Have you ever had a lukewarm cup of tea? There’s simply nothing worse, so imagine … I mean, just imagine … what a lukewarm Christian feels like to the God who sent His Son to suffer and die for you and me. Just imagine.

 

Don’t be a Lukewarm Christian

One of the things that hits me between the eyes over and over again is how honest and direct God is. That may sound a little odd. I mean, you’d kind of expect God to be honest and you’d expect Him to be direct, I guess, but one of the habits I established over a couple of decades ago now is to spend some time in God’s Word (the Bible) pretty much each and every morning. Sometimes when I’m travelling or I’m under severe time-pressures it doesn’t quite work out, and on those days the things that I remember from His Word … well, those things sustain me. But to live a life of joy, a life that’s full and fulfilling, let me tell you there is simply no substitute for listening to God speak; seriously, and that’s what reading the Bible is all about: Listening to God speaking to us.

Just this morning, around 3:15 am it was, before I sat down at my desk to prepare this message, I was in God’s Word. Psalm 32 is where I was up to, and the sheer power of what God had to say just blew me away. We’re going to chat about that particular Psalm later on in this series of messages, but right now, I want to head off to the other end of the Bible – the book of Revelation, where Jesus is talking to a church, and He’s talking to them about being lukewarm. Have a listen. Revelation 3:14-22:

“And to the angel of the church of Laodicea, write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: I know your works; you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were either hot or cold, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

For you say, “I am rich; I have prospered and I need nothing.” You don’t realise that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe you and keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love; be earnest, therefore, and repent.

Listen, I am standing at the door knocking. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me. To the one who conquers I will give a place with Me on My throne, just as I Myself conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve been to many churches like the one in Laodicea. I’ve met many people who call themselves Christians, who would have fitted comfortably into a pew in that church. That lukewarm cup of tea I mentioned earlier … You know what that’s like. You take one sip and you just want to spit it out. Right? Hot, sure; that’s nice. Cold – well, you know, ice tea is a very refreshing drink. But lukewarm? Puke! Right? What a vivid picture, and to the lukewarm Christian, that’s exactly what Jesus is saying here.

Like I said, God is really honest and direct on the things that count. Sometimes you hear preachers trying to … I don’t know … soften the blow; put a better spin on the message; try to make sure that people don’t feel too uncomfortable with what Jesus is saying. I mean, what spin merchant these days would let Jesus get out there and say, “If you want to be My disciple, take up your cross every day and follow Me because if you want to save your life, you’re going to lose it, but if you’re prepared to lose it all for Me, you’ll find it?”

It’s not a particularly popular message, but then Jesus … well, Jesus is a straight shooter. He knows that on the really important things in life, and this whole hot-cold-lukewarm thing is actually really important … He knows He has to cut straight to the quick, and so as we launch into this series today (it’s called ‘Overboard with Jesus’), please don’t expect me to mince my words. There are people listening to this broadcast today who are living out a lukewarm brand of Christianity: A form of Christianity where they say they believe in Jesus, but they don’t live as though they do.

You see, what you say only tells the rest of us who you want to be; it’s what you do that tells the rest of us who you really are. And for so many people, ‘I believe in Jesus’ comes out of one side of their mouth, but in their hearts, they say to themselves, “Well, I’m rich, I’ve prospered, I really don’t need anything.” As author Michael Green once put it, my job here is to strip you naked and to show you that the clothes in which you once boasted are after all nothing but insubstantial rags. The things we have, the things we’ve achieved, one day will mean absolutely nothing.

Over the last few months, I’ve buried two friends. I’ve been to their funerals and sat in the pews, and listened to what people said about them. They were both amazing people; one a man, one a woman. The man was generous and loving and kind, and he poured himself out for people, but he didn’t believe in Jesus. The woman? Well, the same in her own way; generous and selfless and kind, but she did believe in Jesus. Today, neither of them exist on this earth anymore; their bodies have returned to dust. What really matters now, at this end of the equation, is their relationship with Jesus.

The man sadly will spend eternity separated from God; the woman, right now, is in the presence of Jesus worshipping Him. Let me ask you: When you get to the end of your life, how do you want things to turn out? It’s sobering, but then this isn’t my message; this is Jesus talking. This is Jesus, right here right now, speaking to you. I’m just His servant. I’m just His mouthpiece and today, He’s calling out to you.

Today, He’s asking you to look in the mirror and ask yourself, “am I living my life like I’m full-on for Jesus? Am I living my life as though He is the single-most important thing in my life, or am I just kidding myself? Am I just going through the motions and living out a comfortable Christianity?” And if it’s the latter, this is what He’s going to say to you! Right here and right now:

Therefore I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe you to keep your shame of nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love; be earnest, therefore, and repent.

In other words, ‘Come to Me’, Jesus is saying, and get things that truly matter: Forgiveness, holiness, wisdom and insight, so that you can live your life the way He always planned; so that you can have all the things that He wants to give you, here and now, and for the rest of eternity.

Jesus speaks to us very directly. He speaks very plainly for one reason: Because He loves us. He reproves and disciplines those whom He loves, and I believe … In fact I know that there are some comfortable Christians who’ve been warming pews down at their local church for way too long, whom Jesus wants to drag out of their comfort-zones today, and it’s my privilege today to call you back to Him; to share His words with you. So if you’re feeling just a tad uncomfortable, if you feel like you’re squirming a little in your seat today, if the words of Jesus are just a little too close to home, then I’m pretty sure this message is for you.

Be earnest, therefore, and repent. Get real with yourself, and turn back to Jesus. Admit it if you’ve been lukewarm. Turn your life back over to Him. That’s what He’s calling you to do today; Plainly, directly, lovingly because your life, your life, depends on it.

 

Escaping the Lukewarm Faith

It’s a real dilemma, isn’t it? If you believe in Jesus, on the one hand, sure, you want to live your life for Him, you definitely do, but on the other hand, there is so much going on; so many pressures. The day-to-day is hard work, right? My children are all grown-up now. We just recently had number two son (he’s thirty-four years old) staying with us for ten days before moving overseas for a while. I remember what hard-going it was when he was a teenager.

I mean, he was a great kid, but teenaged boys … Well, they’re a handful, aren’t they? But now, as a thirty-four-year-old, it was such a pleasure to have him around; easy to get on with; none of that teenaged tension, just a sheer pleasure. And just quietly, really satisfying to see him grow up into such a remarkable young man.

But often, when Jacqui and I are out, we see parents struggling with their kids. It’s hard-going. It takes so much time and energy, and it’s draining. On-top of that, there’s work; keeping the household running … You get the point, right?

