Which Way Do We Go?

Directionally Challenged

I’m just a little bit directionally challenged. Okay, maybe a lot.

Sometimes it’s very helpful to have a wife who is. Sometimes, not so much. B/C she reminds of how imperfect I am.

Guys by nature are competitive. We will compete to win in everything, including ways that just don’t matter and nobody actually knows we’re competing.

It’s like when a man has the remote control for the TV. Why do we keep changing channels? B/C we will not get caught watching the second best thing on TV.

We are constantly looking for something that would be better even if what we are watching is good.

Ladies, you just want us to land somewhere.

Same reason why men won’t stop and ask for directions no matter how lost we are.

It’s admitting defeat. Not going to do that. If we just keep going we will come to a road we recognize even if we have to drive all the way around the world to get to it.

We’re not into getting directions, but something changed over the last few years that we’re okay w/.

GPS on our phones. We’re into gadgets and electronics.

Now, getting directions is okay b/c it’s an app on my phone.

But, again, the competitiveness takes over when Sara wants to navigate by looking up the directions on her phone.

No. My phone app is better. Okay, we both have iPhones and the same app. But, I can do it better.

Except Sara insists that I not look at my phone while I am driving. Some ridiculous safety issue or something.

Whatever, I can still do it.

So, you may remember, a couple of Rough Rider rides ago, I got us lost in the forest.

I had done a memorial service in Brolier Park. A nice clearing where we could go to have our picnic lunch.

But, the Rough Riders, we decided to come back a different way, rather than the way we went out.

I’d never been that way. Jim scouted it out and gave me basic instructions. I looked it up on my map so I had a pretty good clue where to go.

Here’s the irony, I got us lost on the part of the trail I was most familiar w/. We came around to the 228 which we take all the time when we go down Schnebly Hill Rd.,

I just wasn’t paying attention. Thinking more about making sure everyone was w/ us, I went right when I should have gone left. We drove for 15 or 20 minutes before we realized the problem

But, just keep going.

Then, one of the other guys says he knows where we are and how to get back so he takes over.

Eventually, he stops. We turned around twice. Still not sure.

A third guy takes over. He got us close.

We came down a hill, up to a pasture where we could see the road we wanted off in the distance. But the rancher had locked the gate so we could get there from where we were.

About that time, those other 2 guys who led, took off on their own thinking they knew the way. We lost them. We weren’t worried about them. We figured they’d get back before us and we’d all be okay.

The rest of us went a different way.

We stopped a couple of times to get our bearings, then just kept going.

We ended up right back at Brolier Park where we had lunch. Made a huge, 2-hour circle. We knew the way back from there.

We get back to the church, drop the ppl off who left their cars here. I’m finishing up locking up the church, and here came the 2 guys that took off on their own. They were about 15 minutes behind us.

In life, sometimes we’re forced to go a different direction. Somebody else decides and we have to go that way.

Sometimes we make a bad decision and go a different direction that leads us to a place we don’t recognize.

Sometimes we get a little over-confident, thinking we know more than we do, too familiar w/ the path we’re on, only to discover we didn’t realize we made a bad turn.

When we feel lost, feel like we are going in circles, feel like the wrong ppl are forcing us to go a way we don’t want to go; how do we get back on the right track?

John wrote this letter about the same time Peter wrote 1 Peter, mid-60s.

They had to run from Rome and Jerusalem. Nero had started to light the Xians up, literally. They ran for their lives.

New, small village. New house. New farm, New school for the kids. New friends.

If there was a church, it was tiny compared to the mega-church they left. No famous preachers. Just them.

Feeling lost. Where do they begin to get back on track?

We’re in the middle of it, too. The governor said maintain our precautions till spring.

Churches, restaurants, businesses all have to maintain their mask, distancing, and limited seating policies.

Some won’t survive.

Our social activities will continue to be limited. We’re staying at home more. Things that have been regular part of our lives are taken away.

Marriages are being taxed b/c we are spending so much time together.

An online legal doc service reports a 34% increase in requests for divorce docs nationwide.

What direction is your marriage going?

There’s an election in a few weeks. What’s going to happen? Will ppl riot if they don’t like who wins? Will we know who wins by Jan 20 or will the mail-in ballots hold us up?

What direction will we be forced to go in according to whomever wins the election?

