Love God - an invitation and a challenge

During our sabbatical I have been struck by the need to understand and remind ourselves of what we really are about here. So over the next three weeks I would like to reflect on the fundamentals of our purpose as followers of Jesus and as a community of faith. The title of the three talks is

Love God, love people, love in action

Starting with: love God.

Although I grew up in a Christian household and was taught about Jesus in between mouthfuls of baby rusks I have moved in and out of periods of doubt and questioning. Sometimes I am more certain than at other times. God doesn’t make it easy to believe all the time.

The world population can be divided into those who believe in some form of God or divinity, those who don’t believe there is a God and those who don’t know. Those who claim to have some spiritual experience in their life or some faith in God are in the majority. But these are not the people who get most of the publicity these days. In our culture the minority voice is heard loud and clear. I am not saying that just because most people believe in God you should too any more than just because 32,000,000 Toyota Corolla have been sold you should buy one. (The car in front is a Toyota, it’s always a Toyota, because the brakes don’t work).

I just want to point out that although the new atheists make you feel a little small, their viewpoint is not representative of most people.

I have questions and doubts but I choose to believe in God even though all things are not clear to me now.

Now I see a poor reflection in a murky mirror, then I shall see face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12.

One day I will see clearly and I am working toward that point.

Tim Keller, in The Reason For God talks about the many clues that lead us to believe there is a God. After a chapter of discussion he summarises, “Though the secular view of the world is rationally possible, it doesn’t make as much sense of all these things (clues) as the view that God exists. That’s why we call them clues. The theory that there is a God who made the world accounts for the evidence better than the theory that there is no God.”

As I try and make sense of the world and my place in it, clarity only begins to come when I accept the presence of God.

Or, as C.S.Lewis puts it in the Weight of Glory, "I believe in God as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

There is much to discuss about this but for today will you let me make a jump to the assumption that there is a God, that He loves you and that He demonstrated His love for you through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, and that you can know His presence in your life today through the Holy Spirit living in you?

As I have pursued my faith journey I have discovered that there is more to it than academic reasoning. My life has changed because it is about a relationship with a person.

That’s where it starts. Love God. Relationship. And the main way we know God is through Jesus. Many of us have decided to follow Jesus Christ. Christ – Christians. We have been born again, we have started a new life. A new life with a challenge to change.

When I say, “love God”, it is an invitation and a challenge. An invitation into a relationship and a challenge to make a sacrifice. Jesus put it like this,

Mark 8:34-38

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

That’s the invitation and the challenge from Jesus. And the invitation is so attractive because there is something in us that is seeking God.

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person, and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.” (Blaise Pascal, C17 French Engineer, Mathematician & Philosopher).

We love the invitation into relationship but the challenge takes us aback.

Especially in our age of individuality and personal rights and freedoms. The best-selling book in Amazon’s Self-Help category is currently The Secret – the summary says, 'the secret' of obtaining anything you desire is now revealed, the good news is that anyone can access its power to bring themselves health, wealth and happiness. The Secret will lead readers to a greater understanding of how they can be the masters of their own lives.

The diet we are fed by the media and our general culture is a saccharine sweet temptation of: the most important person is me, my health, my looks, my career, my money, my sex life, my family, my future, my success. We are sold lifestyle and aspirational living – you can better yourself, your children deserve the best, you deserve it.

What is the challenge like? It is like driving a car – this is my car, it tells you about me, it provides me with my space and my travel rights. How would you feel if someone offered you friendship based on handing over the keys and required me to be a passenger as they drove around how and where they wanted? Be my friend but I get to drive your car.

As we consider the decision to love God and invitation into relationship we come at it from a place of selfishness – the way this manifests itself is by way of trying to set up a contract that protects our rights. We want to say, “I will love and follow you but can you just make sure I get some more money or a happy family or healing for my sickness”. But Jesus’ contract is unusual – he demands everything and offers what?

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

It is an invitation into a relationship with God through Jesus and it is a challenge to sacrifice. This is what it means to “love God”.

How do we react to that? It isn’t just considering an offer of a lifetime guarantee on a new toaster or the click of a mouse to bid on Ebay or even handing over the keys to our car. It is taking the essence of who we are and saying, “Here you are God, I give you me.” It is moving from being entirely orientated around me, my wants and hopes and ambitions to being orientated around someone else. In many ways this is a shocking demand.

My conversation goes like this, “Jesus, your demand is outrageous and so, so costly. But I do like the sound of relationship with my maker, of saving my soul, knowing who I am meant to be, empowered to live an effective existence, dealing with my sin and shame. But do I have to give You the whole of my life? Not just a tenth of my income, some time on Sundays and a slice of good moral behaviour?”

“Can I just keep some small part to play with – a bite-sized portion. A small room in the house where I can harbour secret grievances or hide secret sin? A place where I can accumulate safety in savings or identity in a career? A corner where I can be clever? Somewhere that gives me the credit for doing so well?”

Because, especially in our culture, we gain our identity and self-worth from doing well, from intellectual achievement (GCSEs etc) and by accumulating stuff – don’t we? The challenge from Jesus is to let go of getting identity that way and to get it instead from being a follower of His.

The reason I am banging this drum is because I want you to understand that choosing to love God is the major life-changing decision. It will affect your whole life. Forever. Everything changes.

