Unexpected Implications

Class What??? Rapids

A few years ago me and 4 friends went to Maine for guys, mostly fishing, trip. One of the guys was from there. His dad had a house on the Moose River and was a fishing guide.

We did lots of fly fishing and casting, little catching, had a great time. Ate fresh lobster and enjoyed ourselves.

One of the side trips we did was white water rafting. Depending on the time of year, and the amount of water running, they were either class 2, class 3, or class 4.

The guy who lived there, he’d done it before. He was FBI, had been a merchant marine, was around water like that most of his life. The other 4 of us had never rafted anything more violent than class 2.

We didn’t really have a frame of reference. Just a basic understanding that more water, moving faster, over and around the rocks raised the class, made them more dangerous, and strengthened the pucker-power.

We arrive. We’re all in our 40s. Our guide is a young woman in her early 20s. Very friendly. A little bossy. But she had to take charge.

She wasn’t real big. But not the kind of person you’d ever mess with. She very clearly could take any one of us out fairly easily, except maybe the FBI agent who was trained to deal w/ broads like that.

The rafts are just floating there in the calm inlet. We wade in to check the temp of the water, it’s cold. It’s Maine.Our guide gives us our gear which included a life jacket and a helmet.

A helmet. We’re going rafting. The water is calm right where we are. Why do we need a helmet?

That’s b/c most of the rapids were class 2 or 3. But, there was one section that was running at class 4. Whatever. No frame of reference.

Anyway, we climb in the raft, take our places on the sides. Our legs straddle the inflated sides of the raft. Our guide is in the back to steer. We all have paddles, but notice, she’s the only one strapped. She gets a seat belt. Why is that?

Trust me when I tell it wasn’t b/c she was a girl. That girl could hold her own in just about any bar fight.

We start out, the water is rolling along fairly smoothly. She’s giving us basic instructions and making a little small talk. She might have been trying to calm us down a little b/c we were pretty amped up.

She said, among other things, whatever you do, don’t stop paddling. And, when she said pick it up, she meant, give it everything us old, fat guys could give it, or else the raft was going over. Our paddles in the water is what controlled the raft. She steered, we kept it upright and moving downstream.

That is w/ 1 exception, there was one spot they called the toilet bowl. I’m sure you can imagine why. She steered us into and we paddled for all we were worth, it swirled around and we came out the other side all present and accounted for.

One of the things she was doing early on was assessing our competency w/ the paddles. There were parts of the river where the left side or the right side was more challenging. If we were up to it, she’d take us thru the more challenging rapids.

Seriously, look at us. You think we can’t handle a little rough water?!

She laughed, let’s go.

One of the things she told us early was that her boyfriend had recently broken up w/ her, he was a guide on the river, too. She pointed him out to us as his raft was just ahead of us.

We get to that first place where she could go left or right. We had proven ourselves that we could handle a challenge. She took us the challenging way. Class 3.

I don’t want to admit how afraid I was in the middle of it, but I’m pretty sure my swimming suit got wet, from the inside as much as it did from the outside.

She was clearly messing w/ us to prove a point and humble us a little bit which was probably a good thing b/c we needed to respect the rapids a little more than we had up to that point.

She was messing w/ us, we knew b/c she was laughing just a little too hard while we struggled to maintain control and keep our paddles moving.

We made it thru that section, she was laughing a little too hard, I may be said something to the effect of, I guess we know why he broke up w/ you now. To which I immediately regretted.

You know how you wish you could get those words back into your mouth as soon as they roll off your lips?

The rest of that trip, she showed no mercy.

When we got to the end we were all laughing. We knew we were all messing w/ each other all in good fun. I don’t think I got thirsty for about 3 days after that I drank so much water that day.

We had no idea what we were getting into.

We made our reservations. Paid our money. Waded in. But had now idea the implications of class 3 rapids w/ a guide who enjoyed humbling a few bottom-heavy fat boys who thought they knew more and were better at this than the were.

We were legends in our own minds. Nowhere else.

I remember another time another good friend retired from the Air Force. He invited me and bunch of his best friends from all over for the weekend festivities. One of the things he planned for us was to go paint-balling.

We’re all in the room, gearing up, getting ready. Putting the helmet on with eye-shield. Tightening our shoelaces. Getting things in order.

Suddenly, it hit me. I look around the room at the 12 or 15 guys going out w/ us. I’m going paint-balling w/ a bunch of former military guys. I’m a pastor. I’m going to die.

I went to Texas to have a good time w/ my friend and his other buddies. I did not plan to die that day.

Unexpected implications of going paint-balling w/ a bunch of ex-military guys.

Think about the times you’ve made commitments and had no idea the implications of what you just committed.

Maybe when you said, “I do.”

Maybe when you committed to your spouse to have kids.

Maybe when you committed to a new employer. A new job.

And, I think certainly, for those of us who made this commitment, when we commited our lives to Christ. When we decided to give Him our life, so that we could get his.