Decisions you are making. Decisions being made for you. What direction are in? Where are you headed? Feeling lost?

In this passage John gives us GPS directions that get us back on track, lead us where we are okay where we’re headed no matter what direction everyone else is headed around us.

We may not know exactly where we will come out, but we know when we’re headed in the right direction and we can know where to turn next so we get to the right place in time.

How do we get moving in the right direction? Where do we head? Whom do we follow?

GPS Directions

1 John 2:3–6 NIV

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

Where do we start when we feel lost?

Ask yourself this Q: Has my experience w/ God led me to know Him well, in a personal way?

Do you feel like you’re close to God? If you’re feeling lost then chances are you don’t feel too close to God.

Those 2 feelings will go hand in hand.

What does it mean to know God? And, what commands is he talking about?

OT law, Pentateuch? 10 commandments? Rules? or something else?

The clues are in the text.

He uses the word “know” 4 times in this passage and 23 times in the whole letter.

There are 2 Greek words for knowledge.

Oida is factual knowledge. Know things.

Ginosko is relational knowledge. Know people.

If he was talking about know the rules of the law, he would have used oida. But he used ginosko.

Our relationships are our priority.

Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment?

Love God, and love each other.

These are the commands he is talking about.

If we say we know God well, then we are keeping these 2 commands. If we are keeping these 2 commands, then we will know God well.

Obedience is the condition for knowing Christ personally. And, knowing Christ personally, is the condition of obedience.

The first act of obedience is belief. Faith.

All of you know some things about my wife. I know her.

I know about your spouse. You know them in ways no one else does.

I have a close, personal relationship w/ Sara. I know what she wants and I choose to do it. Most of the time.

If I didn’t, we would be married. If there was another woman I’d rather do these things for, I wouldn’t have married Sara.

Since we’re close, I do these things. Since I do these things, we stay close. The things are not the priority. My rel w/ my wife is.

Same for you. Same for all of us w/ God.

“Obeys” v.5. Ongoing. Constant. Always a priority.

The longer we do this, the better we do it. The better we do it, the close to God we are. The closer we get the better we do it. And, so on.

Just like marriage. The longer we are married, the better we love ea other. The better act like we love ea other. Or, we should.

If only we had an example to follow. Oh, wait. We do.

One of the imptnt reasons Jesus came as a man was so we could relate to Him.

The example He set for us was perfect. He followed the GPS directions and obeyed His Father all the time.

We can’t do it as well as Jesus, but we know what direction to head. The direction He went.

He only did what His Father wanted Him to do. We can do that.

He led a powerfully impactful life that led everyone He encountered closer to God. We can do that, too.

The goal for everyone is to get into the presence of the Father. In Him, is life.

We get there thru the blood of Jesus and w/ the power of the HS.

And, as we are on our way, no matter what we do for a living, what we do in our retirement, no matter what we do period; we can leave everyone we encounter closer to God than they were before we encountered them.

If we love God, we will want to share Him w/ everyone.

If we love them, we want them to have what we have, too.

Life.

This is not a new thing. It’s old. But, it’s sort of new, too.

The general command is old. But some of the specifics are new.

New Turns on an Old Path

1 John 2:7–8 NIV

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

When Jesus was asked about the most important command He went back to what Moses wrote that was part of the establishment of Israel.

Love God and love each other.

The first act of obedience in loving God is to believe in Him and have faith that He will save you.

The fundamentals of the gospel, how to be saved, have been the same for all time, OT and NT.

Israel was saved and delivered from slavery by the blood of the Lamb. They had to believe first, that the blood would save them. Then, spread it on their doorpost in Egypt.

When they were wandering in the wilderness, they complained about God. So, b/c of their disob He sent venomous snakes to bite them. They were as good as dead.

All they had to do was look at the bronze snake Moses made and hung on a stick believing God would heal them and give them their life back. Those that did lived. Those that didn’t died.

Isaiah wrote that the Messiah would be beaten beyond recognition and be cursed and hang on a tree.

For them the future was fuzzy. They experienced these things and read this stuff.

But, how could God’s Lamb, the Messiah, get Himself into a position where God would allow Him to be beaten and cursed?

That’s what was new to John’s readers. Jesus.

