Do the People I Love Most Know Who I Love Most?

Thank you, Christopher and Gang.

If you're a student, you're dismissed.

Welcome to Christ Community Church.

I apologize for the warm weather.

The air conditioner is broken.

Lady the Miss LaFleur, who runs this whole outfit, she called me on Tuesday, and she said, I know.

We're aware.

We've had crews out here.

They're working on it.

But it might not be fixed till next week.

And so you just need to be aware.

And I said, thank you.

And Alan and Tommy and I scrambled around and came up with some different options, one of which was to rent some portable air unit things.

But uh you chose to have a pastor that is uh tighter than Dick's hat then.

And so uh what they wanted for those four units, I wasn't gonna pay.

I just couldn't do it.

I said we'll sweat for 45 minutes, we'll be okay.

And um so anyway, uh welcome, glad you're here.

Uh my bride and I were talking about it this morning, just coming up here and it being warm.

And uh we were just both, she actually she reminded me one of our heroes.

Don't hear from him so much now as we did the 90s and the tens, I guess that's the way you say it.

Um but a Francis Chan was a pastor, he probably still is, I just don't know anymore, but he was a pastor of a huge church out in California, and um they outgrew the building.

So it was time, what are we gonna do now?

And he very courageously said, Well, here's what I feel like we're supposed to do.

Let's buy, there was an old, I don't want to say abandoned, but an old football stadium that was more than big enough for their church.

Outdoor football stadium.

And he said, That's where I feel like we're supposed to have church.

First question is, well, what are we gonna do when it gets cold?

What are we gonna do when it rains?

He said, I'll tell you what we're gonna do, we're gonna meet.

And we're gonna get wet and we're gonna shiver.

And we're gonna use the money that we would have used to buy a building, to invest in hurting people, and we're gonna remember all of the Christians around the world that sweat and shiver every week because they're meeting under trees or in abandoned buildings or out in fields or on beaches.

And he said, Christians all over the world meet in adverse circumstances every week.

And uh it's not a bad thing for us to remember their conditions as we give thanks to God for ours.

Both of those are good things to do, and so let's remember today, as we're hot, uh, that there are Christians, people that know and love Jesus every bit or more than we do, who sweat and shiver and get wet on a regular basis because they're meeting outdoors.

And um anyway, for what it's worth.

Um glad you're here today.

Uh really am.

Uh Cher Lee's had a really bad case of laryngitis for most of the week, and uh I didn't know whether that was an answer to prayer or not, but uh she's been putting up with my mess for 40 some odd years.

Oh, Lordy.

Uh so it's just gonna be me today, but that's okay because I feel like that what the Lord wanted us to look at today, it won't hurt for me to just for you to just hear it from me.

Um I really was intending on teaching this on Father's Day, which was three or four weeks ago.

Whatever the Sunday, I guess Colton was here.

But I wasn't here, so I couldn't teach it.

And then I couldn't get, I couldn't land the airplane on the Exodus 34 deal, and so today was the first Sunday that I had to talk about this with you, but it was in honor of Father's Day.

And so if you're a dad, you might listen extra hard.

Um that week I spent a lot of time pondering the story in uh Genesis 22, pretty famous story, most of you know it, and that's where Abraham had heard God call him and invite him into a covenant relationship with him.

And he said, You're gonna have to enjoy and embrace this calling that I've got for your life.

You're gonna have to leave your family back in Ur, back in Babylon, and uh follow me.

Where are we going, Lord?

You don't worry about that, you just follow me.

And if you'll follow me, I'm gonna take you to a land, and I'm gonna give you the land, I'm gonna make you the most blessed man in the land, and I'm gonna give you children and grandchildren that will ultimately look like the sand on the beach.

Be so many.

And I'm gonna make you blessed, so blessed that everybody in the world will go, dead gummit, that dude's blessed.

And I will make you my venue, my primary venue through which I will bless the world.

And Abraham miraculously left his family, followed the Lord, and began that process.

And twenty five years later, you know the story, Abraham has a son named Isaac.

