Outward Focused Lives // Looking to Love; Pointed towards Purpose

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/28/2013

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

Continuing series today on living outward focused lives. Lives that make a difference in the lives of others. Lives that are faithful to the image of the loving God in which we are created. Lives that aren’t shrink-wrapped in our petty concerns about ourselves, but large, expanding lives that are unafraid and generously powerful.

The Bible proposes that the way of Jesus really is the only way to obtain the life we all deeply desire.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant…

Paul (formerly Saul) of Tarsus

from Philippians 2:1-11

As we’ve explored over the last couple of weeks, focusing on helping others is the secret to all kinds of success. Over time, givers win. Those that givers give to, win. Benefits multiply – the universe isn’t as zero sum as it might seem. Beyond that, living to bring life to others is the way God is. As we do it, we are true to ourselves in the truest sense. It’s the way in which we are faithful to the image of God in which we are created. Leading to an extraordinary form of synergy – our lives become a cooperation with God, and this experience of having God’s wind at our backs, his breath filling our lungs, his energy multiplying in our world as we seek to bless others. With the added benefits that come from maturing as human beings, such as less anxiety, freedom from the tyranny of petty emotional responses to trivial pains, and deep satisfactions that come from making a meaningful difference to others.

Here’s the big question under consideration today: What is an outward focused life focused on? And maybe a second, related question as well: Why does that kind of outward focused life work out so much better in the long run for everyone involved?

The answer to the first question, it turns out, boils down to love. Outward focused lives are looking to Love, with a capital L. And, at the same time, pointed towards purpose. As for what that actually means, and as for the answer to the second question – why does that work out so well for us and the world - well, let’s dive in and find out.

A revealing study was done of graduating seniors at the University of Rochester. They were asked, shortly before completing their education and moving into the real world about their life goals. Some had “extrinsic aspirations” – to get rich, to become famous, be physically attractive, etc. Profit goals, in other words. They wanted to get something for themselves out of their efforts. Others had “intrinsic aspirations” – helping other people improve their lives in some way, becoming more physically healthy, personal growth, close relationships, etc. Purpose goals, not profit goals. They wanted to either make a difference for others, or better equip themselves to be able to make a difference for others.

After a couple of years pursuing their goals in the real world, these former students were tracked down and interviewed again. So what about the students who had profit goals – wealth, acclaim, etc. – and felt like they were succeeding? Interestingly, it had made no difference in their levels of overall satisfaction and well-being. They felt essentially the same as they had before they graduated. And most surprising of all, they had more anxiety, depression, and other negative factors than they had had when they were in college. These are the people who were succeeding.

Sure seems like Paul knew what he was talking about when he said “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” You may get what you’re going after, but you’ll end up with nothing you truly desire.

On the other hand, when we’ve got our sights set on the right things, it seems that it really does pay off.

The students who had purpose goals – like helping others in some way – and were attaining them had both higher levels of satisfaction and well-being and lower levels of anxiety and depression than when they had been in college. They were, in ways large and small, valuing others above themselves. They were having the same attitude of mind that Jesus had – not considering whatever they had as theirs to bring themselves happiness with, but as resources to be used to serve others. They were, to use some of Jesus’ language, seeking first the kingdom of God and seeing that all things were added to them.

Pursuing profit is purposeless; while pursuing purpose is profoundly profitable. We were made to pursue purpose, not profit.

Let’s revisit that passage in Philippians, this time with a little more context:

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant…

Paul writing to a church that he loves, but which he is concerned about for various reasons. Apparently there has been conflict related to personal ambitions, rivalries, and various false teachings about what kind of God God is and what it means to live a good life. Problems that are threatening to pollute the great work God has begun in Philippi through Paul’s ministry.

What these problems share in common is that they are symptoms of inward focused lives. Vulnerability to false teaching, conflict, disunity, no common vision, everything in chaos, ordered by fickle feelings, etc.

The only solution is for the Philippians to get their focus off of themselves and look outward. Outward to God – who is Love, and outward to others – people to whom we can direct the love God pours on us. [Magnetism analogy – polarities, etc. Fruit of a group of people with outward focused lives is unity.]

In the middle of this text is Paul’s command to value others more than yourself, to look to the interests of others. But surrounding that command, Paul draws the Philippians’ attention to God. (…encouragement from Christ, comfort from his love, common sharing with the Spirit…have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus did…) You can get the impression, with Paul, that you can never look at Jesus enough.

Outward focused lives start by looking to Love, embodied in Jesus.

Jesus is our only hope for an outward focused life, really. Jesus is the only person in this universe wonderful enough to take our gaze off of ourselves, and hold it there forever. A mate, a child, a hero? For a while perhaps. But soon enough our eyes get stuck on their flaws. Disillusionment sets in and we revert to gazing back at the ones about whom our illusions are more firmly fixed: ourselves. We become slaves again to our selves, our feelings, our wants, our insecurities.

Here’s the thing about Jesus: gaze as long as you want and he’ll only grow more captivating. As you fill your eyes with Jesus, you begin to lose yourself in him, which is halfway home to true freedom. It’s the free from part of freedom.

You lose your self-absorption in his arresting beauty, for starters. His beauty isn’t fragile. It’s strong and deep, like the beauty of a mountain, or an ocean. And it’s the kind of beauty that comes from love, that is Love. His beauty can handle you, in other words, and his beauty isn’t concerned with your faults, so you can plunge right in, forgetting about yourself.

