Hey everybody, this is Steve and if God is real, that changes everything.
For a long time, I’ve worried we approach our relationship with God in a very abstract
and theoretical way.
We talk about “our faith” in very vague terms rather than the person of Jesus Christ.
And we put Him in a little box which we only open on Sunday mornings.
But if God really is real, if the Son of God took on flesh was crucified and rose again,
then that means something.
That has consequences.
That changes everything.
So here are 3 things that are true if God is real.
Three things we all need to wrestle with if we’re going to actually be Christians in
the world.
1.
Things matter whether we want them to or not
My grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t have a lot of choices growing up.
They lived in a world where, if their parents were farmers and shepherds, they were probably
going to grow up to do the same thing.
But today, the sky’s the limit.
The child of a poor shepherd can grow up to an astronaut, or president of the United States.
We get to choose a lot about our lives; what we do, where we live, who we spend time with.
Yet as choice has become more possible (and more important) in our lives, it’s easy
to miss that some things simply are beyond our choice, and just...are.
Gravity is a thing, whether or not we choose to accept it.
Just like murder is a terrible thing, whether or not we choose to accept it.
People have value.
Not because we choose to give them value, but because they’re made in the image and
likeness of God.
All creation has value.
Not because we say so, but because God made the universe and called it good.
Over time, it’s become easier to talk about “my truth” or “your truth,” rather
than The Truth.
Yet, if God is real and He made the world, we can’t decide that sin is good anymore
than we can decide that poison is healthy.
If God is real, we’re a part of His creation, which is ordered the way He set it up.
Some things just are the way they are.
2.
We’re all connected
We take it for granted that there’s a difference between public and private.
And in many contexts, that makes a lot of sense.
But sometimes we excuse sinful or destructive actions and thoughts because they’re “private,”
kept apart from the wider world.
We may justify these things by saying we’re not hurting anyone.
After all, what does what I do in my own room or feel in my own heart have to do with anyone
else?
Well, more than you may think.
If God is real, and He made us, then we’re connected with Him.
And not just Him but all creation.
This is deepened in the Church.
Because as Christians, we are united in Christ, as members of His Body.
And what happens in one part of the Body can affect the entire Body.
An infection that starts in the tip of my finger can spread throughout my body and make
me feel really sick.
Just like medicine I receive through a tiny injection in my arm can spread throughout
my body and heal me.
So my private struggle with drugs or pornography or gambling or any number of sinful passions
and addictions, big or small, isn’t really private at all.
That all affects my friends, my family, even total strangers.
Because we’re all connected.
Just like my kindness and generosity doesn’t simply benefit me.
In its own small way it contributes to the larger work of salvation and helps lift the
entire world up to God.
Salvation isn’t a thing that simply happens to me.
It’s a something that's offered to all of us, together.
Because we’re all connected.
And finally:
3.
You are loved
The more I travel around the country, leading retreats and giving talks and meeting people,
the more I realize that so many of us are struggling with loneliness.
So many of us bear a sadness, a fear that we are alone, that our lives are just blips
that will one day be forgotten.
Or we fear that we will be loved only if we are good enough, or smart enough, or attractive
enough.
That love comes with strings attached.
Yet in the midst of all that, the Church has always preached a simple, yet powerful truth:
that God is real, that the Son of God loves us to the point of dying for us, that the
Holy Spirit is constantly at work in our lives.
That God made us, each and every one of us, for joy rather than sorrow.
For life rather than death.
That He made us because He loves us.
Because He wants us to be with Him for all eternity in His Kingdom.
Our lives are not cosmic accidents, the random outcome of billions of years of chemistry
and biology.
Our lives are gifts from a loving God who wants to know us and be known by us.
No matter how alone we may feel we’re never truly alone.
Because God is with us.
And so is the Church in Christ.
No matter how sad we may feel we’re never abandoned.
Because God is with us.
And so is the Church in Christ.
Because, not only does the world matter, each of us matters, too.
You matter.
And God loves you.
So if God is real; if the world really matters, if we really are connected, if God really
loves us, then we’ve got some work to do.
Because if God is real, that should be apparent from the way we live our lives: from the selfless
and patient and generous ways we treat others, to the gratitude that shapes all our dealings
with all creation.
If God is real, we should act like it.
Each and every day.
So let’s be the bee, and truly live in the real presence of the Living God.
Be the bee, and live Orthodoxy.
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I'll see you all next week.
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