Sacrament of Living - Pursuit of God, 1 Corinthians 10:23-31, 8/25/2013

Aug 25 - Sacrament of living chpt 10 -=

1 cor 10:23-31 23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial.(AH) “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. 24 No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.(AI) 25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,(AJ) 26 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[f](AK) 27 If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you(AL) without raising questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience.(AM) 29 I am referring to the other person’s conscience, not yours. For why is my freedom(AN) being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?(AO) 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.(AP)

The tozer series finishes today

I’d say that what we have today, isnt so much an invitation to pursue god,

but to understand that what you already have and are, can be given to him.

Paul is addressing a problem in the Corinthian church

Meat offered to idols

Do good Christians eat it?

The satanic cult sacrificed a cow. The meat is for sale in the price shopper. Can u eat it? U know where it is from.

The guy from Lexington who won 100,000 can the church accept the 10,000? Its been the devils money Long enough

Ahh the crushing world of guilt.

Who are the good ones.  Who are the bad ones

I sometimes wonder if we just like to take sided…..

          Star belly sneeches

There is far too much judgment in this world

Growing up in a pastors home………not easy.  I refer to my children

What will others think of me?..........Can I be myself?

Can any of us be ourselves?

Do you think that God would prefer us to be ourselves?

To live a congruent life?

Why do we spend all of this crazy time worrying about if we are accepted.

If we are doing the wrong thing?

Little neurotic humans that we are

This is not saying that we can do anything that we want

The word for that theory of life is antinomianism.

Do anything that you want. You are free in christ

You are free, save one thing

We live by the law of love.

We don’t hurt others, not because there is a rule, but because we love

Nor is it saying that every act is of the same value

“Paul’s sewing of tents was not equal to his writing of an Epistle but both were accepted of God and both were true acts of worship. It is more important to lead a soul to Christ than to plant a garden, but the planting of the garden can be a holy an act as the winning of a soul.....the service of a the less gifted brother is as pure as that of the more gifted and God accepts both with equal pleasure.........and the layman need never think of his humbler task as being inferior to that of his minister.”

Paul’s “do all to the glory of God” opens before us the possibility of making every act of our lives contribute to the glory of God.

But We have divided our life into the sacred and the secular.

Living a divided life instead of a united life

1)   Sacred acts..performed with a feeling of satisfaction and a firm assurance that they are pleasing to God......prayer, Bible study/reading, church and such acts that spring directly from faith.

2)   Secular acts including all the ordinary activities of life....some that we often do reluctantly and with misgivings, often apologizing to God for what we consider a waste of time and strength....

What if There are no sacred or secular places.

God is everywhere

The holy land is no more sacred than lees summit.

Lent no more holy than 2nd week of august

Easter no more holy than sept 9

In a world where every one is running around arguing over who the good ones and the bad ones are,

Paul declared all meats clean, everyday holy, all places sacred and every act acceptable to God.

Whatever you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God

Isn’t that amazing…..

Jesus isn’t worried about all the things that he might be doing wrong

He is living a happy life that pleases the father

In John 8 Jesus says- “I do always the things that please him”
What common things did Jesus do?

·        Went for a walk

·        Drank wine

·        Taught a class

·        Went on a mission trip

·        Stopped to hug a baby

·        Talked to a prostitute

·        He ate with sinners

And god was pleased

 Who taught us to constantly feel bad about what we are doing?
Ahh The disease of the neurotic mind
Dis-ease

The poor woman at the well……neurotic mind

Five husbands, six men.  Not currently married

Not to mention her profession

Still trying to prove that she is right and everyone else is wrong

Jesus doesn’t mention any of it.

Odd, since its all about who is good and who is bad

John 4:21, 23-24

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

He talks to her about things of the soul

Living water

places of worship

Not on this mountain or that one, but worship in spirit and in truth.

·        All the mountains are sacred

·        All of life is sacred

The story of the special priest, the special prayer, the special place

A great Rabbi loved his people. Whenever he sensed a time of trouble, he would go to a secret place in the woods, light a special fire, and say a special prayer. Then, without fail, the village would be saved. He died and one of his followers, came to lead the people. Whenever he sensed a troublesome time, he would go to the secret place in the woods. "Dear God," he would say, "I don't know how to light the special fire, but I know the special prayer. Please let that be good enough." It was, and the village would be saved. When this leader passed on, he was succeeded by another rabbi- whenever he sensed troublesome times, he would go to the secret place in the woods. "Dear God," he would say, "I don't know how to make the special fire, I don't know how to say the special prayer, but I know this is the secret place in the woods. Please let that be good enough." It was, and the village would be saved. When he passed, he was succeeded by yet another, and whenever somebody told him that difficult times were upon the village, he didn't even get out of his armchair. He could only bow his head and shrug his shoulders. "Dear God," he would pray, "I don't know how to make the special fire. I don't know how to say the special prayer. I don't even know the secret place in the woods.  But ask that you would save the village.  May this common prayer be enough." It was, and his people would be saved.

Ever felt that your prayer wasn’t good enough?

You weren’t doing it quite right?

It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular,.

it is why he does it....the motive is everything...

