Series: NOT A FAN

Knowledge About Him or Intimacy With Him

Knowledge and belief don’t take the place for a true relationship

John 21:15-17

09/08/2013 FCC Pastor Jeff Williams

So, we’re off and running in the series to find a relationship today. DTR. I had one of those moments. And my relationship with my wife. We were young. I met my wife when I was 18 and she had just turned 17. So I was a sophomore in college. She was a senior in high school. And we had friendship and we were dating. No talk of marriage at that point, or anything like that, just friends, just getting together, having fun. We had some mutual friends, Zack, no, Nate and Julie. We did some things with them. We respected them and liked them a lot. They decided that they were not gonna split up, but they were gonna start seeing other people, just to make sure that you know, you knew who you want and the person you want to be with. So I thought that was an interesting thought. I talked to my Mom. I said, “Mom, what do you think?” She said, “You know, you should date other girls. Make sure you find the kind of girl you want.” So I bounced the idea off Branda. I said, “You know, Nate and Julie, they’re seeing other people. You know, they’re not breaking up. But maybe we should do that, too, just to make sure that we know we’re supposed to be together, whatever. We’ll just see other people on our own. What do you think?” She was not really as gungho as by his highways. We went ahead and did this little experiment.

And so I started building relationship, friendship with another young girl at our college as well. So she would have known about Branda and Branda knew about her. But they didn’t know each other. Then one day, all came to the head. I came to this basketball game. Before you get mad at me. Some you gave me the evil eye. I want you to remember I was 18. OK? I didn’t know I was gonna be a pastor. I didn’t know that I was getting married to her. So don’t put this, you know, “That’s your wife.” I was just trying to build a friendship with this girl. So there was this basketball game. Branda’d come to this basketball game. So did the other woman. All the places you could seat, all the bleachers, she sat right behind Branda. So Branda could hear everything she said right behind. She started talking about “Put in the basket. Put in the basket.” She was saying stuff, she was interested in me to her friend. After the game, Branda came up to talk to me. She said, “We got to talk.” It was DTR time. And she said, “This isn’t working. You got a choice to make. Either you’re gonna be with her or you’re gonna be with me. We got to decide. We’re serious here? Is this gonna be a committed relationship? Because I’m not gonna do this anymore? So you have to decide.” So I said, “You’re gonna give me ultimatum. Yea. Obviously. I’m choosing you.” She said, “OK, well then you need to let the other girl know.” So I went and let her know. That did not go well at all. But what we have done is we defined our relationship. We said, “From this point on, from this moment on, we are making a commitment to each other. I’m not gonna dating other girls. You’re not gonna dating other guys. And we are committed to building our friendship.” The DTR. From then on, we knew what was expected. That was 60 years ago. It seems like. I’m glad you still laugh, because it would come a time when people won’t laugh anymore. You know, I say, I make a joke like that.

But what is the DTR? What does God expect from us? What is preeminent of God’s expectation for you and for me? What is the standard? What is the measurement which he judges his relationship with us by? What does he want more than anything else? What do you think it is? How does he judges? Something is by knowing the right thing to say and believing the right stuff. Right? It’s to know the right thing to say and believe the right stuff. You can repeat it back. That’s kind of good enough. Right? Peter, for instance, had one of those talks with Jesus. In Matthew chapter 16, up to this point, Jesus has not disclosed directly who he was. He was more of a veiled thing. But now he is saying directly, “Who do you say that I am?” And Peter replies and answers, he says, “You are Christ, the son of the living God.” And Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” He got it right. He believed the right things about Jesus. He said the right things about Jesus. Is that simply all God’s wanting us to do? Is that all? You get to heaven someday. You stand. You heard of the pearly gate. And St. Peter says, “Why should I let you in heaven. You simply recite a doctrine.” I believe you start reciting the apostle’s creed, whatever it is. He presses the button, and says “Ding! You got it right.” The gate’s opened up and you walk in. Is that the DTR? The Bible, right before this, Jesus preached the gospel for the first time. He’s led in this wilderness. Guess who else believed he is Christ, the son of the living God? The enemy. Right?

When I was in high school, we had a. I’ll tell you how old I am. There was McDonald’s next to our school. So, you go in the McDonald’s. And I can get a quarter pound of cheese, fries, and a medium drink for a dollar and get change back. That’s how old I am. If you want to leave right now, you can. So I did that. And there was promotion. And the lady was there with a stop watch. And she would say “go.” You had like 10 seconds or something. And you had to say “2 orders beef patties, lettuce, sauce, cheese, pickles and onions on sesame buns. It’s a Big Mac.” If you said that in time, you would get a free Big Mac. This promotion went on for a long long time. Right? And I got a lot of Big Macs out of that. Is that the criteria? You get to heaven. And Peter says “go.” I believe Jesus is the son of God. He is Christ, born of Virgin Mary. You just start saying all this stuff. Time’s up. You got to run. You are in. That’s not the standard. It’s important to have the right belief. It’s important to have the right confession. Say the right things and believe the right things. That’s important. The Christianity is much more than that. You find that the relationship is much more than just knowing the right stuff, saying the right words. What’s the standard? Listen to him talk. It’s like God grades on a curve, kind of. It’s like, you know, I am not as good as some Christians, like Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, really holly, and all that. You know, I’m better than this guy. I’m better than that guy. I know they do. I know what kind of person they are. I’m in the church. I’m better now. So we start playing this comparison game. God’s gonna accept me because I try harder. Right? I’m better than some. Peter tried to use this, too. Peter tried to impress the Lord. He loved him more than other guys.

Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 26, excuse me, verse 31. The Lord’s super has been completed. They gathered in the upper room. Jesus began to talk about his sacrifice. They prayed together and sang together. It’s a wonderful moment, a bonding moment, a moment of deep friendship. After that, Jesus blows them away with what he’s about to say. He said, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me.” Not one of you, not one of you who broke the bread with me in my moment of greatest need is gonna stand with me. But every one of you will turn and run. Then he quotes a prophecy that says, “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Peter interrupts his speech right there. He says, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” So right in front of everybody. All these apostles on the bus, he says, Jimmy, Fall, Johnny, they all desert you. I never will. I love you more than these guys. I am more committed to you than these guys are. I’m not perfect. I know sometimes I put my foot in my mouth. I know sometimes I make mistakes. And I get a little bit of short fuse. But I try harder. I love you more than these guys do. They might fall away. But you got it wrong about me, says Peter. Comparison game? When you grade in the curve, I’m gonna pass. Jesus says to him, I guess I was wrong about you, Peter. I take back what I said. Everybody but you. No. He says, “I tell you the truth. This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” Very specific, tonight, before morning, 3 times. Still not convinced, Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” All the other apostles said the same, us too, we love you, too. So they were in this a competition to say who loves him more. They were always doing it, always jostling, always comparing themselves, vying to be in a more prominent position than the other.

You’ve played the comparison game before, haven’t you? Maybe you played it in school with your other students. Maybe you played with your siblings. I’m a better kid than my brother, my sister. You know, Mommy loves me more. I love Mommy more. Maybe you do that at work with other employees. I’m not a perfect employee. But I’m better than that guy. He’s sleeping on the job, you know, showing up late. I am better than her. Husbands do it. Husbands’ wives do it with wives. I’ve been in conversation. We started talking about a particular husband. The wife would say, “He missed our anniversary again.” And I feel good. I say, I don’t miss our anniversary. I’m always the one who remembers our anniversary. And Oh, my husband, this guy, he hasn’t worked in a year. So I’m out there slaving, he’s just lying on the couch. I eat that up. I work. I provide for my family. Oh, so and so, he just yells at his wife all the time. He’s verbally abusive to her. He is just mean to her. I listen up and I’m thinking, I don’t do that to my wife. I don’t yell at my wife. I treat my wife with respect. I’m a pretty good husband. I mean I’m not perfect, but I’m better than those guys. That would get the goody tissue guy. I get into a conversation. We start talking about household chores. He’ll go, I do all the laundry. I mean, we’ve got to get out of here. I tell you, Oh, man, I know. We just got here. It’s time to go. He’ll go, I cook all the meals in our house. I’m behind him, going, quiet, who asked you? You start to make me look bad. I start comparing myself to that guy. Mr. goody tissues. He walks around with a vacuum cleaner all day while he’s cooking a meal. It’s like I don’t want to hear about you. Nobody asked you. Let’s go. Let’s get outa here. I don’t want hear any more from this guy. Right? He’s making me feel bad about myself.

We play the comparison game. There’s always somebody better. God doesn’t use that standard. No one in the scripture says God grades in a curve. What is this criterion then? What is it that God’s looking for more than anything else in his relationship with us? You know, when Jesus dies, Peter feels terrible. He feels terrible not only because he lost his friend and his Lord, but the way it ended. It ended with him denying Christ and vowing that he wouldn’t and he did. And Jesus died and he’s got no way to make it right. You know, when you lose a loved one, it’s hard, when you lose a loved one under those circumstances. Maybe your last discussion was an argument. Or maybe you failed them in some way. And you don’t have a chance to say, I’m sorry, to make it right. That makes the death even harder. So Peter is grieving the loss, but he’s also grieving the fact that he messed up so bad. But he has an opportunity to make things right. In John chapter 21. Remember after Jesus’ death, he’s gone. What does Peter say he’s going to do? What’s his plan? He says, I’m going fishing. By going fishing, he doesn’t mean I’m gonna get a can of worms and sit on a pier and recreate a little bit. Peter means he’s going commercial fishing. Big boats, big nets, marketplace, livelihood. That’s what he used to do. He was good at it. He misses it. He misses the sea, he misses the thrill of the catch, he misses making money. He wasn’t making money when he travelled with Jesus. He’s got to support himself. So he goes back to his trade, he goes back to what he knows.

