Values That Last A Lifetime IV, Valuing Commitment

Along with Bob, I tell you, the worship times at our church are enriching and I just pray you have the same sense of the importance of those in your life as I do week by week. I want to invite you to take your notes and pull out the not outline. A lot of you perceptive types have already been in there and realized there's something really different today. On this Labor Day weekend, I want to look at three stories from the New Testament that teach us about commitment, why we fear it and what difference it can make in our lives. I'm going to ask you to enter the lives of three individuals that you wouldn't normally associate with, well, this is like an expression of commitment, but I think you're going to see because they were people just like you and me, we can relate to them and we can see what their steps of commitment meant to them. So often when you say the word commitment, you think, well, I don't, you think Navy SEALs or you think Lance Armstrong or you think something, you know, astronauts, something impossible for you to, listen, you can make commitments and keep them by the grace of God. And so I wanted to do something a little bit different. We're going to use an expositional style of teaching today and therefore there are no blanks in your outline. And I know that's causing some real anxiety amongst you. Some of you, you can keep your pen handy. I will direct you a few times to use it. It's Labor Day weekend. If I take, you know, take some rest from your labors, don't put any blanks, make it a little bit easier. But these stories, you know, frequently when I have exchanges with people, particularly people who have been away from God for a while, they'll say something like, well, I was once really kind of interested in or going to church or whatever, but now I'm not. And, and I don't know that God would, how could he possibly want me to come back? Or they'll say, you know, I've been pretty proud. I haven't needed God until now. And now all of a sudden my world turned upside down. I lost my marriage or my health or my job or something. And now I need God. Why would he come? Why could he invite me to come to him now? And I say, well, read the Bible and see what the Bible says to people who are in need. That's the amazing thing about this holy God who has every reason to keep us at arm's length. He says, you come, come as you are. Now that's not something that just gives us a liberty to do as we please, but it should humble us to say, what a God. It should fill us with love and appreciation for his heart for us. And so let's look together at these three people. That's, I mean, it's, these are familiar stories. If you've been around at all, you've heard these stories before. They're very simple, but they're profound in the commitment that they reveal. Now, got your outline ready? I want to assure some of you who think, boy, this sure was insensitive. I couldn't read this print if it was posted on the person in front of me. You know, go ahead and do that. Feel free to stack this on the back of the person in the seat in front of you and see if you can read it. Or feel free to bring out the glasses if you're not too proud. And you know, there's colleagues who say, what's the problem with this? You know, I can do it. It happens. But I'm going to try to read from this just to encourage those of you who normally don't. But the best place to read is in your Bible. I mean, this is the NIV word for word. So read along with me. Let's look at these three people. The first one is a woman who's really had a difficult time with life. This story just touches my heart every time I read it. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John. Although, in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So when the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. That was his home area. It's a very pretty area, by the way. It reminds me a lot of sort of the West Lake Tahoe kind of thing. It's big hills and trees. It's quite beautiful. And now he had to go through Samaria. Now, to get where he needed to go, he took a shortcut through Samaria, which was these were non-Jews who were not very compatible with the Jews of the day. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob, as well, was there. And Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, might want to underline that, tired as he was. Jesus was not a superhero. He got tired. We're in Labor Day. We're in a day of rest. It's okay to rest. Jesus needed rest. And he sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? Now, let me just pause there. This woman came out in the heat of day. It was the sixth hour of the day, it says here. She came out around noon. That's the Jewish day started at 6 a.m. The heat of the day in the midst of the desert to draw water. Why? Because she was feeling the rejection, the condemnation of the culture. Why? Because she had failed in five marriages. Five times she had failed. She'd given up on marriage. She'd given up on the institution of marriage. She'd given up on relationships. And so she comes out in the sixth hour of the heat of day to try to avoid people, to draw water, to do her chores. Look what happens. Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? Now, normally his disciples would have been tending to him. Here's what the next part of the verse, verse 8 says. His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. Just let me pause here and say, do you notice how many times the disciples are not around when something good's about to happen? I mean, what was with these guys? I mean, they just seemed to step out at the wrong time. They're getting food, you know, looking for somebody. They just don't seem to have the focus. They don't seize the moment. By the way, that's true of a lot of people when it comes to church too. They just pick and choose and they miss important things that God wants to speak in their life. Well, Jesus asked this question in verse 7, will you give me a drink? Now this surprised this woman for a couple reasons. Look what she says. The Samaritan woman said to him, you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? For A, Jews do not associate with Samaritans. They didn't even speak to one another and B, she was a woman and this seems impossible in the new millennium that we're in. But 2,000 years ago, men only spoke to women when they wanted something for themselves. I mean, in a way that was demeaning normally. So this one, she's saying, I'm a Samaritan woman and you're talking to me like a normal person is what she's saying. Look what Jesus said. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, would you have asked him and he would have given you, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Living water. That probably sounded more strange to her than it does to us, but it still sounds a little strange. We don't know until John chapter 7 that living water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, given to live inside of us to generate life. You see, the very thing that this woman needed was something on the inside. And loved ones, let's be real clear about this. Jesus doesn't waste any time going right to the heart of this woman's greatest need. Jesus speaks to the fact that she's been rejected, she's failed, she's been condemned, she's been judged, and he's saying to her, I want to give you something on the inside that you've not been able to find in your serial relationships with men. I want to give you peace on the inside. What an amazing thought to a person who searched everywhere and had probably been totally disillusioned. Let's read on. So the woman said, you have nothing to draw within the well as deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself as did also his sons and his flocks and herds? Jesus answered, everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty, again speaking of the well, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Let me ask you, just parenthetically, is that spring of water welling up in your heart today? I hope so. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to come here, keep coming here to draw water. See, she hadn't quite associated the internal transformation. She was still thinking in the natural. He told her, go call your husband and come back. Well, I have no husband, she replied. Now that's the end of what she said. Jesus said to her, you're right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you've had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you've just said is quite true. And the next sentence, if I'd have been that woman, do you think he might have just passed out right then? I mean here's somebody that knows my life. Sir, the woman said, I can see you're a prophet. Yeah, I'd say so. Jesus cuts right down to the issue. How many believe Jesus had the woman's full attention at that moment? Okay, now look how she responds to this exchange. She says, our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. She does what so many people do when Jesus finally comes very close to knocking on the real issues of their heart. When Jesus comes to the real needs of their heart, many people put up a religious front. Have you ever been in a discussion with someone, you're really getting down to talking about what's important about eternal things, and they'll say, well you know, I'm a Catholic, or I'm a Presbyterian, or I went to a Young Life camp when I was a kid, or you know, some religious kind of answer to divert you from the real issue which God is pressing in their heart. Why? Because religion is something we control, and Jesus is someone who comes to control us, to be our Lord, to fill our need. People love to put up religious answers when Jesus comes to talk truth into our lives. See, this conviction is coming, and she's looking for a religious way out, and I've had this happen many, many times, and you just have to press through and say, well no, I'm not talking about whether you were Catholic, or Presbyterian, or whatever else. I'm talking about do you have a relationship with the living God? Now notice that Jesus doesn't condemn her for this question, or her deviation from the issue. Look what he says. Jesus declared, verse 21, believe me woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem. In other words, it's not about place. You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming, and has now come, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must, circle the word must, must worship in spirit and in truth. And let me just pause here and say, the reason why we here at North Way will spend an uncomfortable amount of time for some of you in worship, is because the Lord says we must come to worship in spirit and truth. The Lord is seeking people who worship that way, and notice it's spirit and truth. Those two qualities must be part of true worship. You know, I've been places where spirit is emphasized to the point where it's just sort of wild and out of control, and sort of nutsy. Don't know what's going to happen next. If you just over emphasize spirit, it gets to the extreme. On the other hand, I've been places, and you have too, where it's just bone dry, and we've got truth up and down, all nicely compartmentalized, but there's no life there. The Lord says bring the spirit and the truth together, and find some middle ground here, some balance, and that's where life is. Spirit, enlivening truth, and causing there to be a rising fragrance of worship to the Lord. That's our heart. That's what we want to do, and it's such a challenge, because all of us come with our baggage, and we need to unload some of that baggage, and say, Lord, help me to grow. I don't care about the person three seats down. Help me to grow in spirit and in truth. I watch people struggle with this. You just, some people come late, so they don't have to put, you know, they don't have to even put themselves through the grid of trying to praise and celebrate. Some people just, you know, it's real uncomfortable. I've seen, you know, for example, talk just about the expression of worship. That's, by the way, I mean, it's truth, because it's in the Bible, and it takes some spirit, because it's a, it's an act of, just the whole thing of lifting hands. Oh my gosh, I love that church, except lifting hands. That's so weird. I don't know how they do that, you know. Being Presbyterian in my background, and having gone through the whole long list of the, let me just, just pull that out for a moment, look at it. Why is that so difficult for so many of us? Because we associate it with something that we have seen somewhere that we think is extreme. It's not that way in the Bible. In fact, if you're really reading the Bible honestly, David wrote in Psalm 134, come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who stand by night in the holy place. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the Lord. Lifting of hands is a blessing to the Lord. Whether or not somebody extreme does it, that's not my point. God says it. You say, well, that's Old Testament. Oh, here we go again. Old Testament. Well, how about 1st Timothy 2.8, where Paul writes and says, I would that men, say it, men everywhere would lift up holy hands without fear and anger. Now, I've watched some men over the years here, and they'll come in, and I don't have any one particular in mind, so don't be nervous, but you'll come in, and you'll start in the back, and this will be your posture for the first three to six months. Man, I'd like to search, but I hate this hands thing. I'm not going to do it. Over time, you begin to discover that it's safe, that you're loved whether or not you do participate, and something happens. It might be six months. It might be a year later, two years, five years. I don't know, and I'll look at it, and that same person was back in the last row. He's up here now, and they're going, and I know it's not going to be long before it's okay, and you'll discover it's okay. It doesn't make you more holy, but listen, it does fulfill a commandment. Lift up your hands and bless the Lord. It's powerful. It's learning to worship, and worship is a learned experience in spirit and in truth. We don't have it down perfectly, but I want you to know we're still committed to growing that way, and if that's something you say, well, I just don't need all that. Well, then you're just saying that you don't need what the Bible says, which interestingly, people say the Bible's right on everything else, but not that. Jesus said true worshipers must worship in spirit and truth. Now, again, that's not going to affect what I think about you, and don't be, you know, I'm not, now I haven't picked someone out and said, well, that person, you know, I'm not going to just say that's not how I operate, but you need to be free to say, Lord, help me to grow. Help me to learn to worship, because the Father's looking for those people. Don't you want the Father to be looking for you, and you to say, Father, I'm here. That's what he wants. Well, let's see what happens with the story. Verse 25, the woman said, I know that Messiah, called Christ, is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Jesus declared, I who speak to you am he. You might want to underline that. I who speak to you, I'm the one. If you ever wondered if Jesus ever declared his Messiahship, right there it says, I who speak to you am he. I am the Messiah. Just then, his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, what do you want, or why are you talking with her? They were, at this point, they're starting to realize when they ask questions, they usually get in trouble, so they just, they keep quiet. Then leaving her water jar, the woman went back. She forgot why she came now. She didn't even take the water with her. She went back to the town and said to the people, come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ? They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, Rabbi, eat something. I mean, they're still on this food thing, okay. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you know nothing about. They're thinking, well, you know, did you order Chinese? Where did this come from? Then his disciples said, could someone have brought him food? I mean, they're just, they're stuck on this thing. My food, Jesus said, finally, he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Now, this isn't something that happens to me every day, but maybe you've had the experience like I have. Sometimes I'm so caught up with the things that God is doing. I'm caught up, whether it's in prayer or ministry or just the awareness of the presence of the Lord, that I don't think about the external things. You ever been there? And the will of God is more important to me than my external needs. Jesus is saying, I gain sustenance from doing the Father's will. Do you not say, Jesus says, four months more and then the harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. North Way, listen, open your eyes and look to the fields. They are ripe for harvest. That is a statement of today, of where we are as a church. Even now the reaper draws his wages. Even now the harvest, he harvests the crop for eternal life. So the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, one sows and another reaps is true. I sent you to reap what you've not worked for. Others have done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. May I say in love that some of you are sitting here today, relatively comfortable and well fed and well on your spiritual journey because others have gone before you and sown spiritual seed, seeds of prayer, seeds of resource, seeds of service. And now you have the opportunity to come alongside and serve and sow. Many of the Samaritans from that time believed in him because of the woman's testimony. He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them. Look at this. Jesus didn't say, well, I don't have any dealings with people. He said he stayed with them two days. And because of his words, many more became believers. They said to the woman, we no longer believe just because of what you said. They did believe because of what you said. And that's what I want you to grab onto. Her commitment to go back and tell them what had happened to her. That basic step of commitment released them to go to Jesus themselves and to discover for themselves what he was saying was true. And we know that this man, underline no, we know that this