I Am the Resurrection and the Life: John 11

Confession. I walked away from church Sunday with a shrug. I know Pastor Bart tried to chal­lenge me. I know that our small group after church which talks about the ser­mon also was try­ing to chal­lenge me. Maybe I was chal­lenged and it is just going to take some time to per­co­late then I will be whacked across the head with it lat­er. This isn’t to say the ser­mon was bad, it was a good ser­mon. The dis­cus­sion after­wards was excel­lent. I guess my prob­lem is that it start­ed out with the ques­tion, “What would you do if you were will­ing to take a big risk?”  I don’t have an answer. I am not sure I can think of any­thing risky (oth­er than some­thing bla­tant­ly sui­ci­dal). 

Ok. First the ser­mon. Pastor Bart showed us in this pas­sage that Jesus was chal­leng­ing us to let Him take us to places where we have been afraid to go. We need to stop being com­fort­able with com­fort. Don’t set­tle for medi­oc­rity. To do this:

1. Believe in Jesus’ deity — He can do all things. With this belief, our fears are dis­si­pat­ed. If belief in God, and Jesus’ deity are an issue for you, Pastor sug­gest­ed two books, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel and Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell.
2. Believe in His Authority — Jesus can do what­ev­er He wants and He wants to do what is best for us! Because He has author­i­ty over all, we can take risks for God because as we are in His will, He will pro­tect us from the evil one. 
3. Believe in Jesus’ Victory — Bad things hap­pen no mat­ter how safe you try to play it. Jesus says, “Go for it!” I am with you. We will win togeth­er because I have already won it for you. Don’t let the “What if some­thing goes bad” keep us from Jesus’ vic­to­ry.

Good stuff. I agree. Uhm… ok.  

There is one thing that Pastor said that is brew­ing in me, don’t set­tle for medi­oc­rity. I must con­fess again, I am com­fort­able right now in being mediocre. Do I see a big ham­mer com­ing down and bonk­ing me on the head?

I guess it is time for me to take some time, lis­ten to what God would tell me, seek where He would have me go. Of course, I hope that He has already led me there but I know bet­ter. A good shep­herd (last week’s ser­mon) doesn’t leave his sheep in one place for too long because the sheep destroy the pas­ture oth­er­wise.

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