WNG?: What does it all mean?
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19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
PRAYER
The invitation of the Apostle Paul in this text is to be a part of what God is building, and which is build on the person and work of Jesus.
PAUSE
today…if you were to walk out these doors and ask people walking around the lake, getting off the sky-train---and ask them where they find meaning, --- most will not point to God, or the Bible,...
most would say something like, “I make my own meaning”
Or “There is NO meaning.”
And on a larger scale it seems to be the consensus that any claim that their is A meaning for all of life is a kind of bondage!
No one (especially a religious institution) should have any suggestion of what meaning is placed on life.
And the argument goes and this is what I wold like to talk about this morning.
Is the idea that hey......
“You don’t need to believe in God to have a meaningful, purposeful, satisfying life.”
In fact some may say…I don’t even think about those things! between work, relationships, school, and just functioning in life....I don’t have time to think of those things!!
(whatever you do do all to the glory of god)
And so what we find is a low lying shadow that tells us to keep moving on, trudge through, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we all may die kind of mindset!
__________________________________________________
See because in so many ways we have written God out of His own story!!
We have taken his creation, life,
What sets human beings apart from other living beings is our need to find a reason to live. In a secular culture, (a worldview that is closed that says all there is is the here and now all there is to create meaning in our lives if the material world).......meaning is created by individuals and circumstance, and if that meaning is taken away by death or circumstances, that person is crushed.
beings is our need to find a reason to live. In a
secular culture, (a worldview that is closed that says all there is is the here and now all there is to create meaning in our lives if the material world).......meaning is created by
individuals and circumstance, and if that meaning is taken away
by death or circumstances, that person is
crushed.
unshakable through the trials of life. - because it is based on someone who has shown his power over life and death
“We don’t believe in a meaning we must go
out and discover, but in a Meaning that
came into the world to find us.”
We want something that nothing in this life
can give us.” (p. 87)
Find CS Lewis quote
“If we find that there is nothing in this world that can satisfy us........”
The problem is not that you love your
family or job too much, but that you love
God too little in relationship to them.”
“Human beings are hope-driven creatures. Secularism is marked by a optimism about the progress of human civilization, but without God, this optimism is naïve at best.......If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the universe, it is futile to believe in progress because the world will ultimately come to an end.”
Human beings are hope-driven creatures.
Secularism is marked by an optimism about
the progress of human civilization, but without
God, this optimism is naïve at best.
If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the
“harm” requires absolute moral values. Keller
If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the
shows that true freedom is not the absence of
constraints, but the presence of the right ones
universe¨†it†is†futile†to†believe†in†progress
that lead to human flourishing.
universe, it is futile to believe in progress
The enclosure of a fish bowl exists for the
because†the†world†will†ultimately†come†to†an
because the world will ultimately come to an
flourishing of a goldfish; for a fish to demand
freedom from the fishbowl would be foolish
and harmful. Similarly, God’s laws are designed
endÆ
end
for our flourishing and joy.
What I want to propose to you this morning is that what you belief about the past and what you believe about the future will shape how you live right now.
shape how you live right now?
If your work, your relationships your education, your eating and exercise, your worship experience on Sundays was taking place in a larger story, a story that started long ago, is leading somewhere; it brings meaning to your present. Not only does it brings strength in struggle, it makes good times even more joyful.
The secular world has nothing to match it!
In a 2015 article on Buzzfeed the question was posed to atheists to explain how they found meaning in life,
Alom Shaha, author of the Young Atheist’s Handbook, said this..
"Yes, of course I know that life is ultimately without meaning or purpose, but the trick is not to wake up every morning and feel that way. Cognitive dissonance? Embrace it. Create a sense of meaning and purpose by doing something useful with your life (I teach), being creative – I don't mean that in a poncey hipster way, I mean make a curry, build some bookshelves, write a poem.
The follow up question for Alom is obvious… how do you judge something as useful? And how long does a bowl of curry or some bookshelves satisfy that desire!?
A closed universe does not explain that you seek meaning and purpose in what you do!
A closed universe doesn’t explain why you want to accomplish things before you die.
