CRCF\u201d\u201d2\/21\/10<\/p>\n
The Kudzu Conspiracy:
\nThe Growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom
\nin the Empires of Men<\/p>\n
Introduction\u201d\u201d
\nExcerpts from \u201cThat Rock Won\u201d\u2122t\u00a0Roll\u201d, from Ronnie\u201d\u2122s blog:
\nDecember 3, 2009 by Ronnie McBrayer
\n\u201cHave you ever heard of a fellow named Sisyphus? I know. His name sounds like a communicable disease or something like that. But in Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a great king and founder of the ancient city of Corinth. In his day he was an entrepreneur of Trump-like proportions. He presided over his territorial and commercial empire with amazing skill. And like any Wall Street tycoon or mega-corporate CEO, he was cagey and innovative, wealthy and creative. His tactics, however, more resembled those of Tony Soprano than Jack Welch. Sisyphus was a deceptive, murderous, untrustworthy fellow. This was not a man with whom you conducted business with only a handshake. One had better come to the table ready for a fight, or at least protection against getting whacked.
\nIf you read the mythologies about Sisyphus you find him so irritating to the gods that they banished him to hell on at least two or three occasions, depending upon who you read. But he was such a wily character he could even negotiate an escape from the underworld \u201d\u201c twice. Nevertheless, his trickery caught up with him as such things always seem to do. For his many treacherous crimes he was condemned to an eternity of frustratingly hard labor. His endless assignment was to roll a huge boulder to the top of a hill, taking all of his strength to do so. Then, every time Sisyphus arrived with his rock at the top of the hill, the thing would roll back down to the bottom. Sisyphus would be forced to begin the process all over again. According to the Greeks, he\u201d\u2122s still struggling with that stone today.
\nIn issues of faith many of us lead a Sisyphean existence. We are always pushing that rock up the hill. Proof of our effort is betrayed by words like: \u201cI\u201d\u2122ve got to do better. I\u201d\u2122ve got to try harder. I need to give more. I need to pray longer. I\u201d\u2122m not good enough. I have to read more Bible verses.\u201d Faith becomes a terribly heavy burden to push up the hill. Like Sisyphus eternally pushing his rock, or a hamster on a never ending exercise wheel, we turn liberating grace into a repressive pseudo-holiness that is nothing short of a deathtrap.
\nGranted, faith and spirituality are not passive. A healthy faith and a vibrant spirituality do not develop spontaneously without some level of decision or intentionality. We have to give these our attention. But too many of us have an overly-inflated sense of personal responsibility. We think that our spiritual journey and growth depends upon all that we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
This morning I want you to see that resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.<\/p>\n
We\u201d\u2122re in a series entitled The Kudzu Conspiracy. Thus far, we\u201d\u2122ve seen from Jesus\u201d\u2122 teaching about the kingdom that:<\/p>\n
Part 1: God\u201d\u2122s kingdom grows like kudzu\u201d\u201dsubtly, yet wildly, taking over people\u201d\u2122s hearts with Jesus\u201d\u2122 love.<\/p>\n
Part 2: Enemy-love is the fertilizer for The Kudzu Conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Part 3: Jesus is the Root of The Kudzu Conspiracy and He builds His Kingdom without dependence on earthly powers.<\/p>\n
Part 4: Resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.<\/p>\n
Does that sound a little backwards to you? Rest in order to grow the kingdom? Let\u201d\u2122s listen to what Jesus said.<\/p>\n
Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)<\/p>\n
28 Then Jesus said, \u201cCome to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.
\nMatthew 11:28-30 (The Message)<\/p>\n
28-30″Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me\u201d\u201dwatch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”<\/p>\n
Resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.
\nClaiborne\/Haw: \u201cBurdens are the specialty of religious elites and power mongers.\u201d (Jesus for President, 112)
\nYou can bank on this\u201d\u201dif you\u201d\u2122re looking for rest anywhere but in a relationship with Jesus Christ, you only will find yourself more exhausted and burdened down.
\nOnly the grace of God\u201d\u201das, Peterson says it, \u201cthe unforced rhythms of grace\u201d\u201d\u201dcan give rest to your soul!
\nJohn Piper:
\n\u201cMoney beckons us to rest in what it can buy. Sex beckons us to rest in the way it can make us feel. Power and recognition beckon us to rest in what they can give. Health and food and athletics and family and friends and hobbies and education and looks and accomplishments all beckon us to rest in what they offer. But Jesus says, \u201cCome to me and find rest for your souls.\u201d Other shelters offer rest. Other yokes seem easy. Other burdens feel light. They are all an illusion. In the end, they enslave and destroy. Only Jesus gives deep and lasting rest and joy. Only Jesus supports the burdens he gives. Only Jesus uses a yoke to lift his team of oxen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.<\/p>\n
Isaiah 64:4\u00a0(New International Version)
\n4 Since ancient times no one has heard,
\nno ear has perceived,
\nno eye has seen any God besides you,
\nwho acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
\nRonnie McBrayer: Many of us live \u201d\u201c or exist rather; we haven\u201d\u2122t learned to live \u201d\u201c with the old Protestant work ethic hanging around our necks like a yoke. Boiled down to bumper sticker mantra we think: \u201cIf it\u201d\u2122s going to be, then it\u201d\u2122s up to me.\u201d That\u201d\u2122s nothing short of sacrilege, even if it sounds resolute and brave.
