Mike Novotny - Connected to Jesus, You Will Grow
Three Crucial Moments in the Spiritual Journey
There are three crucial moments in every person’s spiritual journey, moments that truly test our commitment to Christianity, to Jesus Christ himself, and to this faith that we profess. I can almost guarantee that if you haven’t been there yet, you are now, or you will be soon. If it’s not one, it might be both; for some of you, it will be all three. I want to prepare you for those moments and help get you through them. So, grab a pen if you’re watching at home and taking notes. Here’s the first crucial moment of the Christian faith: I’m going to call it confusion.
Confusion: When Trying Hard Doesn’t Bring Blessing
Confusion is when you’re trying really hard to be a good Christian, but life is not going well. You know that time when you’re not forgetting to pray, but you’re praying; you’re not skipping church, you’re going; you’re not ignoring the Bible, but opening its pages. You are trying to do the best that you can, and yet the problems you face aren’t getting better. In fact, sometimes they get worse. It’s really confusing when you’re trying to be faithful to God, trying to turn to him with all of your problems, but God, instead of fixing your problems, lets them remain. In fact, sometimes he turns up the intensity of your pain.
It’s like when you’re trying to be faithful to God with your money. Some people don’t give a dollar to anyone else; it’s all for themselves. But you’re not like that. You’re trying to think about those who are in need; you’re trying to give to the poor, even if you’re kind of poor yourself. You’re giving money in church to support the spread of the gospel, and yet at the end of the day, instead of opening for you that financial door, instead of giving you that good job that you feel satisfied at—giving you the promotion, the raise—you see the bills stacking up and your financial stress increasing. And that’s really confusing. If I’m trying to honor God in this area of my life, if I’m trying to follow his teaching, why would he bless me in return? Why do people who don’t even believe in God or care about God, who are super greedy and not generous, prosper financially and I don’t? Logically, that doesn’t make much sense. That’s confusion.
Or when you go to school and you’re trying to be the good Christian kid. You know, some kids get into their cliques; they say mean things about other people; they’re bullying one another. You’re not going to do that; you’re going to stand up for the little guy. You stand up for what’s right; you do the right thing. But sometimes that costs you, and instead of being the good kid that everyone wants to be friends with, sometimes you end up on the outside of the circle. You eat lunch by yourself; you go home; you hate school, and you don’t want to go back. And that’s confusing. I mean, you’re not perfect, but you’re trying to be good. Why wouldn’t God give you a better experience?
Or you start a business, and you want that business to have good values, a place where people enjoy working. You’re not going to cut corners; you’re not going to take advantage of the system; you’re going to treat people with respect. You would assume if you’re doing that, God would bring you the right people, the right managers, the right employees. He would bless you with a great career and experience, but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes people walk away from great managers; they leave great companies. Why? Why would God do that?
Or maybe you come to church and you learn how God wants relationships to work first, and so you do your best to serve your husband, to be a blessing to your wife. You try to listen to what they’re going through, speak their love language, put them first as often as you can. But sometimes spouses don’t reciprocate, and you feel like you’re giving and giving—not just for a day or a week or a month, but a whole year. You’re trying, and yet the relationship doesn’t get better. And that’s confusing. Why would God seem to be punishing someone who is trying their best?
Sometimes this happens with Christian couples who take seriously God’s commands about sexuality. They’re trying to wait; they’re trying to be patient; they’re trying to honor the institution and covenant of marriage, and so they don’t give in, even though they want to. Then that wedding day comes, and they take their vows, and for some couples, that part of their life is really complicated. They struggle with their sexual relationship, or they want to start a family and have kids, but they battle infertility. Meanwhile, over here, you have friends who really don’t care about the Bible and its teachings and restrictions, and they seem fine; they seem like they’re having fun. They have kids without even trying, and that’s super confusing. Why would God look at a family who’s sincerely trying to follow him and not bless them with the things they want the most?
I summarize it this way: when you’re trying to be a good Christian and God does not give you a good life, and you look around and see people who are not even trying to be good Christians, and they seem to have a better life, that is really disorienting. And that’s the crucial moment that I’m calling confusion.
