Giving Up: Your Life for God

Amen.

Thank you so much.

You may be seated.

Happy St Patrick's Day.

Happy birthday, ben.

Happy Sunday.

It's kind of chilly out there this morning, right?

I want to tell you that if you're going through communion sometime and you drop that little wafer in that wine cup, it happened in my line today no big deal, right?

That is the bread of life, and we have lots of it to give out.

It's like Oprah bread of life for you and bread of life for you.

So don't ever fret if that happens.

We might not let you take the wine cup with you when you leave, but we surely have lots of bread to hand out.

We are in the fifth week of our sermon series around here.

It's called Giving Up.

Have you enjoyed it so far if you've been a part event?

Yeah, we're in the fifth week.

The week one was on Giving Up Control.

It's all about giving up things that have like control or possession over a life, that keep us distanced from Jesus.

And what a perfect time to do that, except during this Lenten season.

So we hope we're challenging you.

We hope you're blessing you with the words and the sermons and the messages and everything else that leaves with it.

The first week we talked about giving up control.

Nobody has a problem with that, right?

Oh, it's Liars.

So we were challenging you to give up control, and that particular Sunday, ryan asked you to write on a piece of paper what might have control over your life, or what do you think you have control over, and then bring it up to the cross and leave it at the cross, and I was so moved by the number of people that came forward at those services for that.

The second week, ben spoke to us about unrealistic expectations, those that we put on ourselves and those that others put on us, and then we are bound by those often, and so we don't want to be living in unrealistic expectations.

The third week we talked about superiority, and then last week we talked about enemies, which was really hard for me.

Turning the other cheek, it's a big challenge for most of us.

I would say Amen.

This week, we're going to be talking about giving all of that up, as we challenge you to give up your life for God, and I would have to say that, of all of the topics, this probably is the hardest one, not because I'm sharing it and I had to write it, but because, if you can't give up your control and your expectations and your superiority and your enemies, then it's pretty impossible to give up your life, because those things then have a hold on you.

Next week we're going to be talking about giving up popularity, and I thought that's super cool because it's Palm Sunday and so Jesus, surely, is giving up his popularity as he moves into Holy Week.

And I was giving Ryan a kudos of like that's really a good choice, and he's like, well, yeah, I picked it for Palm Sunday.

I'm like that's why you get paid the big bucks.

So we're going to begin this morning in prayer.

Will you pray with me, father?

We thank you for this opportunity to be challenging ourselves about giving up things that have holds on us, and so many of these topics have been so tough, and I hope that, as we have left this place, this place, these doors, that we have not only challenged ourselves but challenged others in our lives, that may have those holds on us to give up these things.

Today, as we talk about giving up our life for you, may my words, may my thoughts be yours, and for those who are hearing this message today, maybe they plant these seeds into their hearts and into their mindsets and leave today, recognizing that you are in charge of all that we do, and so, by us giving up our lives, really, then, we're working and doing the kingdom work that you call us to do every day of our life.

We love you, jesus.

In your name, we pray Amen.

Well, really, when I started thinking about this sermon, I thought the title really should be good luck with that, because as we talk about giving up our lives to Jesus, let's face it, that's pretty hard stuff, right, and almost difficult to do.

I don't know that anybody can deny that.

What does it really mean to give up our lives for him?

And why would we give up our lives in a world that offers us so much?

I mean, watch any reality TV show.

Amen, isn't that what we're told to live for?

Isn't that what we're told?

That those things will give us happiness, lust and money, selfish desires, big houses, fancy cars, social status.

If we can have all of that here on earth, then why should we or why would we give up our life for God?

And yet we know, as Christ followers, that that's not all.

We know that, as Christ followers, there's something missing in this world.

Or why are we here on a Sunday morning.

Why do we come here on any given Sunday morning?

To be cleansed.

That's what I hope we desire for.

Do we come for your weekly pick me up, like this is our little country club on a Sunday morning?

Do we come because of the free coffee, because it's really good right?

Do we come for the friends couch setting that we have out in the lobby?

I hope not.

I hope it's because you want to be showered and cleansed with God's word through our messages and through our worship music, through our prayer time and through the community that lives with you out here and in other areas of your life.

I hope you come here because you find that you need God in the spaces of your empty life.

I know that's why I come.

I know that's why I have always participated in church on Sunday mornings and in this Christ Christian life, because I want my mindset to be cleansed and to be reset when I leave here.

But it surprises me that it often doesn't take me long before I leave these doors and I find the nearest mud puddle to start rolling in like a pig that it wants to go to show.

I grew up in 4-H.

I was a city kid, but I was around a lot of farmers and during the county fair we spent a lot of time washing and cleansing cows and pigs to show.

Ever been around a pig that wants to be cleaned?

They don't like it, do they?

So when we were washing the pigs, it was my job then to sit on the outside of the pen and make sure that they didn't roll in the mud or didn't roll in the dirt or didn't roll in the hay.

And guess what they did?

They did it because they love their stink.

And we're not any different.

We do too.

Our intentions, I think, are good as followers of Christ, aren't they?