So in chapter 21, they’ve been fishing, not fishing recreationally, they’re fishing to live. Jesus is there. He greets them. And they catch a large number of fish again. They bring in their boats, bring in their nets, they cook the fish. After that’s done. They’re done eating. Jesus has a private time with Peter. Verse 15, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” What are the “these”? He’s talking about the other apostles? Did he say you love me more than these guys? That’s a pretty awkward question if that’s what he’s saying. Right? Your boss doesn’t come out in the work floor and say, OK, which one of the employees likes me the most. Right? Or your parent gathers around the meal and says, OK, kids, which one of you loves Daddy the most. That’s not a fair question to ask. That’s the question that might have appealed to Peter’s ego at one point. Right? He said, I love you the most. But he’s not talking about that. He’s not trying to put Peter in a place where he has to try to show himself up, like he loves Jesus more than the others. No. The “these” has to do, he’s probably pointing to boats and nets. Do you love me more than these? I originally called you to be a fisher of men. Do you still love me more than you love your boats, your fish, and your way of life? Do you still love me to sacrifice it all and follow me again? “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” We’ve talked about this passage. We’ve gone into the Greek word for love. There’s philia. There’s agape. And this word used here and that word used there. I just really want to deal with the heart of the passage, essence of the passage. When Jesus has another DTR talk with Peter, let’s define our relationship again, Peter. What is this all about? What is the most important thing on Jesus’ heart and mind? Peter can say it creed that easy. He is conformed so much to internal code. No. The number one thing, the number one passion that he’s looking for, is “Peter, do you love me?” He wants a relationship defined by love. That’s what Christianity’s supposed to be about. It’s supposed to be about love. Love the Lord with our heart, soul and mind and strength. It’s not about memorizing a set of doctrine you can speak, going through these religious rituals and croups. It’s about a love relationship. DTR time. Peter, are you fully committed to me? If you’re fully committed to me, that’s what is all about. If you’re fully committed to God, everything else falls into place, doesn’t it? If you love me, you feed my sheep. If you love me, you care what is important to me, you care for my creation. You’ll be passionate about the things I’m passionate about.

When I think of passion, one of the men I think about is a man by the name of John Muir. Have you ever heard of John Muir before? He is known as the father of the National Park System. Very important guy, born in Scotland, very strict religious upbringing, he had memorized the Bible. When he was a boy, he memorized the whole New Testament, and moved to. Guess where? Moved to Portage, Wisconsin. And then for education, he went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Eventually, that led him to the study of botany and nature. And eventually he travelled to west to places like Yosemite and to the Grand Canyon, to Yellow Stone. And when he visited those parks, there weren’t national parks. They were just land, just raw. There were no roads. There were no trails. He was just there. He fought to preserve the land. The land brings me closer to the Creator, when I’m in it. It belongs to the people. He pushed the President, the Congress, to set aside that land that belongs to all of us. It didn’t belong just to the rich, did not just to the state. It would belong to the whole country. Those parks are your park, my park. OK? Thank you for showing us. Very important man. I learned about him when we took a family vacation to Yosemite, a beautiful park that is. I learned the stories about John Muir. He just learned to love God and creation. He loved nature. When you love God, you care about the things that matter to God. And God cares about creation. So he wanted to identify with creation. You know when there was a thunderstorm, do you know what he would to? He literally climbed to the top of the highest tree he could climb. In the middle of the thunderstorm, he experienced what a tree experiences during the thunderstorm. When you and I are running for cover, he was climbing a tree. And he would get up and feel the wind and the rain. He would hear the thunder. He would see the lightning. I’m sure he was afraid. He would approach wild animals. Waterfalls they are there, they are beautiful. We might go around them, or near them, or up above them, looking down. Do you know what John did? He would climb under the waterfall. Like the water was raging over here, he climbed up the cliff, between the cliff and the waterfall, to experience a waterfall. Just some of the things he did. He had this passion that was so great. He had to be in nature. When he was in nature, he came alive. No matter where his life took him, he always was strung back to the parks, to Yellow Stone, to Yosemite, to Sierra Club he founded there, reservation.

Jesus is saying, if you love me, you’re gonna love what I love, you’re gonna care about what I care about. You’re gonna feed my sheep. See? He wants the lives to be defined by the word passion. Love and passion. That never becomes a rope, a routine, mundane. You know, I talked about meeting my wife at young age. You fall in love and you get married. When you’re in love, falling in love, it feels like you think about that person all the time. You want to be with them all the time. There are plenty of excuses to be together. Time flies. Right? So you fall in love, you get married and you have children. And you buy a house, get a mortgage, get a job, sometimes two jobs, and a car and car payment. The kids have places to go. Next thing you know you’re not careful. You become a little careless. A relationship becomes more like a business partnership than a marriage. You start losing your passion. Right? You allow it to. It just becomes a part of business partnership and the love begins to dissipate. You find out why do we even marry. Forget why you even get married. As people say, they fall out of love with each other, because they allow their love to wane. I’m very much in love with my wife. I’m not talking about my marriage. But we make sure that we keep romance in our marriage. It’s easy to do. People can do that all the time. And the same thing that can happen in their marriage relationship can happen in their walk with God. If we’re not careful, our walk with God can become just something that’s ritual, something emotional we’re going through. We lose the passion. We lose the love.

