Message for Sunday, September 13, 2009

Humans are filled with desire. What do you most desire in life? What is it that you want? What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?

For a long time the church at large has felt the need to control human desires with the argument that passions and emotions cannot be trusted and must be kept in check. Why do we have a difficult time showing emotion in church? When did church become a place to be reserved? Why is love something we avoid talking about in church?

Throughout the stories in the Bible involving the life and ministry of Jesus, we catch glimpses of unbridled enthusiasm in the lives of the people who encountered Jesus. What is your relationship with Jesus like: Non-existent? Filled with love? Awkward? Like a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time? He's like a brother to me?

Eventually the time will come when we begin to think, “I’ve searched for every earthly way to satisfy the desires and wants of my heart and have been left stilling wanting more. Maybe there is somewhere else I must begin looking.” It is at that moment of clarity when people are then open to the wonderfully good message the church has to share: that God has come looking for them in the person of Jesus Christ, and they have been found and claimed as beloved children of God. Does the truth that you are a child of God carry any meaning with you?

May you rip open the roof of your soul and dive directly into an uncontrollable relationship with God. And then let us watch as our loving relationships with God contagiously pave the way for others to discover that their hearts will forever be restless until they find their rest in God. The idea of evangelism typically makes people squirm in their seats. What do you think of the idea that our best evangelism will spring naturally from our intimate, emotion-filled relationship with God? Let me put this another way: You can't first talk to others about the Pittsburgh Steelers until you first become a genuine Steelers fan yourself. That how the Christian faith operates. Evangelism (i.e. talking to others openly about Jesus Christ) will only occur if and when you first become a genuine fan of Jesus Christ. What are your thoughts about that?

Closing thought...I was going to use this quote from Marianne Williamson in my sermon, but it just didn't fit well anywhere, so I'm including it here: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Until next Sunday...