Funny this time of year, packing away the Christmas tree and the decorations. It’s as though we pack Christmas away for another year. But what if we tucked Christmas away in our hearts for the rest of the coming year.

When I was a kid, one of the highlights of my year was in that week before Christmas, when we used to set up the Christmas tree. Now I had European parents so we always had a real live fir-tree in the house. Dad and my sister and I, we’d go down to the local place, wherever it was, that was selling Christmas trees.

We’d pick one out, we’d bring it home in the car and set it up in a stand and decorate it. And there was this one decoration, a silver star that would always go on top. And we were always hanging lollies on the tree. I mean you’ve got to have lollies, that was the highlight.

But what goes up must come down and the week after Christmas was about removing all the decorations. Painstakingly taking each one-off the tree and taking the strings off and wrapping them and packing them safely back into an old suitcase that would go back in the closet for the next year. None of us liked that, it was a boring job. It was kind of a let down, it was.

Well Christmas, as a kid, is so much about anticipation and then opening presents and enjoying them and the family celebration. But there was something intensely pessimistic about packing Christmas away in a closet for the next year and taking the dead, brown, old tree out the back and chopping it up. Still today, in this week after Christmas, I get that feeling of a bit of a let down. It’s all over for another year.

It’s always a bit of a funny time, this week after Christmas isn’t it? I wonder how your Christmas was this year, I wonder how you’re feeling today. Christmas is over for yet another year. They slip by quickly. What’s it all about and was Christmas worth it?

It’s funny how seasonal we all are about Christmas. It’s as though you can only do Christmassy things in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then, magically on December 25th, at midnight, it all ends and the shutters come down. I mean you don’t hear anyone singing Christmas carols this week do you? You don’t see anyone putting up Christmas decorations this week, only pulling them down.

One time, a few years back, we had Christmas in July at our Church. Now, if you live in the southern hemisphere you understand that, well Christmas for us is really hot so it’s kind of fun to have Christmas in July and to cook a roast turkey and do all that sort of stuff in the middle of winter when it’s nice and cold and it makes sense.

So we had a Christmas service and all the things you do at Christmas. Decorations, a tree, we sang Christmas carols during the service in July. We had a big turkey dinner after the service. I have to tell you, it was a really, really weird feeling, singing Christmas carols in July and I wasn’t the only one. Everybody else at the service felt the same.

See, we are creatures of habit. Bit sad really. We kind of pack this Christmas thing away for another year, almost forgetting the whole message of Christmas. When really, what you and I need, in fact, we desperately need it. We need for this message of Christmas to shine a light in our hearts 365 days a year because Christmas is one of the most profound things that God ever did.

Just stop and think for a moment, how God interacted with His people before that first Christmas. You can read all about it, through the Old Testament. Because Israel was God’s chosen people, how did God interact with them? How did God speak with them? Through guys called prophets. People like Samuel and Jeremiah and Isaiah and all those other guys. People whom God specifically called out and spoke to and their roles were to go and speak to God’s people on His behalf.

Now they said some powerful things because they were speaking the Word of God, they really did, but by and large the people rejected them. Prophets were always calling God’s people back to Him. Why? Because He’s a control freak? No, no! Because He had and still has a mighty heart for an intimate relationship with His people.

You can read about it in the Old Testament, in the old book of Leviticus, chapter 26. God says:

I will place my dwelling place in your midst and I won’t abhor you and I will walk among you and I will be your God and you will be my people. For I am the Lord, your God who bought you out of the land of Egypt to be slaves no more. I have broken the bars of your yoke and I will make you walk upright.

And yet, over and over again, the people rejected Him. Jesus explained that in a parable that you can read in Matthew, chapter 21 beginning at verse 33. Jesus said:

Listen to another parable. There was a land owner who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a wine press in it and built a watch tower. He then leased it to tenants and went to live in another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenant to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another and stoned yet another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first time and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them saying, ‘They’ll respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

It’s exactly what you and I have done. We’ve rejected God, rejected His Word. God, all the time, is calling us home. We can run but we can’t hide. I mean, we can hear that calling in our hearts. But before Jesus, He just sent His prophets to speak His Word, a lot of words. You can read them all in the Old Testament, almost 1,000 pages of pretty small print. God is always talking; God is always calling us because in His great and mighty heart, He yearns for us.

