A Reason to be Here

um it's lovely to hear um scripture read from maybe a different aspect from that which we're

used to hearing and if you'd like to broaden that at all as a quick advert um if you'd like to get

more into bible reading notes gay is here this morning gay give us a wave have a word with gay

gay would love to direct you towards daily bible reading notes and i know she's faithfully done

that for years and i think sometimes just to read scripture from a different version sometimes

really helps and it helped me this morning because in this thing of wisdom that we're looking at and

in this theme the question is this morning why are we here it's a really interesting question

i asked myself that this morning because um i went to a concert last night in exeter

and it was a great concert if it's feeder if you've ever heard of them and it was absolutely brilliant

driving home by about half past 11 12 o'clock into bed getting to bed at two o'clock why am i here

and uh i think this is what paul is asking us to grapple with this morning what is the reason why

are we here why are we here this morning why are we here today are we here to worship are we here to

give thanks are we here to seek the presence of god are we looking for answers are we looking for ways

in which we can serve him more and more what is the reason we are here i love it when you ask

a young person what they want to do in life it's really interesting you've got to ask them before

they get to that stage where they just grunt back at you but that age where they've got this enormity

of i can do anything amazing i asked that it's very patronizing to say to a young person what do you

want to do when you grow up really because many of us aren't really sure that we have grown up yet

but when you ask a 10 year old and i i asked some of the the kids in school saying what would be your

dream job one said an astronaut i thought it's great another one said an astrophysicist

i couldn't even write that another one said they wanted to be a world famous musician that's not a great

thing and another said i would love to win an olympic medal you know when we were young we had this time

for optimism didn't we you know every day was new the future looked like an endless canvas to be

painted on we could do whatever we wanted to do if we don't accomplish something today there's always

tomorrow or this next week or this next year and here we've got paul and maybe you're with me on this

one but as i grow older and not necessarily wiser i find those future prospects compress themselves

quite greatly into fewer and fewer years what if we don't get to fulfill that time that we want to do

things in well i don't have time to do these things because we want i don't know maybe we've got other

things planned but i sense for me that time is shrinking and i guess paul was thinking about that

he was in prison he was seeing his options maybe in an earthly way closing but then we have this great

scripture that encourages us and enlivens us today there's a few there's a film from a few years back i

don't know whether you saw it's um it's called the bucket list and it was jack nicholson and it was

morgan freeman now i'm going to be i don't know whether you've seen morgan freeman he's played god

in several things i'm going to be really upset when i get to heaven and it's not morgan freeman no no

that's a joke um but there is morgan freeman and jack nicholson jack nicholson is a wealthy guy

very very wealthy morgan freeman is has a very simplistic life he is a car mechanic with family

making his way through life they find themselves thrown together in um a wing of a hospital where

they are both facing a terminal illness that is their defining thing that have brought them together

so they start to talk about life and life in general and so they decide that they're going to

fulfill all the things that they wanted to do in life and they called it the bucket list before you kick

the bucket they travel to various different places morgan freeman is a man of faith jack nicholson

has lived through his money through his wealth and still feels as though for him life is totally

unfulfilled

you see paul is sure that there is more paul knows that whether wherever he is and happens to be

that is his purpose that's where he is and that is where he is meant to be

and i find that a huge encouragement because i don't want to grieve the things i haven't done

i just want to live by faith and the two starkness of the characters as you watch this film

is one who is really really hung up on what he's missing and morgan freeman is a man who is certainly

at peace with where he is and i think that comes through in our scripture with paul as he gives us

this morning every time you cross my mind i break out in exclamations of thanks to god each exclamation

is a trigger in prayer i find myself praying for you with a glad heart i this is a guy who's in prison

i am so pleased that you have continued this with me believing and proclaiming god's message from the

day you heard it right up to the present date there has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that

god has started this great work in you and would keep it going and flourishing on the very day that

jesus christ appears what a great man of faith and i long for that as well and i think there's a certain

piece of finding where we are and where we are supposed to be rather than looking ahead i always

remember we were at women's day you've had the advert for the women's day it was many years ago i was at

the back there hurrying around with all the guys making coffee um i'm one of these people who want

think that the grass is always greener i'm always looking to the next thing it's not good it's not

good better to live for today and there was a particular thing at the time there was a job advert

that somebody had sent me and i've been hugely tempted by this i'm busying myself around and the

leader who was up here the lady was leading in prayer i can't remember her name at the time and she

just stopped where she was and she said i sense i have a word for somebody here you need to hear this

and that you're looking over the fence and you think the grass is greener she said i just want

to tell you that it's astroturf

i think for the guys um who knew me at the time i was a bit of a mess on the floor at the back

at the time i had never expected to come to a women's day and find myself being prayed for at

the back it was just an amazing moment i think this scripture speaks to me so clearly because there is

a reason for paul being where he is and i guess that wasn't clear to him but he had a sense of peace

in knowing that he was in the place that he was supposed to be however difficult that was

and this is a man who refuses to be diminished by his situation or age i think that's really