Why?
If there is the here and now, and everything is headed nowhere, what is the purpose for creating, pursuing?
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
See there is something in us that refuses to live out a secular worldview even if we proclaim it with our mouths.
PAUSE
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
How different than the statements of Jesus making promises to satisfy and bring meaning to our lives....
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 8:12
He is saying what? There some things that curry will not feed, there is a far deeper need crying oiut that writing poetry and building bookshelves will not quiet. and I will bring you that kind of food and drink.
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
In the midst of a secular worldview where meaning is created and limited to our own heads, the Good News of Jesus aims to bring us light in a dark universe, meaning and truth, resulting in joy and hope!!
That is not what the Christian faith is calling us to.
That is not how the angels declared the birth of Jesus who would change the very fabric of human history, change the way we bring meaning and purpose and joy and fullness.
They show up in the darkness or night, dirty, separate from their society, and an angel shows up and says...
10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
They were saying EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE!
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
That your joy may be full!!
Why is the Bible’s teaching on a future
judgment a good thing?
(story about the minks that were all freed and killed in Abbotsford)
______________________________________________________
Meaning should be left to the individual.
Interpreted by the individual.
But the question for our age of reason, is this....is that reasonable.
Is it possible to live a life consistant with that belief?
Are there somethings that simply cannot be lived out/
Is life just what we make of it, or is there a solidity to our world that cannot be changed because we have decided?
Today the king of all belief, the fundamental drive of our culture is freedom!
personal freedoms at the cost of all others and that ultimate meaning is found in personal freedom; to decide on what is good, what it is to have
A closed universe doesn’t explain why you want to accomplish things before you die.
Why?
If there is the here and now, and everything is headed nowhere, what is the purpose for creating, pursuing?
See there is something in us that refuses to live out a secular worldview even if we proclaim it with our mouths.
I. The Burden of a Closed Story
a. Identity
We are trying to find meaning and identity.
Seeking Identity without God is crushing:
for yourself - accomplish, project a certain version of yourself, accomplish, succeed
for others- we have the “you complete” me mentality of finding a partner, a significant other that fills up all the spaces you lack; emotionally, spiritually,
In essence asking someone else, maybe a romantic relationship, but maybe you kids, you parents, your best friend to fulfill something in you that they were never created to complete, that they simply cannot sustain!
Ultimately asking them to be your saviour.
To be your own personal Jesus....they were never meant to be that and you were never meant to put that kind of pressure on them.
b. Meaning
When we claim to believe in a closed world, a world where there is nothing but what we make of it, we are hard pressed to create meaning, and find ourselves continually moving from one experience to the next hoping that the next one will bring meaning. most of them are captured on instagram!!
Every vacation, every date, every family get together has a weight placed on it that it must bring and add meaning to our lives!
If it doesn’t it is a wasted moment.
Because that is all there is.
We come home from vacation to Europe of Mexico feeling less than satisfied because we put way to much pressure on the trip on ourselves.
We
Again that is alot of pressure on others and on yourself on Mexico!!! to create meaning
closely connected to that is the idea of contentment
c. Contentment
always elusive
the new job, the new marriage, the extra zero on the pay cheque, the new tech, the instagram recognition
but the reason the tech industry can boom like it does, we can sacrifice family and friends for more money, the reason the porn industry is booming, is because it doesn’t satisfy!!
They are the lures of a closed world, that tell us you must create your own identity, you must create your own meaning, and you must create your own happiness,
And here is the trap...everything you look to for your happiness is shaky and changing and shifting, and unsatisfactory, when it doesn’t bring the happiness, meaning, identity you thought it would you wonder.....
“What is wrong with me?”
“I was told this would do it.”
“I was PROMISED”
I was told that following my heart, living for myself, and creating my own identity would do it!!! But none of them do!!
That is why we are among the richest and most depressed people in the world!
Our longings are not being met!
All the while we are being told that these are the pursuits in which identity, meaning, and contentment are found!
C.S. Lewis would say this....
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”
If there is something in us that our current story cannot fulfill we are living in and for the wrong story!!
