The One Who Calls You is Faithful and He Will Do It

Well, we had our reading just now in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, and there's one verse that we're

1 Thessalonians 5 · chapter mention

going to focus on in our thoughts over these next few minutes, and it's this.

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

You see, as I reflect on those words, there's one core thing that, to me, I find personally

deeply challenging, that it's not about us, it's about God.

It's not about us, it's not about the way we think, we feel, it is about God.

Now, in these next few minutes, I just want to suggest five different aspects of our lives

as Christians, as a church, that this is the case.

It's about church, it's not about us, it's about God.

Mission is not about us, it's about God.

Worship is not about us, worship is about God.

Prayer is not about us, it's about God.

And faith is not about us, it's about God.

Of the many different words that appear within the scriptures, within the Bible, to describe

God, one of them is the Hebrew, El Shaddai.

And there's debate among translators as exactly how that should be translated from the Hebrew

into the English.

It's often, in English translations of the Old Testament, El Shaddai is translated into

God the Almighty.

Sometimes it's God all-powerful.

Sometimes it's God all-sufficient.

The one who sheds forth, the one who blesses, the one who sustains.

But one commentator suggests that a good working translation, in practical terms, of that term

for God, El Shaddai, is this.

God the enough.

God the enough.

Think about what that might mean for you right now, just for a few moments.

God the enough.

God the enough.

Now let's have a look at those five different things that I just mentioned.

Church.

Church is not about us.

We might look around, see one another, and think, yeah, it's about us.

But it's not.

It's not about us as human beings.

It is about God.

I've just recently read a book called If Entrepreneurs Ran the Church.

It's a book of interviews with eight entrepreneurs, and by that I mean extremely successful businessmen

and women.

And they happen to also be Christians.

And each chapter is an interview.

And the interview sets out, which says, okay, so as an entrepreneur, I want you to imagine

that you've just been made chief executive officer of the entire UK church.

All of the denominations, all of the people, all of the structures and the buildings and

the finances, what are you going to do with it?

It's fascinating.

And reading through what these entrepreneurs would do if they were running the church is

interesting stuff because it really drills home the message how we need, as church in

the widest possible sense, to be a lot more robustly critical in the way we do things, in

our structures, in the way we manage our finance, the way that we manage our buildings, and all

of those things.

But one thing struck me more than anything else in the interviews, and it was a comment

made by one entrepreneur, and I can't remember which one it was now.

That's irrelevant.

The comment was this.

He said that there is no business in the world, no matter how big or how successful it has

been, no business in the history of the world has ever lasted more than a couple of hundred

years.

Never.

Now, I happen to work for the Methodist church.

I don't feel strongly about that denomination, but that's who pays my wages.

And the Methodism alone is older than that.

The Church of England, which is the other ecumenical partner within Christchurch, is older still.

But when we look in the widest sense, the church has been around for over 2,000 years.

And it always will be, simply because God ordains it to be.

Now, that's no excuse for us to lapse into passivity and to think, well, God's got it

all in hand, then it doesn't matter how much of a hash we make of it with our human programs

and all our weaknesses that go with it.

Now, if we're not prepared to make the changes to keep up with the Holy Spirit, then God will

make those changes.

God will simply choose someone else to do it.

That's the pattern that history has followed.

But, be sure, the Church will never die.

And the reason the Church will never die is it's not about us, it's about God.

Connected to that is the second thing, and that's mission.

Mission is not about us, mission is about God.

Now, of course, we need to be asking questions all the time about what it means in real practical

terms for us to be missionary people where we live, how we can engage our communities.

We need to ask practical questions as to what that looks like.

But let's not allow those questions to eclipse what is at the very heart of Christian mission.

Namely, not about how we make it relevant, but rather that we simply point towards the God

who is at the centre of it all.

A story that comes from a friend of mine from Uganda, I heard many years ago.

And he tells a story of how somebody that he knew was in Uganda one day in a marketplace,

I'm not sure which city it was, but he was in the marketplace, and he was trying to sell

mangoes.

