The Divine Conspiracy

Message Transcription

So as you think about this question, what is the good life? What picture comes up in your mind? When you think about living the good life, what is that picture? Just invite you to to to call, to mind that picture, whatever it may be. What are you doing? Where do you live? Uh, who's around you? What's what is the good life? You know, we all have a picture that comes up in our minds. And it's important for us to recognize that, to know that, to understand that. Because when we start to think about things that really matter, that's one of the pictures that influences us as we think about making changes in our life. Does it help us get closer to or further away from the good life? There's a company called Sustainable Brands, and they did a survey in 2017 of a few thousand Americans asking them about this question of the good life. Webster's dictionary defines it like this. It says the kind of life that people with a lot of money are able to have, or a happy and enjoyable life, right? Our culture has an idea of what the good life looks like. Well, this company Sustainable Brands, they they surveyed a group of people asking them. It was kind of on behalf of companies saying, what is the good life? As we're trying to to talk to these businesses as they create products and things for consumers to buy.

What kind of good life is out there in the world? And this is these are the top four elements. They called the key elements that would enable the good life. The first one was to balance simplicity and living a simpler life. Products that help us do that. Or second, they said, meaningful connections, products that help us make meaningful connections to people, community, the environment. The third one most popular was money and status. Or having money and the ability to spend it. A fourth one was personal achievement with respect to both career and levels of education. Those were their top four that that this survey pulled out. Now they teased it out some to say, well, what about millennials? How would they compare to Gen X or uh, to, um, the boomers? Uh, if you look at the next slide, you'll see they broke it all down. They said, what about the difference between men and women? What about the difference between Republicans and Democrats? Now, what's interesting is if you follow and track all of these four that we just showed you, they all tend to be roughly the same. That most people kind of see. Those are the four key elements of a good life balance simplicity, meaningful connections, money and status. Personal achievement. So let me ask you if you were to make a list of the qualities, the four elements that make a good life for you, what would you say? What would be your list of elements? And as followers of Jesus, I think it's important question for us to think about.

And certainly at the beginning of this year, as we look down the road and wonder what this new year might have in store for us to be thinking some about, what does it mean to live a good life? So I want us to spend some time listening to Jesus, because he talked a lot about the key elements of living a good life. In fact, we're going to spend some time together this next month in the sermon on the Mount. So Matthew five through seven, if you haven't read that in a while, I invite you to go back each week and just read through the sermon on the Mount. We're going to be listening for what are some of the elements that Jesus talks about living a good life. He cared very deeply about this question. And if you follow him around the gospel, you're going to find him engaging with all kinds of people. Some of them were religious and some were irreligious. Some were men and some were women. Some were old and some were young. But they were all asking him some version of this question what is the good life? What does that look like and how do I attain it? How do we get there? One of my favorite books that I've read in my entire life, certainly has been most helpful to me in ministry is called the Divine Conspiracy by a guy named Dallas Willard.

You've heard me refer to it many times throughout my sermons. In fact, what I'm going to share with you over these next few weeks is drawn a lot from the text. Uh, Dallas dives us deep into the sermon on the Mount to explain this idea of this good life. He says. It's this divine conspiracy, this upside down world. And we want to listen and think about what does Jesus say are the key elements to living a good life? Dallas Willard would say it this way. Jesus offers himself as the doorway to the life that is truly life. Confidence in him leads us today, as in other times, to become his apprentices in eternal living. Jesus himself would say it like this to the folks in John chapter ten I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. Jesus said, I have come that you would find abundant life. Not just life. One day when you die and go to heaven, but this idea of right here, right now, the kingdom of God is breaking through.

The life that Jesus taught and modeled is very different from the life that we see modeled in our world around us, don't we? In the culture? What is a good life? Well, to begin with, Jesus life, this good life is available to anyone. At any time. It's not reserved only for the rich, the wealthy, the beautiful, the powerful, though it is available to them too. It's not just for them. It's also available to the poor and to the weak and to the marginalized, the disenfranchised, those who've been pushed out and left aside. This good life is available to anyone who wants it. That's the only criteria. Do you want it? So, church, as we begin this new year together, my first question to you is do you want the good life? Do you long for something more? Do you want to see a different kind of relational world be created around you? Do you want to have different experiences in your workplace with the people that you see every day? Jesus didn't just talk about this life, he also lived it. He modeled it to us. He lived for 30 years amongst a socially and politically and economically marginalized people. In a negligible nation just tucked away in the corner of the Middle East. He grew up the oldest son as a carpenter. We don't know exactly when, but his dad died when he was young, and so he, along with his mom, helped raise the rest of his family.