So, what’s this got to do with Christmas? Just this in John chapter 1, verse 14. John writes:

And the word became flesh and lived among us and we’ve seen His glory. The glory as of a Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.

See, we’ve not just heard a bunch of words but we’ve seen His glory. We’ve seen God and that’s what you and I get out of Christmas – a God that we can see, a real live person that we can understand and lay hold of. That’s what God did when that little baby Jesus was born in that stable on that night.

And what we want to do is, we want to pack that message away for another year into some old suitcase with those Christmas decorations. “Ah well, we’ll pull out the Christmas carol CD next year, some time in December.”

But, well, what if we didn’t do that? What if the reality of God, dwelling with us in our midst, was something we treasured in our hearts every day of the year 24/7? What if the fact that God chose to become one of us was our assurance and our comfort all year round? Not just a bunch of words but the word that became flesh and dwelt among us so that we could see His glory. See, words are cheap. Flesh, on the other hand, well, God has skin again. Jesus flesh was nailed to a cross for you and me.

What if, instead of packing that away in some dusty old suitcase with the Christmas decorations for another year, what if instead, we stored it away in our hearts? Alive and fresh, through every day and every trial and every disappointment and every bump or kink in the road. God knows, God understands because the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

I reckon it’s meant to be Christmas all year round.

When you’ve been around the block a few times, one day starts feeling pretty much like the last. Most days are pretty ordinary. But every now and then, God steps in with a miracle. Question is: “Are you expecting it?”

Have you ever been in a place or a situation that’s really tight or scary and you’ve thought, “Nothing short of a miracle is going to save me now?” I seem to live out in that place. At least, that’s how if feels for me. And like many, many people, I believe in God, I believe in this Jesus whose birthday we’ve just finished celebrating. But some days it feels lonely out here.

You know, sure, God sent His Son and we’ve just celebrated Christmas but it feels like, well, it feels like He’s gone home again. It’s like He’s packed His bags and we’re left here, to live our lives. And yes, it does get lonely some days and it is hard some days and some days, we just need a miracle to get through. That’s when we get disheartened, we do, it’s natural, we’re human. And funnily, I was feeling a bit disheartened about something, myself, this morning.

I’m a pretty up beat, positive kind of guy but you know, sometimes life gets to me as well. And I just sat down to do what I do almost every morning when most of the rest of the world is still asleep. I sat down to pray and to read God’s Word. Become a bit of a habit of mine to do that and so I sit down and pour out my heart to God about what’s happening, and I turned to the very next chapter that I’m up to. It happens to be the 3rd chapter of the book of Acts and it’s about a very ordinary day but a very extraordinary miracle.

Funny how that works! I used to think, “Fancy people reading their Bible every day. I mean, truly, what an old-fashioned, fundamentalist, boring, religious thing to do.” Not sure if you’ve ever seen it that way but I certainly have. I mean, I’m not sure I can find the words to express what an outdated, stupid thing I used to think it was, to read The Bible. Give me a break!

Anyhow, that was then and this is now and I could tell you so many stories of the times I’ve really needed God just to encourage me or speak a new direction into my life or whatever it is. And it was just in the very next chapter that I was due to read today, that His answer was sitting there, just waiting for me.

It happens so many times, I can’t begin to tell you. And so, even when I’m feeling a bit down or a bit tired, somewhere deep inside, I’m expecting God to do something. I’m expecting God to speak. I’m expecting God to show up, with a miracle.

Anyhow, back to this morning. I was reading the third chapter in the book of Acts, the fifth book in the New Testament. The first four are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – they’re the gospels – they’re about the life of Jesus: the birth, the ministry, the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. And the book of Acts comes straight after that.

In fact, it starts with Jesus’ last few words to His disciples. He ascends into heaven and then His disciples are kind of left there on their own, wondering, “Well, so now what’s going to happen?” It’s a bit like you and me, this week after Christmas – the time when we celebrate the fact that Jesus, the Son of God, became a man and put on flesh – like you and me. But now, it’s the week after Christmas. It almost feels a bit like He’s packed up His bags and went home and left us on our own.

