How to Spot a Christian

Sermon 7
May 5, 2013

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.  “All this I have spoken while still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.  I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. --John 14:23-29

We honor our high school seniors today. One of them is mine, so bear with me if my emotions creep into my voice.

At different milestones in your life, you become strangely aware of the passage of time. For the high school seniors, it seems like you’ve been in school forever. But for the parents, it seems that you packed up that backpack and sent them into the school by themselves for the first time just yesterday.

And this is true for other events in life also. The concept of time is difficult for us to wrap our little human minds around. 

For example, many doubt that God really created the heavens and the earth in only 6 days. They point to scientific data that has led to “proof” that our world is millions of years old and started with one big bang. Yet, they fail to recognize and understand that our God, an eternal being who is not bound by time, created time.

Listen to Genesis 1:1-2:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 

Hmmm…any mention of time. Any indication that “time” is passing yet? Let’s look at the next couple of verses:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 

Aha…now I can see time. Was the universe there BEFORE time began? Can we even grasp such a concept? I don’t have the ability to know. Neither do you. Neither do scientists.

But I do know this, we are bound by time. Once we have lived a moment, we can never go back and live that moment again. Even if we just slept through it. Once we have lived a moment, it becomes part of our history…a history that is unchangeable. Because the time that we are bound to is linear. Once we have lived a moment, there are consequences.

Think of it this way…here is a moment.

And it’s effects.

But other people also live the same moment…and their choices during that moment have effects--

effects that may affect your future moments. Like this!

Although none of us know how much time will be given to us, we do know that each moment of time that we have is a gift. So…what are we going to do with this gift?

Let me tell you something that you should know. It’s a little secret that I didn’t learn as early in my life as I would’ve liked…so I want to share it with you.

What you DO comes from who you ARE. Doing comes out of being.

This is such an important concept to understand. If your actions (your “doing”) doesn’t come from who you truly are (your “being”), eventually your “being” will betray, and destroy, your “doing”. In other words…your actions will show who you truly are. Don’t waste time developing a reputation…invest time in developing your character.

Don’t get me wrong, you will mess up. You will do things that you regret. You will hurt people. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  But if your “being” is in Christ, you will recognize your mistakes, repent from them, and learn from them. However, If your being is NOT in Christ, when you do hurt others you will be angry that you got caught, blame as many other people as you can, and be sure to be much sneakier the next time.

Ground your life in the Word of God. This takes effort. Any relationship takes effort.

Each one of our graduates is planning to attend college next year. No two are going to the same place. They’ll be in all over Kansas, in Missouri, and in Georgia. In a few months, our seniors will enter into the most selfish time of their lives. It’s true.

For the first time ever, dad and mom won’t know where they are, what they are doing, and who they are with every moment of the day. For the first time ever they will be responsible to and for nobody but themselves. For the first time ever they will be free from past mistakes, past accomplishments, and past reputations in a sea of young people who are all experiencing the exact same freedom.

Who will you be? Notice—I didn’t ask “What will you be?” or “What will you do?” Who will you be? Let me warn you, there is some awfully rotten fruit that is going to look very fresh, sweet, and tasty in your new little garden.

You are going to hear and see many different world views. You are going to witness people belittle faith in God. You may even have instructors that ask you how you can base your beliefs and opinions on a book that was written thousands of years ago in a different time and place…a book of myths and fairytales...of legends and superstitions.

Did you know that one of the biggest obstacles to students maintaining their Christian faith is their inability to reconcile their faith with science? Students learn about science and hear that it is incompatible with Christianity. I brought up evolution for a reason—it’s one of the biggest factors that young people cite for abandoning their faith in God. They have more faith in the theories of man.

Science seeks to understand the world around us through exploration. Any provable “truths” that are discovered through science should not be feared. We believe in the truth. We believe that Christ IS the Truth. All truths will lead to Christ.

Did you know that there are theories that humans believed for centuries that were eventually proven false? Do you think that all of our scientific theories now are correct? That somehow we are much smarter than the humans of the past? That’s laughable!

Ever heart of Mozart? Leonardo DaVinci? Socrates? Galileo? Know anybody living now who can compare in their brilliance? C.S. Lewis calls this “chronological snobbery.”

Oh, I would never have eaten from the fruit of that tree in Eden.

I can’t believe people were stupid enough to think the world was flat?

I would not have fallen for the idea that the earth was the center of the universe.

Never, would I have EVER, worn my hair like THAT!

We think we are so much smarter than those who came before us. You just wait until your kids and grandkids laugh at your clothes, music, language, and yes…hairstyles, in a few short decades.

But God’s Word always remains true. That doesn’t mean we quit seeking answers, that we quit exploring, that we discontinue the development of theories.  It just means that we need to keep things in perspective. 

So how do you spot a Christian?

Well…our culture tells us that they look like this.

Those of you in my generation will remember this.

And there are others who believe that they look like this.

There are some big name popular preachers who will tell you they look like this.

But I will tell you that you cannot spot a Christian in a picture because in any given moment of time any person in the world could be doing something that we value as Christians. A Christian isn’t defined in a moment…but in a lifetime of ripples.

You cannot just do; you must be.

You cannot just do things that we view as Christ-like without knowing Christ…without being a Christian and expect to maintain it.

So every day, every single day, get to know Christ a little better. Read about him. Talk to him. Talk about him with others. Think about him. Worship him. BE in him. And if you do, He will also be in you.

Let’s go back to our gospel reading for today, I want to re-read for you a few of the verses. “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Did you hear that? You will never have to be alone. Through the Holy Spirit, our Father God and his Son Jesus will make their home with you. The Holy Spirit will teach you and will remind you…granted, sometimes when you least want to be taught or reminded.

It’s not always going to be fun. It’s not always going to be easy. You are not guaranteed health and wealth and happiness in this life. But you are guaranteed that God will use every experience you go through for His good…for His purposes.

So, although life is getting ready to change, although you are about to embark on a grand adventure, although your family and friends may not always be with you, your Father in heaven always will be.

Remain in Him and show the world what a Christian looks like.

Father, we realizing that doing is so much easier than being. We can hide who we ARE by what we DO from others, but we can’t hide it from you. Nor can we maintain that charade for long. Work in our lives, Lord, to guide us in our efforts to remain in you so that our actions will just flow naturally from our being…our being that is defined in You. We ask for your blessing on our graduates, Father. Guide their steps, guide their minds, and guide their hearts as they prepare for this new freedom that they will experience soon…a freedom they many never experience again in their lives once work, spouses, and/or children come along. It is a special, special time for them…and we pray that they will remain in You. Give them that longing, Lord. Give them that courage. Amen.