Membership Matters 2: Celebrating on Sundays
Hebrews 10:19-25
I
wonder if you know what the three most dangerous things people do while driving?
What do you think is the third most dangerous? Talking on a mobile phone. What
about the second most dangerous? Putting on make-up… And what do you think is
the most dangerous thing people do while driving? Reading the newspaper… People
actually try and read while they drive. It’s a symptom of the pressure people
face trying to cram more and more activities into fewer and fewer hours.
A man called Myer Friedman has given this condition a name. Its called “hurry
sickness”. It describes the tendency we have to do too many things at once. So
this morning we are going to have a mass confession about hurry sickness.[1] I’m going to read out a short list. When I’m
done reading, if you feel you suffer from hurry sickness, I’m going to ask you
to raise your hand. If you are really guilty, I want you to stand up - maybe even
on your chair - just to get it off your chest. Here’s the first one.
When you come to a traffic light and there are two lanes ahead of you with one
car in each lane, you find yourself guessing - based on the make and model - which
car will pull away quickest - then you choose your lane. Second: If you are ready
to pay at the cash desk of the supermarket, you find yourself counting how many
people there are in each line and multiplying it by how many items are in each
trolley, divided by the combined age of the shopper and cashier to estimate which
line will go faster.
If you have a bad case of hurry sickness, you keep track of the other lines on
both sides of you, just to see if you picked the right one. And if you get out
of the store ahead of the person you would have been behind in the other line,
you feel happy. But if the person who would have been you gets out first, you
are a little depressed for the rest of the day. Okay - now its mass confession
time. How many of you suffer from hurry sickness? Let’s get a little more serious.
Inside your sermon outline is a tool that will help you assess whether or not
we are inclied to hurry sickness. As I read through each of the ten statements,
place an X on the continuum that best describes your response “Not at all like
me” “Like me sometimes” or “Describes me most of the time.”
10.When it gets really quiet, you sometimes have the gnawing feeling that there has to be more to life than this.
There is no score card for this inventory - its designed to simply help you see if you are inclined to hurry sickness.
Spend some time today reflecting on the problems that arise - or affect those
you love - because you are stressed. People with hurry sickness tend to fall for
one of two illusions or both. The first has to do with time and the second with
possessions.
Time: “Someday, things will settle down”
Hurry
sickness is driven, first of all, by an illusion regarding time - that “Someday,
things will settle down” We think, “When things settle down, I will get around
to it.” When things settle down I will achieve my priorities. When things settle
down I’ll have time for Church. Ever find yourself thinking these things? Here’s
when things will settle down: when you die. You’ll be amazed at how life slows
down then. Until then, things will probably never slow down.
John Ortberg
tells the story of how, not long after moving to Chicago, he called a wise friend
to ask for some spiritual direction. “I described the pace of life in my current
ministry. I also told him about our rhythms of family life: we are in the van
driving, soccer-league, piano-lesson, school-orientation-night years. I told him
about the present condition of my heart, as best I could discern it. What did
I need to do, I asked him, to be spiritually healthy? Long pause. "You must
ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life," he said at last. Another long
pause. "Okay, I've written that one down," I told him, a little impatiently.
"That's a good one. Now what else is there?"
I
had many things to do, and this was a long-distance call, so I was anxious to
cram as many units of spiritual wisdom into the least amount of time possible. Another long pause.
"There is nothing else," he said. "You must ruthlessly eliminate
hurry from your life." I've concluded that my life and the well being of
the people I serve depends on following his prescription, for hurry is the great
enemy of spiritual life in our day. Hurry destroys souls. As Carl Jung wrote,
"Hurry is not of the devil; hurry is the devil."
John goes
on to say, “For most of us, the great danger is not that we will renounce our
faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that
we will settle for a mediocre version of it. The second illusion concerns our
stuff. The illusion is “Someday, ‘more’ will be enough.” Have you ever found yourself
thinking “If I just buy this one outfit, I will finally have enough clothes.”
Or, “If I just replace this carpet, our house will be complete” Or, “If I just
replace the car, I’ll be satisfied.” But you are not - at least not for long.
The
distance, says John Ortberg, between more and enough is an unbridgeable chasm.
So how can we ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives? How can we deal with
these two illusions about time and possessions? God has provided several ways
but I want to concentrate on just one today - the most important one. The one
that God has woven into our world with amazing regularity.
And I want
to congratulate you for choosing it this morning. You made the right decision
to be here. If you were not here this morning what would you be doing? You could
have been doing one of a hundred things (and many people try to) - you could be
working, emailing, shopping, cleaning, catching up - the one thing these all have
in common is this - treating Sunday like any other day will degrade you and very
likely shorten your life. Numerous studies have shown that the most likely day
people suffer a heart attack is when? Mondays. 20% more heart attacks occur on Mondays than on any other
day. [2] Why? One reason is this - people don’t take
the need for rest seriously. They have not taken the Lord’s Day seriously. And
so they are not ready to go back to work on Monday - rested, refreshed, recharged,
re-energised. That’s why you made the right decision. The Lord’s Day, the Sabbath,
was designed by our Creator God for our benefit not his.
4000 years
ago, God felt it was so important that his people stop their normal work and meet
weekly, he made it mandatory. He made it one of the ten most important commands
he gave his people:
"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded
you. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a
Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Deut. 5:12-14)
And if it being a command wasn’t enough, God added this promise.
