Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

All Sermons are © Copyrighted and may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express permission of the author.

Old Isaac Watts reminded us that

The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.

In other words, Christians enjoy much of their reward right here on earth, before they get to heaven.

Have Life More Abundantly Right Away

There are "a thousand sacred sweets" for us on this side of the river. It's always wrong to portray Christianity as a no-fun faith -- a religion of cold showers and root-canals that tells its followers to "suffer now and enjoy later." That's far too simple. There are "a thousand sacred sweets." Jesus said, "I am come that ye might have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly." In some mysterious way, then, this faith of ours which says we must die to the world, must give ourselves away, must take up our crosses (and earn a heavenly reward), also promises a better, fuller, happier life here on earth. Sounds like having cake and eating, too.

Jesus Promises Joy Right Now, On Earth

Yet, it's not -- and that's Jesus' point. Happiness, he tells us, time and again, is exactly where we least expect to find it. Happiness comes from doing things we think will make us sad: giving, losing , dying. Watch the scriptures. When Jesus calls for pain he also promises gain. Give and you will receive. Lose yourself and you will find yourself. Die and you will live. On the other hand, the things we think will make us happy will not. The water you drink from this well, he said (from the world's well of getting and spending and striving) -- this water will satisfy only briefly, but my water will slake your thirst forever! My food satisfies your hunger, permanently! Follow me to the cross, and (Here's the surprise!) you will find joy without measure, not only in heaven, but right here on earth. Not the silly, glitzy, surface happiness of this = world-- where laughter too often turns to tears -- but the deep joy, satisfaction, and peace of God's kingdom -- where (as the Psalmist said) "He turns 'our mourning into dancing.'" He is a God of gracious abundance.

God is Food and Drink

Long before Jesus (five hundred years before), the prophet Isaiah portrayed God as a food and drink vendor, pushing his cart through Babylon's crowded streets, shouting, "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters --you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." A God of gracious abundance. Isaiah sang this song in Babylon, at the end of the exile of his people, who had endured fifty years of captivity in that evil place. But many of them had grown accustomed to slavery, had adjusted, had resigned themselves to never going back, had even established homes and businesses in Babylon.

"Why kick against the goad?", I'm sure they = said. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." But now the forced exile was coming to an end. It was time to pack up and go home, to their own land, a land God had promised to their fathers centuries before. Isaiah sings a song of grace abounding: of water, and wine and milk -- all free. Why would anyone want to stay? Why would you "spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" Come on, let's go home.

Our Nation Needs Urgently to Go Home to God

(It's time now for America to pack up and go home. Home to God. Home to that Wilderness Zion. The Puritans said they were establishing on New England's cold and windy shores, home -- to the truly good life which, as our fathers knew, can only be based on faith in God, home to the "thousand sacred sweets," to the heavenly candy we once enjoyed. But -- just as many ignored Isaiah, and stayed in Babylon -- many in today's America have become accustomed to slavery: they ignore the word of God and refuse to make the trip away from the "things" to which they are so accustomed.)

Treasure Those Who Restlessly Seek God

On the other hand, some did hear Isaiah's cry, and did return. Who were they? They were the restless ones, the seekers, the spiritually unsatisfied. Not complainers, whiners and gripers -- we're all familiar with them -- but good people who are truly lost in the thickets of faith and are trying to find their way home, people who "hunger and thirst for righteousness" as Jesus put it. The world can't abide such people; can't even understand them. "Why can't you be happy? You have a good job! Get a hobby! Take a trip."

I am sorry to say that organized religion is too often annoyed by such seekers. "You know the drill: come to church, read your Bible, say your prayers. Why can't you just do it? Why so many questions?" But it is from among these hungry souls, these searchers, that God often finds his greatest saints. Isaiah's God calling out the hungry and thirsty -- looking for those who might be crazy enough (or empty enough) to make the trip back, to start rebuilding a deserted, destroyed city where jackals are running in the streets. God promises them free food and drink, victuals of the spirit. He promises the very deep soul-satisfaction such people desperately need. Not just water (They could get that in Babylon), but the water of life.

