Last
year I ran in my first half marathon. It
was the Marine Corp Historic Half Marathon in Fredricksburg, VA and here is a picture of all the
people who were waiting in front of me at the start,
and here are all the people waiting behind me.
I was anxious but I was ready, but being
ready didn’t just mean waking up early that morning and riding the bus to the
start. Begin ready started five years
earlier when got up from my couch one afternoon because I realized I needed to
get moving. Only being active 2 weeks
out of the year when I was on vacation was not going to keep me healthy so I
got up, went outside and tried to run 1 mile.
It wasn’t pretty – but it was a start.
My
first goal was a 5k (which is 3.2 miles), which I did about 3 months later, and
then over the course of the next few years I begin to think about doing a 10K
and then thought maybe I could do a half marathon which is 13.1 miles. I could see myself doing it and so I kept the
vision alive. I kept telling myself, I
could do this, I could run that far. While
the right attitude got me off the couch and I had a vision of running a half
marathon, nothing would have happened if at some point I didn’t get out the
door and actually run. There had to be
some action. That morning in
Fredricksburg I was ready to run, but the reason I was ready was because of an
attitude that motivated me, a vision that kept me focused and action that pulled
it all together. To be ready for
anything in life, marriage, a job, starting school or walking in faith we need
the right attitude, the right vision and the right actions.
Now
let’s turn to the Bible. If there is one
thing that Jesus makes clear it is that some day He is going to return. The day and hour are not known, it has
already been over 2000 years and who knows it could be 2000 more, but the Bible
is clear that Christ is going to return and when he does we will have to give
an account of how we chose to live our lives.
On that day, we will all stand before God and he is going to ask us if
we were faithful. Are we ready to answer
that question? If we want to be ready to
say, Yes God, we were faithful, then what Jesus tells us is that we need the
right attitude, the right vision and the right actions.
It
all starts with having the right attitude and what I mean by that is it all
starts by building our lives on the absolute truth that God loves us. The right attitude, Jesus tells us, is
knowing that God loves us and that God wants to give us all that he has. Look at Luke
12:32. The attitude that needs
to drive us in life should be the knowledge that God loves us and that God
wants to give us the fullness of his kingdom.
Think about that for a moment. God
wants to give us everything he has and all that he is. God wants to give us love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. God wants to give us deep and lasting
relationships of love and trust. God
wants to gives us laughter and freedom.
God wants to gives us the power of transformation and forgiveness. God wants to give us everything he has – his
kingdom, and knowing God wants us to have all this needs to be the attitude
that gives shape and form to everything in our lives.
Being
ready for the return of Jesus isn’t about doing all the right things, it is first
and foremost about trusting in God’s love for us. Our faith and all the faithful actions God
calls for don’t flow from a list God has for us to do, it flows from the heart
God has for us, it flows from God’s love for us. The right attitude comes when we accept God’s
love for us. It’s knowing and trusting
that God is for us and God’s deep desire, his good pleasure, is to give us the
fullness of his life which is his kingdom.
This
attitude starts the process, but to be ready for Christ also requires the right
vision and Jesus tells us that vision comes when we keep our eyes on the things
of God. Look at Luke 12:33-34. Jesus
is not only calling us to look beyond the things of this world, he is also
calling us to look beyond our own needs.
When we make a purse for ourselves we are not only storing up treasure
on earth but most of the time we are storing it up treasure for ourselves and
this is not God’s vision. God’s vision is
always thinking about the other person first, it is always giving to meet the
needs of the other person first. Think
about John 3:16, for
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. God wasn’t thinking about himself, he gave
himself away for us and this selfless vision needs to be part of our vision.
Last
week the Bishop of Sierra Leone was visiting and he stayed with me at the
parsonage. On Saturday night we drove
into the garage and he said to me, I love
your garage. I wasn’t really sure
what he meant by that, but then he said what he liked was that it wasn’t full
of stuff. People here accumulate too much stuff, he said. He then went on to say that he only has two
pairs of shoes. I don’t need any more than 2, he said, and when I get a new pair I give my old pair to one of my pastors who is
so happy to get a new pair of shoes.
Suddenly I began to see things a little differently. My vision changed. First of all, I realized just how much stuff
I really do have and how blessed I am that as a pastor I have more than one
pair of shoes and clothes to wear and a home to live in and a car to
drive. The reality is that many of my colleagues
around the world don’t have any of those things.
Suddenly
what became important to me, my vision, wasn’t trying to get more for me here
and now, it wasn’t about filing a purse to help me feel safe and secure, it was
how I could start sharing what I had with others. I think this is what Jesus means when he says
make purses that do not wear out. We
shouldn’t try to gather up stuff here – we should find ways to love and care
for others because those acts of kindness and grace are the true gifts and
treasures and they aren’t just treasures to those who receive them, they are treasure
in heaven to us and they are the things that will last.
So
how do we cultivate this kind of vision?
I’m not sure this vision of caring for others first and not finding
security and pleasure in things here comes natural to us, so how do we keep our
focus on the things of God? I’ll be
honest, I don’t know because this is something I struggle with as well, but I
have 2 thoughts. The first is that if we
want to keep our eyes on the things of God we need to keep our eyes on
God. Anything that helps us think about
and see God will help us focus on the kingdom of God. This is why worship, prayer and Bible study
are so important. These things all help
us keep the right perspective. So if our
treasure is going to be in heaven we have to look to heaven and keep our eyes fixed
on Jesus.