And along with losing your self-absorption, you begin to lose your worries, anxieties, fears. Not because your cares become less important (although a great number of them certainly do), but mainly because when you look at Jesus straight on, you see both a King with authority over your every enemy and a servant willing to bear the weight of your every burden.

Here’s another thing about Jesus. Not only will you lose yourself in Jesus, you’ll discover a love for others in him, which is the rest of the way into true freedom. It’s the free for part of freedom. Our lives become pointed towards others with purpose.

Freedom without direction is just freedom to be enslaved by something new.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Galatians 5:13-15

Freedom used for serving others, on the other hand, is freedom that multiplies, expands, grows, lives.

Before we’ve been captivated by Jesus, before we’ve gotten lost in his love and discovered in him a relentless love for others, we see others in light of our agenda, our feelings. Everyone is someone who might be a threat, might be an asset, might be fun, might be a pain, might be a thrill, might be a stepping stone, might be used, might be put low to raise ourselves up, might be worthwhile, might be worthless. The people we know are either people on our good side or our bad side or our I -don’t-really-give-them-much-thought side. Everyone else only matters, in other words, because of how they affect us.

Focusing our eyes on Jesus changes all that. Other people matter to us because they matter to Jesus. We begin to see others not in the light of our own agenda or our own feelings, but in light of Jesus’ agenda, in light of Jesus’ feelings.

Who is that person there? Someone whom Jesus intends to bless, to free, to heal, to touch, to encourage, to connect, to favor, to count. Someone to whom God’s love is drawing us for a purpose. Someone who, in humility, we are to value above ourselves because they are of immense value to God. Precious even. Someone whose interests we are called to look toward, because as we follow Jesus’ gaze, we see that is where his eyes are fixed. Someone who is beloved of God, sacrificed for by him, paid for by him, sought after by him, longed for by him.

[looking to love, pointed towards purpose - elaborate re: the disconnected, the disfavored, the discounted; the lost, the poor, the young]

Practically speaking, what might an outward focused life look like?

First, people desiring to live an outward focused life devote increasing amounts of time and energy to “looking to Love” activities like prayer, scripture reading, and worship. Usually in some sort of regular rhythm, as a way of growing in freedom, as a way of staying lost in God’s love. (magnetic domains in iron randomize if pulled away from the magnet.) Eventually Jesus is visible everywhere, in everything, and his voice becomes a constant companion.

Secondly, people desiring to have their lives turned inside out and upside down in pursuit of Christ begin to take what is most valuable to them and put it to use in service to others, rather than just themselves. For example, their talents, their calendars and their pocketbooks. Using their best skills and gifts in ways that bring glory to God and not themselves. Devoting regular times to join together in serving others. Giving money for the blessing of others without expectation of return.

The extraordinary thing you’ll find about these outward focused people, and that you’ll find about yourself as you become one too, is that outward focused people eventually discover themselves in Christ and in service to others. They discover that although they forget themselves and their cares in Jesus’ beauty and majesty, and although they give themselves, and all that matters to them, away to others for his sake and for theirs, at the end of themselves they truly find themselves. They find that Jesus wasn’t just being mysterious when he said whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. They find themselves taking on the character of Christ they found so captivating in the first place, and they find themselves as the beloved ones of God they found so worth giving their lives away for in the second place.

Practical Suggestions:

1. Make Love a Habit. Commit yourself to one “looking to Love” activity that really gives you life, and make a plan to make it a habit.

2. Propose Your Purpose. Write a personal purpose sentence. “He preserved the union and freed the slaves.” “He lifted us out of a great depression and helped us win a world war.” What’s yours? Spend some time this week coming up with one. If you’re already a follower of Jesus, perhaps imagine it as the sentence you’d like to hear Jesus use to describe you as he introduces you to someone after welcoming you home. The results aren’t nearly as important as what you learn and decide along the way.

3. Resolve to Reorient. Choose some aspect of your time, your talents, or your money to devote in a new way towards the purpose of loving and serving others.

Outward Focused Lives // Sent

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/21/2013

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

Continuing a new series today on living outward focused lives. Lives that make a difference in the lives of others. Lives that are faithful to the image of the loving God in which we are created. Lives that aren’t shrink-wrapped in our petty concerns about ourselves, but large, expanding lives that are unafraid and generously powerful.

We’ve all got limited time, energy, and resources, don’t we? So how are we going to spend them? Should we look out for number 1, get as much as we can for ourselves, guard and defend what we have? Or should we look out for others, fearlessly spending ourselves for the sake of others that we want to help succeed? It’s an age old dilemma. Last week we talked about givers, takers, and matchers – and how both recent research and Jesus agree that the way to life is looking to the interests of others.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant…

Paul (formerly Saul) of Tarsus

from Philippians 2:1-11

Focusing on helping others, it turns out, is the secret to success. Over time, givers win. Those that givers give to, win. Benefits multiply – the universe isn’t as zero sum as it might seem. Beyond that, living to bring life to others is the way God is. As we do it, we are true to ourselves in the truest sense. It’s the way in which we are faithful to the image of God in which we are created. Leading to an extraordinary form of synergy – our lives become a cooperation with God, and this experience of having God’s wind at our backs, his breath filling our lungs, his energy multiplying in our world as we seek to bless others. With the added benefits that come from maturing as human beings, such as less anxiety, freedom from the tyranny of petty emotional responses to trivial pains, and deep satisfactions that come from making a meaningful difference to others.