It’s great to have a plan to live your life for Jesus, but actually doing that … Where do you fit in the time to pray? Where do you fit in the time to read your Bible? How can you show the grace and the mercy and the love and the sacrifice that you’re meant to show, that you want to show, when all the pressures of the world seem to be caving in on-top of you? So what happens is that passion, the enthusiasm that you once had for Jesus, starts to wane. Right?

This wonder, this sense of awe at having a personal relationship with the God who created the universe, of walking daily with Jesus, it goes from being full-on to … well … taking a backseat; from being hot to being lukewarm. And it’s not living that lukewarm life that we’re chatting about in this series called ‘Overboard with Jesus’. Let’s have another listen to the powerful words of Jesus, spoken to the church in Laodicea, and indeed to every one of us as we find ourselves sometimes in that place I’ve just described. Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus says:

I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich; I have prospered; I need nothing.’ You don’t realise that you’re wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. Therefore I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I reprove and discipline those whom I love; be earnest, therefore, and repent.

 Listen, I am standing at the door knocking. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me. To the one who conquers, I will give a place with Me on My throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

So Jesus is calling us out of our comfort and complacency; out of that place where our faith in Him’s taken a backseat to all the cares and indeed the comforts of this world – to get real with ourselves, to focus back on what’s really important, to be earnest, and to repent.

Great. If you just listen to that half of the message, man, it feels an awful like condemnation. It feels an awful like Jesus waving His big bony finger at you, and shaking His head. There’s such a fine line sometimes between being condemned and being convicted of right and wrong, but today I have some really good news for you – some great news. Romans 8:1:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The devil condemns; God convicts. There’s a big difference. Condemnation is meant to draw us away from God, as we become mired in guilt. That’s what the devil wants; to draw you away from God, but God has a different approach to dealing with sin. It’s a redemptive approach. It’s an approach of reconciliation. Here’s Jesus talking about what the Holy Spirit does in our lives. John 16:8:

And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin and of God’s righteousness and of the coming judgment.

I remember when I was a young man, I was a smoker. Three packets a day. Absolutely hooked. I tried to give up, but it was a struggle and I always ended up back on the dreaded weed until one day, I was in a hospital-room and I watched a woman die of lung cancer. I actually watched her take her last breath. That thing they talk about – the death threat, or the body not wanting to give up … That’s exactly what happened, and I remember walking out of that room, taking a half-full packet of cigarettes, and throwing it in the bin in a brightly-lit, antiseptically-cleaned corridor. That was over thirty-five years ago now, and I haven’t had a single cigarette since.

You see, that’s what happens when we’re deeply convicted of something. It changes our behaviour, and that’s what God wants to do. He didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world, but to save the world, and what today’s message is about isn’t condemnation; it’s conviction. Jesus quite clearly is putting His finger on this whole lukewarm-Christianity thing; absolutely. He doesn’t mince His words because He’s going for impact – the very same impact that the death of that woman before my very eyes had on me.

I said a moment ago that conviction is redemptive. That’s a bit jargony, isn’t it? What does that mean? Well, I think Jesus says it best:

I am standing at the door knocking. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with Me. To the one who conquers, I will give a place with Me on My throne, just as I Myself conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

I love His choice of words there. ‘I’m knocking. If you hear My voice today, if you open the door to your heart to Me today, I’ll come in and sit down, and we’ll share a meal together.’ Back in those days when that was written, as I guess is also true today, the idea of sitting down and eating together was a sign of friendship and fellowship.

Jesus is saying, “I get where you’re at. I’m holding up a mirror to your face here, so that you’ll realise exactly how lukewarm your relationship with Me has become. But once you hear that, once you get that, I’ll draw close to you and we’ll have a dynamic real intimate relationship, and you will become a conqueror – not because you had the strength, but because of the victory that I won for you on that cross and through that empty tomb. My victory will become your victory.”

Wow! You see, that’s Jesus speaking to you and me today. Do you get it? Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to them today. He wants you back; you. He loves you. His Word today is meant to convict you, deep in your heart, of the poverty of your situation, and Jesus is calling you back. He’s knocking today on the door of your heart. Do you hear Him? Will you get real and repent? Will you let Him in today?

Because Jesus, this Jesus who died for you and rose again for you, He has a whole new life ready and waiting for you – a life so rich, so vibrant, that you can’t begin to imagine! The life that He brings, yes, it will have its challenges; it will have its trials, and it will have its suffering, but He’ll also bring the sort of contentment and satisfaction that a lukewarm faith, a lukewarm relationship with Jesus, can never bring. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to them today.

Comfort and Complacency

Comfort and complacency are, to a great extent, the incubator of lukewarm Christianity. Next week we’ll be seeing how Jesus calls us out of the boat in the middle of the storm, just as He did Peter; out of our safety and comfort and complacency. You can read about it in Matthew 14:22-33.

Now, I have to tell you, I have been on that boat in a stormy ocean many-a time. In fact, I started my walk with Jesus in that boat far from the land, with waves crashing over the bow and the wind against me. Fully the first three years of my faith-walk with Jesus were spent in that wretched little boat. Seriously, some days I could not imagine how I was going to make it through to the next day; no idea. Maybe it’s hard for you to believe that of the guy with a smooth voice on the radio, who seems to have his life together … Get revelation today.

No one is immune from the stormy-boat time as I call it; not you, not me, not even Jesus. Go and visit Him in Gethsemane. Go, visit Him in Golgotha. No, not even Jesus is immune. Those very same people who want to marginalise your Christian faith, want to shout down the faith that Jesus put in your heart, they’re the people who’ll tell you what success looks like, what beauty looks like. And the average Christian has become so intoxicated with success and beauty and wealth and comfort, with the allure of what the world offers, that we’ve lost sight of the reality of suffering in the Christian walk; of uncertainty; of losing everything, which is actually what Jesus calls us to. We’ve lost all of that and we’ve replaced His truth with the lies of this world, as though it’s all about success. Give me a break! How many successful people have been so miserable that they’ve taken their own lives or overdosed on drugs or worked themselves into an early grave?

If you remember one thing from our time together today, remember this: Suffering is a normal part of walking with Jesus, and your stormy-boat experiences … They’re no accident. Nor should they be a surprise, because in the middle of your storms, your God is up to something good; something amazing, getting you ready for the next thing, and that’s exactly what He was doing for me in those three years.

I remember when the day for me to answer His call out of the boat came. It was the day I resigned from the consulting firm I was working for. I used to own the company, but I’d sold it, and the new owners were only too happy to keep me on. Our finances weren’t all that crash-hot,; it was a huge leap of faith.

