Date with Jesus

John Stott once said that people generally have three reactions when they really encounter Jesus, both in the Bible and now:

1) They hate him and want to kill him
2) They are afraid and run away
3) They fall in love with him, and follow him

Why? Because when they encounter Jesus as he is, they realize that their lives, their worlds, and their ways of doing things have to radically change. Jesus, as he was and is, does not allow room for apathetic acceptance or religious tolerance. He is not merely a good teacher. Jesus demands that lives change.

... and in other thoughts from the sermon (Mark 2:18-3:6) this morning:

-- "Real" Christianity is not measured by the amount of suffering in your life (the gospel is NOT "hit me God, one more time"). It does not exclude suffering, and often trials and sufferings are a large part of the Christian life. But our center should be on the joy for which we suffer. The joy of knowing and loving Jesus. The joy which we look forward to at the wedding feast in heaven. We should always be looking towards the joy, not dreading the next sorrow (Mark 2:19-20). Christianity is not a relationship of pessimism, but of hope, life, and joy. I think as Christians we could certainly learn to live that out on earth a little bit more...

-- The Sabbath is not a list of to-do's with God. Mark 2:27, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Kevin compared Sabbath rest to having a date with God... taking time to enjoy relationship with him. If we were to go on dates with lists of rules (pick me up at 7:05, wearing only earth tones, drive down main street 7:10, walk for precisely 20 minutes, drive to restaurant at 7:32, talk only about the Met's sloppy performance for 7 minutes, drink half glass of water, use restroom once for five minutes... you get the point) the date would not be fun at all, and certainly would not result in meaningful relationship. Same thing with the Sabbath. Sabbath is about relationship with God, and time spent with God to honor and enjoy his presence. The question we need to be asking ourselves is not, "what can I or can't I do on Sabbath?" but rather "why does a day in quiet with God seem so unappealing to me?"