A Life in Context

Intro - [talk very briefly about how just as we must view scripture in context (briefly explain) we must view our lives through the lens of Jesus and live our lives in context

Psalm 63:1–8 NIV

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.

Intro - [talk very briefly about how just as we must view scripture in context (briefly explain) we must view our lives through the lens of Jesus and live our lives in context

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Scripture -

Scripture -

Pray

I want to speak today about something we all need to hear. That is this: Sometimes life isn’t so good. Whether you, like me, seem to suffer from Seasonal doldrums, or worse, true Seasonal depression, or if like most of us go through times when you are overwhelmed with a situation, or life, and feel mildly depressed - or even have the flu; no matter the severity, at some point, we all will feel less than enthusiastic about our situations, or life, or relationships, or even our faith.

For me, that takes the form of my usual winter malaise. But this year, it’s been different. You see, usually, at least for me, my funk - for lack of a better word - is pretty manageable. In fact, unless you are Kate, you probably wouldn’t even know! My girls can’t even usually tell.

But this year it has been different. And honestly, I thank God for that difference, because it has led me to this message, and to a better understanding of me!

And that understanding started last Sunday.

Story about going up flat gap.

Dog was stalking me. He wasn’t going to bite me. He wasn’t going to hurt me. But he was going to keep barking from a distance - always afraid to fight, but never afraid to distract and harass.

I remember saying out loud, but not understanding it immediately, but I said “That dog is the devil.”

And then, as I neared the top of the climb, the shadows I had been riding in - the shadows that the dog seemed to live in - all disappeared and the sun washed over me. And almost on cue, the barking stopped, and the dog turned around. Well, I kept going to the top of the hill, and pulled off to the side of the road to answer a text message. And right after I sent the message it hit me.

Everything I had been feeling. Every time I got down, or felt overwhelmed and alone. Every time I doubted a decision or worried over a situation - they were all like that dog.

And that dog WAS the devil.

[stressinlife] Church, life can be stressful. Between your friends, your kids, or your coworkers, who may or may not be the devil - at least the coworkers, right? No matter who or what is happening in your life, there will be times when the stress will follow you like that dog. It will keep on barking. It follows you wherever you go. And no matter how much energy you put into trying to pull away from it, it will sit right there on your back, reminding you that it is there, and it isn’t leaving!

We have all felt that. And what I know to be true, church, is that as long as we continue to try to follow Christ, that will never change! We will always have that stress, there will always be something barking at us from a distance trying to get us to give up, and turn back.

John 16:33 NIV

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

[John16:33] Jesus tells us that. More than that, Jesus lived it out for us!

Jesus tells us that. More than that, Jesus lived it out for us!

How often we forget those moments when Jesus, too, was overwhelmed with life! We act as if the divine part of Jesus always trumps the human part of our Savior when stuff hits the fan. But that wasn’t the case. No, Jesus felt the same stress, had the same struggles, as you and me! Those same dogs barked at him from a distance. Those same feelings of helplessness, and depression, and that same desire to just give up out of frustration, they no doubt lived in His soul just as they live in ours.

Oh he had troubles. I really want you to take that to heart today. Jesus has been where you are, and known that same feeling.

I want us to know something else too. Something I try to tell every child I ever am blessed to interact with and help to grow in life.

Those feelings, they might seem silly. They might feel like they don’t matter. But feelings matter. They are yours alone. Your situation, your circumstances, they are all variables that are unique to you that have led you to where you are. And your feelings are a part of that.

But what is more important than that can ever be is this - your feelings don’t define you. Your past doesn’t define you. Your situation doesn’t define you.

Romans 8:16–17 NIV

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Romans 8:17 ESV

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

[Rom8:17] No, the follower of Christ isn’t a slave to those things; you are a child of God! That is our definition! That is our reality and identity! That is our context! That other stuff, is just stuff. Those things that happen, they are just a loud gong, or noisy cymbal! And church, when we allow life to overwhelm us, when we let those dogs that bark at our heels to control our destiny we lose the life given to us! Our life begins to lose it’s substance and meaning. To quote Shakespeare, life can become, “a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

No, the follower of Christ isn’t a slave to those things; you are a child of God! That is our definition! That is our reality and identity! That is our context! That other stuff, is just stuff. Those things that happen, they are just a loud gong, or noisy cymbal! And church, when we allow life to overwhelm us, when we let those dogs that bark at our heels to control our destiny we lose the life given to us! Our life begins to lose it’s substance and meaning. To quote Shakespeare, life can become, “a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

No, the follower of Christ isn’t a slave to those things; you are a child of God! That is our definition! That is our reality and identity! That is our context! That other stuff, is just stuff. Those things that happen, they are just a loud gong, or noisy cymbal! And church, when we allow life to overwhelm us, when we let those dogs that bark at our heels to control our destiny we lose the life given to us! Our life begins to lose it’s substance and meaning. To quote Shakespeare, life can become, “a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

But that life is not our life. For the follower, the child of God, there is a greater life to be lived, and that is the life lived in the light of the Son.

