FaithIsland

Ever woke up in the middle of the night because you remembered a moment in your life - it was only one second where you were distracted, one moment where you were tempted, one whatever where you realized your whole life was hanging by a thread - and the thread held otherwise you would have lost everything that is important to you. What kept that thread from breaking? And if it had snapped - and everything came undone - and your whole life was taken away - then what? Did you believe there was still the possibility of redemption?

To me, Reformations - all of them - are about seeking to know God's heart. God said King David was a "man after His own heart." If you think about all the bad things King David did - you understand God wasn't saying this because David was holy and perfect. It was about David desiring more than anything to know the heart of God - and when he sinned - he sought the presence of the only One who could forgive and save him.

If you consider yourself a believer - or if you are trying to figure this thing called life out - the Bible says without hesitation or apology that you were created by God, Redeemed by God through the life, death and resurrection of His Son - and daily you are loved and forgiven by Him.

And when you run outside of God's Will - God still loves you and wants to restore you - which is to say He wants you to experience a personal Reformation. A Reformation seeks to restore us as a child of God - reminding us of who we are - and bringing us home.

Think about Jesus’ ministry. Think about all the people He healed and forgave and made whole. They all had something in common - the world held up an image and said, “if you don’t look like this, act like this, live like this - you are worthless.” Instead of loving and forgiving them back into the community - they were cast out and shamed or ignored - Until Jesus came along.

God saves you IN your body, not FROM your body. Your body is the same form and substance God chose to put on and walk among us with. Your body is holy and beautiful to God just the way it is. We may see the creativity and power of God in the beauty of nature - but we see the image of God in the human body. Billions of human bodies – each one unique and unreproducible - different shapes and textures and colors and size – but all bearing the image of God.

To be a citizen of his kingdom is to have a unique identity. The wedding clothes we wear are not ours - they are a gift from the King - and they are one of kind - unique and unreproducible just like us.

It isn't just a wedding Jesus is inviting us to - it's a forever. He calls us back from the outer darkness and into the very heart of God. It turns out - we aren't just guests - we are the bride - which makes it even more important we have something special to wear. He invites home to celebrate our marriage feast to the Lamb that never ends

When God asks, "what more could I have done?" - He doesn't want to know if He should have fertilized more or built a bigger water tower or higher fence. The question is rhetorical. He did everything that needed to be done - and the vineyard still wasn't what He wanted it to be.

A number of years ago a father walked into my office. His son had taken his own life and the dad was trying to make sense of something you can't make sense of. He had been a pretty good dad - given his son whatever he could - but the son made choices that led him further and further away. The dad never gave up - right up until he got the phone call. As he sat in my office his only question was, "what more could I have done?" And of course, if we knew the answer - he would have done it. Sometimes, there is no answer - sometimes there is nothing more you can do. But that doesn't mean you don't spend your sleepless nights asking the question over and over.

In God's kingdom - your sins are forgiven. The hurtful things you said and did are forgotten. And God will help you clear your mind of all the things that kept you awake, made you feel ashamed, caused you to want to hide. He will put you into a community of broken people just like you - and help you learn to live one day at a time. You don't have to pretend - God knows who you really are - and He still loves you.

I think one of the biggest things that separates the Magic Kingdom from God's Kingdom is - when I come back and tell someone about Rise of the Resistance or HyperSpace Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean - the best I can do is get them to think about spending a ton of money to go visit a mouse, a duck and a ton of princesses. It's not going to change their life.

But, because of the "now but not yet" - God has given us the ability to love, to forgive, to heal, to bring new life into this world, to share with others the power and promise of the Gospel and to create and dream.

Romans 10:9-10 says, "if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

No one can believe for you. No one else's opinion matters. This is between you and God. Period.

And if you're carrying around a whole bunch of baggage because you think you aren't who you think you should be - that God didn't do right by you - dump it. Just put it all in those little plastic bins and walk through the screening machine and keep going - never look back.

If Jesus really is God. If He is your Savior. If He created the world and called everything into being with just a few words - then He certainly knows what He's doing when it comes to you.

Mark 8:36 says "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" There are far too many people who don't have time for God because they are so busy paying off their credit cards and mortgages - and yet at night in their silent cries of being overwhelmed and out of control they expect God to have time for them.

In Matthew 11 Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will give you rest! For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

God gave you friends and family as a gift. They are to bring joy and encouragement to you as you make this journey through life. And ultimately they are the only things you get to take with you when you leave this earth. Everything else is going to disappear. Makes it kind of simple to figure out what God thinks is important.

If I came to church on Sunday with a backpack full of rocks and complained I had a backache - you would tell me to stop carrying the backpack full of rocks. You don't have to be a doctor or nurse to figure out what's causing my aches and pains.

But when someone comes and says, "I am carrying a huge load of things I cannot forget. A long list of people I will not forgive" - why don't we say, "it's time to learn to forgive and forget - let Jesus carry those burdens for you?"

Jesus made you His own in baptism - and every single day the Holy Spirit works in and through you to bring about miracle after miracle. Jesus said, "whoever wants to be My disciple has to take up His cross and follow Me." That's our carry-on - our cross - but the truth it, it carries us - we don't carry it.

You only need faith in Jesus to make this trip - everything else is overpacking. Trust in God - believe Him when He says everything you need is already yours in Christ. Your ticket says: final destination Heaven - no bags checked. Remember when I said my dream vacation is to just go to the airport and climb on the plane with no carry-on or suitcase and get everything I need when I arrive at my destination - if I don't get to do it while I'm here, that's exactly what I'll be doing when I go home to heaven. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.