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With the New Year here, dreamers look ahead with ideas while realists look ahead with little expectation for things to change. But what happens when we ask the question, “what does God want for us in 2019?” The answer to that can change everything.
Scriptures: Mark 12:28-34; 1 John 4:20-21
Short Clips
2019. A new year.
Are you pumped? Or are you meh?
There are probably two different types of people in the building today—the dreamers and the realists.
And the differences between us are very apparent around the time of the New Year.
Why?
Because dreamers are excited for their new ideas and their new goals.
And realists? They’re like yep, it’s just another day, another year.
Dreamers are busy asking what if?
And realists answer by asking but how?
Expired Domain
Personally, I camp out in the dreamer group. And I was reminded of that a few days ago when I got an email.
It was a notification that a domain that I bought on December 27th of 2017 was about to expire.
Yeah, that was a reminder of what I can do at times—get really excited to start a new side-project, pull the trigger to, in this case, buy a domain, and then sleep on it and realize that I already have enough things going on and don’t need to add another one to it.
And while I’m going through this cycle, Sara is watching and then drops the hammer—I told you so. UGH!
Yes, honey. I know. You were right. I was wrong. I should have listened to you in the first place.
But We Need Each Other
But the thing is, as a dreamer, I know that sometimes an idea of mine does, in fact, go on to be useful and successful.
For example, almost four years ago I had the idea to start a resource website for pastors where I would help them preach and lead better.
Sara didn’t think it was going to work.
But I did. And so I went through with it with her hesitated but full support and today thousands of pastors receive content we put out through that site.
And that’s just a small example of why realists need dreamers in their lives.
But this goes both ways. Us dreamers need realists in their lives because if all we have are ideas and those ideas never turn into practical steps to make those ideas a reality, then we’ve literally done nothing.
What Do You Want For You? New Year’s Resolutions
So as 2018 is wrapping up and 2019 is upon us, what do you want for yourself in 2019?
Maybe you resonate with some of these most common new year’s resolutions:
- Eat healthier
- Get more exercise
- Save (more) money
- Focus on self-care (get more sleep)
- Read more
- Make new friends
- Learn a new skill
- Get a (new) job
- Take up a new hobby
- I don’t plan on making new year’s resolutions
Did you know that only 9.2% of people keep their new year’s resolutions?
By the way, how many of you do make new year’s resolutions?
And how many of you have one new year’s resolution: to not make any resolutions?
Now, no matter if we make resolutions or not, I’m sure that you have things in your life that you’d like to change or improve.
So what do you want for yourself in 2019?
The problem is when we try to do everything at once, we end up doing nothing well.
A Better Question
But I think there’s a better question we could ask ourselves.
And this question could very well lead us to the best year of our lives. And no I’m not exaggerating.
If we ask this question and we make the necessary space to answer it and act on it every day, 2019 could be a year we look back on with joy and gratitude.
Here’s the question:
What does God want for you in 2019?
What does God want for me in 2019?
We’re going to spend the rest of our time this morning unpacking the answer to that question.
Looking back at end of 2019
And I believe if we really dial into the answer, we’ll come to the end of 2019 and be able to look back and say, “WOW!” We’ll be able to look back and see that 2019 was pivotal in our lives. We might even name it the year of praise.
Not because difficulties weren’t present, because they surely will be. Life will certainly happen in 2019. But if we dial into the answer to the question, “What does God want for me in 2019?” We’ll be able to respond to whatever comes in a way that honors him.
So let’s get started.
By the Way—Mission: Advance
If you have a Bible, please open it up and turn to Mark chapter 12. And while you’re finding that, I want to make sure you make plans to be here next week because we are starting a new series called, Mission: Advance. In it, we’re going to look at why we exist as a church and we’re going to look ahead and consider what God is calling us to as a church in 2019 and beyond.
So be sure to make plans to be here next week.
Mark 12:28
28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?”
The situation
Leading up to this moment, various religious leaders had been trying to trip Jesus up by asking him various theological questions.
And this scribe hears the defat that is going on, sees how well Jesus is responding to all the questions and decides to ask him the big one.
This is a question that commentators believe was a common point of dialogue among religious leaders in first Century Judaism and this scribe wanted to see where Jesus landed on it.
What he’s asking — What is the foundation you build on?
And really what he’s asking Jesus is when you’re building the building of your faith, when you’re considering what is most important, what is the command, among all 613 of them, that you will grab first and build everything else on top of?
What is strong enough to hold everything else up?
What is most important to you?
What drives you?
What do you strive to do every single day?