He had a massive pile of mangoes to sell, but nobody would buy a single mango.

And the reason why nobody was interested in his mangoes is that even though he thought

they were great, everybody had them growing on their own trees in their own homes already.

So why would anybody want to buy them?

So he stood there for a couple of hours, he didn't sell a single item of fruit.

Until somebody else came along and said, are these all right then?

He said, they're the best.

He said, do you really think that?

He said, yes, I do.

He said, in which case, eat one.

I said, what do you mean?

He said, just eat one in front of me.

So he took one of his mangoes and he stood there and just ate this thing.

As he did so, the juice just came out of the fruit and spilt down his chin, down his arm,

onto the floor.

And he stood there and soon forgot that he was actually there to sell them because he

was enjoying this thing so much.

And as people passed by, they stopped and saw the look of enjoyment written all over this

man's face and began to get curious and began to ask questions.

He sold the lot.

You see, he forgot that he was trying to sell a product and remembered the thing that was

the very centre of it all.

Mission is not about us.

Mission is about God.

Worship is not about us.

Worship is about God.

And the reason I say that is very often when we get onto the subject of worship in Christian

circles, when we start talking about it, we very, very quickly, most of the time without

even noticing we're doing it, get onto the subject of what we like and what makes us feel

good.

And sometimes we might even think to ourselves, worship, you know, I don't really feel like

that.

And we might think, you know, I don't really feel like coming to church to worship today.

Or perhaps if I'm at home, I might not feel like worshipping God because I don't feel in

a particularly strong spiritual place right now.

I don't feel up there.

I don't feel spiritually awake.

I'm feeling really low or worried or anxious or depressed or run down or whatever.

I don't feel like worship.

If you ever feel, or should I say, think that way about the way you feel, I've got good news

for you.

It doesn't matter how you feel because worship is not about how we feel.

It is all about God.

That is why in that very same passage from Thessalonians, it says, pray continually.

That means all the time.

Give thanks in all circumstances.

Now think about that for a moment.

You probably don't have to think very far before you think of certain circumstances in

which you really do not feel like praying.

But that's okay because the urge here is not give thanks for all circumstances.

It's give thanks in all circumstances.

And when we can do that, when we can look at things in a way that doesn't focus in on

how we're feeling and our emotional state in our mood at that particular point in time,

then our attention shifts onto the one who it is all about.

Then things change.

The circumstances may not be that pretty.

We might not be feeling that great.

But when we make God our focus, things can start to change.

A few years ago, I was on holiday.

I can't remember where it was.

And I saw, when we were out on a walk, saw a rather interesting object.

You may have seen one before because I've since noticed there.

You see them in all sorts of different places.

By this wall, there was this little metal pole sticking out of the wall.

On the end of the pole was a chain hanging down.

And on the end of the chain was dangling a rock.

And there was a little sign next to this thing.

And it was describing what it was.

It said it was a weather rock.

Anybody seen these?

It had a list of instructions as to how you read the weather rock.

It said, if the rock, i.e. the one dangling on the end of the chain,

if the rock is wet, it's raining.

If the rock is swinging, it's windy.

If the rock is hard to see, it's foggy.

If there's white stuff on top of the rock, it's snowing.

If the rock is underwater, it's flooding.

If the rock is warm, it's sunny.

If there's no rock there at all, there has recently been a tornado.

Not a very accurate way of getting meteorological information.

Not a reliable guide to the weather.

Yet, how often do we do something not completely dissimilar with our emotions?

I don't feel like this, therefore I won't worship.

I don't feel quite this way about God,

therefore I'm not quite sure that the claims of Scripture are true.

The thing is, moods are hardly ever, ever a reliable guide to truth.

About anything, actually, except ourselves.

See, our emotions do tell us how we're feeling.

Our emotions, our moods, do tell us about ourselves.

But they tell us nothing about our circumstances.

