Weird - 2
Notes
Transcript
Good morning! It’s good to see everyone here! Last week we talked about being weird. Weird Part 1. And we simply asked the question:
Is normal working? Meaning…is “normal”…living like the world around us... getting us to where we want to go?
And last week we looked at the historical account of Nicodemus…his search for truth. What we saw was this:
He was a good man. An honorable man. A guy who loved God and did His best to be good…follow the rules…help others follow the rules. He was considered wise.
And then he heard about Jesus. He began to listen to Jesus. He began to watch what Jesus did and how He did things.
What Nicodemus found was this. His way of doing things was good…but if what Jesus said was true…backed up by the miracles Jesus was doing…then Nicodemus needed something. He needed a change of direction…a change of attitude…a change of life....Jesus told Him...”in order to see God’s Kingdom that you’ve waited for so long…you must be born again.”
What Nicodemus formally saw as normal was not going to get it. When Jesus came, things changed for Nicodemus. He had been helping people to focus on God … but now…the next step in God’s plan was being revealed…which meant Nicodemus, Israel’s teacher…needed to be taught. Jesus was now the focus.
What we see in the Bible is this. When Nicodemus began to ask the big questions that life was bringing him, he paused and went to search for truth…for answers.
Normal, in today’s culture, doesn’t ask the big questions. For the most part “normal”, in our culture, doesn’t search after truth…normal just tries to fit in.
Nicodemus leaned in…and we see, from a few more passages that Nicodemus seemed to be leaning into belief that Jesus was the way, the truth and the life. That being good enough wasn’t good enough…Jesus was needed for forgiveness because all of us can’t be good enough on our own.
In John chapter 7, Jesus is the focus of some very negative attention. People, specifically the Pharisees, are beginning to look at Jesus as a false prophet…someone who is speaking against them and against God. Some want him arrested.
Nicodemus, who himself was a pharisee and had spoken to Jesus says, ““Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
They then accuse Nicodemus of being a softie. But we begin to see that Nicodemus has a “weird” heart. He is searching … not putting labels on Jesus.
Then, near the end of the book of John, we find Nicodemus pop up again. And you tell me where you think Nicodemus’ questioning, being weird, has lead him. We find John writing about Nicodemus and another man named Joseph of Arimathea. In John 19 we find Joseph, a member of the Jewish Council, asking the Roman authorities for Jesus’ body…just after Jesus died on the cross. John writes that Joseph had a helper. Someone who brought 75 pounds of spices that would be used to prepare the body for burial. Nicodemus was that man. I think we can safely assume that after Nicodemus found that the use of burial spices was not needed…because Jesus had come back to life…that he further followed truth.
It really looks to me that Nicodemus was heading down weird street. Right?
And I think the lesson to us is to as often as possible…travel down that same road. And that’s hard. Because that often means going against the flow…against normal. Against, as Scripture often labels it, against the world.
Today we’ll be in Luke chapter 10…if you’d like to get the spot in your Bible ahead of time....
Let’s start though with a thought. What time is it?
So right now you might say this is the time that we’re in a worship service. You might be thinking now is the time my stomach will begin to think about lunch. You might be thinking that it is time to think about the Browns’ game. You might be frustrated with the amount of time you have left this weekend with the “to-do” list you have for chores and errands. Some of you are thinking…it’s a great time for a nap. Amen!?
Time
How does our culture…what is normal to the world that we live in…how does the world around us view time?
I think many…not all for sure…but many view it as something to be filled - filled with something.
I recently saw this quote from A. W. Tozer who was a Christian author and minister - many saw him as a modern day prophet. Very very wise.
He once said this, “When you kill time, remember that it has no resurrection.”
Time is something we feel we never have enough of, yet we give it away so easily. Someone once said, “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”
Have you ever felt like you’ve filled all of your time with very important things only to get overwhelmed and over frustrated that you don’t have enough time for the very important things?
In each day there are 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, and 86,400 seconds-and every one of them is a precious gift from God.
