Pastor Pat Edwards 10/21/2007
Grace Baptist Church in Bountiful, Utah

Ecclesiastes 3.1 says, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. Some of the things I will be sharing with you I haven't shared with the entire congregation before although I suspect many of you sensed where I was at. The verse in Ecclesiastes explains why I didn't share everything with everyone months ago. It had to be the right time and place. I have returned from my sabbatical with some important convictions clarified. One is that I'm convinced many Christians are missing out on eternal life. The things that convince me are lack of joy, lack of hunger and thirsting for righteousness, absence of holiness, how closely the church mirrors the society, our individualism and separation from others, our reliance on man-made techniques and the motives that appear to drive us. Last winter and spring I became especially discouraged about all these things and many others. And I found it hard to break free from the expectations and practices of the American church. When I accepted these expectations and practices at looked at my ministry I felt like a failure at every level I could measure.

Frankly I was ready to step down but everyone I talked with encouraged me to not be hasty, to take some time to try and sort things out. The board approved a sabbatical and you the congregation unanimously supported their decision.

So I went away for three and half months. I went two miles away to my home across the freeway. I shared with you several weeks ago some of the things I did and what occurred. Let me flesh that time out a little more. When people ask me how it was I now tell them it was chaotic, filled with the unexpected and surprisingly rewarding. That perspective has come in the last few weeks. I wasn't particularly spiritual; I didn't pray much although I did read scripture almost every day. I tried not to think about Grace because it hurt too much. I did think a lot about how to graciously leave ministry. I know from all my reading and discussions that's fairly common for pastors. That's why most leave after 3-5 years in a church - if they can't quit ministry they can at least find a new beginning.

I only read five "spiritual" books and I consciously stayed away from "how to" books - how to increase attendance, how to reach the lost, how to share the plan of salvation, how to develop a vision for your church, how to impact your community for Christ, how to turn your church around, how to create a dynamic worship service. There are hundreds if not thousands of books out there telling churches and pastors "how to" do it right. I've already read too many of those books and none of their promises have ever come true and I knew they would just make me feel worse than I already did.

But the Lord spoke clearly to me in the five I did read, "Prayer" by Philip Yancey, "Hearing God" by Dallas Willard and three books by Eugene Peterson written specifically for pastors. How much he spoke I didn't fully realize until after I came back. One of the things I relearned in a powerful way I shared with you in my first sermon, "Life with God is a mystery to be experienced, not a problem to be solved." Another way I've said that is, there is no cause and effect in the Kingdom of God. 2 plus 2 doesn't necessarily add up to four. Putting it theologically, it's all grace and it's beyond me to figure it out the working of an infinite, all- wise, all-powerful God. I need to stick close to the foundation because I'm too easily swayed if I get very far off the ground. For the next five sermons I'm going to hug the ground because I know a lot of you are where I've been and I'm convinced Jesus has much more for each of us than we're currently experiencing. I'm using an outline from a book by Henri Nouwen, "Life of the Beloved." It was written at the request of a nonbeliever asking him to explain spirituality in terms he and his circle of secular friends could understand. After he finished Nouwen was told by the friend that he failed, they just couldn't connect with what he was saying but his publisher liked the book and it has been helpful to Christians for the last decade.

Nouwen told his young friend that the key word he wanted to share with him was "beloved," that to understand human life we need to understand our relationship to God - that we are created to be his beloved. John 3.16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Nouwen tried to tell these secular people the good news, the gospel, and it's so simple but they didn't have ears to hear or eyes to see. The way I'm going to put it this morning is God loves, has loved and will love every human being ever created and he wants each one of us to enjoy his life with him forever. Or the way the Westminister Shorter Catechism puts it, "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever."