This week we want to explore this idea of outward focused lives more deeply. What is it about us that makes this the best, truest way to be human?

Watch this advertisement by Dove. You’ll notice, of course, the main point – which is how sometimes we exaggerate our own flaws and distort our view of ourselves – but there’s another observation we might draw from it. And that is that there is tremendous value in taking our focus off of ourselves and putting it on others…

 

Dove "Real Beauty Sketches" from Paranoid US on Vimeo.

[Dove Real Beauty Sketches…]

Something really profound is illustrated here, indirectly.

We aren’t meant to have our eyes on ourselves.

We’re meant to have our eyes on others.

[Clarification: not in the sense of keeping our eyes on our own responsibilities and dreams / calling. In those areas, it is proper to focus on ourselves primarily. We’ve got to develop a clear sense of ourselves. Establish boundaries and objectives for ourselves. Know who we are and who we aren’t. Talking here about the idea of valuing others – like that scripture texts describes – having our eyes paying attention to the needs and concerns of others, seeking to bring blessing, help, being concerned to serve their interests over our own, etc.]

People who stay focused on themselves become mal-functioning people. I don’t mean, necessarily, in the sense of evil or morally bankrupt. I mean mal-functioning in the sense that we don’t work right. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of self-destructive selfishness.”

When we are focused on ourselves in an unbalanced way, we become especially vulnerable to destructive emotions and activities. [Road rage is born out of this, I think (we’re isolated in metal cages, only ourselves to be concerned with – everyone else is a competitor or an obstacle).] You’ll see this in kids when they get moody, petulant, irritable. They’ve forgotten everyone else exists and they are all wrapped up in their own needs and selfish agendas. But we don’t outgrow this tendency entirely, do we? How often does seeing someone else’s needs recalibrate us and totally change our mood, especially if we are able to help them?

On the other side of the coin, people focused on others are better, more functional people. Happier, more satisfied. More productive. [Hand sanitizer experiment: “Hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases” vs. “Hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases” = 45% difference in soap used. 10 minute testimonial from 1 scholarship recipient now a Teach for America teacher = 142% more time on phone, 171% more revenue.]

Nothing to do with being agreeable or nice. Everything to do with the life you have and the life you give away. Your life becomes smaller when you’re focused on yourself. Your life becomes enlarged when you’re focused on others. (Mother Teresa & Ken Lay).

What’s at the root of this? Some would say that over thousands of years of civilization that rewards good group behavior, we’ve adapted to play well with others. We’re wired and conditioned to be concerned with what others think of us, to have a good reputation, so that others are more likely to help us. We’ve learned to deal with bullies (takers) by gossiping about them when their selfish behavior becomes evident, so that they get punished and not supported. There’s credible and fascinating evidence along these lines.

But there’s more to the origins and power of outward focused lives, I think, than the simple byproduct of evolutionary forces. And if we understand and embrace that something more, we will have what it takes to more fully engage outward focused lives, and enjoy the kind of life Jesus now enjoys.

That something more is this:

We are sent people.

We have a purpose involving others. Involving the whole world.

Living outward focused lives taps us into that purpose.

 

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20

Surely, if anyone could live his life for his own sake, it would be Jesus. He is, after all, as best as we understand it, God. But Jesus allowed himself to be sent. To be removed from whatever comforts go along with being a fully vested member of the trinity. To be thrust into the blotchy body of a human baby. To be under the authority of young, inexperienced parents.

Why? To save his Father’s deathly ill creation from perishing. To open the door to eternal life for his estranged children. This is why Jesus humbled himself, taking the form of a servant – his eyes were focused on us.

Buried in plain sight in this text, as well, is the truth that the Father himself considers the needs of others above his own. After all, sending Jesus meant that he would have to watch his only begotten Son suffer and be separated from him. All for our sake – we who were at the time, profoundly other. God is Love. This is what Love is like. This is what Love does.

Consider how being sent informed Jesus’ life. Every place he went, he went because he knew God had sent him there. Every person he met, he knew God had sent him to. To invite this person. To challenge that person. To forgive this one. To heal that one. To teach these ones. To deliver those ones from demonic oppression. To eat with these. To cry with those. To die for me. To die for you.

Not just every where, and every who, but also every when, every what, every why, every how of Jesus’ life found its answer in the truth that God had sent him. When should I go? My father will show me, because he has sent me. What should I do there? Whatever I see my Father doing, because he’s sent me to join with the Holy Spirit in accomplishing his purposes. Why must I drink this cup? Because my Father has a plan for this world and for me in it. How will I, but one man, accomplish this overwhelming task? My father has sent me with his authority, and as I do what he is already doing, not even the gates of hell can prevail against me.

Every one on of us who responds to Jesus’ call to follow him become sent people along with him. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

And the Holy Spirit that empowered Jesus’ extraordinary life empowers ours. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

People who live outward focused lives recognize that they are sent by God to others for a purpose. God loves this world, and he’s inviting us to join him in that love. Everything changes when we surrender to the truth that our lives have a purpose outside of our selves. Specifically the truth that God is sending us to people that he loves in order to mercifully bring them into contact with his love.

Every where, every who, every when, every what, every why, every how of our lives can be transformed when we surrender to being sent people. Ronni and I married each other in part because we were convinced God was sending us together. We live in this community because God sent us. We’re at home in this church because we’ve been sent here to find Jesus among you and to join with you in spreading his fame. Some of our greatest joys come as we find ourselves where God has sent us. And let’s be honest, pain too. Jesus teaches us that part, too. We just pray that, like Jesus’ pain, our pain as sent people is redemptive pain, pain with a purpose.