And about 25 years later, give or take, we don't know exactly, at 25, so now Abraham's 125 years old.

He's old.

He's older than dirt.

Okay, I mean he's old.

One day, Abraham hears the voice of God.

And God says, Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son Isaac, your most precious possession on the planet, and I want you to follow me again to a place you don't know about.

And uh when you get there, I want you to offer him as a sacrifice unto me to declare to the world that you love me first, that I'm your most important relationship and most important possession.

What you don't read next is Abraham's arguments.

Man, I'd have started with the A's, and I started listing arguments for how that's not a good plan.

But Abraham says, okay.

And he and Isaac and two servants start heading, following the Lord ultimately to Mount Sinai, and uh um, when they get to the bottom, to the base of the mountain, Abraham says two things.

He says to his servants, Isaac and I are gonna go up on this mountain and worship the Lord, and then both of us are gonna come back.

And then as they're walking along, Isaac asks his dad, I see the firewood, I see the fire, probably, I don't know that it says it, but I see the knife.

What I don't see is the sacrifice, Dad.

Where are we gonna get a sacrifice?

And Abraham says, You don't worry about that.

God will provide a lamb.

So he says two things.

We're gonna go and we're gonna come back together, and God's gonna provide a lamb, which seems in direct opposition to what God told Abraham, and that is Isaac's gonna be the lamb.

That's not what Abraham told Isaac.

They go up on top of the hill, and you've got to remember by this time Isaac's probably 25 years old, and his dad's 125, give or day.

So you've got a 25-year-old and 125-year-old dude.

They get up on top of the mountain, he stacks the firewood, and uh he says, Isaac, put your hands behind your back.

What you don't hear again is any argument.

Dad, if you tell me that that's what I'm supposed to do, that's what I'm gonna do.

He put his hands behind his back.

Abraham wrapped that rope around his hands.

And at some point, we don't know exactly, but at some point, whether it was as they stepped toward the altar or whether he laid Isaac on the altar, but at some point it's getting serious.

And Isaac willingly yielded to his father's direction as he watched his dad willingly follow his God's direction.

That is incredibly significant.

Isaac followed his dad's direction as he watched his dad follow, his dad's God's direction.

And you know the rest of the story.

At some point, Abraham looks up as he gets ready to do what he knows can't be right, as he gets ready to do what he knows isn't possible, because God has told him multiple times in past years, you're not just gonna bless the world through children, you're gonna bless the world through Isaac.

It's through one person.

So he can't kill him, but he knows that's what God's saying.

And so he bear with me, he raises the knife, and right as he raises that knife, he hears the voice of God again.

Abraham, Abraham.

Do not harm your son.

And Abraham looks up, and there's a lamb or a sheep or some kind of animal caught in the thicket, and Abraham releases Isaac, takes the animal, and sacrifices it instead.

You know the whole story.

Here's my question.

Simple question, but it has bothered me.

I'm not being dramatic, I'm being very sincere.

It has bothered me ever since I started working on this.

Wonder if Isaac ever forgot after that day who his dad loved the most.

Wonder if Isaac went back down the mountain with his dad.

They went back home, they're sitting around the campfire, having a family meal, or herding the sheep, or collecting, you know, whatever they do back then, and you know, conversations strike up, and somebody says, Hey, Isaac.

Wonder who your dad loves the most?

Hey, Isaac, wonder who's first in your dad's life?

You think Isaac ever said, you know, I'm not sure.

That's a good question.

I might need to go home and ponder that.

I might need to go home and ask my dad some questions to find out.

I don't think so at all.

Good days, bad days, Abraham's on a high, Abraham's on a low, Abraham's a good dad, bad dad, good husband, bad husband, strong faith one day, weak faith one day.

But I wonder if Isaac after that day ever, ever, ever doubted.

My dad loves me.

I know he loves me, but he does not love me as much as he loves his God.

He has clearly shown me who's first, who he truly delights in.

Psalm 73 says, Whom have I in heaven but you, Lord?

There is nothing that I desire on the earth besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but Yahweh is the strength of my heart.

