Sermon Preached: 9/2/2012
Sermon Series: Kingdom Basics: Growing More like Jesus
Basic #1: Be Formed Biblically
Several years ago when Sarah was
still an infant Marcia and I had chance to watch our first house being built
from the ground up. One evening, just
after the land had been cleared I rode over in my small Ford Ranger to the lot
to see the progress. As the sun was
going down, I decided to get a better look from the inside of the lot. Instead of getting out of my truck, I steered
my truck onto the cleared lot.
In case you didn’t know – because I
clearly didn’t – the islands around Beaufort do not have any red clay, solid
soil. Instead, the entire top soil is
loose, dry sand. I drove onto the lot
confident in my little truck to plow through the turned up soil. Instead, I made my way into the middle of the
lot with a good amount of momentum, but soon – like quick sand – the sand
overcame my truck. My back tires sank
deep into the sand and the harder and more determined I pressed the accelerator
– the deeper my little truck and me became.
In my youthful enthusiasm I became stuck. The harder I tried; the stucker I
became.
In case you’ve never had to call a
couple of friends to come help you get unstuck in the middle of the night – while
trying not let your wife know of your ineptitude – let me share one small piece
of advice. It doesn’t end well. Your friends spend most of their time with
you laughing hard at you with little effort actually getting you out of the
sand. And – our wives will always
discover our ineptitude – so it’s best just not to try and maintain our
superman ego.
I have experienced times in my
spiritual life and journey that have felt very similar to my truck stuck in
South Carolina sand. While simply living
my life – doing what comes naturally – my confident spiritual life suddenly
begins to sink. Like my tires digging
deeper in the sand, the harder I try to get myself unstuck from this spiritual
pit, the deeper I become. And soon, my
stuck spiritual life becomes my normal state of affairs. I go about life as normal – worship, family, church
programs, work – but I am not going anywhere spiritually. I’m stuck.
If religious surveys of American
Christians are to be believed – I would expect many of us have been or may be
even now in a place of spiritual stuckness.
The question we face – like the
phone call I made to my friends that night – is how do I get unstuck? Ultimately, God brings us out of our
spiritual pits, but we can prepare ourselves for God’s movement. What things can I do to prepare for God to move
me from a stuck spiritual life to a vibrant spiritual life again? How can I grow more like Jesus? What spiritual practices can I establish that
will allow God to mature my faith and my life?
Several years ago, Willowcreek
Community Church outside of Chicago began to ask similar questions. Specifically, they wanted to find out if all
of the efforts and investments they were making as a church into people –
worship, small groups, fellowship, and activities – were really helping people
grow to be more like Jesus. People were
showing up to activities and programs, but were the programs successful at
maturing Christians.
The leadership assumed – like many
us would – that the more active a person is in church – the more mature they
are becoming as a Christian. What they
discovered from their data driven survey – was there is no correlation between
church/ministry attendance and spiritual maturity. In other words – the more you attend church
doesn’t necessarily mean the more like Jesus you are growing. Just because we are involved in church
doesn’t mean we are not stuck spiritually – doesn’t mean we are growing in our
spiritual maturity. Or to use the
language from the last couple of weeks – Church attendance does not equal
transformation into Kingdom People.
To address this spiritual stuckness
in their church, Willowcreek identified 4 continuums (or stages or places) in
our faith walk. These 4 continuums and a
short description are in your worship guide:
Exploring Christ:
“I believe in God, but I’m not sure about Christ. My faith is not a significant part of my
life.”
Growing in Christ:
“I believe in Jesus and I’m working on what it means to get to know
him.”
Close to Christ:
I feel really close to Christ and depend on him daily for guidance.”
Christ-Centered:
My relationship with Jesus is the most important relationship in my
life. It guides everything I do.”
The church then began to rethink the
purpose of their activities at their church.
Rather than being satisfied with just having people come to church, they
began to focus on how to we as a church move people into spiritual
maturity? How do we help them move out
of a state of spiritual stuckness?