But how do we become the beloved; how do we experience God's love for us? We ask that because we may not be feeling the love of the Lord or we know people who aren't. This week and over the next four sermons I'll try to answer that question and share how the answer impacts our lives. God loves everyone. I've already said that but it's hard to believe we are beloved because of all the messages that deny it. Our culture tells me, an older man, that to be beloved I need hair implants and a dye job. I need a six pack (of abs and beer) and a high performance car. And the pressure is even greater on women if they want to be loved. I don't have the time to go into all the ways family and friends can make us feel unloved but you already know what they are because you've been both the victim and perpetrator of such behavior. Our feelings of being unlovable are further reinforced by our own view of ourselves and the way we think about others - that being beloved requires possessing qualities or attributes that make us worth loving. But the good news is God loves you unconditionally. None of this temporary, artificial stuff matters to him. Attributes or special qualities don't affect his love for us. After all, you are his unique creation who can blossom into your full potential by accepting his love.

And that's the key, This relationship with God has to be our first and highest priority. His voice must be the first and last one I hear. I need to tune my ear to his voice and cut through all the other noise that fills my life. I need to believe His attitude toward me is greater than all other attitudes combined. I need to believe John 3.16 - that God the Father loves mankind so much he allowed God the Son to give his life as a sacrifice to save me. I need to believe God is that good and that loving and accept it.

But again, how do I experience that love - which I don't think most Christians today experience? We hold back because we don't really believe it and we don't believe it on many different levels. Like the song says, we're "Looking for love in all the wrong places" and I might add, in all the wrong ways.

To experience love I have to make myself available to it. It's there but will I accept love, will I receive it? How many movies or tv programs or plays or books or stories have we been exposed to where someone is offering love and the other person refuses to receive it? We watch or listen or read and we think,"Come on, give in, let them hug you or hold you or compliment you. Accept their love!"

I said earlier God loves us so much he wants to share his life with us. In John 17 Jesus Said, 1"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. Because he loves us he wants us to have eternal life with him but we fail to understand what eternal life is. At it's most basic we think it's some pleasant future experience that means we won't go to hell. But eternal life is knowing God intimately; it's living with God like God from the moment we first accept his love. We experience his love by living intimately in his presence. It means we've got to get rid of the junk that keeps us apart because we believe his love for us means the very best of life - not as the world defines it but as he does. This is the most basic truth of life, you were made to be loved by God, to be his beloved. His love is not dependent on you but on him. He chooses to love you. Of course you can refuse it but he will never voluntarily withdraw his love unless you reject it.

I want to close by making two points. First, your eternal life depends on understanding and accepting this truth. Those who have no understanding of God's unconditional love will not accept it and receive eternal life. Other's may believe God loves them but then get sidetracked along the way. They may think they've lost his love because of sin or they may not be feeling his love as they expect. For those of you who may be struggling with that let me encourage you to open your eyes and ears. Listen to the words of James, Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.1.16-17 Things may be difficult right now, a mystery that's beyond your comprehension, pain of various types may be overwhelming and your cries to the Lord feel unanswered but think about what James tells us. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father and he never changes. He speaks continuously throughout each day. That warm shower this morning, the beauty of autumn, the smile in the hall, the cup of coffee or juice, the car that brought you here - if there is anything good in your life the Lord has given it to you because he loves you. You may not be hearing what you want to hear but that doesn't mean God isn't constantly expressing his love for you. And everything begins with that truth.

The second point I want to make is that to experience eternal life, to grow, you must seek to remain constantly in God's presence. Absence may make the heart grow fonder... for awhile, but then "out of sight, out of mind" takes control. Let your love for Jesus draw you close and remain in his presence. It's so obvious, so basic, but so many fail to just stay present with the Lord and experience the fullness of life he longs for us to experience. To often we choose as Christians to try to have both, some life in the world and life with the Lord. The foundation of knowing God's love and living his life with him has to be built and maintained but so many people want to rush on with the actual building of a life that they fail to establish that solid foundation and if it doesn't collapse, it's unstable and wavers when the least force comes against it.