Worthy Goals
Sermon Review
20 Janurary 2002
A teacher asked a student once, "If you mowed twelve lawns at $25 each, what would you have?" The student said without hesitation, "A new bicycle!" The way the answer was phrased appealed to me. It prompted me to think that if everyone in this church were committed to growing in their faith, in reaching out beyond themselves to others, and learning how to deepen their love and worship of God, what would we have? A great church that would impact Armidale in a great way! It is no coincidence that Jude gave the early church these same goals to strive for so that the church in his day would be a great one, safe, triumphant and effective. As Jude was dealing with derisive and negative attitudes against Christ and the early Church, and in particular against heretics who were infiltrating it, the church at large has it's Bishop Spongs and Barbara Thearings, and we certainly have a mix of negative sceptical attitudes towards Christ and the Church. Hence, his goals are quite relevant for us also. Lets have a closer look at what those goals were.
1. Grow: Build yourselves up in the most holy faith, and pray in the Holy Spirit: Jude says to make progress, determine to move forward and grow up as Christians - don't just tread water, or say 'kay serah, serah, what will be will be'. Don't be passive. Put in effort towards growing up in Christ in knowledge, and in your faith and practice. That is, put more and more priority on knowing both the Bible and God; exercise a little more spiritual discipline in your life this year; commit yourself to being involved regularly in church fellowship; consider how you can be a part of a small group, a prayer group; how to use more extensively the gifts and talents that God has given you; and especially work at developing your capacity to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.
- Prayer is probably the most agreed upon discipline that Christians should engage in, yet it is probably the least practised by them. We have found this to be true in this church. Prayer times are poorly attended yet all of us here would say how fundamentally important prayer is. Last year I shared from the Scriptures how important things like meditation, silence, and solitude are in relation to prayer, yet I dare say that few have begun exploring these things for themselves.
- However, Jude urges us to not just engage in prayer, but prayer in the Holy Spirit. Many today would probably say that this means praying in tongues. It may well include that, but it certainly does not stop at that. After all, if it were so, then we have a problem. Paul makes clear in 1Cor.12 that everyone will not be given the gift of tongues, otherwise we would all be the equivalent of hands, and a body cannot be all hands or it will not function. Further, this would mean that the prayers of Jesus were not 'in the Spirit', nor were many of the prayers of Paul that are recorded in the Scriptures 'in the Spirit'. It would also suggest that every other kind of praying would be invalid at worst, or inferior and therefore less effective at best.
- Prayer in the Holy Spirit is most widely viewed as praying in tune with the Holy Spirit - according to his guidance, inspired by his presence, and endorsed by the sense of his power and peace. It is praying in which a person knows that God is listening and will answer as He sees fit. We know that the Holy Spirit interceeds for Christians; praying in the Spirit is the Spirit interceding through the Christian.
Jude is imploring Christians to determine to grow in the faith - their faith, and especially in the area of prayer - prayer aided and inspired by the powerful presence and work of the Holy Spirit Himself. Healthy plants, people and animals grow. Unhealthy plants, people and animals do not grow. Growing as a Christian is a worthy goal to have 1Pet.2:2; 2Pet.3:18. Why not make commitments to God and to yourself to work at growing this year? It is a worthy goal to strive for this year.
2. Garden: Keep yourself in God's love as you patiently wait for…eternal life: I like the Living Bible Paraphrase that brings out the meaning much better. "Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you." That is, endeavour to stay in a condition that will allow God's love to always be able to reach and bless you. Keep your heart soft and receptive to God. Keep it ploughed and tilled, ready soil for cultivating the fruit of the spirit within Heb.6:7,8; Matt.13:8,9; Jas. Keep away from things that cause you to compromise your faith, or grieve the Spirit living within you. Be flexible and ready to obey Him. Keep short accounts with God, be honest with him, deal with issues that need sorting out with Him, and not just ignore them eg. temper, resentments, pride, gossip etc. Be loving and kind and caring and do things that please God. These are what will keep your heart soft and receptive and keep you within the boundaries where God's love can always reach and bless you. Till and garden your heart so it remains good soil. The new Covenant is about having a heart of flesh not stone, so is this not a worthy goal to commit yourself to this year?
3. Go: Be merciful to those who doubt and snatch others from the fire: Jude is saying, don't just build yourself up in the faith and cultivate a right heart condition, but reach out beyond yourself as well. In other words determine to reach out and help others who need it eg. the aboriginal woman just recently. Don't just observe life; participate! Strive to help those who struggle in their faith, but also take risks and help drag people out of lifestyles and beliefs that are one way tickets to personal and spiritual ruin. Learn how to love the sinner and hate the sin, being careful to not get sucked into doing such things as they do yourself. What a worthwhile goal to have. To reach out beyond ourselves in the risky style of a 'snatch and grab job'! We need to aim at developing the courage to impact others lives. This is a goal worth striving for.
4. Glow: Keep in mind at all times the personal protective oversight of God, and learn to extend God the worship he deserves. Jude is reminding the readers, that God will be personally involved in propping them up, sustaining them, changing and enabling them, and ultimately bringing them into His presence pure and spotless. Wow. What a relief! You are not alone. How much we need to keep reminding ourselves of this one fact. What an empowering truth, what an inspiring reality! Matt.28:20; John.14:23; Heb.13:5,6.
Jude also reminds of the importance of worship - revelling in the awesomeness of God. Glory means light, but has the idea of the splendour of those things that are worthy of the highest opinion. Majesty carries with it the notion of a regal monarch, a kingly presence. Power and authority are obvious. Jude then is reminding his readers of the need to engage in worship of God. That is, be moved by the worthiness, regal reality, immense power and rightful authority of God. It is not wrong to find a deep adoration and appreciation of God which moves us to want to bow the knee, accept his authority, and exult in who he is and what he stand for. For many, this is difficult due to fear of the vulnerability this attitude fosters, the spontaneity which it inspires, the emotions it triggers, yet it is okay, it is healthy - it is right. What a worthy goal - learning to be moved to worship God from the heart! It is a goal worthy of striving to fulfil.
Conclusion:
This year we need to be sure we are doing all we can to allow God to build, bless, and impact the Armidale Community through us as individual Christians, and as a Christian Community. If we determine to grow as Christians; to take risks and reach out beyond ourselves to help others both in the church and beyond; and develop a heart that not only recognises the worthiness of God, but can be deeply moved to rich, inspiring, appreciative worship, then how can we fail to do this? Are you willing to commit yourself to Grow, Garden, Go, and Glow this year? To change and be changed - to open your hearts to God wider than we ever have before? As Paul said to the Corinthians, 'open wide your hearts' 1Cor.6:13. Take these goals for yourself, apply yourself to fulfilling them, and you and this church will be used by God. Read Jude 17-25, reflect on it, and strive to apply it. Instead of getting so caught up in the immediate in your life that you lose sight of the ultimate this year, shape the immediate so it helps fulfil the ultimate in your life. Striving to fulfil these goals will keep the ultimate in sight.Blessings