Back in the IT consulting game, things were safe; life was good, the money was regular, and I have to say, the money was pretty good too. I went through months of struggling this way and that. This was Jesus calling me out of the boat. It seemed safe back in the boat; it seemed scary out there on the ocean with Him. It always does, let me tell you. For me, it never gets easier because the steps of faith He asks me to take just seem to get bigger and harder and scarier. I don’t think it was ever meant to be easy. It’s like the first time I jumped off a high tower into the water below, on an obstacle course in the army. Scary as! And the next thing they asked me to do was to rappel out of a helicopter from a few hundred feet above the ground, and on and on it went from there.

It’s been well over a decade since that step of faith from the IT consulting career into the struggling, ailing little ministry of ChristianityWorks, as it was back then, and I’m no longer wondering what-if. I’m so glad I took that step! As tough as it’s been along the way (there have been many setbacks and many disappointments), and as many as the challenges are that lie ahead, I know that when I’m sinking, Jesus will reach out and grab me, as He always does. I know because He does it over and over again. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, there’s only one place to be: Overboard with Jesus, because He is faithful beyond measure. That’s why it’s worth opening the door; worth sitting down and talking to Him; worth following His call on your life. He is faithful beyond measure.

I remember someone once saying to me, “Oh, you’re not one of those ‘born again’ Christians are you?” The tone in her voice said it all. I was driving a car at the time, so I couldn’t turn to look her in the eye. I just smiled and I replied, “Well, actually, that’s the only sort of Christian there is!”

 

When the Storm Blows In

As societies around the world become more and more secular, they’re inventing more and more stereotypes to marginalise Christians. You see, and I can tell you this first hand, if you don’t believe in Jesus, the message of Christianity makes you feel incredibly uncomfortable. Why? Because whether you realise it or not – and at the time I didn’t realise it – deep down, there’s something in your makeup that knows that these Christians are right.

Man, you Christians used to offend me, and annoy me, and make me squirm. So I did what any self-respecting atheist would do: I lashed out at you, I persecuted you. It’s why today, I so relate to the Apostle Paul, who as a Pharisee, did exactly the same.

With the same sneer in their voice, people these days use terms like ‘evangelical Christians’, ‘conservative Christians’, ‘hardliners’, ‘fundamentalists’ to paint a picture of what Jesus said, what I believe with all my heart, as being wholly undesirable and unreasonable and irrelevant and downright dangerous.

Never mind that any half decent legal system, any half decent system of justice around the world, is modelled on the Word of God. There are some countries where it’s not, and those countries are inevitably brutal and unjust. Not the sorts of places you and I would want to live in. Nevertheless, as people in democracies exercise their freedom of speech, many do so, to marginalise the very faith and belief system that gave them this freedom in the first place.

So what happens, is that many Christians withdraw back into their shells. They stop living out their faith because they feel marginalised. Persecution can do that to you, especially if you love a comfortable lifestyle. Why don’t I just blend in with all the rest – maybe no-one will notice that I’m a Christian.

Then the storm hits – it blows the boat you’re in, and it’s pitching and you think to yourself – how am I ever going to survive this?! Do you see how many good reasons there are just to sit there, and pretend that you’re really not a Jesus follower?

Whether it’s the subtle marginalisation of an increasingly secular society that stops you from living out and speaking out your faith, or whether it’s the excuse of some great and mighty storm that seems to be sweeping through your life, there is an endless array of excuses not to live your life for Jesus.

I guess by now, with me talking about a storm, you might have a sense of which passage of scripture I’m heading towards … so let’s take a look already – Matthew chapter 14, verses 22 to 33:

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and go ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning Jesus came walking toward them on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come out to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him again, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

There are three things that really hit me between the eyes about this amazing story. Right now, I just want to take a look at the first one of those. You see, when the storms strike in our lives, we find ourselves wondering – what in the blazes is going on here? Have I failed God? Have I made a mistake? Have I somehow stepped outside His will and His favour? Maybe God has given up on me? And with all of those questions swirling around inside of us, the self–pity wells up and we find ourselves with more than ample justification for not stepping out of the boat.

But when you read the account of this event again, you have to come to a somewhat confronting realisation that putting those disciples in that boat, in harm’s way, on that stormy ocean, is something that Jesus did quite deliberately.

They’d just had a powerful time of ministry – Jesus fed 5000 men (and not to mention the women and children) with 2 fish and 5 loaves. And immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side … while he dismissed the crowds and then went off alone to pray.

Putting the disciples in harm’s way, putting them on that stormy ocean, putting them in a place where they would perish if God didn’t intervene, was – wait for this – the sovereign choice of a sovereign God. Of course a storm is nothing to Him, but to a bunch of immature disciples, it was horrendous. They were cowering, their lives were threatened.

This series is called ‘Overboard with Jesus’ and we’re going to take a look at the rest of the story after a short break. But right now, I want to focus this situation of the disciples in the boat, back onto your life. Onto the tiny boat on the big ocean that you’re sailing on.

When was the last time that a storm hit? When was the last time your little boat was battered by waves, far from the land, with the wind against you? Do you remember that time? Perhaps you’re going through one of those times right now. Perhaps your situation, your circumstances, your relationships … seem completely impossible.

Well, I want you to know something. Where you’re at right at the moment is no accident. It’s no mistake. In fact, it is the sovereign choice of God for you. Now just process that for a minute – what things does that change for you?

 

Overboard in the Storm

I mentioned earlier on in this series that I began my walk with Jesus in the middle of a boat on an incredibly stormy ocean – not literally speaking you understand, but my first two or three years with Him were the worst few years of my life. I’ve never been lower, it’s never been darker and scarier and lonelier and more painful … and I tell you, I never, ever want to be back in that place.

Of course, whether or not we end up in the middle of another storm isn’t always up to us. Sometimes it’s our fault – God always lets us live through the consequences of our sin, and so sometimes the pain that we’re going through is just that. It’s the only way we learn our lessons in life isn’t it? Like that old Yiddish proverb: Every generation has to learn for itself that the stove is hot.

But sometimes a storm blows in that simply isn’t our fault. It just happens, and as we saw before the break, those storms aren’t just some accident, but the sovereign will of God.

It’s hard to imagine that God would let that happen to us, but you see, He is so much more interested in our character than our comfort. A verse that I go back to again and again when I’m suffering is James chapter 1, verses 2 to 4:

My brothers and sisters, whenever (whenever!) you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

And we’ve already seen that God uses storms in that very way. Let’s revisit that stormy story in Matthew 14 again, because there are a couple of more things that God has to say to us through what Jesus and the Disciples did on that day. So let’s go back – Matthew chapter 14, beginning at verse 22:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ And Jesus said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Okay so putting the disciples in harm’s way was a deliberate choice that Jesus made. Storm, wind … even the seasoned fishermen among them were getting downright scared. And then just to top it off, Jesus comes walking across the water towards them, and they think they are seeing a ghost.

