CMLC 2024-08-18 Sermon

One of the things I wanted to talk with you all about is that we have oftentimes this idea

of whatever is surrounding us is our opportunity for what influences us. Whatever it is that surrounds

us is the very thing that ends up affecting us the most. Now one of the things is a few years ago

some of us were out on a boat that we had. Now while we're out there you need to realize

something about me. I get motion sickness. It is bad. It is not a good thing. Now the thing with

it is that being on that boat I was not feeling too great and neither were a couple of the guys

that were next to me as well. Now as we're over there contemplating what we had had for breakfast

that morning what we're thinking about also is that the boats captain said you know what

you'll feel better if you jump into the water. Okay so we're out on this lake just get off the

boat you'll get on the into the lake you'll feel much better. Now we did jump into the lake like

we were told but you see the reason why the boat is rocking is because of the water okay. I don't

know what it was that they were thinking at the time but we were still feeling nauseous and not

good at all and what I realized is that the guy next to me was feeling worse than I was and I realized

what was about to happen and that if it did it doesn't go away it stays right there with you in

the water. So I leaned back and I just started kicking and I kicked my way I swear it was like

a quarter mile off to the shore. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I knew that

whatever was going to be there I did not want to be stuck with it and about an hour later when

they finally picked me up yep turns out exactly happened and I'm very glad I got away when I did.

The thing with it is you know just in case anybody didn't know who it was so there you go.

But our surroundings oftentimes decide what affects us what we are around ends up determining

what influences us and whether we are around things that are keeping us focused on what is good and

right or whether we're around things that are distracting us and pulling us down no matter

what it may be whatever we are surrounded by ends up influencing us in many ways. Now one of the

things that we discover is that we as people and not just Americans but really throughout the world

so many of us spend about an average of seven hours a day in front of some sort of screen.

Seven hours a day. Now I'm saying that and some of you may be thinking wait a minute I'm from an

earlier generation I don't spend seven hours in front of a screen every day remember that's an

average so if you're not spending seven hours in front of a screen every day half with your

cell phone and half with a computer that's how many more hours the next generation is spending

because even middle schoolers might end up spending nine hours a day in front of a screen.

The thing is is that they are constantly being influenced just like we are and what are some

of the things that are influencing us so for example as it turns out is that there have been

different trends that happen at different points in time so for example you might end up having

some people that are stacking milk crates up in a giant pyramid triangle and they're trying to get

up to the top of the milk crates and then walk back down to the bottom when it turns out based

on physics they are not going to stay upright and you're going to fall on your face but there are

videos of people trying to do that so what is it that people try to do they try to do the exact

same thing themselves or then there are others who apparently think that well you're going to have

to keep your detergent closed and tightened and locked down because there are videos out there

of people eating pods of detergent now does that sound like a good idea to be eating a pod of

detergent absolutely not but it's on a video on the internet so what is influencing people every

single day watching somebody eating a pod of detergent and even to the point where there are

people in schools they they are stealing things and you might think to yourself okay people steal

pencils or erasers or something simple no no no sinks young people in schools will steal the sink

from a bathroom or a toilet bowl they will go in rip it out and try to steal it why because they

saw somebody doing it on tiktok or instagram or facebook or youtube or whatever whatever we talk

here at the church about being involved in small groups or youth group or children's ministry

this is not just trying to give you something else to check off your box it is that all of us are

genuinely being influenced by things each and every day and we are looking for opportunities

to help you be influenced by what is good and right not just by whatever may come up in front of you

see it's very easy oftentimes for us to hide the things that we're struggling with because oftentimes

we can end up pulling ourselves into the darkness you see we pull away from what is light in the

world and we hide away because we don't want other people to see the things that we're facing or

struggling but are we going to be able to deal with the issues in society are we going to be able

to deal with the issues that we see in our world better if we are by ourselves and isolated from

each other or if as the people of god we actually come together to hold each other accountable

to grow in faith to grow in our life and what we learned are we more likely to be able to deal with

all of the messiness that we're seeing in our world when we isolate ourselves from each other

or when we spend time with each other learning and praying and doing what is right together

whenever we were isolated during the times of covid and later we were not truly isolated we were

still being influenced each and every day either by the things that were being put online in front

of us or by the individuals that we did see who were being influenced by everything on there

now you may be saying to yourself well you know what I am going to church once a week

all right pastor Jason he does ramble about marvel comics from time to time but you know what

he does talk about the bible in there somewhere so you know what maybe a good 20 minutes in there

