Thanksgiving Lesson

Looking for Christ

One of my favorite stories to tell from being a kid involves going to department stores.

My mom used to take me and my brothers shopping… the worst.

However, back in the day, and still in some stores today, they had circular clothing racks.

All the clothes went around, but in the middle, there was an open space.

As a young kid, when I crawled through the clothes and got to the middle, you’d think I had discovered CS Lewis’ magical land of Narnia, but all I had discovered was a fort inside a store.

I loved it.

So I would get in the middle of these racks and hide.

Consequently, I would scare my mom to death and several times my name got called out over the store intercom because I wouldn’t come out.

The consequences were always with it for that time in my fort.

You know what’s crazy about this though.

What if my mom had left me?

That would be terrifying to be hiding in there and then my mom leaves the store without me.

Now listen, I don’t have a great mom and at the same time, I’m not the best son I could be either.

That’s a terrible thing to say, but I don’t have the relationship with my mom today that I pray and hope all of you have with yours.

Even still.

Despite all of that, I believed as a little kid that my mom was coming back.

I could hide in those clothing racks without fear because I knew my mom would be looking for me.

And it was in that confidence of her return that I was willing to endure future consequence for the momentary pleasure of living in my department store fort.

Perhaps, I took my mom for granted in those times.

I assumed she would always come looking for me.

I think this is how many of us view Jesus.

______________________

Transition.

As we transition from thanksgiving to Christmas, here is what I want us to dwell on for a moment this morning.

Am I looking for Jesus?

What does that mean to look for Jesus?

Open your Bibles this morning to John 4:1-26.

I need 6 volunteers to read 4 verses each.

In John 4:25 “25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.””

This woman knew a Messiah was coming.

She was looking for Him.

In fact, this is not uncommon in the gospels.

Moreover, many times Jesus drew large crowds it was for that exact reason, people were looking for the Messiah!

They didn’t know it was Jesus. But that is the point.

People didn’t know who they were looking for, but they were looking for Him… Eagerly!

One chapter prior, The Pharisee Nicodemus was also looking for the truth of who the Messiah was.

That’s why He comes to Jesus and has a conversation that ends with Jesus saying,

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.”

Pause…

You walk into food lion after church today.

You get your groceries.

You’re in the check out line…

The guy behind you pays for your $100 worth of groceries which is about 2 and a half bags of groceries now days.

After he does this, a robber walks in the store with a gun and proceeds to point it at people.

You get down, but your new best friend does not.

In that moment, he takes out his concealed weapon and drops the attacker.

It’s not a fatal blow, but he shoots the guy in the leg, drops him, calls the cops, and then proceeds to put pressure on the wound until the cops get there.

As you exit the store, the guy also says here…

He hands you a check for a million dollars.

And the keys to a brand new 2023 Toyota Tundra outside.

You decline his gifts, but he tells you your name.

Hey aren’t you “Ben Wofford… Ian Thomas… etc… name a few kids names”

Blown away you agree that you are that person.

You accept the gifts and walk out.

However, on your drive home, you realize, you never got the dudes name.

You thanked him, but you have nothing else to give this guy!

You don’t have a name, an address, his contact information, his social media, nothing…

You drive back to the store, but he’s gone.

Even worse, nobody remembers the guy.

He is gone… never to be seen by you again.

Then you remember,

You have the check and the name on the check.

You search the guy and the only name is some guy from Oregon.

Let me ask you…

Are you going to low key be looking for this guy for the rest of your life?

Maybe you aren’t going to dedicate the rest of your life to finding him.

But after you million bucks clears, and you drive around your new truck for a day, you’re going to be wondering who this guy was that saved your life and changed your life forever.

That’s the message I get from those looking for the Messiah in the gospels.

Especially this lady, “I know that messiah is coming...”

She is looking!

Now pause again.

Am I looking for Jesus every day?

I mean every moment is an opportunity, am I seizing it?

Are you?

At the end of the day, did I spend more time looking at the 4 inch block of metal that connects to the internet in my pocket, or did I spend more time living in thankfulness to the God who saved me?

Are we seizing every opportunity to look for Jesus or are we just distracting ourselves to death.