More on the details on what it means to live outward focused lives in coming weeks. For now, Jesus invitation is for us to take a first step of faith in following him. I have been sent to this hurting broken world, to your boss, to your father, to your sister, to your neighbors, to your teammate, to people halfway around the world whom you haven’t yet met, to the cashier at the grocery store, to the driver of the red Ford pickup pulling up to the stoplight, to the family standing in line outside of the ministry center, to the guy sitting by himself at the cafeteria table, to that new family sitting in the back row …will you follow me? I have been sent, and if you are my follower, I am sending you to be my hands and feet.

Something that’s really interesting to me, and perhaps it will be to you also, is that when we consider the needs of others above our own, when we are givers instead of takers or matchers, it actually helps others become givers as well.

An experiment was done illustrating this phenomenon. Imagine that you are placed in a group of four people, all of them strangers to you and to each other. Each of you will receive $3 per round for 6 rounds, and you each have to decide whether to take it for yourself or give it to the group. No communication is allowed, and you’ll each make decisions anonymously. If you take it, you get the full $3. If you give it to the group, every group member gets $2, including you. At the end of the round, you find out what everyone decided. Of course, if everyone gives, everyone is better off - $8 per round, $48 total at the end of the experiment. But if you give and no one else does, you only get $12 by the end of the experiment (2 per round for 6 rounds). If you take every time, you’re guaranteed $18 total. Because you can’t communicate, it’s risky to give, right?

Turns out, 15% of participants were consistent givers when this experiment was actually done – they gave every round. And they walked away on average with 26% more money than participants from groups without a single consistent giver. Why? Because in the groups with a consistent giver, the other members contributed more. They inspired others to give too. The pie got bigger; it wasn’t a zero sum universe in groups with a consistent giver. Love multiplies; love wins.

Isn’t this the way God works with us? We love, the bible says, because God first loved us. Jesus was sent to love us, and we respond by loving as he loves us. As we love others, might it be that others too will discover the power of living outward focused lives of love? Might it be that as we discover our lives have purpose in God’s great purpose, others will discover that their lives can find that purpose as well? That would be truly beautiful, wouldn’t it? [Tuscaloosa Team…]

I say let’s find out.

Practical Suggestions:

1. Play Make Believe Mission: Put a $5, $10, and $20 bill in a hat or some such receptacle. Write the name of several places you might spend such a sum of money on individual pieces of paper and place those in there as well (grocery store, convenience store, restaurant, gas station, etc.). Pull out one bill and one location. Consider yourself sent, like the Blues Brothers, on a mission from God. Go, asking God to give you an idea about who to bless at that place or from that place, using your money. Just to get the feeling of what it’s like to be sent. Think about how that might change the way you think about your normal life.

2. Raise your hand. In prayer each morning for a week, give God permission to send you somewhere or to someone or both. “I recognize that I was made for a purpose, Jesus, and that you want to send me. Help me keep my eyes focused on others today. Show me who you want me to love, and how.” Spend a few minutes each evening asking yourself if you might have heard him or seen any signs that he might have been answering you.

3. Take a Knee. Repent of obsessing about yourself, if you have been. Tell God you’re sorry you let yourself forget that your life isn’t just about you, and ask for his Holy Spirit’s help to begin looking outward.

Outward Focused Lives // Givers, Takers, Matchers

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 04/14/2013

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

Starting a new series today on living outward focused lives. Lives that make a difference in the lives of others. Lives that are faithful to the image of the loving God in which we are created. Lives that aren’t shrink-wrapped up in our petty concerns about ourselves, but large, expanding lives that are unafraid and generously powerful.

We’ve all got limited time, energy, and resources, don’t we? So how are we going to spend them? Should we look out for number 1, get as much as we can for ourselves, guard and defend what we have? Or should we look out for others, fearlessly spending ourselves for the sake of others that we want to help succeed? It’s an age old dilemma. And both recent research and ancient wisdom are suggesting that the story is far more interesting and beautiful than we might have ever expected.

A couple of quotes that illustrate conventional wisdom on the subject…

Take a look at them. They’re all nice guys, but they’ll finish last. Nice guys. Finish last.

Leo Durocher

The principle of give and take; that is diplomacy – give one and take ten.

Mark Twain

In “Give and Take,” Wharton Business School professor Adam Grant writes about three different ways of approaching life. Givers, Takers, and Matchers.

Takers like to get more than they give, he writes. They believe the world is a competitive, dog eat dog world. They are self-focused, evaluating what others can give them. They help whenever the benefits to them exceed their personal costs.

Givers, on the other hand, are other-focused, paying more attention to what others need from them. Givers help others whenever the benefits to others exceed the personal costs. They may even help without expecting anything in return at all.

Matchers are somewhere in between givers and takers. Matchers aim for an equal balance of giving and getting, operating on a principle of fairness.

Who do you think ends up at the bottom of the success ladder?

It’s givers.

The lowest rated engineers – the ones with the least number of tasks completed, technical reports, drawings submitted, and the ones with the most errors made, deadlines missed, and money wasted – were givers. Helping others, it seems, prevented them from getting their own work done.

The students with the lowest grades in medical school? Givers.

The salespeople with 2 ½ times less annual sales revenue than average? Givers.