I just needed a special touch from God today and He really spoke to me through this chapter that I read. It’s the story of Peter and John, it was an ordinary day, they were heading down to the Temple in the afternoon and God does an extraordinary thing. Let’s have a listen; it comes from Acts, chapter 3:

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. And a man, who was lame from birth, was being carried in. People lay him daily, at the gate of the Temple called The Beautiful Gate, so that he could ask for arms from those who were entering the Temple.

When he saw Peter and John about to go into the Temple he asked them for arms. (He was begging) And Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us’ and he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold but what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk and he entered the Temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

It’s pretty amazing stuff. I’ll tell you what this spoke into my heart. No matter how ordinary today seems and it was just an ordinary day for Peter and John that day and for this lame man begging at the Temple, just an ordinary day. It doesn’t matter how bog ordinary it is, God is a God of miracles.

When we’re confronted with something we just can’t get through on our own, or a mountain that we just can’t move out of the way, or a burden that’s too heavy to carry or whatever it is. God is a God of miracles

Just one day. This man was lame from birth; he was over 40 years old. It was 3 in the afternoon; it was the kind of day that they were having every day. And this beggar just asks for money and you read that and you think, “How many beggars were out there? They must have been a dime a dozen.” People must have stepped over them and avoided them and ignored them and there was no social security safety net from the government. At best, this beggar was expecting a penny or two and then, then two men, Peter and John, God’s men, stepped into his world and God changed everything in an instant.

Do you reckon he was amazed? Walking and leaping and praising God but have a look at the reactions of all the other people around them. Acts, chapter 3, verse 9:

All the people saw him walking and praising God and they recognised him as the one who used to sit and ask for arms at The Beautiful Gate of the Temple. They were filled with wonder and amazement at what was happening. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran to him in the portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished.

When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, ‘You Israelites, why do you wonder at this? Why do you stare at us? As though, by our own power or piety we made him walk. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release Him.

But you rejected the holy and righteous one and asked to have a murderer given to you instead and you killed the author of life whom God raised up from the dead. To this we are witnesses and by faith, in His name, His name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.’

How was the man healed? By faith in the name of Jesus. “Why are you people so surprised? What’s the shock, don’t you get it?” says Peter. “Jesus is the So/n of God; He’s a miracle-working God. The man’s healed by faith in the name of Jesus.

Now I know plenty of people who believe in Jesus but have never seen a miracle in their lives, ever. They believe in Jesus whom we just celebrated over Christmas but they don’t believe that He would bring His power to bear in their lives, to shift the mountain, to lighten the load, to comfort, to console, to guide, to heal or anything else for that matter.

What’s the matter with us that we want to celebrate Christmas and then just pack Jesus away and pretend like He’s not going to make a difference in our lives? Well, what’s the matter with us? Maybe, maybe it’s time not to do that. Maybe it’s time to expect that miracle and just wait for Him to act. Well?

It’s not enough that just living life can drain the life out of you, but most of us want to say things and do things and believe things that on top of everything, sap us dry. Why is that?

I don’t know how you feel but by the time I get to the end of a year, well, I’m pretty much exhausted. You look back on the year and it’s had its ups and downs, every year does. Some years there are more ups; other years there are more downs. And whether we live a nomadic existence in a tent in Sub-Saharan Africa, as some of the people listening to today’s program do or whether you’re a stay at home mother, with a little baby, in Middletown Connecticut USA, or whether you’re a business person living out a hectic life in Tokyo – wherever you are, whatever life you’re living – just the living of that life can drain, well, drain the life out of you. When the outflow exceeds the inflow, we end up running dry.

I’m going to talk about that a bit more on the program next week but there’s something else that can make us run even drier. Something else that we do, something we have under our control but if we don’t deal with it, it will exacerbate the problem. I wonder what that might be. What is it that you and I do that, in addition to everything else that life throws at us, drains us of life itself? That’s what we’re going to be talking about on the program today.