The devil and his cohorts were devising plans to get people to reject the Gospel. “Let’s go to them and say there is no God,” proposed one. Silence prevailed. Every devil knew that most people believe in a supreme being. “Let’s tell them there is no hell, no future punishment for the wicked,” offered another. That was turned down, because men obviously have consciences which tell them that sin must be punished. The concave was going to end in failure when there came a voice from the rear: “Tell them there is a God, there is a hell and that the Bible is the Word of God. But tell them there is plenty of time to decide the question. Let them ‘neglect’ the Gospel, until it is too late.” All hell erupted with ghoulish glee, for they knew that if a person procrastinates on Christ, they usually never accept Him.
You and I have probably both heard that another way…The devil doesn’t worry over making you bad. He just wants to make you busy. Busy with the things of life. Busy with expectations. Busy with what you think is important. Busy with things that are “urgent.”
Let’s think about that for a second. There is no end to “big, important, and urgent things” is there. Just as soon as you think you have a second to breath…something else is either coming to your mind or is being brought up from someone else.
There’s no limit to activities. There’s no limit to work. There’s no limit to errands and chores and housework.
We self impose on ourselves our busyness don’t we? We really do.
But think about this statement for just a moment. “You have enough time to do everything God wants you to do.”
I mean think…if we were to do just what God wants us to do each and everyday…would we have enough time for it?
I think…in my own life…it has often been me overriding God’s plan for me and me coming up with my own plan for life…what I think is best…what I think is the best use of my time.
God wants us to be weird. He wants us to look to Him first.
And I think we can make and hold on to some safe assumptions here…God designed and created us. God is perfect. God knows that we’re not perfect…that we sin…that’s why He sent Jesus. God has a plan. I think if we safely assume that those things are true…then we can look at the time we have in a completely different way.
If you’re like me…you might often think that the way you fit in with the world is through how you perform your job. How accomplished you are. What activities you and or your family is involved with. How many hours you dutifully work in a week. What kind of house or car or 401K or landscaping you have.
Success is defined in a completely different manner by the world isn’t it. Success through God’s eyes I believe is when we focus on Him. Success through the world’s eyes is when we’re consumed by ourselves.
Sometimes we get so busy…I’ve been here……we get so busy holding a “way of life” that we think is right that we miss the blessings of God. We can’t see them. We don’t notice them. We’re often blinded because we’re filling time the way we think is helpful. And to be honest, many things we fill our time with are good and honorable things. Some probably not…but for the most part…they might be really good things!
But are they the best things. That’s a question I try to keep in the forefront of my mind....because I’m often not good at all with “filling time.”
There’s account from the New Testament that speaks to this in a huge way. Some of you will recognize the names Mary and Martha. And this account is recorded for us by Luke in His book…Luke chapter 10, verses 38-42
READ OUTLOUD
Now as they traveled along, he entered into a certain village. And a certain woman named Martha welcomed him.
And she had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the feet of Jesus and was listening to his teaching.
But Martha was distracted with much preparation, so she approached and said, “Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has left me alone to make preparations? Then tell her that she should help me!”
But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things!
But few things are necessary, or only one thing, for Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Now…some background.
In first century times …the lady of the house or the couple would for sure have specific “duties” or “expectations” of how to host a guest.
Martha has either previously presented an invitation to Jesus and the disciples or they’ve come and asked and she opened up her home or something like that. And I think all of us would agree …this is a good thing. It is a gracious and hospitable thing…kind even…to host. To invite Jesus and guests in for a time together.
Now…hosting expectations seem to overwhelm Martha, however. It looks as though she and her sister either live under the same roof or …as another female in the family…or as the other person who had made an invitation to Jesus…Martha also placed those expectations on her sister Mary.
We watch this play out. Jesus comes into town. People are probably around him asking questions…he’s probably healing. Busy. But then in the late afternoon He visits the home of Martha…and she is either in process or beginning the process of cooking, baking, setting the table etc.
Meanwhile, Jesus is talking about the Kingdom…about God…about life…and Mary has gotten sidetracked. Jesus’ words have caught her ear, and she wanders away from the kitchen and is sitting near Jesus to learn more about what He has to say about life and what’s true about reality.
Martha sees this....and she’s ticked off.
