Becoming More Like Jesus

Well, there's a recent trend on social media called maxing, m a x x i n g.

Um, I have to explain this for some of the older folks in the room, but uh this is from the word maximum.

Uh, the concept is kind of optimizing a certain area of your life, squeezing out every bit of potential it has.

You you spend all your resources to kind of upgrade a certain area of your life.

So, so there's looks maxing where you're maxing out your physical attractiveness.

So, this might include some kind of normal workout routines or skin care regimens, but it could go to some extreme measures even like bone structure alterations and things like that.

Uh, there's sleep maxing where you're trying to uh optimize your sleep routine.

You know, what's the best time to go to bed or wake up?

What's what should the lighting be?

The temperature?

What sounds can I have in the room?

You know, you're trying to get the most out of your sleep so that you can be the most well rested.

Uh, there's there's different kinds of diet maxing like fiber maxing or protein maxing.

Have you noticed in the grocery aisle that everything has like added protein now?

Like protein in your pancakes, protein in your drinks, you know?

That's because of this uh protein maxing kind of uh cultural phenomenon.

And so you're loading up on on this particular aspect in your food that you think will help you be the most healthy.

Uh, and and so, you know, many of us are are probably not maxing.

You know, our culture is one of such extremes, right?

We're all probably trying to just be ordinary followers of Jesus, doing our best, trying to do good um and make a difference in our corner of the world, and that's good.

Uh, but we want to experience a fullness of life, right?

And I I think that's a little bit of what we see in this maxing trend is a desire for for fullness of life or or kind of a perfection in life in this one particular area.

But of course that's based on what that person or influencer or whatever says is is the most beautiful or the most healthy.

Um and I think we can have this same kind of struggle where in our desire for fullness of life we can succumb to the false belief that we can control life's outcomes or we have the resources within ourselves to achieve this kind of perfection uh or if you know we can have fullness of life if we just work hard enough to achieve it.

But the good news we're going to hear today is that the fullness of life Jesus offers is different.

It promises that when we are at the end of ourselves, when we're not at our maximum potential as we connect with Jesus as our ultimate source, he brings us to a place of beauty and peace and joy.

He gives us fullness of life.

Um in this series we're reflecting on qualities of a thriving congregation.

And today we're focusing on how a thriving congregation takes spiritual formation seriously because we want to become like Jesus.

You know he is our standard of perfection.

Um a full life is one where we are the most like Jesus.

So call it Jesus maxing if you will.

Uh but we're going to see today how Jesus gives us a different model for experiencing a full and beautiful life.

And fullness of life is not achieved by optimizing our effort, you know, efforts in life, but it's received as a gift from our loving Father as we spend time with him.

So today we're going to consider consider what is God's vision for fullness of life.

And you know, Jesus said, I have come to give you life and life to the full.

So we're going to explore a little bit what that vision of fullness looks like.

And then we'll think about how this life comes to be.

You know, how we can experience fullness of life through being present with God, through spiritual formation, by being with Jesus and practicing the presence of God.

So if you would open up in your Bible, if you have one, or use the one in front of you or a Bible app to Psalm 16.

Psalm 16 gives us God's vision, I think, for fullness of life.

It It paints this beautiful picture of a soul at rest with God, a soul that's not striving for perfection, but at peace in the presence of God.

So if you would as you're able, would you stand with me?

And we're going to read Psalm chapter 16.

This is a Psalm of David.

It says, keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, you are my Lord.

Apart from you, I have no good thing.

I say of the holy people who are in the land, they are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.

Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup.

You make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.

Surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the Lord who counsels me.

Even at night my heart instructs me.

I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices.

My body also will rest secure because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful ones see decay.

You make known to me the path of life.

You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

In this psalm David is delighting in God as his source of life.

He's celebrating the Lord.

He uses that personal name of the Lord, Yahweh, I am the God who is present.

And he describes God in a lot of ways.

So we see that God is his refuge in verse one.

He's his source of all that is good in verse two.

He he declares God as the true God.

He's different from these idols who just cause deeper and deeper suffering and sorrow for their worshippers.

Uh he says God is his portion and his cup.

The the idea of the portion here is um an allotment of land.

So in the ancient world that was a measurement of wealth.

Um he's saying in verse six that the boundary lines, the measuring lines are drawn in pleasant places.