I mean, we come to church, we read our devotions in our Bibles every day, we sing and listen to KTS and worship music, we go to classes and we participate in things like journey groups and house churches, and all of that's good and we need all of that.

But when the pen gates are opened and the world runs rampant around us, sometimes rolling in the mud feels a little bit normal and a little bit easier, because giving yourself to God means longing for Him to completely possess, rule, satisfy and use us for His purpose, not ours, and that feels like an uphill battle when we live in a world that pushes back and there are mud puddles everywhere to be found.

Ryan and Ben have been talking about this the past four weeks the contradicting message of living with one foot in the kingdom and one foot out of the kingdom.

The world tells us to live this way and Jesus tells us to live this way.

The Sermon on the Mount is all about that, which is what Ryan and I have talked about.

Last week Ryan talked about it.

On Ash Wednesday.

I spoke about it when Jesus literally tells those that come to hear Him speak on the mountain.

You have heard it was said this way, but I tell you this way.

You have heard it was said the old law, the prophets, the teachers, the Old Testament.

But I'm telling you we have to shift, we have to live this way.

He said it six times in the Sermon on the Mount and on the seventh time he said with authority.

You have heard it said, but I say as if he's saying to us there's no other option.

This is the way we need to live, and isn't that the struggle that we have as Christ followers?

Isn't that the struggle that the Jews had?

I asked Ryan his thoughts about a week ago on this topic of giving up your life for God, and he summed it up in one paragraph.

And then we can all go home.

He said this God creates life from death.

What are you laughing at?

Are you reading ahead?

He is the great, isn't he?

He missed it at the first service.

He said God creates life from death, nothingness and hopelessness.

The Bible is full of such paradoxes, as Jesus tells us that those who try to keep their lives will die, but those who give up their lives for others will live.

We are used to thinking of life in terms of fixed beginnings and ends, but the story of Jesus calls us to throw away our old categories and embrace God's larger version of eternal life that has beginnings here and now.

Do you hear the struggle with our faith and following Jesus when he calls us to throw our old thoughts out and embrace something different that feels opposite of the life that we are told to live?

When we hear that, we cringe?

And we struggle, don't we?

Because of the paradox.

The idea of giving your life for God is seemingly absurd and truly contradictory to this world, but the word tells us time and time again that this needs to be our focus as followers.

Multiple scriptures tell us to die for ourselves so we can live.

We need to die to ourselves so we can live, in the books of Isaiah and Romans and Luke and Mark and Philippians and Galatians and 1 Corinthians and 1 Peter and so many more, and in the story of John that we heard today.

In the story it exemplifies it wholly, as Lazarus dies literally and symbolically to live again.

And I also believe that this story tells us how to do it, because isn't that the challenge?

Sounds great on paper, sounds great when I'm reading it, but how do I do it?

The influence of the story begins in John 11, verse 1, where we meet Lazarus family in Bethany, and it's a little town near Jerusalem, off the road of Judea.

John 11:1

I was so impressed with Ryan's map that he drew for us a couple weeks.

I took it and I Embellished it.

You're welcome.

There's Bethany where this little story takes place, and it is here where John tells us that a man, lazarus, was sick and his sisters, mary and Martha, sent for Jesus to come and help their brother because they believed in his ability to heal.

Now, jesus loved this family.

He was close to them, he spent time with them, but when he heard, they wanted him to come back.

He waited a couple days to come and heal or to come and see Lazarus, and I thought that was interesting.

But he said to his disciples this illness does not lead to death.

Rather, it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

He knew what he was doing by waiting.

He knew that Lazarus was going to die, so he was prompting the disciples to witness once again the glory of God.

And so they left for Bethany, which, by the way, the disciples had warned him, if we go to Bethany now, there's a good chance that we're going to be stoned.

It had happened a couple weeks prior to that.

So they said why don't we go at nighttime?

That will be more safe.

And Jesus said to them are there not 12 hours of daylight?

Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by the world's light.

It's when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.

Did you hear that?

He's telling the disciples and us that when we walk in the light there is nothing to fear?

It's only when we walk by darkness that we stumble.

When they arrived in Bethany, they discovered Lazarus had been dead for four days and Martha came running out of the house To meet Jesus and she said Jesus, why didn't you come sooner?

We sent for you.

If you would only have come, you could have been healed, you could have saved him.

And Jesus declares to her I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live even though they die.

In other words, girl, where is your faith?

Have we not discussed this how many times?

Why don't you trust me?

Those who believe in me will live eternally in heaven, even after their mortal life has come to an end.

Martha told Jesus yeah, I believe that.

And then she called for Mary to come out, and Mary and the other mourners had been in the house weeping and crying.

And they came out and Mary Dropped her knees in front of Jesus and shared the same sediment and asked the same questions when have you been?

Why didn't you come sooner?

We believed you could heal him and this time Jesus was angered and he wept, which tells me that our God cares, amen.

He asked to see the body and to have the stone rolled to the side, but Martha told him that there had been four days since Lazarus death and the body would probably smell.

And Jesus responded Didn't I tell you that I will bring glory to God?

See that I can make Ryan slide so much prettier.

But he stated to her didn't I tell you?

I told you I was gonna bring the glory of God.

