Growing

Well, we're thinking about our church's mission statement over these few weeks.

To build, to grow, to reach out.

And we're thinking today specifically about growing.

Of course, growing is something that we're called to do as churches,

to share the gospel with others, to grow in number.

But hand in hand with that, perhaps you could even say at the very root of that,

is this vision for us to grow spiritually in our relationship with God.

I'm going to ask you what is going to sound like a really, really deeply personal question.

But don't worry, we're not going to do the thing with the microphone and come round, okay?

No one's going to ask you.

I'm just going to ask you to think for a few moments about the question.

And then we'll come back to it at the end.

But I just want you to think for a few moments.

If, if you were asked to put into words what you consider your relationship with God to be like right now,

what words would come to mind?

Now don't say them.

Don't even whisper them to the person.

I just want you to think about them.

Just give you a few moments to think about that.

Now I want to ask you the question, or else it could be a hard one.

What do you wish you could say?

Or where would you like that relationship with God to be,

say five years from now?

It may be hard to actually find words to express that,

but just pull some images in your mind and hold them there for a few moments.

How do you long for that relationship to be with God over the next few years?

That could be quite a painful question.

It could be one that you really, really struggle to answer.

We'll come back to that at the end.

But what I want us to think about over these next few minutes

is something that is really, really fundamental to Christian faith.

So fundamental that perhaps sometimes we don't even say very much about it.

But it's this.

That when it comes to faith, we talk about conversion, if you like.

In other words, making a decision to follow Jesus.

We might make that decision gradually, or it might be a very sudden thing.

And you might be able to say, yes, I became a Christian on this particular date.

Or it might have been a more gradual coming to faith.

It might have been a mixture of both events and process.

But we talk about it, about making a decision to become a Christian, to follow Jesus.

And it's a choice that only you can make as an individual.

No one can make it for you.

But the other part that perhaps we don't really talk that much about

is what happens next.

And it's really important.

In fact, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism,

would have said that, in fact, he did say that it was as important.

And one of the real strengths of Wesley's theology

was that he emphasized not only the importance of making a decision to follow Jesus,

but throughout his ministry maintained that once you make that decision,

it continues to be a daily one.

The growth, to use the theological term sanctification,

growing in that relationship with God,

matters every little bit as much as the decision in the first place

that took you to that relationship.

Now that, on the one hand, could sound daunting.

On the other hand, it's immensely encouraging.

Because what it means is no matter how you feel about your relationship with God right now,

whether you feel that's a really great thing,

or whether you feel that, frankly, it feels lousy or almost non-existent,

according to that theology,

it says that God's view of things is that he wants it to be bigger,

and deeper, and greater.

That there is always more ahead.

You cannot exhaust the experience of God.

When we get to eternity, it's going to be awesome.

Right now, it's a struggle.

But right now, wherever that may be for you,

God's got even greater things ahead.

You might not be aware of it.

You might not know what that looks like.

But God does.

And God wants you to grow.

He wants every single one of us to grow.

That's the view that the Bible presents us with.

Now, the Bible is not a human book about God.

It is God's book about what it is to be human.

And so when we read through the narrative over all of those hundreds of years,

which was written by all of those different people,

we find a story that emerges,

that paints a picture of what God wants our lives to be like,

ultimately in eternity,

but right here on earth right now, leading up to eternity.

And it's a story which tells of how God wants us to grow,

how God wants us to live.

But at the same time as telling that story,

it also warns of the dangers and the pitfalls.

And talks of how the experience of being human

is one in which, on the one hand,

we feel this draw to the things of God.

These things deep within our being

that pull us towards the sense of the divine.

The things that are bigger, are greater, are fuller, are richer,

are so much better.

And yet at the same time, there is that pull in the other direction,

which the Bible talks about the draw of the devil.

Now, it's important for us to be quite clear

that what that does not mean is a sort of a picture,

classic picture of a creature with a tail and horns and a pitchfork.

