Broadway Christian Church · Columbia, Missouri

Morning Worship · March 30, 2008

Second Sunday of Easter

Prayer of the Day

Lord Jesus, as we celebrate this season of Easter, may the love of your cross, the power of your resurrection, and the presence of your Living Spirit, be with us in this hour of worship and always! Amen.

Scripture

Ephesians 3:18-19

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Message

How Much Does God Care?

Rick Frost

We are so glad to have you here today. If you have been away for spring break, welcome back. I hope it was a good time for you. If you are visiting here for the first time, we are especially delighted to have you here. As you know, it is the Easter season. Actually, Easter is not a Sunday. You know that. It is not even a season. We are, in fact, biblically and theologically, the Easter people. And we are the Easter people because we are committed. We are committed to the Easter way, committed to the Easter truth, and we are committed to life. Why? Because, “Christ is risen!”

[Congregation:] “He is risen, indeed! 

Folks, today I want to talk about what I think is the most important thing you can believe in life. It is what you believe in your heart of hearts about God. Is the Holy One – the mystery of this universe, who is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Judge, the Redeemer of all that is – really the Creator, Sustainer, Judge and Redeemer of all that is, or not? Yes or no? I am coming to realize, in my tender state in life, that what you believe about God actually affects every area of your life. It affects how you deal with your past. It affects how you face the future, and it affects very clearly how you choose to live today. If affects you emotionally. It affects you intellectually. It affects you physically, and spiritually. It affects you socially, and economically, and politically, and relationally. What you believe about God affects every other area of your life. 

Now, unfortunately, a lot of things can get distorted along the way. Our perspective, our view, of what God is like does get distorted. It happens easily. It happens all the time. It can be all kinds of things. 

Sometimes it is our background: the way we were raised, where we were raised. It can create a distorted view of God. Sometimes it is the media in the culture in which we live. We talked about that a Sunday or two ago. Sometimes it is the painful experiences people are going through. It can be either what they went through in the past or what they are going through right now. It can distort the way they view the Creator of all that is. Sometimes it is what people teach us. Sometimes it is what they tell us – people we have trusted, that we believe, that we look up to. Sometimes it is our own insecurity. Sometimes it is our sin. All kinds of things can distort our view of God. 

The result is more people than we like to think have mixed up, confused, indeed, inaccurate and inadequate thinking, feeling, perception, images, pictures, and whatever image you want of the Mystery that is behind, above, below, at the very heart of the universe. 

There are some in our midst who think this one that we speak of, this mystery, is an impersonal force.  (“May the force be with you.”) That force is beyond our little, tiny ability to think about or talk about. It is a deity that is so far beyond, and way, way beyond us that is watching us from a distance, as the popular song goes. 

Some, because of the way they have been brought up and the teaching they have received, believe that God is a cruel tyrant, a judgmental parent, a constantly unpleasant, disappointed, vindictive being. How sad. 

Some think God is a toothless, powerless, impotent pushover that exists primarily to meet our every whim and need. All we have to do is ask. 

Still others think God is a myth. They think of God as a fairytale or a figment of your imagination. 

And, of course, many in our world don’t think of God at all. 

Here is the problem. The problem is when we don’t have a clue, when we don’t really know what God is like, we generally make one of two mistakes. 

Number One: We deny. We deny God. You have heard this. People say, “I just don’t believe in God.” 

To which, I try to remember to ask when that happens, “Tell me… Tell me what kind of God you don’t believe in, because whatever that is, I might not believe either.” 

Folks, never find yourself trying to defend some little, false god, one that is not really God. 

When we don’t know, when we are confused, when we don’t have much information, we deny. 

Number Two: We sort of create our own little god. We just make it up. Here is the person I am talking about. You know this kind of person. What they like to say is, and I hear this from time to time, “Oh, I like to think of God as________ (fill in the blank).”   I like to think of God as ________ (whatever suits you, just fill in the blank).” 