They took the stone away and Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and he prayed to God.

The reading that we shared today.

Father, I thank you for having heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here so that they may believe that you sent me.

When he had said this, he cried with the loud voice Lazarus, come out.

The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth.

And Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go.

Does anyone else hear the passive, aggressive tone that Jesus is using and who can blame him?

Father, I always hear you.

I always know you hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd, so that they will finally believe that you sent me, that they will finally believe.

And he then demands Lazarus to come out of the dead state and to be unbind and let him go.

This story is beautiful and it's full of symbols and life and mystery, as it clearly offers us the summary of Jesus divinity, representing his ability to conquer death itself through bringing the dead back to life.

How many times have you heard that story and how many times have you thought another miracle of Jesus raising him from the dead?

How many times have you read that story or heard that story and saw yourself?

In that story?

We are Lazarus.

Now I won't speculate on where Lazarus was during the four days heaven, hell, purgatory or some other place.

All we know is that Jesus told his disciples that he was dead.

But after being called from that mysterious place, lazarus, like us, has to make a decision.

He has to make a choice.

He can a listen to the voice of Jesus, rise from his stone bed and walk out covered with his grave claws, wondering what will await me, or he can be remain inside his tomb and stay dead.

Lazarus picked life.

He heard the voice calling him to come out.

He recognized it, he trusted it and he followed the call.

He chose life.

He chose to live a life for God, in trust and in a light that will not allow him to stumble, and as proclaimed Christ followers, this is our call as well.

We are called to come out of our dead life.

We are called to follow and trust and walk in the light so we don't stumble.

We are to trust the one that parted the Red Sea.

We are to trust the one that dropped manna from the sky.

We are to trust the one that sent a son to walk with us and talk with us and love us unconditionally.

We are to trust the one that raises us from the dead.

Cs Lewis writes we trust not because a God exist, but because this God exist.

When we walk in trust of this God, we walk in light of him, not in the darkness of this world, but a light that shines no matter what our circumstances, no matter our worry or our heartache or our brokenness.

We walk in the light of trust and we choose to make sacrifices that will allow us to live not of ourselves, but for God and his kingdom and his plan, because living for God means we make sacrifices, real sacrifices, not the kind of sacrifices that my middle school son made many, many years ago.

Often, when our kids were in trouble, we let them choose their discipline.

By the way, this works really well because they always pick something way harsher than what I would have picked.

And in the act that he did, I said you have to give up something, you have to sacrifice something for a week.

And he was throwing his temper tantrum.

He said, fine, I'll give up my phone.

And the parent God's saying, ah, because what middle school?

Or gives up their phone.

I thought I am the best mom ever.

I'm like great, bring it up to me, honey, we will place it on the the Middle Island and it will sit there for a week for all to see.

He said it's in the wash machine in my jeans.

He had left in his pocket the night before I did wash and guess what?

The phone is broken now.

So that is not the sacrifice I'm talking about.

The kind of sacrifices I'm suggesting are the things that we think really bring us light in this world.

They are the things that we have been talking about for the past four weeks control, expectations, superiority, enemies.

There are our agendas and our self-governance and all of our plans that we think are better than his.

They are the things that distance us from God and they are the sacrifices that will put others first, because that, my friends, is what it means to live for God.

Romans 6, 13 reads do not present your members, your arms and legs and tongue and so on to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourself to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness when we live for him.

We live in this reading.

We are saying I am yours, I am yours, my memory, my arms, my legs, my eyes, my tongue, my thoughts, I am yours, for you to possess as your own to accomplish your good and your holy purpose.

I come out of my grave bed to be yours, and that is the type of sacrifice that will unbind us from our grave class.

They will free us from this world and allow us to live for God, and when we do that, we will surely then hear the words well done, good and faithful servant, and there will be no more weeping and no more sadness.

There will be no more hatred or prejudice or depression, no more grave class that bind us to this world, just peace, above all understanding.

And I will end with this story.

In July, as many of you know, my dad passed away, and in the moment of his passing I was so fortunate to be at his bedside with my husband and my mom and, in my deep grief of knowing that I was about to lose him to the other side of the kingdom, I found myself not weeping but cheering him on.

Instead, I literally found myself saying go, dad, go see Jesus.

That's where you need to be, because I knew that Jesus was waiting for him to say well done, good and faithful servant.

You see my dad modeled.

More than any human, I know how to use his members, how to use his arms and his leg, because one of his leg was amputated.

How to use his tongue and his ears and all of his many giftings to serve not himself, and surely not his ego, but others.

He lived for the kingdom work and I was so fortunate to call him my dad, as he taught me truly what it meant to live for God.

Central Lutheran Church.

In a few weeks, we will be here in this room celebrating the life everlasting, a life that made the ultimate sacrifice when he said on that cross I commit my spirit into your hands, a life that died for us so we can live for him and his kingdom.

As we move into this next worship song and we receive your gifts of offering.

I challenge you to focus your eyes on that cross behind me that represents both death and life, and I challenge you to decide here and now if you are prepared to rise yourself from your stone bed that carries death and to hear the voice calling you to come out, and I challenge you to say I am yours, amen.