They might tell us a lot about how we are reacting at that point in time to circumstances,

but they don't tell us about the circumstances themselves.

Our moods and our emotions don't tell us about other people.

They do tell us about the responses that have been triggered within ourselves

to those other people, perhaps,

but they don't tell us about the actual people.

In fact, they can blind us to the truth at times.

Because the one thing we see is what's going on within our own emotional machine

rather than what's going on external to it.

And so if we can say that about circumstances,

we can say it about people,

we can most definitely say it about God.

Now that's not to say that feelings aren't important.

Of course they are.

But not as a measure of God's truth.

You see, it's not about us.

It is about God.

My favourite guitar player in the whole world

is an Australian guitarist called Tommy Emanuel.

He's not that famous, actually.

He is in Australia, where he's from,

and a lot of guitar players will know of him.

But I think he's an amazing guy.

If you've never come across him, look him up on YouTube.

What he can't do with six strings is absolutely amazing.

He's an amazing player.

But he said something a few years ago,

which I've actually got written down on a plug,

on my wall next to my guitar,

to bring me inspiration,

because I think it's an amazing quote.

He says this,

One day you can pick up a guitar

and feel like you're a great master.

And the next day you can feel like a complete fool.

It's because we're different every day.

But the guitar is always the same.

Now, whether you like the sound that the guitar makes or not

is irrelevant.

In fact, it applies not simply to a guitar,

but to any musical instrument.

In fact, you could say even more broadly,

to anything that requires discipline.

The thing itself pretty much stays the same.

But we change.

And our moods can have a massive impact

on the way we perceive ourselves

and our own abilities,

about whether we feel like doing something or not.

It's so important that we remember that about emotions,

because most of the time we tend to be guided

by our moods at a particular time and space.

I'm as guilty as anybody else of that.

But the truth of God

is something so much bigger and so much greater.

Let's remember that it's not about us

and about our emotions or our moods.

It's all about God.

Because whilst we may change,

God is always faithful and consistent.

Prayer.

Prayer is not about us.

Prayer is about God.

And again, it's so important to remember that.

If, like me, you find it hard to concentrate in prayer,

and I do.

I'm somebody that has always found it really hard

to concentrate for a length of time.

Oh, I can easily get into prayer for a few moments

where I sense the need.

I think probably most people can,

particularly if we're suddenly surrounded by situations

like, this is urgent, I've got to pray.

Right.

I'm talking about that sense of prayer

over a period of time.

I'm talking about praying for a great length of time

without the mind wandering off,

thinking about,

well, what am I going to do about this later on today?

Or, just remember,

I haven't sent that person an email.

Or, I've got to make that phone call.

Or, what am I going to have for dinner?

You know,

our minds as human beings

are naturally distracted

when we try to pray and to concentrate.

And I sense,

and I'm sensing more and more and more and more of this,

that the problem with that

is when we regard prayer

as an activity,

as something that we do,

rather than an ongoing reality

that we are called,

we are invited to be a part of.

You see, prayer,

prayer might be something

that involves our actions,

but essentially,

rather than being an isolated activity

that takes place

in isolation from everything else,

it's rather,

it's rather picking up on that conversation

that actually runs through all the time.

God is always there.

He always is.

Most of the time,

we tend to forget that,

but He is there.

In all of those situations

to which our minds become distracted

whilst we're trying to pray.

So, He's already there.

He's already there.

He always has been,

He always will be.

But prayer is,

I think,

yes,

it is good to have that time

when we focus

in a sort of time,

set aside time away,

but most fundamentally,

what is important is that

is to cultivate that sense of awareness

that God is there

throughout our whole days

in a way that is not compartmentalised.

You see,

relationship with God

is not something

that we go to.

So, when we sense

that we need to pick it up,

relationship is not with God,

is not something

that we go to.

Rather,

in Christian faith,

our relationship with God

is the thing

that we actually work out of.