[picofbaskinginlight] You see, when I got out into the sunlight, and when I realized the dog wasn’t barking, I instinctively thanked God. And then, in that moment, it all hit me.

All those feelings of anger, or doubt, or annoyance. Those feelings that followed Jesus, just as they follow me and you. I was listening to them. I let them be the voice in my head. I was giving them my attention and turning away from what should be the object of my affection!

And in that moment, I was reminded that Jesus, when he felt that feeling, went away to solitary spaces to pray - to bask in the light of His father.

Time after time in His story, we see Him being overrun, or surrounded, or healing person after person, and then immediately going away to be alone.

And He did that, because the divine part of Jesus knew that the human part of Jesus needed time to be refilled by God’s presence.

[marriedcouple] It isn’t unlike any other relationship, really. If you never spend time alone, if you are never able to spend time together sharing ideas, or even just being in the presence of your spouse, eventually your relationship will become broken.

No, if we want to still those voices that pull us away from God, we must imitate our Savior, and to go those solitary places to spend time with Him alone.

Jonathan Edwards put it this way, “A true Christian doubtless delights in religious fellowship, and Christian conversation, and finds much to affect his heart in it; but he also delights at times to retire from all mankind, to converse with God in solitary places.”

Church, we spend so much time living out life in “Christian Society.” We arrange our lives, in fact, around surrounding ourselves with other believers - those who think EXACTLY like us - but do we spend an equal amount of time just being alone with God?

And honestly, even framing the question that way makes me feel pretty awful! After all, we should spend far MORE time alone with God than we do with each other!

Just imagine what your spouse would think if you spent more time with other people than you do them! Imagine the jealousy! Imagine the fracturing of trust and relationship! Imagine the distance that would be created between you.

[prayingpic] That is just what we do when we try to follow God only by spending time with others who are following. No, we must devote time, carve out time, make room for more time alone with God. Time listening to Him. Talking to Him. And generally thinking about Him.

Some call it “Quiet time.” And if you do it every day, keep it up! And if you don’t you need to start. If for no other reason, by the way, than for your own spiritual well being!

Listen you don’t just need time with God - which you do! You need time away from everything else in life.

[newspic] According to Neilsen, which after having participated in their ratings program, I can assure you tracks not only your channels, but your computers, tablets, and phones too; according to their data, Americans spend 11 hours per day consuming news media through various sources. 11 hours. .

Almost half the actual day! But remember you sleep about 8 hours! So of the remaining 16 hours, 11 is spent learning about the world. Investing in the world. Deepening a relationship with the world.

In other words, we don’t just hear that dog behind us. We are stopping and getting to know it! We are setting up our camps, and establishing relationships based on what it is barking!

And we don’t just want it, church, we thirst for it! So much so that every popular app across every device, has something to do with news or news aggregation - be it national, or more localized - they all bark at us every day! And between the newspaper, billboards, radio, TV and online sources, that bark is getting louder and louder.

[socialmedia] Just ask yourself, especially younger people, how many times have you checked social media - which is still news even if just gossip and conspiracy theories - how many times have you checked it today?

Worse yet, how many times have you checked it during service? Or during this very sermon?

Older people, how many days do you go without waking up and immediately turning on the news or reading a paper? I can tell you, as a pastor for almost a decade, I have spent many hours in the hospitals and nursing homes, and there are some there - not to mention some homes I visit - where the news is the ONLY thing on the TV all day every day.

11 hours per day, though, church. We offer almost half of our lives to that barking dog. And there, waiting in the wings of our existence are our families and our lives - not to mention our God.

[asthedeer] As the deer panteth for the water, so our souls - at least according to research - longs after anything except God. We thirst for tension, for division, for turmoil, and then act surprised when we find it! We offer our lives on the altar of being informed, or humble bragging, or just letting people know what's going on in our lives, and we never even look to see the God that wants us to know Him more than we know a stranger behind a screen.

I mean, honestly, sometimes we know more about celebrities and politicians than we know about God - and from my experience, we definitely know more about their positions and past than we do scripture.