I became a Christian at age 17. I’ve grown up in the church. I wasn’t serious about God at all. God was a doctrine I knew about. I spit out answers to Bible questions. But the church was the most boring place in the world. I like the pastor. The pastor was around and he is a good guy. I couldn’t wait to get out of there to go home and watch sports or start wrestling. That’s what I was into at age 9 and 10. I want to get out of there. I didn’t care about church kids. They seemed like nerds to me. I didn’t care about reading the Bible. That just seemed boring to me. At the age 17, God just got hold of me. This book became alive and exciting. I just would read it all the time. I read it at home. I read it in between the classes. I scheduled time between after work, before school started, to go to park. I just read the Bible, just make appointments with God. You know. Training for the ministry, I just want to teach God’s Word. Going into the ministry without 31 years from me, a full-time ministry. And you go back years before that, in training. So 35, 36 years either in preparation or in full-time ministry. You know what can happen after a while? It’s that I start coming to the bible because I have got sermons to write. I’ve got a funeral to do. I’ve got a wedding to perform. I’ve got a devotional to lead. I’ve got a bible study to lead. I’ve got a sermon series to plan. And then I’ve got to plan the next sermon series. Pastor Jesee calls me, just doing his job. I’m not mad, but he calls me and says, “Tell me more about what you’re gonna talk about in year 2015? Tell me a little more about.” I’m just teasing. He wants to know more about the message that’s coming up in 2 months. And I find myself again studying, because it’s my job. The Holy Spirit says, when was the last time you went to the woods to just read the Word, to spend time with me? When was the last time you built the fire in the family room, just to spend time with my Word and spend time with me? What about the love, Jeff? You’re doing a good job. You’re studying. You’re preaching. I’m pleased with all that. What about spending time with me just to love me? Not because you got to preach a sermon or series. Ya, Lord, I hear what you’re saying. I’ll work on that. I’ll try to fan that flame of passion in my spiritual life. Am I the only one out there who goes through this? Or do some of you sometimes find that can happen when you want to? That’s what this is about. This series is about big fan. Fan the flame to get it burn again. It’s not about filling your head with knowledge. It’s about filling your heart with love for your Savior. To come to learn more and love more. Join me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity. We have these next 7 weeks together to study this book. This book is not really what we’re studying. We’re studying you Word. This book is simply a tool to give us understanding and some structure, as we study what you expect from us, what you desire from us. What you desire from Peter and what you desire from us, more than anything else, that we love you. When we love you, we want to please you. All those that matter begin to fall in place. What we ask today, fan the flame of our heart. As individuals, small groups, as churches, as a church, we love you more as a result of this series together. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Hebrews Chapter 12, it’s talking about the sufferings of Jesus. The author says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of throne of God.” I want you to hone in on those words for a moment “for the joy set before him.” What does that mean? You know I thought about that. I thought, you know, the joy set before him probably means that he knows it’s gonna be over with soon. When you’re going through something difficult, here you’re running a marathon, you’re about to quit, and the joy set before you, cross that line, and you’re going to be done with your suffering. Whatever that is, the joy set before you, soon it will be over with. And I’ll be in heaven. That’s the joy to know that you can say it’s finished. I had an experience just yesterday. It gave me a new insight into this passage. I don’t think the way I’ve been looking at it is the way I need to look at it. It’s not how I see it anymore. I was getting ready to. I hadn’t eaten all day. So I was gonna go to a restaurant, have something to drink and eat, tweak the sermon with the final touches on it, to have a chance to go to the club, get exercise, go home and shower, and get ready for church, the first Saturday night live service of the year. So as I was getting ready to do that, I got a text. It was my daughter. She said, I had an accident at the club. I tripped on some weights and I crushed my hand between these 2 weights. I sliced up my hand. Please come. So I went and got her. We went to the hospital. And I am there in the emergency room with her. She’s trying to be brave and strong. He says, it’s gonna need stitches. It’s pretty deep. It’s pretty irregular. So we’re gonna put some shots in here. A couple of shots. It’s gonna burn a little bit. It’s gonna hurt. It’ll be a little pinch, and a burn. Then we’ll stitch you up. And so I held her hand. They began to chew. But it wouldn’t take it, for whatever reason. They did like 2 or 3 shots. Can you still feel it? Ya. 4 or 5 shots. Can you still feel it? Does that still hurt? Ya. 6 shots. How about now? Ya, I can still feel that. Then the last shot just right in the wound. And just gonna really make sure it knocks it up. She’s trying to be so brave and strong. She’s holding back tears. And one big tear comes down on her cheek. She’s so brave. I kissed her. At that moment, if the doctor would have said to me, hey, Dad, we got this new technology. When we can transfer that wound to your hand, it’s gonna hurt. But she’ll be whole and you’ll have what she has. Now I’ll have to stitch you up. You’ll have to heal. She’s gonna be OK. But she’ll experience everything she’s experienced. It’s a new technology. What do you want to do, Dad? That’s no brainer. Right? You’re like, give it to me. Give me the wound. I know it’s gonna hurt. I’m gonna feel joy because it’s gonna make her whole. It’s gonna make her better. So give it to me. Put it on me. What I could not do for my child, God did for his children. I think that’s the joy set before Jesus. Jesus says, give me the sin, give me the pain, wound me, kill me, give me the death, put it on me. Because it’s gonna make my child whole. It’s gonna make my child well. Do it. It goes on him. And his joy is knowing it’s not on us. We’re not gonna die because of our sin. We’re gonna be separated because of the sin. He’s gonna take that on himself. So for the joy set before us. See? What you’re holding in your hands the cup and bread, it’s not just creeds and doctrines. It’s love. It’s the Creator’s love for you. Love for your soul. Love you more than his own life. Let’s pray.

Father, we just want to come before you today, communion. We just don’t want it to be a routine, a ritual. We want to have a meeting with significance just like we did the first time. You began to explain how and why you had to pour out your life and blood and suffer. And really this story, this good news, is a matter of heart. It’s a matter of love. That’s how you want us to define our relationship with you. Greatest command, the love of the Lord, God of all our hearts, our sole strength, that we will return the love that you’ve given to us in Jesus. So remembering his sacrifices becomes asking for forgiveness, blessings, restoration of our souls. Thank you for your love and sacrifice. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Series: NOT A FAN

Fan or Follower?

