But the crises
that trouble our lives are as much perplexing as Alice's walk through the looking glass. All through her adventure she is looking for
direction, a road to travel. Like
Dorothy in the Land of Oz, there is the anticipation of rest and home, if we
can just get where we're going.
In the 1960's, my
generation, the rebellious flower children, were frantically searching for
themselves and finding they needed something from without to help them
understand that which was crying-out from within.
Paul Simon and
Art Garfunkel expressed the inner turmoil of that day, and Alice, and Dorothy’s
as well:
All my words come
back to me in shades of mediocrity,
Like emptiness
and harmony, I need someone to comfort me....
Homeward bound, I
wish I was homeward bound.
Home, with my
music playin',
Home, where my
thoughts escapin',
Home, where the
love light's waitin' silently for me.
There is not a
person in this room that doesn't want the kind of rest Simon and Garfunkel sang
about in their longing for home, or Alice frantically needed down in the rabbit
hole, or that rest Dorothy couldn’t find in Oz.
Jesus told his
followers how to find it:
Then Jesus said,
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. Matthew 11:28
We once had a
toaster that provided entertainment more than toast. It had a frayed wire. The sparks were like Disney's light
parade. Electricity knows when you are
not its' master. I have learned to have a
lot of respect for electricity.
When I
"fixed" that toaster, it became like other things that didn't get
professional care in our house. My kids
called it a Dad-fixed thing. Whatever dad fixes is sure to come unglued,
undone, and certainly the results are unholy!
It is like that
with the Christian's walk with the Master.
Without a good connection, our power leaks out, and we become
short-circuited.
Jesus' offer to
us is to Come. That
is an invitation to come closer to Him, so we might be restored to a closer
relationship with Him. Too often
believers are willing to be in the family of Christ, but not under His daily
control and direction. That is like
trying to live in two different worlds at the same time; and THAT will wear you
out. Jesus offers rest,
the kind of rest that allows you to be peaceful inside and out.
There are SEVERAL
DYNAMICS at work about responding to Jesus’ invitation to come
to Him and receive that rest. That call is an offer of restoration,
a repairing of what we started out to be, but messed-up. And even more, Jesus’ brand of restoration
goes beyond just a new start; it’s a start on a higher plane than where we
began.
For that restoration
touch we turn in our Bibles to Paul’s second letter to Timothy, and pick up
where we left off last week (2 Timothy2:15)…with seeking God’s
approval by becoming right handlers of God’s Word.
In the next
chapter(#3) Paul tells Timothy right handling of that Word means
listening to what God has to say to us, about us.
Paul did not
hiccup or stutter when he stated flatly that every part of Scripture is
God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our
rebellion, correcting our mistakes, and training us to live God’s way.
Through the Word
we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. And that brings rest to our souls.
Let’s take a look
at the process:
I. God’s Word Showing
Us Truth
(to teach us what
is true)
The truth
God shows us is how we are in need of being in line with God’s pattern for
human beings as He created us.
Last week in the
children’s message I showed them my new electric power saw. I then showed them the owner’s manual and
compared that with how the Bible, God’s Word, is the manual for humans. Just like my power saw is dangerous if not
understood and operated properly, so the human being must operate within God’s
will.
We were created
to respond to God’s nature…not our own whims and desires.
The current
tension and impending split in the United Methodist Church is a textbook
illustration of this truth. When humans
begin to reject (rebel) against God’s truth with their sexuality, choosing to
live in a rebellious perversion, rather than as God created us, it should not
surprise anyone that the world will be flipped upside down in judgment.
When that happens
God’s Word will move from teaching to exposing…
II. God’s Word Exposing
Rebellion
(make us realize
what is wrong in our lives)
The King James
word is reprove; the Word of God rebukes us by showing us
where the error lies. And there are only
two responses possible when God speaks a definitive word: increased rebellion or cleansing
repentance.
This “exposing”
of our rebellion is something God’s Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts. This can happen under many different
circumstances, but often God uses a preacher speaking the word of truth, and
the Spirit bringing conviction to the hearer’s heart. Sometimes that leads to the end of a
rebellion; too often it leads to a firing of the preacher because the pride of
a backslidden Christian doesn’t want to hear all about his rebellion.
So…the process
begins with the God-breathed truth of the Word which exposes our rebelliousness,
and then the Word tells us what must be done to get back on course, walking
with God, not away from Him in rebellion…
III. God’s Word
Correcting Rebellion
(corrects us when
we are wrong)
Correction is
what the doctor does. We’re sick, and he
gives us medicine to cure it. This may
be the hardest step in the process.
It’s like the
rich young ruler who came to Jesus. He’d
been a good person all his life, but he was married to his money. He wanted to know what further good thing he
needed to do; Jesus said Give up your love of money. That was the living Word of God correcting
the man’s rebellion. But the man turned
and walked away. It’s hard to let go of
our favorite sin!
But what does the
Word have for us if we do? What if we
hear the truth of God’s Word, find out we’re off course in rebellion, hear how
to change our ways, swallow our pride, and lay it all on the altar, asking
God’s forgiveness?
What if we’re
willing to change our way, surrender our life’s pattern for following the
pattern of Jesus?
That’s when the
Word of God teaches us how to stay on course…
IV. God’s Word Training
to Live
(God’s Word…teaches
us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his
people to do every good work)
By this point in
the process of being restored to peace in our lives, both within our hearts and
minds, and with other people, we’ve learned that God teaches us truth, exposes
our rebellion, and shows us how to stop rebelling and start cooperating with God.
Those are wide-pathway
principles that cover every area of life.
Accepting those principles is a momentary decision. It’s like responding to the evangelist,
saying yes at the altar, and signing a pledge card. It’s a simple yes or no
decision.
However, this
next – final – step in the process lasts from that moment on, until that
fateful day you step on Heaven’s shores and meet Jesus.
Until that day it
is training, becoming a disciple, learning constantly how to live denying self,
taking up the cross, and following Jesus.[2]
It’s being
conditioned to follow the pattern of right living, the kind of living only
God’s Holy Spirit can empower.
There is so much
more to this last discipleship step than can fit in a sermon, or a library of
sermons. But, perhaps the testimony of
one who found rest after being restless for years can help.
The Story of One Who Moved from Rebellion to Rest
This one who
moved from rebellion-to-rest was a
young boy, raised in church. He heard
the truth about loving and cooperating with God in his home, and at
church. By the time he’d reached 9 years
old he had accepted that truth and the Savior of that truth. He became a Christian.
But in the two
decades that followed, old rebellion showed its ugly face and stunted the
spiritual growth of this newborn babe in Christ.
Married by this
time, and having suffered enough unrest because of his rebellion, he was
searching frantically for a way home where the music played, and the thoughts
escapin’ were waiting to comfort. Like
Dorothy longing for Kansas, or Alice wanting desperately to climb out of the
rabbit hole, this young man anguished for rest!
Finally, the Word
of God began coming back, making sense, calling him to the home not made with
hands. And the Word who had become flesh
and dwelt among us had those hands of flesh outstretched, opened wide in
invitation to come and learn of the meek and lowly.
It was the old,
old story, and it told the young man to take the yoke again; it was easy and
light…and it would lead to rest…restoration of all that was really needed.
That young man
swallowed his pride and took that yoke; he felt the outstretched hands wipe
away the tears.
And the Word of
Truth spoke again – rest; enter into My rest, Russell…there is rest
for your soul.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…Amen!
[2] Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants
to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and
follow me. Matthew 16:24
