours (probably those who had guided the blind man to “the pool”) then took the now sighted man to the Pharisees (v.13ff). They were their leaders and should be able to explain this astonishing outcome. The Pharisees (those conservative self-seeking religious officials) however had a problem. The remarkable – impossible had happened, and it was being said that this Jesus was responsible; they wouldn’t want this Jesus who was already upsetting the ‘applecart’ to gain any positive notoriety out of this. So, they would seek to discredit Jesus because he had administered this healing on the Sabbath – for making “mud” was considered the sort of work forbidden on the Sabbath, and only life-threatening conditions should have been attended to on this day.

Given the opportunity, Jesus may have taught (like he did in Mark 2:27) that “the Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath” – meaning that the whole point of the Sabbath was to allow people to rest and reflect and worship God, not to be unnecessarily constrained. Jesus would have argued that there was no good reason why this man should suffer for even one more day.

There was division among the Pharisees, as some realised that any real Sabbath-breaking sinner could not have performed such a sign of God’s presence. When the newly sighted man was asked what he thought, he courageously identified Jesus as “a prophet” – showing that he was on the path to real faith. [Perhaps this man knew the story of God’s prophet Elisha cleansing Naaman from leprosy through washing in the Jordan River (2 Kings 5).] This man’s brave statement showed that he had already surpassed the Pharisees in understanding God’s ways!

Then we see those Jewish leaders who were persisting in their unbelief [they were determined sceptics even in the face of clear evidence], intimidating the man’s parents … trying to find a fault in the formerly blind man’s story (v.18ff). They continued to harass the now sighted man, wanting him to retract his evidence. This man didn’t have all the theological answers, but knew one thing for sure – since birth he was blind – since meeting Jesus he could see! [A.M. Hunter wrote that: “Intellectual problems about Christ’s person do not need to be solved before people can receive his benefits”.] The light had been turned on for this man, and he understood this as the work of God. At the same time the Pharisees were seen to be left in the dark.

The Pharisees “drove [this man] out” (v.34b) – seeking to exclude him and silence him, so that no-one would again hear his testimony. However the first recipients of this gospel heard his testimony, and how he was able to easily point out the contradictions of those arguments set against Jesus. We too hear this man’s
testimony, which encourages us and confirms our faith against those who would degrade the name of Jesus.

And when Jesus heard that this newly sighted man had been ‘driven out’ of mainstream life, he went looking for him (v.35) to encourage him and take him forward in his faith. This would actually be the first time this man would see Jesus – the last time he was with Jesus, he had to leave for “the pool of Siloam” with mud all over his eyes. Jesus would want to embrace this one who was moving from darkness to light … in two ways (physically and spiritually) and give him even more insight and light to go on with.

In the same way, Jesus would ‘come’ to those in the early church being persecuted, and also to all those (of all generations) who were sincerely seeking to follow him
and finding it tough. Jesus will always ‘be there’ when needed!

This new encounter with Jesus, allowed this man to express his new found faith and whole-of-life commitment as he said “Lord, I believe”. This man can now wholeheartedly worship Jesus and grow in the light.

It is light that enables a seedling to grow from a tiny green spike, pushing its way up through the damp mould of the forest floor, to become a majestic tree that combs the clouds with its up-stretched limbs. This light of Jesus will draw us out of ourselves into the rich potential embedded in our creation.

And, as verses 39-41 point out, Jesus is the point of decision between living in light and living in darkness. Those open to the grace and ways of God through Jesus are brought into the light and enter “eternal life”. On the other hand, those who are content with their own way of seeing and doing, condemn themselves to remaining
in darkness.

Even those who are involved in what we might call “religious activity” (like the Pharisees were) can be so wrapped up in their way of doing things, that they actually miss the “light”. In excluding so many from their presence, some such Pharisees actually excluded themselves from the presence and blessing of God. If only they were prepared to admit their blindness, then Jesus would be free to open their eyes.

“Open our eyes Lord – we want to see Jesus;
to reach out and touch him, and say that we love him.

Open my eyes Lord – I want to see Jesus;
to reach out and touch him, and say that I love him.”

Verse 38 > “[The newly sighted man] said, ‘Lord, I believe.’ And he worshipped him”.

Jesus – “you’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me”.

Amen!

Jesus, the Bread of Life - Comments on John 6:25-36

This is a passage that very much confronts the reality of our faith, and challenges where we have placed Jesus in our lives.

Is Jesus central to us?
Why have we embraced Christianity?
Why have we become involved in church?

If I might start toward the end of our text and then work back!

Jesus says in 6:35, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty".

This verse is very poetic, with two parallel statements … that highlight the need to express active faith in Jesus if the real spiritual needs of life are going to be satisfied. Those who will lead fulfilling lives will be those who have escaped spiritual hunger and thirst, by encountering, experiencing and believing in Jesus.

To “believe” in Jesus is not just to concede he lived, or give intellectual assent to his importance; to “believe” in Jesus is to place our life in his hands. This is so crucial, because whether each human being realises it or not, their greatest need
is to truly experience the presence of God in their lives. And how would we really expect to survive the pressures of life without Jesus! It’s hard for most people who have come to know Jesus to imagine how one could cope without him!!

John’s Gospel has already taught that Jesus is the “living water”. In chapter 4, a Samaritan woman, having encountered Jesus at a well, began to understand that Jesus could cure her spiritual thirst … like no other thing or person could do – not the water she was drawing from the well, not the many men she had been in relationship with, not her traditional religion or culture – only the person of Jesus himself.

