Good morning Lakeside! We've launched this new series we're calling UNSTUCK. You know, there are probably a few folks out there that think everything is awesome! But the reality is that things aren't awesome. People are profoundly stuck, without hope and without God in the world. Many of you, feel stuck. Your friends, feel stuck.
When Jesus looked upon the 1st Century world, the city of Jerusalem, he wept. Our God doesn't live in a bubble. He knows just how sinful, corrupted, and sick our world's become. He is deeply grieved, to be sure. He knows our agony.
If you're a religious person, you might turn to worship to escape the reality of what is going on in our world. You might take comfort in the fact that you are saved, even if the whole world around you is going to pot (maybe literally?). If you're an industrious person, you get buried in your work, your family responsibilities, and suburban lifestyle. If you're an addicted person, you get high to cope with your anxiety and numb yourself to that overwhelming sense of pain. Yet every time you come back down, the pain has only grown! But Jesus came to get us UNSTUCK. He came to do for us what we couldn't do for ourselves!
This past week I came across a YouTube video, done by a St. Louis area rapper named Prince Ea. It offers stunning commentary on just how STUCK we are. We can't play the video, so let me share some of the lyrics! Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqGPa84jM2M&feature=youtu.be Lyrics: http://genius.com/Prince-ea-why-i-think-this-world-should-end-lyrics
The world is coming to an end. The air is polluted, the oceans contaminated. The animals are going extinct, the economy's collapsed. Education is shot, police are corrupt. Intelligence is shunned and ignorance rewarded
The people are depressed and angry. We can't live with each other and we can't live with ourselves. So everyone's medicated. We pass each other on the streets. And if we do speak it's meaningless robotic communication
More people want 15 seconds of fame. Than a lifetime of meaning and purpose. Because what's popular is more important than what's right. Ratings are more important than the truth.
Our government builds twice as many prisons than schools. It's easier to find a Big Mac than an apple. And when you find the apple. It's been genetically processed and modified. Presidents lie, politicians trick us.
Race is still an issue and so is religion. Your God doesn't exist, my God does and he is All-Loving. If you disagree with me I'll kill you. Or even worse argue you to death
92% of songs on the radio are about sex. Kids don't play tag, they play twerk videos. The average person watches 5 hours of television a day. And it's more violence on the screen than ever before.
Technology has given us everything we could ever want And at the same time stolen everything we really need.
Pride is at an all time high, humility, an all time low. Everybody knows everything, everybody's going somewhere. Ignoring someone, blaming somebody. Not many human beings left anymore, a lot of human doings. Plenty of human lingerings in the past, not many human beings.
Money is still the root of all evil. Yet we tell our kids don't get that degree. The jobs don't pay enough. Good deeds are only done when there's a profit margin.
Videos of the misfortunes of others go viral. We laugh and share them with our friends to laugh with us. Our role models today. 60 years ago would have been examples of what not to be. There are states where people can legally be discriminated against Because they were born a certain way {We believe all born with sin nature}.
Companies invest millions of dollars hiring specialists to make Little girls feel like they need "make up" to be beautiful Permanently lowering their self esteem. Because they will never be pretty enough To meet those impossible standards
Corporations tell us buy, buy, buy, get this, get that. You must keep up, you must fit in. This will make you happy, but it never does for long. So what can we do in the face of all of this madness and chaos? What is the solution?
Prince Ea is roundly criticized for being too idealistic about things. Could it be that it is the kingdom of God that he really longs for? In John 3 Jesus is talking to a religious leader named Nicodemus, and he's describing our need to be born of God. Jesus says, "Truly, truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again. . . no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit." (John 3:3, 5).
Jesus goes on to say, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit." (John 3:6). In other words, we're all in a predicament for which there is not fleshly, human remedy. The Spirit of the Living God has to intervene to birth us, deliver us, and breathe new life into us!
According to John 3, our "STUCKNESS" is captured by two key ideas. First, we're "perishing" in the flesh. From the moment we're born we begin to die. Our days are numbered. Despite all we do to slow it down, our life ebbs slowly away. Nicodemus asks Jesus, "how can someone be born when they are old? Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!"
Second, people stand "condemned." One reason is because we're not looking to God. Instead, we turn to government, police, education, intelligence, economy, medications, religion, sexuality, pride, money, technology, companies, and corporations.
Another reason people stand "condemned" is because we love the darkness and hate the light. We do what's evil. We refuse to live by the truth. Our biggest fear is being found out--having our deeds exposed. Not only are we perishing, but we're resigned to the way things are.
In his video, rapper Prince Ea asks: So what can we do in the face of all of this madness and chaos? What is the solution?
And here is his answer: We can love. Not the love you hear in your favorite song on the radio. I mean real love, true love, boundless love. You can love, love each other. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed. Perform an act of kindness because that is contagious.
We can be mindful during every interaction. Planting seeds of goodness. Showing a little more compassion than usual. We can forgive. Because 300 years from now will that grudge you hold against Your friend, your mother, your father have been worth it?