All I knew as a 17-year old kid, I wasn’t going to heaven when I died, I wanted to. I knew people who knew Jesus, their lives were different than mind, I wanted what they had. So I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I had faith in Him to save me.

But I had very little idea of the implications of the commitment I made to Him that day.

Somewhere along the line it dawned on you that this life w/ Jesus was not entirely what you expected.

There are unexpected implications of a commitment to walk with Jesus. There is a cost. But the reward is much greater.

Mary and Joseph had little idea what it was going to be like raising Jesus. When the angel spoke to them individually, they both said agreed to do then trust God for the details.

But all the implications of parenting Jesus we unknown to them.

It worked out.

This is the story of Jesus’s years up until he became legal. In that culture, a 12-year old boy was responsible for his own relationship w/ God.

There’s not a lot about His life during these years. But one thing we will see His parents did not know everything they were in for.

The story is in Luke 2. Remember the movie “Home Alone”?

Like Home Alone

Luke 2:40–52 NIV

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

You remember the Xmas movie “Home Alone”. An extended family plans to spend Xmas in Europe. They have about a million kids between them.

The power goes out, their alarm never goes off, they oversleep and are pressed to make their flight on time.

They fly around the house collecting their luggage and getting it, and everyone to the airport shuttles. They assign one of the older kids to count all the kids to make sure they are all in the vans.

One problem, a neighbor kids was in the mix and got counted while the youngest, Kevin, was forgotten b/c he slept in the attic.

They all left for the airport and it wasn’t until somewhere over the Atlantic that the mom realized Kevin was not with them.

From the time Joseph, Mary, and Jesus moved back to Nazareth; Jesus grew up.

He developed physically, he became strong.

He developed intellectually, he was filled w/ wisdom.

And He developed spiritually, God’s grace was on Him. He found favor w/ God.

He learned to speak Aramaic, which was the language they all spoke in Israel. He could read ancient Hebrew and more modern Greek.

Hebrew was only known to the educated. Otherwise, it was a dead language. These required hard work and hours of study.

He was fully human, so he had to work like every other student had to work. But he learned faster than anyone else.

After a boy’s 12th birthday, no more children’s ministry. Boys of legal age would meet with the adult men.

The young family made the pilgrimage to attent Passover services in the temple in Jerusalem annually.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread followed immediately for 7 days.

All of this symbolized God delivering Israel out of bondage in Egypt and their journey to the PL. The manna that God provided was baked into bread that didn’t rise, no yeast.

Like our crackers. It would break. Not like our bread that is fluffy and tears.

The feast rep’d God’s provision as He broke the chains of slavery and led them to freedom.

This was celebrated annually to commemorate all that God did for them to free them from their burdens.

They young family would make the 100mi trek w/ a group from the Nazareth Synagogue. They would enjoy the fellowship and anticipation of the feast and weeklong celebration.

They would assist each other in the difficult journey and there was safety in numbers.

The men would walk together. The women would walk as a group. The boys 12 and older would hang close to the men. The rest of the children would stay close to the mothers.

You know what happened. Jesus was just 12. Joseph was used to him traveling w/ his mother and the rest of the young children. Mary, thinking, now that he was 12, He’d be w/ his father. Everyone assumed he was w/ everyone else.

They took off for home, and when they settled for the night after the 1st day’s journey, they realized they had left Jesus in Jerusalem.

I don’t know if Mary had that crazed look in her eyes like Kevin’s mom when she realized she had left her young son at home, but it must have troubled her deeply and the guilt she felt for neglecting her son must have been off the charts.

How do you go off and leave you son? There were other children by then to keep up w/. Still.

During the 7-day feast the temple would have held special theology and law classes. As a 12-year old, Jesus got to attend these for the first time.

He impressed the Rabbis with his understanding. His answers to their questions were wise beyond his years. And his questions for them revealed a depth of thought that no one else exhibited.

So, one day out, one day back, then the 3rd day they found Him.

When Mary saw, she scolded Him. Why did you do this to us?

Any parent’s worst nightmare losing a child.

Implied, Jesus did something to them. A bit selfish.

Jesus’s reply, “Why did you worry? You should have known I would have been about my Father’s bsns.”

They had done a good job raising. They hadn’t messed him up. I don’t know how much they could have, but they didn’t at all.

He knew is stuff. They taught him at home. They took Him to their synagogue and Jewish school.

They are going to have to let him go. He’s only 12. Not for a few years. Joseph, apparently dies young. So Mary is left to bear the burden of launching her son into ministry and to be crucified.

When the presented him at the temple to be redeemed from his priestly obligation, Simeon warned Mary her heart would be broken when Jesus fulfilled his calling to save us.

Jesus knew all along who He is. He had a firm grasp on his own ID.

On some level, Mary and Joseph knew, too. They knew He was the son of God. They knew He was special.

But they didn’t fully understand the implications of what it meant to raise God’s son.

They took Him home that day and He continued to develop. He was obedient and respectful to his parents.