Our culture seems to be infected by an ongoing longing for an unattainable satisfaction.
an ongoing unattainable satisfaction
Jim Carey
“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”
Christians are often criticized for being people of faith...
TALK ABOUT FAITH
There has been no evidence that money, casual sexual relationships, success in work bring happiness, in fact their are piles of studies that say the opposite and that they add to depression and anxiety!!
There has been no evidence that money, casual sexual relationships, success in work bring happiness, in fact their are piles of studies that say the opposite and that they add to depression and anxiety!!
But watch 5 minutes of commercials and no one seems to be listening!!!
Talk about blind faith!!
But that is what is to be expected, when the burden of meaning, identity is placed on ur shoulders.
See Carey also says this....
“I really believe in the philosophy that you create your own universe.”
No pressure!
The story simply doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for a culture, and it doesn’t work for the individual.
If our greatest pursuit is happiness (and it is the main story of our culture) then what if happiness is never attained OR what if those things which bring us happiness go away?
After the global economic crisis began in mid2008, there followed a tragic string of suicides of formerly wealthy and well-connected individuals. The acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, hanged himself in his basement. The chief executive of Sheldon Good, a leading U.S. real estate auction firm, shot himself in the head behind the wheel of his red Jaguar. A French money manager who invested the wealth of many of Europe’s royal and leading families, and who had lost $1.4 billion of his clients’ money in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, slit his wrists and died in his Madison Avenue office. A Danish senior executive with HSBC Bank hanged himself in the wardrobe of his £500-a-night suite in Knightsbridge, London. When a Bear Stearns executive learned that he would not be hired by JPMorgan Chase, which had bought his collapsed firm, he took a drug overdose and leapt from the twenty-ninth floor of his office building. A friend said, “This Bear Stearns thing . . . broke his spirit.”1 It was grimly reminiscent of the suicides in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash.
In the 1830s, when Alexis de Tocqueville recorded his famous observations on America, he noted a “strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants . . . in the midst of abundance.”2 Americans believed that prosperity could quench their yearning for happiness, but such a hope was illusory, because, de Tocqueville added, “the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy [the human] heart.”3 This strange melancholy manifests itself in many ways, but always leads to the same despair of not finding what is sought
BUT what if there is a better story
II. The Relief of a Bigger Better story
there is joy in a bigger story that we are not in charge of.
That we are not the hero of!
a. Identity that will not crush you
b. Meaning that is given
c. Contentment that cannot be taken
See but in Christianity we are invited into a story we are not burdened to compose, we are not pressured to complete; we are not pressured to be the hero!!
We are relieved of all of that!
The idea of a hero was really given to us by the greeks!
Aristotle the great Greek philosopher divided up poetry into 4 main categories:
romance
comedy
tragedy
epic
In fact it was the great challenge of Greek thought that no one could ever pull off all four in one poem or one story, and then Shakespeare came along and was like challenge accepted.
When we think epic and the way we use the word, we think of things like----Star Wars, Marvel Universe, some story where the characters are involved in a story so much bigger than themselves-there are few things that are always true to the story
there is always a sense that the story is playing out on a much larger stage
the characters and situations find their meaning in the larger story find themselves in
characters know how they ought to act, think, live because of the larger story they find themselves in
And it is always those who refuse the larger story who are destroyed or miss out on the action, or are the villains because they cannot see anything past themselves and their situation.
But it is those who see themselves as part of something greater than themselves who do not need to create meaning out of their lives, but find their meaning in the larger story they submit to, who find the strength to move on even when the circumstance seem unbearable.
Who’s reason for life and hope is not destroyed by circumstance or mistake!!; it cant be; it was never theirs to destroy. And whose joy is fuller because the story they find themselves living in is so much larger and beautiful than one they could ever construct for themselves.
Chesterton Orthodoxy “create a world view with happiness, but it is this big”
Samwise..... we are part fo the story
In a letter called Hebrews in the NT of the Bible, the author writes these words to first century believers of Jesus
? report to the other apostles, we were worthy.....
they are part of a bigger purpose which put even their suffering to in a perspective that brought hem joy.