I'm doing well I'm learning a lot right but you see just by sitting and listening you're only

you're only going to absorb about 10% of what I'm teaching so out of a 20 minute sermon you may

absorb two minutes of it and then it's anyone's guess what you'll remember by tomorrow see there's

a whole cycle a whole method by which we try to internalize the things that we've learned you see

this idea of going from head knowledge to heart knowledge there's actually a whole a whole process

by which people actually internalize what they learned into their lives you have to take the

time to to frame it as far as why is what we're discussing today a part of a larger picture

and then you can't try to learn all of it at once you have to take it piece by piece a little at a

time one bite-sized chunk at a time and then you have to have a debrief to discuss the key points

about what was learned now are we stopping in the middle of the sermon to debrief

no because we're Lutheran we don't do that but then even afterwards is to pause

and to let whatever we learn sink in for a few minutes first and then when we do

to come back together to discuss it again in the bigger context and finally to give you a chance

to say what did you learn how is it that we oftentimes conduct a church someone's supposed

to teach you the right answers you learn the right answer and then you go back to your life

but everything we know about how we learn is that that does not stick you have to have an

opportunity to share what did you pick up what did you actually absorb what did you learn and

actually share it with other people have we given ourselves as the church that time that

opportunity to process or is all that we want do we just want to have a 20 minute data dump

and hope that maybe one or two things stick and that's one of the harder parts about this

is that the life of discipleship is not a one hour data dump it is a life that is transformed

and lived together it says in our passage wake up sleeper rise from the dead and christ will

shine on you if you're looking at it in the in your bible in front of you it probably has it set

aside as a quote the apostle paul is quoting something and if you try to go and do a search

and try to figure out what he's quoting you're not going to find anything because what he said is

not an exact quote from anybody and that's why i think that the apostle paul is like me because

it doesn't matter how many times i may see the same television show or the same movie or listen to

the same music i am going to quote it wrong every single time i'll get one word wrong i'll get 10

words wrong i will get something wrong but it still matters to me and i still like to do my best to

say it and that's the thing about paul is that he's trying to get across something that still

stands out in his mind and even though he's in prison and he doesn't have all this books he

cannot quote it exactly he's trying to get a point across to you and so the debate comes down to are

you discussing something that isaia said or something that jonah said now you may be wondering why

does that matter because isaia was sharing the difference between do the things that are good

rather than the things that are evil but jonah was a little different because jonah had to come back

from the dead jonah was swallowed by a fish if you are swallowed by another animal that's pretty

well assuming that you're probably dead by now and yet what happens is that god moves that fish to

spit him back out so he could do the work he'd been sent to do do we really want to stay in a world

of death if you found yourself in a box sealed up and six feet below the ground and someone

were to come and dig you out and open up the lid would you want to stay in that coffin or more

than that would you want to go back to it if you realize that you are living in a home with hoarding

where the rooms are so packed and so cluttered that you cannot even think or you cannot even move

and someone were to come and to clear out everything for you and give you your house back

would you want to go back to where you were before and yet what do we continually do

we want to make space and time and energy for everything else that is around us

that has no interest in our well-being and yet we want to shrink more and more and more of the time

that we have with the people and the presence of God how much more do we want to narrow down

how little we have to spend with God because the thing about our life in Christ is that it's not

something that just happens by osmosis we're not just hoping that we absorb something maybe a little

piece but it is about our whole life being formed and shaped and influenced by the one who is around us

but you see this is not pastor Jason trying to come up and just get you to try to add a bunch

of more things to get on your plate that's going to exhaust you and bore you and wonder why in the

world that I do this because living a godly life it's meant to be one of joy and friendship

it's meant to be one where we get to live in ways that bring us hope and that bring us to a place

where we want to be there was a time in my life I was a little bit young where I thought that when

I saw a musical that I thought that those were people who were genuinely just in their life

singing and dancing without any preparation in exact harmony and exact step with one another

I thought when I was a little kid that all the people those musicals they just naturally knew the

songs and they just naturally knew how to dance with each other and I thought as long as I'm a good

dancer and singer someday I'll be able to do that no matter where I am what I'm doing I will not

tell you how old I was when I realized that that was staged and that that doesn't happen in real life

but what I did think about one time is what would be the closest I could come to that

and so when I was in my 30s and I went with a college group to go to a mission trip to New Jersey

it had a a hurricane that blew through there and they we were going off to go and do a

bunch of work out there to clean up and while we were doing dishes I just looked over at some people

and I realized I hadn't been able to sing karaoke for a while and I just started saying you never

close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips because of course I love top gun you have to

know the words after top gun and so I'm singing through it and people are like looking over

and everything and I just finally go and gesture everybody baby I know it you lost that love and

feeling and they were singing whoa that love and feeling and I think they got the words right you

lost that love and feeling now it's gone gone gone whoa whoa see and a few more people saying this

time than in the early service so thank you for that because whenever we are with people

that's the time whenever we influence them the most but then what we did after laughing

and singing is we went we prayed together and we talked about what we did and we found joy the

next day for the rest of our trip that's the thing about this life of discipleship with each

other y'all this is not about trying to add extra tasks this is about finding joy with each other

and that in that joy we have purpose and meaning and we grow in God's word together

so I hope and pray that this year and in the years to come that when we talk about being

accountable to each other we see the joy that we get to have about being that influence with one

another and I hope you'll be here next week because we have a lot of this to do together

as a community that loves one another finds joy together and grows in faith and in relationship

with God and with one another with that thanks be to God