It’s often the way when Jesus steps supernaturally into the storms in our lives. As much as we don’t like the storm, we kind of understand the things we can see and touch and feel. But when the hand of God starts moving supernaturally, that’s a bit unsettling and scary sometimes. When Jesus first steps into our storm, it can be scary, until we hear His voice, until we know that it’s Him.

I remember in my storm, man when He led me to a church, and then He led me to a Bible college – that was completely crazy given who I was and where I was at – it was scary. But then He speaks … He speaks words of assurance and comfort, “Don’t be afraid … it’s me!”

People ask me, “How do you hear that? How do you hear Him speak?” Most often, I’ve heard Him speak through the Bible. I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. This morning as I read the next Psalm that I was due to read, He just spoke so directly into what I was going through. But He speaks through sermons, sometimes He touches me deeply when I’m watching a movie, through things that happen. When you read your Bible, you’ll see He speaks in all sorts of different ways.

And that speaking brings courage to your heart. When the ministry of ChristianityWorks a few years ago looked like it was going to crash and burn for a lack of funds, man I spent a lot of time on my knees and I can tell you, it was Jesus speaking to me that gave me the courage and the resolve to keep going. And then, right there, the next, the single most bizarre part of this story unfolds. Peter gets out of the boat:

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, and started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus.

Now just stop and think about that. Not only did the words of Jesus inspire enough courage in Peter’s heart to get out of the boat and walk on water, which in itself is just amazing, but He did it while the storm was still raging. And you know something, that’s often how Jesus does things. He calls us out of the boat in the middle of the storm.

Now at the peak of the storm, we have the maximum number of excuses available to us to stay back in the boat, really we do. Now’s not the right time. We’re a long way from land. The boat is being battered and overcome by waves. The wind is against us. Now is simply not a good time Jesus. Let’s wait for the storm to stop. But now, the Holy Spirit inspires Peter to say, “Lord, if it really is you, command me to come to you on the water.”

That right there speaks of a heart ready to follow Jesus. Peter knew that he was better out on the water with Jesus in the middle of the storm, than back in the boat with his mates who were paralysed by fear.

This is what it means to go ‘Overboard with Jesus’, to follow Him wherever He may call – to ask Him to call us on, to serve Him, to trust Him to do the impossible … in Him. And one day, Jesus is going to call you out of the boat right in the middle of one of your storms.

Trust me. If you’re listening, if your heart is open, if you yearn for Him, He will call you and when you step out of that boat in His power, rather than your own strength, you’re not going to be perfect at it any more than Peter was. Peter took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm, which is when he started to sink. But Jesus was there, Jesus is always there … immediately He reached out His hand, Jesus is always there to catch us when we fail, when our faith wanes.

‘Overboard with Jesus’ means putting it all on the line. Some people rock along to church and give their 10% tithe, almost like tipping God, and they think to themselves, yep, tick in the box, I’m a good Christian. I go to church, I sing the songs, I give a tithe of my income, tick, tick, tick. Nothing wrong with any of those things.

But one day … right in the middle of a storm, He will call you out of your boat, to step out onto the water in the middle of that storm. There’s only one thing that keeps you afloat in that place … it’s Jesus – your faith in Him. And it’s not until you’ve experienced that, it’s not until you’ve seen Jesus calm the storm that you can truly say from the bottom of your heart, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

Storms come into our lives as a sovereign act of God. They completely overwhelm us. And in the middle of them, if we’re looking, if we are listening and waiting … Jesus will call us out of the boat onto the water to experience His miracle working power and faithfulness.

The question is … are you ready? Are you looking, are you waiting? Will you go?

 

That Sinking Feeling

I’m not sure whether you’ve ever thought about this, but in the three and a half years of Jesus’ public ministry back there in the first century AD, Jesus Himself faced rather a lot of resistance. The beginning of that ministry was marked by His baptism in the Jordan River. But immediately after that, we’re told, the Holy Spirit picked Him up and threw Him out into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil for forty days and forty nights, while He starved almost to the point of death.

When that didn’t work, the devil withdrew to wait for a more opportune time. Straight off the back of that, He goes back to His hometown of Nazareth to preach, and they try to throw Him off a cliff. The Pharisees and Sadducees were pretty soon on His case plotting to kill Him – something they eventually succeeded at – but not before people left Him in droves, John chapter 6, verse 66, because they didn’t like what He was saying.

And when it did come to His crucifixion, every last one of His friends and family deserted Him. Yeah, following Jesus is going to mean resistance, a lot of it. Jesus Himself said in Matthew chapter 7, verses 13 and 14:

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

I think sometimes we imagine that when we set our lives on a course to follow Jesus, when we step out of that boat in the middle of the storm as Peter did on the Sea of Tiberias, it’s going to be easy. God is going to smooth a path out for us and it should all be predictable and safe and easy.

Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, that’s simply not what Jesus promised, ever. John chapter 15, verses 20 and 21:

Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

And so you can want to follow Jesus, you can want to honour Him with all that you are, but when you’re swimming against the tide, you get tired. It’s hard … people lose heart. And on top of that, when those storms hit, you focus on the opposition, you take your eyes off Jesus and then … then you get that sinking feeling.

Remember that story that we’ve been looking at so far in this series, the story of the storm, Jesus walking on the water and then Peter getting out of the boat. Let’s just have a look at Matthew chapter 14, verses 28 to 30:

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ Jesus said, ‘Come.’ So Peter gets out of the boat, and starts walking on the water, and comes towards Jesus. But when he notices the strong wind, he gets scared, he starts to sink, he cries out, ‘Lord, save me.’

It is so hard, it’s so disheartening to fail Jesus. It really is. I can tell you that firsthand. And if you’re someone who wants to live your life for Him, you know it too. It is so disheartening, particularly, when like Peter, you can feel yourself sinking and losing and failing and …

But while you and I will fail, while you and I will be unfaithful, listen to me, Jesus will never, ever fail you. He will never, ever let you down. He will never let you sink. Matthew chapter 14, verses 28 to 33:

Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter gets out of the boat, starts walking on the water, comes towards Jesus. But he notices the strong wind, and he becomes frightened, and beginning to sink, he cries out, ‘Lord, save me!’ (What does Jesus do?) Jesus immediately … immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

And that’s why you and I need never be afraid to step out of the boat onto the stormy ocean, if it’s Jesus calling us out to do it. You can’t do it in your own strength. Peter knew that – that’s why He said Lord if it is you, command me to come out onto the water. He wasn’t stupid, right? It had to be Jesus calling him before he stepped out of the boat.

But when Jesus does call you, He is faithful. He provides all your needs. He gives you all the power you need. That’s an absolute given from His standpoint. That’s why He says to Peter, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ There was absolutely no reason to doubt from Jesus’ standpoint. ‘It’s me you’re talking about here, right. Do you get it?’ says Jesus.

