Los Alamos Church of Christ
Drawing Closer to God
What
does it mean to be closer to God?
Nancy Pearcey in her book "Saving Leonardo" uses a metaphor about a hungry guy sitting at a banquet table full of food. The hungry guy says, "I believe in food. In fact I know that food exists. I have faith that there is food in the universe." He may even go on to offer some convincing arguments to prove that food exists. "I know food exists because I have this craving for food. I believe in food because we would not be here without food." But this hungry guy, who could argue with Double Shot Latte Guy about the existence of food, just believes... and never eats. He is sitting at a table piled with delicious food. He is really hungry, but he never dives in.
Last year I offered, something like, 40 different arguments for the existence of God, but we didn't eat. Last year we argued with Double Shot Latte Guy and Joe A. Scientist about the existence of God. But we didn't talk about what that meant. This year we are sitting at the Banquet Table of God and we are hungry. We want to do more than just argue existence… we want to eat. This year we want to partake in who God is. This year we want to dine with God. This year we are on a journey to draw closer to God.
So far on our journey we have discovered:
-God's awesome awesomeness would fry us if we were really in his presence.
-But we also discovered a promise.. in James 4:8:
James 4:8
Come near to God and
he will come near to you.
-Last week we found out how this works. We are able to come near because of the blood of Christ.
-With a committed heart, in full faith, we are washed in the pure water of baptism. This allows us to be near to God without getting nuked.
Here is a verse I did not read last week, but I should have.
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
We have seen that it is possible to draw closer to God because we have a promise. We have seen how it is possible; because of the blood of Jesus. The washing of pure water allows us to get tight with God!
This morning I want to look at the next logical question; What does it mean to draw closer to God? "Yea, I want to get close to God… Ah, but what does that mean?" That is what we are going to begin to explore this morning.
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Let's begin a long time ago, in a galaxy far… far away.
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The Lord God Almighty is present in every corner of his creation. Yahweh exists throughout the vastness of the entire universe. Jehovah God is omnipresent in every crook and cranny from the microscopic to the astronomical. He exists in all time and in all places simultaneously, at the same time!
Listen to what God declared to Jeremiah.
Jeremiah
23:23-24 "Am I only a God nearby," declares
the LORD", and not a God far away?
Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" declares the
LORD. "Do not I fill heaven and
earth?" declares the LORD.
David
writes…
Psalm 139:7-12
Where can I go from
your Spirit? Where can I flee from
your presence? If I go
up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings
of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your
hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide
me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not
be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to
you.
Guess what? God is everywhere and every when. What does it mean that we are going to draw closer to God? How can we get any closer than we already are? God exists all around us!
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Let's move from a long time ago in a galaxy far… far away, to Athens, Greece in the year 53 AD.
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Paul is delivering a marvelous sermon to the curious Athenians.
Acts 17:22-24
Paul then stood up in the meeting
of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very
religious. For as I walked around
and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now
what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. "The God who made the world and
everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples
built by hands."
We got that already. God is way too big to be confined to some Temple. We are not going to find God in some Temple or church building or any place made by humans. Drawing closer to God can't mean physical location. Paul continues…
Acts 17:25-28
"And he is not served
by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life
and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation
of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times
set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have
our being.'"
Paul understood that God is bigger than a Temple. God is bigger than any nation. God is bigger than the universe. Paul explains we actually live inside of this being who is God. Not only is God everywhere, and every time, we live in him. We are already as close to God as possible, because we breathe the very essence of God in every breath.
But Paul also explains that even though we exist in God, we could reach out to find him. That is what I am talking about this year. Although we are sustained by the existence of God all around and in us, we still, in some way, need to reach out for him. Perhaps, we find him!
So, what does that mean? How do we reach out to find him?
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We began in far away galaxy and then we went to Athens, now let's move within our own hearts.
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Drawing closer to God has to mean something which happens within us. God is everywhere and we exist in him. God is bigger than all creation. So, it can't mean that we have to discover God externally. It means we discover God by changing something in our hearts. Listen to some others who made this discovery.
Psalm 73:28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge.
David, at the end of his life, is giving advice to his son.
1 Chronicles 28:9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge
the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches
every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by
you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you
forever.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him
while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and
the evil man his thoughts. Let him
turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will
freely pardon.
Zephaniah 3:1-2 Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.
Malachi 3:7 "Ever since the time of your
forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,"
says the LORD Almighty. "But you
ask, 'How are we to return?'"
Each of these discovered a response within us that leads us closer to God.
-It is being aware of God as a refuge.
-it is within wholehearted devotion.
-It is forsaking evil ways.
-It is trust.
-It is keeping the decrees of the Lord.
We draw closer to God when we turn wholeheartedly toward his presence. It has to do with our awareness of God in our lives; our openness to his kindnesses, our devotion to obedience, our trust in his love.
