More Than Bread

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The best is yet to come. The glory that is coming is greater than the suffering that is here. In fact, maybe now, all we'll ever get is a taste of glory. It's like when you go into a really good ice cream shop. You stand at the counter, looking through the glass at all the choices and you see one that beckons you. So you look across the counter and ask, "Could I taste that one?" He takes out one of those small baby bite-sized wooden spoons, dips into the tub of treasure, and hands it over the counter.

But you know what happens when I take a taste? I immediately begin to think about more. The taste awakens a desire for more. In fact, the taste is a reminder that there's more to come.  I know it sound counter-intuitive, but when we fast, we are really asking God for a taste of something more, a taste of His glory. We're not just giving up food or social media or whatever else, we are also saying, "God it’s not enough to remove the suffering, I’m hungry for you. I’m hungry for your glory. But in this episode, we may hear God saying, "You can't share in the glory, if you aren't willing to step into the suffering."

Fasting is a way of practicing suffering.

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So often we talk about the battle in our lives between what's urgent and what's important. But in the 40Day story of Jonah, we find that what's important has suddenly become very urgent. Fasting brings a sense of urgency to our giving up. 

Listen fasting is not a weight loss program. If you use it to gain followers on instagram, you might as well eat. Fasting will not help you become an influencer with God. It's not a hunger strike trying to force God's hand. Fasting is an acknowledgement that we long for His presence, that we hunger for holiness. Fasting is a serious cry to God that we're tired of playing church while broken people still don't know His love. When we fast and pray with serious urgency we're telling God that we're done being safely full of stuff that will never satisfy and we're to risk the refiner's fire as long as it comes with the presence of the refiner.

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There are many Biblical, historical and contemporary examples of what God has  done in response to fasting and prayer. Down through the years when people have longed for more, more of God, more of His presence and power, they have fasted.  At critical junctures they have fasted and prayed; crying out to God, "O God, this much, we need you, this much we want you. It's never a bad time, but perhaps it is now a good time, to practice our hunger for God by fasting.

I remember the summer after my freshman year in college.  I met Lynn in February.  She left me in May.  She didn't know it at the time, but I knew that she was the one.  I was in love. When she left, I think I lost 25 pounds that summer. I was so heartsick for Lynn, I  just didn't want to eat, (which wasn't a bad thing, since I didn't have much money to eat :).  Has that ever happened to you? The one you love leaves you? The birthplace of Christian fasting is heartsickness for God. Fasting is the practice of going after God with the passion of a heart hungry for God. Fasting is what we do when we sense the absence of his presence and we are hungry for more.

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We need to stop pretending that the goal of this life is comfort and that faith makes it easier to be comfortable. God isn't dreaming about giving us a way out of our pain. God dreams about giving us the strength to go through it, and discover His dream. What if our lack of capacity is a gps signal to His dream for our life? If that's the case then few things are more important than finding the power of His Spirit in the wilderness of our suffering. 

Before this series is over, some of you may hear the still small voice of the Spirit of God calling u to lean out, lean away from what you think is your last bit of comfort, control and security. Listen, nothing is more important than taking your eyes off of you,  inclining your ears to the voice of God and trusting whatever He calls you to do. In the end, your wilderness is not just about you. Your neighbors might not even know it, but they are desperately counting on you to come through the wilderness and share with
them the favor of God.

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Almost every time the Bible talks about "the wilderness," it's not good. But it can become good, if we have the Spirit of God. It's one thing to be filled with the Spirit and even led by the Spirit, but when we go through the wilderness with the Spirit we come out the other side, empowered by the Spirit.

 When do I need the power of the Spirit? I need the power of the Spirit when God's calling exceeds my capacity. And God's calling almost always exceeds my capacity. Listen if you aren't a little bit overwhelmed by your lack of resources, if you have never experienced a sense of desperation because of the darkness around you then perhaps your heart is hard or your soul is blind. But I can guarantee you that God's purposes for your life require more than the power of your life. God's calling always exceeds my capacity, so perhaps again, we might find ourselves with this prayer on your lips for the next 24 hours, "God please fill me with the power of your Spirit."