We will begin to understand this more as we consider the lead up to Jesus’ statement here in 6:35. Chapter 6 begins with the incident of the “feeding of the five thousand”. John’s Gospel highlights here how Jesus tested where his disciples were at (at this point in time in their journey). When faced with the need to feed this very large crowd – Philip responded that (even if they had such resources) six month’s wages would not be enough to buy such a crowd even a crumb or two each. Then having discovered a boy who had brought his own provisions of five loaves and two fish, Andrew could not see how that would be of any help in the face of such a huge number of people.

Now, being a fairly rational thinker, I might have thought the same as Philip and Andrew did, so we won’t judge them too harshly; but in the face of the presence of Jesus – this was just far too limited human thinking! “Belief” in Jesus just cannot
be constrained by such human rationality.

We know the result – all the five thousand men, plus the women and children present, were all fed to capacity, with basket fulls left over. The ‘doggy bags’ could now come out, and the ‘left-overs’ would feed other family members and neighbours the next day. The expansiveness of this miracle pointed beyond remarkable hospitality to something even bigger > that Jesus could satisfy the deepest spiritual need within each human being. Jesus didn’t need six month’s wages, nor any substantial amount of food, to truly meet people’s needs.

Whereas the disciples might have been gaining in their understanding, the gathered crowd was not able to interpret this sign for all that it indicated! In 6:14-15, this crowd was identifying Jesus merely as a “prophet” (a significant religious figure) or as a potential “king” (a human political leader) – all too insufficient understandings. Jesus was the very “Word of God”, the source of “light”, the way to Creator God. [Later (v.42), even after Jesus’ compelling testimony, they continued to find it difficult to see beyond the human Jesus … son of Joseph and Mary, to anything more significant.]

This lack of openness to new understanding is intensified by the crowd’s confusion over the incident that followed (“Jesus walking on the water”). It was known that the disciples had taken the only boat and gone to the other side, leaving Jesus behind up the mountain. Yet, the next morning, there Jesus was with his disciples! Even though the evidence was right in front of them, the people were not able to interpret what this really meant.

Jesus knew that the crowd didn’t ‘get it’, and also knew why! When they queried when and how Jesus had got to the other side of the lake (verse 25), rather than explaining, Jesus challenged the reason why they would be chasing Jesus all over the place. And this reason was not to accept the true significance of Jesus and believe in him, but rather get for themselves whatever they could out of him (according to their own human agenda). In verse 26, Jesus answered them: "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs [that you are prepared to interpret correctly], but [simply] because you ate your fill of the loaves [– or because you got your stomachs filled for free]". The crowd cannot see beyond the actual food, to the presence of God in Jesus that this feeding miracle reveals.

If it’s not to indulge our own human agendas, then why was it that God sent Jesus into the midst of humanity? Why is God calling us to Him through His presence in Jesus??

It’s because God wants to deal with what’s happening deep within us (not just our dietary requirements)! And so many people just don’t want to face this concept of inner transformation; they much prefer mere ‘window-dressing’!! Some people will continue to want more and more ‘signs’ of Jesus’ presence and significance (like we see with the “crowd” in 6:30-31), whilst never really being prepared to confront their own (desperate) need.

So it wasn’t the physical bread that was important, but rather Jesus himself – the
very ‘bread of life’ – the one able to address life’s real needs and necessities, not necessarily just our perceived wants and desires.

Jesus says in verse 27: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life" – meaning don’t waste your time on ‘window-dressing’ and ‘appearance management’, trust your deepest needs into the handsof Jesus, so that your life can get ‘on track’ – so that life can be experienced in all its (spiritual) fullness. And it’s only Jesus who can do this for us (v.27c)!

What Jesus asks of us is for us to “believe” in him with all our heart (with all our heart, soul, mind and strength) – that we neither look to the right nor to the left, but focus directly on Jesus. Life becomes very difficult and confused if we have half an eye on Jesus, and the rest of our sensory system in other places. This way, we probably would still know how we should live, but find it increasingly difficult to ‘pull it off’!

Judas was a biblical example of not quite having Jesus central as “bread of life”,
still having his own agenda in mind; wanting to in some ways acknowledge Jesus, but still chart his own course. And we know how that turned out!

It’s interesting to note that wherever Jesus calls us to follow him, he does not do so without understanding the temptations of taking a different path. As we read in Hebrews 4:15: "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin". This was played out in the gospel story; as Jesus was preparing for his earthly ministry in the wilderness, he was tempted to satisfy his own hunger with bread – but resisted this temptation to succumb to a personal human agenda, remaining committed to the will of God. Matthew 4:2-4 reads: "[Jesus] fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread'. But [Jesus] answered, 'It is written - One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'". Jesus would multiply bread and fish as of sign so many would believe and come to know God, but would not create bread from stone only to satisfy a personal desire that would tend to disrupt the purposes of God.

“Eternal Life” comes from being wholistically centred on Jesus, allowing all facets
of our life (family, work, study, social, community) to come into under his Lordship – ie. under Jesus’ supervision.

As we look at verse 28, we could understand the people picking up Jesus concept of work from verse 27, Jesus saying that the hearers should be working for “the food
that endures for eternal life” (like the building of treasures in heaven in Matthew’s gospel) – then asking about he nature of that work. The nature of that work is to “believe” in Jesus. And to show us that all the human effort in the world will not ‘cut it’, this work of believing in Jesus is described by Jesus as a “work of God”. In other words it is God working in us that actually allows us to believe in Jesus.

Sure, there are many responsibilities for us to address as followers of Jesus, there is a very large mission to participate in – but our experience of “eternal life” (here and now) can only really begin as we respond to God’s offer of grace to us by believing in Jesus, and focussing all our attention on him.