So who do you think comes out at the top of the success ladder? Takers or Matchers?

Neither. Surprisingly, it’s givers there too.

The best engineers? Givers.

The medical students with the highest grades? Givers.

The top performing sales people? Givers. Averaging 50% more annual revenue than takers and matchers.

On any particular morning, Grant writes, giving may well be incompatible with success. In purely zero-sum situations and win-lose interactions, giving rarely pays off.

But, if we stretch the time horizons out long enough, if we take the long view, giving can be every bit as powerful as it might be dangerous. In fact, research suggests that over time, the giver advantage only grows.

Maybe we should listen to another famous quote on the subject, one that takes the opposite view of Mark Twain’s earlier quote:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant…

Paul (formerly Saul) of Tarsus

from Philippians 2:1-11

At first this might strike us as inside out, and upside down. Value others above ourselves? Look not to our own interests, but to the interests of others? But how many of us heard my first report about how badly givers did in terms of success, and thought, shoot, I knew that’s how it would be, but a part of me hoped maybe it wouldn’t be. And how many of us heard about the fact that giving actually characterized some of the most successful people in the world and thought, yes! Man, I hope that’s really true. I hope that tells a true story about how our world works.

Because when it gets down to it, that’s the big question, isn’t it? What kind of universe do we live in?

Something in us wants to believe the good news, I think. Something in us wants to believe that, in the long run, the universe isn’t a zero-sum universe. That in the long run, there is a Good God who has created a world that’s full of those kinds of surprises. Who has created a world that’s better than we expected, better even than our limited experiences may have revealed to us. A Good God who shows us a way to be fully human that’s also got the breath of the divine in it, and that that breath is sweet, not rancid. A way to be human that’s filled with love, and that in the end, triumphs over everything less than love.

Because when it gets down to it, that’s what we’re trying to figure out, isn’t it? What’s the best way to live?

Story of politician who went by the name Sampson, from Illinois…

Grew up working on a farm. At 23, ran for state legislature, and failed, finishing 8^th. Started a business with a friend, the business went under, and his possessions were seized because he couldn’t pay back the loan. His partner died, and he took on his debt too, 15 times his annual income. Finally made it to state legislature, worked his way through law school, paid off his debt, and made a bid for senate. Hours before the election, he realized he was likely to lose to an opponent he really disliked. Matteson, this disliked opponent had 44% of the vote locked up. Sampson shared much in common, however, with his other opponent, Trumbull. Trumbull, though, had only 9% of the vote in his corner. Sampson himself had 38%. Instead of trying to win over Trumbull’s supporters, Sampson told all of his own supporters to vote for Trumbull. His campaign manager vehemently resisted, and broke down in tears when Sampson wouldn’t change course. Trumbull, of course, won. Sampson lost his next two bids at Senate as well. One of his rivals said that he came “very near to being a perfect man…he lacks but one thing.” He said Sampson couldn’t be trusted with power because his judgment was too easily clouded by concern for others. Sampson was a giver, and like so many others, at the bottom of the ladder.

However. Sampson, on his third try, finally won national office. In part due to the support of people like Trumbull who had defeated him in the past, because of their great respect and admiration for him and his giving nature.

Years later, C-Span did a poll of 1000 of their most knowledgeable viewers. They ranked the effectiveness of Sampson and three dozen other politicians who competed for similar offices. Sampson came out at the very top, with the highest evaluations. Even with all of his losses, he was more popular than every other politician – perhaps more popular than any politician ever. Of course, Sampson wasn’t his real name – Sampson’s Ghost was a pen name he used in letters.

His real name was Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln understood what Paul was talking about. He understood what it meant to value others above oneself, what it meant to look to the interests of others. And as a result, he was able to be instrumental in some of the most significant shifts for the good our nation has ever known.

Part of the dynamic that seems to be at work is this. If you’re a taker, every time you win, someone else loses. And that generates a lot of ill-will over time, ill-will that may come back to bite you. But if you’re a giver, every time you win, someone else wins too. And that generates a lot of good-will over time, good-will that, very often, will end up producing multiplying benefits.

But there’s even more to it than that, I think.

Paul is saying to us in this passage that Jesus is showing a new way to live. That Jesus is showing us a way to life that doesn’t just depend on trusting some research or a principle of reciprocity, but trusts in the living God. Paul is saying, essentially, that God himself is this way, and that if we conform ourselves to God’s pattern of living, modeling our lives on the life of God reveals in Jesus, then we’ll have the power that created the universe and raised Jesus from the dead coursing through our lives, and by extension, through our world. And that pattern of living is a life we might call an outward-focused life.

One of the reasons Jesus is so attractive to so many people is that his life, at core, is different than everyone else’s. Where everyone else lives for themselves, Jesus lives for others. Where everyone else looks to their own feelings for direction, Jesus looks to YHWH, to his Father in the heavens, to God. Where everyone else uses their strengths to get a leg up and put others down, Jesus uses his strength to carry the lowly and downtrodden to higher ground – to become, in fact, that ground itself.

If you are a follower of Jesus, you had better be prepared to have your life similarly turned inside out and upside down. To have your life’s focus from inward, to outward.