What does repent and believe mean

Mark 1:15

09/01/2013 FCC Pastor Jeff Williams

Let’s open the Bible to the gospel of Mark together. Chapter 1, I want to read verse 15 with you today. We are going to try to accomplish in this message this morning as to get it started sort of. OK? We are kicking off kinda. I mean, labor day weekend, honestly, not a great weekend to kick off a series. OK? And so we know that. So what we’re going to do is intro the series and then next week, not this week, next week, we get into our journals, we get into our small groups, we start showing the videos, I’ll start preaching the message from the journal. We are introing it this week and we’ll be into it six weeks to go through the study. And then a wrap-up week, two months altogether including this Sunday.

Mark chapter 1 verse 15: “The time has come.” he said, “Believe the kingdom. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus comes to Galilee, the region he is from and he says, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news.” What would you have done that day? How would you have responded to Jesus’ declaration? Remember, Jesus has not performed one miracle at this point in time. He’s not given one sermon. The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, Lord’s prayer, never has happened. OK? Those who do know him do not see him as a religious person at all, a religious leader, maybe a religious person, not certainly a leader. He works as a carpenter. He lives in obscurity. Nobody knows who he is. And he is coming down the street, making this incredible declaration about the kingdom of God. How would you have responded?

Well, let’s put it this way. Let’s say you are downtown Janesville, on a Sunday afternoon. Let’s see you there. Let’s put you there on Saturday. That makes more sense. You’re at the farmer’s market. And some guy comes walking down the street and comes up to you and says, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” What is your response? You probably think, let’s be honest, this guy is off and he’s a nut, something’s crazy with this guy. Who are you? Why should I believe you? And repent from what? And what news? And the kingdom is near, where? I don’t see it. Jesus is trying to raise awareness. Do you see it? He’s trying to get them to see what they ought to see in their natural eyes. He’s trying to get their spiritual radar to try to be aware of the fact that God is present and that his kingdom is near. Recognition of the kingdom, to know the kingdom is among us. The kingdom is here. It doesn’t look any different. Today does not look any different than yesterday did, or the day before. I mean, when the kingdom of God comes, would we know it? Would we see it? It would be brought to us by some mystery man that we’ve never seen before walking down the street. We would know when the kingdom of God is here. I would think, they said. So who this guy is? He’s crudely off base. But to raise awareness. Sometimes what is important is difficult to see.

I was listening to a commencement speech by Stephen Foster Wallace. I don’t know if any of you has heard of that late novelist, or listened to his commencement speech called This Is Water. Anybody ever heard of that? It’s OK. Nobody this weekend has. I’m the only person who’s heard it. Stephen Foster Wallace is addressing a group. He tells a parable, a story about fish. He says there was an old fish swimming one way and two young fish swimming another way. In a while they passed each other. As they did, the old fish nodded to the two young fish and said, “Hi boys! How’s the water?” The young fish smiled and nodded their heads as well. They swam a little beyond the old fish and turned and looked at each other. And one said, “What the hack is water?” Unaware of what they’re swimming in. Sometimes the obvious. That’s not funny, the joke. That’s the fact that most of you didn’t laugh. It doesn’t discourage me. It’s not a joke. It’s a parable. Because if I told the joke for real, you guys will be just like dying laughing. It’ll be so funny. It’s a parable. And the meaning is sometimes the obvious and the important goes unseen, undetected. Sometimes that which’s important is unknown and undetected.

Jesus says, “The kingdom of God is here.” Reminds me of the apostle Paul when he is preaching in Athens. Athens is an intellectual hot bed. It’s kind of the capital of philosophy. It’s the birthplace of philosophy. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, all these great names we still study and still read. And everybody there talks about the latest school of thought, the latest world view, the latest philosophy. And into this intellectual scene comes the apostle Paul to declare the gospel. He’s very craft and he’s very smooth. He begins to look around and he picks up on the culture, the statues, the idols. And there’s one there to an unknown god. And he seizes that. He begins to address the Athenians and he says, “What you declare’s unknown, I now declare to you the God of heaven and earth does not live in things made of human hands as if he needed anything. He is not from anyone of us. For in him we live, and move and have a being." In him we live, and move and have a being. There had to be some Athenians scratching their heads as the two young fish going where is God. What is water? Where is God? You’re talking about God around me? In me? Where is he? I don’t see him. Where? And so what Jesus is trying to do is get them aware. Pay attention. Turn on your spiritual. Wait till you can see truth, see truth and understand it. That’s our hope for the series.

When God is working in your life, you’ll be aware. When God is moving in your heart in the series, you will understand it and recognize it. That we will hear Jesus’ words as if hearing them for the first time. We’ll strip aside all the man-made stuff, all the junk. Say, why did he come? Did he just come to make you happy to live a happy life? Did he come to bless you and give you stuff? Why did he come? What was his message? And hear the message as if we’re hearing it for the first time. And be aware that he is present. And be aware that he is communicating to us. There is something he wants us to know. His news is not changed. Are we perceiving it the right way?

