Traction-- This winter we here in the Seattle area had some of the worst snowfall we have had in about 70 years. And therefore I gained a new appreciation for two very important words. The first of these is “traction”. Yes, as I dug the snow out from under the wheels of my car numerous times so that we could get out of our driveway, I gained a new appreciation for this word “traction”; and a stronger dislike of this word “stuck”. And I remember one day in particular that was perhaps the...
Traction-- This winter we here in the Seattle area had some of the worst snowfall we have had in about 70 years. And therefore I gained a new appreciation for two very important words. The first of these is “traction”. Yes, as I dug the snow out from under the wheels of my car numerous times so that we could get out of our driveway, I gained a new appreciation for this word “traction”; and a stronger dislike of this word “stuck”. And I remember one day in particular that was perhaps the worst; and that was when all the snow and ice on the roads became slush. And you’d think slush would be better because the snow is breaking down. But it is actually the worst because as you car is trying to drive on it, is is moving underneath of it. The car can’t get a footing. And for those of you digging the snow out from under your car; or who had to try to push their car, you know how frustrating getting “stuck” can be.
And you know, you can be “stuck” just about anytime and anywhere. Because there are different ways you can be stuck. You can be stuck in a difficult job where things don’t seem like they’re going to get better; you can feel stuck in your relationships with your spouse or your kids or your extended family; you can be spiritually stuck in your relationship with God. And it just feels like you are snowed in. And you may wonder, “How do I get out of this?” “How can I start getting some traction again?” Well, just as a car needs something more than slush under its tires, so also you need something solid as your foundation as well. By the way, this is why the world has nothing to offer you in this area. If you look at the world right now, it is so mixed up, it hardly knows its left hand from it’s right. And the purely naturalistic view that it seeks to indoctrinate us with (whether its on television, social media, you name it); all of it just leaves us spinning our tires. Some say depend on science. Only problem is that science is always changing its theories; what is fact one century is often discarded the next. They always say, “This time we got it right!” But then new evidence is uncovered and the theories change. One decade they tell you your baby will die if it sleeps on its back. The next they’re telling you the baby will die if it doesn’t sleep on its stomach. One decade they’re telling you you need to brush with you toothbrush up and down; then it’s side to side; now you’re supposed TO DO IT IN CIRCLES!!!!! And really all of the wisdom of the world seems to be doing just that; we’re just running in circles; WE’RE….JUST….SPINNING….OUR TIRES. There is nothing solid you can depend on in this world; no unshakeable truth upon which you can lay a sturdy foundation for your life, knowing that that thing is not going to change;……that is, until we come to the Truth of Christ and His Word. For those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him, they discover something solid. Maybe this is why Jesus talks about us who spread the truth about Him as being the salt of the earth. Because when we give a world Christ, we are helping to break down the snowy slush and uncover for people something solid that can hold them steady. A wise Christian once wrote: [Our hope is not hung upon such untwisted thread as "I imagine so", or, "it is likely"; but the cable, the strong rope of our fastened anchor is the oath and promise of him who is eternal verity; our salvation is fastened with God's own hand, and Christ's own strength, to the strong stake of God's unchanging nature.]
Our Anchor-- It may surprise you to hear this, but: "The {primary} first century symbol {for the early church} wasn’t the cross; it was the anchor. [Epitaphs on believers' tombs dating as far back as the end of the first century frequently displayed anchors alongside messages of hope. Such expressions…speak to the hope Christians felt in their anticipation of heaven. Archaeologists found about 70 examples of these kinds of messages in one cemetery alone.] And person I read helps to make sense of this. He said:} If I'm a first century Christian and I'm hiding in the catacombs and three of my best friends have just been thrown to the lions or burned at the stake, or crucified and set ablaze as torches at one of [Emperor] Nero's garden parties, the symbol that most encourages me in my faith is the anchor. When I see it, I'm reminded that Jesus is my anchor.”