It's not like that.

It's far more subtle.

But it's a reality that is there.

And if we take an honest look at the reality of human experience,

we don't have to look that far

to see actually it's very, very plausible.

That every day we face choices and decisions,

some that would take us in a very good, positive direction,

but others which would take us in a direction

that actually can lead to our downfall.

And that when we look at that direction,

very often it looks much more attractive.

But it's not.

Now, God wants us to live.

Interestingly, if you take the letters L-I-V-E that spell live

and you reverse them, you get the word evil.

And that actually is the very thing that the Bible's narrative warns us about.

That God wants us to grow as we go through life,

but the devil wants us to reverse that.

He wants to pull us in the other direction.

But it's very clever at putting things before us in our daily decisions

in a way that look attractive and inviting,

but actually will stop us from growing.

Very often it will run very contrary to our instincts.

And we will think, well, actually, I'd much rather do this.

It seems so much more attractive.

But taking a longer-term view of things,

if we follow that path,

it actually will pull us in the opposite direction

from life and growth.

Don't be fooled.

As a story I've shared before,

but I'm going to tell it again,

And it's apparently true

that how some,

in some parts of the world,

wolves are caught.

What they do is,

this is in parts of the world where it's really, really cold.

They get a knife,

and they get a dead animal,

and they dip the knife in the animal's blood,

and they freeze it.

And then they do it again.

They take the knife,

and they dip it in blood,

and they freeze another layer of blood around it.

And they keep on repeating this process

until eventually they have a block of frozen animal's blood,

and in the middle of that block

is this very sharp knife.

And then they put it in the snow,

and they leave it overnight.

The wolf comes along,

and it catches a whiff of this blood,

and it likes the smell of it,

and so it starts to lick away at the blood.

Now, it's very nice.

It's very good.

It represents the very meat that it's craving.

And so the more it gets,

the more it wants.

And it licks away,

and it licks away,

and it licks away,

and as it happens,

it's feeding its sense of craving for the blood.

And yet the more it gets,

it can't get quite enough,

and so it licks away more and more and more,

licking away layer after layer after layer

of the frozen blood

until eventually the wolf's tongue

is lashing away against the edge of the knife.

At that point,

it's still drinking blood,

but it's no longer cold.

It's wolf,

because it's the wolf's own blood.

Eventually, they come along in the morning,

and they find the dead wolf caught.

You're never going to eat another strawberry split ice cream

in the same way again.

I'm sorry it's a gruesome story.

But it paints a powerful picture

of the way in which,

it's an old-fashioned word,

but I'm going to use it,

sin works in our lives.

Because it has about it a certain attraction.

That is why the Bible warns us of its dangers.

If it wasn't subtle,

we wouldn't need to be warned.

If every time we face a choice,

and the option that was better for us

was actually the easier one,

we wouldn't need to talk about it.

We wouldn't need to read Scripture.

We wouldn't need the teachings of Jesus.

We wouldn't need the writings of Paul.

But it is difficult,

because it's subtle,

and it's not always obvious.

And it's how things work on our lives.

God wants us to grow.

He wants us to live.

But the tactics of the enemy

are to reverse that,

and to present things to us

in such a way that seems attractive,

but actually leads to our destruction.

What might that look like in practical terms?

We're going to think about it in just a moment.

But first of all, I just want to say this.

As we need to be careful

when we face choices in our daily lives,

let's not be fooled by liberal Christianity.

Liberal Christianity is dangerous

because it mis-sells the fullness

of the Christian gospel.

Years ago, a writer called A.W. Tozer

warned of the false freedom

of so-called liberal Christianity.

You see, liberal Christianity

simply lowers the bar.

Liberal Christianity does not take seriously

the intimacy of encounter

that lies at the very heart and soul

of the relationship with Jesus Christ

that is at the heart of the Christian gospel.

