I'm giving a sermon kind of thing during the youth (junior and senior high) service this coming Sunday. What follows is the first half of that sermon. If you're thinking to yourself, "Man, they'll let anybody talk at one of those things," you're probably right. Regardless, the topic I was given was hearing from God. Read on if you're interested.
Anyone remember the WWJD fad? The letters stood for “what would Jesus do,” and were sewn on these nifty little bracelets and key chains. The theory was that when people got into trouble, or had to make a tough decision, they would look down at their wrist, see the WWJD there, and ask themselves, “What kind of deodorant would the Savior of Mankind buy?”
The fad made people happy for two reasons. First, it made parents happy because a bunch of teenagers were running around saying Jesus, which of course meant that they weren’t smoking dope or having sex or cheating on tests. I guess they figured that saying the name of Jesus wasn’t possible if you were doing those things. The second reason the fad made people happy was that a bunch of teenagers got to feel all spiritual and Godly because they were asking themselves what Jesus Christ would do in any given situation.
The problem with the fad? Nobody had any idea what Jesus would really do. Why? Because they had no idea what he really did. They had some vague notions about His loving and healing people, but that’s really about it. In essence, WWJD was really just another way to say, “What would I do if I were me in this situation right now.” Not really all that spiritual, when you get right down to it.
Which brings me to my first question for the evening. Why are you here, at church, listening to me? There are a lot of responses to that question, and only a few of them are good. The not-quite-so-good responses are of the “to hang out with friends” or “to listen to good music” or “to get my parents off my back” variety. Those aren’t reasons most people would admit to, but I figure they fit for at least a few people in here.
What are the good reasons? Number one: “I don’t know about this God or Jesus that you’re talking about, but I’m missing something in my life, and I figure I’ll sit here and listen for a bit. Maybe, just maybe, there’s something to this.” This is a very good reason. That search, that quest for meaning, is the first step to living life as it’s meant to be lived.
Reason to go to church number two: “I know Jesus. I’ve accepted Him as my personal Savior, and I want to know Him more.” If the search for God is the first step, this is the journey.
I’ll admit that my two reasons are a little pat. What about worship? Don’t we come to worship? What about service? People serve in church. Those are good, I’ll give you that. But without either one of two reasons I just listed off, those fall short. Action, without Christ as the motivator, isn’t useful. It’s putting the cart in front of the horse… if that analogy even makes sense anymore.
Question number two, the big question we’ve been working on lately: How, oh how, do I hear from God? Really, I wish he’d speak up. I have a confession to make. This may shock you, but I’ve never heard God audibly. Can you believe that? And they let me have the mike tonight. I figure all the really good speakers were busy.
So God doesn't speak to me like that. Wouldn’t it be cool though? I’d get in the praying position, bow my head, say, “God, what are your plans for my life?" God would then relay to me a detailed plan, telling me all that I’m supposed to be doing. Maybe it’d even be a vision, like a great PowerPoint presentation from God. It’d have bullet points because bullet points are professional and God, being the Creator of All that Is, is professional.
But I don’t hear from God like that. You probably don’t either. Hearing from God audibly is a gift, and we don’t all get the same gifts. You can whine to God about that not being fair, but I doubt it’ll do you much good.
And that's all I wanted to put on this post because if I put it all in one post it'd be too long of a post, really. Plus, there is the remote chance that some of the students in the youth group actually read this site, and I'd hate to spoil the punch line.
Anyone remember the WWJD fad? The letters stood for “what would Jesus do,” and were sewn on these nifty little bracelets and key chains. The theory was that when people got into trouble, or had to make a tough decision, they would look down at their wrist, see the WWJD there, and ask themselves, “What kind of deodorant would the Savior of Mankind buy?”
The fad made people happy for two reasons. First, it made parents happy because a bunch of teenagers were running around saying Jesus, which of course meant that they weren’t smoking dope or having sex or cheating on tests. I guess they figured that saying the name of Jesus wasn’t possible if you were doing those things. The second reason the fad made people happy was that a bunch of teenagers got to feel all spiritual and Godly because they were asking themselves what Jesus Christ would do in any given situation.
The problem with the fad? Nobody had any idea what Jesus would really do. Why? Because they had no idea what he really did. They had some vague notions about His loving and healing people, but that’s really about it. In essence, WWJD was really just another way to say, “What would I do if I were me in this situation right now.” Not really all that spiritual, when you get right down to it.
Which brings me to my first question for the evening. Why are you here, at church, listening to me? There are a lot of responses to that question, and only a few of them are good. The not-quite-so-good responses are of the “to hang out with friends” or “to listen to good music” or “to get my parents off my back” variety. Those aren’t reasons most people would admit to, but I figure they fit for at least a few people in here.
What are the good reasons? Number one: “I don’t know about this God or Jesus that you’re talking about, but I’m missing something in my life, and I figure I’ll sit here and listen for a bit. Maybe, just maybe, there’s something to this.” This is a very good reason. That search, that quest for meaning, is the first step to living life as it’s meant to be lived.
Reason to go to church number two: “I know Jesus. I’ve accepted Him as my personal Savior, and I want to know Him more.” If the search for God is the first step, this is the journey.
I’ll admit that my two reasons are a little pat. What about worship? Don’t we come to worship? What about service? People serve in church. Those are good, I’ll give you that. But without either one of two reasons I just listed off, those fall short. Action, without Christ as the motivator, isn’t useful. It’s putting the cart in front of the horse… if that analogy even makes sense anymore.
Question number two, the big question we’ve been working on lately: How, oh how, do I hear from God? Really, I wish he’d speak up. I have a confession to make. This may shock you, but I’ve never heard God audibly. Can you believe that? And they let me have the mike tonight. I figure all the really good speakers were busy.
So God doesn't speak to me like that. Wouldn’t it be cool though? I’d get in the praying position, bow my head, say, “God, what are your plans for my life?" God would then relay to me a detailed plan, telling me all that I’m supposed to be doing. Maybe it’d even be a vision, like a great PowerPoint presentation from God. It’d have bullet points because bullet points are professional and God, being the Creator of All that Is, is professional.
But I don’t hear from God like that. You probably don’t either. Hearing from God audibly is a gift, and we don’t all get the same gifts. You can whine to God about that not being fair, but I doubt it’ll do you much good.
And that's all I wanted to put on this post because if I put it all in one post it'd be too long of a post, really. Plus, there is the remote chance that some of the students in the youth group actually read this site, and I'd hate to spoil the punch line.
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