"The Gospel According To TV"
Dean AngellSeptember 17/18, 2005
Some of the first words recorded in the Bible were spoken by God right after He created Adam. The Bible says that God looked around at everything He had just done and He said, “It’s all good – it’s all very, very good.” And, then He looked at Adam who was without Eve at this point. He was alone, and God said this, “It is not good for man to be alone.” See God knew that part of our makeup. He knew that part of our design as human beings was our need for relationship.
He knew that we would never be complete emotionally, physically or spiritually without other people. He just knew that we humans amongst all creation were created uniquely and would not be whole, if we were isolated and alone.
And, isolation, especially spiritual isolation, was never in God’s plan for mankind. That’s why relationships are so vital to us and that’s why we crave them and I also think that’s part of the reason we spend 22 hours a week watching t.v. We love to watch the drama and conflict and laughter of relationships unfolding in front of us.
Today, my goal is to take the same thoughts and feelings you get when you watch those horizontal relationships between people on t.v. and transpose those thoughts and feelings to the vertical, spiritual, relationships that our souls so desperately need to develop in Jesus Christ. I’m gonna connect just 3 words from the relationships we see every night on t.v. to the journeys we are all on, spiritually. These three words I believe could transform your faith walk in Jesus.
I Hang-Time
I think it’s important to realize right off the bat that when Jesus started his work here on earth and when he first gathered his 12 closest disciples and followers together, the religion of the day and the religious mindset of those first 12 disciples came out of a very strict Jewish background. Now, the Jewish faith in Jesus’ day was a very rule-bent religion. They had rules about everything – literally. They thought that in order to be in step with God, you had to follow certain laws to the letter of that law, like washing your hands a certain way, several times a day and preparing food a certain way, and only eating certain foods and then praying and fasting and walking and working in certain and specific ways. They had other laws that said who you could touch or talk to or do business with or who you couldn’t and these laws were all very prescriptive. To be honest, the religion of Jesus’ day was just getting out of hand because there were so many rules attached to it. Rules that you had to follow to be good enough to meet with God and rules that told you how no one could measure up to God. So, Jesus comes into this rule- bent, very religious society with a new message from God. Jesus’ entry into this world happens, just in the nick of time, that old system was failing fast). Jesus said, “Faith is not about Rules – it’s about Relationship.” He said you guys are missing the whole point of what God wants to do in our lives. He went on to emphasize His point by living it out. He abolished rules by focusing on relationship. So, when He picked the 12 disciples, his closest followers and friends, His opening line to each of them was, “Follow Me”. “Come and let’s hang out together and I’ll show you a new thing and a new way to connect with God”. And, so they did. They followed Him. Now, that’s pretty cool when you think about it. Those 12 guys hung out with Jesus, 24/7 for 3 years.
- They learned together
- They traveled together
- They ate together
- They discussed issues together
- And healed people together
- And sat around campfires together
- And they even went fishing together . . .
Those 12 guys became friends with Jesus, and through Jesus, became friends with God. This was their spiritual journey, nothing more, nothing less. So, here’s my point, if you want to connect with God and if you want to expand you spiritual life and if you want to explore what Jesus has to say about your soul, then follow Him. Get some hang time going with Him, build a friendship with Jesus because that’s how He wants us to relate to Him. In fact, that’s the whole deal, spiritually, in a nut shell. People, you’ve gotta get this, this whole church thing. Our spiritual life is not about RULES.
It’s not about when or what you do or don’t do. It’s not about how much or how little you know about the Bible or what kind of clothes you wear, or whether you’ve got some issues to deal with in your life or not. Faith is not about rules; it’s about relationship. I think all God wants is for us to focus on that and the rest will fall into place.
Jesus said this in John 15, “I no longer call you servants. Instead I have called you friends. For everything that I learned from the Father, I have made known to you.” So, how does hang time work spiritually?
Well – I hesitate to even say this next part because I don’t want your friendship with Jesus to be prescribed in anyway. It’s between you and Him. But, that being said, this is what hang time looks like for me. And, it’s not a lot different than the horizontal relationships we see on our favourite sitcoms, whether it’s “Seinfeld” or “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “Friends” They’re all trying to connect relationally with one another. My story is just a little more vertical than horizontal.
First thing in the morning, on most days, I go for coffee with Jesus.
