Easter 37 The Resurrection, Looking Forward

[HKHaugan]

We, each of us, you and I, are history, His story, Jesus' story, in the making. This is our purpose written in His blood shed for us on the Cross and delivered to us personally in His Resurrection. His Cross and Resurrection prove we were and are intended to be His image and likeness not only in this world but in His forever Kingdom. He is the focus and being the focus means we follow Him with our mind, heart and spirit ready to make Him known in every next moment, every next event and every next personal encounter.

The Bible's presentation of Jesus is all about looking forward because that's how Jesus lived His humanity in this world. Everything He did and taught were His way of using every moment as a way to let the Father be seen, trusted and served. That's what His prayer life was all about, what His miracles, teachings and actions were intended to reveal and how He lived among His disciples. He wasn't stockpiling credits for good behavior awards. He was all about letting His Father be known in every next moment (John 14:6-7).

Looking forward is being consciously open to Jesus leading us as we walk the unknown and unseen path ahead where He and He alone knows the path and gives the light to walk it. This is not about having the knowledge ahead of time so that we can do what we think is best at the moment. Just the opposite. It's not knowing so that what happens is Him doing what He knows is best for that moment. That's when His peace, His strength, His joy, His love, His grace and His truth become reality for us. That's what the “Jesus moment” is all about. You know in your heart He was the One who did what was necessary for you and what you were going through at that moment. When He gets the glory that's when we come into our own which is to realize our eternal place in His presence. When He gets the glory is when we have that desire to experience more of Him and how He works when we approach every next event of our lives knowing He is present with us ready to give us the words, the insights, the prompting through His Holy Spirit to make that moment His.

So how does 'looking forward' work? We start by putting Him in the middle of all we do. It's that simple, but because of sin, it seems sometimes like we take two steps forward but find ourselves feeling like we're three steps behind. So again, how do we let go of ourselves and let Him be both Savior and Lord in every next event of our lives? Look at how Paul expressed this cardinal insight, “For we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph.2:10).”

Three very clear insights rise up from this verse:

First, Paul says we are “God's workmanship.” God was looking forward when He created the universe and us.

Second, we were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” God was looking forward to our being like Him spiritually, personally and interpersonally.

Third, “God prepared in advance.” God was looking ahead, looking forward, to us being open to His leading. His agenda was clear. Being created in His image and likeness we were made to be creative, to look forward to the creative things He was going to accomplish through us. When God looked at all He created He said it was good, He was pleased, happy and joyful; the exact experience He desired for each of us as we are open to His Spirit being creative through us. This is how Paul says we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Php.2:12). Not in cowering fear, trembling at the thought we might not get it right, but because God is directing us to “will and to act according to His good purpose (Php.2:13).”

Paul also puts this exclamation mark on looking forward, “...I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things (Php.3:12-15).”

Jesus underlines this idea of looking forward when He told the “Parable of the Talents (Mt.25:14-30).” A property owner goes on a journey and entrusts three different servants with his property. They are given three different amounts of money to invest. When he returns he compliments the first two who had doubled what he had given them.

But it was the attitude of this third man that Jesus detailed as “wicked and lazy.” Each of the following are right out of Genesis 3 when it describes Adam's condition after he fell from faith to fear.

First, it was his view of the owner as being a 'hard man' which obviously was wrong considering the willingness of the owner to trust his property with him while he was gone.

Second, he was defensively accusatory. After all the owner never 'sowed or reaped' implying the owner's character was the problem, not his own laziness or lack of trying. Shift the blame to the owner.

Third, he was afraid which is the real issue here. He was consumed in a fear of his own making. At the bottom of the third man's heart was aloneness, pride, self-protection, self-justification, unwillingness to trust the owner's trust in him; all a product of sin. Fear of failure and fear of success ride the same attitude, sin's suicidal self-centeredness.

The point of the parable is our heart and its attitude. Are we willing to be open to trusting the Lord in a way that will show how He works in the hearts of men when we let Him be our source and resource? Do we look at life through the rear view mirror of personal experience fearing what might happen as opposed to seeing every next moment, every next event and every next person we meet as an opportunity to be a witness for Him?

Investing our mind, our heart and our spirit in Him in every next moment is the bottom line. This is when our uniqueness as individuals blossoms. This is when our creativity as His images emerges. This is when we come 'into our own' which is really letting Him be 'His own' wherever we are. This is what it means to look forward, be expectant and anticipate Him working through us in the unexpected, the unseen and the unanticipated. This is His life at work and our life growing in Him. Now we are talking humanity as it was meant in Creation.

No one knows what lies ahead. The future, which is every next moment, is unseen, unpredictable and invisible. There's only one person who really can see in the unseen. That's why our real need is to always be looking for the risen Lord working right where we are. Whatever stands in the way of this kind of attitude, Jesus' very own attitude, the Father's attitude and the Holy Spirit's work in and for us, is what these next chapters are all about. Jesus' Cross and Resurrection are to be repeated in each of our lives in the uniqueness with which each of us was gifted when we received Him as Savior and Lord. We crucify anything in our hearts and minds that keep us from looking forward and rise from and above them to experience Him while we are on the way. Each chapter deals with the inhibitions, the fears and the reluctancy to trust Jesus in the Spirit.

There are four attitude sharpeners that will keep our minds, hearts and spirits in this 'looking forward' mode.

First, cherishing Him and His work on our behalf (we call it worship).

Second, learning to keep our eyes on Him through His Word (we call it discipleship).

Third, as believers helping one another in His Spirit (we call it ministry).

Fourth, consciously (and I mean consciously because it takes persevering practice), being His image and likeness wherever we are so others come to know Him (we call it mission).

Looking forward.......!