man really is the savior of the world. What an astonishing transformation. Because one woman had the commitment to share what had happened to her. If you have commitment, you can make a huge difference if you just share where God places you one day at a time. Now, the second story is shorter but very powerful. It's a story about a very tormented fellow. Someone whose life had gone from bad to worse and then worse and then worse. And lest you think there's no one around here like that, let me just tell you that there are probably people scattered all around this auditorium who don't think life could get much worse than it is today. They've lost this relationship, they've lost this position, or this dream has evaporated, or whatever they thought about life, it's not happening, or perhaps even worse, they've gotten into some kind of behaviors, they're destroying themselves, they're messed up big time. It's all around us. But I want you to know that there's hope today. And Jesus is here today to touch you at your point of greatest need. Now, look what happens in this man. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs. In other words, he lived in a cemetery. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. Hey, listen, does that sound like natural strength to you? That sounds like something really, really powerful. There's supernatural. People don't just break chains off. I mean, I know we've had strike force, but let me tell you, we're talking about, you know, things that were really binding this guy. This was intense stuff here. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out. He was shrieking in this horror, and cut himself with stones. He was moving into self-destructive behavior. He's out of control. This is really serious stuff. Later on, we discovered that he didn't have clothes. One eloquent commentator described him as a crude, nude dude in a really rude mood. I'm just reading what's in here. Okay, that's what he said. A crude, nude dude in a really rude mood. Now how he got this way, we don't know. But let me suggest something to you. Willful sin opens the door to far more than we imagine. Willful sin allows Satan to come in with his demonic power. And lest you think that's something just way back then in the Bible, I want to tell you that there are demonic forces today that are looking for a way to attach themselves to behaviors that you enter into. And you crack the door just to peek, and you just compromise a little bit, and Satan is real happy to ride in on that and send something into your life that's going to affix itself to you and become a real issue, a real problem. And I just want to appeal to you. Have the wisdom to slam the door on sin before the devil attaches something to your life. Sin will always take you farther than you want to go. I don't believe this man thought whatever it was that he was into would lead him to this place of being possessed. But there he was, and his life was an absolute nightmare. Sin lies to us and tells us, you know, just a little, it's not going to matter. And listen, all sin has a little bit of pleasure attached to it. It always tastes good for just a little while. And if it didn't, you see, people wouldn't do it. There's a season when sin seems okay. But it always has an inevitable consequence, because the wages of sin is death. Maybe not death in the ultimate sense for you, but just death in a part of your life, in a part of your hope, in a part of your destiny. This man had a serious problem. Now, look what happens. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me. For Jesus had said to him, Come out of this man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? My name is Legion. He replied, For we are many. And he begged Jesus again and again not to send him out of the area. I don't want to go into the theological possibilities that are already revealed there, but there's a whole lot going on. More than most of us would make room for in our own understanding. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. I've seen where scholars and historians believe this literally was in the Holy Land. The demons begged Jesus, Send us among the pigs. Allow us to go into them. I don't know why he granted them that, but he did. Verse 13, He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. And the herd, about 2,000 in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. And when you take your trip in the Holy Land, they show you where they think this happened. It's a long drop-off and down into the Sea of Galilee. It's the first recorded episode of Deviled Ham, as far as I know. I'm just reading what's in here. You're adding to that, okay? Those tending the pigs, verse 14, ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who'd been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed. Circle the word dressed. Why is that important? Because he's no longer the crude, nude dude in a really bad mood. He's now dressed. And the Bible, when it talks about clothing, garments, it's talking about our spiritual condition. That's why Joseph had a coat of many colors, because he was favored in his father's eyes. That's why the prodigal son was given his father's. That's why you're going to have a robe in heaven, a white robe. Because it symbolizes your spiritual condition. This man is now dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Why were they afraid? Why were they just happy? They were afraid because the one that they could not control with their chains and all of their own hocus-pocus, somehow had encountered a power that they hadn't seen, who was able to set him free and put him in his right mind. They were afraid. And when the power of God shows up with the people, it is not uncommon for folks to push away, because they're afraid. What you don't understand, what you cannot control, oftentimes initially causes you fear. But in the end, it's the source of your salvation. Let's read on. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and about the pigs as well. In verse 17, one of the saddest verses in the Bible, underline it, then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. Wouldn't you think if they'd say, wait, if you could help this man, well, certainly you can help this one. And if you could do this... But no, they'd rather have control. So they said, please get out, get out. We don't want someone with your kind of power. And you know, even to this day, people push Jesus away, because they don't understand and they can't control. May God help us to embrace the power of Jesus' healing and deliverance and His grace and His love. Look what he says to the man. Verse 18, as Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him. I would have thought that Jesus would have said, well, sure, come on. But that's not what He says. Jesus did not let him. Verse 19, He said, go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Why did Jesus tell him to go and tell someone rather than just stay with them? Listen, here's why. There are some times in our spiritual journey when Jesus discerns it's more important for you to go and share with someone than it is for you to come and be fed some more. And I want to say here at North Way Christian Community, there's many opportunities to be fed, but for some of you, it's more important that you go and tell than it is you come and be fed. And in this season just ahead, I'm going to encourage you. Go. If God's pushing you, if He's nudging you to go, you just find a way, because you'll find fulfillment. The Lord will meet your needs as you share your life with Him, as you're committed to go. He did what Jesus said. He went and told. And then it's closed by looking at Luke chapter 5. Very brief passage, but this is the one that many of you relate to. Maybe you're not all bound up with something. Maybe you haven't been struggling with a behavior, an addiction, or a disappointment. But in Luke chapter 5, we read about a man named Levi. This was a man who was in the big leagues of the marketplace. He was very successful and much unloved. He had money and power, but very little friendship. Look what happens. After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. Remember, tax collectors were Jews who basically betrayed their countrymen and went to serve the Romans and gathered the taxes in for the Romans. He saw Levi sitting at his neat little tax booth. We don't have any background here. We don't know why this is, but he looks at him and he says two words. What are they? Follow me. You have to understand. That must have been so powerful that everything that he accumulated, all of his wealth, all of his success, all of his money, couldn't hold him from Jesus who said those simple two words, follow me. Let me just say, I don't care how successful you are, when you really hear Jesus say to you, follow me, everything that you've acquired, all of your achievement, all of your success, pales in comparison to knowing the fountain of living water. That's why Paul wrote in Philippians later on, I count it all rubbish compared to knowing him. Now, Levi got up and left everything and followed him. And then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house. You see, being entrepreneurial, Levi said, well, wait. This is such a good thing. How can I share it with my friends? And so you can read it there. He called his tax collector buddies. He had a little tax collector's convention. There were sinners along. Verse 29, a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with him. So what he did? What did he do? He brought his friends in here and he said, Jesus, would you come too? And Jesus said, sure, I'll come to your party. And he had a banquet to connect, are you following me, to connect his friends with Jesus. And loved ones, that's all you're required to do by the Lord, is to connect your friends with Jesus. Let Jesus do the changing. You don't have to do that. You just have to connect them. Put them in an environment where Jesus and his life is represented to those outside the kingdom. Some people here in our church, literally, we have some people who have dinner parties for the express purpose of creating an environment where people can talk about God in a safe way. Some people do outdoor activities. You saw it on the video. Some people do different things. You've got to be intentional to find a way to connect your friends with Jesus. And then let Jesus do the changing. I think it's awesome. Levi just, hey, this is what I normally do. Half parties, and Jesus showed up. And you know, the Pharisees hated it. Look at it. Verse 30. The teacher of the law who belonged there said, complained to his disciples, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered them, it's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have come, not to call. I have not come here to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Friends, as we close today, I have to ask you a question. Have you been coming around for a while? Have you been window shopping, wondering if really, you know, this thing about believing God and Christ is for real? Or have you been coming around, and maybe you've made a decision, and maybe you've been committed, but now you feel God nudging you to really get serious about this, and you're somewhat afraid of that. I don't know if I want to get as serious as, you know, some of you people are. Well, if there's anything in life to get serious about, if there's anything more important than this, what would it be for you? Well, it's my investments. They're more important. Well, it's interesting how investments have changed in the last two years, isn't it? It's interesting how surpluses can become deficits, just like that, isn't it? Well, my family's more important than this. Well, you know, your family will never be what it can possibly be without God involved in it. I just want to urge you today to take a step of commitment. God doesn't say you have to change. He just wants you to take a step of commitment. As we close the service in just a moment, perhaps today is the day you need to take a step of commitment. Not just, you know, I'm going to wiggle my toes in the water. No, you're going to take a step of commitment because that's what brings about change. God will change the world through a committed person. But we can stand around