Now, that sounds kinda funny, but think about it. If I wanted to build a relationship with any one of you, I’d probably do something similar. We’d go for coffee and talk and hang out. These days, most mornings I go toTim’s for coffee, and I take my journal and my Bible and I get to know Jesus a little better over a large cup of coffee and a cinnamon raison bagel, double toasted with light butter. And, when I’m there, I just write down a bit about my life and I listen to what His Spirit prompts me to think about my life and then I write some more and I tell Him what I’d like help with during the day and I think about the things in my life that need to change and I talk to Him about that and then I read a bit from the Bible to find out more about Him. We have this conversation over coffee – we just kinda hang out, just like a couple good friends over a cup of coffee.
But, the best part is, it doesn’t end there after that early morning coffee. He’s a great friend and is really quite available with His time and He’s committed to building a long-term relationship with me. So, during the course of any given day, I will connect with Him while I go about my day sometimes 20 or more times, between appointments or even during stressful meetings. At meal times, He’s always a guest and at bed time, when I lay my head down, seldom do I not say goodnight and thank Him for the day. It’s an on going friendship, all day, every day.
Two more quick things I love to do. I connect with Jesus in a big way when I drive. I love to just drive, especially early in the morning and I love to drive in the country, with some music going. I just put my spirit in line with Jesus and I listen and look and watch and connect and it is amazing to me how real He becomes, just hanging out, driving.
The second connection point is a bit of a strange one, so don’t tell anybody. I like to clean the house. I like it lots and I really connect with Jesus when I’m cleaning the house. It’s weird, but, He just kinda meets me there on Sunday afternoons, sweeping the floor, hanging out.
There’s a book I’d love for all of you to read. It’s called, Practice of the Presence of God. It’s a very small book, but a very profound one. It was written by a monk named Brother Lawrence, who lived 300 years ago. Brother Lawrence’s whole goal in life was to connect 24/7 with Jesus, no matter what he was doing. Whether working or walking or eating or resting, he connected with Jesus. It’s a great little book which expresses his thoughts about how to practice the presence of God.
So, that’s the first deal. If you want to enlarge your soul a bit and if you want to develop your faith walk some more, create some hang time for you and Jesus and I think you’ll be surprised by the results. In fact, maybe give that a try this week, just going for coffee and hanging out with Jesus
Here’s the second thing friends do. They celebrate together.
II Celebrate
One of my favorite stories from Jesus life was very early on in His ministry. He had just chosen his 12 disciples and they’re hanging out together pretty much all the time and then they get invited to a wedding, to a celebration.
John 2:1-11 (NIV)
“A wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, ‘They have no more wine.’ ‘Dear woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied, ‘My time has not yet come." (Jesus hadn’t done any miracles yet.) His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you to do.’ And nearby stood six stone water jars, each holding between twenty and thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, ‘Now, draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had now been turned into wine. He didn’t realize where it had come from and so he called the bridegroom aside and said, ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first (at a wedding) and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.’
Let me point out a few things from the story…
- Jesus entered fully into the celebration, which in those days –
in Jewish tradition – was at least a 3-day event. It was filled with food, song and dance and prayer and blessing - The first lot of wine had run out and so Jesus makes another 600 litres (850 bottles)
So, my thinking was, it wasn’t just a quiet celebration either. So why would Jesus do what He did? Why would He use God’s power to make
wine for a wedding celebration? I mean, couldn’t they drink water?
There were a few reasons for this. First, His concern was to help people out in a situation of ordinary need. Secondly, it was to celebrate God’s incredible gift of marriage. Third, Jesus’ desired to reveal the nature of God’s grace. See, He didn’t just barely make enough wine. He made 600 litres of wine. There was an over-flowing of wine to celebrate the richness of God’s grace in our lives . . . wine to celebrate the gift of marriage direct from the hand of God – an abundance of grace. Folks, Jesus loves a great celebration.
