So, what’s your story? John 5:17
One of the experiences that is seared indelibly into my memory from all of those years ago when I was a young seminary student occurred in the middle of what was typically a rather forgettable class. The class met at 8:00 a.m., which meant that many of the students were not yet fully awake and to top it all off, the professor’s favorite teaching technique was to deliver an hour long…generally boring…lecture. All of which meant that the challenge of simply staying awake could be daunting. And from time to time, one of the students lost the challenge.
Usually, the dozing student was able to rouse himself back to consciousness before getting caught. But it’s really hard to avoid detection when you’re dozing off on the front row. It’s even harder to avoid detection when you move from dozing off to being sound asleep on the front row. And that’s what happened to a fellow student one morning.
He wasn’t just nodding off. He was sawing logs. He was out cold. And he was on the front row. And when the professor saw him, he went ballistic.
He slammed his hand down on the student’s desk. The student was immediately jolted into full consciousness and into the middle of a vicious professorial tirade the likes of which I had never seen.
–The professor questioned the student’s commitment to the ministry.
–He reminded him that attending seminary was a high calling and honor and that giving anything less than our very best effort was an offense against God.
In short, he chewed him up and spit him out. And when he was finished, he told the student to pick up his belongings and go home. And with that the demoralized student stood and slowly left the room…a room which had become very, very quiet and very, very still.
And then something completely unexpected happened. While the professor was still taking a few moments to compose himself, one of the students raised his hand. The rest of us were all thinking, “Have you lost your mind?” But there he was with his hand up in the air.
When the professor noticed him he asked, “What is it?”
The student said, “Well, I feel like I should tell you that Jim (that was the name of the sleeping student) and his wife have just had a baby and the baby is not doing well. In fact, it looks like he’s not going to make it. Either Jim or his wife have been with the baby in ICU all the time and the one who’s not there is home taking care of their two other young children. They’re both worried sick and totally exhausted. In fact, Jim came directly to class, this morning, after spending all night at the hospital.”
Now, let me ask you a question. Do you suppose that professor would have handled that situation differently if he’d been aware of Jim’s story? Of course, he would’ve.
–I can imagine him pulling Jim aside before the class even started and saying, “I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. Would you mind if the class prayed for you, this morning?”
–I can imagine him gently waking Jim up and saying, “Why don’t you go home and get some sleep. I’ll have one of your classmates bring his notes to you this afternoon.”
I can imagine a dozen other scenarios. What I cannot in my wildest dreams imagine is the professor responding the way that he did, if he had known Jim’s story. Because the truth is that all of us interact with and relate to people differently when we know their story.
So, do you suppose there’s a lesson somewhere in there for us? I think there are probably several but here’s the big one that God forever drove home to me through that experience all of those years ago: EVERYONE HAS A STORY. No exceptions. Beneath the exterior that we can see with our eyes, there is always a story.
As you look around the room, right now, one of the things you’ll notice right away is that this room is filled with people. Just as true but less obvious is the fact that this room, right now, is also filled with stories.
Some are stories of great joy.
Some are stories of great sadness.
Some are stories of great contentment.
Some are stories of great concern.
The stories vary dramatically from person to person. But this much I know. Every person you see came here with a story. And we relate to one another differently as we learn those stories.
–And part of the beauty of being church family, is in sharing the kind of heart to heart experiences that draw us into each others’ stories.
–And greater still is the recognition that the stories that you and I are sharing with one another are actually part of an even grander story that is being written by God. In ways that we cannot even begin to fully comprehend, God is constantly working to draw more and more people…one person at a time…into His unfolding story. As Jesus said in John 5:17, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” God is constantly working to draw more and more people…one person at a time…into His unfolding story.
–And even more astonishing still, is that God is constantly working to draw more and more people into His story by drawing them into relationships with people who are already part of His story. People just like you and me.
And why does God do that? Because a key component of God’s strategy for completing His story is for those of us who are already part of His story to make His story known.
That’s exactly what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:14-16, when he said, “You are the light of the world.
…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” In other words, tell people your story in such a way that it draws them into God’s story.