And he worked as a carpenter. He worked with his hands every day for 30 years. Jesus was as blue collar as it gets. And he did that to show us the way of life, the good life. This is Willard describes. If he came again today as he did, then he could carry out his mission, showing us the way to the good through most any decent and useful job. You ever thought about that? If Jesus were to come today, as he did back then, that he could work in a grocery store or a ranch, he could be a computer engineer or a florist. He could be an accountant, a doctor, a waiter, a school teacher. Why? Because the kingdom of God. The good life. It's available literally to anyone. No matter what you do, no matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what your job is that Jesus could walk right into your reality today, and he could live where you live or work where you work. He could go to school, where you go to school, have your teachers and your classmates. He could have your education level, your job prospects, your talent, or lack thereof. He could live in your family, with your siblings and your parents and your children and your grandparents. He could be your age.

And have your same relationship status. None of that in any way would hinder his access to or ability to live the good life. Have you ever thought about that? Be because the kingdom. It's available to anyone. You see, our human lives, despite what our culture may say, aren't destroyed by God's life. They're actually fulfilled by it. The good life that Jesus showed us the with God life. It doesn't lessen your joy or lessen your opportunities. It actually expands it. It grows it. It fulfills it. That's the beauty of the way God created us as simple, ordinary people. We're receptacles for the divine right. And as we just came through the advent season together, where we celebrate the divine incarnating in this tender little helpless baby who grows into a young man. Who steps out into the world. It's an amazing thing to think about. From there, Jesus grew up in a family just like us, and he had a job just like us, and he worked really hard at it. And one day he began his public ministry. And he does it like this I love Dallas Willard's translation of Mark chapter one, verse 15. Jesus said, all the preliminaries have been taken care of and the rule of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity. In Matthew's gospel. You heard read from just a moment ago.

We come across this word repent. And we've talked about this word before in our culture, in our day. That's kind of taken on this negative connotation, hasn't it? Repent, repent. Gabe was telling us about the street preachers that have been coming up to UNT to preach all the pagan, mean green maniacs there on campus in Denton, right? Repent, right. It's it's used as this forceful word to just get into some of these business. That's not actually the use of that word. That's not the appropriate use of that word. Repent simply means to change your mind. To think again. Meta. Now to to think on it again to review your decisions. That there's a new life, a good life that's available, and you can live in it if you want to. You can walk right on in. The good life has come near. Jesus says you might want to reconsider yours, so repent. That was the ministry of Jesus, and it was clear to his earliest listeners they understood what he meant by repent, rethinking things we can tell in the way that they responded to him. Do you ever notice that? In Matthew chapter four. We heard just a minute ago as Vic read, that as Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the good news, and healing every disease and sickness among the people, news about him spread all over. And the people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, suffering severe pain, demon possessed, having seizures, the paralyzed and he healed them all.

Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan. They followed him. Jesus didn't start out in the big city of Jerusalem. He went up to the north to to the Sea of Galilee, and began there in these kind of small outposts and began preaching and teaching in the synagogue. But word began to spread about this good life, this new life that has come. Come and hear. Come and see. Over and over again people responded. He proclaimed, the good news of life was now available to everyone. And you ever looked really seriously at his ministry team? Right. His team of coworkers that he gathered around them. Matthew tells us about a couple of them 12 apostles. And then we learn there are other women who he had healed who continued to follow after him. But this is how Matthew describes Jesus all star team. He was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were seminary professors who were taking a vacation. Oh, wait a second. That's not what it says. They were fishermen. They were blue collar workers. The reason why they were fishermen is because they couldn't go to seminary. They didn't make the cut.

Right? And Jesus says, hey, you two, follow me. And I will send you out to fish for people. And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw two more brothers, James and John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them. They left their boat. And their father, and they followed him. Fishermen. Everyday Joe's blue collar workers, right? Because the kingdom is available to anyone. There were no seminary super students. There are no all stars in this group, right? You mix in a zealot here and a tax collector there, and he's got quite the rowdy crew following him. Why? Because the kingdom, the good life. It's available to everyone. Again, Matthew tells us these stories. No holds barred. Right. This group was less World Series champion Texas Rangers Brian Brunson and more like the Bad News Bears. Like, who are these people and how is this happening? Jesus said, the kingdom of God has come near, and his ministry exploded and his fame grew to thousands of people. So many so would gather on a hillside to hear this sermon that we're going to spend time in these next few weeks together. They wanted to get so close to him that when they found out what town he was in, they would run there. We're told at times they would trample over one another to get there.