I know … I know, we so often want to play it safe. But here’s the thing, you don’t get to experience the miracle working power of God in your safety zone. It’s out there on the stormy ocean that we discover who Jesus really is. You don’t discover His faithfulness or His power stuck back in your comfort zone. In fact Jesus Himself said – Luke chapter 14, verse 27:

Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

So, let’s talk about you for a moment. Are you in with all that you are? Are you prepared to lay everything … everything … on the line for Jesus? Or are you holding something back?

Let’s go back to that picture of Peter stepping out of the boat. He was prepared to put his life on the line to live out his faith in Jesus. And as we know, Peter fails a few times along the way, but that doesn’t seem to bother Jesus that much in the scheme of things.

Too many people die wondering … I wonder what would have happened if I’d stepped out of the boat when Jesus called me? What if I’d gone overboard with Jesus? What if … what if …

Are you living out a life of ‘what ifs’, missing the opportunities, missing the calls? Well, I’ll tell you, anyone who has heard Jesus’ call overboard will know what Peter knew in his own experience. Jesus is always faithful. He just is.

As politically incorrect, unpopular and old-fashioned things go, the subject of repentance would have to be right up there near the top of the list. Repentance – what the blazers does it mean anyhow? Who even talks that way anymore these days? Give me a break!

 

Full-On Repentance

When I come across a subject like repentance (and I’ll explain what I think that word means in a moment), I tend to think about how I viewed religious jargon before I became a Christian. I remember some nutter standing on a milk crate in the local mall waving a Bible in one hand and shouting, “Repent! Repent!” and thinking to myself, “Yeah, right. Now there’s a message the world wants to hear. Idiot.” I was driving a pretty expensive car back in those days, living in a luxury house, pursuing a business career … Life was, on the surface at least, pretty darn good, so who needs repentance? Ever found yourself thinking along those lines?

The problem is that left to our own devices, we have a tendency of making a hash out of our own lives. Now, the average born-again atheist would take issue with that. The average born-again atheist out there is thinking to themselves, “Here they go again, these religious nutters, telling us that we’re no good; telling us that we can’t make it on our own”, and to be completely honest with you, that’s how I used to think. I thought of myself as smart and successful and I was driven to work hard and to achieve, so the message, “Repent”, which I guess most people associate with turning away from sin – boy, there’s another incredibly unpopular concept these days, sin – that message was not something that I was ready to hear. How about you?

We’re slap-bang in the middle of a series of messages at the moment that’s called ‘Overboard with Jesus’. It’s kind of based around that pretty well-known story of Peter getting out of the boat on the Sea of Tiberius, in the middle of the storm. Matthew 14:22-33:

Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray.

When evening came, He was there alone. But by this time the boat, battered by waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against it.And early in the morning, He came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw Him on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It’s a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.But immediately, Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart! It is I; do not be afraid.’ Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, if it’s You, command me to come out to You on the water.’

And He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught Him, saying to Him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly, You are the Son of God.’

It’s a pretty remarkable story, and I love Peter’s heart. So intent was he on following Jesus that he was prepared to follow Him out of the boat, onto the water, in the middle of a deadly raging storm, and with all my heart, I believe that that’s the sort of follower that Jesus is looking for today: Not a lukewarm, namby-pamby, pew-warming, middle-of-the-road, my-life-doesn’t-count-for-much type of Christian, but someone who’s prepared to get out of the boat in the storm, even though they may sink, to follow Jesus wherever He may lead – someone who’s prepared to be all-in; full-on for Jesus, and this week and next week on the programme, I want to chat about a few practical, real ways that we can do that: Be all-in; be full-on for Jesus.

The first way is in this area of repentance. See, Jesus had a way (He still does, in fact) of cutting through all the nonsense and self-delusion, and getting right to the heart of an issue. In His famous sermon on the mount, He said this. Matthew 5:3:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In other words, blessed are those who recognise their spiritual poverty. Blessed are those who stop deluding themselves and thinking that life is all good; that they’re successful and comfortable and they don’t need anything else … Listen, that’s what pride does. It stops us from recognising what’s really going on in our lives. It stops us from admitting to ourselves, let alone to others, the spiritual poverty that lies deep within; the spiritual poverty that leads us off in the wrong direction, until the emptiness of life, the burdens of life, the consequences of a life chasing after the mirage – the elusion of comfort and success and material things, so deeply afflicts us that words can’t describe what it is we feel.

I see it all the time. Can I say I see it in people who don’t have any faith at all, and tragically, I see it in people who profess a faith in Jesus; who warm the pews of a church each Sunday; who sing the songs, pray the prayers and go through the motions.

Listen to me. Whether religious or not, whether professing a faith in Jesus or not, we can be beset and afflicted by a deep spiritual poverty that we just won’t admit to ourselves because we’ve invested so much time and energy chasing the things we’ve been chasing after, getting to this desperate place in life that we’re just too proud to admit that we got it wrong. And that has consequences, so how do you turn that around? Well, interestingly, that’s exactly what the word repentance means: To turn things round; to admit that you got it wrong, but there’s an important element that’s required to take that measure. Have a listen to this. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14:

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among the people, if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray, seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

See, that element that’s required is humility. It’s being prepared to get real with ourselves and go back to God and admit to Him, and ourselves, that our ways, our rebellion, our stupidity … well, because frankly that’s what it is … simply haven’t worked, and God’s promise to us(and you read it over and over again in the Bible) is that when we turn around, away from our wicked ways, when we seek His face, He’ll listen; He’ll forgive; He’ll heal, and He’ll bless. Plain and simple. 1 John 1:9:

If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

You see, the alternative to that is the status quo, and over twenty years ago now, I came to the realisation the status quo simply wasn’t an option. How about you? How’s your life going? Are you perhaps one of those people who kind of believes in Jesus, but … well … somehow it’s not going so well for you? Then there’s every chance that the reason for that is that you’re holding something back from God – some sin; some rebellion; some thing in your life that you haven’t given over to Him.

Remember: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the ones who admit their sin and their poverty to God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It’s time to get ‘Overboard with Jesus’ in the storm, just like Peter did. It’s time to stop pussy-footing around with our faith, and get real, and live a life that’s all-out for Jesus. And that starts with being honest; with admitting; with turning away from that sin that’s been plundering our lives, and turning back to Jesus. Acts 3:19-20:

Repent, therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

So, how about it?

 

Full-On Forgiveness

To be honest, forgiveness never used to be a thing for me. Why forgive? My motto in life used to be, “Don’t get angry; get even.” If you did something to hurt me or betrayed me, or you undermined me or you ignored me, I would find a way of getting even. Vengeance is sweet, they say, although from experience I can tell you it does leave a bitter aftertaste in your mouth.