\nResting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.
\n\u201cThe rest that Jesus promises is love, healing, and peace with God, not the end of all labor. A relationship with God changes meaningless, wearisome toil into spiritual productivity and purpose. In what sense was Jesus\u201d\u2122 yoke easy? . . . it\u201d\u2122s a shared yoke, with weight falling on bigger shoulders than yours.\u201d (NIV Study Bible, 1556).
\nClaiborne\/Hay: \u201cJesus is ready to set us free from the heavy yoke of an oppressive way of life. Plenty of wealthy Christians are suffering from the weight of the American dream, heavily burdened by the lifeless toil and consumption we embrace. This is the yoke from which we are being set free . . . The new yoke isn\u201d\u2122t easy. (It\u201d\u2122s a cross, for heaven\u201d\u2122s sake.) But we carry it together, and it is good and leads us to rest, especially for the weariest travelers.\u201d (113)
\nResting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.
\nJohn 15:1-5 (NLT)
\n\u201cI am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn\u201d\u2122t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5 \u201cYes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
\nResting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.<\/p>\n
John 15:8-17 (NLT)
\n8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
\n9 \u201cI have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father\u201d\u2122s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one\u201d\u2122s life for one\u201d\u2122s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn\u201d\u2122t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 16 You didn\u201d\u2122t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.<\/p>\n
So how do we make all of this practical? What does this look like in our life? If our lives aren\u201d\u2122t changed by the truth, then we\u201d\u2122ve just wasted an hour together.<\/p>\n
We must learn to depend on Jesus\u201d\u2122 love for our relationship with God and on Jesus\u201d\u2122 power for the life He\u201d\u2122s called us to live.<\/p>\n
We have to remind ourselves everyday that God doesn\u201d\u2122t want us to do more for Him so that He\u201d\u2122ll like us more, but rather, He wants us to depend on what Jesus has already done, knowing that Jesus\u201d\u2122 loving sacrifice on the Cross makes us fully accepted and totally and continually loved by our Father.<\/p>\n
And, we have to remind ourselves that the life we\u201d\u2122re called to live was never intended to be lived in our own strength! Jesus\u201d\u2122 grace is the power, that not only give us forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God, but His grace is the power that enables us to love God by loving others the way He\u201d\u2122s loved us!<\/p>\n
Conclusion\u201d\u201dYou know, this whole Kudzu Conspiracy thing is really simple.<\/p>\n
God\u201d\u2122s kingdom grows like kudzu\u201d\u201dsubtly, yet wildly, taking over people\u201d\u2122s hearts with Jesus\u201d\u2122 love.<\/p>\n
Enemy-love is the fertilizer for The Kudzu Conspiracy.<\/p>\n
Jesus is the Root of The Kudzu Conspiracy and He builds His Kingdom without dependence on earthly powers.<\/p>\n
And yet, for all of its simplicity, we hinder the growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom by our complicating, stifling, enslaving pursuits of self-righteousness, and proud independence.<\/p>\n
Resting in Jesus is the vital link that brings the growth of God\u201d\u2122s kingdom into your life.
\nBecause only by resting in Jesus can we love others\u201d\u201deach other and even our enemies\u201d\u201dwhich is the Divine power that will change our world!<\/p>\n
Celebration of the Lord\u201d\u2122s Supper<\/p>\n
Today, this meal is a celebration of our vital connection with Jesus, given by His grace, secured by His perfect life and sacrificial death on the Cross and His powerful victory in the Resurrection. It is a celebration of the fact that God\u201d\u2122s kingdom will grow in and through us in our world, if we\u201d\u2122ll simply rest in Jesus! God\u201d\u2122s Kudzu Conspiracy will triumph!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CRCF\u201d\u201d2\/21\/10 The Kudzu Conspiracy: The Growth of God\u201d\u2122s Kingdom in the Empires of Men Introduction\u201d\u201d Excerpts from \u201cThat Rock Won\u201d\u2122t\u00a0Roll\u201d, from Ronnie\u201d\u2122s blog: December 3, 2009 by Ronnie McBrayer \u201cHave you ever heard of a fellow named Sisyphus? I know. … Continue reading