Condemnation: Feeling Unworthy Before God
Then there’s the second moment, right? This time, not confusion, but the second crucial moment is condemnation. Condemnation is when you look in the mirror, and all you feel about yourself spiritually is negative. Yeah, we sing the songs in church; there are passages about God and his love, but it just can’t penetrate because you’re just thinking of that thing that you did, or the thing that you said, or the thing that you keep struggling with. You look at yourself in the mirror, and it’s just so fresh, so raw. It’s hard to believe that God looks at you and sees someone he actually likes.
For some of you, that’s because of something big in your past. You paid for her abortion; you were unfaithful to your boyfriend years ago; you said something to your mom or your dad or your ex. It just came out of your pain and your hurt. It was ugly; it was un-Christian. You remember the words. For some people, it’s not a big thing in the past, but just a continual struggle. I make these promises to God; I confess my sins in church; I tell God that I’m going to do better and try harder. Yet again and again and again, I say I’m not going to worry; I’m not going to be afraid; I’m not going to be anxious; I’m going to trust; I’m going to have faith; I’m going to remember God. And I fail. I’m not going to get into it with him again or her again; they know how to push my buttons, so I’m going to be better; I’m going to be the bigger person. Then again, I’m done with drinking; I’m done with using; I’m done with pornography; I’m done with all that.
Then there’s something really big that happened one time, or something that just happens all the time. It’s hard to actually believe God looks at you and loves you. He looks at you and sees someone who is clean in his sight.
Temptation: Questioning Whether to Stay
And if those two challenges weren’t enough, then there’s the third crucial moment: temptation. Temptation is when you are seriously second-guessing if you want to keep doing all this stuff. Maybe you’re raised in the church; maybe you prayed at home, heard Bible stories, went to Sunday school, had Christian education. But sometimes you go along in life, and you seriously wonder, «Is this the kind of person that I want to be?» You know the Bible has its truth and its rules and its restrictions; your mom, your grandma, whatever believed this about Jesus. You want to be a churchgoing, Bible-believing, Jesus-following person, but you’re tempted to question that when you realize how hard it is to follow Jesus. Especially, I would say, when you meet someone who doesn’t follow Jesus and their life is fine, right? You’re struggling to be biblical about it, and then your best friend, who has no desire to go to church—it’s not like their life is a total train wreck—and you wonder, «Is this worth it?» I’m trying to submit my whole life to the Christian faith—my money, my time, my body, my desires, my everything—and now here’s my friend who doesn’t care at all about any of that stuff, and he’s fine. His family’s fine; he’s happy. Is this worth it?
In most of our spiritual journeys, we run into confusion or condemnation or temptation, or two at a time, or all three. It really makes us wonder: when life is bad or when I feel bad or I wonder if Christianity is really that good, what do I do? And if you can’t relate to any of that just yet, I would propose this: for a whole bunch of us in the room right now, before this year is over, those crucial moments are going to happen. It really only takes one tragic car accident or one unexpected diagnosis for a stable Christian to be plunged into confusion. It only takes one night, one choice, one word for us to struggle with condemnation. It only takes one friend who’s not following Jesus to really make us rethink our faith and lead us into temptation.
Jesus’ Teaching in John 15
So, what do you do? What do we do when faced with these three crucial moments? Well, today Jesus is going to tell us because on the Thursday night before the Friday that Jesus died, he gave this powerful teaching to his closest friends. He was in an upper room with Peter, James, John, and the bunch, and he called himself by a certain name; he revealed himself in a certain way. In less than 10 verses, Jesus actually tackled these three crucial problems. Today, as I have a chance to teach you from John chapter 15, the words of Jesus, we’re going to find out exactly what to do with confusion, condemnation, and temptation.
So, if you have a Bible with you, you can open up to John 15; otherwise, you can follow on the screen where we hear Jesus speaking these words: when you and I struggle with pain, suffering, and spiritual confusion, he says this: «I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.»
Overcoming Confusion: Pruning for Fruitfulness
If you’re struggling with confusion, Jesus wants to take you out to the garden. He wants to remind you that his Father is like a good gardener, and when a good gardener sees a branch with tons of potential—one, Jesus says, that does produce fruit—do you know what a good gardener does? He prunes it. He snips it; he cuts it; he wounds it. Is that because he’s a grumpy gardener? Nope. He had a bad day with his spouse; he’s taking it out on the garden? No. Jesus says he prunes it so that it will be even more fruitful.