It wasn’t until aged thirty-six that forgiveness became a thing for me. This is how it happened. Jesus met me in a dark time in my life. My Saviour came for me, and reached down into the dark pit where I was, and lifted me out. Those aren’t just words; that’s what happened, and today I look back and I still find myself asking, ‘Why me?’ I’m speechless at the idea that Jesus came for me. There were so many people who were nicer than me. I was a shocker, I have to tell you. I was tough; hard-nosed; brutal in my pursuit of success, and then one day, I read this story that Jesus told. Matthew 21:18-35:

Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive; as many as seven times?’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but I tell you, seventy seven times.’

For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. And, as he couldn’t pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, “Have patience with me, and I’ll pay you everything.” And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt.

But that same slave, as he went out, came across one of his fellow-slaves who owed him a hundred Denarii, and seizing him by the throat, he said, “Pay what you owe.”  Then his fellow-slave fell down and pleaded with him, “Have patience with me, and I’ll pay you,” but he refused. Then he went and threw him into prison until he could pay the debt. 

Now when his fellow-slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then the lord summoned him and said to him, “You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow-slave, as I had mercy on you?” And in anger, his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.

The end of that story is just a bit brutal, isn’t it? I mean, really! Is forgiveness that big-a deal? Well, apparently it is to God. I was perplexed by this story, this parable that Jesus used to teach Peter and the other disciples about forgiveness, so it got me thinking.

God makes us – humanity, kicking it off with Adam and Eve. He gives us freewill, full-knowing that we were going to rebel, full-knowing that we would fall short of His perfect standard, full-knowing that one day the demands of justice (God’s justice) – after all, we’d expect God to be just. Right? – would have to be met. I mean, if I break the law and end up in front of a judge, as I did once as a young man by crashing my car, you’d expect the judge to be just. He gave me a sentence; rather a light sentence as it turned out at the time: A fine or, if I didn’t pay the fine, a couple of nights at Her Majesty’s pleasure, in a prison. That’s what you’d expect, but imagine, just imagine, if that judge had been my father – my dad, who brought me into this world and loves me beyond measure.

Now, in that instance, the judge would have had a fundamental conflict of interests. On the one hand he’s the judge, and by the very nature of his role, his job is to mete out justice. On the other hand, he’s my dad and he loves me, and he doesn’t want to have to do that.

Well, that’s precisely the dilemma that God finds Himself in; only for Him, it’s much, much worse because, as we read in Romans 6:23, the wages of our sin is death. You and I, through our sin (our rebellion against God), are under a sentence of death. Make no mistake about it: An eternal existence of judgment and suffering. John 5:28-29:

Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming when all who were in their graves will hear His voice and will come out: Those who have done good to the resurrection-life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

There it is: A resurrection of eternal condemnation. That’s what’s at stake here, so God sends Jesus (His one and only Son), the One through whom the whole of creation was created … He sends that Jesus to suffer and die for you and me. Do you get it? This is why forgiveness is such a big deal for God. This is why Jesus told this powerful parable about forgiveness. Matthew 27:45:

From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At about three o’clock, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi! Eloi! Lama sabachthani’; that is, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’

 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ At once, one of them ran out and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink. But the other said, ‘Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.’ Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and breathed His last. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Do you get it? That’s what Jesus did for me and for you, so that we could be completely set free from that eternal condemnation. For God so loved the world – so loved you, so loved me – that He gave His only begotten Son, so that when we believe in Him, we won’t perish under that burden of eternal condemnation, but instead we will have eternal life.

So He looks at you and me and He says, “Well, if that’s what I did to forgive you, how is it possible that you wouldn’t forgive those who’ve sinned against you?” Well? How is it possible? That’s the question that God is asking us today. How is that possible?

So let me ask you: Who haven’t you forgiven in your life? For whom do you still harbour the darkness of unforgiveness in your heart? This series of messages is called ‘Overboard with Jesus’. It’s about taking our lives out of the mediocre comfort-zone where we’ve perhaps been living, and going all-out; living our lives full-on for Jesus. There are so many people who want to do that, but they just don’t know how. Well, get a revelation today. You cannot, you simply cannot, live your life full-on for Jesus if you’re carrying unforgiveness round in your heart; you just can’t.

Well, if you’re captive to unforgiveness today, if you’re struggling to let go of that darkness – that destructive force of unforgiveness in your heart today, here it is: Jesus came to set you free. Let it go. Put it into His hands; pray for your enemy; get out there; go overboard with Jesus; trust Him, and He will show up. He will grab your hand when you start sinking, because that’s just what Jesus does.

 

Making it Happen

I’m a firm believer that we are, you are and I am, we’re each masters of self-delusion. Why? Because we all have blind spots in our makeup. You know what it’s like when you’re driving a car: If your rear vision mirror and your two side mirrors aren’t perfectly aligned, there are blind spots in your rear vision. Often those blind spots are big enough to conceal a motorcycle or even a car. Change lanes without looking back over your shoulder, and you’re likely to have an accident.

A few years ago, I attended a defensive driving course. Now I thought that every car had blind spots like that, but it turns out that the mirrors are designed so that if you know how to line them up (and they taught us that on the course), you’ll have seamless rear vision from your left peripheral vision, right round behind you, through to your right peripheral vision. It’s quite amazing really. Now, whenever I hop into a car that’s not my own, like a hire car, I always line up the mirrors so that there are no blind spots.

It’s a bit like that in life. We have these blind spots and the definition of a blind spot is a place where you can’t see. I didn’t realise, for instance, that my anger was an issue before I became a Christian, but actually, it wasn’t becoming a Christian that made the difference; it was hearing what God had to say. I began to read my Bible not out of a sense of duty, but because the pastor of the little church that I attended (Pastor Phil) inspired me with God’s Word. Proverbs 12:15:

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but the wise man listens to advice.

So I went to the Source of wisdom – God Himself, and as I started reading, time and time again, I was convicted that something in my life wasn’t quite right, so God would work on that with me. Then it was the next thing and the next thing. Well, would you believe a few decades later, we’re still going? The power of God’s Word to bring me to repentance by showing me the blind spots has been truly miraculous. In fact, it still is, and the power of God’s Word to help me to learn to forgive is exactly the same. I discovered awhile into the process that this is exactly what’s meant to happen. John 16:8:

And when the Holy Spirit comes, He will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does as we open our hearts to God’s Word. He helps us to discern right from wrong. He convicts us, as it were, in such an incredibly powerful way – a way that brings change, so perhaps you’re struggling with some sin in your life right now, or some unforgiveness in your heart, and you just can’t seem to let go. Well, right now, I want to pray for you because I believe that the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, is going to fill you today in the most amazing way.