God isn’t worried about all of the silly things that we worry about

God is concerned with our hearts

When our hearts are turned to him there are no common acts, only sacred moments

And the village is blessed

So the question is are we Living a life filled with worry and dis ease

Feeling bad about common things

Paul invites us today to understand that

it is all good

It is well with my soul
If u don't want to eat the meat then don't
But if u do do it, relax- God is with you

31 so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

conclusion

someone said, you have brought every act down to a low level,

tozer says no, we must lift up every act to the kingdom level and the whole of life to a sacrament

when we get this, a sense of wondrous meaning will begin to take hold of us And all of life can become special, holy and spiritual

We just have to decide how we will see.  What we will see

Is eating at la fuente a mundane or a holy thing

If a member of my family is on the other side of the table, it’s a holy thing

Is breathing a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has a lung condition

Is walking a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who cannot walk

Is driving a mundane thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who has just had their license retired

Is working a normal thing or a sacred thing

Ask someone who is looking for a job

Praying is good.  Study is good.  Acts of mission are good but.......

let us believe that God is in all our simple deeds as well and learn to find Him there

Its a beautiful day in gods world be sure to see the good

Prayer: 

Oh God of Peace, help us on our journey.  remind us that we belong only to you.  We give you our life….every moment of it.  You chose us and we in turn choose you.  You are a faithful God and we confidently believe in you and live in you.  thanks for the joy that this brings. - Amen

Pursuit of God - Restoring the Creator - Chapter 8, Psalm 57:1-5 08/11/2013

AW Tozer – the pursuit of God, chapter 8-  Restoring the Creator-creature Relationship

Psalm 57:1-5

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,for in you I take refuge.^(C)I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings^(D)until the disaster has passed.^(E)2 I cry out to God Most High,to God, who vindicates me.^(F)3 He sends from heaven and saves me,^(G)rebuking those who hotly pursue me—^[c](H)God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.^(I)4 I am in the midst of lions;^(J)I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears andarrows,whose tongues are sharp swords.^(K)5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;let your glory be over all the earth.^(L)

The psalmist is shouting out…… God  I need you.  And you are the top dog, the most high.

order in nature depends upon right relationships;

to achieve harmony each thing must be in its proper position relative to each other thing.

·        The male cardinal is red, the female is brown.

·        Momma birds do kick their babies out after a while

In human life it is the same

·        Parents love your children.

·        children, honor your father and mother.

·        Work for your employer as unto the lord

The correct natural relationship between us and God

Master vs servant

Dominant vs submissive

Father/child

Creator/created

No question who is dominant, but there is also great love

Because of selfishness and sin, we have made it about us ,

It not that god is against your life, he just know that you were made to love him

Lots of songs about the connectedness of love

And until we do, we will not find happiness

Many frightened people ontheir death bed, believed in god but did not love him

salvation is not that we are saved from sin and left in some unhappy vacuum

we are saved to God

loved by him, welcomed by him

the relationship is restored

example of the prodigal son and the restoration that came with the reestablishment of the father-son relation.

It was always there, waiting, the son had to choose to go home

Tozer talks about leaning away from the things of this world

Falls for a bit into the dualism that he earlier scorns

Good and bad.  Sacred and secular.

88 he says come out of the world

In the world but not of it

All I know is I'm not home yet - This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus  -This is not where I belong

vs – this is my fathers world

When god is exalted to his rightful place, the Christian life ceases to be the complicated thing it had been before and becomes the very essence of simplicity.

A we think about the creator-created relationship

We are not talking about a change of behavior

But a change of attitude.  A change of heart

Sitting here is a good start but god is after your heart

 You can tell a child to do certain things.  Or an employee. 

·        Manage your budget. 

·        Clean your room. 

·        Don’t open two cartons of milk at the same time.

They might even do it

But what you hope for is that they do it from the heart

That they get it in their hearts

In a world of relativity and selfishness, god is a fixed point

We can stop thinking of him, but he does not stop being our creator

As the sailor locates his position on the sea by "shooting" the sun, so we may get our moral bearings by looking at God.

Not just moral bearings but the ground of our being

We want to change god to our liking.

We want to shape him

We get mad at god when he doesn’t do it the way that we want him to do it.

Yet he is unchangeable

In the face of evil and suffering, job questions god. 

God does not answer job but offers his own questions

Some of the most rapturous moments we know will be those we spend in reverent admiration of the Godhead.

And so we begin with god.  Above all, before all, in and thru all.

He is with us, our loving creator….

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for[Pg 102] thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

God was our original habitat and our hearts cannot but feel at home when they enter again that ancient and beautiful abode.

My life 16 homes.

Home- do you have a childhood home?  A home town?  Of course

Bruce springsteen- my hometown

There is something about that place….

gods loving arms envelop us in joy and completeness

wanting to spend time with your parents………my dad at 72

love involves adoration.  Alli and bobby.  Bobby on the deck

Who’s number one? And there is this painful test…..

Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who is check your check book. What are we spending on?

“Let a person be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and people, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be exalted above. However the person may protest, the proof is in the choices he or she makes day after day throughout their life.”

But God honors intention.  effort.  Sincereity.

When broken people try to honor god, god gives them grace.

What can be said of Abraham, Jacob, David, Elijah God accepted his intention as fact and acted accordingly.

Not perfection, but holy intention made the difference.

·        Are you going on to perfection

·        Do you expect to be made perfect in this life?

Being made perfect in love

Perfect intention         - harry crowell

God desires you

Desiring god.  Desiring your beautiful wife.  It is a type of our relationship with god

conclusion

When we love god, we become a theater where He can display His exceeding kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Joshua 24 – As for me and my house…

¹⁴ “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

A pastor was asked about his retirement…….

Those whose hearts are turned towards God, whose lives have him in his rightful place are always looking for someone to love, for someone to care about.  Always about our fathers business.

We are the creation.  He is the creator.  Let us love him.  With our heart soul mind and strength.  That is after all, the greatest commandment.

Lets Pray-

Father, Rise up into Your proper place of honor, above our ambitions, above our likes and dislikes, above our families, our health and even our lives.  Let us decrease so that You may increase; let us sink that You may rise above.  Let us join the angels in Heaven crying to You "Hosanna in the Highest." Amen