So, uh it's describing how God has given him what he needs.

He is his uh source of of resources.

He's been generous and kind and he so God is the portion.

He is his allotment or his true wealth.

Um, and God is the cup.

The cup is what's poured out and given to a person at a meal.

It symbolizes a person's fate.

So, David is trusting that God is overseeing his destiny.

Uh that that God himself is his true destiny, his his prize and pleasure.

Um, he describes God as as his lot as secure.

God is giving him security in life.

Um, God is his counselor and guide.

He gives him direction, especially during difficult and lonely times.

And the more he aligns his heart with God's heart, the more he experiences wisdom and comfort from God.

Um, in verse 8 he talks about uh God being at his right hand.

The idea here is that he's uh his like an advocate in court or a support in battle or a companion for the journey.

So, Yahweh is his advocate and support.

And he's his rest in verse 9 and he's his source of full life and joy and pleasure.

And this isn't just something for the future that like if we grit it out in this life, we'll have, you know, joy in the afterlife, but it's something that begins now.

It's a fullness of joy that is lasting and begins even now.

So, what an an amazing vision for life that this is.

You know, I don't think any of us would look at this uh chapter and just think well, yeah, I'm not really interested in that.

You know, I actually prefer to be insecure.

I I don't really like joy and pleasure.

You know, I kind of like not knowing what to do and I need to make decisions.

Uh you know, I I like increasing suffering and and sorrow.

No, you know, this is a picture of an amazing full and beautiful life at rest with God.

I think sometimes we can convince ourselves that a full life is one where we can do what we want when we want.

You know, we we can sleep in.

We can control our schedule.

We have enough money where we don't need to worry about that.

We have plenty of time to do the projects we want to do or travel and see beautiful places.

It's kind of like what I imagine retirement to be.

Um but maybe some of you who are retired would say, well, it's not always quite as perfect as you think it is going to be.

Maybe maybe something happens in your health that affects your ability to do those things.

Maybe you have kids or grandkids that are asking you to spend time with them.

Um you know, maybe you don't have as much uh money as you think you'll have.

So um you know, a full life isn't about where we go or what we do, but it's about who we're with.

It's about presence.

You know, think about uh those times that you've been with loved ones or or like your best friends and you're just having so much fun and laughter and you can be yourself.

That's a little glimpse into fullness of life.

But even our loved ones and friends can't give us all that God gives us, can't give us that deep security and lasting joy and a soul rest.

That only comes from God's presence.

So this kind of fullness of life is possible through Jesus Christ.

Uh in in Acts chapter two, we actually Peter refers to this Psalm.

Uh in Acts two is when the Holy Spirit is poured out at Pentecost and people are hearing um other tongues and and amazed at what's going on and Peter uh one of the followers of Jesus preaches a message to the people at Pentecost and he reveals that Jesus is the fulfillment.

He refers back to the last few verses of this Psalm, reveals Jesus as the fulfillment of it.

Jesus is the holy one who does not see decay, who is not shaken, who is resurrected to life and restored to joy in God's presence.

And now through the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent uh and is now poured out, we have the benefit of security in Christ, of guidance on a path of goodness and life, of hope for the future and joy as we rest in Jesus's presence now and forever more.

So this vision for fullness of life is experienced through the Holy Spirit.

So how, you know, how does this full and beautiful life come to be?

Well, it's through the Holy Spirit, which is God's presence in us.

And as we notice God's presence and rest in his presence, as we're simply with Jesus, we are filled, filled with joy and life.

Let's look at the way Jesus describes this in John 15.

I'm going to read a few verses.

John 15:5.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.

Apart from me, you can do nothing.

And jumping to verse nine.

As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Now remain in my love.

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete or full.

So Jesus is talking about remaining or or abiding depending on the version you have.

The idea here is to make your home with him, to stay rooted in the vine.

Uh but more specifically, he says remain in my love.

So this is uh rooting ourselves into a relationship that will form us into people of love.

It's a relationship of trust and obedience and sacrifice, but it's one that results in joy.

A joy that's more full than any ephemeral or shallow joy we can produce apart from the love of God in Christ.

The fullness of life we desire comes about through abiding in Christ.

So what does that look like?

You know, how do we root ourselves in God's love?

Well, the idea is to spend every moment we can in awareness of Jesus and connection to him.