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever! … Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days.” (Deuteronomy 5:29, 33)
Do you want to prosper? Prolong your days? Leave a legacy in seeing your family walking with the Lord? What more reason could you possibly want? Well I’m going to give you three more. Three reasons why being here at Christ Church is the best way to spend part of your Sabbath rest each week. Three simple, memorable life-giving reasons why you should attend Church weekly - if you want to have a closer walk with Jesus - if you want to live a longer, healthier, more fulfilling life. Three reasons why membership matters.
1. Come because Jesus is here
2. Come because the end is near
3. Come because his family is dear
1. Come because Jesus is here (10:19-22)
“Therefore, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)
Jesus
is here interceding, mediating, bringing us into the presence of God Almighty.
True, if we have received Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, he is with us each personally
by his spirit. But Jesus is here in a special way today because we are gathered
together in his name. Jesus promised, "For where two or three come together
in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20). That is why the writer
to the Hebrews repeats the phrase “Let us” verse 22, “Let us” verse 23, “Let us”
verse 24, “Let us” verse 25. This should be reason enough for showing up each
week. Why? Because you might miss something your brothers and sisters are experiencing.
You might miss something Jesus wants to say to you. You might miss something
Jesus wants to do in you or for you. You might miss something Jesus wants you
to know or do. What do you think Thomas was doing a week after the resurrection
when everyone else was gathered together to hear God’s word and talk to Him? What
could have been more important to Thomas than meeting with his spiritual family?
He wasn’t
there and so he missed Jesus. He spent a whole week disbelieving that the other
disciples had seen Jesus.
He missed out on meeting the risen Jesus because he wasn’t with God’s people. What could possibly be more important to you than meeting with Jesus - for one hour on a Sunday? Remember Jesus words in the Garden of Gethsemane? “Couldn’t you keep watch with me for one hour?” (Matthew 26:40). When Jesus needed help they were sleeping. Think back to last Sunday or the Sunday before. What did you do? How did you spend the day? Did it come close to being with Jesus? Hearing from Jesus? Talking to Jesus? If you are too busy to meet weekly with Jesus and his family then perhaps you are too busy. Jesus said on another occasion, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." (John 14:21). We show that we love Jesus by taking his words seriously, by meeting with him together as his family weekly, so that we can learn from him. So let me ask you again: Can you think of anything more important than spending an hour on Sundays with Jesus?
To listen to Him? To speak to Him? To learn from him?
To reflect on how we can help others come to know him?
So come first of all because Jesus is here.
2. Come because the end is near (10:23, 25)
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful… Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23, 25)
What is the hope that you profess? What is the hope that we are instructed to hold onto unswervingly? What is this “Day”? The hope that God’s plan for saving the world is reaching its consummation. The hope that evil will not always triumph? That an assault in Englefield Green, or a gang rape in Reading or a murder in Staines will not be repeated for ever. That one day justice will reign. That one day peace will reign. That one day love will triumph. Have you ever considered that our meeting together is a visible witness to the corrupt and demonic rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms? That God is in control? That God is rescuing his people?
That evil will be defeated? That God’s eternal purposes are being and will be accomplished finally and fully in Christ Jesus our Lord? The parked cars outside are not just witnessing to our neighbours that this is THE place to be on Sundays - they are witnessing to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms that in Virginia Water, God’s eternal purposes are being accomplished. What we do on Sundays is not just for ourselves. What we do on Sundays should not be based on a casual whim. Paul urges us,
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most
of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16)
Hebrews makes this even more explicit.
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
We are creatures of habit and we are forming habits all the time. We are either forming a habit of coming more regularly or a habit of coming less regularly. And the incentive for the former is what - “the day approaching” What day is approaching? The day of his coming. The day of judgement. The day of consummation. The day of reunion. The day of our homecoming. That is our incentive.
Lets get intentional about our meeting together with Jesus and all the more as
we see the day of his coming approaching. Why attend Church weekly? Come because
Jesus is here. Come because the end is near.
3. Come because his family is dear (10:24)
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)
I
was speaking to someone recently who is a recovering alcoholic. They described
how they could only go three to four days without meeting with their AA friends.
They admitted how hard it was to resist just one drink. They said “If I have a
one drink today it will be a bottle tomorrow and I’ll be in a straight jacket
on Tuesday.” They know their limits. Do you?
They know their need for
fellowship every few days. Do you? Have you come to appreciate your fellowship
here at Christ Church with that level of intensity? Have you come to value the
encouragement we can give one another with that level of intentionality? Or do
we seriously think we can go weeks without fellowship and remain immune to temptation?
To stumbling or falling? I know I cannot. We need courage. That’s what encouragement
means - to give courage. Meeting together in God’s presence, with God’s family,
considering how we may spur one another
on toward love and good deeds is so encouraging - so invigorating. We were never
meant to live the Christian life alone. That is why we encourage you to attend weekly.
Encourage you to make membership seriously. And more so, if you have children.
Be regular in coming so that your children get the habit from you and grow up
to live healthy, stress free lives also. Together we can help them grow up to
know and love the Lord, to discover his plan for their lives. This is why next
week we shall take this last point a little deeper and consider the third aspect
of membership - the value of being part of a small group. For its in our bible
study small groups where we can get to know one another as friends and family
that we best spur one another on toward
love and good deeds. Why
meet on Sundays? Because Jesus is here. Because the end is near. Because his family
is dear.
Paul writes to the Ephesians:
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing
her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself
as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and
blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Think about it: “radiant … without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” This is why we meet. This is why membership matters. This is what we are becoming. This is what we look forward to. Jesus is here. The end is near. His family are dear.
Lets pray.
[1] This material is taken from Session 7, “The Pace of Life” from John Ortberg’s course An Ordinary Day with Jesus (Zondervan)