Man on a Mission: Chasing the Lion
We are all looking for peace in our lives. Whether through money, relationships, or success, we often look in the wrong places and end up embattled in our souls rather than at rest. When God calls us to walk with Him, it is a call to that peace. What we think of God and how He intervenes in our lives will be challenged along the way as we chase this King who also describes Himself as a lion. To find the peace for which we ultimately long, we must understand the cost, embrace the paradox of peace, and through this, enjoy the spoils of the Lion.
Matthew 8:18-22 (NIV)
18When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. 19Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 21Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 22But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
The Cost
It's been fun. I've had people asking me the cost of admittance to our Sunday service as we've been meeting in the theater.
To follow and continually relate to Jesus is to know peace, yet, like anything else in life, there is a cost to the tranquility that we desire.
Some of the "drivers" in our lives that can have more of an influence over us than Jesus are relationships, money, and the need for success or approval. They are legitimate desires, but become merciless dictators when they are not submitted to Jesus who orders all things properly. All of these are what Jesus challenged as He spoke of the cost of discipleship, because He knew that they would be tyrannical taskmasters rather than the benevolent King that He wishes to be.
To thrive in life is to first understand who God is, and then understand who we are as we walk in the environments in which He has placed us. One of the greatest challenges to this is the daily judgments that we experience. It is a challenge in this city, because, as we saw in Jesus' own temptation in the desert, the eroding of our souls comes when we are tired, deprived of basic needs and isolated.
People treat following Jesus like an extracurricular activity or a hobby. It is something you do when you "feel" like you can make time or you have the energy. Our service to God, translating into the practical building of His Kingdom, is not a priority, or that around which we build our lives. We do what He commands when it is convenient or clearly emotionally advantageous for us; we refrain and justify the reasons why when it seems less expedient. We treat it like a matter of special interest, but this is not the paradigm with which God relates to us.
“Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of His cross.” ― Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ
Time management and priorities are revealed when you see that for which you do and do not have time. We are all busy. We all have responsibilities and free time. When you do not have time for the things of God because you have spent your free time in excessive entertainments, that was a poor practice of time management and prioritization. Finding your part in building God's Kingdom through the local church needs to be a priority if you are going to be a disciple of Jesus.
Jesus deliberately chooses an offensive comparison to point out how extreme our heart devotion needs to be if we are truly to be found pleasing and consecrated in His sight. We will always functionally fall short of complete obedience if we are not found in this place, because there will always be something else weighty competing in our minds to countermand our attention.
Why? It is because the storms of life will always come in this fallen world to challenge our faith and test our commitment.
The Paradox of Peace
Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you." ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
It is a surprising thing that to follow the Prince of Peace is to many times follow him into the storms of life.
On the job, in the midst of tremendous strain, treacherous dealings, or unethical practices is where you can meet Jesus asking Him to calm the storms.
(Rollan spoke to the storms that can come in marriage.)
Our obedience to the commands and ways of God show us how much we really believe that He exists. If we were standing before Him, being able to clearly see, touch, and audibly hear God, would we spend our time the way that we do, use our money the way that we do, relate to people in the manner that we seem so comfortable, have the attitude toward disappointments that we generally have, or as professing Christians excuse the bitterness that we allow to fester in our hearts?
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:15 NIV)
I would think not.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)
Like the disciples, we act as if He is not there, or lacks the ability to work out everything for His glory, for the good of those who love Him.
The Spoils of the Lion
Matthew 8:28-34 (NIV)
28When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29“What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” 30Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
People often speak about their demons as if they are a family member or close friend. At the very least, they are the things with which they identify themselves, whether it be their anger, sexuality, or personality type.
“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.” ― Tennessee Williams, Conversations with Tennessee Williams
“Demons were said to be cruel, but a demon would never have been so brutal as this. A demon merely called you by name, threw his arms around you, whispered his plight, understood yours, then took you for his own.” ― Alice Hoffman, The Story Sisters (author of Practical Magic made into 1998 movie)
“Be careful when you cast out your demons that you don’t throw away the best of yourself.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (Mark 5:6-9, 14, 15 NIV)
Demons are not our friends. They are unclean spirits who come to limit and take life from us as was seen in the example of the pigs who were driven off of the cliffs under the influence of the demons. When Jesus, or others as agents of Christ, are coming to help and provide Christ's deliverance, we can be fearful and resist, thinking people are attempting to torment us rather than set us free. When our ideologies, self-perceptions, or patterns of behavior are touched with the truth of God, may we experience the same freedom as the two demonized men and not fear as the villagers did.
(Rollan shared commentary on the Boston bombing that happened this week. He shared about how the Holy Spirit tells us to love and serve our enemies versus drive a person or persons to blow up other people. He referenced John 10:10 from the NIV: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.")
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” (Mark 5:6-9 NIV)
Though these markers are the things that come to take life from us, Jesus, as the conquering lion, comes for His spoils by setting our hearts, minds, and houses in order. It is here that we finally know the peace for which we have always been searching.
There are times that you will be taken out of the herd with which you used to run, and placed in a new body of believers, like the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. However, in this case, there were two demonized men living in the tombs together. Sinners of a feather flock together. Jesus also delivers groups of people at a time. It was Andrew who called his brother Peter to meet Jesus. It was Moses who had his brother Aaron to help lead the people out of their slavery in Egypt. Your old friendship group that you used to run with or a group to whom you are reaching out may be the very people who will walk out the new life in Jesus together.
When we come to God, it is not so much that people are wondering what a church service is like as much as they are asking what it means when they leave this place. The point of the church is that you would come to learn about the omnipotent, sovereign God who made you, draw near to honor His Son who saves you, build relationships and the Kingdom with his body who strengthens you, and grow as you walk together through the storms of life that will face you.
I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. (Romans 15:14 NIV)
Practically:
1) Identify the "drivers" in your life that have had more sway over you than Jesus. 2) Practice going to Jesus and His word first in the midst of daily trials to see Him calm the storms. 3) Commit to at least one relationship building moment in addition to Sunday church to build life in Jesus with people in the congregation.
Second City Church- Man on a Mission Sermon Series 2013