One label we have for the concept of abiding or remaining is spiritual formation.

It's structuring our lives in such a way as to be formed into Christ-likeness.

likeness.

You know, some talk about spiritual disciplines or spiritual practices.

The 17th century Catholic monk named Brother Lawrence, he called it the practice of the presence of God.

Uh now Brother Lawrence was a dishwasher in his monastery in the 17th century, and he came to a point in his life where he was no longer distinguishing the ordinary work in the kitchen from what we would consider the most sacred spiritual practice.

So he says this in the book The Practice of the Presence of God.

The time of busyness does not with me differ from the time of prayer.

And in the noise and clatter of my kitchen while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees before the blessed sacrament.

The blessed sacrament in the Catholic tradition is what we refer to as the Lord's Supper, communion.

The most sacred practice in our worship.

He's undistinguishing that in terms of God's presence from those moments when people are yelling at him.

You know, is that bowl clean yet?

I want my soup.

Um he's experiencing God's presence in the same way.

Brother Lawrence learned to be in two places at once.

To be washing dishes and to be in the presence of God.

And that's the idea of abiding or remaining in Jesus.

It's learning to rest in the presence of God while we're sending the email, while we're eating dinner, you know, while we're on the floor playing with kids, while we're uh around the table, while we're sending or scrolling social media or, you know, it's planning our schedules.

And this is what Paul means by praying without ceasing.

In the Psalm we looked at at verse eight, it's where David's talking about keeping his eyes always on the Lord, keeping the Lord always before me.

Dallas Willard, the philosopher and leader in spiritual formation, described keeping the Lord always before him in this way.

He says the first and most basic thing we can do can and must do is to keep God before our minds.

This is the fundamental secret of caring for our souls.

Our part in thus practicing the presence of God is to direct and redirect our minds constantly to him.

In the early time of our practicing, we may well be challenged by our burdensome habits of dwelling on things less than God.

But these are habits, not the law of gravity, and can be broken.

A new grace-filled habit will replace the former ones as we take intentional steps toward keeping God before us.

Soon our minds will return to God as the needle of a compass constantly returns to the north.

If God is the great longing of our souls, he will become the pole star of our inward beings.

So abiding takes practice.

It's something we don't easily fall into.

It's it's a a retraining of our minds and hearts.

And it's possible as we develop new habits.

I want to just take a moment to be sure I'm clear in that we're not talking about another form of works righteousness, like doing the right thing to earn our salvation.

You know, if I pray the right way, if I read enough scripture, if I fast or Sabbath or join a discipleship group or something, then God will love me more, then I'll be approved and saved.

Our spiritual practice are practices are in response to God's love.

Remember John 15:9, as the Father has loved me, I have loved you.

Now remain in my love.

Our desire to pursue being with Jesus is a response to his pursuit of us.

And if we recognize God's love for us and really long to be with him, these practices are ways to reorient ourselves to him.

There was a season in my life a few months ago where I um I was just feeling kind of emotionally and spiritually at the end.

I felt weary.

I had run out of willpower uh and I kind of felt like, you know, a dry sponge where you're trying to squeeze out that last drop of water.

Um and a lot of that was coming from listening to the voice of the enemy.

Uh you know, you're not good enough, mom.

You're not a good enough pastor.

You don't know what you're doing.

Um and the ironic thing is this was happening when I was actually receiving a lot of positive affirmation and encouragement um in in ministry.

Uh but the enemy was stealing the joy.

And you know, there may have been some seasonal depression in there as well.

So I want to be honest about that.

It's not something I've experienced a lot, but that may have been there.

But I also recognized that there was my approach to my practices with God at that time was often kind of transactional or like it needed to be productive.

Like, okay, I'm going to bring God my problems and, you know, wait for him to solve them.

I was kind of resisting just the relationship, just the being with God.

And so I I started realizing that Jesus just wanted to be with me.

And I needed and and wanted to be with him.

So there was a Friday, our offices are closed on Friday, which thank you by the way for supporting our staff as we take that time off on Fridays.

That's really meaningful for us.

But so there's a Friday where I was home, the kids are at school, and I was by myself, and I just sat on the couch for 3 hours listening to an album called Jesus by John Guerra, listening to some other devotional music, just sitting in God's presence, letting that soak in, hearing his voice of love.

