Experiencing God VIIII: Experiencing God Through Obedience
Sermon Review
3 June 2001
Luke 10:1-17Over the last 2 weeks we have been made aware that using our faith is part of the normal Christian life, and that faith involves action Jas.2:17 Under the microscope, it means that we are to use what faith we have to help us make decisions to obey what we know God is asking of us, or expects of us. We are then to go on to use that same faith to make appropriate adjustments in our lives so as to place us in a position to obey. Obviously then, the next step is do what God wants. Simply put, once in a position to obey, we obey! In other words, God expects people to use their faith to set up their life to obey and then to continue to use that same faith to follow through and obey. This using our faith from the decision-making phase, through the adjustment stage, to deliberate ongoing obedience constitutes Biblical faith. The three are really the one, and we will never be the poorer for having such faith, for it leads us to obedience, and obedience opens us up to experience God at work in and through our lives. As we move on this morning, we will first consider the blessings of obedience, some of the downsides of disobedience, and then the very important issue of choice.
The Blessings of Obedience
It is worth our while to obey for it is quite clear Biblically that obedience brings blessings eg. Matt.7:24-27; John.14:21,23 etc. Working our way through those ‘crises of faith’, and adjusting our lives for obedience, are simply preparatory moves enabling us to finally experience the reality of God in and through our lives as we obey. This ‘obeying part’ is crucial for experiencing God. Consider the 70 disciples sent out in pairs to places that Jesus was intending to visit in the short time left before the Passover and His own crucifixion. He told them what he wanted of them. This probably left more than a few of them struggling to rise up to the task. Especially when the adjustments they were asked to make were given eg. leave behind all normal supplies, forgo conventional and time-consuming greetings, overlook the not-so-fastidious food-law keeping, accept support as part of earnings and not as handouts etc. Yet they all accepted the task, adjusted their lives accordingly, and went on their way to obey. The outcome was an amazing experience of God doing miracles through them. If they had not gone, they would never have experienced God working in and through them to heal, and cast out demons etc. They would have lost the opportunity to learn so much about God, and to also see how their obedience effected so many so positively! It is always worth obeying God, even when we aren’t sure of the outcome, and the results aren’t quite as spectacular as the 70! However, if the good things that flow from obedience do not persuade you, perhaps you should consider the downsides of disobedience…
The Downsides of Disobedience
Disobedience is never taken lightly by God, especially deliberate disobedience Lk.12:47,48. Jonah nearly lost his life Jonah 1:1-17, Moses’ actions led to 40 years exile from in the desert Ex.2:11-15; David’s sin with Bathsheba cost him his son’s life 2Sam.12:14. Thankfully, God is the God of second, third, and fourth chances eg. Jonah 2;9 –3:10; Matt.18:21-35, and he will continue to attempt to persuade and guide us back to the path of obedience John.16:8, and even use aspects of our disobedience for good Rom.8:28. However, this does not mean that the consequences of our wrong are always erased eg. Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land through Disobedience Num.20:10, whereas the disobedient man in the Corinthian church was to be welcomed in by those whom he had sinned amongst 1Cor.5:1-5/2Cor.2:6-8. The truth is we must never take disobedience lightly for we never know the outcome of it Heb.6:4-7. Disobedience hardens our heart and eventually turns us away from him, even as we seem to be living for him Heb.3:12,13.
Choice
Choice is a very important issue when it comes to obeying God, for God provides the freedom for people to obey or disobey him. Despite the promise of blessing through obedience, and the inevitability of painful consequences through disobedience, the fact is that God does not force people to obey him. In the Scriptures we have the mystery of God’s predestination as well free will. God works out His plans and purposes in this world in a way that includes the freedom of choice that people have. He allows us to live as if he is not real; to kill, maim, to steal, cheat, lie, to ruin this planet and carve our own path in life, yet will ultimately work out his purposes and plans. But not all. In order to honour free will, God surrenders his hearts desire that all will be saved, both eternally, and in the present from the pain and chaos of life through the disregarding of what he knows is best for each and all. He even allows people the right to choose to disbelieve or disregard him, as well as to believe and obey him.
