The Way - Who Am I Becoming? - wk 1
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WHO AM I BECOMING?
WHO AM I BECOMING?
I just want to warn all of you at the outset that today might be a little challenging for some of us. That is because today I am going to ask you to think about a problem that you are facing which does not have a solution. This might be challenging for you if you come to church and expect to find THE SOLUTION to whatever problem you might be facing.
If that’s you, I know how tough that can be and I can relate. The vast majority of conflicts between Amy and I are almost always caused by me pushing an issue in an attempt to find a solution when Amy would prefer just to learn from it and move on. I have a difficult time with that. Something went wrong, I need to figure out exactly what the problem was, dissect it to find out what happened, then determine how to avoid it in the future.
Some of you may know where I am coming from, others may be feeling very sorry for Amy right now! She endures a lot. She’s pretty awesome.
One thing is for sure, today we have no shortage of problems. Everywhere you look there are horrible things happening. World leaders constantly threatening wars and forcing injustices on their people. Local leaders taking advantage of their positions. Even Christian leaders constantly caught up in struggles and scandals, degrading your trust in people you once looked up to and had high hopes of making significant change. Physical and emotional pain from illness and relational strife impacting almost everyone you know including yourself. The problems abound. They are everywhere.
Instead of looking at a problem and trying to fix it, what we are going to do today is more of a self evaluation. When we encounter problems, annoying people like me stop and ask, “How can I fix this?” Today we are going to take a step back and ask the second question that usually comes to mind, “How did I get here? How did I get to this place?”
Let’s take a second to drill down deep into this thought. Let’s really dig deep, all the way down to a scary question you may or may not have ever asked yourself. You might even be wrestling with this question in your life right now.
Do you ever feel like Christianity isn’t working?
You love God and want to serve, but you’re burned out by the busyness. No matter what you do, there is no end in sight. You pray and pray, but your discouraged because the prayers don’t work. Even when you constantly and consistently do what is right, everything goes wrong. You collapse into your chair at the end of the day and let out a big sigh because you feel like this just isn’t working.
Maybe you were that boy or girl who grew up in church. You were still learning to read when you first went to VBS. Then moved up to the youth group. Met your first “girlfriend” on a mission trip. The whole time you were learning about life while you were at church, you came home to a different message at home. Parents were leaders at church, but would fight at home. You prayed for a miracle, but after you moved out they got a divorce.
God, why didn’t You answer my prayer? Do You even care? Does Christianity even work?
Maybe you knew a couple who loves Jesus. They did everything right. Very involved at church, served at all of the functions, but they still lost something important, a job, a child, or their marriage. Where is God? Didn’t He know what was happening?
It doesn’t even have to be that dramatic. You can be involved at church, committed to a daily bible reading plan, listening to k-love, wearing the WWJD or NOTW bracelet, going to a great job, living in a nice house, driving a nice car, hanging out with great friends, plenty of vacation time, but at the end of the day you’re JUST NOT HAPPY. You don’t feel fulfilled.
Does Christianity even work? There has got to be a better way.
In one of the last moments that Jesus would be with the disciples He was reassuring them and telling them not to worry. He closed the thought by telling them that they knew the way to the place He was going…
1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
Thomas is going to respond to Jesus next. Even though his response seems so short sighted, I love it because it is such a great illustration of the relationship between God and humanity. From the beginning we have been short sighted when it comes to “God’s way.” In Isaiah 55:9, God describes His ways and thoughts higher than our own, just as the sky is higher than the ground. With the desire of doing things our way, humanity abandoned God’s way in search of our own. Even as followers of Christ, we tend to follow Christ our way.
We can hear that reflected in Thomas’ reply as he said, “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
We don’t know the answer to the problem, so how can we fix it? This isn’t working, there has to be a better way! Jesus responded to Thomas with a truth that is simultaneously simple, complex, and life changing…
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
“The way” matters. Even the way you speak matters. Sometimes you can say all the right things, but in the wrong way. For example, Amy likes to get plenty of rest. On the other hand, I hate having to sleep. I tend to stay up too late, I can’t take naps during the day, and if I sleep too long in the morning I will be worthless all day long.
Amy loves it. Sometimes that can be frustrating. We may have somewhere to go, like a long trip. I like to get up early, get on the road, and get it done. Because of these differences, I have to be aware of THE WAY I communicate about sleep. Amy has had a long week, so she wanted to sleep in yesterday. So I tip-toed around the house, kept from turning on lights, and went outside to work in my office as soon as I could. A little later I came in the house and she was awake so I asked, “Did you get enough sleep?” I could tell that wasn’t the way to ask the question, so I quickly followed up with, “I tried to be quiet and not wake you!”
“The way” matters. Jesus is “The Way.” Here is some interesting Bible trivia… What were 1st century Christians called? It wasn’t Christians. Not Religious. Not Bible Thumpers. Not Jesus Freaks. These devoted Christ followers who were filled with the Holy Spirit, loving Jesus, changing the world, crushing demons, sacrificing their lives, and so much more, in the name of Jesus, were called “People of the Way.”
Their goals didn’t stop at theology. They didn’t just set out to live with strong morality. Their goal was to live and love the way Jesus lived and loved. Think about the way Jesus lived and compare that to the way most people live today…
Jesus was full of joy — Most of us are full of stress!
Jesus didn’t worry — We live in what some call the most anxious generation in history.
Jesus stopped what He was doing for people — Who has time for that?
Jesus was absolutely consumed with ongoing fellowship with the Father — I can barely pray for a couple of minutes without being distracted by my phone or something else.
It’s almost impossible to imagine if Jesus were like us. Certainly it seems insane. Imagine Jesus…
Shopping for a trendy pair of Converse All-Star’s or Air Jordan’s, instead of just wearing His open-toed, dirty sandals.