And we don’t just know them; we stress over them. We hang on their thoughts, and let them and others guide our lives.

But church, God doesn’t want that for us. God wants to take away all that stress. All that doubt. All that pain. All those problems that seem to bark at us all day long. But we can’t ever get to the place to let Him, if we always stay in the dark - He doesn’t live in that screen we stare at, or in those status updates!

I have heard it said, that if we open our Bibles as much as we open our mouths, the world would be as better place! I offer this today instead; if we would open our Bibles A FRACTION as often as we open Facebook, A FRACTION as often as we snap, or tweet, A FRACTION of the time we offer to digesting the message of our given echo chambers on cable news and social media - if we just did that we would have much less stress! We would have far happier families and lives! We would find that JUST AS JESUS SAYS - IF WE SEEK HIM FIRST, THEN ALL THAT OTHER STUFF WOULD BE ADDED TO US AS WELL!

In other words, if we would just love Him and know Him more than this world, we would find everything else just falls into place.

To do that, we have to get out into the light, and get alone with Him. We have to want nothing more than knowing Him! And not just want it, church, we have to want it and then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Psalm 63:1 NIV

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

We have to feel like our text for the day. We have to earnestly seek Him. We must thirst for Him, and want nothing more than everything He is!

We have to feel like our text for the day. We have to earnestly seek Him.

Now what does that mean? Well that means that we rethink our allegiance and time. So if you are giving God some quiet time, try setting aside some more. And in that time, you need to read His word. That is one of the ways in which He speaks to us, so we have to read every day.

Just as you wouldn’t go days without listening to your spouse, you can’t go days, if not months and years, without reading God’s word. And church, Sundays don’t count. Reading here in church doesn’t count. You have to take time to listen to God everyday

Take time to pray; to talk to God. Just as we must listen, we must speak as well. So offer more to that relationship. After all, if you really thirst for Him, and really love Him and want to praise Him as long as you live, then you will need to cultivate the ability to speak to God.

Finally, we must accept the fact that in order to live our life the way we, and God, want to live it, we must prioritize Him. God, then family, then everything else. And that might mean that you have to turn off the TV. That might mean that you have to sell something, or change something, in your life. And that is OK. Because ultimately, having a deep and abiding relationship with God will lead to a deeper relationship with those that really matter to you! And whatever the cost, that is totally worth it.

2 Samuel 24:24 NIV

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

Not to mention, church, that even though Christ’s gift is free for all, the relationship comes with a cost. We deny ourselves, our impulses, and as important, we deny those things that bark at us - and we move into the light! The quiet place. The solitary spaces where God works on our hearts and guides us to His truth.

Not to mention, church, that even though Christ’s gift is free for all, the relationship comes with a cost. We deny ourselves, our impulses, and as important, we deny those things that bark at us - and we move into the light! The quiet place. The solitary spaces where God works on our hearts and guides us to His truth.

That is going to cost us something. But the price is well worth the reward.

You see, for the low cost of time alone with God, you get peace. YOU GET COMFORT. YOU GET A WORLDVIEW THAT IS NO LONGER TOSSED ABOUT BY THE UNCERTAINTY OF THOSE WHO WE ONCE IDOLIZED, BUT IS NOW STEADIED BY THE ROCK OF ALL CREATION! YOU BECOME DEAF TO THOSE BARKING FROM BEHIND AND THOSE WHO CLAMOR FOR TURMOIL AND DIVISION! THE STRESS OF THIS LIFE - SOMETHING WE CAN NEVER FULLY AVOID - BEGINS TO MELT AWAY AS WE ARE CRADLED IN THE LAP OF OUR FATHER!

[picofdadwithchild] Don’t you see? You were never made to do this alone. You weren’t created to stare at a screen and long for a life that passes you by while you jealously crave what you think everyone else has. But you will never find relief, you will never find help, until you make your way back to the Father, and spend time resting with Him.

That is a life in context. Our lives are not our own, church, and we must let go and begin to live out our lives with our God. Put down the phone. Put down the assumed obligation. Put down the agenda. Put down the cleverly crafted idea about what God looks like to you, and just get alone with Him. Read His word - and not just the parts you like - read all of it, and read it in context. Give Him the time you are giving to the world. Give Him the opportunity to change your heart, and to change your life. After all, that is all He has ever wanted. You, and you alone.

Invitation - Do that, and you will never be a slave to anything in this life. You are a child of God. So let’s stop enslaving ourselves to policy, agenda, social media, news cycles, social standards, and actually start living our lives as a child of God - the very one who breaks the bonds of slavery to this world for us all.