Stephen Anthony Ray

We often approach God or His Word with the presumption that His first priority is our happiness and/or satisfaction. Not only is that wrong, but this presumption almost always leads to an isogetical, selfish approach that invariably makes God and His Word subservient - and often, the means to - our own sinful desires. There is a reason that Jesus calls us to deny ourselves and follow Him (Mark 8). It is because God is great, and we are not. He alone can save; He alone can rescue. But don’t be deceived - He saves us for Himself. And when we - for His glory - allow Him to be the center of our existence, one of the many by-products of this is the very joy and satisfaction we were trying to find on our own in the first place.

This is one of the hardest aspects of the Gospel to accept.  And yet, it is probably the most important.

This past week in Wednesday Night Live, we talked about passion and desire.  The catalyst for this discussion was a commonly heard statement (well, prayer) among Christians that goes something like this: “God, give me a passion and desire to follow you.”  Does God ever actually do that?  I think that, as a teenage Christian, I used to convince myself that, when I prayed that prayer, God would magically wave His wand of grace over me and I would suddenly feel this irresistible compulsion to follow Him with reckless abandon.  Looking back, I think that I was probably just allowing my melodramatic personality to get the best of me.  After all, there is nothing quite as exhilarating as a self-manufactured “God-high”; there is also nothing quite as disappointing.

In reality, I think that God is much more practical.  To be sure, God’s response to our prayers can be quite dramatic.  Sometimes, our encounters with God’s love and provision result in tears, hugs, humbled hearts and raised hands.  But my experience has taught me that, in most cases, rather than supernaturally bestowing on me some characteristic for which I have prayed, God will much more often bestow upon me opportunities to develop a characteristic for which I have prayed.  When I pray for patience, God doesn’t immediately give me patience.  Instead, He makes sure that I get stuck driving behind the oldest, slowest, and most distracted driver in all of Houston.  And, at that point, I recall my prayer (no doubt through God’s reminding) and realize that, in that moment, I can either choose to be frustrated and angry or I can choose to be patient.  And this same scenario (with varied details) happens again and again.  In the end, whether or not I develop patience will depend on how often and how consistently I have said “yes” to God’s way and “no” to my own.  One of the great things about God is that He allows me to have a big part in my own growth - something to take pride in, rather than just giving me what I want. 

Therefore, relating this same principle to the desire for passion in my relationship with God, I’ve discovered that, rather than simply giving me passion in my relationship with Him, God has given me ample opportunity to make choices that coincide with my desire for more passion.  In other words, while some desires are truly innate, most desires are born of a habit or experience wherein the desire is awakened and strengthened..  For instance, take my love for fried chicken.  Pardon the stereotype, but I love fried chicken.  I could eat it for every meal.  Dare I say I might even be able to blend it into a drink and drink it (couldn’t resist).  But why, O world, do I love fried chicken so much?  It’s simple: one day, I ate some and realized I liked it.  Then, another day, I ate some more.  Before I knew it, it was one of my favorite foods.  My experience and habit of eating fried chicken is the foundation of my desire for fried chicken.

In the same way, the path to a more passionate, intimate relationship with God is much simpler than we make it.  We need to engage in habits and experiences that bring us into direct contact with God (spending time with God, learning/living the Word of God, fellowshipping with the family of God, loving/serving all God’s children).  When we’re intentional about making these habits and experiences a regular part of our lives, passion and intimacy with God is the natural outflow.  Much too often, we want to skip the hard work and just ask God to “make” our relationship with Him more passionate or intimate so that we don’t have to feel bad any longer about the fact that it hasn’t been made a priority.  And perhaps if God “makes” our relationship more passionate or intimate, we won’t have to worry about this whole “process” thing.  We’ll just ride on the winds of emotion and motivation and always be in a place where we feel like praising God!  Yay!

Wrong! 

Quick side-bar: (I think that perhaps one of the big problems is that people are really bored with their relationships with God.  However, I do feel that people who perceive Christianity or God-stuff as “boring” are truly only bored with what we’ve made it rather than with God Himself.  I mean, read the Bible; does God ever seem boring to the people in the pages of scripture?  Heck no.  He split up a sea a couple of times so His people could walk across it.  He imprisoned a guy in a fish.  He flung the stars and moon and sun into nothingness.  He made a prophet lie on one side for weeks.  He spoke through a donkey.  He destroyed whole cities and nations in an instant.  He healed the sick and raised folks the dead.  He died on a cross.  So, in summation, God is powerful, stubborn, creative, weird, freaky, just, compassionate, and loving….but boring?  Nope - at least not in scripture.  Truth is, if your relationship with God is boring, I can pretty much assure that God is not the reason why…you are.  But we’ll save that for another day’s sermon.)

If you desire passion in your relationship with God, then start with the simple things like spending time with Him  in prayer and meditation and learning more about Him by reading His Word.  Learn to experience Him in everything you do and say.  Learn how to relate to God in a way that is special for you (you are unique to Him, you know).  And let me be honest: you won’t ALWAYS feel like worshiping God - for many different reasons (believe it or not, I don’t actually ALWAYS want to eat fried chicken).  But if these things are your foundation, then there is no limit to what you can build on it.  Your relationship with God will be passionate.  It will be dynamic.  It will be transformative.  And it will never be boring.

sray

Tonight, I preached the last sermon in a series about sex, relationships, and love. Throughout the series, there are many different adjectives that I could use to describe the reaction of the students, such as awkward, withdrawn, surprised, engaged, amazing, etc. I am so thankful that I am their youth pastor.

