Individuality

Various

I need five people to come forward who want to hear God speak to them. We’re going to do something together. I don’t know if it will work, but I want to try it. It worked once so let’s see what happens this time. I need five brave people.

Here is a box of matches for each of you. When I say so, light one of the matches and hold it up in front of you and gaze intently at the flame.

[when all five matches are burning]

Now God, we ask you to speak to us. Speak to us out of the burning match and do not consume the match. Have faith, don’t worry about your fingers. Have faith and wait for God to speak to you.

[when all five matches have been consumed]

Well, I guess that did not work and that is probably not the best way to seek God. But if God was not a creative God. If God spoke to us in the same way time after time. If God spoke to us always the way he did with Moses through the burning bush, then this is probably how we would have our worship services. We would hold matches and when God spoke, we would know it because the match would not be consumed.

This is ridiculous, I know it. But it is not too far off the mark in terms of how we often try to seek God. We often seek God as if he were a non-creative God who always speaks and relates to people the same way. We seek God as if he were a god who once he did something, always did it the same way thereafter.

Someone writes a book or teaches a class or preaches a sermon and tells everyone this is how you can have an intimate relationship with God and then under the assumption that this is the only way God speaks to us, we try to  make the method that worked for one person work for us.

But the opposite is true. God is not limited in how he speaks to us. God is not predictable in how he works in the world. God keeps on doing a new thing. He is not a prisoner of how he did things the last time. Moses got into trouble because of this.

In Exodus 17, at the beginning of the 40 years of wandering of Israel through the desert, the people complained to Moses that there was no water. They grumbled and complained that God had led them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness and so God gave Moses instructions:

“Walk on ahead of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel

Moses went out in faith and God performed a magnificent miracle through him. Moses took mental notes of what had happened.

Toward the end of Israel’s 40 years in the desert, in Numbers 20, Moses came up against a similar situation. Israel was gathered in the Desert of Zin and there was no water. God may not be predictable, but Israel was. Again they grumbled and complained that God had led them out of Egypt to die in the wilderness. So Moses and Aaron went to the Lord to ask what they should do.

7 The LORD said to Moses,  8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together.

Oh yes, I remember, thought Moses. The staff, hit the rock. I remember.

But then God went on to say:

Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

Did I hear right, thought Moses. Did he say take the staff and strike or did he say take the staff and speak? Why would he say take the staff and speak? I don’t need the staff to speak. He must have said take the staff and strike the rock.

And because Moses was captured by what God had done in the past and did not have enough faith to do the new thing God told him to do, he was denied permission to enter the Promised land of Canaan.

Because God did something one way does not mean he will do that thing the same way in the future. It is very dangerous to say definitively, “This is how God works.” because God is not a prisoner of the past. Unlike the church, God does not say, “But we’ve always done it that way before.”

God is not limited and will not be limited by how he has done things in the past and God is not limited in how he relates to men and women.

In Luke 1 there is recorded two visits of the angel Gabriel: first to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and then to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In each case, Gabriel announces news of a miraculous birth and in each case doubt is expressed.
Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
19 The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.  20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

And then Gabriel appeared to Mary to tell her she would bear a son.
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.  36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.  37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

People try to explain why it is that Gabriel responded differently to the expression of doubt in each case but the fact is that he did respond differently.

For just one more example, look at how God responded to Moses when Moses expressed doubts about what God said he was going to do.

God told Moses

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

And Moses expressed his doubt of what God could do with excuse after excuse.

“Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
“O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
“O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

How did God respond to Moses’ expressions of doubt? He patiently replied, giving him assurances, signs and wonders to demonstrate, and even when his anger burned against Moses for Moses’ repeated reluctance to believe, he accommodated Moses and said Aaron could speak for him.

God responded differently to Zechariah, Mary and Moses because they were three different people in three different circumstances. Zechariah was a priest in the temple who should have been expected to have more faith. Mary was a young teenager receiving incredible news that placed her life in danger. Moses was a man with terribly low self-esteem. A man crushed by his failures in life thus far.

Because of their circumstances, God treated each one differently.

God had some very harsh words for the Pharisees and Sadducees but he was gentle with the woman caught in adultery. If all sin has the same effect in separating us from God, why did Jesus respond so differently to the sin of the religious leaders and to the sin of this woman? Jesus knew the hearts and circumstances of each person and dealt with them accordingly.