Liberal Christianity exchanges

a cheap, diluted vision of holiness

for the fullness of what God wants in our lives.

Selwyn Hughes wrote,

we are made for the big

and we are restless in our littleness.

We need to grow.

God wants us to grow.

And only a true, full picture

of what that looks like

can enable it to happen.

So let's think in practical terms then

and let's go to the scripture verse

that we've just heard read to us

as to what this might look like

in terms of growth.

If we are serious about growing

in relationship with God,

just to come back to that question

that we started with,

if we really want to grow,

then this very practical passage

from Thessalonians gives us,

happens to give us three things

in those verses

that we need to be mindful of

and pay attention to.

The first thing is this.

In verses four and six

of that passage from Thessalonians,

we're told to honour the body

that God has given us.

The body in which we live

is God's gift to you.

Now sometimes with the aches and pains,

and I know about them

in my mid-forties already,

we might not feel

that our bodies are God's gift to us

at that point in time.

Clive's had dentistry done this week

and I'm sure he might not have been

thinking that at the time.

But, you know,

the body that we have

is God's gift to us.

It's the thing in which

we live our lives.

And as Christians,

we're called to honour it.

Now again, let's get back

to that picture that we have

within Scripture,

within the Bible,

of the vision of life in all fullness.

God wants us to live.

That means we live within our bodies.

And it means that

when we come to believe

in Jesus Christ,

it's not just a decision

that we make with our minds,

but rather,

and this is where it's

an extraordinary vision,

the Bible presents us

with a picture that says

that when you follow Jesus,

the Holy Spirit of God

comes to live and dwell

within you.

That's quite awesome.

As Paul puts it,

he says that the body

becomes like a temple

in which the Holy Spirit dwells.

That's amazing.

Because that means

that any situation

that you face in life,

all of those tough decisions,

all of those tough places,

those places that otherwise

can make you feel

that you're a long way off

from God,

we need to remember

that when you follow Jesus,

the promise is

God's Holy Spirit

isn't only with you,

he's in you.

He dwells within you.

There's nowhere where you can be

where God isn't there

because he goes before you,

he goes with you,

he goes in you.

And so,

when we have this picture

within Scripture

of being a Christian

as being a temple

of the Holy Spirit,

it's a picture that says

God's presence,

his living presence,

the same presence

that raised Christ

from the dead,

is in you.

We might not always

be conscious of that presence,

but it is a presence

that is there

and that is the promise

of Scripture.

And it's for that reason

that we need to take seriously

the warning

to respect our bodies,

to honour our bodies,

to control our bodies.

And so,

when it comes to lifestyle,

within Scripture,

we're given a picture

of the God

who created our bodies,

who created

the potential

to do wonderful,

great things

with our bodies.

God created sex

and sexuality

as a gift,

and he gave us

a frame within which

it is to be honoured

and respected.

That is why

the things that we read

in Scripture

are not prohibitions,

but rather

they are safety warnings.

Just as fire

can be used

as something

that is immensely creative

and helpful

and life-saving,

when it is misused,

it can be destructive,

it can kill.

So,

we have that frame

within Scripture

which warns us

for our own safety

and for our own lives.

If we want to truly live,

we need to live

in a certain way

for the sake of freedom

and true life.

So,

two things.

Firstly,

if we find this is an area

of struggle,

if we find

that actually

thoughts are ever

being led

in a direction

that is not healthy,

don't beat yourself up

with a pile of guilt.

Because,

remember,

temptation is not

the same thing

as the reality

of destructive sin.

Martin Luther,

hundreds of years ago,

noted for his brashness,

was approached one day

by a young man

who said that

he was always having thoughts

that were taking him

into a place

where he knew was wrong

and he felt so ridden

with guilt.

Martin Luther turned around

to him and he said this,

he said,

you can't stop

the birds from flying

but you can stop

them nesting in your hair.

