The Isaiah Project: Dependence, 7/12/15

July 12  The Isaiah Project- dependence       Isaiah 55:6-9

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found;  call on him while he is near.⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways  and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways  and my thoughts than your thoughts

Isaiah series……… come to the water…….. my ways and your ways

We don’t like to be dependent.

We like to be self made people.

Pull ourselves up by our boot straps

There is an arrogance that comes with that

Eventually if we are paying attention,

Life teaches us that we need each other and life teaches us that we need God

Tv stations….4, 5, and 9 plus 41

Dependent on email

Kids out to dinner and we are texting

dependent on a cell phone.  – broadway show- nick silvestri

Dependent on gps, - driving in houston

we don’t think we need him, but he holds our breath in his very hands

Dependent on god for the air that I breathe….

Gods maps, gods ways,

How I got to become a Methodist, a minister, how we got here today……..

Most call stories recognize that in this life there is a desperate need for god

We have a desperate need for God

The God shaped hole

Christian writers for years have talked about the god shaped hole inside of each person

This is echoed by St. Augustine who said

“You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.”  - Augustine

This  is still being said today..... Chapter One / Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life.....”

 you were born by His purpose and for His purpose...,, ….focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.....you were made by God and for God-until you understand that, life will never make sense.”  REPEAT

The sermon could end right here

We need him – do you sense it?

Our chief purpose in life is to love God

You know what feels real.

You know what feels right.

When we love God, life is copacetic.

For this we are created.

[the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God]

Love as dependence……. Bad picture of human love…….

Needful picture of our relationship w god

There is more horatio than is dreampt of in your philosophy

You may know someone who has an arrogant streak

You may have been that person at one time…

Speak of a time n your life when you were full of yourself

Chasing empty things

The almighty dollar

Religious things

I knew it was wrong but I kept doing it

It felt so good to stop.

Criminals relieved to be caught….

Chief end is to love. Period

We know this is good.  We know it is right.

When we love,

We sense God’s love in our hearts.  We sense that we were created to love him

There is a song, or there is a scripture that we made into a song

Revelation 4:11 (NIV)

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,    to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things,  and by your will they were created  and have their being.”

We sing the song………worthy is the lamb

One of my favorites

It is like you can feel your heart rushing up to heaven

This is worship

But We tire of being lost in him…..

We fall back to dependence on ourselves

And suddenly we are going thru the motions again

But our arrogance gets in the way,

We scrunch god down into the size that we can manage

Simple doctrine or belief in Christ does not make you sweeter

Churchliness has replaced the deep love, appreciation and a savoring of God

Fire starter story

There was a man who invented the art of making fire. He took his tools and went to a tribe in the north, where it was very cold, bitterly cold. He taught the people there to make fire. The people were very interested. He showed them the uses to which they could put fire—they could cook, could keep themselves warm, etc.  They were so grateful that they had learned the art of making fire. But before they could express their gratitude to the man, he disappeared. He wasn’t concerned with getting their recognition or gratitude; he was concerned about their well-being.  He went to another tribe, where he again began to show them the value of his invention. People were interested there, too, a bit too interested for the peace of mind of their priests, who began to notice that this man was drawing crowds and they were losing their popularity. So they decided to do away with him. They poisoned him, crucified him, put it any way you like.  But they were afraid now that the people might turn against them, so they were very wise, even wily.  Do you know what they did?  They had a portrait of the man made and mounted it on the main altar of the temple. The instruments for making fire were placed in front of the portrait, and the people were taught to revere the portrait and to pay reverence to the instruments of fire, which they dutifully did for centuries. The veneration and the worship went on, but there was no fire.

We lose our passion for him when we make him small

We lose our home in him when we see him as a threat to our lives instead of the answer for our lives

We regain our passion when we recognize our deep need for him

God refuses to be contained by our notions of him

We cannot fathom him

We try to replace him with the bible., with max lucato, with our list of doctrines

We cannot fathom him

His ways are higher!!

We cannot fathom him,

Yet he gives us glimpses

Thomas Aquinas lived in 1200’s in – Three Ways to Know God –

(1) in the creation,

this is my fathers world…….we sang it in third grade….

1. This is my Father's world,  and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings  the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:  I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;  his hand the wonders wrought.

2. This is my Father's world,  the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white, declare their maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:  he shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear him pass;  he speaks to me everywhere.

3. This is my Father's world.  O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,  God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:  why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!  God reigns; let the earth be glad! 

(2)    by his actions through history,  

…. 1) Motion; 2) Causation; 3) Contingency; 4) Goodness; 5) Design. We are all interconnected…..

(3) in the highest form of the knowledge of God - to know God as the unknown).

There is a song we sing…….. indescribable, uncontainable, find the words….

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

But Our arrogance gets in the way

We want to bargain with god

We want to work out a deal

The only agreement that God accepts is unconditional surrender

If your ways are not working, throw yourself upon the mercy of almighty God

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,   the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,    and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary    and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint     Is 40:28-31

He still welcomes and accepts all that call upon his name….

Prayer- lead to communion