Consider how life starts out for us. Focused on getting what we want and directed primarily by our feelings. And often that’s where we stay. Almost as if we get stuck developmentally at 2 years old. [Babies at first not being able to distinguish between themselves and the world around them, thinking their parents are an extension of themselves, then becoming aware of others primarily as means to various ends; the blossoming of the will and experience of conflict, hyper-responsiveness to emotions. What I want trumps every other want, and what I feel is the only feeling that matters]

Although we may learn to play the game in more socially acceptable ways, what we want remains our focus and how we feel remains our compass. (Selfish ambition and vain conceit…) Our minds and bodies become creative servants of those ends, our social relationships exist to support and nourish those driving agents in our lives, and our souls dry up. [I’ll play nice if it helps me get what I want, but heaven help you if you let me down. Or if I start to feel anxious. Or taken advantage of… mortgage broker example.]

Jesus meets us in this state, and calls us to follow him into maturity as human beings (in humility value others above yourselves…have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had…) He calls us, and teaches us, and empowers us to join him in living outward focused lives. Lives that make a difference. Lives that are faithful to the image of the loving God in which we are created. Lives that aren’t shrink-wrapped up in our petty concerns about ourselves, but large, expanding lives that are unafraid and generously powerful.

There are people sitting next to you living those kinds of lives in response to Jesus. They may work in the same kind of job and come from the same background and put their pants on one leg at a time like you do, but the thing that drives them is their love for God and for others. From time to time it’s almost as if they forget about what they want for themselves because all they care about is love taking more ground. As if they forget about how they feel at any given moment, because they are preoccupied with how others feel, or because they’re overwhelmed by how God feels towards someone else.

The biggest charge they get in life is not their paycheck or their power or their accolades. It’s packing groceries for the needy, or mentoring a younger person, or having the opportunity to surprise someone with a generous and unexpected financial gift, or teaching a child the love of God, or mowing the lawn of their aging neighbor, or caring for the people in their small group, or speaking timely words of hope to a discouraged friend, or visiting the sick in the hospital, or praying for strangers in trouble.

They are living lives that cannot be extinguished but thrive for eternity. Lives that multiply, not divide. Lives that heal, not hurt. Lives that are free not trapped. Lives that are full of life and spilling over.

So what exactly is an Outward Focused Life?

A life pointed towards others and looking to God.

A life characterized by humility, compassion, and expectation.

A life empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We’ll unpack what it means to live outward focused lives over the next few weeks, but today, I simply want to encourage you to consider making a settled decision to imitate the attitude of Jesus.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant…

Are you going to look at your time, energy, gifts, skills, resources, etc. as things to be guarded and used for your own benefit, to be used for your advantage? Or are you going to take on the nature of a servant, looking at all of your time, energy, gifts, skills, resources, etc. as something you steward for the sake of others, trusting God to be using his time, energy, gifts, skills, resources, etc. to care for you?

Practical Suggestions:

1. Give Giving a Chance. Find one opportunity a day to do something for someone else not because it will benefit you, but because the pay-off for the other person outweighs the effort you’ll put into it.

2. Give Someone a Second Look. For one day, make a note of everyone you think about who you think of as less than you. Someone you don’t have respect for, or see as a threat, or a competitor, or that you just don’t care about, or for, for one reason or another. At the end of the day, go through the list and ask God to show you what their interests might be, what they might need or desire in life.

3. Take a Knee. Take the opportunity to repent, if necessary. Have you been doing things out of selfish ambition or vain conceit? Tell God you’re sorry, and that you recognize it’s not helping you or the world or him. Make a settled decision to change, whatever it takes.

Easter 2013: Show Me the Money

sermon notes from the Vineyard Church of Milan 03/24/2013

video available at www.sundaystreams.com/go/MilanVineyard/ondemand

[show intro video – “Theology of Rebirth”]

The resurrection that tells us that no matter what happens today, no matter if the worst comes, something unimaginably wonderful has already happened, and will keep on happening, and will swallow up even the worst in its glorious goodness. Ever since some dumbfounded dudes discovered an empty tomb, seven simple words have been echoing around us - I daresay we can hear them today - and they are growing into a gathering thunderous roar whose rumble we can already feel. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead!

Everything in the universe, everything that’s ever happened in history, everything in your life and mine, turns, hinges on those words. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Everything hinges on whether that’s just a fluffy romantic notion with no basis in reality, a placebo we swallow to fool ourselves into thinking everything is going to be O.K…

Or whether that’s truth with a capital T.

Because you know what it like to live in this universe. You know it can be filled with light, birds chirping and sun shining and breeze blowing, solid ground beneath your feet. But you know those birds can poop on you. And you know the clouds can cover the sun and turn the day dark and drown you in cold rain or hail or snow. And you know the breeze that cools you down on a hot day can blow sand in your eyes or spin into a hurricane or a tornado and suck the very oxygen out of your lungs. And you know the massive tectonic plates beneath your feet can drift and shift and lift and rift, and everything you’ve built on that once solid ground can turn to dust, taking your very life with it. How can we know if the final state of everything is lively order or deathly chaos?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live in this time in history. You know our times can be filled with light, with flushing toilets and HDTV’s and horseless carriages and Ben & Jerry’s and the rule of law and equalities and medical care and Dolby Digital Sound and scientific knowledge that probes further than ever before the beauty present in the deepest oceans and in the smallest building blocks of matter and energy and in the furthest reaches of space. But you also know about the darkness, the stockpiles of weapons that could wipe life off the face of the earth, the suffering of those in extreme poverty in every forgotten and lawless corner of our world, the new and deadly plagues born daily in labs and through adaptive mutations, those commercials with Gangnam style, the overuse of auto-tune vocals in pop and hiphop, the pollutions and environmental destructions that are the byproduct of our advances and lust and greed, the disintegration of life-giving and life-sustaining relational structures the centuries old conflicts that have only taken deeper roots over time, the evil brewing in those who’ve had power stripped away unjustly and in those who would take it without regard for justice. How can we ever know the trajectory of this history and whether the curve ultimately goes up and to the light or down and into darkness?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live in these bodies. You know they can be filled with light, with the pleasures of invigorating exertion and graceful movement and laughter and good food and refreshing drink and delightful sensations and peaceful rest and joyful, transcendent endorphin-driven emotions. But you also know how quickly injury or illness or accident or famine or a child waking in the night to interrupt your sleep or a phone call with news that takes away your peace or some bad Chinese food or even too much of almost any good thing can drive all that light right out of you. Leaving your body home to darkness, to fear, to pain, to discomfort, to agony, to anxiety, to depression, to adrenaline-fueled angry rage. How can we ever know if the last tears to stream down our faces will be tears of joy and laughter or tears of despair and discombobulation?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