Scrolling Instagram and Facebook and wondering why John the Baptist had more followers. Did the new kicks not make Him more popular?
On a Friday saying, “Man, it’s been a long week. I sure am ready for a cold beer and endless apps at TGI Fridays!”
It’s crazy to imagine Jesus doing things our way. Why? Why is our way so crazy when you think about Jesus doing it? Probably because Jesus’ way is so much better. When Jesus went somewhere, He walked. He took His time. We are always in a hurry, always pushing and pushing, always overwhelmed, always rushed. Why? What’s the hurry? At the end of the day, I am always rushing to become someone I don’t even like.
Think about your life a year ago. 3 years ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. Every single year I have less and less time for something that was important to me a year ago. It seems like I used to enjoy things a lot more 10 years ago. Now when I think about playing tennis, my first thought is, “When would I even have time to go and do that?” Years ago I would go and play tennis with friends 2 or 3 times per week at times.
I used to participate in bible studies that if asked today my first response would be, “Let me check my schedule.” Busy, busy, busy, rush, rush, rush. You can even be serving God, rushing from one thing to another, doing the work of God. Pushing yourself to the point of burning out.
Pastor Craig Groeschel once said that he found himself in a similar situation. With the church, he was always busy. Even on vacations, he was busy with church stuff. Once, he suffered an injury that forced him to stay home and not do anything, so he spent a lot of time in devotion time. Reading the bible and praying. That was pretty much the only thing he could do. Then one day he spent a couple of hours in devotion time and thought, “I can’t hear from God! Where are you God? And Heaven seemed silent.”
That’s when he realized that he was in the middle of ongoing burnout. That’s also when he realized a quote that was suddenly true in his life…
The way I’d been doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me.
The way I’d been doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me.
If you find yourself asking God questions and thinking, “This isn’t working,” it might be time to stop and look at “the way.”
The way you are doing life. The way you do your schedule. The way you pace yourself. The way you face insecurities. The way you approach unresolved hurts. The way you face your deepest fears. It might be that YOUR WAY is distracting you from God’s work. YOUR WAY might be destroying the work of God in you.
12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
I may have it all figured out, but how far will it actually get me. The popular philosophy today is to “live your truth.” Ironically, when someone proclaims that they are living their truth, they are publicly announcing their decision to willingly choose what seems right to them, even if it ends in death. Because there is only one truth that matters. Only one way that matters. One of my all time favorite quotes is from J. Vernon McGee. He once said…
“This is God’s universe and He does things His way. You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.” -J. Vernon McGee
In Matthew, Jesus told people to come to Him and He would give rest…
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
What does that mean? “Take my yoke upon you.” What is a yoke? Here is a picture…
A yoke, according to the dictionary, is a device for joining together a pair of draft animals, especially oxen, usually consisting of a crosspiece with two bow-shaped pieces, each enclosing the head of an animal.
In this picture you can see how this device is used on the animals. By joining the animals together, they are able to accomplish far more than they could alone, while also making the work much easier for them. They could be hooked to many different farming implements like wagons, carts, logs, plows, and so on.
In this picture you can see the animals plowing while the farmer guides them. The yoke is a work tool. So what Jesus is saying is, “Hey, if you are worn out, miserable, overwhelmed, come to me and I will give you a work tool. I’m gonna give you something to make your job easier!”
How many of you get tired at work and think, “I’m tired of hammering nails all day. If only I had a new hammer this would be better!” If I had my way it would be time for a nap and a back rub! I’m probably not gonna ask for a different tool. Especially one that will hang around my neck! But Jesus’ way is better, so let’s think about this a little more.
The yoke always joined 2 animals that worked. It isn’t meant to be placed on a single animal. Together, they could work at the same pace and accomplish more. Jesus is inviting us to a better way. He is inviting us to be joined with Him! Not just to believe His truth, but to live HIS WAY. To live like He lived.
Jesus may not have had the same job and stresses that I do, but His job was still pretty important. Only the whole of creation depended on His job, so I imagine it could have been stressful at times. He may not have had to deal with bad bosses throughout His career, but He did have to be perfect. Not only did He probably have to show up for work dead on His feet some days, but in the end He also had to actually die for the sins of the world. Bearing a larger burden than I can even fathom in my own mind.
Even with His super simple job, He found time to disconnect from the crowd to spend time with the Father. He sat down to eat and didn’t mind long meals with deep conversations. With patience and love He would stop to listen to the people who were hurting.
Where are you going? Who are you becoming? Are you tired of the grind? Tired of the stress? Tired of being miserable? Tired of being afraid? Tired of being angry? Tired of being anxious? Are there too many problems to solve? Too much weight to carry? Too my pain to bear? Am I facing these issues MY way? Is the way you have been doing the work of God destroying the work of God in you? Because there is a better way. My way leads to death. Jesus’ way leads to life. Not just His truth, but also His way! Being yoked to Jesus.
I’m sure you are all familiar with the 23rd Psalm, but look at the first 2 verses with me for a second…
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. 2 He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
God’s way. With God’s way we have all we need. No want’s. He lets us rest. When God wants you to learn something about His way He will let you rest in green meadows. He will either LET you rest or He will MAKE you rest. In a later Psalm, God says that He wants to be known and honored. What He doesn’t say is…
Be BUSY, and know that I am God!
Be ANXIOUS, and know that I am God!
Be RUSHED and OVERWHELMED, and know that I am God!
No, He says, “Be STILL, and know that I am God!”
10 “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
Be still. There is a better way. His name is Jesus. You know the way because you know Him. He IS the way. He is the only way to true life. Our way will only ever lead us into exhaustion with heavy burdens. So grab the yoke that Jesus is offering, tie yourself to Him and walk His way.