After the global economic crisis began in mid2008, there followed a tragic string of suicides of formerly wealthy and well-connected individuals. The acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, hanged himself in his basement. The chief executive of Sheldon Good, a leading U.S. real estate auction firm, shot himself in the head behind the wheel of his red Jaguar. A French money manager who invested the wealth of many of Europe’s royal and leading families, and who had lost $1.4 billion of his clients’ money in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, slit his wrists and died in his Madison Avenue office. A Danish senior executive with HSBC Bank hanged himself in the wardrobe of his £500-a-night suite in Knightsbridge, London. When a Bear Stearns executive learned that he would not be hired by JPMorgan Chase, which had bought his collapsed firm, he took a drug overdose and leapt from the twenty-ninth floor of his office building. A friend said, “This Bear Stearns thing . . . broke his spirit.”1 It was grimly reminiscent of the suicides in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash. In the 1830s, when Alexis de Tocqueville recorded his famous observations on America, he noted a “strange melancholy that haunts the inhabitants . . . in the midst of abundance.”2 Americans believed that prosperity could quench their yearning for happiness, but such a hope was illusory, because, de Tocqueville added, “the incomplete joys of this world will never satisfy [the human] heart.”3 This strange melancholy manifests itself in many ways, but always leads to the same despair of not finding what is sought
The suicide at the beginning of the Kellers other God’s
Hebrews 11:
1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
(Read 2x)
What does that mean?
It means that hope, faith, purpose find their basis in something that has already happened. Something deeper than what you can come up with on your own, and some larger than you can imagine for yourself.
The author knows that hope for the future actually comes from the past.
If I promise my kids something, they do a very quick calculation in their head that they don’t even realize. When my dad has promised something like this in the past has he delivered?
Does my dad have the kind of character that can be trusted for the future.
That is what the Bible means when it says faith. It is saying you have seen God at work in the past, and so you can trust him in the future.
And the writer of this letter goes through a list of people who lived and followed God, and everything went perfectly for them. They never had any problems!!!!
NO!! some had what we would call victory - they saw God move in miraculous ways...and some had it soo..so.... bad. They suffered.
Not like they got my latte wrong kind of suffering, more like hey, where are my legs kind of suffering.
many who did not reach their personal goals or get the house, they got the cave!!
What is the point of this list?
They all kept on because they knew they were a part of something bigger than just what they could come up with! And that it was leading somewhere. then he says this....
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
So how do you and I endure, find purpose, find solidity in our lives? We look to the author and sustainer of life! Who lived and died and rose again showing his authority over every fear you and I might have!
PAUSE/SLOWLY
Can we be happy without Jesus, without faith, and belief in something bigger than ourselves. Yup
As long as everything goes the way we want it!
As long as we know the secret to finding balance, and then we have the ability to get the entire universe to stop moving so that we can keep it.
_____________________________
Only Christianity offers a meaning that is
unshakable through the trials of life. - because it is based on someone who has shown his power over life and death, and tells us this leading somewhere. Who in the midst of emotional starvation says, I am the bread of life!
Who says in the midst of spiritual darkness I am the light of the world.
In the midst of shifting ideas and trying to find solid ground in shifting opinions , I am the truth!
“We don’t believe in a meaning we must go
out and discover, but in a Meaning that
came into the world to find us.”
Can we have a level of happiness and meaning in a world without God, sure we can. We can have moments of meaning,
But our world is only this big.
Chesterton says this he says…if you were to allow God to break in…If you were to allow the power of a God who took on human flesh lives and dies to show his power over sin and death.....
"You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theatre in which your own little plot is always being played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky...”
And the beauty of this new world, new story, new feer sky is that is shines light on all the other things we attempt to find meaning in.
So relationship that are free of the burden of giving you and I meaning, are healthier, because we are able to give more freely.
Curry, bookshelves, and poetry are more of a delight because they play out in a much larger beautiful story,
one that God is building us into if we say yes to Him through Jesus.
PRAY
Jesus.