Very often,

when we think

of the story of Jesus,

in which we have

the greatest model ever

of what it means

to commune with the Father,

we perhaps have this idea

in our head

that the story of Jesus

is a story

which tells

of great things that He did,

great miracles,

great teachings,

and then every now and then,

that life of His activity,

His ministry,

is punctuated

with those moments of prayer

where we're told

He withdrew

and went off to pray.

Whereas,

I think it is better

that we look at it

the other way around.

That Jesus' life

was actually a whole life

of intimate communion

with His Father.

Every now and then,

we get these little snapshots

through His ministry,

through His words,

through His actions,

through His miracles.

the snapshots

that punctuate

the relationship.

It is the communion

with His Father

that is at the very heart

of it all.

Because prayer

is not about

the stuff that we do.

It's about God.

The one who calls you

is faithful

and He will do it.

Last point.

Faith.

Faith itself.

Yes,

we may think about

what that means

from a human point of view

what it means

to talk of the psychology

of how we have faith,

how we trust,

how we can

make ourselves

vulnerable before God.

But ultimately,

faith is not about

us as human beings.

It is about God

in who we place it.

The writer,

Andy Stanley,

he's a writer

and a church leader

in America.

He said this,

between information

and ignorance

there is a gap

and we can fill it

either with suspicion

or trust.

Let me say that again

because it's pretty deep stuff.

Between information

and ignorance

there is a gap

and we can fill it

either with suspicion

or trust.

You see,

we don't know

what lies ahead

in our future.

We are given

the promises

of God

in Scripture.

But because we haven't

got there yet,

it's offered to us.

We haven't yet

encountered it

in all its fullness.

So therefore,

we live in that place

of not knowing.

We are called

to trust.

We are called

to have faith.

But what that faith

is all about

is not about

our feelings

or our concerns

or our misgivings.

It's about God.

I love the story

of when

Jesus walked

on the water

and Peter

was in the boat

and he looked out

and he saw him

and he gets out

of the boat

and he starts

to walk towards

Jesus

on the water

too.

Everything

seems to be

working out

fine

until we're told

that his attention

was turned

away

from Jesus

and to

the threat

that the waves

and the winds

presented to him.

You see,

when Jesus

was no longer

his focus,

when his thoughts

went back

to his circumstances

and himself

within those circumstances,

when God

was no longer

at the centre,

then he began

to sink.

One last image

to lead us

into prayer.

And it's something

I've shared

before,

so you may

remember it,

but as I was

thinking about this,

I couldn't get away

from this image

and I'd like us

to take this image

into prayer

as we think about

what these things

mean for our own lives.

I've got a glass

of water here

and I realise

that at the back

this may be difficult

to see

because it's quite small,

but I've got a little

metal washer

and if I drop

the little metal washer

into the water,

it sinks.

It goes straight

to the bottom.

Sometimes

what we can feel

life

and the circumstances

of life

that are presented

to us,

due to us,

we feel like

we're sinking.

I've got here

a little strip

of polystyrene.

If I drop this

onto the water,

it floats.

Now,

if I take

the metal washer,

I can try

to rest it

on top

of the polystyrene

and it might

just about float

for a moment,

but it quickly

falls off.

Sometimes we might

think that faith

is about leaning

on God.

We might embrace

that sort of language.

We might think of it

in those terms

and think that

to trust in God

is about leaning

on Him.

In a sense,

it might be,

but it's not

the full picture.

You see,

sooner or later,

we fall off

and we sink.

There is a way

in which

this little metal washer

can float

and it's when we take

this piece of polystyrene

and we put it

through the middle.

You see,

it's only when we make

God the very centre

of our lives,

not simply one

who we lean to,

but when we recognise

that He's at the very centre,

that it's not about us,

that it is about God,

that we float.

What does that mean

for you right now?

Is there perhaps

a part particularly

of your life

where you feel

that God might be saying,

look,

trust me,

just take your gaze

away

from the circumstances

and put me

at the centre.

It's not about us,

it is about God.

It is about God.