Yesterday I shared with you the story of the apostles Peter and John. It was a very ordinary day, they were heading up to the Temple to pray and God did the most amazing miracle. God healed a man who’d been lame since birth, begging at the Temple. He healed this man so he could walk, through Peter and John. Now Acts chapter 3 comes just after the resurrection of Jesus and He ascends into heaven and people are still trying to figure out what happened, what was that all about? It was a tumultuous few weeks, about seven weeks between when Jesus was nailed on a cross and now, this story, here in Acts chapter 3.

It’s about to be the harvest festival of Pentecost, seven full weeks after the Passover festival, when Jesus was executed. Jesus has ascended into heaven and it seems like, he’s kind of, you know, packed His bags and headed off. People are wondering, ‘So now what?’ It’s a bit like this time after Christmas. So what was that all about and where is it all going?

So let’s go back to that story for moment because Peter goes on to speak to, to the witnesses who saw this man healed. Remember he’s been lame since birth, he’s over 40, everyone knows him, everyone’s seen him begging every day at the Temple and now this guy’s up walking and leaping and praising God and the people, well, rightly they’re astounded. This is a pretty amazing miracle and Peter, the apostle, uses that miracle to explain what’s been going on these last few weeks. Let’s pick it up just after the miracle and see what Peter has to say. It’s something amazing and it’s powerful and it’s something, I believe, God wants you and me to hear today, something that’s going to bring some refreshing into our lives.

All the people saw this guy walking and leaping and praising God and they recognised him as the one who used to sit and beg outside the Beautiful Gate at the Temple. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the Portico called Solomon’s Portico, utterly astonished. When Peter saw it he addressed the people:

You Israelites, why do you wonder at this? Why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety, we made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant, Jesus, whom you, you handed over and rejected Him in the presence of Pilate though Pilate had decided to release Him.

No, you rejected the holy and righteous one and asked to have a murderer given to you instead and you killed the author of life whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses and yet, by faith in His name, His name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given him his perfect health in the presence of us all.

And now my friends, I know that you acted in ignorance and as did also your rulers. In this way, God fulfilled what He had foretold through all the prophets, that the Messiah would have to suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send the Messiah, appointed for you, that is Jesus.

See, he’s talking here to the very same crowds that, just seven weeks earlier, had been shouting, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him!’ Back then they’d been whipped up into a frenzy by the religious leaders who hated Jesus. Back then they’d seen Jesus crucified, dead, done, that’s it! Then Jesus rises from the dead, then He ascends into heaven.

Now, now this amazing miracle that they’ve all seen and Peter’s saying to them, “Do you realise this Jesus, whom you crucified, the one who you thought, back then, would be dead as a dodo, do you realise that this miracle is from Him? He’s the one that’s performed this miracle, not us, not Peter, not John but Jesus. You killed Him, you rejected Him, you despised Him but you did it in ignorance and now, now it’s time for you to have your eyes opened to His power.”

That’s why Jesus called on Peter and John to be part of healing that beggar that day. He wanted to explain all that had gone on. He wanted people to get what this whole “Jesus” thing was about. So, what is it about? What was the explanation? Well, Peter talks about forgiveness. Peter isn’t some religious nut, pouring wrath out on these people who rejected Jesus. “Ignorance”, he says, “you were ignorant”. And that cut them to their heart. So, now what?

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send you the Messiah, appointed for you, that is Jesus.

Turn away from your sins. Sins are the things we know are wrong but we do them anyway. That’s what drains the life out of us. Selfishness, it ruins relationships, it drains the life out of us. Dishonesty and greed and malice and anger and resentment, all that stuff, do you realise those things have consequences? They drain the life out of us. ‘Oh, but I’m entitled to be angry with that person.’ Well, maybe you are but it’s going to drain the life out of you.

There are things that you and I do in our lives that maybe make sense in the world’s eyes, maybe that’s what everyone else does, how everybody else lives their lives but it drains us and robs us of life. And as we stand on the cusp between two years, the old and the new, I wonder whether it isn’t time to be honest about that; to take Peter’s words to heart. He’s talking about a miracle-working God. He’s talking about a God that would change things in us that have been with us from birth, like the lameness of that beggar.