We're told another time that they would climb on the roof and tear it open, so that they could get their friend close to Jesus, because they knew this good life. It could change anyone and it's available to anyone. He was demonstrating a life that was truly life. He was showing them the way to the good life and they couldn't resist it. Once again. Dallas Willard describes it this way. They were responding to the striking availability of God to meet present human need through the actions of Jesus. He simply was the good news about the kingdom. He still is. Jesus is the good life that Jesus offers us, the good life. So the question for us today is do we want the good life? How do we want our life to go? Like those who first heard Jesus message, there's still much to be understood. But what his first listeners responded to. We have a chance to respond to this year, this day, this moment. So did you come this morning? Longing for a good life, longing for a new life. Longing for something to change. For an opportunity. There's a simple word for you today. Repent. Would you repent? Would you rethink your plans for living and make some new decisions in light of this remarkable opportunity? Here's one of the amazing things. Jesus wasn't just acting for God, he was acting with God. For those who chose to follow him and trust him and believe in him to receive him, they too received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Working with them. To rely on. To trust in. To give us strength to show us the way. That's why at one point in Jesus ministry, he would explain to those listening around him that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than John the Baptist. Now, some of you may not know who John the Baptist is. That was Jesus cousin who was sent to prepare the way. One of the most incredible disciples, men of God who've ever lived. And Jesus says the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist. Now why would he say that? See, that's not this inherent greatness. If you just become this, then you are greater. It's not this idea of now. It's something a matter of us. Rather, it's now you have the Holy Spirit with you. And when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and begins to live in you and help you make decisions and help you hold your tongue when you want to say that word right, who can help guide you and direct you when you're thinking about your finances? And what's the best way to use my money? Jesus says you're going to do greater things even than I have done. Not because you're greater, because now you have a greater power at work in your life.

It's an amazing thing. Some of you may be familiar with. Author C.S. Lewis, who was an atheist for a long time, has an incredible life. If you don't know much about him, I invite you to read about him. But he became a follower of Jesus, and he would write a book that I know is significant to several here called Mere Christianity. Here's how he would describe it. He says. Our faith is not a matter of our hearing. What Christ said long ago and trying to carry it out. Rather. The real Son of God is at your side. He is beginning to turn you into the same kind of thing as himself. He is beginning, so to speak, to inject his kind of life and thought his Zoe. His life into you, beginning to turn the tin soldier into a live man. Now the part of you that is not like it. That's the part of you that's still tin. Right. That's the good life. God injecting his life into you to help you become more like him, to experience the kind of life that he lived. I see one of the powerful proclamations that Jesus said was, if you want to know more about God, more about who God is and the kind of people that he wants, watch me. Follow me. So we do we're going to this this year, especially this spring.

We're going to spend some time watching and following Jesus around and finding out does he ever get anxious? What happens when he's lonely. What happens when he needs something. What is the way of Jesus look like for real people in real time? He says, I've come that they might have life. The truly good life. Over the next few weeks, we're going to look together again at the sermon on the Mount and listen for what are some of the key elements to living and having the good life. We're going to start next week with one of the places where Jesus starts, and that's about getting a new heart. I'm excited. Next week I'm going to have a special guest up here to talk with me. You're going to get to hear from about what it means to have a new heart, and to have a new life in Christ. We're going to spend some time chasing that one around, and I hope you'll make plans to be here. But again, my hope too, is that we would begin here at the beginning of this year with this common word, maybe reclaim it for its actual purpose. Could we repent together this morning? Church. Could we repent of the ways that we've tried to manage our own lives? Ways we've tried to grab back control again. To take over when we feel things are kind of slipping in the wrong direction.

Can we repent? And the relationships we tried to power up on people. To take advantage of of our leadership position or our power. Or maybe in ways where we just have misled. We've lied, taken advantage of. Could we repent that? Maybe it's how we spend our money that we spend so much time thinking about what I want, what I long for. Instead of thinking about how could I use my finances, Lord to to bless, bless you, bless the church, bless others. I don't know, maybe there's some other way that that you need to be considerate. Maybe the Holy Spirit's just prompting you. Would you repent? Would you rethink your plans for living in light of this amazing new opportunity? God, that's my prayer for our church this year that we would learn to live the good life not as defined by the world around us. That holds up money and power and success and fame. That values beauty and youth. Over all else. A culture that is about forcing its way. Even trying to create laws and a system so that it forces people to live and think in all manner of speaking. God, would you help show us once again the good life? A life that's been modeled to us by your son, Jesus. The one who. Gave up the riches of heaven. To incarnate, to come to this world as a small child. To grow up in a family.

To get a job to help raise some kids. To do some work. But not just for the sake of those things. But to show us how in the midst of living our daily lives. There's no place, there's no job. There's no position that we can't find access to the good life. Your grace flowing in the world. It's available to each and every one of us. And. The only requirement is do we want it? Are we willing to repent? To rethink? God, would you help us as we stand here at this new year? As we look down the road before us and consider what kind of students we want to be, what kind of workers we want to be, what kind of neighbors we want to be, what kind of siblings or children or parents or grandparents. What can I? Husbands and wives. What kind of singles? At whatever age stage we are now. Would you help us? To see, to hear. To repent and to step into that new life. Yeah. Thank you for the gift of Jesus. Thank you that we can follow him through the Gospels, to learn from him, to see and to understand God. Would you help it to sink in real deep this year? That we might all learn to live in the good life? Thank you, father, for your amazing love for us that has the power to change us. God would you do yet changing work again? We ask in Jesus name, Amen.