Larry E. Lenow

FUMC

2-17-08

Lent 2A

Purpose Driven Life 1

 

 

“It’s All About Relationship”

Text: John 3:1-17

 

The young man sits down at his computer to read his messages.  “Thirty-something, single, female.  Likes talking, beach walks and sports.  Looking for long-term relationship.”  The young man considers it favorably, likes what he reads, so he sends a reply:  “Will you marry me?”  Wait.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Isn’t that the way it works these days?  You fill out on online form.  A computer system watches you up based on twenty-seven compatibility points.  When the numbers match, voila, you’ve found your soul mate.

 

Now I don’t want you to think that I’m poking fun at online matching services.  The truth of the matter is that I know a number of folks for whom such services have worked beautifully.    And I suspect that any of you who have ever tried such a service could tell us that it’s a little bit more complicated than that.  Such services may be a better way of meeting people than going to clubs or random encounters but even when you meet someone with similar interests as yourself, that’s only the beginning isn’t it?  Maybe there will be chemistry, maybe there won’t.  Perhaps sparks will happen, perhaps not.  It might work, it might not.  It’s hard to say.  At that point, it’s all about relationship.

 

It’s all about relationship.  In strong marriages spouses love each other more than themselves.   Loving parents would sacrifice their lives for their children without even thinking about it.  Committed supporters will go to great lengths for their candidate, but if they are not energized they may or may not bother to vote.  It’s personal, in fact it’s interpersonal.  Relationships are the stuff of life.

 

For the benefit of any newcomers this morning I should point out that during this holy season of lent our congregation is studying Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life. To talk about life being “purpose driven” is simply a different way saying life with meaning, lives that matter, lifestyles that are fulfilling.  We are talking about, if you will, the secrets of living well.  Purpose 1, Warren says, it that You Were Planned For God’s Pleasure.  You were planned for God’s pleasure, or to put it differently – it’s all about relationship.

 

Let’s define our terms, shall we?  Again, according to Warren, “Bringing pleasure to God is called ‘worship….Anything you do that brings pleasure to God is an act of worship.  Like a diamond, worship is multifaceted…Anthropologists have noted that worship is a universal urge, hard-wired by God into the very fiber of our being – an inbuilt need to connect with God.  Worship is as natural as eating and breathing.  If we fail to worship God, we always find a substitute, even if it ends up being ourselves….Depending on your religious background, you may need to expand your understanding of worship.  You may think of church services with singing, [praying, and listening to a sermon.  Or you may think of ceremonies, candles and communion.  Or you may think of healing, miracles, and ecstatic experiences.  Worship can include these elements, but worship is far more than these expressions.  Worship is a lifestyle.

 

Now to get a handle on what that means, let’s ask ourselves this question:  What makes good worship, meaningful worship, powerful worship?  A beautiful and holy setting, think about the resources spent on creating churches to the glory of God.  But wait, I personally have experiences powerful worship in some unlikely and not particularly holy settings.  A nondescript classroom, a bus, an impersonal civic center, a hotel lounge.   A holy settings helps, believe me, but that’s not it.  Music then.  Who among us has not been moved either by beauty of a choral anthem, a solo or rocked by the band?  Again, I worshipped when the only music is the sound of sheer silence.  It can be powerful.  Preaching, the power of the Word.  Well, in my office I have copies of some of the most powerful, most profound and most important sermons in all the centuries of the Christian faith.  And if I brought one out and read it to you I would lose every one of you inside of five minutes.  And while that would mimic my own record, it’s not just the power of the spoken word.  What’s the difference?  What makes powerful worship?  Half of you are saying the presence of the Holy Spirit, amen, true enough.  But the Spirit is always available; God’s presence is not the problem.  The difference, the key, is how much we open ourselves to that Spirit; it’s how much of ourselves we bring to worship.  You see, it’s all about relationship.

 

You see, worship is not about us.  So, if you come and fold your arms and say “Entertain me, teach me or even move me,” you may or may not get what you want.  But that’s all.  Worship is not about what we get, it’s about what we give.  Focus on what we offer to God and all things are possible.  We have to surrender.  Surrender has rather a negative connotation, a negative taste, doesn’t it?  We don’t like to surrender control; we don’t like to surrender focus on ourselves.  But we have to surrender ourselves in order to gain our true selves.  We do it in other ways:  you want to learn to swim?  You have to stop struggling and relax.  You want to dance.   At some point you have to stop counting and give yourself to the rhythm.  You want to write?  You have to let it flow from you.  You want a smooth golf swing?  No, I still don’t believe that one.  When we bring ourselves to God, when we give ourselves to God, when we surrender everything we do becomes an act of worship.  Worship becomes a lifestyle.  E. Stanley Jones observed, “If you don’t surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos.”  It’s all about relationship.

 

Nicodemus, one the Pharisees, comes to Jesus at night.  Not to trap Jesus, not to trick him, but he comes at night; he doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s there.  “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who had come from God.  No one can do what you do apart from the presence of God.  Tell me, what must we do to enter the Kingdom of God?”  What must we do?  Jesus, give me a program, give me instructions, give me a plan.  Jesus answers, “No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born from above?”  You have to be born, you have to experience.  “How can this be?’ responds Nicodemus.  I don’t get it.  I don’t understand.  I can’t wrap my mind around it.  I want to work this out intellectually.  Nope, says, Jesus, you have to be born of the Spirit.  It’s not a matter of thinking; it’s not a matter of doing; it’s a matter of being.  You have to surrender.  You have to give yourself to it.

 

My brothers and sisters our purpose in this life is to please God.  We please God by living to God.  So let me close, no – no, let me open the coming week with a couple of questions.  First, what was your attitude when you brought yourself to worship today?  Was it what you get, or is what you give?  Worship is a lifestyle and worship isn’t about you.  So what attitude did you bring?  And second, what do you need to give to God?  What stands between you and God?  It is in giving ourselves that we get our authentic selves.

 

It’s all about relationship.