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

Turn away from that rubbish; turn back to God with your whole life. Let the slate be wiped clean and experience the times of refreshing that comes from being close to God, from living consciously in His presence.

You and I know things that we stubbornly hang onto, that drain the life out of us – anger between a husband and wife. Repent, forgive, come back to God, live it His way and the fruit of that, the benefit of that, the thing that that gives us is … refreshing.

I wonder how many people today are listening who desperately, desperately need a time of refreshing and yet, still stubbornly hang on to their sin. It’s one or the other, you can’t have both.

At this time of year many of us start thinking about a fresh, new start. Ditching some of the old things, picking up some new things and living a new life. But what to ditch? What to pick up?

Over the last few days on the program we’ve been spending a bit of time with the apostles, Peter and John not long after Jesus was raised from the dead and He ascended into heaven. And what we’ve discovered is that God performed an amazing miracle through these men. He healed a beggar who’d been lame from birth.

Now the reason that we’re talking about this at this time of the year is that, well, this time where the old year’s just gone, it’s slipped into history and the new year, well it’s ahead and it’s about to unfold. It’s a time when we think a lot about the past and where the future is headed. It’s natural.

And right at this time of the year, I just felt that it was the right time to share a little with you about this miracle-working God; this God, who sent His Son Jesus to show us what God’s like and to die the death that we deserve, as a punishment for our sin, so that we can be forgiven.

Just after the miracle of healing of this man, that’s exactly what Peter said this miracle was all about. Have a listen; it comes from the book of Acts, chapter 3, beginning at verse 16:

And by faith in His name, (That’s the name of Jesus) the name of Jesus itself has made this man strong, whom you see now. And the faith that is through Jesus has given him his perfect health in the presence of you all. And now my friends, I know that you acted in ignorance as did your rulers.

In this way, God fulfilled what He foretold through His prophets, that the Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. So that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord and that He may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is Jesus.

Faith in the name of Jesus, in who He is, the Son of God, in what He’s done, means that the old slate can be wiped clean and we can have a fresh, new start in life. The apostle Paul, a few years later, put it this way, he said:

If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. All old things have passed away. See, everything has become new.

Do you know what that means? It means that, no matter how badly we may have mucked things up last year, no matter how we feel or what regrets we have, what we were born with, if we place our faith in Jesus, whose birthday we’ve just celebrated a few days ago, we have a new start, completely new in our relationship with this miracle-working God. And I am speaking to you as someone who’s been given that fresh start.

A few years ago now, not that many years, Berni had made so many mistakes. I was successful in the world’s eyes. I was successful financially and in business but in the things that really mattered, in life itself, I was a failure. And I have experienced that new start. And here, on the threshold of this New Year, I believe that there are some people, maybe you’re one of them, who need and who really want a new start.

But I have to tell you, so much of the rest of the world doesn’t want us to have that fresh start. They don’t want us to turn our lives over to Jesus. In fact, in some countries, choosing to follow Jesus is punishable by death, absolutely, it is. In fact, that’s true for some of the people listening to this program in parts of the world today.

You know, I live in a part of the world that’s safe and comfortable but many are struggling in their hearts, with a fear that comes with giving their life to Jesus, because the reality is, it could cost them their lives.

And it was the same in Peter and John’s day, here in the 1st Century. They were preaching they were sharing with people the
Good News of Jesus Christ and we’ve been looking at – what we just read was from Acts, chapter 3 – and all of a sudden they’re arrested. Have a listen; this is what happens, Acts chapter 4:

While Peter and John were speaking with the people, the priests, the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed, because they were teaching people and proclaiming that, in Jesus Christ, there is the resurrection of the dead. And so, they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day for it was already the evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed and they numbered about 5,000. 

The next day, the rulers and the elders and the scribes assembled in Jerusalem with Annas the high priest, Caiphas, John and Alexander and all who were of the high priestly family. When they made the prisoners stand in their midst, they enquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and we’re asked how this man has been healed. Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.