This scribe knew, just like everyone else in this moment, he knew that how a person asks this question says a lot about how they view God and how they respond to God in their lives.
Have you ever thought about this?
Have you ever thought about this?
The house we bought in Bluffton has an unfinished basement so it’s easy for me to see the kind of foundation my house is built on.
It’s concrete.
It’s not some other material that will easily shift or move. It’s steady. It’s concrete. Why? Because I, along with the builder of the home, want the house to stay in the same place.
Have you ever thought about what is most important to you in life?
Whatever that is is what your life is built on top of.
And we really don’t even need to consider this question for very long. To get the answer, we just need to look at our actions and our priorities.
Because just like Jesus, how we answer this question, what command is the most important of all determines whether or not our faith will survive the storms of life.
Mark 12:29-30
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
What is he saying?
Every crevice
He’s saying that with every crevice of our lives, everything that we are, we are to love God above all else.
Commentator R.L. Cooper said this about loving God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength:
“It encompasses everything that we are, everything that God created us to be. We are to love him with our minds, our emotions, and our will.”
And this makes complete sense.
What else is there to do but with every piece of us to love the One who created every piece of us?!
Tractor Beam – Star Wars
I like to think about it this way:
Any Star Wars fans here?
Okay, so whether you like the movies or not, there is a piece of technology that the Empire, the dark side, used a lot called a tractor beam.
The idea is that when a ship got close enough to one of their ships, they used a tractor beam to pull that ship toward them.
And that’s a great picture for what it means to love God with our heart, mind, soul, and strength.
Every part of our lives, every thing we interact with, every person we interact with, every thought we have, every emotion we have, every desire we have, everything about us is to be pulled toward our love for God.
Our love for God is where everything about us should be gravitating toward.
A relentless desire to see everything about ourselves be an expression of love toward our Mighty God, the One who through Jesus saved us from our wretched destination and has adopted us into His family when we were all orphans with no hope.
What does this look like?
And what does this look like?
It looks like passion.
It’s a fire burning inside that consumes everything that makes you you.
It looks like building everything else on top of and in light of the shape of that foundation.
When our foundation is our love for God, that determines what will and will not be built on top of it.
It determines everything about our lives.
But Jesus gave the scribe a two-for-one special. He goes on…
Mark 12:31
31 The second is, Love your neighboras yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
Jesus joins these two commands
Do you see what Jesus just did? He just joined these two together. He just put them together.
Love God with everything you are and love your neighbor as yourself.
Yeah. That’s what Jesus says is most important. You may have heard these verses a thousand times and maybe you’ve grown numb to them.
Friends, we can’t grow past this. This is one of the deepest theological truth we can grasp as people who are covered by the blood of Jesus and are part of the family of God.
Make no mistake: the greatest form of discipleship, the best way to know that you are growing in your love for God, the measuring stick, the goal, it is to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
Here’s why:
1 John 4:20-21
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Just like James said that your faith will be evident by your works, John is saying your love for God will be evident by the way you love people.
If you read your Bible, you memorized it cover-to-cover, you pray without ceasing, and yet you are mean-spirited and hateful toward people, you have missed the point.
Our passionate, relentless, all-consuming love for God is SUPPOSED to drive us to compel us, to push us, to propel us toward loving PEOPLE as we love ourselves.
And make no mistake: this is a messy thing to do. Loving people is not easy. It’s the hardest thing we’ll ever do.
It will hurt. It requires courage. It requires thick skin.
Loving people is not for the faint-hearted. It’s for the faith-filled people of God!
But Mark goes on…
Mark 12:32-34
32 Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, teacher. You have correctly said that he is one, and there is no one else except him. 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And no one dared to question him any longer.
Gospel weave
This scribe seemed to be leaning in to what Jesus was saying and Jesus said keep leaning, you’re close.
This whole passage, Jesus is showing us two things:
He’s showing us what we’re to do.
But He’s also showing us what He was doing and what He came to do.
He is the One who continually went to the Father, listened to the Father, and submitted to the Father.
He’s the One who loves us with everything He is. He’s the One who bore the burden of our sin on the cross because He loves us.
He’s the One who stepped into our mess and plodded ahead all the way to the cross. Yeah, loving us was difficult. Loving us like He loved Himself drove Him to the cross.
My friends, in Jesus’ eyes, we were worth it. We are worth it.
And He’s saying HEY! You are worth it. And so are they! Follow me. Let’s love God. Let’s love people. Let’s go!
2019
If you want 2019 to be the best year of your life, step into the messy, difficult, courage-requiring, awe-inspiring adventure of loving God with all you are and loving people as you love yourself.
