Taste and See

Have you ever tasted something terrible? Right before my grandmother died, my grandfather purchased a cabin the piney woods of East Texas. We made several trips up there, and on one of the trips I remember seeing my first sweet gum tree. They put out seed pods. You can see one on the screen.

With a name like Sweet Gum Tree, what would you expect its sap to taste like?

Sweet right? Wrong. Not sure what possessed me to do it, but having heard it was called Sweet Gum, I decided I wanted to taste its sap or its gum as a kid. And I can tell you that 30 years later I have never forgotten the experience.

I broke a branch off of one of the trees and put my lips to it. I expected a sweet taste, but instead what I got was one of the most bitter tastes I have ever experienced. It was the kind of bitter that dries your tongue out and won’t leave. It was awful. Gulp and after gulp of water did not thing to help. It was bad. And it was like it glued itself to my lips. So every time my tongue touched my lips, my whole mouth became bitter again.

Taste and see. I tasted and I am telling you I did not like what I tasted. It was awful.

In a few minutes we will all have the privilege of tasting some delicious apple cider. I think you will find that it tastes very different from Sweet Gum sap. At least, I hope it does. Since Pastor Tim is making up a batch, there is not really any telling what his Green Chilli Apple Cider is going to taste like.

But this is what the Bible tells us to do when it comes to our relationship with the Lord: taste and see.

In other words, God is saying, come experience my love, my plan for you and you will see that it is good and sweet.

Have you ever tasted something so delicious you could never forget it.

I will never forget the day I tried smoked ribs for the first time. I was probably about 13 and my life changed forever. I only got one single bone- which is pretty much cruel and unusual punishment to only give a person one single rib. But as I ate that rib, wow. Sweet. Juicy. Rich. Wow. Loved it. Licked every drop off my fingers. So good. Still gives me chills just thinking about it.

Now may I suggest to you that 30 years later- I have never once bit into a Sweet Gum pod, but I have eaten ribs countless times.

I remember getting Dr. Pepper Rub BBQ ribs at the Omni hotel is downtown Dallas, TX. Those were the best ribs I have ever had in my entire life. And then there is the Pit Stop near Ennis Texas- WOAH! The ribs taste like candy. You could not keep those ribs on the bone if you wanted to, they literally just melt off the bone and drip onto your plate. So good.

So here is the basic principle-

When we taste something sweet, we want more.

When we taste something bitter, we won’t try it again.

Around the age of 9 I went to Kids Camp in Palacious, TX. When they gave the altar call, I went forward and gave my heart to the Lord. Can I tell you, that night I experienced the sweet presence of the Lord in a way I had never known before.

Then a few years later, I came to the altar at the Gulf Coast Christian center and got baptized in the Holy Spirit. The sweet presence of the Lord flooded my soul and I have never been the same.

Then I went to youth camp and WOW, what a powerful move of God I witnessed. It was so good, I went to the altar every night. Sometimes I went up multiple times. One night I walked down there 3 times and I remember thinking, “I don’t care who sees. This is so good, I want more.”

I can remember reading through God’s word as a teenager and the Word coming alive to me. It was like God was speaking to me personally. It was powerful.

I remember the day God called me to preach the Gospel. I was alone in a forest, desperate for God to speak to me. And He did, and I have never been the same since.

I remember the day the Holy Spirit broke my heart for 1.5 billion lost Muslims in this world. I felt God’s love for them flooding my soul and I wept for their salvation.

I remember when God called our family to come here to Farmington. Such peace. Such excitement. Knowing that God cared for us enough to lead us into His perfect will.

I love you guys and enjoy seeing you. But let me tell you- the reason I come to Church is to taste and see that the Lord is good.

God is so good- He has nothing to hide. He freely invites us to taste and see. Taste His Love. Taste His Word. Taste His Presence. And you will see that He is so good, His Love Satisfies, His presence blesses us in ways nothing else can in all of this world.

When we taste the Lord, we taste Love, Peace, Joy, Holiness, Gentleness, Kindness, Hope… We taste God.

And because we are called Christians, kind of like Sweet Gum, you know because we are called Christians- what do you think the world expects to taste when they encounter us. If I were them, I would expect to taste joy, and peace and love… to experience people who act like Jesus.

Of course, the question is… do we taste like we sound. We are called Christians, but do we taste, or better said, do we act like Jesus? Are we kind, loving, gentle, kind?

If we are full of the Spirit of Jesus, full of the Word of Jesus, then we will be more likely to taste- I mean act like Jesus. This is why it is so critical that we abide in Christ, to allow him to reprogram our hearts and minds to reflect Him and His nature.

On the other hand, if we are not abiding in Christ, then we will be full of ourself, and well that is just never a pleasant experience.

We become selfish, proud, bitter, jealous, angry, impatient.

Illustration: Glass overflowing with water poured from a pitcher. The more we abide, the more of Jesus flows into us and therefore the more of Jesus that will flow out of us.

The only way to overflow with Christ is to abide in Him.

My experience with that Sweet Gum tree was so bitter- I will never taste it again.

It is critical that we abide in Jesus, so that when other people taste our lives, they taste the love of Jesus inside of us.

If their experience with us is bitter- and they associate that bitterness with the name of Jesus that we bear, they may never believe and be saved.

But if we abide in Jesus, and let His love overflow our hearts and help us walk in kindness, gentleness, peace, servanthood to others, then they will probably like the sweetness that they taste and come back for more.

Taste and See.