Father God, we come to You to confess that we’re completely helpless to deal with our sin; with our unforgiveness. Lord, we’re even powerless to know much of the time the things inside us, the things going on in our hearts, the things that are manifesting in our lives, that are displeasing to You. We have blind spots, so we ask You today, dear Holy Spirit, that You would convict us of sin and righteousness; that You would shine Your light into the darkest recesses of of our soul, and that You would give us a passion (a real passion) for Your Word – to hear You speak Your grace and mercy and power into our lives. Bring repentance, dear God, where there is sin. Bring forgiveness, dear God, where there is unforgiveness. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Amen, amen! And I want to encourage you to become a man or woman of God’s Word, feeding daily on the Word of God; hearing God speak daily His wisdom into your life; receiving daily from His power to change so that each day, you look more and more like Jesus, because that’s what He wants to do in your life and it’s the most wondrous thing to experience.

There’s a description of God’s people that pops up several times in the Bible. It’s the adjective ‘stiff-necked’. An interesting way to describe the stubbornness of God’s people. I’m guessing it points to their unwillingness to bow down their lives in worship of God. I wonder if you know anyone like that.

 

Full On: Surrender

We live in a world where we’re taught to be proud of who we are. You can be who you want to be, you can do whatever you want to do. If you work hard you can achieve whatever you want to achieve – and when you do, be proud of what you’ve achieved. The problem is though, that pride so often comes before the fall.

I remember when I was a young lad, learning to ice-skate. Now, physical coordination … it’s not one of my strengths. So my bottom spent a lot of time making contact with the ice. And you know, every time I thought, here you go Berni, you’ve got it, you’re doing really well and I’d look over at Mum and Dad to show them how clever I was – whoomph! Down on the ice I’d go.

Pride is actually quite a terrible thing – it’s something that God always, always, always opposes. James chapter 4, verse 6:

God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble.

But pride takes all sorts of different forms. As we chatted last week on the program, sometimes pride stops us from admitting that we’re wrong.

The more you invest in a course of action, or in a way of life, the harder it is to admit that it was the wrong way to go about living life. I mean, you’ve invested a lot in your approach – people have watched you, some have admired you. To turn back from that, to turn away from that, to admit that you were wrong – well, you lose face don’t you.

Losing face is only a problem if you care what other people think about you. I used to care a lot what other people thought about me. I wanted them to think well of me. I wanted to impress people. I wanted them to speak well of me behind my back. When you think about it, that’s why some people buy the most expensive cars that they can afford – to make a statement.

That’s why some people buy grand houses in grand suburbs – with so much space and so many rooms that they don’t need, and swimming pools that they don’t swim in. To make a statement that says: “Look at me. I AM someone. I’ve made it.” Not everyone, but a lot of people are like that.

Never mind that they’re desperately unhappy in their flashy cars and grand mansions. And even if you’re not rich, you can find yourself clamouring after a successful career or a bigger pay cheque or a promotion … whatever it is … to build up the image that other people have of you.

And when you do that, let me tell you from experience, because all the things I’ve just described … I’ve been there, done that, got the T-shirt you realise. When you do that, you start believing your own propaganda. You get a puffed up image of who you are and what you’re worth, as you look down your nose at the mere mortals who surround you.

Moses … Moses is up on the mountain with God, receiving the Ten Commandments. Have a listen to this, Exodus chapter 32, verses 1 to 9:

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, ‘Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Take off the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ So all the people took off the gold from their ears, and brought them to Aaron.

He took from them the gold, formed it in a mould, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought us up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.’ They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’

The Lord said to Moses, ‘I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.’

Isn’t that what we do? We say that we believe in God, but left to our own devices, we become stiff–necked. Prideful. We make idols of the things of this world and the more we chase after them, the less inclined we are to bow down our lives to God.

And when that happens, God’s anger burns against us. Let’s get a revelation about that today. Yes, God loves you … but when you’re more inclined to chase after the things of this world, than bow down your life to worship Him, in His eyes you’ve become stiff–necked and His anger burns against you.

We’re in the middle of a series of messages at the moment, called ‘Overboard with Jesus’ – about living our lives full-on for Christ. But so often our pride … well, we delude ourselves into thinking that we can put God on a leash and have Him follow us around to do our beck and call. But if you want to live your life full-on for Christ, that’s not the way to live.

Who or what is your golden calf? Who or what in your life, in your possessions, in your priorities are you putting before God? Hmm? You see the alternative is to have a heart like the psalmist who wrote Psalm 95, verses 6 and 7:

O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand.

There’s a man with his life bowed down to God. You can’t call him stiff-necked.

 

Full On: Sacrifice

Come on, let’s be honest, none of us likes to give up the things that we like. I remember, when our children were young, Saturdays were a day of racing around doing this, doing that. Taking them to sport and all the other things that they had going on. I mean, I’m someone who works pretty hard, so come the weekend, I’d really love to just put my feet up.

But there was this running around with the kids, the lawn had to be mowed, the car had to be washed. All I wanted to do was rest, but … that’s what it is, right?!

And you mothers, you know that being a mum is simply a life of sacrifice. Children demand so much attention and effort and time and emotional energy and sheer hard work. You pour yourself into them. It’s a life of sacrifice.

In fact, pretty much anything worthwhile in life requires sacrifice. Studying, getting a degree, learning a trade, bringing up children, saving money, building a career … they all involve sacrifice.

So … what exactly is sacrifice? Have you ever thought about that? Well, my friendly online dictionary comes up with a variety of definitions, but the most appropriate one is: to give up something that you value for the sake of other considerations.

You work hard to grow your business at the expense of your social life for instance. Sacrifice always involves giving something up, something that you want NOW, in order to have something better later.

And it seems that you and I are prepared to make all sorts of sacrifices to get the things in this world that we want. The question though, is whether you and I are prepared to make the sacrifices that are required to get God what He wants in this world. Well, are we?

Before the break, we had a look at that powerful, pivotal passage in Romans Chapter 12. Let’s go back there, because it’s quite illuminating – but this time we’ll read a bit more of the Chapter. Romans chapter 12, verses 1 to 4:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned to you.

Now I remember one of my lecturers back in Bible College telling me that whenever you find a ‘therefore’ in Scripture, you have to ask yourself: What’s the ‘therefore’ there for?! Good question, because here Paul who is writing the letter to the church in Rome, begins this chapter for us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice – a strong appeal when you think about it – with a ‘therefore’. Well, what’s the ‘therefore’ there for?