And it was amazing how fulfilling that that was.

Also in this season, I was talking with my spiritual director and and trying learning some new practices of imaginative prayer.

I talked to some of our other pastors and family and friends who were praying for me during that time and just learning new ways to just be with God.

And so I started, you know, experiencing renewed joy and that assurance that even when I didn't feel like enough, God was sufficient.

And so it's still, you know, a journey of learning some new rhythms to stay connected to him, and that doesn't mean I won't necessarily pull away from the vine at some point again.

But as I start noticing that unsettled feeling or that longing um that's that you know noticing something's missing I'm trying to return to God and just sit in his presence even just for a few minutes.

One of my favorite spiritual practices is breath prayers.

Maybe some of you have heard me talk about this.

Um I love the connection between you know body and and spirit as you breathe in and breathe out choosing a short phrase from scripture or I like to use a song lyric that as I breathe in I I think let the rain of your presence fall on me.

That's the breath prayer I come back to over and over again.

Um I also have this verse from Psalms Psalm 16:11 the first letter of each word on my mirror the bathroom mirror to help me memorize it and remember that you make known to me the path of life.

You fill me with joy in your presence with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

So there's endless ways to connect with God.

Just about anything can be a spiritual practice if we're approaching it intentionally to be with Jesus.

Maybe you connect with God through walks or hiking or arts or cooking or journaling or sharing a meal with friends.

Um some of the classic spiritual practices include prayer, solitude, being in scripture, Sabbath, fasting, generosity, community, service, witness.

There's personal and corporate practices.

There's inward and outward disciplines.

And it's also you know many of us have a variety of ways to connect with God which is good.

You know if I'm with my husband sitting at a meal or going for a walk or doing a project together, we're connecting with each other in different ways, connecting in at different levels.

So there's um you know, it's good to have a variety of ways that we're connecting with God.

Uh but I wanted you to hear from a couple others in our congregation this morning about what it looks like for them to connect with God.

So I'm going to invite Savannah and Neil to go ahead and come forward.

Um Savannah is a current student at Messiah University, a junior studying occupational therapy.

Neil is a long-time member of Grantham Church.

He's a husband, a father, a grandfather, an employee at Messiah University.

Um and I asked each of them to just share briefly um what it's been looking like for them recently to connect with Jesus, to just be in his presence.

So would you share with us, Savannah?

Yeah.

Um so it was about like last winter that I started this practice that I call like special Sabbath.

So um on Sundays I'm attending church, but these are special days or at least parts of days that I take like once one time per month and I just spend time with the Lord that whole time or that whole day.

Um and I think a lot about it beforehand and I really look forward to it of just a time where I stop doing things.

Um and like Melissa you were talking about that could look like a lot of different things that I do.

Like I do spend more time in the word maybe or in devotional books, but I'll also take a walk or hang out with friends more or do art or read a book.

Like it can look like so many different things and I just have a small list of what brings me joy and what brings me rest in the Lord.

Um and it's been really good in teaching me how to stop striving and how like and sometimes there's that tension where I'm like I have a project due or I have an exam and like I want to work and I feel like I need to be working.

Um but it's been good in teaching me to just slow down and be with the Lord and trust that he'll provide me with the time and the resources that I need later on.

Um, it's Eugene Peterson has a quote that says busyness is the enemy of spirituality.

And and I know we're saying some stuff about busyness up here already, but uh for me that was a a big factor in my uh journey in the past couple of years.

Also, my wife Lisa recommended I read a book um entitled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer.

And I see one of the professors here at Messiah who knows how I walk across campus.

I'm I'm hurried as I go across the campus.

Um, but since reading that book, I've been working on trying to slow down in my life.

Not there yet.

I still do a lot of things fast.

Um, but over these these past couple of years, because of slowing down, I've had great opportunities open up to me um in different group settings here at Grantham Church.

Um, one was the men's Bible study on Friday mornings uh led over here right in the in the parlor led by Rich Stubeen and John Yates.

Um, it's been a way just to plug in with community and get into the word of God.

Uh, the other one was uh a men's group that I was invited to be a part of to do life together with men who are at different phases of life than I am and are struggling with things that I may or may not have struggled with, but it's been a good way to plug in and walk with them on their journey with Christ.