For each person Jesus met, he wanted the same thing, to come to him and receive eternal life. But his way of doing that differed depending on their circumstances, their personalities, who they were as individuals.

Why did Jesus make so many resurrection appearances? Jesus appeared to individuals and because they were individuals, Jesus had different things to say to different of his followers. When Jesus appeared to Peter, he had to speak to him of his denying Jesus three times. When Jesus appeared to Thomas, he needed to help Thomas through his scepticism. When Jesus appeared to his half-brother James, he needed to break through the way James viewed him, having grown up with him from childhood on.

I could go on and on. In fact, I had a lot more along this line, showing how God works with us differently depending on who we are and what our circumstances are, but I had to cut it out to make room for what I want to talk about next.

I hope you are convinced that God is a creative God and deals with us creatively. Now I want to build on that foundation and talk about how this relates to our current sermon series: Intimacy with God. We’ve talked about how God desires to have an intimate relationship with us and now we are looking at ways we can work to have an intimate relationship with him.

Individuality is one of those aspects. God is creative with us because it is his nature to be creative and because we, as his creation, are unique human beings. When God created you, he broke the mold. There is not, never has been and never will be anyone just like you. God creates fresh and new. God creates individuals.

We have similarities to each other. We resemble each other but must never make the mistake to think that we are just like someone else.

Given this, do you think there is one way in which we come to God? One way in which we relate to God? One way in which we are led by God?

Of course not, but here is where the problem comes. The pastor of a church teaches about having a prayer life. Of course, everyone prays, but if you want to have an effective prayer life, this is what you must do. Make a list of your own concerns. Then a list of the people in your family you want to pray for. Then a list of friends. Then a list of countries in the world. When you are done with all your lists, get seven pieces of paper, one for each day of the week. Go down your lists and allocate for each day who and what you will pray for. For some things you will pray each day. Fr others two or three times a week. For the rest, once per week. Then take this list and pray each day, adding and deleting things as events and relationships change.

So you sit down and go through the effort of making such a list. Pastor said to pray first thing in the morning, so you get up at 6 AM so you can pray through your list before the rest of the family wakes up and you have to get ready for work or school.

The problem is that you are a night person, not a morning person and routine drives you crazy. So you pray this way for a couple days, sleep in the third and within two weeks, you have given up and feel like a failure.

Your church has a class for people who want to join the church. Part of the class talks about the importance of having a devotional life, often called having a quiet time. The importance of having a daily devotional time is stressed. Again, most often, it is taught that you should get up early in the morning, as did Jesus in the Gospels. Go to a quiet place and pray asking God to teach you. Then read four or five chapters of the Bible (this will take you through the Bible in one year). Reflect on the passage and write in your journal about what you are thinking. Determine how what you have read impacts your life and then pray that God will help you in that day to apply what you have learned.

The problem is that sitting in a chair and reading is among your least favorite activities and you would prefer doing almost anything else. But you try and make it for a few days. Then you find that you spend the time dozing in the chair rather than reading and then you get up sporadically and eventually you give up, feeling like a spiritual midget.

Your church has a class on evangelism. How can you influence your friends to give their life to Jesus? The teacher hands out a small tract called The Four Spiritual Laws. You go through these four laws and memorize them so you know what to say to people you meet.

Then you go to your friends and ask them if you can tell them about this booklet you have discovered. Some are interested and some look at you like you are crazy. Some ask questions or raise objections that you never anticipated. And after a while, you get tired of being defeated and you stop trying.

These three things: prayer, devotional life and sharing our faith are all important parts of our Christian life. In fact, I would say that each Christian must have a prayer life, devotional life and share his or her faith with others. These are integral parts of our being Christian. And I want to say that the three examples I gave of how to pray, how to have a devotional time and how to share your faith are very good ways of doing those things.

But there is no one way to do any of these things. There is no one right way to do any of these things. And for many people none of these ways I have described having a prayer life, devotional time or sharing your faith will be effective because we are not all made the same.

How do people come to Christ? In the bulletin there is a quote from John Fisher, a Christian songwriter, that is the chorus from one of his songs. Jesus is the only way, but there is more than one way to Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” There is no salvation apart from Jesus, but how do we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus?