We are Born to be Seekers

H.G. Wells said every man has a "god-shaped vacuum in his heart" -- a void that only God can fill. When people complain to me about their churches, or their preachers, the sentence they use most often is, "I'm not being fed." "I'm not dreaming up things to complain about," they are saying. "I can tolerate different opinions. But I have a constant, gnawing hunger inside me, and unless I can find spiritual food, I am devoured from within. I have a God-shaped vacuum in my heart." "My soul," as Augustine put it, "is restless 'till it rest in Thee."

Christ Assures Us of Salvation

What is this water of God, this fountain within, this heavenly food, this precious gift? First it is an assurance of salvation. That comes to us by Christ, and is (in no way) the result of our doing. So it can in no way be taken from us, neither by our own failure nor by the wiles of others. Frankly, I find offensive the religious fanatic who attacks me, with a schizoid grin on his face, and says, "I know I'm going to heaven. Do you?"

I mean it's a bad start. It's off-putting. But -- as in all madness -- there is some method. We know we are saved. Our salvation is sealed, the Bible says so. Our names are written in the Book of Life. We are told that so that our courage will not fail. Satchel Page said, "Never look back. Something might be gaining on you." Christians don't have to look back, don't have to waste time watching over their shoulders to see if Satan is gaining on them, don't have to cover themselves at every turn, like mousy bureaucrats protecting their jobs.

Have I dotted every "i"? Have I crossed every "t"? Might I, by chance, have given God some offense today, some reason to withdraw his salvation from me? No. God's water is a permanent solution to our thirst. Isaiah said it. Jesus said it. It's not like someone handing us a cup when we're dry; it's more like a spring bubbling up within us. So, the big issue for us is settled. We have a ticket to heaven -- it was given to us as a gift. Now we go on and live, face forward, in courage -- courage based on an absolute assurance of salvation. "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine."

Salvation Frees Us from Needless Anxiety

This water of God, this "wine" this "milk," bought without money and without price, also includes freedom from needless anxiety. Everybody worries some, but when we let worry paralyze us we deny the loving care of God. If, instead, we accept the peace of mind he offers, we become his faithful witnesses in a world plagued by worry. Once in a while it becomes clear to me, like a fog lifting and revealing an entire landscape, how all the parts of Jesus' teaching fit together.

If God has given us the blessed assurance of salvation, so that we need no longer worry about the big thing, then why should we worry about little things? "If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more with your heavenly father give to you?" Worry denies God's love.

Without Anxiety We are Free to Truly Love Each Other

And if, by God's grace, we no longer worry, then we can truly love each other -- that, too, fits in. It's more of that same heavenly = water that makes life good. Let's be honest: only people who are sure and confident of themselves, and are not consumed by worry, can really love. For others love becomes a grasping thing. For others love smothers, love schemes, love blames, love is jealous and angry and rude. Only when I know who I am, when I've got my head on straight (as we say), can my own love be good, and sweet and pure. Only in spiritual health can I give myself away. In that sense, quite literally, love comes from God. God gives me the ability to love -- to love not just those who love me (the basics, but difficult for some). He gives me, also, the ability to love those I don't even know (intermediate love). And, at last, he enables me to do that quintessently Christian thing: to love my enemies, to love those who crucify me, and stone me, and persecute me (graduate level love). That is a grace worth dying for. That is some gift, part of that water of life he gives us, free, right here on earth. "Lord, give me some of that water!"

If Anyone Thirst, Let Him Come to Jesus and Drink

I think we do thirst for spiritual things: for assurance, for freedom from anxiety, for the courage to love and be loved. Water to satisfy that thirst is here, in Jesus Christ. It is ours for the asking. It costs nothing. He says, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." It's just as simple as that. It is a good life that Jesus invites us to live. We don't have to wait for heaven to enjoy it. "Taste and see that the Lord is good," says the Psalmist. Try it. Put God to the test. Accept his invitation, and see if his way is not the best way right now.