The answer to how is found in the verse right before our theme verse:
James 4:7-8
Submit yourselves,
then, to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. Come near to
God and he will come near to you.
It is a positive and a negative and an action. Drawing near is submit, resist and come. It is turning to God, from the world and moving toward God. It is in our humility, which rejects pride, then draws closer to God.
Footnote: That is going to be the pattern of my sermons throughout this year. We are going to explore what it means to submit and how Satan will respond and then what we do to work past the obstacles to get closer to God. I like this model: submit, resist, come = God will come near to you.
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Perhaps a metaphor will help us to see exactly how drawing closer to God might work.
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I call this the Cruise Ship Metaphor. I love this metaphor. Several years ago, as a gift from you to Tanya and me, for our Twentieth Anniversary of working with the congregation, you sent us on a cruise. It was great. One of the fun parts was the destinations. We went to four. We would sleep and eat and relax and then we would be at another destination. We would get off the boat and explore San Juan, St. Thomas, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Each was a unique and different place. We absorbed each of them. Then, we went to the next. We learned new stuff and had fun at every destination.
That is what we are going to do this year on our journey to draw closer to God. Our cruise line is going to make stops in, not four, but 12 destinations. We will get off the boat at 12 different places to discover closeness with God in each place.
Just like a brochure for a cruise, I am going to give you, just a teaser, of our 12 destinations. Are you excited? "Hey, we are going on a cruise to 12 spiritual destinations, cool!"
"Drawing Closer To God" Cruise's Twelve
Destinations:
1)
Simplicity
In Simplicity we will explore our allegiance to God.
Satan wants us to be busy and unfocused and loving the world.
Drawing closer to God, loves God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.
2)
Service
In service we will see people as Jesus.
Satan wants us to service our own agendas.
Drawing closer to God loves our neighbors as ourselves.
3)
Openness
In openness we experience communication with God.
Satan has little use for prayer. Does God really listen, anyway?
But we will discover knowing God is listening and sharing.
4)
Submission
When we arrive at Submission we will discover humility is essential.
The Devil is all about "doing it my way".
We will learn to speak only what love requires.
5)
Purity
In purity we will draw closer in sanctification.
The obstacle is our own self-centered
desires.
Purity makes us like God.
6)
Fellowship
God's friends are my friends.
Satan uses our relationships to discourage.
Our stories provide examples to follow.
7)
Contentment
Trust is what we need to Draw Closer to God.
Satan is all about whining about all the problems of this life.
I only need God for my happiness.
Notice the" Submit, Resist and Come" formula in each destination.
8)
Hope
We place the future in his hands.
Worry is Satan's obstacle.
Hope is all about trusting God for all our tomorrows.
9)
Worship
In private and congregational worship we unveil our true relationship with God.
Distractions keep us from worship.
God reveals himself in our sincere worship.
10)
Disciplines
In our discipline we live in awareness of his presence.
Laziness is a problem.
Scripture, meditation, fasting and these kind of disciplines, has the potential to draw us closer.
11)
Joy
Having fun in his presence is joy. God wants to have fun with us.
"Life is a drudge and then you die…" is Satan's lie.
Rejoice and again I say rejoice!
12)
Faithfulness
Walking everyday of our lives within him is faithfulness.
Tragedies destroy…
Or Tragedies draw us closer.
Wow, that sounds like quite the itinerary. If we can get off the boat at each of these destinations we will get closer to God.
Let me throw in a couple of disclaimers.
-This may not be the order. It most likely will end up in a different sequence. I am not the captain. I only go where he sends me.
-We may discover additional destinations and actually end up in some other places. So, there are no refunds if we don't get to all of these destinations. We may end up in some other places. I am not the captain of this cruise. Where ever we go, it is going to be a great cruise!
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So, here is the challenge…
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People want God, but instead they often get information about God. People hunger for transcendence, but as a substitute they frequently get a religion of rules, procedures, and preliminaries. People are trapped in the vestibule, and they cannot get inside the sanctuary. (Or the stay onboard and never get off the boat at the destinations.) They are-busy, very busy, put to work studying the Bible, observing regulations about "food and drink", organizing prayer chains and trips to the Holy Land, keeping rules "for the body" , planning the stewardship campaign, and generally laboring hard at the business of being religious. None of this activity is evil; indeed, most of it is good and useful, but it is not the thing itself, the thing we seek -- access to the living and healing God. - Thomas G. Long -
All cruise ships they have great banquets. On our anniversary cruise Tanya and I never saw anyone sitting at the tables not eating. There aren't any hungry people on a cruise ship. As we go on our cruise, this year, let's not go hungry. Let's jump into each banquet. Let's dine at each destination. Let's consume the living and healing God. I want us all to eat with God!
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