Stephen Foster Wallace also talked about two men who lived in Alaska in the wilderness. They were the buddies. One was a believer and one was an atheist. They were having an age old debate of “Does God exist.” They’re going back and forth. The atheist finally says, “Wolk. It’s not that I don’t have a reason to not to believe. I do. I mean I try to hold faith and prayer stuff. At it just doesn’t work.” He says, “I tell you, for instance.” He says, “Last year I got lost in a blizzard in the wilderness.” He says, “I thought that I was gonna die. I couldn’t see anything, ‘cause the snow was so intense. I couldn’t feel anything, ‘cause my feet and my hands were so cold. I couldn’t find shelter. And I knew if I was not rescued, or did not find shelter in a matter of time, I was gonna be dead. So I said, ‘I’m not a man of faith, not a man of prayer. If I’m gonna try to do it and be it, I guess now is the time. So God, please help me. God, please save me. I’m gonna die. If you’re a real God, please rescue me. Amen.’” The believer kind of scratches his head and goes, “I understand.” He says, “You’re here, right? When you ended the story, you were in this blizzard, about ready to freeze to death from exposure. So what happened? God obviously answered your prayer. You’re here.” “That’s got nothing to do with God,” he says. “It was just two Eskimos that happened to be walking by just when I needed it and escorted me back to shelter. That’s all. Nothing to do with God. Just by chance these two Eskimos came walking by.”

Get your radar on. Be able to be perceptive of what God is saying. So he starts his message, not a miracle, not a great sermon, but simply a one-sentence declaration of truth to people to whom he was a stranger for the most part. They did not recognize him or know his name. Repent and believe the good news. The kingdom of God is near. The time has come. When he says, “The kingdom of God is near,” that’s revelation. That’s revelation of the kingdom. Once I’ve got your attention. Then I’ll spill the beans. Then I’ll tell you why I want your attention. The kingdom of God is near. It’s not gonna look like you thought it was gonna look. So you thought it was gonna come in power. You thought when the Messiah come, he would triumph militarily over Rome and establish a physical kingdom in Jerusalem. Jesus begins to talk about the kingdom that was present. It was gonna be inside of them. The kingdom of heaven was gonna give and reside within them. You have to change the way you look at the kingdom of God, and to change your perception. Paul says, “This God you worship is unknown I declare to you. Jesus Christ came into the world. The God who made heaven and earth sent his son in the world. Here is what he did and here is what he said. Then he died and he rose again. God gave proof that he is Lord by raising him from the dead. And God commands men everywhere to repent and believe.” That’s what Paul said in 17 of Acts. It’s a command.

Repentance is not a suggestion. God doesn’t apologetically say to us, “Hey, you know, get some time, you know, when you have a moment. I don’t want to impose. I don’t want to impede. You know repentance. Think about it. If you want to, that’s OK. You don’t have to.” God doesn’t do that. God commands repentance. So Paul gets them aware. In him we live, we move and have a being. But What? Where? Who? And once he’s done that, once he’s got their attention, then he begins to reveal the kingdom. The kingdom of God is coming in the person of Jesus Christ. As soon as he said raising him from the dead, he lost them. The Athenians said, “That doesn’t make any sense. That’s not rational. That doesn’t fit into our philosophy. That doesn’t fit into our world view.” And many of them rejected. Not all. Many of them rejected. You see, the message of the kingdom, once it’s revealed to us, it demands a response. So Jesus talked about the response of the kingdom, too. Recognize the kingdom. He revealed that this is a spiritual kingdom, but demanded a response as well. The response was “repent and believe.” The response could also be “reject.” But it demands a response. And as we encourage you to look at the demands of Christ, the expectations of Christ, there might be some of you who’ll say, “I reject that”, or did not understand that was a commitment that was made. But it demands a response. You receive it or you reject it. But it demands a response. The response is “repent and repent and believe.” You always see those two working together. Repent and believe. Repent and believe. The work repent is metaonia which means to change one’s mind. Believe is pisteuo which means to believe and act upon. It’s not just intellectual sense. But biblical belief always has corresponding action. For instance, you think tomorrow is going to be a nice day. But then you look at the forecast, it says 100 percent chance of rain. When you believe that report, what do you do? You change the clothes you’re wearing that day. You bring an umbrella. Maybe you thought it was gonna rain. Later the forecast says hot and sunny. So now you’re gonna wear short sleeves and sun block and bring your sun glasses. ‘Cause you believe the weatherman, which I don’t know why you do. But, we just keep falling for it, don’t we? We’re suckers, I guess. But you listen and you believe and you change. And there is corresponding action. If you truly believe something, you will change your behavior.

I repented this week. I’ll show you a story of repentance now. You know, I’ve come to miss Pastor Jerry more and more every month. I miss him ‘cause he’s my friend. But he’s in Evansville. But there is a lot of things that male shepherding pastor does, but the female shepherding ministry doesn’t do. You know. She doesn’t do in funerals. She’s not dealing with men, with man issues. She’s not going to prison to visit male prisoners. So lots of stuff Jerry was doing is falling on me. I put in a lot of long days. I didn’t get a day off. I had a day off on Monday. I didn’t get a day off last week. Tuesday was long day. Wednesday was long day. I’m not complaining. I like my job. I’m grateful to have a job. But just like you, I get tired, too. It’s a good tire. But I was tired. When Thursday came along, I said, “I’m just gonna have some me time. I’m gonna go out and work on my terrible golf game. I just want to be alone.” So I called and I made an appointment and he said, “I’ll play you with so and so at such and such time.” I go, “I don’t want to be paired up. I just really want to work on some things and I want to be by myself.” That may sound selfish to you. But if you have been in a ministry, you know sometimes you need to have time to yourself. OK? Pastor Gary is nodding his head. He knows what I’m talking about. I just want to be by myself. What’s wrong with that? So, he said, “If you want to be by yourself, you’ve got to come at this time instead.” OK. So I showed up. So the clerk said, “OK. We paired you up with so and so.” Trying to be nice, I said, “Look, I called earlier and I said I really want to be by myself.” “OK, then I’ll let him know that. You have to wait until he goes. And then you can go.” OK. Then kind of put me at a bad spot.