Cursed as only the worst criminals were crucified. It was a horrific way to die. But, that’s how God sees our sin. It’s horrific in His eyes.

By His blood we are saved, delivered from the slavery of sin. All we have to do is look as our Savior, not the snake, on the stick believing and we will be saved.

They looked forward but didn’t know Jesus. We look back and understand what they couldn’t see.

Our future is fuzzy just like theirs was. Rapture? Tribulation? 2nd coming? Thousand-year reign of Jesus? New Heaven and New Earth? Armageddon?

One day we will look back and understand it all.

The darkness is dying out. It’s losing. The Light is winning, in fact has already won. Don’t believe the lie. Don’t misinterpret the events of our times and think that God has lost control.

Those that read this letter for the first time would have been questioning everything from the facts of history to their own direction in life.

Remember where John started this letter. The most important event in history is the most proven fact in history.

Don’t let todays facts cause you to question the fact of history and where they lead.

Chart your course, follow the directions, obey the commands, and follow Jesus’ lead.

Jesus will keep our path lit up so we can see where we are going. We may not see where it ends, yet. But we will know where to turn next.

The Right Light

1 John 2:9–11 NIV

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

He’s talking about believers here. Don’t wish another believer dead even if they sit on the other side of the political aisle than you.

Stay in the Light that Jesus provides and you won’t stumble.

Don’t lurk around in the darkness doing anything that you don’t want anyone else to know about. Keep it all out in the light.

There was a couple here the first summer i arrived, Roy and Jan Lecker. Roy developed cancer and died that winter so I never go to know him well at all.

Jan, one night here in their cabin, got up to go the bathroom, and in the dark, tripped over their dog and did a header into the wall. She broke her neck. It wasn’t bad enough to paralyze her but she had to wear a neck brace that summer.

When we walk in the dark we will trip up. When we stay in the Light Jesus will show us the way and we will never have to stumble in sin.

We will. We do. B/C we think we know a better way to go that is easier or we think we are stronger than we really are.

Even believers walk around in the dark and don’t know where they are going. If you are stumbling around in a situation and don’t know what direction to go then change who you are following.

Stumbling thru your marriage or a family situ.

Stumbling thru what to do w/ your life next.

Maybe you need to stop and ask directions. Admit defeat. Accept help and let Jesus set you on the right path.

Isaiah 50:10–11 NIV

Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God. But now, all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches, go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze. This is what you shall receive from my hand: You will lie down in torment.

Life throws hard things at us like pandemics, riots and racism, social restrictions.

They can be confusing and frustrating challenging our ability to find our way.

In these challenging times the temptation is find our own way. Just keep going till maybe we find a road we recognize.

Maybe we need to stop. Acknowledge we are in the dark about where we are and where we need to go. Ask Jesus to light the right way.

God showed up to Abram one day, out of the blue and gave him a new direction for his life. He could have said no.

Where are we going God? I’ll tell you when you get there. Follow the right LIght.

He had no idea where he’d come out but he went anyway.

Israel wandered thru the wilderness. They knew where the PL was but the right path was not a straight one.

They followed the pillar of light and He showed them where to turn and got them to the right place at the right time.

We may not know where we will come out but we know when we are headed in the right direction and we can know where to turn next so we can get to the right place at the right time.

Applications

Close?

Would you say you are close to God? Do you feel like you have a close, personal relationship w/ God?

Then you are gladly keeping the 2 most important commands, not looking for exceptions, loopholes, and ways out.

And, if you’re keeping the 2 commands then you are getting closer and more personal w/ God.

Do you need to refocus on these coordinates to get you back on the right path?

Love God above everything else.

Love the ppl around you at least as much as you love yourself.

Darkness

Are you in the dark? Are you feeling lost?

Are you doing something you think you probably shouldn’’t be doing?

Stop. Admit you’re lost. Ask for directions.

Right Light

Related to that.

What fires have you lit for yourself that you need to dowse?

You’re not trusting God, you are trying to light your own way.

Follow the Right Light. Once you’ve dowsed all the fires you lit, the only one left will be the Right one.

Follow that one.

In this passage John gives us GPS directions that get us back on track, lead us where we are okay where we’re headed no matter what direction everyone else is headed around us.

We may not know exactly where we will come out, but we know when we’re headed in the right direction and we can know where to turn next so we get to the right place in time.