Work, it never ends! I’m sure we have all experienced times where no matter how well we think we might be keeping up with the housework, there always seems to be more waiting for us. There’s more clothes in the laundry basket, more dishes in the sink, more dust on the floor. At times like this all the work and effort can seem pointless or meaningless. That’s the sentiment of the writer of Ecclesiastes, who recognised that all our work and effort to accumulate wealth or security for ourselves is meaningless. Our work only makes sense when we approach it with a kingdom perspective. When we work as if working for the Lord. That's where we find meaning, purpose and joy in our work. That's where we encounter life in all it's fulness. That’s what we’ll rediscover as we explore how work is an integral part of the best life.
#4 in series: The Best Life
"Appearances are not always as they seem", "never judge a book by its cover", "beauty is only skin deep". Most of us have probably fallen foul of the truth behind these kinds of saying at one time or another. We all know what it is like to be disappointed or let down by something or someone that we had trust in. What is even more bizzare is that it is often the integrity of others that really enables us to be our authentic selves and to not be worried about wearing the right persona in various situations. When we are confident in who we are and who we are with, then we can relax and really be ourselves. And there is only one person who is with us all the time; whose integrity and faithfulness to his people has been proven to be unquestionable, and it's our relationship with him that provides us with the strength and conviction to live unapologetically as his children and to show His love and mercy with integrity in every situation. That's what we'll explore today.
#3 in series: The Best Life
“Pay it Forward” and “ARK – Acts of Random Kindness” are two movements or catch phrases designed to inspire people to live generously for others. Yet the generosity of God towards us, his people, is anything but random. It is intentional and deliberate, and it is so extravagant that when we begin to really understand the vastness of it, it cannot be contained but it moves us to live generously with all of our life for others.
It can be helpful to think of generosity as the ignition spark that lights a wildfire that quickly spreads through a dry and barren landscape. Sometimes real and authentic generosity is hard and it can hurt – it comes with a cost, just like a bushfire. And yet, once the fire has gone through, space is created for new life to spring up. This new life has potential to thrive in this newly scorched environment, because the long established trees and vines that had previously blocked out the son/sun are no longer there, the landscape has been 'decluttered' and new life, the best life, is ready to begin. It's that kind of life we'll look at today, a life built on a heart of generosity.
#2 in series: The Best Life
Whether it’s an Ikea flat pack, a Lego set, or a recipe kit for your favourite meal, each of them contain instructions so that you can enjoy the product to the fulness of the creators intent. Of course you can choose to ignore the instructions and make it according to your own design, but you had best be prepared for when it all falls apart.
Sometimes we mistake freedom as an opportunity for creative licence, the chance to build things or live life ‘my way’. But true freedom, the freedom to live in the fullness of life that Jesus offers, has a very different starting point – a voluntary submission to God’s truth and wisdom. Martin Luther put it something like this,
“This life is not godliness, but growth in godliness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way; the process is not yet finished, but it has begun; this is not the goal, but it is road; at present all does not gleam and glitter, but everything is being purified.”
What Luther is talking about here is the process of sanctification, which we heard about last week from Jesus who prayed, "sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth". It's that truth which we'll explore today.
#1 in series The Best Life
'You're squeezing the life out of me." It's something our kids might say to us when we give them a big bear hug. The pressure constricts the airways and makes them feel like they cannot breathe! That's a perfect example of what happens when we experience spiritual pressure. We feel constricted; we try and wriggle around to move our position so we can get a little air but it often leaves us in a more comprised situation. It's like life is being squeezed out of us.
That's Satan's strategy as the one known as a deadly serpent or snake. He doesn't often strike out like a deadly viper with a lethal dose of venom. But like a boa constrictor, he gently squeezes life out of us one 'secular' limb at a time. It's the kind of pressure that can feel like a warm hug in the beginning, but which soon becomes a crushing weight under which we find ourselves unable to stand, without life and without hope. Today, Jesus breathes life into us, inviting us to stand 'in him'. Not to stand with him, or beside him, but to stand in him. In him, we find relief from the spiritual pressure of our enemy. Christ is able to unravel any and every force or pressure that squeezes the life out us and give us strength to recognise and resist every spiritual pressure that seeks to destroy and enable us to stand and remain full of life in him for eternity.
#5 and final in series: Pressure Points
It all comes down to this moment. The big interview, the crucial presentation, the final exam, race, kick, recital, answer, play or shot. The pressure is immense. The expectations high. Everyone is watching. Your heart is racing. Your palms are sweaty. Your future is riding on it. Will you perform or choke under the pressure? Sometimes life feels like one big performance review. It's affirming to hear how you excel and do well, but the internal fear of not being good enough can be hard. And it's not just our jobs. Our marriages, parenting and relationships can seem like a constant review of our worthiness.
It's not a huge step then, to transfer those expectations over to our relationship with God. "If I try harder, I will be closer to God. If I get it right, he will love me more". Our perfect performance is never a requirement for a relationship with God. Our "successes" don't earn us kingdom credits and our "chokes" or under performance don't exclude us from a place in his kingdom, for our deeds are never equal to his character. That's the good news we will hear again today as Jesus shows us a way through the "Pressure Point" of performance.
#4 in series: Pressure Points
'What's this world coming to?' Have you ever lamented the changing nature of our world? How you ever felt the pressure of society trying to squeeze you into a mold, make you conform or fit in? That pressure is all around us. We are constantly bombarded with expectations about who we should be, how we should look, what we should do, what we should possess and how we should act. The pressure of being pulled in a thousand different directions can lead to stress, anxiety and a sense of emptiness and loneliness. Instead of drawing us together, the net result of all these competing forces is to set us in opposition to the very people we desire to relate to. Jesus comes to us from outside of our brokenness to restore us from the inside out and when that happens a positive life-giving force is unleashed on the world, bringing gospel transformation that is authentic, inclusive, and eternity shaping.
#3 in series: Pressure Points
Pressure works in two directions. It can press in from something outside of us, or it can build up and push out from within like a balloon about to burst. Many families today are like balloons right on the edge of bursting. There are just so many things that families have allowed to fill their lives. Things like music lessons, sport, academic tutoring, or second language classes have family members out every night of the week. Then there are the technology pressures, online gaming, personal electronic devices and entertainment streaming services that isolate people from each other even on those rare occasions when they might all be at home together. The outside world has more pathways into family life than ever before and many families just don't know what to do with the pressure it exerts. Today, God encourages us to fill our family life not with activities, although these can be great; not with devices and entertainment, although there is also a time and place for this; but to fill our family first with the Word of God - a word which teaches, admonishes, corrects, guides and shapes us into the likeness of Christ and enables us to live abundantly and obediently in the midst of every external and internal pressure point a family can face.
#2 in series Pressure Points
There’s a lot of fighting about money’, ‘we have no time with our children’, ‘it’s diminished my pleasure in living’, ‘it’s impossible to enjoy family life’, and ‘it’s nearly torn my husband and I apart’. These comments in a recent NSW survey convey just some of the anguish and distress that is being felt by sky-high inflation, surging rental prices, and exorbitant energy costs. More and more are reverting to last resort measures to cover costs - skipping meals, going without prescribed medications and health care and relying on Buy Now Pay later to cover the essentials. Then there is the shame that people have felt at not being able to afford a haircut or decent clothes, having to borrow money from family or lining up at food pantries for the first time - and it's not just low-income families. The cost of living pressure point is real and many are cracking under the strain. God knows the pressure you are under…and today he speaks a word of hope and promise that enables us to live with faith and trust when the cost of living pressure point is breaking us.
#1 in series: Pressure Points