He grew in wisdom, intellectually.

He grew in stature, physically.

He grew in favor w/ God, spiritually.

And He grew in favor w/ men, socially.

He quoted the OT, law prophets and history extensively when He taught.

He was very average, nothing special to look at physically. Avg appearance, avg height , avg weight.

Obviously, God approved.

And ppl liked Him. Sometimes we Xians send the message that Jesus is exclusive. He’s not. He includes everyone in His offer to save them.

He partied w/ anyone. Good bad or otherwise. The only ppl he insulted was the religious leaders who should have known better and were exclusive. They made it hard for ppl to join God’s family.

He will save anyone from any background, who’s in any bad habit, who’s from anywhere in the world, who believes in His name and faith in Him to save them.

That’s what catches all of us. That’s what caught me as a 17-year old. I bel’d in Jesus, I bel’d in His name. I just didn’t know all his names. I bel’d in the ones I knew.

Saved as a 17-year old, I’ve spent the last 45 years realizing the implications of the commitment I made to Jesus so long ago.

Let me hit a few of the highlights. Mostly from Matthew 5-7.

Implications

Matthew starts out w/ the positives. There is much we need to know about how to live and walk w/ Jesus.

But Jesus started out teaching how blessed we are.

The beatitudes in Mt. 5:1-10.

We are blessed, happier, more content, less stressed when we realize how spiritually poor we are on our own. When we are meek and bend to the will of God. When we are merciful, our hearts are pure, when we keep the peace, and when we are persecuted and prosecuted for our relationship w/ Jesus.

This is fruit. Peace, joy, patience, self-control, goodness, wisdom, strength. We have all this when we come to faith. We have access to more of it when we live out our faith as Jesus describes in this passage.

We are the salt of the earth and a light to the world. Jesus called us to point to and preserve the way for our friends and family to find Him.

Certainly, we know murder is wrong. But did you know if you hate someone to the point you wish they were dead you are just as wrong?

Adultery is wrong. Being intimate w/ anyone you are not married to, whether you are married or not, is wrong. So is fantasizing about it. Just as wrong.

Not blessed by God for this. No peace.

Divorce is allowed. But for rare circumstances. Honor the marriage commitment and the marriage bed.

If someone slaps you on your right cheek w/ their right hand, turn and give them the other cheek to do it again.

Right hand, right cheek. The international and historical symbol of being insulted.

Don’t be a snowflake. Don’t be so thin skinned that you are offended to the point of paralysis. Let people offend you again. and again. Yes, it hurts. W/ Jesus’s help we can get over it.

This is not a closed-fist offensive attack. We can defend ourselves when attacked. This is when you are insulted.

Don’t just love the ppl who love you. Love your enemies. Mean it. Act like it. Sacrifice for them. Give more to them than they deserve. Don’t attack or retaliate even if they do deserve it.

Give generously, cheerfully, and sacrificially. There is no set amount. NT, there’s not even a set percentage.

2 Cor. Paul said give as God has blessed you. The OT principle was 10% of all that you brought in. And, they’d do it several times during the year. Plus, they’d take special offerings.

So, more like 25-30% of income.

How better to communicate that you love God more than anything else by spending a sacrificial amount of money on His work.

This is not a fundraiser. We’re good. This is about you and your rel w/ God.

It doesn’t have to hurt bad. It just means you have to buy the Toyota instead of the Lexus.

Pray daily. Fast regularly.

Implications. Did you know that when you accepted Him?

We want to go the heaven when we die. But sometimes we want to live on earth like we will in heaven. Jesus didn’t die to bring heaven to us. He died to get us to heaven.

That’s where we will be healthy, wealthy, and wise.

We want His life. But we are reluctant to give up ours to get it.

We want his wisdom. But we are reluctant to be humble enough to ask.

We want his knowledge. But we are reluctant to put in the work to study what He said and taught.

When we do know a little, too often it’s just to justify our bad behavior.

We want that fruit. But we are reluctant to cultivate the tree.

As Xians young in our faith we know what we want from Jesus. It takes some maturity to appreciate what Jesus wants from us.

Faith alone saves us. Doing things like this won’t get us to heaven. But once our reservation is set in heaven and we’ve started our walk w/ Jesus, this is how it looks.

Implications.

Mary and Joseph had little idea.

There was a cost. They lost Jesus in the Temple when he was 12. The lost Jesus on the cross when he was 30.

There was a reward. Jesus delivered to heaven the woman who delivered him to earth.

There is a sacrificial cost for our relationship w/ Jesus.

We can’t wish the ppl who make us mad, dead. When they offend us, we’re supposed to let them do it again and love them for it.

We can’t fantasize about things we only supposed to do w/ the ppl we are married to.

We have to be willing to give everything up for Jesus. Holding nothing back. But realize, we can never give up more for Him than He already gave up for us.

Applications?

They are the implications

I don’t need to go over them again. But which implication is God calling you to apply today?