And let’s begin with the people closest to us…our neighbors. I am firmly convinced that that is God’s vision for us in 2010. As I first shared with you back in December, God rocked my world this past October with a powerful, new vision that is calling us to make compassionate connections with our neighbors. Me focusing on my neighbors and you focusing on yours. With all my heart, I believe that God’s desire for us is that we will live in the neighborhoods in which He has planted us with the specific intent of sharing the love of Jesus with our neighbors.
And, folks, while the specific vision is new to us, the biblical foundation for the vision has been staring us in the face all along. When Jesus was asked to identify the greatest of all the commandments, do you remember what he said? His response is found in Mark 12:29-30. He said, “The most important one…is this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Love God and love your neighbor. There is no commandment greater than these.
Now, folks, while we could talk at length about exactly what Jesus meant when he used the word, “neighbor,” I think we can all agree that it would certainly include the people closest to us.
–So, God has given the Petaluma Valley Family a wonderful, compelling and exciting new vision to carry us into the new year.
–He’s given us a wonderfully clear biblical foundation to empower us into that vision.
–And He’s also done something else. He’s shown us how to do it through 3 simple steps that every single one of us can do. Three simple steps captured in these 3 words: prayer, care and share.
–We’re going to pray for our neighbors.
–We’re going to care for our neighbors by looking for opportunities to demonstrate God’s love for them in some simple, tangible ways.
–And, finally, we’re going to be alert for God-given opportunities to share the gospel with them. God-given opportunities to let the light of God’s love in us, shine through us to our neighbors.
We’re not going to do anything weird, odd, hard or forced. We’re not going to do anything that would make either ourselves or our neighbors feel in any way uncomfortable. We’re simply going to intentionally do what Jesus himself identified as one of the two most important things we can do. Are you ready? We’re actually going to….…love our neighbors.
Now, I want to take just a few moments to speak to the first part of our action plan. I want to talk briefly with you about praying for our neighbors. And in doing so, I want to give you, this morning, a new definition of prayer. A new definition of prayer that grows out of the new vision that God has given us that is sending us out to make compassionate connections with our neighbors.
Here’s the new definition of prayer: Prayer is talking to God about our neighbors before we talk to our neighbors about God.
That’s it. That’s the prayer component of the vision that God has given us for our neighbors. That’s what praying for our neighbors is all about. It’s really that simple. Whether we’re praying for our neighbors as we sit comfortably inside our house or praying for our neighbors as we walk through the neighborhood, that’s what we’re doing. We’re simply talking to God about our neighbors before we talk to our neighbors about God.
–Our hope is that God will inspire us with some simple, creative ways to tangibly demonstrate Jesus’ love for our neighbors. In the meantime, we’re going to pray for them.
–Our hope is that God will eventually draw us into a situation where we can very simply, very easily and very naturally tell one of our neighbors about our story with God. But between now and the time that happens, we’re going to pray for them. I’ll pray for my neighbors and you pray for yours.
And as each of us is praying for our neighbors, let me tell you three things that I am absolutely, 100% confident are going to happen.
As we pray regularly for our neighbors regularly, our love for our neighbors is going to grow. Praying for someone regularly always deepens your love for them.
As our love for our neighbors grows, it’s going to be easier and easier to pray for them regularly because we pray most regularly for those things that are closest to our heart. We pray most regularly for the people we care most about.
As we pray for our neighbors regularly, our prayers will become more and more aligned with the work that God is already doing in their lives. In other words, as we come to God regularly on behalf of our neighbors, we will grow in our ability to recognize God’s promptings to pray for them in specific ways.
Now, I tried, this week, to think of a good reason NOT to pray regularly for my neighbors…and I couldn’t come up with one. I couldn’t come up with one for me. And I couldn’t come up with one for you.
And I also tried, this week, to think of a negative consequence that might occur as a result of praying regularly for my neighbors…and I couldn’t come up with one of those either.
Which means that this is one of those wonderful times in life when we are standing on the threshold of an opportunity with no downside and a virtually unlimited up side. So, let’s do it. Let’s pray for our neighbors. In fact, let’s pray for our neighbors so faithfully that we pray ourselves into their stories and pray them into God’s story.
