Show S l. l s t I y WHAT IS r Iii REALITY IIII 2 IN RELIGION I s N by Don Kimbrough 1 Pastor First Baptist Church Iii if Vernal Utah a N 1 Jerusalem Is a place where men have worshiped God for over a three thousand years Jews Muslims and Christians call the city holy but none have ever given It peace Mans Man's failure to really understand the demands of God are are- re- re nowhere more evident than in Jerusalem Jes Jesus s was a 0 stranger in Jerusalem two thousand years ago After almost twenty centuries of Christian t teaching aching and preaching is he any less a stranger London Landon Paris or Washington today It is far easier to respect a tradition or to 1 decorate a monument than it is to live by faith The way of discipleship does not so much mean walking where Jesus actually walked as it does living for Jesus now wherever we are Living for Jesus is difficult and we probably will ask ourselves ourselves ourselves our our- selves over and over again How can we live for Jesus in a world like ours I In Matthew 11 20 18 Jesus explained reality in tn religion Y Ye hypocrites hypocrites hypocrites hypo hypo- I crites well did Esaias prophesy o of you saying this people nigh unto me with their mouth and me with their lips but their heart is far from me But in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments 1 i of men And he called the multitude and said unto them Hear and understand not that w which ich goeth gaeth into the mouth d a man man- but that which cometh out i of the mouth this a mart man But those things which proceed out of the f mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man For out of the heart o o proceed evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies these are the things which defile a man but to eat with hands not a man When we as Christians speak of reality in religion we are talking about a genuine personal experience with God in Jesus Christ Jesus is the real or true expression of Gods God's love he is the only begotten Son He has the words of life Not that which goeth into the mouth but that which cometh out to the mouth this a man This verse was aimed at the tradition on ceremonial hand washing Note Jesus' Jesus authority here He is Lord In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus had focused attention on the inner attitudes and motives not nat on the ex external external external ex- ex requirements of the Law The important matters of life are not in food or externals but in a right relation to God Acts 16 10 9 16 1 11 IO hl-IO 11 0 Obedience to God is at the heart of faith The tradition that Jesus opposed against Gods God's intent for man We must seek reality in our religious experience by forgetting our own selfish motives and trying to do the will of God at every level of our lives Sincere concern for others unselfish giving of our resources and unrestricted d forgiveness for people who differ from us as well as those most most congenial to us all point toward the God in our lives Faith is merely a game played in pantomime unless we obey the Lord Jesus said Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I c command you John 15 1514 14 The reality of religion is not in external form but in inner commitment to God All of us are tempted at times to make a show of our relationship to God Most of us yield occasionally W We confess this to God and to one another because we we know there is a better way It is far for easier to act religious than to be religious Jesus Demands that our actions stem from our commitment to him not from our desire to impress others In confessing Jesus as Lord of our lives we admit our own sinfulness and turn to him with all our being that he might make us completely completely com om- his This means of course that we must become the same type of person on the golf course as we are in church on vacation among strangers as we are at home All of life is whole and holy to God and so it must be to us True religion is not an exercise in trying to outsmart God or in attempting to impress others True religion is sincere obedience to our heavenly Lord which finds its expression in meeting the needs of the world |