Louise Armstrong got married last week; she is now called Mrs Louise Coleman. When she and Matt exchanged vows they didn’t make conditional offers. They each promised “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.” Her life has changed now. Her name has changed, address, relationships, behaviour.

Before you get married you behave in one way and have one identity. After you get married everything changes. Before I married Alison it had been known for me to show interest in girls. Afterwards that was not appropriate. Before you get married your money is your own. Afterwards, as Alison says, what’s his is mine and what’s mine is mine. Just kidding. We now have to share everything – except clothes of course, and toothbrushes, and the driving… I used to be my own boss but now …

Once you declare your love for God and commit yourself to following Him, everything changes. He is the boss. He is in charge.

So, is He worth it? Why would you want to love God if it meant a sacrifice like this?

There is simply no one more worth trusting than Jesus. There is no one whose understanding of life has come close to his. There is no one who affected history like him. There is simply no other source – no book, no guru, no hunch, no personal experience – nothing worth betting the farm on.

John Ortberg, Faith & Doubt.

Although Jesus is incredibly challenging He is also absolutely compelling. The closer you come to Him, or rather, the closer you let Him come to you, the more you long to hear Him invite you into relationship. You sense that in Him you will find healing for the wound within, you will find wisdom for life, you will experience grace and mercy, you will be restored with your creator God.

There is nothing else on the planet that can bring transformation like this. It is a miracle which we seek. To get forgiven, healed and set free from the damage within which messes up stuff outside.

And the startling news is that the invitation is there. In the beginning Genesis describes God as walking in the garden looking for us. At the end, in Revelation He is described as standing at the door knocking and asking to come in. Why would you not follow after Him? Why would you not say yes, please, do come in?

Well before you do, just note that to love God also requires that sacrifice of giving up your life.

What does Jesus mean when he says he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me? We have to be careful here. Few of us will ever get close to the trauma of what Jesus went through when He carried His cross. And none of us can experience the cosmic desertion He felt when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have you abandoned me?”

He invites us into relationship but He also challenges us to sacrifice in a way that will change the way we live – partly through our choices and partly because as we love God He changes us. The power of God comes and changes our lives first and then the lives of others around us. We pursue an agenda of allowing His unconditional love, His grace, to transform us from one degree of honesty, gentleness, trustworthiness to another deeper degree. For our strength of character to grow, for us to become more likeable, more graciously influential to those around us. As we receive and are changed by the power of His grace, we seek to become more gracious in the way we live.

Jesus says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8.

So we love God and grace goes to work in our life and through our life. What does that look like? Where do we make grace-filled sacrifices? How do we carry a cross?

Unfortunately the follower of Jesus is often seen as strident, argumentative, a religious fanatic. The church is too easily caricatured as offering zero tolerance, judgement and condemnation. Are we like this too? Probably, and if so we need to repent. This is not what grace looks like.

Blushing: look foolish in front of others as we protect the underdog.

Arguing the case for the immigrant and asylum seeker, the unemployed or the poorly educated.
Not joining in the witty banter at the expense of those who can’t defend themselves.
We love God and grace goes to work.

Manyana (gratification delay): forego a better lifestyle by being generous and avoiding debt.

We can do what we do here because people voluntarily give out of their income – usually around 10%. You could, instead, have an extra holiday or run a better car. Husbands could buy flowers for their wives. By and large this is invisible, it is between you and God. He knows what you are giving and what you are giving up as a result.
We give our time and resources to make meals for people, visit them in hospital, babysit their kids and respond to financial need from time to time.
When the offer is dangled in front of us of easy credit, we say no and keep our finances in order so that we are better able to respond to the call of grace at a later date.
No one else need know, we love God and grace goes to work.

Jobsworth: risking our jobs & careers by refusing to compromise on business honesty or work practices.

We credit others for the work they have done.
We claim only the expenses we are due – whatever anyone else does.
We declare all our income to the tax man.
We refuse corruption in business deals and contract negotiations.
Our clients and customers always come first – even if we lose the business.
We don’t let others take the blame for things we have done wrong.
When falsely accused we defend ourselves but don’t retaliate in kind.
We love God and grace goes to work.

Rock & roll: go out there and have a good time without the assistance of alcohol, drugs, and loose sex.

When the office party is heading for the lap-dancing club we may need to look boring and excuse ourselves (although, where we lead we give others permission to follow).
We can dance and laugh without needing to be off our heads.
Our goal in recreation is to have fun and not just to get drunk.
We honour those of the opposite sex by enjoying their company without thoughts of or allusions to sex.
We speak in favour of faithfulness and commitment.
We love God and grace goes to work.

Conclusion

What I have been trying to describe for you is what it looks like when you say,” I love God”. It is taking up an invitation into a relationship and taking up a challenge of sacrifice.

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

The invitation and the challenge is there for you – whether for the first time or the 100^th time.

Are you prepared to commit yourself to the King who gave His life so that you could have new life? Are you prepared to put down your priorities and dreams and expectations and say to Jesus, “I am here, I have chosen to believe in you, to give you my life, thank you for your grace. Show me how to live, how to love others, how to put love into action.”

Love God, love people, love in action.

David Flowers, 12/09/2010