important this is a man a person who refuses to be diminished by his situation or his age there's

none of this well i've done that i've done my bit and now i can sit back and relax no there is a

purpose for him in every season and i think that comes through strongly in our scripture this morning

he says alive i'm christ's messenger dead i'm his bounty life versus even more life i can't lose

isn't that a great place to be where we don't lose there is no loss whatever we do

i was sent a great book about two years ago and it was helen pett she may have recommended it to you

as well this is my third time of reading and as i read this again while i've been away for the week

i was really uh thinking obviously we we didn't quite do the brexit thing did we on the 31st

and um and i was thinking about donald trump with fake news and i came to the chapter where it talked

about fake religion fake stuff if you ask a thousand people who don't want anything to do with religion

why that is they'll tell you all the reasons why they don't like it but i doubt they'd be describing

the real thing paul is like an older brother timothy and in this letter as he writes to him he says paul

called this kind of religious devotion that people have in many ways a form of godlessness because it's

the exact opposite to what it's pretending to be he was telling timothy to watch out for people who fake

it with their faith in other words some religion looks like it's wrapped in the right package but

it's not and what he was talking about is he says it's like identity theft it seems like a lot of people

who say they know jesus have all the right words and all the right moves but what they don't have is

sincerity and authenticity did you get that in paul's writing i get it every time

they talk a big game and a big bunch of 20 pound words to describe an otherwise simple idea about

faith but in reality they really do they don't but in reality they never really do anything

it's like a guy with a cowboy hat one duck one cow and a tractor and he calls himself a rancher

we don't want to be all hat and no cattle when it comes to faith god doesn't like it when people

fake it it's not the same as identity theft in a way only the figures are stealing god's identity

and using it to make people feel bad or force them to change who they are to fit into a particular

religious community that power is easy to spot what is really easy to do is to have faith

because that is shown in a form of grace and acceptance as well as sincere love and respect

it's the kind of power that actually does things rather than just talks about it

paul is talking about the real deal the real deal and that is why we're here

i've been blessed with a car with um this that's got digital radio and so i can now listen to

premier christian radio in ucb and i was challenged the other morning at driving along and uh there was a

story that an american pastor was telling that they'd prayed for a guy in their church called

dave dave was senior in years he'd been in hospital they'd been praying from this week and they'd expected

him to pass to go home to be with the lord the church had gathered they'd prayed earnestly for dave

unexpectedly on the tuesday there was a guy and i think his name was steve

and steve was a young guy he had a young family he was a dentist and accidentally in his work he'd

been bitten by one of his patients he'd been infected the infection had gone to his brain

and he was in intensive care the church gathered and prayed for him

amazingly dave had this miraculous healing this older guy this senior guy in their church

steve went home to be with the lord a young man with a young family the eldest of the church came to him

and said what do we do this week what do we do on a sunday how can we celebrate dave when pete

this sort of steve has gone home to be with the lord

and he said dave got healed

but steve got better

they've got healed but steve got better

because he's now with the lord and we're all going to be with the lord i'm going to miss you a lot if i go before you

but i'm going to see you i'm going to see you

you know i think what paul is saying is death has no fear for me

because i've got a job to do and i know what my purpose is

whenever that time comes but i've got a job to do

i pray this morning that as we think about this thing about wisdom

is they gave thanks as paul gives thanks for his situation paul knows his reason for being here

at this time and the question is do we

do we live for christ or do we go around with all these things that we wanted to do

and feeling resentful because we didn't get to do them or haven't

and i think i'm speaking to myself especially at the moment

paul knows his reason for being here as long as i'm alive in this body

there is good work for me to do if i had to choose right now

i hardly know which i choose the desire to break camp and to be with christ is powerful for me

some days i can't think of anything better

but most days because of what you are going through

i am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here

so i plan to be around a while

our faith says live for christ and in christ and to seek his purpose

so what is our reason for being here today tomorrow and this week

to fulfill some dreary bucket list

to feed our longing for something that we feel we missed

or will we use it to tell the amazing work of god

or will we use it to tell of his wonders

like the guy looking out the window of the plane

will we use it to encourage others in the faith

will we use it to tell it as it is

and not some form of dreamed up fake religiosity

will we use it to deepen our discipleship

in whatever age we might be in

there is no better way than to go deeper with christ

will we use it to engage in the purposes of our church

in reaching our community

will we use it to speak out for justice

if ever there is a time for the church to stand and speak out for justice

to encourage our next generation

of christian witness

not only in this place

but in our community

to consider our legacy

to give and share

what will people say of us

when we are with the lord

whatever that is

paul encourages us this morning

let's not avoid the question

paul was forced to ask himself

what is my reason for being here

let's ask god the same question

and ask the spirit of god

to show us

encourage us

and empower us

afresh

as maybe we go home and read that scripture again today

and tomorrow

and during this week

i pray that you together with me

are as encouraged

and challenged with this scripture

as the day i read it

praise god

bless you

because Generally

who Gosh

is

i

the

you

are

no