However, one of my greatest concerns for them is that they must navigate through the slew of sexual confusion that characterizes the teenage years. On one hand, the World shoves sex in their faces (not that hormones help). On the other, the Church refuses to discuss it or vilifies it if it does discuss it. I want them to understand that God created sex. And like all of God’s creation, it was very good. But, also like all of God’s creation, it has been perverted to become useful for sinful purposes and therefore needs to be approached with respect, understanding, and commitment to the will of God.

I think my kids get that. And for their sake in a world of constant temptation, I really pray and hope so. My prayer for them is that God will guard their hearts and help them to trust in His unfailing faithfulness and provision for their lives, and to understand that, often, that loving provision manifests as a present restriction that results in a future freedom.

sray

As I was having my quiet time this morning, I was reflecting on Wednesday Night Live, the youth group service here at Westbury.  I wrote a great message.  I felt as though I communicated it effectively.  And yet, no excitement.  Often, I feel so powerless when it comes to attempting to pull teenagers away from the allure of the world and attract them to the things of the Kingdom. 

This is an issue in the Church, mind you - not just among teenagers.  And I think the problem is this:  we give God some dinky portion of our devotion and passion and yet somehow expect to reap %100 of his presence and blessing.  Of course, we don’t.  And then - BAM! - there’s the World knocking at our door like a used car salesman presenting an irrefusable offer! 

Sex!  Popularity!  Wealth!  Rank!  Party!  Fun!  Get it now!  Now!  Now!  - and only for the low, low cost of…your soul.

And we, like a child making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea (CS Lewis), fall for it hook, line, and sinker. 

In summation.  We give God almost nothing, expecting everything.  Then, getting nothing, the lusts of our eyes (to which Satan has appealed) steal our allegiance.  And suddenly, we are God’s worst nightmare - religious.

SRay

Well, I’ve been a youth minister (officially) now for a week.  It’s been wonderful so far.  The people at Westbury are amazing.  The kids have limitless potential (like all kids).  And I have a freaking assistant!  Things couldn’t be better.

Earlier this week, Pastor Jeff preached on a text that is near and dear to my heart, II Corinthians 12:7-10.  The text is so deeply important to me because I feel as though I can relate to Paul so well concerning his thorn.  Indeed, there have been things in my life (and still are) that I wish God would remove - and yet, there it remains.  God pretty much says “no”. 

But there were some new truths in my reflection on Jeff’s message.  Isn’t it funny how you can have known a scripture for years and yet, all of a sudden, something pops out that you didn’t get before?  Well, a few things popped out for me…the kind of things where grasping onto these truths tightly will really change my walk with Jesus forever.  And they are these:

1.) In II Corinthians 12:7, Paul talks about how it was because of  some “surpassingly great revelations” he had received that he gets this thorn (something bad, but we’re not told what exactly the ”thorn” is).  Get that?!  A-something good happens; B-Paul gets a thorn.  Wow!  No reward, no candy, no DVD player, no gift-certificate, no prize - but a stinkin’ thorn!  Our culture is used to rewarding good things and punishing bad things - and rightly so.  But one of the misleading things about this kind of thinking is this: when bad things happen to us, we often incorrectly assume that we’ve done something bad to deserve it.  Even folks in the Bible thought this (John 9:2).  But sometimes, things that we see as bad - like Paul’s thorn - may not have come because we did something to earn it.  Sometimes, there is a much higher purpose.  Sometimes, bad things come because - just like Paul - you did something well. 

2.) In verse 9, Jesus, refusing to remove whatever this “thorn” is, says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Wow!  God, a loving, good, wonderfully compassionate Father WON’T remove the thorn!  But his reasoning is absolutely justified.  To God, few things are more important in our relationship with Him than obedience.  And in this case, the obedience comes by way of dependence.  “My power is made perfect in weakness”.  It’s not that He enjoys seeing us suffer.  It’s not that He likes for our circumstances to suck.  It’s not that He wants us to be unhappy.  But if God is ever faced with a choice between our happiness and our obedience, He will ALWAYS go with obedience and consequently engineer our circumstances accordingly, even if He has to bring you into a situation that forces you to depend on Him for sustenance, much like Paul here.  Question: why is God so intent on our obedience?  Well, any parent could answer this one.  Plain and simple - God knows what is best for us…even more than we do.  And if He has to subject us to a painful reality that results in a beautiful obedience.  That, to Him, would be far better than a beautiful disobedience that leads to a painful reality - perhaps even a painful eternity.

3.) The final new Truth that I learned from this passage of scripture came from verse 10, where Paul resolves to remain content in his weakness.  I’ve always thought that this passage was basically a call to be fake - smiling through tears pretty much.  Being the emotionally impulsive person I am, I tend not to handle difficult situations well.  If something is going wrong in my life and I ask God for help with it, and he says, “no”, I generally don’t respond well.  Either I complain to anyone who will listen until I have enough people feeling sorry for me enough to somehow make me feel better; or I do something else (generally, sinful) to temporarily escape the pain of the situation.  Neither of these approaches is acceptable, for they both loophole the very obedience that God is trying to bring about.  The only option, then, is joyful contentment.  The thing about having joy is that it truly is a choice - not a feeling.  Joy is not something that you feel like doing.  It’s like yardwork - you do it because it needs to be done.  Stinks - but it’s true.  If you need a motivator, be like Paul.  He focused on the knowlegde that, though his circumstances might not be the most uplifting, his dependence-causing weakness results in God being strong.  Indeed, Paul is out of his own way - banished from being his own god.  Now, it’s totally the God show - God is doing his thing, changing Paul, making things even better.  And - just like yardwork - when it is all said and done, you look at what you’ve done.  Though it was long, sweaty, hot, and tedious, you’re happy you did it.  You feel relieved.  Refreshed.  Accomplished.  And you realize that you developed your character along the way.  Indeed, you’ve become a better person after all. 

A God who leaves thorns in the flesh?…sounds like my kinda God…

SRay