See, Paul is pointing back to the first eleven chapters of this letter, which are all about the amazing sacrifice that Jesus has made for us so that we could be saved from the wrath of God because of our sin. For example, back in Romans chapter 5, verses 6 to 8:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person — though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

So, in view of the mercies of God, therefore, present your bodies as a living sacrifice – which is your spiritual worship. Now at this point I need to point out that when people back in the first century AD heard that word sacrifice, they couldn’t help but think of the other meaning of the word sacrifice that I find in my dictionary, which is this: …an act of slaughtering an animal or a person or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity.

Specifically, they’re thinking about the relatively recent sacrifice of Jesus on that Roman Cross back in Jerusalem – something that had happened about 50 or 60 years earlier by all accounts. They’re thinking about the many stories that they’ve heard about Jesus, innocent of any sin or crime, being nailed to a cross to save them from the wrath of God.

A pretty picture it ain’t in their minds, as they read the words of the Apostle Paul – who was there at the time of the crucifixion – sitting, as they are in the relative comfort and wealth of imperial Rome.

What they’re hearing as Paul’s letter is read out, is that God is calling them to a life of incredible sacrifice, something that is already becoming obvious to them, through the rising persecution and martyrdom of Christians in the Roman Empire. If you’ve ever been to Rome, you may have seen the catacombs, the huge underground tunnels where the Christians hid.

I hear people talk about living their lives for Jesus, but they want to do it from the comfort of their armchair. In many places today, in many societies, in many churches, there is so much comfort, there is so much wealth, that the notion of sacrifice is a foreign one.

But what of the woman who wrote to me recently: My husband has been extremely cruel to me since Mother’s Day. What does she do? Does she up and leave him? No, she goes to God and asks Him to protect her; asks Him to change her husband; asks Him to heal their marriage. That’s what she did.

In this world, in this day and age, the obvious solution would have been separation and divorce, but this woman has taken a different route, she’s made a different choice. She takes seriously the scripture that says in Romans chapter 5, verses 1 to 5:

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we now stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and that hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Conventional wisdom, the world’s wisdom says … run away from suffering. You’re entitled. You deserve it. You’re worth it. And yet the Bible is filled with some hard truths about suffering. Back to this woman’s lot – 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 1 to 6:

Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

Do not adorn yourselves outwardly by braiding your hair, and wearing gold ornaments or fine clothing; rather, let your adornment be the inner self with the lasting beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God’s sight.

It was in this way long ago that the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by accepting the authority of their husbands. Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fear alarm you.

We want to throw those bits of the Bible out. They’re politically incorrect. They’re unfair. They’re irrelevant in this day and age. And yet God’s truth remains God’s truth. Even though the more comfortable and affluent our world becomes, we’ve had lies dropped on our heads that tell us it’s all about us – Jesus … the same Jesus who suffered and died for you on that Cross … Jesus is calling you to a life that involves sacrifice.

 

Full On: Worship

Okay, so how do you worship God? More recently I guess as many, if not most, churches have moved to contemporary worship, the songs have become more upbeat, many churches use lighting and wall banners and logos and contemporary furnishings, not to mention extremely professional music teams to help their people worship.

It’s easy to be critical of all that … but there’s nothing new in any of that. Go and visit any old cathedral – and there are plenty of them scattered across Europe – and you realise that we’ve been going to huge lengths to express our awe and wonder of God for a very long time.

But to tell you the truth – and maybe it’s just me – a lot of those external trappings leave me just a bit cold. It’s not that I don’t appreciate great ecclesiastical architecture, or Handel’s Messiah, or some of the great hymns and some of the great worship songs that have been written more recently.

But I’ve been in places that have all that and more, and yet, the best way to describe them … is dead. It’s as though God isn’t in that place. It’s as though sometimes, we try to conjure up God’s presence, by designing, by building, by performing.

I remember, just before I graduated from Bible College, we had a Graduands Retreat Day. About forty of us who were graduating, together with a few or our lecturers and tutors, we headed off to a church building in a leafy suburb, away from distractions, just to spend a day fellowshipping and praying and … well, worshiping.

The guy who led worship had a scratchy voice. His guitar was slightly out-of-tune and yet, it remains to this day, the most awesome time of song worship that I have ever experienced.

We’re heading towards the end of a series today – a series that I’ve called ‘Overboard with Jesus’. It sort of began around that great passage of Scripture where Peter gets out of the boat and walks towards Jesus on the stormy ocean of Tiberius. Let’s go back and have a quick read just to remind ourselves. Matthew chapter 14, verses 22 to 33:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by waves, was far from land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking towards them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’

So, Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came towards Jesus. But then he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’ When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’

So there’s good old Pete stuck in a boat with his mates on the Sea of Tiberius. They’re a long way from home, the boat is being battered by waves, the wind is against them. Remembering that this was Jesus’ decision for His Disciples.

And when Jesus finally comes out to rescue them, the Disciples are petrified until He identifies Himself. And within a split second, Peter who, remember, is a fisherman – he knows these waters, he’s sailed them many a time, he knows the danger of this storm. But despite that, within a split second, he says to Jesus: Lord if it’s you command me to come to you out on the water.

Here’s what I believe – what was going on in Peter’s heart in that instance … is worship. Because in that moment, Peter is prepared to connect his faith in Jesus, with his actions, with his life, with what he’s about to do. Peter is prepared to step onto that stormy sea, to follow Jesus.

There are two different words used for ‘worship’ in the New Testament. One is the word proskuneo – from which we get the English word to prostrate yourself. It’s the sort of worship we do on Sunday mornings when we are singing songs in church. It’s bowing down and declaring with our hearts, with our mouths that Jesus Christ is Lord.

That’s awesome stuff – although as I said, you can sing songs without worshipping God. I’ve seen people checking their watches, looking around to see who’s coming in late or who’s leaving early, scrolling through social media on their smartphone during worship time. In that case, worship is a complete misnomer, it’s just singing.

But if your heart is engaged, then yes, that’s what’s going on there, it’s proskuneo worship – bowing down before the throne of God. Awesome stuff – whether it’s a guy with a scratchy voice on an out-of-tune guitar, or whether it’s a full-on rock concert, the trappings are pretty much irrelevant.

The other word, and we looked at this one before the break, is latreuo – from which we get the word lateral. In other words, outward, lateral worship, through what we do, how we live, how we behave, how we spend our money, how we spend our time. Many times, this word is translated as service rather than worship.

There’s one verse in the New Testament where both words are used in that single verse. It’s Jesus replying to the second temptation in the wilderness. He says, and I quote:

It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him’. (Luke 4:8)

So here’s the question for you today. As you live out your life, are you living it all for Jesus? Are you worshiping Him with everything that you think and say and do? Because truthfully, stepping out of that boat onto that stormy ocean is worship. It’s living out the proskuneo worship that’s in our hearts, as latreuo worship in our lives.