Resound Community Church Leah Ramirez
The Joy of Not Being THE THING
Do you ever have one of those weeks, where you question what life is really all about? In my experience, these sorts of questions only really come up from the place of mourning. Giddiness does not seem to lead us into the deeper questions. Rather it seems that when we come close to death, we are more apt to really consider life. I don’t exactly know why that is… but it is true, isn’t it?
I. THE JOURNEY INTO THE AUTHENTIC
A. I’ve been going through a season of death. It began with the passing of my grandmom. I was with her when she passed. And it was the most beautiful experience of my life. It has profoundly marked me. And I do miss her. But it’s more than her passing that I’ve mourned… it’s death itself.
B. Over the last weeks and months, God has dealt with me in some rather incredible ways. I’ve confessed to you how the Lord has been healing my heart towards Him in ways I didn’t even know I was wounded. I’ve fallen back in love with the Word, dulled myself again with the business of life, rediscovered the beauty of love, struggled through some areas of unresolved hurt and unforgiveness. The highs and lows of being Jesus!
C. And I know many of you are on this same journey of discovery. From moments of exhileration to pits of despair. I know it’s not polite to discuss such things in church… but it’s true nonetheless, isn’t it? And I can’t not give language to it. Something compels me to speak it… something compels me to validate it.
D. The journey is everything. Otherwise why are we here?
2 Corinthians 3
18But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
E. Lately, I’ve been considering, well, everything. Some of the unspoken things that have guided me for years… paradigms of success and fulfillment, have been suddenly dashed to pieces. It’s like I’ve seen into the matrix, and now nothing looks the same. I’ve seen the strings behind the curtain, and now I can’t enjoy the show. I’ve watched the back-slapping and glad-handing at all the conferences, and know I can’t give my life to it.
F. So, what’s the point of it all? Where and what is the authentic move of God? Is it for a select few, just the spiritually elite? I somehow know that the real thing is closer than we think. It’s not mystical at all… really it’s quite the contrary. It’s so normal we barely notice. It’s only disguise is the familiar. Somehow I know this… The real thing is here. The authentic thing is here. We don’t have to run to and fro in search of Jesus, we just need to open our eyes.
Matthew 24
[23]Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. [24]For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. [25]See, I have told you beforehand. [26]So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. [27]For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. [28]Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
G. Have you ever asked yourself why opening your eyes to what’s already around you is so hard? I have pondered this. And I think it’s because if we see… really see, then we will have to respond. It stops being a grand gesture, and begins to be a lifestyle. And that is terrifying. It’s demanding. But honestly, many of us would rather live in sacrifice, than obedience. You see, with sacrifice, we are still in control. We determine when and how much. But obedience finds it’s life in God. Obedience brings us into utter dependence.
II. SUFFERING THE LOSS OF ALL THINGS
A. This week, our house was burglarized. Our bedroom window was smashed in, and all of my jewelry was stolen. And after all the clean up, and commotion, my heart began to ache. And although, we will credit to God what is God’s, and to the enemy what is his.... while I know that satan roams around seeking to kill, steal and destroy…I began to reach out for God on the purpose in it all. Don’t simply assign blame to the enemy and cheat yourself on real dialogue with God. It’s when we are wrestling that we really talk!
B. That night God and I talked about real things. Death. And the point of it all. And I let myself feel the full weight of the loss… not the loss of the jewelry, but the loss of the illusions. I let myself experience the death of “my dreams” and paradigms of success. And the thing with really experiencing death is that when you’re really in it, you can’t even dare to hope. It’s dark in its very nature. There’s nothing trite that can satisfy. And there’s no charismatic cliché that will stand in the weight of real death. It’s complete.
C. Don’t you know that you have been invited into a real death. And you must experience it. Death changes you.
Philippians 3
[7]But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8]Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ [9]and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—[10]that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11]that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
D. My dialogue with God lasted 2 days. It was a wrestling match to be sure. Death was upon me… and I was in what I can only term mourning. I heard this one verse over and over. The Lord is asking that we would allow ourselves to suffer the loss of all things. Can you imagine? I mean the audacity of it all. Didn’t He come to give us life and life more abundantly?
John 10
[10]The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
E. Every sermon I’ve ever heard was fighting this death. Jesus came to bring me into life… how could He be leading me into death? But you see, Jesus comes to lead us into death that leads to life. He attacks our illusions. He strikes at everything that holds us captive. He brings us into death so that we can really live!
III. THE TREASURE IS ALREADY IN OUR MIDST
A. The night of the burglary our children were afraid and so they slept in our room with us. And in the morning Juniah woke me up and shared the most profound dream. She dreamt the scene of the crime… glass everywhere and all of my jewelry was stolen. And in the dream I was crying. And she came over to comfort me. And while she was close to me her cheeks began to swell up. And suddenly strings of jeweled treasure came through the surface of her cheeks.
B. When Juniah told me the dream, I knew the Lord was speaking. You see real treasure can never be stolen.
Luke 10
[38]Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. [39]And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. [40]But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” [41]But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, [42]but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
Matthew 6
[19]“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21]For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
C. There is treasure all around us. This is more than money. I believe the Lord is coming after our ambition and our false paradigms. I believe He’s coming after our elitist view of spirituality. I believe He’s bringing those things into death. And as much as we are entwined with these false things (and we are!), to that degree will we experience death.
IV. IN THE MIDST OF DEATH LISTEN FOR THE INVITATION
John 20
[1]Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. [2]So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” [3]So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. [4]Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. [5]And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. [6]Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, [7]and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. [8]Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; [9]for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. [10]Then the disciples went back to their homes.
[11]But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. [12]And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13]They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” [14]Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. [15]Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” [16]Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). [17]Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” [18]Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
A. It’s important to note that Jesus really had to die to be truly resurrected. God won’t resurrect what isn’t dead. He wouldn’t do it for Jesus, and He won’t do it for us.
Philippians 3
—[10]that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11]that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
B. The death that Jesus leads us into isn’t about decay, but about real freedom.
Romans 6
[3]Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? [4]We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
[5]For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. [6]We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. [7]For one who has died has been set free from sin. [8]Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. [9]We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. [10]For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. [11]So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 16
[9]Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
[10]For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
(Quoted in Acts 2, and Acts 13)
C. Don’t you know that Jesus dashes your false hopes, to bring you into something eternal. He’s trying to free you from the temporary entrapments, so that you can behold real treasure. It’s in the cheeks of the ones you love! The real treasure isn’t the next big thing, it’s the right-next-to-you-overlooked-thing. It’s your spouse. It’s your child. It’s your pastor (Just making sure you’re awake)! It’s your mom and dad. It’s Jesus. And He still comes packaged in the despised thing and overlooked thing. Don’t you know Him yet?
V. THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
2 Corinthians 5
[16]From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. [17]Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. [18]All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; [19]that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. [20]Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [21]For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.