Next week our children are going to make waves at VBS. They are going to learn how they can make a difference in the world by learning how God created them and how much God loves them. They will learn how important it is for them to not only know and accept the love of Jesus, but to share that love with others. God’s love, flowing through them, will make waves that will change lives and it’s time we do the same thing. This month let’s make some of our own waves and learn how we can make a difference by accepting for ourselves and sharing God’s love with others.
You might think that the way we would make a difference would be by doing something big, or loud, or profound. You might think I am going to talk about how we need to get busy and work harder and do more for the kingdom of God, but on this holiday weekend, I want to talk about how making a difference might actually start with our learning how to slow down.
Jesus clearly made waves in this world. His life and teaching challenged the religious views of His day. His love healed the sick, restored the outcast, and forgave sinners. His sacrifice on the cross burst open the gates of hell and destroyed the power of sin and death forever. Jesus was the most influential wave maker of all time. He changed the world, but He also never hurried. There is not one account of Jesus running in the Bible. He walked. Jesus spent His life walking and the one time we see Jesus riding an animal it wasn’t a fast horse, it was a donkey. Donkeys don’t run. You never see Eyeore run.
Jesus was never in a hurry. He never cut people off or raced from town to town. He engaged people in deep conversation and took part in long lunches. Jesus allowed Himself to be interrupted again and again by people in need. One of those interruptions took place when a man raced to Jesus and asked him to come with him and heal his daughter. I’m guessing the man wanted Jesus to hurry off with him. Let’s find a horse, let’s run to my house because my little girl is dying! It says Jesus went with him, but He didn’t hurry, He didn’t run, He walked.
In fact, we know Jesus didn’t hurry because there was such a huge crowd pressing in around Him that day that He couldn’t have hurried. There were so many people who were so close to Jesus that He didn’t see when someone touched Him. A woman who had been experiencing bleeding for 12 years had made her way through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus' robe and was healed. Jesus knew someone had been healed and He could have continued on his way to care for the dying girl, but instead He stopped.
Can you imagine being the father of the dying girl? The person had already been healed - why was Jesus stopping? Why was He taking the time to find out who it was? But Jesus wasn’t going to be hurried, there was more for Him to do right there and right then. So Jesus found the woman, made clear to all the people that she had been healed and that Her faith had restored her. He stopped to make sure this woman could now be part of the community. He took the time to call her a child of God and restore her dignity and self-worth, and then He started off again to help the girl.
The problem was that it was too late. The man was told that his daughter was dead and to not bother Jesus anymore. And what does Jesus do, He doesn’t run to the scene to help out, He just keeps walking. He doesn’t rush ahead worried or stressed out. He just keeps walking, and when He gets to the man’s home, He raises his daughter from the dead. Even during that chaotic day, Jesus wasn’t rushed. He took His time and cared for people along the way.
It’s amazing that the man who had the greatest impact on the history of the world never rushed. He never hurried. He never ran. Jesus never got stressed out or overwhelmed by all He wanted to do and all He had to do. He took his time and walked deliberately and intentionally and thoughtfully through life. Maybe the best way we can make waves is to learn how to slow down. Instead of trying to do more and work harder, maybe we need to figure out how to be still like Jesus.
In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
We don’t talk much about yokes, but a yoke is used to bind two animals together. So think about what it would be like to be yoked to Jesus. He’s not going to run at our pace, we are going to have to slow down to His pace. If we want to experience God’s power and strength, and if we are serious about walking with Jesus so that we can make the kind of waves He did in the world, then we first have to learn how to slow down and be deliberate and intentional. God is not going to work at our unsustainable pace, He is calling us to slow down and live at His pace.
In Psalm 23 we hear that God is our good shepherd and the one who leads us. Look at the very first thing the shepherd does:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He MAKES ME to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the STILL WATERS.
He restores my soul; Psalm 23:1-3a NKJV
He makes us lie down. God is not going to keep going at the pace we have set for ourselves, if we are serious about being in a relationship with God, and if we are serious about walking with Jesus, then we need God to slow us down. If we aren’t willing to slow down, we might just find God making us lie down - slowing us down Himself for our own good.
Maybe you have experienced that already. In the middle of a busy season you suddenly get sick and are forced to slow down, or you find yourself flat on your back with pain. We even say at times that these things are our bodies' way of telling us to slow down. We can choose to lie down and rest by still waters, or God can MAKE us lie down. Let’s choose to lie down. Let’s choose to rest.
We will never make waves, we will never make a real difference in this world, until we first learn how to walk with Jesus. Not run with Jesus, not ride full tilt with Jesus, but walk with Jesus. Making waves starts by resting by some still waters. God says, be still and know that I am God. Be still, but I know what you are thinking, I don’t have time to slow down.
I don’t have time to be still and then do all that I have to do in a week. I have a demanding job, kids to care for, parents to watch over, chores to do inside, chores to do outside, news to watch, blogs to read, and pictures to post. I have to shop and cook and then head to the gym to try and stay in shape because of all I just cooked and ate. I have commitments in the community, commitments here at church, obligations and expectations with my family, and while the thought of slowing down sounds great, it’s just not doable.
I get it. This is where most of us live. We are rushed and stressed, overwhelmed and overscheduled. We hurry from place to place and day to day, and yet find ourselves falling further behind and missing God’s grace and peace. If we want to experience the fullness of life and if we want to really make waves, if we want to make a difference in the lives of our children and parents, our families and friends, we need to find a better way, and that way is found in Jesus.
Do you know what the first followers of Jesus were called? Before they were called Christians, they were called people of the way. The way of Jesus. Jesus even said, I am the way and the truth and the life. The way of Jesus brings life. The way of Jesus makes a difference, so let’s start living the way of Jesus. Let’s yoke ourselves to Jesus and learn to walk with Jesus.
The way of Jesus wasn’t rushed, it was unhurried so that He could experience the rhythms of God’s grace all throughout His life.
The way of Jesus wasn’t to run and find himself far from God but to walk and to be still in the presence of God. It was the way of unbroken fellowship with God the Father
The way of Jesus wasn’t preoccupied. He wasn’t distracted by temporary things, reliving and regretting the past or worried about the future, He gave God and people His undivided attention in the moment.
The way to make waves is to embrace this unhurried, unbroken, undivided way of Jesus, and we start that by being yoked to Christ. Today, I want to invite you to stop. Slow down and come to Jesus. Lie down in green pastures. Be refreshed by still waters. You don’t have to earn this rest. You don’t have to strive for God’s peace, it is a gift. Come to Jesus. Walk with Jesus. Do life with Jesus and life His way. If we do, we will make some waves.
Next Steps
Refreshed by Still Waters
Read Psalm 23
● Choose to lay down in green pastures with God.
○ What might this look like for you this week?
● Choose to sit by still waters with God.
○ What might this look like for you this week?
Read Matthew 11:28-30
● What is a yoke?
● What does it mean for you to be yoked with Jesus?
● Will Jesus live at your pace?
● How can you slow your pace and WALK with Jesus?
How can slowing down help you make a positive difference in your family? In our community? In the world?
What ONE THING can you do differently this week so that you will slow down and WALK with Jesus?
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On Sunday, July 24, at both of our worship gatherings, we will provide an opportunity for people to recommit themselves to walking with Jesus by renewing their baptismal vows. If you have been baptized but want to recommit your life to Christ, please contact one of the pastors.
If you have never been baptized and would like to profess your faith in Christ as your Savior and commit to walking with Jesus in your life, please contact Pastor David Carter.