The second thing

is that if you've messed up

and in different ways

every single human being

in history

messes up

in some way or another,

if you've messed up,

remember,

God meets you

in that place.

He forgives you

and he sets you free

for a new beginning.

Remember,

scripture is loaded

of people

who made massive mistakes

in the way that

they abused their bodies.

David committed adultery

with Bathsheba

and sent her husband

off to the front line

and had him killed.

He was forgiven.

Jesus met the woman

who had been caught

in adultery

and they were ready

to stone her

for the shame.

and he turned around

and said

that who he or she is

commit,

who is perfect,

cast the first stone

and they were forced

to have to walk away.

You see,

the God who wants

to dwell in us

meets us

where we are at.

He won't leave us

in that place

but he meets us

where we are at

right now.

The second thing

that we're told

in that passage there

is to love one another.

If we're serious

about growing,

if we really,

really want to grow,

then we're told

to love one another.

Verses 9 and 10.

Notice,

Jesus commanded us

to love one another

if we're serious

about being disciples,

if we want to grow.

But Jesus never said

that we've got

to like one another.

And it wouldn't make sense

because like is not love.

You see,

like is a response,

it's an impulse,

it's a reaction,

it's something

almost that happens

to you

that you can't really help.

And we can't help

the things that we like

and we don't like.

It's like talking

about music

or about food

or about colour.

You can't help it

if you don't like Marmite.

I can't help it

if I don't like

the Eurovision Song Contest.

You don't choose

what you like.

But love is different.

Yes,

love can be a feeling

but it's so much more

than that

because the difference

is love

can be a choice.

Love,

in its most profound sense,

can mean

I don't like this

but I'm going to make

a decision anyway.

I'm going to make

a decision to do things

that are going to make me

feel uncomfortable,

that I don't really want to do,

that I don't like doing

but I'm going to do them

out of love.

Which means

we might not like someone.

We might not like

the things that they do

but we can resolve

to love them.

And as we do so,

that spiritual muscle

within us

begins to grow

as it is exercised

so it strengthens

and grows.

So,

respecting the body,

honouring the body,

loving one another

and lastly,

Paul says,

make it your ambition

to live

a quiet life.

Now,

what does that mean?

Because Paul

didn't exactly

live a quiet life,

did he?

Wherever he went

he seemed to spark

off the odd riot

or two

through the things

that he said

and did.

So,

what was he going on

about when Paul,

one of the most

controversial people

in history,

talked about

making it your ambition

to live a quiet life?

Well,

to understand it

we need to take

a closer look

at both one

and two

Thessalonians,

both letters.

Because a theme

in both of those letters

is that

we are to be ready

for when Christ returns.

And it's generally

considered that

at the time

when this was a big theme

among the church

in Thessalonians,

that there were

some believers

who felt that

because it was so likely

that Jesus could return

at any point

and they needed

to be ready

that they gave up

their jobs.

They stopped working.

And in their time

they found themselves

slipping into

obsessing about

Jesus who was

going to return

and slumped

into a state

of idleness.

They spent their

whole time talking,

gossiping,

and interfering

with other people's

lives,

but doing

very little

else.

Now,

what might

that reality

2,000 years ago

in another place

mean to our reality

today in this place?

Well,

there's something

in our human nature

that makes us

feel better

when we talk

about other people

in a way

that focuses in

on their faults

and their weaknesses.

We do it

as human beings,

probably because

it detracts us

away from

our own faults

that we'd rather

not think about.

But the place

where we are

most susceptible

to do that

is when we have

no active

responsibility.

Now,

just as those people

that Paul was

writing to

had no active

responsibility

because they'd

given up their

jobs,

convinced that

Jesus was going

to return any

day,

but then quickly

slumped into

gossip and

idleness.

So that can

happen to us

when we don't

take responsibility

for the stuff

of the kingdom.

Let me say

what I mean.

When I was

training for

ministry,

I know

that I was

at my most

cynical

when I had

no responsibility.