Instead of trying to change others we can change ourselves. We can change our hearts. We have been sold lies. Brainwashed by our leaders and those we trust. To not recognize our brothers and sisters. And to exhibit anger, hatred and cruelty.
But once we truly love we will meet anger with sympathy. Hatred with compassion, cruelty with kindness. Love is the most powerful weapon on the face of the Earth. Robert Kennedy once said that Few will have the greatness to bend history. But each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those act. Will be written in the history of a generation. So yes, the world is coming to an end. And the path towards a new beginning starts within you.
For Prince Ea the game-changer is that we'd learn to love one another! By the way, "Prince Ea" stands for the Prince of the Earth. The Prince of the Earth would have us believe that solution resides within us, within our willpower, within our flesh. Within our goodness, kindness, sympathy, compassion. Just love, just forgive.
What Jesus tells Nicodemus is that God's love is the game-changer. The Bible says, "We love, because God first loved us."
I saw this post on BuzzFeed called, "26 Moments that Restored Our Faith in Humanity This Year." The BuzzFeed editors added the tagline, "Sometimes you need a reminder that people can do wonderful things." Here's some inspiration images...see http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/moments-that-restored-our-faith-in-humanity-this-y
- The Parents who made son's wheelchair into most awesome Halloween costume ever.
- The terminally ill man who loves receives mail and got more than he ever expected when his Nephew put his address out on Reddit!
- The Doctor who offered free medical care after hurricane Sandy
- The Libyan child who courageously renounced the hate perpetuated in name Islam
- The Police Officer who purchased a pair of shoes for a barefoot homeless man
- The Woman who stood in the rain, shielding a homeless man from the rain!
- The famous Rugby player who visited his biggest fan in the hospital.
- The Couple who stayed together despite unimaginable odds...
I think we would all agree that all of these acts restore a measure of faith in our humanity. These are the kind of good deeds Christians should be known for. They are the kind of good deeds Prince Ea is calling for. But there is only one act of love... and one act alone... sufficient to forever change humanity, and that is God's love. God's love is the game-changer [SHOW CROSS].
In Jeremiah 31:3 the Lord says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness."
John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
What is the width of God's love? For God so loved all the world! His outstretched arms encompass all of humanity. He removes our sins as far as the east from the west!
What is the length of God's love? God gave his One and Only Son. His love is eternal, providing everlasting life to all who would believe. He spared nothing, held back nothing, to seek and save what was lost.
What is the depth of God's love? His love reaches down to the most STUCK, most hopeless sinner. No one is so stuck as to remain unreachable by God's love. Whoesover believes in Him shall not perish. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. To all who believe, God gives the right to be called children of God.
What is the height of God's love? Psalm 103:8-11 says, "The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will be harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him!"
One person wrote that "God" is the greatest lover. When God "so loved" us it was to the greatest degree imaginable. In loving "the world," God was extending his love to greatest number of people possible. When "He gave" is was the greatest act, unrivaled in all time/history. When he gave His "One and Only Son", it was the greatest gift. "Whoever" was the greatest invitation. To "believe" is to approach God in the greatest simplicity. "In Him" is the greatest person who ever walked the earth, our Lord Jesus, God in the flesh. To "not perish" is the greatest deliverance available. "But" is the greatest difference-maker, the greatest-of-all game changers. To "have" is to enjoy something with the greatest certainty. And "everlasting life" is the greatest possession.
When God so loved the world that he sent his One/Only Son... God's love didn't just bend history, it changed history forever. John 3:18-21 says, "18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
In Jesus we're no longer condemned, no longer perishing. Loving the Light? Walking in the Light? Jesus told Nicodemus that only God can make it so. Flesh gives birth to flesh; the Spirit gives birth to the Spirit. To see the Kingdom of God takes more than a dream, or a vision of what should be. It takes more than an idealistic "rap." We must be born of Water and Spirit.
I'd suspect you find yourself in one of two places this morning. Some of you just want to get Unstuck. If you are new to Lakeside, we want to invite you to have Pasta with the Pastors. This can be the place where you meet new friends, begin some conversations, and safely explore what Lakeside has to offer you.
The Pathway Class is a chance for you learn what it means to trust Jesus for eternal life. The Baptism Class will answer any question you might have about baptism, especially if you're new to the Christian Church. I will be leading both of these classes, and would love to personally meet with you. Please sign up! The only way to get Unstuck is by God's power. Don't put it off.
Some of you already know the love of God, and have trusted Christ. We want to invite you to be part of Lakeside. Pasta with the Pastors, Welcome to Lakeside are a great place to start. We also want to invite everyone to get about loving others, just as Christ loved you.
We've been developing a partnership with Hazel Dell and Lee School. During teacher's appreciation week, we're going to bless both schools with cookies and pies. If you love to bake, write BAKE on your communication card. We're going to throw a PARTY, the last day of school, for Hazel Dell folks, to thank them for their hard work. We have a CLEANUP DAY scheduled there. We're going donate some goody BASKETS for students to auction off to raise money for their classrooms. Be a part of the action!