I know this sounds un-American and worse un-Disciple of Christ, but may I respectfully submit to you that your opinion, my opinion, anyone’s opinion about God, as entitled as you and I are to that opinion, really doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because I, because you, because others, when we are sharing opinions, are just guessing. What matters is not your opinion. 

What matters is the truth in a world that doesn’t believe in truth. If you don’t have a true understanding about what the Creator of all that is, is really like, what happens is you go about building your life on a faulty foundation. The first time a real storm or challenge comes along, that foundation just collapses. 

What I want to do today is take on something very big. I want to take on four basic things that the Bible tells us about the one true God, because I have absolutely no doubt if more people in the world really understood something of what the Creator is really like, they would want to do eight things. They would want to do the eight things we call the Eight Keys. They would want to do the things that begin to build a relationship with that God, because they know what that God is really like. So let’s jump in.

You have seen the bumper sticker, “God Loves You?” We sing songs about that. That is wonderful. It is a really nice thought. My question is, “Is it true? Is it true that God really knows you? Is it true that God really cares about you?” 

If that is true, that is really good news.  But, how do you know? Here is the answer I am going to offer you today. God has proven his care for you repeatedly in countless ways. Today, on the second Sunday of Easter, I want to lift up four of them for you.

Number One: God cares enough to reveal God’s self to you.  

There is only one way you, or I, or anyone else can know anything about the Creator of this universe. That is if God chooses to let us know, chooses to reveal God’s self in ways we human beings can understand. If God didn’t want to do that, none of us would have the foggiest idea about the Mystery behind the whole universe. Why? Because our brains simply don’t have the capacity to get it. We can’t grasp it. We can’t understand it. 

It is like that colony of ants I have in my back yard trying to understand me. It "ain’t gonna" happen, because they are not capable. So, only if God chooses to reveal God’s self in ways we human beings can comprehend, only then can we know anything about God. The good news is the Mystery of the universe really wants you to know what the Holy One is really like. Did you know that?

That is fascinating. That is amazing. How does God let us know? A couple of ways:

Creation itself. We can learn a whole lot about the Creator of all that is just by looking at this incredible world, this universe that you and I live it. It is all around us. Isn’t that what science is supposed to be all about? Isn’t that what education is for: describing, learning more about what really is there? 

If you want a short course in creation, check out the DVD series the British Broadcasting Company produced called, Planet Earth. It includes six discs. It is incredible. 

For instance, one of the key things you see when you look around is God is organized. The planets are aligned. The axis of the earth is tilted just so that we are not freezing and not burning up. Doctors look at our human bodies and what do they see? They see organization. You look at the environment and you see balance. We have talked about that before. Certain things get out of balance, and the ecosystems go whacko. God is organized. 

By the way, did you turn off your lights and appliances between eight and nine o’clock last night? Why did people do that all around the world? What did they call it? Earth Hour. It didn’t quite make it to Missouri, but around the world people were doing it, a global effort, not only to cut pollution, but to basically increase our awareness of climate change. 

We have some major league things that are out of balance. Let’s just own it. Let’s name it and stop denying it. Things are going to have to get back in balance. If they don’t, some bad things are going to happen. So, we can know a lot about God by just looking around.

God is powerful. Nature is powerful. God is the source of immense energy, the sun, the wind, the ocean waves, even the tiny little atom, and all kinds of energy we didn’t even know was there. God is powerful. God is creative. 

God seems to love variety. There are all kinds of different things, complex things. Just think of all those smells, and sights, and tastes, and sounds. God is incredibly creative. As the rat in Ratatouille says, “Anyone can cook.” 

Here is another thing we can learn by looking around.  God loves beauty. Did you see the sunrise or sunset this last week? Did you see the colors, the shapes, the forms, and these wonderful eyes the Creator has made so we can enjoy that? God creates beauty.  God created my wife inside and out. She is a beauty. God creates beauty. 