And he is my portion forever.

Wonder what how Rainey would answer that question.

Wonder how Sherry would answer that question.

Wonder how my mom would answer that question.

Wonder how Alan or Chuck or John would answer that question about me.

I'm not, I don't doubt that any of y'all, Lord have mercy.

I hope y'all would say, oh no, Larry believes in God.

Larry loves God.

Larry serves God.

I don't think that's that's not.

I wonder what y'all would say if somebody asked you, who is first?

It says, I have there is nothing that I desire on earth besides you.

That's what the psalmist says.

I wonder if if I ask Shirley or you ask Shirley, does Larry desire, in comparison, is there anything that I desire on this earth like I desire you, Lord?

John the apostle, the one that had the most intimate relationship with Jesus, he wrote this in Revelation 2.

Or actually, it's Jesus speaking through John, and Jesus is speaking to his people.

And he says, I know your hard work, your perseverance, your discernment, and your endurance in hardship.

Sound like pretty great people.

But you've got a real problem.

You have forsaken your first love.

And you've fallen away from doing the things that you first did when you loved me the most.

Remember when you first came to know Jesus as your Savior?

I can remember it like it was yesterday.

I was 18 years old.

Golly sucker bell.

And I can remember the things that I did when I first became a believer.

I remember the things I didn't do when I was a first believer when I first became a believer.

I've fallen away, or you have fallen away from the things you did when you first loved me.

Wonder what those that I love the most would say is my first love, my true desire.

And then the question is, why would they say it?

What would be their evidence, their reasons for saying, This is Larry's first love, this is Larry's greatest desire?

Proverbs 20, verse 6 says this.

Proverbs 20:6

Many say that they are loyal friends, but who can find a friend that is truly faithful?

Many say, Oh, I would die for you.

I would do anything for you.

I will be loyal to you as a friend till I die.

Wisest man that ever lived said, yeah.

But at the end of the day, who can find a loyal friend?

He doesn't say they're not there.

He just says they're rare.

Wonder if God's got any loyal friends.

How about Job?

Job said, Should we accept good from God and not bad?

Then a little later on he says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

That sounds like a loyal friend, doesn't it?

When you're in a good mood, when you're in a bad mood, I'll accept both.

If you killed me, if you look like you were going to kill me, I'd still trust you.

Couldn't help during that series in Exodus 34.

Remember, we spent a little time talking about the backdrop to that.

And how the people of God had act, they had shown their rear ends.

They're just complaining knotheads.

And so Moses goes up on the mountain to represent God to the people, to intercede for the people, and he's gone too long.

People start whining, complaining, getting afraid, and they go to Aaron.

And they say, Aaron, we don't know where Moses is.

We don't know what he's doing up there.

We don't know what's going on.

You build us a golden calf so that we can have somebody that we can see and touch and relate to.

And Aaron built it.

I think the author wants us to see two men, both who love the people of God.

I think Aaron loved the people of God.

I know Moses loved the people of God.

But Aaron was a people pleaser.

Oh, what will make you happy?

Are you sad?

Are you upset?

Whatever it takes, I will do whatever it takes, even building a golden calf, if it'll make you happy.

Because you're first in my life.

Moses was not a people pleaser, he was a people blesser.

To this very day, the people of God are being blessed because of what Moses did up on that mountain.

You see the difference in a dad?

Mom's too, but I'm a dad.

I can't help it, sorry.

A dad that pleases his kids versus a dad that does what will bless his kids and his kids and his grandkids and his great-grandkids for just a person that they watch.

Dang, he doesn't really even seem that upset if I get upset.

His world doesn't fall apart.

He doesn't crumble and cave when I get upset and stamp my feet and cry and whine, and you know, I got a bad self-esteem and I'm not feeling good about myself and all this stuff.

He does what he knows will bless my life for a lifetime and for a hundred lifetimes.

Joshua was God's friend.

Joshua said to the people of God You can refuse to serve God if you want to.

You choose who you will spend your life serving.

But me and my family, we're going to serve the Lord.

With you or without you.

