Fire

Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

Introduction: Blaise Pascal.

French philosopher, mathematician, and inventor in the 17th Century

Child prodigy, started writing important treatises on geometry by the time he was 16.

He grew up nominally Christian, but had no real love for Christianity, it was mostly just the common belief at the time.

When he was 31, he had an experience of God’s power. He wrote, ““From about half-past ten in the evening until about half-past twelve … FIRE … God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and not of the philosophers and savants. Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.”

From then on, Pascal wrote on philosophy and theology until he died, with his last words being, “May God never abandon me.”

Blaise Pascal was fully defined by his faith. He was not a mathematician, nor a philosopher, but a Christian primarily.

My question for you, then, is, “This year, what defines your life?

We have all of these New Years resolutions where we try to change habits, but I’m talking about your identity

Who are you going to be this year?

Big Idea: Define your life entirely in Christ.

My prayer for all of us is that we would be people who define their lives entirely in Christ.

But how do we get there?

Don’t Get Distracted

We can get lost in all of the different facets of our lives.

We have work, kids, spouses, friends, hobbies, holidays… the list is endless!

And none of these things are inherently bad, but it’s when it consumes us that we run into problems.

All other titles must fall below “Christ Follower”

Employee, boss, spouse, parent, child, fan, soccer mom, football dad, everything should fall below being a Christian.

It might sound terrible or cruel, but you will be better off because of it.

You can be a better spouse by loving them in the way that Christ loves the church

You can be a better parent by sitting under the perfect Father

You can be a better worker by having the right view of work that is provided in the Bible

This reminds me of the immensely difficult passage in Luke.

Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””

This sounds so very harsh, and commentators have discussed how this seems so difficult to reconcile with the God who told His people to “Honor your father and mother,” but Christ isn’t saying abandon your family.

Robert Stein illustrates this well

“He did not mean that his readers should refrain from performing such duties. Rather he chose a particularly forceful way to demonstrate that discipleship requires a radical shift in priorities. Jesus must be “first.” He will not accept second place to anyone or anything. Even a good thing, such as honoring one’s parents by seeing that they receive proper burial, cannot usurp the place of the best thing, which is to love Jesus with all one’s heart, strength, and mind.”

So, we’re not saying that you must abandon everything that you know and love and must become a monk, what we’re saying is that God is supposed to be first in your life, and then let everything else flow through that commitment.

Your faith should influence your reality.

Give God Everything

Have you ever noticed that God often presents Himself through fire?

Burning Bush Ex. 3:1-9.

Guiding pillar of fire in Ex. 13-14.

Fire of Elijah in 1 Kings 18-19.

Pentecost: Acts 2:1-4.

Why do you think God does that?

I think we could look at a variety of different reasons.

God is powerful, like fire

Fire illuminates, like God illuminates our heart.

Fire is life-giving, like God.

But one reason that I believe that God often presents through fire is that fire consumes completely.

Fire demands all of the fuel that it is given.

We know this in the Northwest, if theres fuel for a fire to happen, then the fire will consume that.

That’s why half the state is on fire at least once a year!

God demands all of you.

When you become a Christian, there is no half-commitment.

You can’t tell God, “I’ll give you my life, except for my ______”

Marriage

Job

Parenting

Lust

Sexuality

Drinking

Etc.

All of you must belong to God!

He tells us that in Matthew 22: 36-39 ““Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

And, when you think about it, you’re not really giving that much up are you?

In the grand scheme of things, our lives don’t really amount to all that much do they? A measly 70-90 years, a couple of children who’s grandchildren won’t know us, a job that will forget about you after you retire; our lives aren’t worth all that much by themselves.

But when you give your life to Christ, when you define yourself by Christ, everything is different. You have eternity in mind. You love people well because God loves you. You love your family as the gift of God that they are, you work because of the gift of work God gave, and you live your life knowing that the very breath you breathe is a gift.

Application: Ask yourself, who are you going to be this year?