Another thing we can learn from nature is that God has a sense of humor. Ever see an orangutan? Have you ever looked at the person sitting next to you? Ever looked in the mirror? God has a great sense of humor. 

We can learn a lot about the Creator by just looking around. Here is what I want you to hear today: more importantly, there are some things you cannot know by looking at nature. Nature is good. It is instructive. It just doesn’t go far enough. So, it seems the Creator of all that is came up with a second way to reveal God’s self to us. It is a way for the entire world to know what God is really like. 

The good news of the gospel is that God came to this earth in human form. Why? So that human beings could see, so we could learn, so we could understand, so we could begin to see what the Creator, the Sustainer, the Judge, and Redeemer of this whole thing is all about. If you want to communicate with ants in your back yard, you pretty much have to become an ant. 

The Bible said God wanted to communicate with us human beings so much that God became a human in the form and person of Jesus of Nazareth. 

Luke 2:32 says, “Jesus is the light who reveals God to the nations.” 

Colossians 1:15: “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.”

In John 14:9: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” 

When we look, when anyone looks at Jesus the Christ, you get to see what the Creator of this world is really like.

Number Two: God cares enough to rescue you. 

When Molly was just a preschooler, we took a family vacation out west, and we stopped by the Grand Canyon. Some of you have been in that area. We stood there on that rim looking down over the edge. What is the drop? It is something like 1,500-2,000 feet. It is huge. When Molly moved closer to get a better view, to her horror, Jan grabbed her hand and pulled her back just before she took that step. I didn’t even realize there was a problem. What a great Dad? Here is my point. Molly was only three-years-old. She didn’t know it, but she desperately needed to be rescued. She didn’t have a clue. She didn’t have the slightest idea she needed that, but the fact of the matter was, she did. I guess I want to suggest to you that you may never have realized how much you need a savior, but you do. You do. Some ask, “A savior from what?” Lots of things. I want to name three this morning.

Jesus wants to rescue people from the guilt of their past. I have never, in my years, met anybody who didn’t carry around some level of guilt. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody avoids things they know they should take care of, and address, and do something about, but don’t. We are imperfect human beings. The good news is that God wants to rescue us from that guilt. 

Hebrews 9:14 says this: “How much more then will the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit, offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our conscience from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Jesus came to rescue you from a meaningless life. You know this. Most of the people in this world never really live. They exist, but they never really live.  They go to work; they go home. They don’t live; they just exist. They don’t have the slightest idea what their purpose in this life really is. They have no clue as to why the Creator would place them here on this earth. 

John 10:10 says, “I have come that you might have life and have it in all its fullness.” 

If you don’t get anything else out of this, get this: God created you for a purpose, and when you get into a relationship with God through Christ, you begin to get it. You begin to understand why you are here and what you are supposed to be doing while you are here.

Jesus wants to rescue you from the fear of death. For nearly 40 years, I have walked with literally hundreds of people in their final days upon this earth, if they have allowed me and invited me to do so. 

I walked into a room of a dear friend just the other day. He was leaning on a walker, being held up by two attendants, trying his best just to walk from his bed to the door and back. He looked up long enough just to see me standing in the doorway and jokingly said with a smile on his face, “Oh, you came to see an old has been. Have you?” 

You see… My friend is not afraid of death. He believes in Christ. He believes in heaven. He believes he knows where he is going to be going real soon. For Christians, death is just a transfer. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life and those who believe in me shall never die.” 

Why? Because you were made to last forever. The world doesn’t believe that. Do you? 

Hebrews 2:15 says, “Jesus set free those who were slaves all their lives because of their fear of death.” 

God cares enough to reveal.  God cares enough to rescue.

Number Three: God cares enough to relate to you. 

You are not put here on this earth primarily to make money, to consume, to retire, and to die. That is not why you are here. The Bible says you were made essentially, primarily, number one to have a relationship with the Creator of all that is. God made you to love you. 

In his wonderful book, Max Lucado put it this way: “God is crazy about you, is fond of you, and likes having you around. I mean if God had a refrigerator, he would have your picture on it.” 