I hope you'll join us, but I'm going to put God first, regardless of what y'all do.

Habakkuk, who was a prophet and a farmer, he said it Habakkuk was God's friend.

He says, though there are no figs on the fig trees, no grapes on the vines, my olive crop fails, there are no crops in the fields, there are no sheep in my pens, there are no cattle in my stalls.

Basically, what he's saying is, if I go bankrupt, yet I will rejoice in Yahweh.

Daniel and his three friends, two different stories, one with a lion's den, one with a fiery furnace, but they're the same story, right?

Exactly the same story.

So I sort of blended them together.

This is what it says.

O king, we don't need to defend ourselves.

We believe our God will rescue us.

But even if he does not, we will not worship your gods, and we will not disobey our God.

John chapter 6, Jesus has spent the afternoon teaching some 401-level stuff.

John 6 · chapter mention

It's hard stuff.

It's difficult stuff.

It's scary stuff.

It's in your face stuff.

And the Bible says that the majority of the people that heard Jesus teach these lessons, they said, ho ho ho! We'd like a good healing and some bread and wine multiplied, and maybe a raising a dead person, a good leper being made well.

We'd like that, but we're not signing on for that.

And it says that the majority of the people left.

So Jesus says, Will you, to the twelve, will you also leave?

And Peter, as the spokesman of the twelve, said, Lord, where would we go?

You possess the words of life.

What do you remember about the twelve disciples?

Do you remember their holiness?

Are they the holiest people you ever read about?

Their spiritual knowledge, their spiritual power, their obedience.

The twelve disciples were not remembered for their spiritual knowledge, their obedience, their power, their holiness.

What the twelve disciples are remembered for is that they abandoned everything to follow him.

They left their first loves to follow somebody that was now their first love.

Remember what John said?

You have, you no longer do the things you did when you first loved me.

I think that list for Kevin would be different than my list.

And I think the list that Lisa would put together of the things she did when she first loved Jesus would be different than Brenda's.

Surely there would be some overlap.

But I don't know if that's.

Remember when you used to spend time with God every morning or every evening before bed?

Remember when you wouldn't miss church to save your soul?

Even when you just had surgery, and you tell your wife says, Well, baby, you just had surgery.

You you uh you want to you're gonna sleep in today?

And he goes, No, I'm going to church.

I go to church.

That's where I belong.

Bravo to him, but more than that, Brandon, bravo to Brandon.

But for his kids to know that.

My dad goes to church.

Win, lose, or draw.

My dad reads his Bible every morning.

Participating in the things that Jesus is involved in.

Wonder where Jesus would be if he was on the earth today.

Probably be in Orange Mountain.

Or in a hospital or an old folks' home.

Or talking to some hurting moms and dads, or husbands and wives.

But are we participating in the things?

I think of that verse in Amos that says, can two walk together unless they agree?

Yes, I know Jesus, but am I walking with Jesus?

Or where is Jesus walking?

And I'm not trying to make this so specific and narrow because Jesus is up to all kinds of wonderful things.

Okay, so I'm not, that's not my you see what I'm saying.

Do I get up in the morning with a desire to identify where do I believe Jesus is at work?

What's he doing?

What's his in my mind?

And I try to participate in that.

Jesus told Peter in John chapter 21, Peter, do you love me?

John 21 · chapter mention

Oh, Lord, I love you.

Testify.

I love you, Lord.

You know what Peter said?

What Jesus said?

Then feed my sheep.

I'm committed to feeding my sheep, and I want you to participate.

I had the nicest compliment I've ever been given in my 4 years, 43.

42?

No, but I'm 43, aren't I?

Yeah, I'm how old I am?

I'm 43, right?

I think I am.

Yeah, I'm 43.

In my 43 years, I got the nicest compliment that I've ever been given.

Uh Wednesday, I did a funeral for an old family friend.

And uh at the end of it, uh a part of the, sort of part of the family, uh came up to me with his friend, and he introduced me to her, and he said, This is my friend Larry Ray.

He's the only person that I know that's looking forward to dying.