So I went out there and tried to be nice again. I said, “Sorry. But I’m gonna golf course by myself today. I got some things I got to work on. I don’t wanna, which was true. I do not know how to TR with my irons at all. I’m terrible. So I’ll just work on that. And I don’t want to hold you up. So you just go ahead and go.” He said, “OK. All right.” I am terrible at everything else, too. But I’m especially terrible with that. My son’s back there, going, “He’s bad at everything.” So I said, “Go ahead. You go.” He said, “OK. That’s fine. But, listen, if I start looking for a ball, I’m just wandering around looking for a ball, taking a long time, just play on through. See, I had a surgery on my eye and I don’t see very good on the other side. I can’t track the ball. It passes the side of me.” I said, “I’m golfing with you. Me and you, we’re gonna be buddies today, OK. I’m gonna help you track that ball. Don’t worry about it.” He was like oh, OK. I didn’t mind it at that point. I got a purpose now. So I said, “We’re gonna golfing together, me and you. I’m gonna help you find your ball.” He was a very good golfer, very helpful. We had wonderful conversation. He drew lines on my glove. So that helped me grab my club better. Just some subtle changes. That really helped. I’m gonna make sure this arrow points at this shoulder. It helped.

So, what did I do there? I repented. I changed my mind. I changed my direction. I wasn’t emotional. I wasn’t crying. It was repentance. I listened to what he had to say. I believed what he had to say. And I changed my action. I was gonna golf alone. But now I believed the right thing to do was to pair up with this guy, to help him find his ball. OK? That’s repentance to change your mind, to change your direction. It follows belief. I hear, I believe and I change. That’s a response. Jesus says “Response is the message of the kingdom.” The proper response is to repent and believe.” Believe is corresponding action. Believe what? What is it we call to believe? Or put it this way. Why is it hard to repent? Why is it hard to do? You know why it’s hard to repent. Because to truly repent you have to admit you’re wrong. Right? I was wrong about golfing alone today. That’s not a good thing to do. You’re gonna repent, you admit that you’re wrong. How many of you have ever been in an argument? You know you’re wrong and keep defending yourself. Boy, look at this group of hypocrites. I do it, too. You know you’re wrong and you just keep on arguing. Because you don’t want to say you’re wrong. Remember the father on Happy Days? He can never say he was wrong. The father always goes “RRRR.” Let me try again. “I was RRRR.” He couldn’t say it.

I was in Philadelphia this year. My table was right next to the Fonz. He was author, you know. Henry Winkler. He doesn’t look like Fonz anymore. I didn’t talk to him. I didn’t want to embarrass him and go “ye ye ye.” I just kind of looked at him, kind of stalked him. That’s the Fonz. Could it mean that I was wrong? That was the problem with some of the people whom Jesus wanted to follow him. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, he said, he said to them what. You diligently recite the scriptures, because you think by the scriptures you possess eternal life. Yet you refuse to come to me. That you might have right. Why? You have to admit you’re wrong. You’ve got to eat your words. And nobody wants to eat their words. They don’t taste good. Right?

My roommate in college, his name is Tod. He had attention deficit disorder when it was time to study. We were playing softball, video games, ping pong, or pool. He could concentrate really well. When it was time to sit down and study, he just lost it. He studied for a second, then he was off playing basketball. He studied for a second, he said, “I’m gonna play dunkey kong. Do you want to go?” He studied for a second, he said, “Hey, let’s go down and see what’s going on over here. Let’s go play some pool.” So now at the end of semester, he got to buckle down to get grades. And he drew out this elaborate schedule. Monday, wake at 8 o’clock, 8:15, 9 o’clock of this, 10 o’clock of that. And he got this elaborate every-15-minutes schedule that he was gonna keep. And he showed it to me all proudly. He expected me to go “Wow! That’s great.” I looked at it as a skeptic as I looked at it for the last two years. Then I go, “You ain’t gonna do that.” He said, “What do you mean that I ain’t gonna do that? I’m gonna do that. I’m serious. I’ll take the time to make this schedule.” “I don’t care. You’re gonna do.” He said, “Why not?” I said, “’cause you’ve never done that in 2 years. So all of a sudden, you’re gonna flip the switch. You’re gonna just unstruture God? Play by ear God? Attention deficit God? You’re gonna follow this from 8 o’clock in the morning till 8 o’clock at night?” He said, “Yah. I am. You wanna bet?” I said, “Oh, yah. That’s a good bet.” So I forgot what I had to do if he would keep, every day he kept the schedule I had to do something. I didn’t remember what it was. He said, “What do I have to do if I don’t?” A light bulb went off. A big one lit up the campus. I said, “I got an idea.” I said, “Every day you don’t do that time, you’re gonna figuratively and literally eat your words. I want you to rip a page out of your book. Rip it into tiny pieces and eat the paper.” He said, “Deal. Deal.” I came back to the room Monday night. I couldn’t wait. I got into the room and I said, “Tod. How did it go?” Suddenly he went “Whoa! Choo! Whoa!” He started to eat. Tuesday, “Hi, Tod. How was your day?” Whoa! Choo! And he would eat the whole page. And every page, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Actually Friday he skipped out. ‘Cause it was like the last day of school. I held him to it. A month later, we got together. And I went, “Page 5. Time to eat, buddy.” So I mean he ate it. Mom looked at me and kind of scorned, “I want to know he is OK, you know.” He made it just fine. But he had to eat his words. He had to admit “I was wrong. I was wrong. I eat my words.”