This Jesus, the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, it has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given among mortals, by which we must be saved.’

See what the power is of what these men are saying, the boldness? They’ve just been arrested by the same men who, just a few weeks earlier, had Jesus crucified. And they’re saying, ‘Look, it’s really simple, it’s a miracle. God healed this beggar who was lame from birth and He did it in the name of Jesus. Believe what you like, accuse us of what you like, throw us in jail, crucify us, it doesn’t matter, it can’t change the truth, can’t change the facts.’

There is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven, given among mortals, by which we must be saved. 

And then the leaders threaten them and yet they still went on telling people about Jesus.

In this world, where there’s all sorts of reasons why we shouldn’t give our lives to Jesus – real persecution in some countries and in other countries, like mine, a bit more subtle than that. Maybe we’ll lose face; maybe people will think that we’re strange. I mean, this religion thing’s not a trendy thing to do.

I don’t know who you are or where you’re at in life or what the consequences might be for you, if you give your life over to Jesus but let me tell you this. This Jesus is the Son of God, He is a miracle-working God who wants to wipe our slates completely clean to give us a fresh, new start in life; to take away the things that we do and say and think, that robs us of life itself.

He wants us to be refreshed in our relationship with Him. No matter which way you cut it, no matter what people argue to the contrary, Jesus Christ is the only one in whom we can have the free gift of eternal life and it is a new life that starts here and now.

It begins with forgiveness, God forgiving us, us forgiving those who have wronged us. It begins with the slate being wiped completely clean through complete forgiveness and then, day by day, week by week, year by year, it grows into a new life.

A fresh new start that begins with an eternal life that can start right here and now, this minute, this day and there is nobody else who can give it to us. Nowhere else it can be found. No other religion, no other belief system, no other God. That’s what Peter is saying here and I believe him because that’s exactly what Jesus said:

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Christmas may be over; the old year may have slipped away. We maybe sitting here with regrets over the past and doubts about the future. It may be that the world is screaming in our ears every reason under the sun why we shouldn’t give our lives over to Jesus.

But, if in your heart, right at this moment, you can hear Him calling, if you can feel His tug on your heart, I want to encourage you to give your life over to Him today. Every hope and dream, everything you are and everything you have, give it to Him, for:

There is salvation in no one else. For there is no other name, under heaven, given among mortals, by which we may be saved. 

And begin your new life, here and now, for Christ’s sake.

So, let me ask you a question. If you could draw a picture of your perfect life – the sort of life that you’ve always wanted to live, what would it look like? Have you ever even thought about it?

This morning when I woke up, I started the rest of my life. The same is true for you too, this morning when you opened your eyes, so began the first day of the rest of your life. Now I know we’ve all heard that before but it is true and it is profound. Here we stand at the, kind of, beginning of a new year and there were things that happened in the old year that we’re delighted with. And there were things that happened in the old year, or further back in our life’s history, that we regret and the consequences of which, we may still be living out today.

That’s life, it’s just the way it is but one of the things that you discover as you get older is that you can’t change the past. You can only change from this moment forward and I guess, today on the program, well lets just create a little place in the space/time continuum to dream about the rest of our lives.

Let’s just pause for a moment and ask ourselves, “What do I want the rest of my life to look like? Where do I want it to head and what are some of the things that I have to do to make that happen?” I’m not sure that I’ll have a whole bunch of answers for you today, that’s not what today is about. It’s more of a place where we can ask some questions together, a place to dream a little, about the future.

I guess, for much of my life, I looked forward to a future where I would have enough money so that I’d be happy. I worked so hard to achieve that and never quite got there. It was like a hill we used to run up when I was training to be an officer in the Australian Army. It was a hill called Heartbreak Hill at the Jungle Training Centre. And it was a hill of lots of false crests and you’d be running up it and you’d see the top of the hill and you’d get to that and think, “I’m here” and you’d get there and you’d find it was a false crest and over and over again, there was more hill to go, it was like Heartbreak Hill.