Let’s imagine for a second that you all are a big garden. Each of you is an individual branch stuck into a vine, and I’m the gardener. I show up with these tools. I see the look on your face. What would you say if I came in for a little snip? You would say, «Help! Somebody! You monster! You murderer!» If I cut you once, and then I cut you again, and I was laughing with a smile on my face as I cut you a third time, what would you think about me? You would think the worst. Unless, unless, unless you understood the point of a garden, right? The point of a garden is not just to give all the plants the most comfortable experience from start to finish. No, the point of a garden is to produce fruit.
If you care about producing fruit—if that is the end goal of the game of gardening—then pruning actually isn’t confusing at all; scientifically, it makes perfect sense. Do you know the science of how plants produce fruit? All these nutrients are pumped into them from the ground, but there’s only so many nutrients. So, if I have to divide up all those nutrients into tons of little branches, we actually don’t have enough nutrients to make something really mature and fruitful. So, what does a good gardener do? He snips off this part and that part until all those nutrients can funnel into something that has enough energy and enough nutrients to blossom and grow and produce what we all want in the end. If the goal is fruitfulness, then pruning should not confuse you.
That’s actually what my friend Marty taught me. Let me show you a picture. Marty owns a vineyard right here in Central Wisconsin. I’ve had a chance to sample some of his wines during some events at this beautiful vineyard. As soon as I read Jesus’s words, I reached out to Marty and said, «Hey, as a guy who does this for a living, what can you tell me about pruning?» He told me about the process. He told me what his family does to produce really great grapes that produce really amazing wine. He said something in his email that I had to share with you today. Here’s what the professional pruner said: «The biggest mistake that people make is not pruning aggressively. The better the pruning, the more fruitful the grapes.»
Apparently, if the goal is to produce the most fruit, the biggest mistake you could make is not pruning aggressively. Our Heavenly Father knows that’s true about you. If God’s goal for your life was just comfort from birth until death, right? To put you in a snuggie, get you a nice warm tea—no work, don’t do anything hard, just my goal for you is to be as comfortable and laid back—if that was his goal, then pruning would be shocking, and pain would be surprising. But if that’s not God’s goal—if God’s goal for you is to be fruitful, and by that the Bible means like Jesus: humble, kind, generous, compassionate, empathetic, forgiving, strong—if that’s God’s goal, would you not agree that sometimes pain and suffering is the best way to make us that kind of people?
All right, how about this: when you hear a story about a trust fund baby—some kid who was born into insane wealth, billions from birth, never wanted for anything, got everything they wanted, as comfortable as comfortable can be—like a 7-year-old sitting on some beach that you’ll never be able to afford, do you think, «Well, there’s the best human being on Earth»? No, no, no. You know that sometimes when it’s easy, you don’t become a great person, right? If you’ve never had to struggle to get something good, if getting grades came for you without studying, if you were naturally athletic and you didn’t have to work for it, if just everything came your way, does that make you a humble, kind, patient person? Actually, sometimes just the opposite.
If it’s been easy in your life, when other people are struggling, you don’t know how to help them. Just like me. But when God cuts something back—like your health was here and you had this much in the bank and life was this good and your mom was there and your dad was there and your family was there—sometimes it is those moments that actually give us a better faith. It humbles us so that we end up humble like Jesus. When we’ve experienced pain, we’re able to sympathize with people’s pain, just like Jesus. When God doesn’t give us what we want when we want it, it makes us patient like Jesus.
I’ve actually learned this in life: most of the best things that I do to help you as a church have been birthed out of my hardest experiences—the things that were not easy at the time. I wouldn’t have chosen those things, but looking back, I’m not sure if I would change those things because the hard times shape us; they refine us. Or, Jesus would say, they prune us. So, Jesus wants you to know the next time it happens, the next time you want God to do this and he doesn’t—don’t assume he’s punishing you. He’s not; he’s pruning you. He is preparing you because in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
The old saying that there’s always a reason, there’s always a purpose, there’s always a plan—that is biblically true. Because Jesus said in this teaching, «Every branch that does bear fruit my Father prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.» Believe that, and you will not be confused by your pain. Believe that, and you’ll stop asking the unanswerable question, «Why, God?» and you’ll start asking a more biblical question: «What now, God? What are you going to do now? What will you produce in me? You took this away, but you promised it must be for a reason. Where are you redirecting me? Where are you putting my time and energy? I wanted this; you cut it back, but now I can do that.»
