July 21, 2013
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
“Cruising Sacred
Waters with Jesus”
Sermon 3 of Summer
Series
1 Corinthians 13:9-12
GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
Mark 6:1-6 New Revised
Standard Version (NRSV)
The Lord
be with you…
And also with you…
Let us
pray… (Pray for the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and insight…)
Good
Morning…I don’t know how many of you have raised children or have had the
opportunity to teach them but it never baffles my mind that when you tell them
not to do something…they just have to test the theory sometimes. You are just trying to help them not get hurt
or do something that might hurt someone else and it is as if they don’t believe
you and they have to check to see if you are right or not…sometimes I think that they just want to prove their parents wrong,
that they know more than their parents do.
For
instance…you tell them “Don’t throw the ball in the house, you my break
something!” Well…they decide they are going to do it anyway. What do you think
happens? Yup…the lamp get broken or something else. You then ask them…were you
throwing the ball in the house? They say “yes I was.” And when you tell them
that you knew something was going to happen if they did it…that’s why you told
them not to, they look at you like you are psychic or something…OK when they are little they do but as they
get older they just think “she was right again…figures…” The problem is they can’t see the whole
picture like their parent does. All they see is what they are doing in the moment
and are not thinking of what could happen in the future. I think God must think
that way about humanity sometimes. We are doing what we want and don’t see the
whole picture as He does…
We
are getting ready, as a church family, to embark on a cruise this summer. We
will be “Cruising Sacred Waters with
Jesus”. But before we set sail, we are taking some time to learn about our
Captain, our Lord Jesus. We have decided that He is our Risen Lord and
King…that Jesus can be trusted to be there helping us in the “stormy season” of
our faith journey. We have come to realize that as we walk through our
storms…through the rough places in our lives…we never walk alone. Jesus is
right there with us…our rock our solid ground on which we build our faith. Last
week I challenged you to look within your heart and to decide how much Jesus
really means to you. I pray that we have all decided that Jesus is worth more
than gold itself and realized that we are a precious pearl to our God and that
He sold everything He had…put His Son, Jesus on the line…for humanity to have a
right relationship with Him…
So…can
our Captain see even through the foggiest night? Can our Captain see the end of
our journey as we continue our journey of faith? Can our Captain traverse the
rough, dark waters we may encounter on our life’s journey with Him? Can Jesus
see more clearly than we can?
The
1st Corinthians scripture from this morning tells us exactly what
type of vision we have. Our “vision” is temporal…we see only what is right in
front of us…but…with God, through our Risen Lord Jesus, the whole picture can
be seen. God knows everything we will do before we do it. Our lives were
written in the “Book of Life” before we even took our first breath. One day we
will see clearly but for now we can only see in part. But as we live our
lives…as we live out our faith journey with Jesus at the helm…we begin to see
life differently. We begin to see life through the eyes of Jesus as we become
more and more like Him each day. It’s like going for an eye exam. The eye
doctor puts these weird, funky glasses on you and asks you what you can see.
Well at first you may not be able to see anything but as the doctor changes the
lenses that you are looking through, you begin to see more clearly the chart in
front of you. As we live out our faith
journey and focus our sights on our Captain, Jesus Christ, our vision becomes
clearer and we can see the “charted waters” before us. Waters charted for us
before we ever began this journey of life. We are given a new set of eyes so we
can see more clearly the eternal and less of the temporal. I love Jimmy Cliffs
song “I can see clearly now”…
I can
see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can
see all obstacles in my way.
Gone
are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's
gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
But…there
are times when we refuse to see what stands before us or we discount it as just
a “figment of our imagination…” There are times when humanity…yes even we “Christians”…just aren’t
wearing our glasses that we need to traverse the rough waters of this world…kind of like being near sighted and driving
without your glasses on…Jesus had to deal with people like that when He
went from town to town teaching the people a new way of life…even in His own
town. Listen to this encounter He had and tell me if this doesn’t sound
familiar…It is found in Mark chapter six, verses 1-6…
Mark 6:1-6 The Message (MSG)
Just
a Carpenter
“He left there and returned to
his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in
the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea he
was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such
ability?” But in the next breath they were cutting him down: “He’s just a
carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers,
James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?” They
tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they
never got any further. Jesus told them, “A prophet has little honor in his
hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child.” Jesus
wasn’t able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and
healed them, that’s all. He couldn’t get over their stubbornness. He left and
made a circuit of the other villages, teaching.”
Oh yes,
I can make it now the pain is gone.
All of
the bad feelings have disappeared.
Here is
the rainbow I've been praying for.
It's
gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
How
many times has humanity done this to something they did not understand? How
many times have we as Christians done this to people or cultures we didn’t
understand? Because of their short sightedness…because of their “fear” of the
unknown…they missed out on blessings…they missed out on healings…they let fear
and uncertainty blind them. They had it right but then lost their vision of the
sublime and traded it in for the vision of prudent. And yet…Jesus did stay and
healed some of them…maybe the few who never lost their vision of God’s mercy
and grace…
Look
all around, there's nothing but blue skies.
Look
straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies. (Ies)
We…as
humanity sometimes do act like children…we seem to want to test the theory or
think our “short sightedness” can get us through…we think we can see better
than the One who created time and space…what
blessings we miss out on…we actually “stunt our growth” spiritually because we
refuse to take off our wrong prescriptive glasses and put on the ones that help
us see more clearly.
We,
as humanity…as Christians…need to decide that we really don’t know it all and
trust in the One who does. We live in a world that tells us that we can do
whatever we want because we don’t know what the future holds…We need to live in
this world doing what the Creator of it wants us to do and by doing so we are
living out His perfect vision for what He created…what His intent was in
creating.
I can
see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can
see all obstacles in my way.
Here's
the rainbow I've been praying for.
It's
gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
In
order to navigate the waters of this world…the chaos that the world is in…we
need to believe in what we see with the view that God has given us…the eternal
eyes and not the temporal eyes. We to trust the Captain of our cruise…our Lord,
Jesus…and the Navigator…the Spirit…knows where the cruises destination is. We
need to trust that the Captain has received His orders from the Owner of the
Cruise Line…our God and King. Then and only then will we see more clearly. Then
and only then will the scales from our eyes begin to fall and our vision begins
to be restored.
How
is your vision these days? Is it all fogged up from the steam of the world or is
it getting clearer each day? Are you ready to trade in your shades from the
world for eternal ones? It’s time to see the ultimate Optometrist and get a new
prescription.
It's
gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
Real,
real, real, real bright (bright) bright (bright) sunshinin' day.
Amen…
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