I read this once, written by the wise old apostle Paul, writing to his young protégé, Timothy. Have a listen; it comes from the New Testament book, 1 Timothy, chapter 6, beginning at verse 17:

As for those who are in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share. Thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

 And that really spoke to me because my life wasn’t really life. It was a Heartbreak Hill. Especially that last bit, to:

… Take hold of the life that really is life.

What is that? Where do you find that? Is that what we’re all looking for? It is, isn’t it? That life that we can live that really is life; a full, a rich, a satisfying life. A life that we can look back on in the years to come, when we’re old and grey, look back on it and say, ‘it was a good life, it was a great life. I’m glad I’ve lived it, I’ve lived my life to the full and now I’m satisfied.’

Isn’t that what, deep down, we all long for and yearn for and want in our hearts? Sure, we all have different gifts and abilities and inclinations and talents and circumstances. For some people, life involves climbing mountains or jumping out of planes or having babies or whatever it is we’re motivated to do and to be.

But let me ask you a few questions today. The first one is this, as you’ve sought to live that life that really is life, where have you gone looking for it? What are the things that you’ve pursued consciously or unconsciously, in your life, to lay hold of that life that really is life? Chances are your pursuits will be a bit different to mine. What are they? I’m sure you know, I’m sure that they jump front of mind and before your eyes straight away.

Now let me ask you this, have they delivered? If your life ended in say, the next ten minutes, would you be able to look back on life and say, “Yep, that was a good life. It’s a great life, I’m glad I’ve lived it. I may not be ready to go but I’m really happy with what I’ve lived.” Or would you be a bit like King Solomon when he wrote:

Vanity of vanities, says the teacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun and see all is vanity and are chasing after the wind.  I said to myself, ‘come now, I’ll make a test of pleasure. Enjoy yourself’, but again, this was also vanity. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it and again, all was vanity and are chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Then I said to myself, ‘what happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?’ And I said to myself, ‘that this also was vanity’ so I hated my life because what is done under the sun was grievous to me for all is vanity and a chasing after the wind.

Isn’t that really sad? Solomon, one of the richest and wisest men that has ever walked the planet earth, he had everything his heart desired. He didn’t hold anything back from himself. He fulfilled all his desires and yet, he hated his life. It was all vanity and empty and meaningless.

And you know something; so many people are living out that sort of life. So many people will go to the grave having lived out that sort of life and you might say to me, “Berni, you’re a real pessimist”. No, I’m a realist. I’m holding a mirror up to our lives right now and asking questions.

How satisfied, I mean how deeply satisfied are you with your life? How much have you put your roots down into a real sense of purpose and a real sense of meaning and a real sense of direction and satisfaction for your life? I mean, on a scale of 0-10, 0 is Solomon’s end of the scale, I hate my life, 10 is Paul’s end of the scale, a life that really is life. Aren’t these the questions that we need to be asking?

Next week on the program, we’re going to be looking at our lives in a bit more detail – body, soul and spirit – looking at some of the simple things that we can all do to live the sort of life that we really hunger for. But you know the problem with most of us, the problem is this.

Times like this, we kind of have the opportunity to kick back and think a bit and yet, we never really do and even if we do, we end up just living out the same old, same old, same old, ‘cause we’re not prepared to get off our backsides and do something different. And so, day by day, week by week, life just slips by. You get to the end and you look back and you think, ‘I’ve wasted it. Where’s the meaning?  Where’s the purpose?

I’ve often wondered, why did God create the universe and the earth and all that’s in it and you and me? Why did He do that? Why is there pain and suffering and loneliness and isolation? Why didn’t He just make it all nice and comfortable, painless and sinless, in heaven for us? Why do we have this life? Why did Jesus have to die for me? WHY? What’s it all about? Where’s it headed?

And the only place I’ve found an answer, as I’ve scoured the Bible, is in Acts, chapter 17, where the apostle Paul is speaking to some Greek philosophers. He says this:

From one ancestor, God made all nations to inhabit the whole earth and He allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grab for Him and find Him. Though indeed, He is not very far from each one of us.

Why? So that we would discover God. What will that look like? Is that the answer? Is that the life of meaning and satisfaction that I’ve been looking for? Aren’t these the questions that each one of us should be asking?