Uh, and the last one that I've been a part of here for a couple of years now is an intentional discipleship group.

It's a smaller group um of men that I've been meeting with, praying with, doing life again with, but on a deeper level, being able to get to know them better.

Um and when Melissa mentioned last Sunday in our young adult learning community, she read these verses from John about being a part of the vine and she I think something to the effect of she said what did what did those verses mean?

What did that say to you when she read those verses about being a part of that vine?

Um a couple of us shared and what hit me was I'm not really a part of the vine.

For years I've been nearer the vine.

I've been around on the ground by the vine, but I wasn't a part of the vine, which is a totally different way of thinking about it.

If you're not a part of that vine, how can you grow?

Um these three groups have been a large part of my growth over the past couple of years and I'm looking forward to more opportunities of growth here at the Grantham Church.

Thank you.

Thank you guys so much for sharing.

Yeah, I mean and I could have asked many of you to come up and share, you know, what this looks like and that's wonderful.

Um maybe some of you have kind of a network of practices that orient your hearts to Jesus daily, weekly, seasonally.

This is called a rule of life.

Um we don't have a whole lot of time to get into that today, but just as we create, you know, budgets to shape our financial life or a workout plan to shape our physical life, we a rule of life shapes our spiritual life.

Um but the more we are in God's presence, the more we rest in him as our source of a full life, and the more likely it is that we begin doing the things Jesus did.

The practices are a means to an end.

Since the end is to to be with Jesus and to be formed by him.

Um so these practices are ways for us to connect with the spirit so that the spirit produces the good fruit in our lives.

Like Neil said, to connect to the vine so that we can truly flourish.

Um apart from me you can do nothing, Jesus says in the passage we looked at today.

So we often talk about the God who looks like Jesus, how Jesus shows us what God is like.

And Jesus also shows us how to be human.

Jesus is fully divine and fully human.

And in his humanity he spent time alone with the Father.

He spent time in community.

He was unhurried.

He slept.

He ate meals with others.

He worshipped on the Sabbath.

He went to synagogue.

He studied scripture.

He lived simply.

He gave generously and served.

Jesus shows us how to arrange our lives in such a way that the spirit produces good fruit and we experience fullness of life.

So let's look at a few questions to help us reflect and respond today.

You can ask God how he's speaking to you this morning.

First, what is your vision for fullness of life?

What does it look like in your mind when you think about living a life to the full and does that align with God's vision?

We can also ask, what are some of your current routines and habits?

You know, think about what you do when you wake up, when you go to bed, uh at lunchtime, you know, when something goes wrong, what do you turn to?

Who do you spend the most time with?

Are all these habits and practices helping us turn our attention to Jesus or to something else?

You know, one thing you might think about if you have time this week is take an inventory of what some of your regular habits are each day or each week.

How are you How can you be intentional about those habits?

And that leads to question three.

What's one way Jesus is inviting you to spend time with him?

How might you practice the presence of God this week?

You know, we we kind of quickly just listed some of the spiritual practices.

There's There's a lot of different ways to connect with God, but maybe if you're not sure where to start, uh maybe you can start Well, start small.

I'll say that.

No matter what you do, start small.

Or even if you feel like you have pretty robust practices, ask God, what's the next step?

Um but even if it's 5 minutes in the morning before you grab your phone, before you get out of bed, to say a prayer, you know, ask Jesus to guide your day, to notice his presence with you.

Maybe say a breath prayer.

There's so many different ways we can connect with God, but what what might be something small where God is inviting you to connect with him?

John Mark Comer, uh Neil mentioned one of his books.

He says, there's so much we can't do in our spiritual formation.

We can't fix ourselves or heal ourselves or save ourselves, but we can do this.

We can be with Jesus.

We can pause for a little moments throughout our days and turn our heart toward Jesus in silent prayer.

And as we habituate this inner Godward orientation in the whole of our life, we will make steady progress toward Jesus, and he will inevitably shepherd us every step along the way.

You make known to me the path of life.

You fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Let's pray.

God, we're so grateful that you want to be with us.

Thank you for pursuing us in your love, for pouring it out on us.

And God, may we take to heart the reality that when we are with you, we have fullness of life.

We have deep peace and joy.

You shape us into people of love.

Lord, help us to slow down.

Draw us into your presence.

Fill us with your spirit.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.