We don’t like to eat our words. We don’t like to admit we’re wrong. But that’s what repentance is. It’s admitting you’re wrong. It’s saying, “I’m wrong. You’re right.” You know the word confession? It comes from two words, homologeo, same word. It means to say the same thing that God says. It needs to be in agreement with God. I’m right. You’re right. I’m wrong. And Jesus says, a lot of you, when you hear the news of the kingdom, you’ve got to change your mind. You have to change your mind about who the Messiah is as well. The Messiah’s gonna come in and conquer. Right? You know what Isiah says? Isiah prophesies 700 hundred years before the Messiah comes. He says, “A reed he will not break.” So gentle, he will not even break a reed. I’m gonna miss his coming. What’s called hardening of the categories. Hardening the categories. So we’re just getting that, a little late. That’s all right. He wasn’t what they were expecting. And to receive him as Lord, you have to admit that your perception was wrong. Your perception of the kingdom. Your perception of the Messiah. You thought you were righteous, holy. But, you, in fact, are sinners, neither are savior.

Repent and believe. Two go hand in hand. So believe what? Believe the good news. What good news? What good news does he talk about? Remember the ministry was just starting. There’s no sermon. There’s no miracle. He hasn’t died on the cross for sin. He has not rose from the dead. When we think, we think of the gospel. What’s the good news that he was calling people then to believe? It’s salvation to come. The time of redemption was here. That he was fulfilling God’s plan of redemption. The salvation was here. The good news that God has come to redeem his people.

I was talking to my friend, my new friend on the golf course, Doug. He is a physician’s assistant at St. Mary’s. He lives here 4 days a week. He lives in Minnesota the rest of the time. So I finally asked him, “What do you do?” He told me. The he said, “What do you do?” I said, “I am the pastor of the Faith Community Church.” He said, “Oh, that’s the one on the interstate. I drive by there all the time.” I said, “Ya. That’s where I’m at.” He said, “I went to a seminary.” I said, “Ya?” He told me about it. So I said, “What do you do with that?” He said, “Well, I’m a part-time missionary.” He said, “Once a year, for a month, I go on the mercy ship. Have you heard of that?” I said, “I’ve heard of them. I watched a report on 60 minutes. Christians, doctors, surgeons, nurses, specialists travel along on these ships all over the world. They travel around all over Africa. They travel around all over the third world. They travel around the Caribbean. And they’ll stop at these various ports of call and they cure people. There will be doctors there that work on eye problems.” He said, “There might be eye procedures that cost a hundred dollars to get it fixed. But they don’t have a hundred dollars. You might as well save a million dollars. We fix it for free. Or maybe there is an outbreak. And they simply just need a vaccine. So we’ll bring the vaccine on our ship. Or they might have a dental problem. The dentist will be there to work on their mouths.” Something very treatable. Orthopedist surgeons and all kinds of doctors. A lot of times it’s very treatable illnesses. They don’t have access to medication or they can’t afford it. But they hear the mercy ship is there. They come from everywhere, villages and towns. Many of them just disfigured in pain. And they receive help by these Christian medical professionals whom people like you and I sponsored to pay and go. And do you know what they receive? Salvation. Good news. Salvation literally means deliverance, rescue. That’s what it means. They’re delivered from their illness, from their pain. Sometimes they’ll have operations that would last for a period of years. They’ll do corrective surgery. They can only go so far this year. And next year they will be back. They’ll come back for round 2, round 3 until the doctors get it right. But if there’s an emergency, the mercy ship is here for just a time and pulls out. Believe the report. Believe it’s there. You’re gonna respond. You’re gonna show that you believe by going there, taking a step of faith, walking into that ship, allowing those doctors to work on you, those nurses to minister to you. Trust what they say and put into your mouth and swallow what they inject into your vein. You trust them. The result is that you heal. The result is you’re delivered. Jesus says, “I’m coming with some news.” It’s good news. You may not realize it’s good news. But be aware. Be spiritually aware. Have your antennas up. Be alert. Recognize the kingdom of God. This is water. This is the kingdom. And it’s all around you. And it’s in you. That’s our goal. Be aware of the kingdom. Listen to the revelation. What did he have to say? ‘Cause whatever he said to them, he said to us as well. And lastly respond. Where do I need to change? Where do I need to admit I’m wrong in my thinking, in my action and change? Change. Humble myself and repent and believe. That’s what the series is gonna be about. I hope you’ll join us for it.

Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for this opportunity we had to listen to the first words. You began your ministry. People around did not realize those words were ushering in an age that would change the world. But it did. Lord, as we come to the series, help us to see those words like we’re seeing it for the first time and understand the commitment you’re calling us to, and why you came. Strip away man-made religion, garbage. We might be left a pure gospel to respond to it. Repent and believe. It’s good news. Salvation’s come in the person of Christ. In his name, we pray. Amen.

God is our shepherd and we need to follow.

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