You know what it’s like to live these lives. You know they can be filled with light, with hope and optimism and good will and selfless devotion and creativity and nobility and compassion and song and benediction and perseverance and wonder and grace and love, love, love. But you also know they can be seduced and co-opted and strangled by darkness, by bitterness and pessimism and ill will and selfishness and apathy and meanness and judgment and cursing and giving up and giving in and despair and stumbling and addiction, addiction, addiction. How can we ever know if the last chapter will make the story a comedy or a tragedy?

Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.

Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

1 Corinthians 15:1-8

All our leaps of faith boil down to this. Is Jesus risen from the dead, or is he not?

Because if he is, well then. Well then our leaps of faith will not be in vain. Our faith will be rewarded with life, abundant life, overflowing life. Just as Jesus’ leap of faith on the cross was rewarded.

The reports of Jesus’ resurrection come to us first as a rumor to be wrestled with. No video evidence. No voice recordings or medical examiner reports. Just verbal reports. Preached = announced. Received means believed. Gospel = good news. Word = words or report. And the thing we are hearing from Paul is something he heard from someone else. Just like most rumors.

But unlike most rumors, rumors aren’t all we have to go on. The risen Jesus is perfectly capable, and apparently quite willing, to appear. To show up. To make himself and the reality of his resurrection known. This rumor’s power isn’t like most rumors that stay alive because scandals are juicy, exciting, titillating. No, this one stays alive because Jesus is actually alive. And kicking. The best evidence for the truth of the rumor of resurrection is living Jesus himself. [Jerry McGuire, “Show me the Money” video clip]

Now, there are other reasons to believe these reports, and perhaps for some of us, they are, or have been, enough.

For example, maybe you were told so by someone you trusted. The people first hearing this letter knew Paul and trusted him as a stable, reasonable, trustworthy fellow. Maybe for you the reports that Jesus is resurrected came from a parent or grandparent or teacher or mentor or friend whom you trusted.

Or maybe you’ve examined the evidence. Dug into the historical record, examined the claims, decided for yourself whether the reports were credible or convincing.

And then of course there is the “ring of truth” test. The idea that the rumor of the resurrection is the kind of news that resonates with the truth in such a way that everything begins to make sense. In such a way that hope buried deep within us is powerfully released. In such a way that something in us says this just has to be true.

In other words, when some look at the world around them, when they see its brokenness and its beauty, and they hear the story of the God of Israel, and the story of Jesus of Nazareth, and the story of the radical new community of faith that sprang up around the rumor of his resurrection, they have an intuitive response that says: that’s the truest story I’ve ever heard. If that’s true, life is worth living.

That may sound, at first flush, like little better than a silly romantic notion, but don’t knock it too hastily. Brian Greene, a physics professor at Columbia University, describes how scientists probe some of the most elusive truths in the universe:

It is certainly the case that some decisions made by theoretical physicists are founded upon an aesthetic sense – a sense of which theories have an elegance and beauty of structure on par with the world we experience. Of course, nothing ensures this strategy leads to truth…Nevertheless, especially as we enter an era in which our theories describe realms of the universe that are increasingly difficult to probe experimentally, physicists do rely on such an aesthetic to help them steer clear of blind alleys and dead-end roads that they might otherwise pursue. So far, this approach has provided a powerful and insightful guide.

Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe, pg. 167

Einstein himself, after working out his theory of general relativity – which many years later has been proven over and over again experimentally – thought that the theory had such a deep inner elegance, with such simple yet powerful ideas, that it was almost too beautiful to be wrong.

That kind of elegance is surely present for many, including myself, in the resurrection rumors. Brokenness gathered up into beauty? A God of such love that he’d trade his life for the life of his creation? A God of such justice that he’d deal personally with Evil, suffer it himself, and offer costly forgiveness freely to anyone willing to receive it? A king and a kingdom bringing repair and renewal and restoration to the world? God-space and creation-space fused together in new creation? I’m not sure why, but everything in me says that has to be true. And I’m willing to go all in on the promise that it is.

[Life of Pi…which story do you prefer?]