She comes in and says…probably in Jesus’ ear…um, please tell my sister to do her duties and help me.
Jesus then makes a claim about time usage…a truth about life…for Mary and Martha…and for us today. Jesus told Martha that Mary was being weird…she was choosing a good thing…she was choosing the thing that was best.
Was what Martha was busy doing…was it a good thing? Honorable thing? Absolutely. But Mary, when seeing and hearing Jesus, did a better thing. Eternal life the truth about living, the truth about God...those things were more important at that moment than setting the table and sweeping the floor.
There’s a book I’m reading called Person of Interest and its written by a Cold Case Detective who works for the LAPD. In it he came up against the question as to whether or not Jesus was real. J. Warner Wallace was an atheist. When he finally went to church, after being invited by friends, he was confronted with the ideasthat God could be real and Jesus claimed to be God.
He had a decision to make. If this were true and not just some ancient myth…it would change everything about life.
He had a decision to make…would he devote “time” to investigate. He was a very busy man…still is. But time mattered. For him it came down to…what’s true matters.
Mary had an inkling that what Jesus was saying had to do with truth. She chose to listen in.
This idea of being weird with “time” covers a lot of territory.
Time with God - You know this is the first thing, and I think many of you might do this too as I do…time with God is the first thing that goes away when I get too busy. I’m a Martha at times. I “fit” God into my schedule instead of allowing Him to guide my whole day.
Time with others - We were created to be with God and each other in all of His creation. We lost that closeness - that perfection - when sin entered…when the fall happened. And now we often neglect those who are closest to us for the sake of time. We have other things to do. Other seemingly important things.
Rest - How do you view rest? Is it something you can just brush away as you work and play? Or is there something more to rest. There’s a time when Jesus is being ridiculed for healing someone on the Sabath. Meaning - Jesus was accused of doing something unlawful…simply doing something on the Sabbath was forbidden…it was against the law to do certain stuff…at least in the Pharisees’ brains. Jesus’ response…want to know what it was… Jesus said, “Um don’t you know that God made the Sabbath for you?” God said rest is important.
You could look at it in a number of ways…are we too busy to see God or see His blessings around us?
Is time with family and friends trumped by the idea that you always have something to do?
Do you view a break…or an open calendar date as a time when you can get caught up?
But let’s think about this: Paul writes to the church in Ephesus…that would be our Bible’s book of Ephesians....he writes this when talking about day to day life -
Ephesians 5:15-16 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Martha was anxious. Mary was curious.
In the past, if I’m honest, I’d look at that and say Paul is just saying to watch out for ministry opportunities or big things that God brings our way. Kind of a narrow focus.
But as I read the context…Paul seems to be talking about living life…day by day. Being wise with our time. In fact he says “days.”
Remember the quote I read earlier: “You have enough time to do everything God wants you to do.”
The world races…in fact in the past we’d call it the rat race. The world thinks that success is driven by hard work and accomplishments and getting bigger and better things done.
Success in God’s eyes is very different…simply doing His will.
The world has defined life …and the world en-mass is heading down a road that is wide and full of people....normal people. Mostly doing things that are probably good or decent. Some bad for sure...
Here’s a way to say it - Normal people allow good things to become the enemy of the best things.
The best things are learning about God’s will…and then doing it everyday through the use of wisdom. Paul said to be wise in how we live...
Jesus said that Mary had chosen what is best.
Paul wrote to the believers in Rome …the book of Romans… “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world (the pattern of how you use time, the patterns of work, the patterns of busyness and success) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…how you think and make decisions....Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s …will…is....his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Are you in a spot in life where it is hard to see or hear God’s will? Maybe you’ve never considered being weird in this area. Time. Do you take time to consider God’s will everyday.
Here’s a little insight …and to be honest this is one of the hardest things for me personally…if you have the spirit of God living in you…what you need to do is simply live listening for his prompting…God’s spirit in you…guiding, directing, giving wisdom.
I think a fair question now…on this side of what we’ve worked through is this.
Do we need more time?
Or do we need more wisdom with the time we’re given?
I think if we had more time we’d just fill it like we do now.