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The Spirit of God is the treasure of God that fills the people of God.  Too often we talk more about the gifts of the Spirit than we do the gift of the Spirit. The treasure is the Spirit. The gift of Christ is the Spirit of Christ. There is no greater gift. 

Our life is a jar. Think about that for a moment...what is a jar? It's just a container right? Most jars are defined by what they contain; water bottles, a flower vase, a cookie jar, a piggie bank, a fine bottle of wine. The value of a jar is determined by what it  contains. Say this to yourself, "I am God's jar. I am Shaped to be Filled with God." Whatever you are filled with right now, it’s not more than the Spirit of God. In days to come, as we prepare for more, practice the prayer, "God fill me with your Spirit." 

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Through the word of God, we hear the voice of God and His voice speaks life and courage and perseverance into our hearts. We listen to the Word, we learn the principles and truths of scripture and we lean into His instructions. But there is something else here, something of great beauty and power that we so desperately need in our wilderness. We need more than words of life, we need the life that comes from the one who is the WORD; the one who went into the wilderness to grab life for us. 

 In the gospel of John there is a confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders of his day. These leaders were scripture experts. They knew it. They memorized it. They carried it with them everywhere they went. But Jesus exposed the fact that knowledge of God was not the same as knowing God; that loving the scriptures was not the same as loving God; that reading God's words was not the same as hearing God...And so in John 5:39-40...Jesus says, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

 My prayer for us, is that we would come to the WORD and dive into the Father’s heart.

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A few years ago I had the opportunity to be on the sidelines for the Blue/White Game. Coach Franklin asked Harold and I if we would be chaplains, so we came and said a prayer before the game. I'd been on the sidelines once before, but I'd never run out with the team. It was pretty amazing...running out in the midst of 70,000 people cheering. This is what I imagine when I think of the applause of heaven.

Not just a quiet smile and a whispered affirmation, though that would fill my heart as well, but what I imagine is the thunderous applause of heaven. We can visualize the all-powerful God; always in control; the holy God who hates sin...But what about a God who fills Beaver Stadium with cheers? This is Sacred Delight and it's best heard in the heart. And by the way...it's for you! The applause of a Father who is your greatest fan; a Father who delights in his kids. That's the sound of our journey into the wilderness.

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Lent is often experienced as a time of preparation, and as we make our way to the resurrection it becomes more and more obvious that what we are preparing for is more; more resurrection power, more peace and joy in hard days, and most importantly more of the presence of Jesus in our lives. 

 In the last episode we focused in on the reality of suffering. No one likes to suffer…no one likes times of uncertainty that threaten our peace, times of difficulty that seem to drain our joy, but actually suffering is often a catalyst for spiritual growth. In other words, we rarely get to more without the crucible of suffering. And suffering is one of the overarching themes of LENT. How could it not be as we come to the last days of Jesus…what he suffered, what he sacrificed for us? In the last episode, before we got to Jesus, I paused at Job. And I think Job has something hopeful to help us prepare for more in the midst of hard times. 

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The apostles Paul and Peter said that we are born again to a living hope so that we can abound in hope. In good and hard times, we can abound in hope. And so we prepare for more…that’s our overarching theme for our LENT series; preparing for more. So my desire in these first few episodes is to simply lay out that theme, set up the theme of preparation. As we head to Easter, we are preparing for more. 

 The disciples didn’t realize it, in those days leading up to the cross and the tomb, those days leading up to the death of Jesus, they didn’t realize that they were preparing for more, that actually in some ways their suffering and their uncertainty was a part of the preparation. There is this moment between Jesus and his disciples shortly before the cross, it's all about preparing for hope in the midst of suffering and uncertainty, knowing that we know...that the best is yet to come.

As we look forward to the resurrection, no matter how hard the days are, or how good...the best is yet to come!