Where would you place yourself in this continuum? How long have you been there? What have you done with the faith given to
you by your parents or your church as you grew?
How has your faith grown since you were a teenager? Do you ever feel spiritually stuck?
Here’s the Good News:
Even in our spiritual stuckness Jesus is still at work. We do not have to remain stuck in childhood
or teenage faith – God invites us to an adventure of faith. This is what becoming Faith Walking Kingdom
Seekers is all about: Allowing Jesus to
pull us out our stuckness into a new life of faith.
Willowcreek discovered several
catalysts – change agents – which initiate spiritual movement in our
lives. These are spiritual beliefs and
attitudes – like being formed biblically; organized church activities – like
worship attendance; personal spiritual practices – like prayer; and spiritual
activities with others – such as Sunday School.
These basics can pull us out of the sand of our spiritual lives and
strength us for a new journey of faith.
Over the next 7 weeks, we’ll talk
about some of these catalysts which I am calling Kingdom Basics. Kingdom basics are not new. In fact they will feel familiar and
simple. However, when we return to the
basics, when we don’t think they for granted anymore, basics can radically
transform lives.
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to
meet the new school superintendent. Mr.
Cooper said he had just challenged all of the school employees to get back to
the basics – to focus on things like attendance. He said – we can’t change a student’s life if
they are not here.
The same is true in our spiritual
life. As we focus on kingdom basics –
God can take our spiritual stuckness and begin a new journey of faith. That is my prayer this fall as we journey
together in our season of discernment.
Today – let us turn our attention to
the first of the Kingdom Basics: Be
Formed Biblically.
Let us make this first Kingdom Basic of being formed biblically a foundation of our lives. Amen
Scripture:
Open your Bibles to Acts 2. The narrative of Acts will give us guidance
as we study each Kingdom Basic. I love
the book of Acts – Luke’s sequel to his Gospel – because Acts tells the story
of how God’s missional spirit expands out from the Holy city of Jerusalem to
Rome – the center of the known world using ordinary people like you and
me. These early Christians have much to
teach us about these Kingdom Basics.
In Chapter 1 of Acts – Jesus ascends
to heaven and tells a small group of followers – about 120 – to wait for the Holy
Spirit to arrive. Daily – this group
meets to pray and study scripture together – waiting on God’s spirit to arrive.
In chapter 2 – The Holy Spirit
arrives – taking everyone by surprise.
The small group of followers begins to speak in new languages to Jews
gathered in Jerusalem from throughout the world for the Jewish Festival called
Pentecost. This causes a stir. Listen as Peter addresses the gathered crowd
in the first part of his sermon in v. 13 – 21:
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed
them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you,
and listen to what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it
is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16No, this is what was spoken through the
prophet Joel:
17 “In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall
dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour
out my Spirit;
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth
below,
blood, and fire, and
smoky mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the
Lord’s great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Be formed Biblically
Peter stands before this large crowd
of confused and skeptical people confidant and ready. The events of the morning have taken all of
them by surprise: the rushing sound of
the Spirit as it filled the room, the vision of fiery tongues coming at each
person and resting on them, the strange languages coming from their
mouths. No one predicted this.
Soon, these strange events created a
crowd. Curiosity drew people in as they
heard their language and dialect coming from simple Galilean farmers, mothers and
fisherman. Wonderment held their
attention as they attempted to explain what was happening.
When the time came for explanations,
Peter did not have time to go back to his study to make sense of all that was
occurring. The scene needed explaining. Peter stood, confident, and made his
pronouncement: Men
of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to
what I say. 15Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine
o’clock in the morning.
With their attention grabbed, Peter –
like a good rabbi – begin with scripture to explain what they are
experiencing; 16No, this is what was
spoken through the prophet Joel:
After Peter quotes from a passage
from Joel, he continues to quote and interpret scripture throughout the rest of
the sermon. He uses a passage from Psalm
16 and mentions Psalm 110. Peter not
only quotes these scriptures he interprets them with authority in a way no one
there had ever heard. He explains to the
gathered crowd how God predicted a
suffering Messiah who would save the world – and how this Messiah is Jesus of
Nazareth.