When I wasn't

on placement,

and I come from

a position of

being in church

leadership before

training,

but I found

myself then

training with

no responsibility.

It was different

when I was out

on placement,

but when I wasn't

on placement

and I was just

there in the

college and then

going off to

different churches,

I would sit

there and I

suddenly clicked

into critical

mode.

And I'm

convinced it's

because I had

no responsibility.

Now, last

year I was

on sabbatical.

Again, I had

no responsibility

for 12 weeks.

And I went

to different

churches during

that time to

see how different

churches did

things.

It was a

wonderful experience.

Now, I didn't

stick around any

of these ones

long enough to

slump into

cynicism,

but I think

that had I

done so,

it wouldn't

have been that

long before I

would have

done.

Because I

know the

reality of

how I

function as

a human

being.

That when I

have no

responsibility for

something, the

very worst of

my cynical

instincts come

out.

And it becomes

very easy for

us to criticise

other people when

we're not doing

things ourselves.

And I think it's

in that respect that

these words of

Paul have something

important to say to

each one of us by

way of a challenge.

that if we find

ourselves in that

place of gossip,

in that place of

criticising what

others are doing,

we perhaps need to

turn the challenge

back to ourselves

and ask ourselves

the questions,

what are we doing

with our lives?

The seedbed of

destructive cynicism,

gossip,

and judgmentalism

is where we take

a back seat

in our

Christianity

and become

armchair

spectators.

If we want to

grow, if we're

serious about

growing in our

relationship with

God, we need to

do something and

to exercise that

spiritual muscle.

So here's a

challenge.

All of us are

getting older.

We're all one

hour older than

we were when we

came into this

place this morning.

Here we go.

But as we go

through our lives,

we all get older,

but we don't all

necessarily all

grow.

So let's come back

to where we

started.

Where do you

want to be?

Where would you

love to be?

You know,

it's very easy

for us to slump

into a sense of

guilt when thinking

about these things.

Guilt can be very

destructive.

Guilt can also

be creative.

There is such a

thing as productive

guilt.

It can take a

creative role.

So if we start to

feel uncomfortable,

that can be a

helpful thing.

One man was once

writing a letter to

the Inland Revenue,

and in his letter he

wrote this,

I can't sleep at

night, and so I'm

enclosing 100 pounds

that I omitted to

declare.

He went off, he

thought a little bit,

and he came back

and said, if I still

can't sleep, I'll

send the rest.

Guilt can have a

creative function,

but it can also be

destructive.

Jesus did not come

to rub it in,

he came to rub it

out, and that's

important.

He wants you and

I to grow.

Wherever we are at

right now, he not

only wants us to

grow, but he wants

to help us to

grow.

So let's just come

back to where we

started, to that

question, where are

you right now, and

where do you long to

be?

The writer Rick

Warren painted a

picture, and I want

to finish with this.

He said, imagine

that you're in a

speedboat on a

lake, and you've

got an autopilot on

that speedboat that's

been set to take

you east.

And you make a

decision that you're

not going to go in

that direction, you

want to go west.

You can do one of

two things to make

that change direction.

The first thing you

can do is you can

grab hold of the

steering wheel, and

you can force the

boat to change

direction.

That will work for

a while.

But continual

resistance will be

your experience.

Your arms will

begin to ache and to

get tired, and

eventually you'll

probably let go, and

the boat will head

back west.

Now, willpower is

important.

It's an important

part in life when it

comes to growing, but

willpower alone will

only get you so far.

See, the other thing

you could do with that

boat is you could just

change the autopilot.

Paul writes, do not

be conformed to the

thinking of this

world, but be

transformed by the

renewing of your

mind.

So as we come to

pray now, let's ask

God to meet us where

we are, and that's

good because that is

always where he meets

us, and to move us in

the direction that he

wants us to take.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm

thank you.

Thank you I'm

doubling

for

we want to

get

over

percent the