January 5, 2025
Today we’re starting a new sermon series called: “A Better Way!” We’ll talk about a problem we face. We all have different problems, but our problems lead to us wondering about something. This a question you might not expect a pastor to ask. But I’m going to ask you this: Do you ever feel like Christianity isn’t working? I mean, you do what a Christian is supposed to do: you serve, and you follow Jesus. But then life doesn’t seem to be the way you want it.
Maybe you are so busy doing things for God and church that it leads you to feeling burned out. You think, I’m following God, so He should take care of me and make things go well for me and my family. But instead, tragedy happens. You lose a loved one. Or you get a debilitating illness you never saw coming. You ask yourself, isn’t being a Christian supposed to make my life better?
Maybe it’s not so dramatic for you. You’re active in church, read the Bible and pray. Life is ok. You have a job, friends, and go on a vacation sometimes. But you’re just not happy, not fulfilled. You wonder, does Christianity work? This sermon series is for you if you’re hurting, or overwhelmed, or looking for more.
Jesus told his followers in John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.” You might think, that’s great, Jesus, that you overcame the world. You went to the cross and took away our sins. But I’d like more than a better eternity.
Do you want a better life? This series is about a better way. Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus says he is the way. This is important, Jesus is the way. Can you repeat this, Jesus is the way.
The way. The way you do things or say things matters. You’ll find this out if you get married. It matters the way you say something. If you say, “Is that what you’re wearing?” Get ready for an argument. But if you ask, “Is that what you’re wearing?” Same words but said in a different way. That’s ok! The way matters.
Jesus says, “I am the way.” We don’t usually call Jesus the way. We don’t say, “Let’s pray to the way.” But the first Christians, weren’t called Christians. They were actually called, “Followers of the way.” Their goal was to live and to love the way Jesus lived and loved.
In Acts 9:2 Paul wasn’t looking for Christians to arrest. He was looking for “any belonging to the way.” Six times in the Acts of the Apostles the Christians are called followers of the way.
So, before we were a religion, before we were Christians, we followers of the way. It meant you follow the direction of Jesus. And in this sermon series, we’re going to talk about what it means to follow the way, to follow Jesus. And we’re using some ideas from the book: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, written by Pastor John Mark Comer, about how his life got off track. He had to change his life, and work on following the way.
I’ll tell you about my experience. In 2003, I served a church in Berks County in Oley. My husband, Kevin, is a pastor and he started serving a church in Tamaqua. We still lived in Berks County, so he had a long commute. One day, I was working at church. All of a sudden, I realized: I was supposed to pick my son up an hour ago at school! I rushed over. I was an hour late picking him up. He missed his dentist apt, which was ok with him. He said, “It’s ok. You’re not superman!” He was wonderful. But why was I trying to be superman, and do so much? Why was I trying to do more than I could? I realized that the way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me.
Partly because of that we decided to move to Tamaqua. I felt called to resign from my church, without another church to go serve. I thought, I can’t do the work of God, if I’m too busy. Doesn’t do any good to serve God through church if can’t get kid to dentist appt. Also, I was stressed trying to do too much. So, we moved to Tamaqua. For six months, I was just a mom. Aah! That was better! Then I started as pastor of two churches in Tremont, but part time. I actually had a Sunday off every month, which is unusual. I didn’t know I could serve a church and get a Sunday off a month! I lived life at a slower pace. It was a better way!
Even if you are a minister, serving God, you can be working too much. God can want something different for you. Look at the way Jesus lived; he had a slower pace. He walked everywhere. He would stop when interrupted by people who wanted healing. He would go to dinner with people. He didn’t carry a cellphone. He didn’t watch TV. He didn’t worry. So many of us are anxious. He had joy! Jesus found time for prayer and time alone with God. These are the ways of Jesus. There’s often a very big difference between the way he lived and the way we live!
Do you ever hurry? I do! I have met people who don’t hurry. I was in college. I took the bus to a work study job, several miles away. When I left work to get on the bus and go home, I could see if the bus was near the bus stop. If it was, I would run! Because it could be 5 minutes, or 20 minutes to the next bus. I didn’t want to waste my precious time waiting for the bus. My friend, Sharon, grew up in Hawaii. She said it was a much slower pace there. She couldn’t imagine running after a bus! I couldn’t understand how you couldn’t run! What’s wrong with hurry? Like the word hurricane: hurry involves stress! Jesus didn’t run for the bus! He was not fast and furious!
Do you ever compare yourself to others on social media? Imagine if Jesus was like that? Looking at how many followers he had on social media. Hey, John the Baptist has more followers than me! Wait a minute, he’s not even worthy of untying my sandals! It’s not fair! But Jesus was not like that. He was a team player, and happy that John the Baptist had followers.
I told you that I had to slow down my life at one point, not work, and then work part time. Because the way I was doing the work of God was destroying the work of God in me. I still struggle with following the way of Jesus. Sometimes I don’t like who I’m becoming. Sometimes I don’t spend time with God. Sometimes I worry about things, and it’s not helpful. It’s best to give it to God. Sometimes I have trouble being present in the moment. Kevin can be talking to me, and I have to remind myself, look at him and listen! God gave me Kevin, gift from God, I need to cherish the gift!
Jesus would stroll along, not hurry. He would stop and talk to a stranger. He would tell his followers, “Do not worry, God’s got this.” And he would sleep in a boat during a storm! Jesus was chill. This is what amazes me: He only did ministry for three years! Think of how he changed the world! He changed it, going at a slower pace. Hurry doesn’t get us anywhere but on a treadmill to more stress. Slowing down, living in the moment, helps us experience life like Jesus did, with more joy and more peace. Even though He lived knowing He would go to the cross, He was at peace. He lived a better way.
Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.”
We all here have our own issues in life. Some of you need to slow down. Some of you may actually need to get out there and do more. But for most of us, we’re too plugged into something! Work, or into something that’s not helping us. Modern life is hard.
Jesus offers us a better way. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened.” So, if you feel stressed, burned out, like Christianity isn’t working for you, Jesus offers a better way. He says, “come to me…and I will give you rest!” Then he says something that just doesn’t sound right. He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you’ll find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Which seems weird. A yoke is a wooden thing you would put around the necks of two animals. The animals are then connected; they have to move at the same pace.
It sounds strange that Jesus wants to treat you like a work animal. I’d rather have a massage and a bubble bath, a hot tub and a vacation! I don’t want to be a work animal! But Jesus says, I want to teach you a better way, not joined to your schedule but joined to me, so you live the way that I lived.
Next week we’ll talk about hurry and a more sustainable pace of life. Two Sundays from now we’ll talk about how this is the day the Lord has made. Don’t miss today because you’re upset about yesterday or worried about tomorrow. Your best day is today. Three Sundays from now we’ll talk about prayer. It’s not just an action you take. It’s stepping into God’s presence.
I want you to take a moment to sit in the frustration of the way you live your life. Do you want a better way? Your homework is to ask yourself two questions in the bulletin today: “In what area does your life look most different from Jesus’ life? What’s one way you can start living more like Jesus in that area?
If you ever felt like Christianity isn’t working, if the way you are doing the work of God is destroying the work of God in you, or if you feel you don’t like who you’re becoming, Jesus says come to me, and I’ll teach you a better way. He offers a slower way of life, focused on what’s truly most important. He offers a spiritual life that’s not just an occasional prayer but is lived in fellowship with God the Father. Instead of a distracted life, a way of pursuing God’s mission. Instead of living in the past or future, a way of living attentive to this very moment. Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest! Amen.
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