And uh I took that as a great compliment.

Now I'm not gonna go out and hang myself or anything like that, uh, because that would hurt.

Uh but but uh uh but how do I view, let's move beyond death, how do I view the return of Jesus?

Do I see the return, when I think about the return of Jesus, do I view that as an inconvenience or a promotion?

Do I see that as something, oh my gosh, that is we've got a vacation reserved for next month, man.

This is gonna mess up all kind of stuff.

Or do I see it as a delight?

Paul says there is a prize waiting for me and for everyone who eagerly looks forward to the return of Jesus.

One of my heroes, greatest heroes that I've ever had, just passed away about two months ago, month and a half ago, Tim Keller.

If you've never had the privilege of listening to him, you ought to listen to him.

I could anyway, he's he's wonderful.

And his last words to his family, his friends, and his church, they had to video it, you know, deal because he was so sick.

But his last words to those that he loves the most, he said this.

He quoted Jesus in John uh in Luke chapter 10.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

He said, Don't rejoice that evil spirits obey you.

Instead rejoice that your name is written in heaven.

Don't rejoice that you've got power, that demons obey, that mountains can be moved, that the dead can be raised, that the sick can be healed, that you've got control of your kids and your mate and your finances, and you're in charge and you've made it where it's working great.

Yay! But don't rejoice that you've made your world all that you want it to be.

Rejoice that your name has been written down in heaven.

Is that the greatest delight in my life?

That I know, that I know, that I know, that I know that God wrote my, that my name has been written down in heaven.

And do I love the most the one who wrote my name there?

We're through.

I'm not trying to make anybody feel bad.

I'm not trying to make anybody feel guilty.

I'm not trying to, I'm trying to reveal to you things that matter to me.

And it they matter to me for myself, and they matter to me for you.

I want Taylor and Will and Gracie and Keller and John and Jane and going on and on.

I want them, and I sure as Sam Hill want Rainey and Teddy.

I want them, I want them to know who we love the most.

I want the people that we love the most to know who we love the most.

I want the people that we love the most to know who we love the most.

And I'm not saying we have to wear a big Jesus first sign or walk around with a, you know, Jesus is coming back and he's mattering Hades sign, or uh or that we have to give up things or start doing things.

I just want us to do the people that we love the most, do they really know who we love the most?

And if we say, well, I think they do, my question is, how do they know?

Is it that we go in every periodically and give them a hard sermon on you better?

I'm not saying we ought not to talk to our kids about important things.

But I don't think a half a dozen very intense sermons is going to necessarily do the trick.

Is my car the most important thing?

My job, my finances, my hobbies, my sports, my politics?

Is there a person that's the that everybody knows that's what's most important to you?

Or is it my Savior?

And what is my intentionality in making sure that they continue to know that at the end of the day, I look around this room and there are people.

I think about your dad, John, and Larry.

I think about your dad.

I think about my dad.

I can tell you this: the last 10 or 15 years of my dad's life, Jesus was, he loved Jesus the most.

And I'll always be indebted to him for making that very clear to me.

Um Dale Donna, you want to come up here and help me?

Woody Chris Woody and Kristen, would y'all come up here and help me, please?

We're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Not talking about putting on a show.

When I'm not talking about putting on a show, so please don't misunderstand me.

I just mean is Jesus my first love?

And the things that I associate with that first love relationship, are they still a part of my life?

I sent y'all something from Oswald Chambers today.

Quit praying for yourself.

I love it.

I just love it.

Become broken bread and poured out wine.

Now, obviously, keep praying for yourself.

And if you're not, I'll pray for you because I am.

But yes, pray for yourself and for those you love.

But oh, that we were more passionate and faithful to become broken bread like our Savior and poured out wine like our Savior, giving life to others, then we are so concerned about God making sure our lives are pretty good.

Um I just invite you to come this morning.

If you rejoice that the Son of God made his body broken bread and his blood poured out wine, so that you and I could experience life, if that makes you happy, that gives you joy, then you come.

And you eat and drink, and just one more time.

Give thanks.

Give thanks.