This morning at church, we sang a familiar song by Cory Asbury called "You Are My Hope." I remember the first time ever worshiping to it, feeling much like today. I cried out to God singing "All my hope's in You, my strength, my song!" Only God can deliver us, and when we put our hope in Him, the Bible tells us in the above verse that we won't be put to shame.
As I write this, as I've been praying to God, as I've confessed my sin and struggle to others... to then live a life where I never am free from obesity... I think that would make me feel ashamed. But, my hope is in God. Likewise, I read within the past day or two Isaiah 45:17, which says "But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will never be put to shame or disgraced, to ages everlasting."
After worship came the sermon, where God very much spoke to me again through youth pastor Jason Mitchell (now I know his name and title!) from LCBC. Today was the last sermon from the series "Flip Side," which I have thoroughly enjoyed, even though (and maybe because) the Word has challenged me to re-think my entire way of doing things and re-examine how Jesus wants us to live. If you haven't had the opportunity to hear them, I would encourage you to go to www.lcbcchurch.com to listen to them.
The sermon started with Luke 9:51, where Jesus "resolutely" set out for Jerusalem. This was the start of Jesus' journey to be crucified, and He was resolute in His purpose as he went. [This verse reminded me of Daniel 1 where Daniel "resolved" not to eat the choice food but instead set himself apart for higher purposes.] As Jesus was walking, He talked to three men as we continue with the scripture through Luke 9:63. The subtitle is "The Cost of Following Jesus."
- The first said he would follow Jesus wherever he went and Jesus replied that He didn't have even a place to lay His head. Then Jason went on to describe how Jesus knew that He was going to be rejected, betrayed and not welcomed. Most wouldn't choose this kind of life. This journey isn't about us but rather about God.
- Then Jesus met another who wanted to bury is father, and what this man was really saying was 'some day I'll follow you,' but Jesus said in essence 'not one day but today.' Jason further explained that the expectation was that the children would bury their parents but Jesus was asking if this man would go against expectations and care more about what God thought than people. There will be lots of people in society that will do the 'expected' things but few who follow God's will.
- The third man said he had to say goodbye to his family. Jason noted that in that culture, that meant that the man was asking his father for permission to go and was already laying the foundations for his excuse of why he couldn't go with Jesus. Jesus, using the example of the plow, showed how important the intense focus and level of intention it took to follow Him. Jason demonstrated that one hand would be steering the ox and one hand would be driving the plow and even a slight deviation could ruin the whole field. Your eyes needed to look solely on the prize or a look back would wreck the work at hand. We can't dwell on the past or look to others instead of God.
Finally, the sermon started concluding with the verses from Luke 13:22 and Matthew 7:13-14 about the importance of working hard to enter the narrow door of God's kingdom. We don't just stumble into a life with Jesus. It takes intention and focus and the realization that sometimes it leads to rejection. Then Jason used the example of where the interstate dumps off in Harrisburg and there is less than six feet to get to the Lancaster exit. You have to put the peddle to the metal, be paying attention and not be scared about the other cars who are moving this way and that if you're going to get your exit. Otherwise, you miss it. Not paying attention will lead to a wider path that isn't the correct one. Other cars will encourage you to go on the wrong path. You have to grit your teeth and 'fight' for it. But, it leads to the way of life.
Then we ended with the fact that saying "YES!" to Jesus leads saying "NO!" to a lot of other things. For the second man to say yes to Jesus, he'd have to say no to fulfilling other people's expectations of him. We were asked to write down things where we felt like Jesus was asking us to say YES to him and NO to other things. Examples were YES to generosity and NO to excess. Maybe it was YES to forgiveness and NO to revenge. There were many others. I felt like if I was going to say YES to Jesus' will for my life, then I needed to say NO to overindulging in food. It's easy to say yes and live up to expectations of this world - every time I resolve to eat less, I'm invited to social gathering of eating out or a special birthday party with cake & ice cream. These are seemingly little things but they've kept me on the wide path (no pun intended) and not on the narrow path where I am supposed to be.
I chose to symbolically walk through the door of saying yes to Jesus and no to things of this world.. to be intentional in my path of choosing. This is going to be a hard week for it - it's my birthday, and we have lots of plans. Plans with family and friends and just us and I'm sure lots of sweets from my sweetie. Please pray for me in this journey. Let's walk the narrow path together. For, no one whose hope is in the Lord will ever be put to shame!!!
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