A couple of things for us 21st
Century followers to notice – remember who Peter was. He was not a Pharisee or a scribe who has
spent his entire life studying the Torah and the prophets. He was a fisherman turned disciple who spent
the last three years at the feet of Jesus.
He had just as much formal training as all of the rest of the Jews who
were there. What separated Peter was his
apprenticeship to Jesus. As a follower
of Jesus, Peter made scripture an vital part of his life. Being a follower of Jesus meant absorbing,
studying, and being formed by scripture.
So – when the time came, scripture
was so integrated into who Peter was and how he understood his life with Jesus
it flowed out to those gathered in Jerusalem.
His intimate knowledge of scripture allowed him to interpret the chaotic
events of that day and preach the Good News Of Jesus without ever having to go
back into his study.
What would happen, if we were asked
to make the same kind of sermon? Or –
let’s make it more likely – what would happen if you were asked to by your
child or a friend to help them find spiritual meaning in an event or crisis in
their lives. Would you know where to
turn? In your life has God’s Word
transitioned from being a book of safe stories set upon the shelf to a source
of life and energy and knowledge and freedom and mission.
I placed in your worship guide three
reasons why the Bible is vital to life as a Christian - why the bible is a
Kingdom Basic:
•
The Bible has Authority
over our faith and practice.
To
be a follower of Jesus is to be a person of the book. The Bible guides our faith and practice as
individuals and as a church. When we
struggle to understand one another or want to know what we should do – we
return to the Bible. A question on our
lips should be “What does the Bible say?”
•
The Bible presents a living Testimony – a narrative of God’s will for humanity.
The Bible tells God’s story of creation, redemption and
hope. As humans, this testament speaks
to us. We find words that lead to
salvation and hope and promise through the scriptures.
• The Holy Spirit guided the Writing (inspiration) and guides the Interpretation of the Bible - this is God’s Word to Us!
The words in the Bible are not simply text on a page –
they are living words. The same spirit
which guided the writing of those words thousands of years ago – still moves
through them today. When we approach
God’s Word – we approach it with care because God’s Spirit will speak to us, save
us, guide us and transform us.
If
scripture is so important in our lives as followers of Jesus, how do we begin
to integrate in our lives? How do we
begin being formed biblically?
1. Start
reading the Bible. Simple.
Make an effort every day to read a few verses. This year I challenged the whole church to
read the books of Luke and Acts. If you
haven’t started yet, just start. Start
reading Acts as I preach through over the next few month. Give Bible reading a priority.
2. Bring
your Bible to church. Let it become something in which you always
refer – in Sunday School and Worship.
3.
Join a Bible Study to study
scripture with others.
4. Study
scripture on your own. Begin by learning more about the world of the
author – who wrote these words and to whom, the world of the Book – how are
these words arranged in their literary context - and the world of the reader –
what is happening in my life as I read and interpret these words.
This
Kingdom Basic seems natural to us, but it is something we – with our American
Freedoms - take for granted. I was
reminded of this several years ago when I traveled to Bulgaria to work with
Bulgarian Baptists. While there I met a
Norwegian Baptist Bible smuggler.
During the harsh days of communism, this Baptist would hide bibles in
his car, travel across Europe and bring Bibles to the Baptist churches of Lom
and Sophia. Possessing a Bible could
mean imprisonment in Bulgaria’s harsh political prison. Each week faithful Baptists would travel to
their small church under the watchful eye of the secret police across the
street for worship. But they would also gather
in secret – in their homes – for bible study.
They risked their lives to open up God’s Word to listen, learn, and be
formed. The Bulgarian police knew there
was power in these words – and they sought with a cruel hand to keep this power
away from people.
What about us? Do we recognize the power of God’s Word in
our life? Would we be willing to risk
our lives for the opportunity to open God’s Word? The secret, the foundation growing to be more
like Jesus sits in our hands, and in our pews, on our shelves and bedside
tables, as well as on our smart phones, kindles or computers.
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