I gotta tell you, the first time I really understood that story and really thought about the implications of it, it changed my whole view of faith. See, the God I grew up with was pretty formal and we got dressed up to go see Him. It seemed like only the really serious and really smart people who wore suits and dresses, understood Him. I gotta tell you none of those things ever really excited me too much. But, when I really figured out that Jesus was the kinda guy who wanted to celebrate and laugh and dance for 2 or 3 days straight at a wedding, things shifted for me. Folks, I don’t know what kinda picture you have of Jesus, but the picture I have in my head, is one where He laughs a lot and where His eyes light up when something good happens in your life. The picture I have of Jesus includes a look of great excitement and anticipation. I think He is just waiting to hear about things we’re excited about and I think one of His great desires is to be connected with us on the things in life worth celebrating. Folks, don’t let your faith only focus on your need for God during rough times. Don’t just go to him when things are bad, go when they’re good. Because He loves to celebrate our lives with us. So, you know what? Now, in our family we bring Jesus with us to every celebration, even the small ones. Supper is a celebration at our house almost every night. It’s a little party. We spend some time with Jesus at supper, laughing and learning together with Him. Then at larger celebrations like birthdays or anniversaries or Christmas, we attach those special moments to our faith as well and Jesus meets with us as we celebrate. Let me show you a picture .
This is where we camped this summer, Sandpoint, Idaho. Beautiful. That was the sunset we could celebrate together nearly every night. Lots of nights this summer, we watched the sunset and then sat there on the dock and prayed together and celebrated life with Jesus.
Folks, if that’s not the picture of Jesus that you have, if he doesn’t have a smile on his face, take another look. He’s all about relationship and He’s all about taking moments for celebration. Show your family that picture of Jesus. I think you’ll be surprised by the results.
There’s one more word we can learn from some relationships on T.V. that will hugely develop your relationship with Jesus. Let me switch gears a bit and watch this clip.
III Transparency
Be honest. I think this show is a little cheesy. But I hear it’s incredibly popular with the 20-somethings in this church. It’s even popular with the guys (This makes me nervous.)
Transparency is a big word in relationship because it combines trust with honesty and openness and that takes time and guts to pursue in any relationship. But any friendship that’s worth it’s salt, at least I believe, has deepening levels of trust and honesty and openness, especially a spiritual relationship.
Let me quickly tell 2 stories from Jesus’ life. Both speak of His heart for transparent relationship. The first story is found in the Gospel of Mark.
Mark 7:32-37
“Some people brought a man to Jesus who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on the man. After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, be opened! At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it.” Now this is a great story, but I only want you to focus on one line, “He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh . . .” He said be opened.
In that moment Jesus understood with His heart, not just His mind what was going on with this man. See, this wasn’t some mechanical thing Jesus did. He just didn’t release a little power and heal and then move on to the next person. No. In that sigh, there was great empathy. In that moment when Jesus sighed, what He was saying was, “I know your pain. I see it. I feel it and I know that the way you’ve had to live isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. I’m gonna do all I can to make your pain less and to let you live more fully and completely.” The other story is found in the Gospel of Luke.
Luke 7:36-39, 44- - 48, 50
Now one of the Pharisees (religious leaders) (Simon) invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. Now. . . a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house & she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him, at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. And, when the Pharisee saw this, (he said to himself), "If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner." And, then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head (sign of blessing), but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little." Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Here was a woman who, in most of our circles, didn’t belong in the presence of God or in church. She had a past and that’s exactly how the religious leaders of the day reacted to her. But Jesus responded differently. Jesus saw her heart and her transparency and her unabashed emotion and honesty and trust. Instead of baring her body, the woman was now baring her soul and looking for healing and she trusted Jesus enough to believe that His response would be different than everyone else’s and it was. His response to her transparency was love and forgiveness and healing and wholeness. So, what’s the point?
Folks, we all come from different backgrounds and we all have different issues and sins and hurts and pains that need to be healed but the good news is
there is a very level playing field in Jesus. We’re all equal when we come to him No matter what our pasts and no matter what kind of pain we’ve had to bear, no matter what kind of scars we carry whether physical or emotional or spiritual, Jesus only wants to heal us. When we come to Jesus and are honest with Him and open our lives up to Him & let Him walk beside us & as we speak to Him of our specific needs, he will meet those needs as you walk side by side him as best of friends.
Folks, there’s lots of things we can learn from the media in our culture. Our hope is that the next time you flick on the t.v. & watch your favourite characters hang out & share their lives with each other, our hope is that you’ll connect those pictures to your journey of faith as you celebrate with much excitement, the high points of life and that you will bare your soul in the low spots. But more than anything, our hope is that you’ll just follow Jesus and that you’ll just keep walking side by side with Him for the rest of your life.