Hebrews 6:19 (NIV) says this, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Jesus wants to be our real and present Anchor. And knowledge of Him and His ways can be a solid foundation for your life. And that is what our new sermon series (FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE) is going to center on. How can you and I know God? What is important for us to know about God? And how can our relationship with Him give us the anchoring we need in today’s world. John chapter 17:1-6 says…
John 17:1-6 (ESV)-- 1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
“The Word We Do Not Speak Of”-- Now I have been told by one of my mentors (as I discussed this series with him) not to use a particular word. I will have to use quotes at times in which this word will show up. But I have been warned not to use this word myself (particularly in the title of this series (FOUNDATIONS FOR LIFE) simply because of how boring this word is. In fact, it is so boring that pastors have been unintentionally putting their congregations to sleep for years simply by using it. Pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know this word because their profits on sleep aids would immediately plummet. No magician could pronounce any incantation more powerful than this word if they wanted to put you to sleep. I will use it in a moment, but before I do, I’d like to kindly ask that you please angle your heads away from any hard objects. The word….are you ready….is “THEOLOGY” (YAWN). From now on the word just spoken will be referenced to as “the word we do not speak of.” Now I jest. But for many there is no word more boring. And that is because when we hear it, we immediately think of it as books and study about a subject that is too deep for anybody to understand. Now I disagree, but that is what we think; that it is too lofty, too deep, and too impersonal and therefore, boring. And sometimes theology (which is often defined as “the study of God”) can be impersonal and boring. But real theology never is. In fact, the first theology book that ever existed wasn’t like that at all. In fact, quite the opposite. The first theology textbook goes back even before the Bible was written. It was a theology textbook given to the first man ever created. God gave this theology textbook to Adam soon after Adam was created. And though God wrote this textbook, He allowed Adam to to give this theology textbook a name. And the title Adam chose for his first theology textbook was “woman”. And that woman’s name was Eve. And Eve was anything but boring. She was amazing. No Hallmark Valentine card sentiment could have captured what happened in Adam’s soul when God first presented her to him. And it was to be in a relationship with her that Adam would discover (in a small part) what God wanted in His relationship with Adam. Eve was God’s living and breathing theology book for Adam. And she was as about as far from impersonal as you could get. She came from his own body (God made her from one of his ribs). Adam describes her as “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. And it says in Genesis 4:1 that Adam “knew” his wife. And the two became one flesh.
Dissecting God-- There were classes I loved in high school; biology wasn’t one of them; they were unpleasant days, as during them my biology teacher (Mrs. Durand) had us dissect a fetal pig. But did she stop there? No. You would think one animal was enough but no. After fetal pig, we did cow heart, then rat, then maybe crawfish, and then (worst of all) we even did shark. Now I’m telling you, the stench from that thing was unbelievable (even worse than fetal pig, which I didn’t think was possible). I kid you not, you could smell those dead sharks from the opposite side of the school. I was so glad to be done with her class. And then of course when I got to Asbury University (as if I needed more practice) my teacher there had us dissect frog (which after shark, wasn’t that bad). But nonetheless disgusting. But in each of these instances I’m sitting there (putrid stench), and I’m trying to peel back the layers so I can see how this dead thing worked when it was alive. Now why do I tell you this. Well, I tell you this because so often times when we define the word “theology” we define it as “the study of God”; it’s a study of God just like a dead animal. He’s laying there on the operating table and we’re trying to figure out how He works. It’s all mental; it’s all cognitive; it’s all systematic. But that is not a Jewish way of understanding theology. Theology; true Christian theology (I don’t care what anybody says; it is NOT) merely “the study of God”. Because studying something is always impersonal. No, theology is not simply “the study of God”; it is “the knowledge of God”. And this is key.
WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL CONCEPT OF KNOWLEDGE?— One scholar makes the observation that [“Knowledge, as a general conception in the Old Testament, is quite unlike that in our…world.… For us, knowledge implies grasping things by reason, seeing things and their connection of cause and effect and the understanding of the component factors of something. The Westerner says that he knows a thing when he has analyzed a thing fully and when he can explain all the factors from which it…arose. That is, when he can give it a place in the whole of his range of ideas. In the Old Testament, knowledge is living in a close relationship with something or somebody, such a relationship as to cause what may be called communion.”] That is what Adam shared with Eve; and that is the kind of knowledge we are to have of God (not just cognitive, but relational; and it is both). To know (in the Jewish mind) is to totally experience the other person. And if you want salvation, you cannot just believe cognitively in God. No early Christian would ever have said that. And neither would Jesus. What does Jesus say?
John 17:3 (ESV)-- 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Do you Know?-- And my question to you today is, “Do you know Jesus?” Not about Him; or even that you believe in Him. Do you know Him. Do you relate with Him. I want to tell you today that that level of relationship is open to you. But you have to open yourself to it. You must move from God as idea/concept to God the person. You must know Jesus as your “personal” Savior. And that can happen right here; right now in this moment by simply opening your mouth and inviting Him into you life like that. If you want that, all you have to do is ask. Ask Him today, and He will meet you; and that personal relationship will begin and will give you hope for the present and an eternal hope for the future. Let’s seize that hope today. Amen.