However, regardless of your path to faith, faith is always a leap, and it’s always a gift. [teaching kids to dive…] John writes in his gospel that he and Peter came across the empty tomb and believed, even before they understood why. Like faith leapt and landed on them the first moment it could. Pure grace. As Jesus himself said later, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

It seems from the scriptures, in fact, and from my experience, that Jesus’ strategy is to provide the opportunity to trust in his resurrection – to take that leap of faith – before the most convincing evidence becomes available. Perhaps because there is some kind of richness in the treasure you find at great risk, some kind of openness to the presence of the spirit that comes with the leap. [Kind of like when you’re learning to ride a bike…]

But maybe you haven’t received that gift of faith yet. Or maybe you have, but you’ve lost it somewhere along the way. Or you’ve got it, but you want more. Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. It’s only begun. There is more to the rumor, and there is more to faith in the resurrection. There is always more with Jesus. More and better and glorious surprise.

Because if Jesus is risen from the dead, he’s risen from the dead. Alive. Not dead anymore. He can show up whenever and wherever he chooses… And he seems especially interested in showing up to people after they’ve heard the rumors of his resurrection and already begun to consider them. It’s like the rumors are the lightning and Jesus is the thunder. One lights up the sky and the other shakes the earth. It’s like the rumors are his shadow, and Jesus is between you and the sun, approaching you. One suggests the shape of things to come, and the other is the shape of things to come. Only no matter how eagerly you hope for him, expect him, he’s always a surprise when he arrives.

(Matthew 28, page 683) The women hear the report from the angel, and run to tell the disciples, and Jesus meets them on the way.

(John 20, page 743) Mary hears from the angels, doesn’t quite believe it, crying, and Jesus shows up: “Mary.”

(Luke 24, page 724) Cleopas and Mary are on the road to Emmaus, troubled by the rumors of resurrection, and Jesus – unrecognized – meets them and walks with them to Emmaus. Along the way, they tell him about the rumors, and he explains to them that the rumors must be true because of what the scriptures have been pointing too. Shows them how it all rings true. They ask him to share a meal, he breaks bread with them and, in a holy moment, they recognize him. And then he disappears.

(page 725) So they go running back to Jerusalem, tell the other disciples a new rumor, the story of what happened to them. And whoosh, there’s Jesus among them. They think it’s a ghost, Holy Out of Nowhere Guy, Batman! So he lets them look him over, eats some food in front of them. Explains the scriptures. Serious patience, he displays. Untroubled by their doubt. Hangs out long enough for them to really get it.

(John 20, page 744) Thomas hears about that, but says I’m not buying. Let me see for myself. A week later, Thomas and the others are together in a locked room. Holy Out of Nowhere Guy arrives again. Offers himself to Thomas for inspection. “My Lord and my God!” Show me the money!

(Acts 9, page 751) Months later, after Jesus has ascended and released his Spirit to his church, Saul of Tarsus is completely unconvinced of the resurrection rumor. He thinks it’s a dangerous fraud, so he’s killing those who are spreading it around. He’s on his way to Damascus, when a flash of light arrests his attention…

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.

Jesus is clearly not intimidated by our doubts, and not critical of our slowness to believe. He’s also clearly interested in letting us see him for ourselves, so that our doubts and slowness don’t remain a barrier to his agenda for our lives and our world.

Yes, trusted people passed on the news to me. Yes, I’ve examined the available evidence. Yes, the news rings true in every fiber of my being. But when you get down to it, the reason I trust the resurrection rumors is that the risen, living Jesus has showed up in ways that I cannot deny. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, he keeps appearing and surprising me.

Praying for a sick woman with simple words and an inexperienced team of prayers. In Jesus’ name, taking authority over the condition that was afflicting her. And seeing something happen. Seeing her made well in the course of a couple of minutes. Seeing her husband’s astonished look. Not Jesus in the flesh, no. But only the sort of thing a living Jesus could accomplish. Surprising, even though it was what I theoretically was hoping for. It had to be Jesus, because no one I’ve ever known could do that.

Praying with someone demonized, afflicted by the personalized presence of evil, expressed in strange voices and sounds and words and expressions. Someone struggling to move forward in their life, continuously dragged down, experiencing all kinds of icky, fearful dreams and strange experiences. Commanding that personalized presence to scram in the holy name of the risen Messiah, and seeing that wicked something loose its hold, let go, leave. Seeing the relief and freedom and wonderful joy of the precious person. Being surrounded by Peace itself, like a blanket. Love, like a river coursing and surging in the room. Not Jesus with hands I could shake, no. But Jesus with power that shook me up. Surprising, all around. It had to be Jesus, because there’s no way the demons were afraid of me by myself.

One year, not too long ago, on Easter Sunday, an engineer with a physics background here from overseas, part of a high tech start up firm. A skeptic about the resurrection. Not a believer. An atheist. Just here because a friend invited him and he was being nice. During the singing, senses an orb of light before him, and from his heart, he heard a single word. “Hi.” That was his conversion experience. Jesus saying hi. Because really, that’s all it takes to demonstrate that you’re not dead anymore, isn’t it? Surprise! Now he’s an Anglican priest.

[Leap of faith stories… also comment on “failures”, now & not yet of kingdom, in the end, faith is faith is faith, and it’s always personal, so no one else’s story will be convincing to you; but perhaps they will encourage you enough to taste and see yourself…]

The risen Jesus is the real deal. So say I. So say many of us. But it’s not my job to convince you of that. Only to announce it to you. Only to tell you what I’ve seen, and encourage you to keep your eyes open. Maybe with some expectant hope. So that if he shows up, you might see him.

I’m betting all that I have and all that I am that he will. And praying with all that I have and all that I am that you will.

Practical Tips:

1. Pray a “show me the money” prayer

2. Start some rumors with your “show me the money” stories