Believe in Jesus’s teaching on pruning, and you will overcome the critical and crucial moment called confusion. That brings us to crucial moment number two. What about condemnation? You just can’t let it go. You can’t forgive yourself. You can’t get past the past. How do you handle that? Well, in one single verse, I think Jesus is going to give you amazing help. Here’s what he says in John 15:3: «You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.»
Overcoming Condemnation: You Are Already Clean
Now that verse—who here is itching for a new Bible tattoo? Yes? All right, we got a few hands; don’t raise your hand in the back. I just saw Mom pull a hand down. Right? If you were to think about this verse—Jesus’s words—if you think about it, they are so stunning. Let’s just start with the first word: «You.» When Jesus says «you, » who is he referring to? He’s referring to his friends: Peter, James, John, Thomas, and the other people who were with him on that Thursday night.
What do you know about these friends? Here’s what I know from this book. If they had a spiritual report card, Jesus would have requested a personal conference with their parents, right? These were guys who did not just have issues way in the past; before and after three years of being as close to Jesus as possible, they were very flawed. In fact, this very Thursday night, they’re going to bust into an argument about which one of them is the best disciple. How bad is that? I mean, if in the middle of my sermon you all got in a huge argument and picked up chairs and tried to paper cut each other with bulletins about who’s the best Christian, I would shake my head in disbelief and just say, «I’m out.»
But Jesus says to these guys—Peter, who’s about to deny him three times—all the men who are about to run away and leave him to be arrested and crucified—he says to them, «You.» Here’s the shocking part: «You are already clean.» Clean! Not dirty to God, but clean. Not flawed to God, but flawless. God doesn’t look at you and say, «Clean yourself up! Clean up your life!» No, he sees something that makes him happy. It’s beautiful, like a bride on her wedding day.
The confusing word is «already.» What do you mean, «These guys are right in the middle of their sin!» They’re so far from perfect holy people, Jesus! How can you possibly say, «You are already clean»? And there’s the answer: not because you’re getting better, not because you tried so hard today. No, Christian teaching says, «You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.»
Right? Jesus, unlike any other religion, speaks a word of cleansing power to present-day sinners. He doesn’t say, «Once you do enough, have tried enough, once you clean yourself up, then I will say that you’re clean.» No! In the midst of our struggle, he says to Christians—repentant followers of him—"You are already clean because of what he was about to do and because God already saw it happening in the future. He could say with confidence to every Christian, ’Because of the mercy and the forgiveness and the love and the salvation of that weekend—the cross and the empty tomb—you who believe in me are already clean.’ And what Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, he says now to you: you might be as flawed as Peter, struggling with foot-in-mouth disease every day. You might talk big like James and John and bail when the moment gets difficult.
He’s not waiting for that to get better until he says this; you’re already clean now!» That’s hard to believe in moments of self-condemnation, so we’re going to practice here today, right? This is the crowd participation part of church; if you’re watching at home, you can join us too, all right? When I do this—you’re going to say «already clean!» And if you kind of whisper and mumble, this part’s going to be really lame, and then I’m going to be moody for the rest of the sermon, so don’t do that to me, all right? So I need all of you to participate.
All right, let’s practice. Ready? «Already clean!» Yeah, very good, all right! Now, I’m going to pretend like I’m a person who’s just struggling with the past or the present. I’m stuck in my sin; I just can’t get my eyes fixed over to Jesus, and every time I do this, you’re going to say, «Already clean!»
Okay, let’s practice! So, let’s imagine that I have a really messy legal record, right? You could look up my name on the Internet and find it, and you could find what I did, what the judge said, and the price I have to pay. Maybe I’m still on parole; maybe I’m sitting in a jail cell right now, and I just think, «How stupid was that one night! I threw away years; I messed with my family. I have a court case coming up! What are people going to say? Are they going to think less of me?» But when God looks at me because of the mercy and faith of Jesus, I’m declared, «Already clean!»
Or let’s imagine that I’m a person who just jacked up my own family, right? I wasn’t happy in my marriage, so I strayed, and I flirted, and flirting led to something I can’t forgive myself for. Now my marriage ended, and my kid that I love has two toothbrushes and two beds he has to sleep in and two schedules to handle. I did that; there are consequences to the choices I made. How could I stand before God and possibly smile? And Jesus says, «Because the blood I shed, even you are already clean!»