Phillip Yancey, in ‘The Jesus I Never Knew’ argues that God allows himself to be disbelieved in, or simply ignored in this world, because of God’s desire to preserve people’s freedom of choice – something that I heartily agree with. Essentially, he says this. During Jesus time of temptation Jesus was attempting to discern the way to go about fulfilling his redemptive commission, and was therefore being tempted to find alternatives to the cross Matt.4:1-4. What were the alternatives? He could buy people’s loyalty - change stones into bread. He could dazzle people with mystery and magic - leaping from the Temple roof. Or he could use authority to force loyalty – gaining Kingdoms of the world. In sidestepping these temptations, he rejected using tactics which would unfairly beguile or overwhelm the capacity for choice. Instead he took the path of the cross, showing in clear terms that the persuasion of love, not the unfairness of coercion, was to be the way – ‘if I be lifted up I will draw all people to myself’ John.12:32-33. Over Jerusalem Jesus would rather weep than force them to repent and come to him, by either buying them, dazzling them, or ordering them to Lk.13:34.
I wonder if you have you ever asked yourself why Jesus gave just enough miracle to persuade but not overwhelm Matt.12:38,39; just enough authority to convince but not coerce Mk.1:22,27; and just enough practical good to demonstrate who he was but not buy a following John.6:26. Part of the reason was to protect freedom of choice – something which he paid a high price to ensure; the pain of the cross, and ongoing pain, grief and anger at people making wrong choices. From the Garden of Eden onwards, with few exceptions, God has demonstrated his relentless determination for people to choose, because ultimately, love inspires love, not force, bribery or magic.
If only we would do the same: Unfortunately, too often Church history reveals that Christians have often overlooked this and used tactics he painfully and at great cost, avoided. The Inquisition and its 500 years of forced belief, the Protestant reformation and its compulsory church attendance and burning of heretics, and the ugliness of the Holy Land Crusades, all bear testimony to this. Even the well-intentioned ‘believe it without question’ authority of many fundamental Protestant churches are tactics Jesus would rather go to the cross than use. Jesus used the persuasions of love, which included opportunity for choice.
So now you know one of the key reasons why Jesus often said, ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear’? Or, rather than denying Satan’s request to ‘sift Peter’, he simply prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail, allowing Peter to make his own decisions Lk.22:31,32. Or why the Holy Spirit, with rare exceptions (eg. Paul, Day of Pentecost) does not overwhelm the Christian like Scriptural accounts of possession. Instead he comes to convince of sin, righteousness and the reality of judgment – not to force or coerce, or overwhelm a person so as not to have a choice. And why God allows Christian’s to live worldly lives, or to grieve and quench the Spirit? Or why God does not give irrefutable proof of his existence, or do constant miracles in your life! It is largely because He does not want to overwhelm and force us to obey, but wants to preserve our capacity to choose belief or disbelief, obedience or disobedience. The scary part of all of this is that this means that we are ultimately responsible for the losses we incur or gains we experience when we choose to either obey or disobey – they are simply the consequence of our own choices. Therefore we need to use our capacity to choose, wisely!
Conclusion:
As individuals and as a church we are expected to seek God for guidance, and use the faith that we have to rise up and live and serve God in God-sized ways. We are to use our capacity to choose, and the faith that we have, to engage in decision-making, life adjustments, and obedience that will help ourselves and others come to know God better. This is scary for it means that for both the individual Christian and this church, the future is always as rich with positive potential, as it is full of negative possibility. God gives us the choice to use our faith and obey, or disregard him and disobey, and experiencing the consequences of both. Ultimately, the quality of our future and our experience of God depends on the choices we make to let God write the future, or ourselves. Today, and in each day of our lives we face the same decision that Joshua and the ancient Israelite faced – Josh.24:15 "if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." I can only add that when God makes His will clear to each of us, and to us as a church, then listen carefully, decide, then act – that is wisdom. It is also the only way forward to experience God positively in and through our lives.
Blessings