Some people are at the bottom of the pit and in total despair when someone speaks to them about Jesus and he comes bringing light into the darkness.

Others read books and study philosophy and come to an intellectual awareness that Jesus is who he claimed to be.

Others make friendships with Christians and socialize with them. After a while, they begin to be attracted to what these Christians believe and eventually make the relationship with God they have observed their own personal experience.

Others get involved in social justice causes. Maybe they work and campaign for a cleaner environment and as they get involved, they meet some Christians who are doing this who explain why it is as Christians they care about having a clean environment. It is this that draws some to give their life to Christ.

Others get married and have kids and put on Christianity like they put on a new suit. “I used to wear brown suits, but now I wear gray suits. I used to party and play around, but now I am a family man and go to church.”

Others hear God speak to them even before they know anything about Jesus. Then when they meet a Christian and hear about his life as presented in the Gospels, they recognize that this is the one who has already spoken to them.

Some people make a definitive response and can tell the day and hour they became Christians. Others can’t say when it was they became Christians. I have met people who don’t seem to follow the pattern I expect (An awareness of the glory of God is followed by an awareness of sin.) but seem to be living a Christian life nonetheless.

I have learned not to judge how someone comes to Christ. What is important is that they are now in a relationship with Christ that is alive and growing. I have learned to be accepting of the creative ways God uses to draw men and women to himself. I have learned not to limit God’s creativity.

Some people have very disciplined prayer lives. Others find it better to go for a walk or run and pray while they are moving. Rather than having a list from which they pray, they pray for whomever or whatever comes to mind.

Some people prefer praying through a liturgy, a book with printed prayers that are prayed through the week or month. Others prefer to pray spontaneously.

A daily devotional life, as it is most often presented, is virtually impossible for some people. Listening to a tape while going to work or school works better for some. Some people will prefer reading through the psalms over and over. Some people want to have the goal of reading through the Bible in a year. Some people like reading through daily devotional guides that have a different reading for each day of the month.

Listening to music is helpful for some people as part of their devotional time. Drawing or painting might be an effective way for some people to spend time with God, reflecting and responding through their art.

What I am trying to say is that you do not need to feel restricted by what other people do. God made you to be an individual. Don’t feel bad or inferior because you do not read the Bible or pray like others seem to do. The goal is not to read the Bible in any proscribed manner. The goal is to have a living, intimate relationship with God.

Don’t be imprisoned by other’s behavior. People who relate to God in ways you do not, do not relate better just differently. Just because someone can follow a system of prayer or devotional reading and you can’t does not make them more spiritual than you are. Praying spontaneously is not more spiritual than praying through a liturgy.

Don’t give up because what you have tried thus far does not seem to work. Remember that God wants to have a relationship with you. For this reason, you can persevere because God is moving to meet you. Keep moving until you discover what works for you.

John Calvin said in his Institutes, “To know God is to know your self.” And in another place in the Institutes he says, “To know yourself is to know God.” These two forms of knowledge are like a spiral that take you upward. You will be limited in your ability to know God if you are limited in your knowledge of who you are, how God created you to be.

This makes learning more about your personality part of your spiritual search for God. If you want to have an intimate relationship with God, it is important that you know who you are. Personality tests are important because they teach you about who you are.

Be reflective. Think about yourself, how you relate to people, what you like, what you don’t like. Grow in your knowledge of yourself.

Don’t be afraid of being different. Become confident in who God made you to be, even if who he made you to be is different than most people around you. On the other hand, don’t try to be different. The goal is not to be like others or to be different from others, but to become more and more like the person God created you to be.

In fact my faith story is that the biggest difference God made in my life when I became a Christian is that over time I became more and more comfortable being who God made me to be. Before I was a Christian, I was always trying to fit in with one group or another, trying to be someone else. Coming to faith in Christ liberated me and set me free to be the man God made me.

Don’t let anyone drive you away from God because you seek God in a way they do not.

This morning, as pastor of RPF International Church, I set you free to seek God in your own way. This morning I bring you liberty and freedom from the restrictions of the world.

JB Phillips’ translation of Romans 12:2 says this, Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold.

Seek God with all your heart, soul and mind but seek him in the way God made you to seek.