Yeah, but what if I’m still struggling? I told God I’m done with drinking; I’m done with smoking; I’m done with clicking; I’m done with losing my cool. He says, «Even though you do the things you hate and you don’t do the things you love, I died for people just like that. I declare that you are already clean!»
But what if I said, «Already!» But what if I—"Already!» But what if? «Already!» But what if? «Already!» Yeah! Jesus says, «Stop! Stop objecting! This is forgiveness freely given! This isn’t me making you earn it! Other religions do that, but I don’t!» So I can look Peter in the eye hours before he denies me, and I can say, «I’m not waiting till you’re perfect, Peter, because my sacrifice is perfect. I’ve declared by my blood and through my word that you are already clean.»
Friends, do you regret the things you’ve done? I do. And do you wish you could go back and just be a better person, better Christian? I do too. But the good news of our faith is that Jesus doesn’t wait until we’re perfect; he makes us perfect by his blood. Do you feel condemned? Run to Jesus; he declares you free of charge. There’s no condemnation for those who trust in him.
Overcoming Temptation: Remain in Jesus
And that brings us to our final crucial moment for today: what about temptation? I’m curious how many people in the room are under 25? Can I see your hands real quick? Yeah, lots and lots and lots of you. You know, when you’re younger, Mom and Dad maybe raised you in church, brought you to church, but as time goes by, you get to make your own decisions. You meet people from all different backgrounds; you date someone here; you meet friends online. You realize that all kinds of people believe all different things and behave in different ways, so why would you stay?
There are especially some parts of the Christian faith that are incredibly hard. I think the Bible’s teaching, especially about money and about sexuality, is very difficult in our day and age to submit yourself to, to say your will be done—not my desire, but your will, God. That is so challenging for some people in this room. For some, it will cost you for so long. Why would you stick with Jesus?
In our last big section, Jesus wants to answer that question emphatically, starting in verse 4. Here’s what he says: «Remain in me as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.»
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If repetition is meant to teach us anything, there’s one word Jesus doesn’t want you to forget: remain! He says, «Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain! Remain!» Nine times, Jesus chooses this word: remain in me as I remain in you; remain in my love; remain; remain; remain; remain; remain.
And why would we remain with Jesus? Jesus, it’s hard to stick with you! It’s hard to follow you! It’s hard to not follow the ways of the world, the ways of my own heart! Why would I do that? And maybe some Bible study for you is to list all the reasons that Jesus gives. He talks about bearing fruit; he talks about God answering the prayer of people who are connected to Jesus. But there’s one reason in particular I want to focus on today.
To help you understand Jesus’s point here, let me tell you the tragic tale of Stan the Branch. Once upon a time, Stan the Branch was stuck to the side of a big old oak tree. Every single morning, every single afternoon, and every single night, that’s where Stan stayed because he was a branch stuck to the tree, and the tree took good care of him. It kept him strong and stable; it pumped nutrients in so that he could produce beautiful leaves. That turned even more beautiful in the fall.
But some days, as Stan looked down from way up there in the sky, he wondered what it would be like to not be a branch. He looked with a little bit of envy at the squirrels who were free to explore wherever they wanted in the yard. They weren’t stuck to some trunk; they could dig in the dirt, they could run around the house, they could go to new places to see new people. That feeling grew in Stan’s heart until one fateful night, an incredible storm blew through the backyard. Like normal, the strong wind started to bend the branches, but this time, Stan started to lean into it, and when a big gust came, excited Stan leaned even more until he heard the small pops by his feet, and in one crucial decision, he leaned in as hard as he could with a big gust until—SNAP! —he disconnected from the trunk!
Stan the Branch fell, fell, fell all the way down until he plopped into a bed of soft green grass. After the initial shock, he looked around, and he saw things that he had never seen before. He experienced places he had never been before. As the wind blew, it blew him across the yard, and he squealed with delight. It was more fun than he had had in a long, long time! That first night, Stan the Branch fell asleep with the twinkling stars over his head—stars that he had never seen.
But when morning came and Stan woke up, he felt dry. And even though the wind kept blowing and he experienced new places, as interesting as they were, something was off. Stan felt himself starting to shrivel just a bit. The thirst grew stronger, and days passed with some ups, but even worse thirst until one day, a man walked over and saw not Stan the Branch, but Stan the Stick. He picked up the dry stick; he bundled it up and tossed it into his fire where it was burned.