What does God want for you in 2019? — Wholly and Intentionally
He wants us to love Him and others wholly and intentionally.
What if in 2019 we simply focused on those two things? That’s it. We focus on loving God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. And out of that love, we love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
If we just decided, right now, that those two things will be our resolution, no, our obsession for 2019, then not only will 2019 be a great year, everything else we tend to worry about and work toward, those things will take care of themselves.
So if you’re with me. If you see these two things as worth focusing on for an entire year, I want to offer some practical ways for us to engage in these two things on a daily basis.
Habits/Rhythms — Bible Reading and Prayer
Any relationship requires time and intentionality and our relationship with God is no different in that respect.
So maybe this year, you start a couple of habits or rhythms that happen on a daily basis to help you focus on Him more and more.
Two simple and life-changing habits or rhythms that would be worthwhile to start are Bible reading and prayer.
You’ll want to think through your day and make time. You won’t find time. You’ll have to make it.
And as far as Bible reading, there are plenty of ways to do this. When I was a new believer, I simply read through books, especially in the New Testament every night before bed. Sometimes it would be a chapter, sometimes a couple chapters, and sometimes a paragraph or two.
The important thing was that doing this every day built up a habit, a muscle if you will. And over time, what started out as confusing started to make sense.
And with prayer, couple this with your reading time. Before or after or even both.
Again, you’ll need to make time for these habits/rhythms.
And as you engage in these, you’ll find yourself even more in awe of God’s goodness and grace.
Hospitality
In the first Century, one of the biggest gestures of friendship was to share a meal together.
And I think the same is still true for us today.
And so this is a great place to start when we’re talking about loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Yes. Hospitality is a great place to start.
The introverts are saying NO, PASTOR, NO! I liked the Bible reading and prayer part. Let’s go back to that.
The extroverts are saying AMEN, PARTY ON!
The early church practiced hospitality all the time.
And if we could rediscover the art and activity of hospitality, I believe we would love each other better.
So who will you have over at your house?
Or if you need a baby step: What restaurants will you go to with others?
Experiences
The important thing is that we make space to experience life with others. Because it is on the journey of life that we’re called to truly love others. It’s along the way, over a long period of time that relationships are strengthened and love is expressed.
So go have fun with others. Invite others to axe throwing or escape rooming or go-karting or sports watching or whatever-ing.
The important thing isn’t what you do it’s that you do.
It’s true for friends spending time together.
It’s true for spouses spending time together.
It’s true for parents spending time with their kids.
The reality is, the more experiences we share with others, the more opportunities we have to love others.
So embrace experiences with others this year.
Vulnerability
And one other thing that is more of an attitude or a posture that we should bring with us as we both love God and love people…
We should do so with vulnerability.
Vulnerability with God and vulnerability with people.
We’re called to both bring our burdens to God and to our brothers and sisters in Christ. And that’s called vulnerability. It’s called being loving with all that we are, not holding anything back.
2019
Again:
If you want 2019 to be the best year of your life, step into the messy, difficult, courage-requiring, awe-inspiring adventure of loving God with all you are and loving people as you love yourself.
Imagine how different your life would be in December 2019 if you did this…
Just imagine with me… How would your life be different a year from now if today and tomorrow and every day between now and then, you decided that two things will get your full attention: to love God with everything that you are and to love your neighbor as you love yourself? How would your life be different?
Would it be messier? You bet.
Would it be better? You bet.
Would it be more meaningful? No doubt.
How would your life be different?
Or maybe the better question is:
How would someone else’s life be different if you did this?
How would your sibling’s life be different if you did this?
How would your friend’s life be different if you did this?
Your spouse?
Your kids?
Someone you’ve never even met yet?
Dreamers—Realists: Book. Kneel. Table
To my fellow dreamers: what if?
To my friends, the realists: but how?
Three words.
Book. Kneel. Table.
Spend time in God’s book. Know Him. Listen to Him. Surrender to Him. Love Him.
Kneel before God. Talk to Him. Cry out to Him. Share with Him. Ask Him. Surrender to Him. Love Him.
Spend time around the table with others. Get to know them. Talk to them. Pour into them. Love them.
Book. Kneel. Table.
Each of them will require rhythm. Make time each day for the first two and make time every week or a couple times a month for the third.
Each of them will require space. You may need to drop a couple commitments here and there so that your schedule isn’t so bloated in 2019.
And each of them will require attention. It won’t happen on accident.
Book. Kneel. Table.
Love God. Love people.
Let’s make 2019 a year to remember.
