Do you make a Joyful Noise?

As I usually do when driving a long distance, I was listening to a sermon by new Matt Chandler on my way to visit Longwood Gardens and my friend, Lori, for a couple of days. Matt's sermon on "Gospel-Centered Multiplication" is now stuck in my head ... and that is a good thing. I even listened to it again on the way back home.

Here's an excerpt of what keeps rattling around in the old noggin (the blue text are Matt's words):

Out of joy, the church multiplies. If you start to think about this, think about the invitation Christ has just given us. Yes, there are probably things we need to stop doing. Yes, there are things we probably should start doing, but here's the invitation. Work on your joy. That's a crazy invitation. When you think Christianity, are you thinking in that box, the box of, "Hey, fill your life with things that stir your affections for Jesus"? That's the invitation. That's a crazy invitation. If you want to work on something ... It needs to be loving Jesus more deeply. 

In his study of Philippians, Matt talks about finding what "stirs your affections for Christ" and "what hinders your affections for Christ." I know that taking pictures, for example, fills my soul and brings me closer to Christ ... the beauty of nature and capturing it through my camera moves me. And, when I see the photos, even years later, that were inspired by that affection for Jesus, it all comes flooding back to me. If you haven't already, it is well worth the time to consider what stirs/hinders your affections for Christ. What do you do that makes you want to raise your hands in the air and yell, "I love you, Jesus!" Valuable exercise.

Here's the next step. Matt suggests that to "multiply the church," we need to be filled with adoration for Christ in such a way that our love for him becomes contagious and obvious, and that that is the most important thing we can do to share the gospel and multiply the church.

If we are filled to the brim with the joy of loving the Lord, then that overflows into our actions and words ... they are filled with him. When someone comes to you all excited about something, say a new yummy candy bar, then don't you want to try it? Heck, I'd hop in the car and zip to the store! If I am just as excited about Jesus as I am about chocolate, then the folks I encounter each day will be touched by that enthusiasm. What is in our brains must inflame our hearts.

And so, how do we love Jesus more deeply?
For me, I need to purposefully go take pictures, spend time in nature, attend Bible studies, get all geeky about scripture ... whatever stirs my affections ... so that I can I can be constantly topping off the joy and love for Jesus that is in me. When I don't do those things, my love for the Lord doesn't go away, but the daily grind slowly drains it and, if I am totally honest, I forget it even exists sometimes.

I know this isn't a new "aha" for many. And yet, I also know it is something I need to be reminded about often. But to add some fuel to the fire, Matt points out that Jesus warns us about letting our level of joy recede by citing the letter to the church in Ephesus in Revelations:

Yet, I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. (Revelations 2:4-5a NIV)

A bit more convicting? Um, yes.

Do you get giddy when you think of Jesus? Do you make a joyful noise when you feel his amazing presence in you? Do you twirl around when you sing, "Jesus love me, this I know"?
How can you "love Jesus more deeply?" What stirs your affections for Christ?

Reaping and Sowing ... What's My Job?

At the end of the story about his visit with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, Jesus says to his disciples:

Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying "One sows and another reaps" is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor. (John 4:36-38 NIV)

As with most of the passages of the Bible, it makes me wonder ....

How many people have come before me and how many will come after me impressing Jesus into the hearts of the people I will interact with today? I have always breathed a sigh of relief knowing that I am not responsible, or capable, of saving others. But, I have never considered my responsibility for "sowing" in light of the others who have had (and those who will have) contact with the same souls I do each day. If I don't do my part, I rationalize, the Lord will surely fill in the gap, right? But, oh, if I do my part, perhaps another person on this planet may find abundant life with Christ eventually, or at least sooner, or maybe even today. I may even be the last nudge that is needed.

But, read that passage again. What exactly is "the hard work" according to Jesus?

When I consider the reaping/sowing analogy, it is MUCH more than sharing the Gospel. To "benefit" from the labor of reaping, the trees, rocks, and brush must be removed. The soil must be prepared. The seed must be planted. And it doesn't end there. The new growth needs to be watered and pruned and fertilized. Now, I know this is not a new concept. But, it strikes me that this sowing, while it is so much bigger than I am, demands my meager participation nonetheless.

I know I can carry groceries, pay for meals, and be nice to check-out ladies. That's easy.
But here's the question:
Am I willing to do "the hard work?"
Will I take the time to remove stumbling blocks? Heal old wounds? Clearly explain the Gospel? Teach? Share? Trust the Holy Spirit to guide me? And humbly acknowledge the Lord as the motive and master of it all?

Perhaps I need to take my sowing responsibilities more seriously.

I shared the passage above with a couple of my fellow Bible geeks and here are a few wonderful tidbits they added:

We are part of a great RIVER of messengers that God sends to us and pulls us into to flow to others.
Love that analogy, Nancy. Sometimes it is dry. Sometimes it overflows. There are rocks, creatures, twists, and turns along the way. 

Julie sent me thoughts by Gerard Sloyan: "Subsequent laborers profit from the exertions of those who went before them. The sentiment is important in all church work whether of the laity or clergy, where the unconscious yearning for human glory interferes seriously with promotion of God's glory." He goes on to look at it in a different light, suggesting that perhaps John was telling the early church in Samaria that they shouldn't "feel like heroes if [they] experience easy harvesting in Samaria; there have been Hellenistic Jews and early Christians already at work for some time."

Jan just emailed me a great quote by author Tim Downs: "By sowing, I mean the slow, gradual, behind-the-scenes work that prepares a listener—or an entire culture—to be able to hear the gospel." Jan says her "prayer is that I will listen for His voice leading me to the exact place that He needs me to go, and that I will say and/or do something that will point someone to Him." May we hear that voice often!

THOUGHTS? Would love to hear them. Let this living Word capture your head and heart and share how/if it convicts you.