«If you do not remain in me, » you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire, and burned. The unfiltered Jesus says in John 15 what he has been saying throughout the Gospel of John: that if you don’t have him, you are dead. Just like a sheep without a shepherd is dead; just like a plant without light is dead; just like a body without bread is dead. If you want to be an independent person disconnected from the same old place called the Christian faith, you might have some fun, and you might experience freedom, but you will be dead.
And I know that sounds old school to lots of you here today. Maybe it’s been a long time since you heard a fire-and-brimstone sermon that threatens you with the agony of hell, but listen, I’m not making this up. Maybe in the past they overemphasized the holiness and judgment of God. Maybe that was going too far, but you and I in these modern times must not put out the fires of hell because Jesus Christ was the one who taught it. And Jesus Christ said, «If you want to be true to yourself, if you want to do you, you can. But you will turn yourself into a spiritual stick that in the end will be burned.»
Here’s the fact: you don’t have to follow Jesus. You don’t! You could live your truth; you could spend money like it’s your money; you could call it your body—it’s your desire, your sexuality, your words, your whatever. You could do that! You could! But one day, you will die, just like me, and you will stand before God, just like me. God will know everything you’ve ever done, just like me. He will judge you for that, just like me. Except there will be no Jesus that you’re stuck to; there will be no advocate with the father to defend you; there will be no word of forgiveness and mercy and grace that says, «No, Father! She’s already clean!» There will just be you.
What will you say to God when he knows he has a book recorded with every thought when you were 12, every word when you were 22, everything that you have ever done? What will you say to him to deserve eternal paradise? There will be no answer, not even for the best of us.
And that’s why Jesus is begging you: remain! Remain! You could follow the world, but please don’t. Remain! Don’t turn into a stick! Stay stuck to me! He begs, «I wonder with tears in his eyes, remain in me! Remain in my truth! Remain in my teaching! Remain my disciple!»
What will the world offer you that’s worth giving up your eternity? What good is it for a person to get the whole world and yet give up their soul, as Jesus said? What could a man give in exchange for his soul? I would say that to the world: What will you give me for 80, 100 years that makes sacrificing my eternity worth it? Friends, especially young friends who are here today, Christianity is not easy; it refuses to let you be God. It refuses to give you the last word; only Jesus gets that! And that’s hard; no one says otherwise.
But the alternative is much harder—justifying yourself in the eyes of a perfect judge: remain! But to catch the last thing that Jesus said: «As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Remain in my love!» Jesus’s logic is not just the threat, «Hey! You can’t get into heaven without me!» Instead, he offers you this incredible blessing: «As the Father has loved me—how much does God the Father love his Son? How would you describe the love that a perfect father has for his perfectly obedient son? I could fill up the ocean 10 times over!»
And Jesus says this incredible thing: «As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you—with that perfect, beautiful love! Jesus says: That’s the way I love you! I deserve that kind of love from the Father; you don’t deserve that kind of love from me. But it’s not going to change the fact that I give it! I love you!»
I just want to ask you today, who in your life has ever loved you like that? Your dog? Maybe! Someday! But dogs don’t last forever. Your grandkids? Your grandma? They might be great, but there is nothing like the divine love between Father, Son, and Spirit that Jesus is now offering to you, free of charge! He’s saying to his friends, «Don’t walk away from the greatest love the universe has ever known.»
Right? Those friends that you want to make happy? This guy that you’re dating? They might love you a little bit, maybe a lot, but it is nothing compared to the love of Father and Son that is now given to you. So, let the world have its fun and enjoy its freedom. I choose faith because faith connects me to a God who forgives and who will love me forever.
Conclusion and Testimony
And that’s how you get through it. Are you confused by your pain? God’s pruning you. Can you not forgive yourself for what you did or said? You are already clean because of the word of Jesus. Are you tempted to leave Christianity? Don’t! Don’t give up heaven! Don’t give up God’s love! Don’t put yourself in the danger of the fire! Jesus is worth it; Jesus is worthy because as the Father loved him, so has he loved you.