Isn’t that a great image? God can live anywhere in the universe, but God chooses to live where? In your heart is where God wants to make God’s home. Friends, face it.  God is crazy, just crazy about you. I don’t know why, but God is. 

Second Corinthians 5:17 put it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation…for God was reconciling the world to God’s own self in Christ, not counting their sins against them.” 

Number Four: God cares enough that a new creation is in the making. 

When you are in a two-way, loving, caring relationship, generally great joy occurs. There are pleasure, fun, and  joy. It is two-way. That is what makes it work. But when that relationship becomes one-way, there is genuine grief and broken heartedness. You know what I am talking about. Biblical faith says God was so grieved over creation gone wrong, over humankind rebellion, over so many in this world living in the midst of tyranny, corruption, and violence, and decay, that God came to this world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to make an announcement. Do you know what that announcement was? 

“The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the good news.”

Something new has happened. We call it the New Covenant. When you open the Good Book, it is called the New Testament. This is not a new religion. This is not new spirituality. This is not a one-way ticket out of trouble. This is the beginning of the new creation, right here, right now, in the real world, on earth as it is in heaven. 

It is going to happen. It is going to unfold right here in the midst of all the injustice, the tyranny, the empire building, the greed, and the crucifixion. It is going to happen right here in the midst of all the ignorance, the violence, the hatred. 

The reason it is going to happen is that this is God’s world and not ours. There is a contest going on. The way it is going to happen is the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is going to raise up people who are going to build a kingdom of love, of justice, and peace right here.   Not somewhere else, not someday. Today! 

M. T. Wright, a Bishop of Durham, said it this way, “No wonder the Herods, the Caesars, ancient and modern, of the world were and are eager to rule out all possibilities of actual bodily resurrection. There still are people who are staking a claim to counter God’s claim for this world. It is the real world where tyrants and bullies try to force, and lead, and rule by force, only to discover that in order to do so, they have to squelch any rumors of resurrection, because resurrection implies their greatest weapon in this world, which is death and deconstruction, are not after all the last word. They are not omnipotent. They are not supreme. For 2,000 years, you and I have been called to live in and to die, if we must, to this world, this real world for what is good, for what is right, for what is loving, and for what is just.” 

The Creator of all that is demands nothing less. 

The resurrection of Jesus is the sure and certain sign that something new is happening, and nothing is going to stop it, not even death. The kingdom is going to come. There is a new creation in the making. Did you know that? Oh, my!

You have the piece from Revelation that says it beautifully:   

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth…the Holy City…coming down out of the heaven from God, prepared like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband…And I heard a loud voice…”Now the dwelling of God is with human beings…and they will be God’s people and God will be their God…there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away…The one who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my people” (Revelation 21:1ff).

What I want you to hear is that you have been invited to be a part of the new creation. When you got baptized, when you made a confession of faith, when you stepped over that line, you decided to be part of the new creation. You can work hard. You can make a million bucks. You can have your picture on the cover of Time, or Rolling Stone, or Sports Illustrated, or just about any place else. You can take a vacation every week for the rest of your life, if you want to. However if I am hearing the Easter message correctly, if you haven’t developed a relationship with God, you are missing the purpose why you were put on this earth. That is how big a deal this is. So I ask you for just a moment to pray with me. Let’s ask God to help.

Lord, I have heard a lot today about just how much you care and that you want a relationship with me. I thank you for loving me. I have to tell you, I don’t understand it all, but today, as best as I know how, I am going to open myself up to you. I really want to get to know you. The fact that I can is phenomenal. I want to learn more, Lord. I want to trust; I want to trust you. Help me; help me to feel it. Help me to experience it. Help me to take that first step, or the tenth step, or whatever the next step is that leads me closer to you, the way you really are. This we ask in Jesus’ name… 

And all the people say… “Amen.”

Benediction

We pray to have the power to comprehend with all the saints, what are the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.