In 2023, Jesus walks up to the well and the lady never even acknowledges him.

Why?

Because we are too busy to look up!

The point this morning again is Are you looking for Jesus?

But I’m asking now, do we even recognize that we aren’t looking for Him?

In other words, it’s one thing to just not look for Jesus right?

But it’s another thing to actually evaluate that thought.

For example, it’s one thing to say “Hey, I spent time with my sons today...”

But it’s another thing to evaluate that time.

Was I on my phone around my boys or was I laser focused on them?

Was I giving all 3 of them time with daddy or was I ignoring one of them more?

How did my words encourage or discourage my sons today?

Did I scar my sons for life today with the things I did or said?

Am I the worst father ever?

The questions can get kind of depressing haha.

But seriously, the only way to really build healthy relationships is to evaluate where you stand in them.

The way to disciple my boys right now is through time.

And not just time, but evaluating the time I give them.

Mark Dever, pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC says this.

“An accurate understanding of where you are is essential to getting where you need to be.”

That’ll preach.

In other words, If you have goals in life and you want to do ____________

The best way to do that is to understand where you are right now.

To understand what you are doing right now.

The best way to get somewhere is to evaluate where you are right now.

To bring this back to this morning.

If I’m going to look for Jesus tomorrow, am I looking for Him today?

Did I read God’s Word at all this week?

Forget whether or not that makes you feel guilty and instead think about it like this.

The God of the universe has revealed Himself to me through His Word, Did I give him time this week?

If I want him to work in my life in the future, how will I even know He’s working if I’m not listening to His voice today?

Now let’s go back to our scripture.

The woman at the well, Let’s evaluate her for a moment.

She is there at the hottest part of the day (noon, vs. 6).

She’s a Samaritan which naturally makes her feel like an outcast around certain other people and races (Jews vs. 9)

She doesn’t want to experience the shame of going to the well anymore. (vs. 15).

She is in a terrible place in life, but you know what the one thing she has that is awesome?

“I know the Messiah is coming...”

She is looking for that.

Here’s my concern for all of us in this room, myself included.

Our lives are so good… we aren’t looking for anything.

We’ve got all we need.

We are so comfortable, we don’t feel the need for Jesus because we don’t feel the need for Anything.

Think about it… That’s actually a pretty scary place to be!

If you are uncomfortable in life, if you are discouraged, if you are broken and hurting, in those times we look…

We need answers to the pain of life! SO we look for answers!

Sometimes people turn to terrible things to numb the pain.

But again, my point this morning, if you never have any pain, you never look for answers.

It’s kind of like the movie Walle.

Great movie.

All the humans at the end of that movie are essentially so fat and lazy, they never have to move. They need nothing, so they aren’t looking for anything.

Guys… We gotta look for Jesus!

Maybe the pain you’re experiencing today is the greatest blessing in your life.

That pain, is reminding you to look for your Savior!

He’s here and He’s waiting for you!

An accurate understanding of where you are is essential to getting to where you need to be.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take Jesus for granted like I took my mom for granted in those stores.

I want Jesus.

And bro, I want that for you!

But I can’t give you that want, you’ve got take it for yourself.

What if Jesus replaced all other desires you have?

What if you want for that new accessory for your car, that new lulu lemon shirt, the new instrument, the new cleats, ball, or even a gun if you like hunting…

Whatever it is that you want… that you’re looking forward to getting at Christmas…

What if every day, you woke up with that eagerness and asked God...

Jesus… I want you today. I choose you.

Man, I think that would change our lives from the inside out.

I think that would move us where we need to be.

The only place we ever need to be.

Walking and Abiding in Christ.

That’s it.

We look for what we care about.

It’s why we look for our number one gift to be wrapped and under the tree and why we would feel so disappointed if it wasn’t there.

But guys, every morning is an opportunity to look for Jesus today.

To be like the Samaritan woman and come face to face with the guy who knows everything you ever did and He still chose you.

Leigh Anne posted an awesome quote on facebook and I’ll end with that this morning.

LEIGH ANNE QUOTE FROM MATT CHANDLER