That’s why Max Lucado loves Jesus. Some of you might know the famous author Max Lucado. When he was 16, though, Max Lucado did a very, very, very bad thing. He got drunk! Getting drunk is bad. But for Max, it was very, very, very bad because as his father had so frequently told him, he came from a family full of alcoholics. His dad knew all the branches of the family tree, all the misery that alcohol had brought into their home for generation after generation. So, from the earliest years, he warned his son, «Max, don’t, don’t, don’t!»
But one day when he was 16, Max did! And then he did it again! And he got drunk again and again! And hundreds of times before his 20th birthday, he gave in to that temptation. Even though his father loved him and was trying to spare him, he ignored it for the pleasure of the moment. And to say he felt bad was an understatement—a frequent hangover was the least of his problems. The guilt of knowing he was putting himself on a path of destruction was killing him!
But that’s why Max loves Jesus. In one of his recent books, he says that he could take all of us as a tour guide to the city, to the church—in fact, to the very seat where he was sitting. After hundreds of moments of drunkenness, the very seat where he heard about Jesus and the light switch flipped that Jesus was so good, so loving, and so forgiving that he could make a man like Max already clean! That he could love him even though he had been so far from God that he ignored the wisdom of his father and his heavenly Father. Yet because of Jesus’s mercy, God had the last word!
Max heard that message about unconditional love, and he believed it. He believed in Jesus. Enough for decades, he’s known exactly what to do when this world tempts him, offers him something fun. He knows that in Jesus, he has found a savior who is infinitely better.
I hope it doesn’t happen to you—the confusion, the condemnation, the temptation. But when it does, grab your Bible, open it up to John 15, and let Jesus tell you exactly how to get through it. God’s not punishing you; he’s pruning you. He’s not done with you; you’re already clean in his sight. Remain in his love because as the Father has loved Jesus, so has he loved you.
Prayer
Ah, Lord, I don’t know the specifics, but I’ve got to imagine there’s someone watching today who’s so confused by their pain. Their body hurts, their family’s a mess, the finances are getting worse, and they don’t understand why you don’t fix it. God, help them to not just hear this message but believe it—that you are pruning them, not because you’re mad, but because you want something really good, and this is the best way to produce fruit.
Help us to trust you when life is difficult, to remember what Job said—that sometimes you give and sometimes you take—but your name is always worthy to be praised. God, I love that our church brings people from all kinds of backgrounds: people with legal records, multiple divorces in their past, those struggling with addiction and drugs in their present. God, I thank you that they’re here to hear this message—that people like me and them and Peter and John are already clean because of Jesus. Those aren’t just words that you spoke flippantly, Jesus; you meant them. Help us to believe them.
And finally, Father, I pray for everyone, but especially the younger people here today. This culture has forgotten about eternity, and therefore the present feels like everything, but it is not. Seeing your face is what eternity is all about. Help us to stick with Jesus, to not be jealous of the fun and freedom of this world but to believe whatever we have to sacrifice for him is worth it because the love of Jesus is an eternal treasure. Help us to believe that he is worthy.
Finally, Father, continue to bless our church. Some messages like today can be hard, but we don’t want to filter Jesus. We don’t want to edit him; we don’t want to shape him in our image. We want to be shaped in his. So, may we be that kind of church, and may we be that kind of people.
We pray this all in Jesus’s beautiful name. And everyone who agreed said, «Amen.»
Help us to trust you when life is difficult, to remember what Job said—that sometimes you give and sometimes you take—but your name is always worthy to be praised. God, I love that our church brings people from all kinds of backgrounds: people with legal records, multiple divorces in their past, those struggling with addiction and drugs in their present. God, I thank you that they’re here to hear this message—that people like me and them and Peter and John are already clean because of Jesus. Those aren’t just words that you spoke flippantly, Jesus; you meant them. Help us to believe them.
And finally, Father, I pray for everyone, but especially the younger people here today. This culture has forgotten about eternity, and therefore the present feels like everything, but it is not. Seeing your face is what eternity is all about. Help us to stick with Jesus, to not be jealous of the fun and freedom of this world but to believe whatever we have to sacrifice for him is worth it because the love of Jesus is an eternal treasure. Help us to believe that he is worthy.
Finally, Father, continue to bless our church. Some messages like today can be hard, but we don’t want to filter Jesus. We don’t want to edit him; we don’t want to shape him in our image. We want to be shaped in his. So, may we be that kind of church, and may we be that kind of people.
We pray this all in Jesus’s beautiful name. And everyone who agreed said, «Amen.»