The
second thing that can help us keep the right vision is to stop looking at
ourselves and start looking at others. Let
me say that again, we have to stop looking at ourselves and start looking at the
needs and lives of others. This is what
Bishop Yamabsu helped me to do. When he
mentioned giving shoes to his pastors I suddenly stopped thinking about what I
might want or need and I began to see a brother or sister who would be excited
just to get a new pair of shoes. At the
Global Leadership Summit this week we heard about children being sold into
slavery, children being mutilated as part of witch doctor’s rituals. We heard about pastor’s risking their lives
to preach the gospel and people struggling just to survive. Seeing someone else’s situation can change
our vision. We spend way too much time
thinking about ourselves. We spend way
too much time thinking about what we deserve, what we need, what we want and how
we should have all those things everyone else has and how unfair it is that we
don’t. As long as our eyes are fixed on
us in any way shape or form - we can’t see God.
But when we stop looking at ourselves and start looking at others we
actually start seeing God. Isn’t that
what Jesus said?
Jesus
said that when we see someone who is hungry and needs food, we see Jesus. He said when we see someone naked and needing
clothes, we see Jesus. Jesus said when
we see someone thirsty and we give them water, we see Jesus. Anytime we see the needs in someone else,
whether those needs or physical, emotional or spiritual, we are seeing Jesus
and that helps keep our eyes on the things of God and this is the right vision. To keep moving forward in our faith and to be
ready means having the right vision and this vision is seeing the things of God
and the kingdom of God.
So
attitude get’s us started and vision keeps us going but the thing that brings
it all together is action. In fact, let
me say it this way, attitude and vision without action is dead. That’s what James said, faith without works is dead. We need action and Jesus says this too, look
at Luke 12:35-37. In Jesus day one of the greatest celebrations
any community could have was a wedding and a wedding banquet could go on for
days. So the picture Jesus gives us here
is of the household servants who want to be ready when the master returns from
a wedding banquet but they don’t know when that might be. It could be today. It could be tomorrow or days away. And the master could return early morning or
in the middle of the night. The servants
had no idea when the master would return so they had to be ready all the time
and being ready required some actions. They
had to be dressed and ready to serve and they had to have their lamps lit.
So
what kind of actions do we need to engage in if we want to be ready? For the servants in Jesus illustration, being
dressed and ready to serve and having lamps lit was just part of their
jobs. It was a normal every day activity
which tells us that the actions we need to focus on aren’t things that are
unique and special, they are the everyday ordinary actions of our life and faith. Here at Faith Church we have tried to define
these actions in our core values of connect, serve and grow.
To
be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ means that we connect with God through
worship, prayer and Bible study, but it also means that we connect with the
people God has placed in our lives. We learned
last week that in order to stand strong we need to stand together which means
we need to connect with the people of God.
If you are feeling disconnected these days then do something about
it. Don’t wait for someone else to act –
act yourself. Step up and get connected
to a small group or ministry team. Step
up and reach out to others who might also feel disconnected – form a small
group or ministry team. Sign up today to
help with the blessing of the backpacks.
Following
Jesus also means that we serve and we serve God by working
for the things God desires and God tells us what he desires, look at James 1:27 and Micah 6:8. Want to know how to serve God? How about meeting the needs of widows and
orphans? What about working for justice
in our community or around the world?
There are all kinds of causes we can join if we want to – from animal
cruelty to child slavery, we just have to step up to the plate and act. There is no right way to serve because God
lays different passions on each of our hearts, but we have to be willing to
listen to our hearts and stop looking at what we need and start looking at what
others need.
To
be disciples of Jesus also means that we need to grow deeper in our faith and
this doesn’t just happen – it happens when we give ourselves radically to
God. The times I have grown most in my
faith were when I stepped out and did things I never thought I could do. It was when I got on bus and headed to
Yellowstone National Park for a summer to work and serve God. It happened when I gave up my job and went to
seminary. It happened when I finally
agreed to serve a local church and showed up at my first appointment in
Altoona.
We
grow most when we push ourselves beyond what is comfortable for us and step out
to do those things we don’t think we can do.
It’s when we step out in faith and commit to tithing the full 10% of our
income to God. It’s when we show up at that
first small group meeting when we have never studied the Bible in our lives or
walk into a room full of strangers in a new Sunday School class. It’s showing up at the Faith Centre to help
hand out food or agreeing to serve on a mission team or even go on a mission
trip. We grow the most when we stretch
ourselves beyond what is comfortable and simply say YES to God.
The
only way I was able to run 13.1 miles last May was because I pushed myself
beyond what I thought I could do. It
happened the first day I got off the couch and tried to run a mile, and then
continued the next day when I went out to run again. It happened when I came back after injuries
and when I ran on those days I didn’t feel like running. Being ready for that race didn’t require me
to do anything spectacular, I just had to keep putting one foot in front of the
other. And that’s what it means for us to
be ready in our faith. It means we stay
faithful in worship and continue on in prayer.
It means we give and serve in ways we never thought possible for us. It means reaching out to love others because we
have experienced the power of God’s love for us. When we do this, we are ready and when the
day comes and we stand before Jesus, he will delight in giving us his
kingdom.
Next Steps
Are you ready?
Attitude
Many
times Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.”
·
What
things cause you to be afraid and anxious?
·
How
can God’s love for you help ease those fears?
·
How
can God’s love bring your strength & courage?
Recall
the ways God has provided for you in the past and use this list to remind you
of the ways God will be there for you in the future.
Vision
Keeping
our eyes on the kingdom of God requires us to look at Jesus and others.
·
Take
time this week to look to Jesus. Devote
time to prayer and read the parables Jesus told about the Kingdom of God: Matthew 13,18:23-35, 20:1-16, 22:2-14,
25:1-30.
·
Take
time to look at the needs of the people around you? What practical steps can you take to meet
those needs?
Action
Being a
disciple of Jesus means connecting to
God and one another, serving Christ
and growing deeper in our faith. What specific actions can you take this month
to
·
Connect__________________________________
·
Serve
____________________________________
·
Grow_____________________________________
