“Sustenance”
By Alan McCormick 8/14/2015
Well good morning again brothers and sisters! And thank you
for joining us on this 12th Sunday after Pentecost, that day so long
ago when God set his spirit upon the people and the church was born. We are in week three of a series on
spiritual transformation. A necessary component of our lives if we want to
truly experience God in new and exciting ways. What we need to do if we want to
break free from an anemic faith. To look for and discover what God calls for us
and wants for us to be. And to not only experience all that is found in God and
through Jesus Christ, but to sustain
it- to hold it close, and keep it; always.
In week one we talked about that “one big obstacle that we
need to overcome”. The demon or demons that each of us need to conquer to begin
to turn our lives in a direction that leads towards God. This was a lesson on
what we must do, to experience a transforming faith.
In week two we talked about taking steps into becoming what
God wants and has called us to be. We took a look at the scripture in Ephesians,
at spiritual gifts, and examined ourselves to ask: “Where do I want to be?”
“What kind of relationship to God can I aspire to?” We talked about taking
tangible steps to move towards God, and what that might look like in our
lives.
This brings us to part three- the final part- about
sustaining and keeping our promise and commitment towards our relationship with
God. For those of you who have been in the church circle a long time and know all
of the “church lingo”, you could call today “backsliding prevention”.
Let me start by saying that it is great to be a Christian. can I get an amen on that? I talk a good game
about being a Christian. I encourage everyone to become Christians. Why?
Because having faith in Jesus Christ changes lives. I have been a Social Worker
a long time now. I have witnessed transformations (small and large), but I can
say that I have NEVER witnessed transformation in my secular job like those
that I have witnessed when someone embraces Jesus Christ and starts living for
him. There is nothing like it!
But- and there is always a but- It is not easy to be a
Christian. And it’s getting harder and harder too. Being a Christian will right countless wrongs in your
life- and you WILL be blessed by it. But you will never hear me preaching a
prosperity gospel up here. If you accept Jesus, imitate him and live out his
gospel- your life will not suddenly become only rainbows and you will receive every
new truck you like at the dealership because you are now blessed by God. That’s
not how it works. Will your life improve? I’m sure of it. But like the
military, once you are in- you have a duty to do. It’s tough! Sometimes it
feels like the world is on your shoulders. And a lot of times- somebody’s world
IS on your shoulders. And then we Christians have a tendency to wear each other
down on top of it. Concerning ourselves with details and trivial nuances-
attacking each other over such little things- fighting a microscopic civil war-
when just outside our church doors is World War III. A battle for souls! A Battle for love.
So it’s easy to cave.
It’s easy to throw in the towel. It’s easy to back out; you stumble into a hard
rock on your journey of faith, stub your toe; then cry out “I’m NOT PLAYING
ANYMORE!” When you lose your job, your car breaks down, or even worse, you lose
a loved one. Someone dear to you- who was your rock. When life must go on but
it hurts just to get up in the morning. What do you do THEN? What will you do? And
the truth is- we can’t make it through these parts if we aren’t always and
continuously seeking God. Seeking his sustenance. Putting our weights and troubles
on Him, and trusting that he will
deliver.
We are talking this morning on a piece of scripture that
quotes Jesus on a remarkable statement. A statement that is profound, and was even
alarming to the people listening to him. This morning Jesus says, starting in
the book of John in Chapter six, beginning in verse 51:
“I
am the living bread that came down from heaven.
Anyone
who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread,
Which
I offer so that the world may live, is my flesh”
This is a PROFOUND thing to say. This is why it fired the
people up. Jesus links himself to the manna that the Israelites ate while in
the wilderness. The manna that needed to be sought after and collected every
day. Manna that sustained people during the hard times.
My best friend, Paul, has been delivering a sermon series
this month on this statement alone. It is loaded. A lot can be taken from it.
But where I am going with it is this: we
need to understand the manna. If we want to have a remarkable relationship
with God, and be “full grown” in faith, we must approach our faith as the
Israelites approached the manna:
The first thing that we need to know about the manna, is that
it was food given freely to the Israelites during the time that they were
awaiting the promised land. It sustained them, and was given out every day from
the heavens.
Second, it couldn’t be saved. If they tried to collect extra
manna and store it away, it would be rotted the very next day. Why is that
important? It made the people seek it, made them dependant on God.
Jesus is our manna. Our position with God and our
relationship with him is freely given to us. Yet like the Israelites we must go
out and get it every day. We must keep ourselves dependent on God. We cannot
get to proud to go to God in prayer. We must never think that we know enough of
the Bible to stop reading or studying it. We must seek sustenance. We must daily pray to
God, every day, and in every moment we can. We must live with gratitude towards
him. We need to always continue to step up our bible knowledge, and come to an
understanding of the fullness and completeness of Gods promises. We should seek
out solid Christian friendships, where we can support each other and be
transparent and open.
On the physical side of things we must not burn ourselves
out. Our scripture in Ephesians makes some clear points about how we should
live. Is that because God wants to restrict us? No! Instead it is because God
knows that when we don’t take care of ourselves, or that when we drink, we
start making poor judgment calls- and then before we know it we are back to our
old ways or buried in another sin.
I am no different from you… But if all the time we have spent
together boils down to one thing, I pray that it is that you have begun to seek
out and find opportunities and the degree of faith that God has in store for
you. You are never to young, to old. Or too far gone. You are only loved.
Would you pray with me?
Heavenly Father,
We praise and thank you for blessing us. Blessing us with
your word. Blessing us with your spirit. And for blessing us with the tools to
change our lives. To live different. To be different. To have relationships
with you and others like no other. Only you father give us these things. And
with gratitude we come to you with hearts ready to receive it. In you glorious
name we pray, Amen.
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