April 24, 2005

5th Sunday in Easter

There was once a little boy who decided he wanted to find God. He knew it would probably be a long trip, so he decided to pack a lunch: four packs of Twinkies and two cans of root beer. He set out on his journey and went a few blocks until he came to a park. On one of the park benches sat an old woman looking at the pigeons.

The little boy sat down beside her and watched the pigeons too. When he grew hungry, he pulled out some Twinkies. As he ate, he noticed the woman watching him, so he offered her one. She accepted it gratefully and smiled at him. He thought she had the most beautiful smile in the world. Wanting to see it again, he opened a can of root beer and offered her the other one. Once again she smiled that beautiful smile.

For a long time the two sat on that park bench eating Twinkies, drinking root beer, smiling at each other, and watching the pigeons. Neither said a word. Finally, the little boy realized that it was getting late and he needed to go home. He started to leave, took a few steps, turned back and gave the woman a big hug. Her smile was brighter than ever before.

When he arrived home, his mother noticed that he was happy, but strangely quiet. ‘What did you do today?’ she asked. ‘Oh, I had lunch in the park with God,’ he said. Before his mother could reply, he added, ‘You know, she has the most beautiful smile in the world.’ Meanwhile, the old woman left the park and returned to her home. Her son noticed something different about her. ‘What did you do today, Mom?’ he asked. ‘Oh, I ate Twinkies and drank root beer in the park with God.” And before her son could say anything, she added, ‘You know, God’s a lot younger than I imagined.’”

That little boy was looking for God. He wanted to find Him. See Him. Spend some time with Him. Get connected with Him. Can you relate to that? Haven’t you looked for God? You’re not alone. We have been looking for God and longing for a connection with Him for a long time. Just like Philip. Remember what he said to Jesus? “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” He wanted a theophany. He wanted to see God. Don’t we all?

We human beings have been wanting to see God and be connected with Him ever since we were disconnected from Him in the Garden of Eden. Friends, we were never created to be like we are today! We were created connected to a perfect, loving, God. We were perfectly connected to God and were perfect just like God. We were connected as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all perfectly connected to one another. We see the Father through Jesus and Jesus through the Holy Spirit. And anyone would have been able to see the Holy Spirit through us!

Well, that’s the way it once was, anyway. Until we decided to break that connection. We put up a bigger fence between us and God than the ones we have between us and our neighbours! We were disconnected. Cut off. Look at the results. Look how people live in the world. Look at your own life. Is that how God is? Do people see God when they look at you?

Not when you are disconnected with Him. Look at what that disconnection did to the world: Violence, lust, unbelief, and self-glorification brought the Flood and the Tower of Babel. Then there was a long and ugly history in the Bible of people turning from God and rebelling against Him. Disconnected people. Sad. Hopeless.

Today we see the same symptoms of being disconnected with God: Backbiting, gossip, hatred, jealousy, selfishness. People look to themselves for moral standards and guidance. Instead of God. People become their own law. Life is for themselves and the here and now. So there is sadness. Hopelessness. Fear. And loneliness.

This disconnection from God has also disconnected people from each other. That is one of the worst effects of sin in this world. Although we have countless gadgets of instant communication and connection, we still live in a cold and distant world of “crowded loneliness.” We talk on cell phones to distant people while being totally oblivious to the unknown person sitting next to us at the airport or Tim Horton’s. Walk through a mall and see how disconnected people are from each other! Take an elevator ride. Wait in a line. Observe a suburban neighbourhood, as people living right next to each other completely ignore each other. We live in a world that craves community and a connection with people, but is terribly disconnected! It’s because the world has been disconnected from God!

But Jesus gave us some good news. He came here to connect us back up with God! He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

He didn’t show us the way back to God. He didn’t give us a car, the keys, and some directions. He didn’t hand us a phone and then give us God’s cell number. He didn’t hand us a Blackberry with God’s email programmed in. He didn’t show us the way. He IS the way! He IS our connection! He brought us back to God Himself. He connected us to God by coming here and living that perfectly connected life, and then being disconnected from God in our place, and then reconnected with his resurrection! And the good news for us is this: We are connected with God again! And will be forever! Our place in heaven is prepared and waiting!

Do you remember how Philip asked Jesus to show him God? And Jesus basically told him, “God has been with you this whole time! You have been walking with Him for three years, eating with Him, listening to Him, hearing His amazing words, seeing his amazing deeds, watching Him doing stuff only God can do. You have seen God through me.” We see what God is really like as we see his Son Jesus!

But here is the amazing thing: Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Are we hearing this right? Jesus is telling us that those who believe in Him are going to even do greater things than He has! No, we aren’t going to feed multitudes or calm storms or raise people from the dead. But just as He has connected us to God, we are now going to connect other people to Him! And in a greater way, because we aren’t just operating for 3 years in the land of Israel. We will be a network of God-connectors across the whole world!

The good news of Jesus’ resurrection empowers us to be Christ-lovers, Christ-livers, Christ-shiners, Christ-introducers, Christ-planters, and Christ-connectors in the world of people that God has loved and still loves. Our job of connecting people to Christ is the “greater things” Jesus was talking about. A big job? Yes, but a joyful opportunity to make Him known.

Through you – a light-shiner, good news-proclaimer, and people-lover, God meets and welcomes the downcasts, the outcasts, the wayward, the desperate, the lonely, the poor, and the wealthy as people in need of his forgiveness and love and truth and life in Jesus. The old woman in our story saw God in that little boy because of the love he showed her. That little boy saw God in that old woman because of her love and warm smile. People will see Christ in you as you love them and connect with them in their lives. And through your witness of Christ, people will see God. They will be connected. As they once were. As they should be again.

Our world craves connection, community, and a sense of belonging. People desire relationships en route to their discovery of the ultimate relationship with God through Jesus. Can we do that? Can we make connections with people that will help connect them with God one day? How about starting right here at church? Make a point to meet those people you still don’t know in the welcome area after church today. Let’s make sure this place is a place where people will find the love of God on display in the lives, conversations, and interests of the people God has gathered here. Can people tell that the message of Easter makes a difference in your life?

What about the neighbourhood you live in? Can you be an outgoing and open person on your street? Frequent and spontaneous encounters can create rich and life-changing experiences for others. Dedicate time to building relationships with your neighbours. Invite them to dinner. Take a walk and be ready to have a few chats. Plan a block party. Reach out to a needy person. Maybe take your BBQ out to the front instead of in back on the deck. Create opportunities to demonstrate the newness the risen Jesus attaches to your life that is now interested in loving your neighbour. Look at examples in the new “Mission Connection.”

Practice making connections with people at work, school, and the store. When you demonstrate a life in Christ, you may get opportunities to proclaim the meaning of life in Christ. Jesus connected you to God through his life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. You can share that wonderful news with those who are still disconnected from Jesus. Your connections to them might one day connect them to Jesus, and through Him, to God! And, as Jesus said, you will be doing “greater things”! Amen.

 

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