Having a Dangerously Consuming Focus

Doesn’t it feel like every time you try to focus on doing something, you get thrown a bone? You face an opposition that you can’t even describe and it usually ends up with you paying a price you never thought you’d pay for doing something that can seem so good. Yet, this is often the situation that we find ourselves in. I mean, isn’t that the reason we often hedge all our bets and risk little when it comes to big things in our lives? Isn’t that the same reason, we would rather conform and “fit in” rather than dangerously become uncivilized? However, when we boil down the issue at hand, we find that the root of the problem is in our lack of having a consuming focus. If you really think about it, what you think about is that we just don’t have the focus that we should have. This is for all our successes and failures, this goes for all our mistakes and cheating, our focus is not where it should be. Let’s go to Acts 5. So here’s the plot line– Jesus died and the 12 disciples were wrecking havoc in the religious community. But here’s what we have to understand about first century Palestine– it was under Roman rule, but it was also theocratic in nature. Here’s what I mean, they had a king, governors and others that ruled over Israel, but within Israel itself, it was ruled by religious leaders– basically these were itinerant preachers that had garnered enough followers to be elected or chosen for leadership in the Sanhedrin. Now, if you have 12 untrained, peasant class people having other people rethink the religious traditions that have been in place for at least 2,000 years, then you start making some enemies. Now, if you are one of these 12 disciples and you’re doing this at the sites of religious experience, then you’re begging for trouble. But the disciples had consuming focus. They were dangerous because danger to their lives didn’t matter. They weren’t doing this covertly, they were publicly open about what they were doing and there were miracles. People were bringing sick and lame people to them in the hopes that the spit coming out of the disciples mouths may touch them and there may be enough faith, God power in that spit for them to get healed. 12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. – Acts 5:12-21 So you do what you would do if you’re in power– you arrest the people trying to take your power. When you have consuming focus, people will try to knock you down and take away your focus. The religious leaders did this blatantly but in our passive aggressive society, we do it through back channels of backbiting and by ways of discrediting and cutting. The disciples then go to jail. If you’ve ever been in jail, you would know that whatever you did, you don’t want to do it again because jail sucks. I’ve been in jail once, mostly because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and it wasn’t even real jail, it was a holding cell before you can go to real jail and after that, I never wanted to go back to jail because I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. So imagine how disheartened the disciples were for doing something they believed in, something they experienced and were sharing so that others would share in that joy with them and they get thrown in the jail! This happens even today in China and in other countries where being Christian is punishable by death. It happens in America and you’ll know this happens when being Christian doesn’t pay off and you get left behind in the corporate ladder, you’re called the religious zealot and written off as superstitious. But here’s what happens when we have a consuming focus– we’re told to go forward. When the Israelites were leaving Egypt and trapped in between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, they cried out to God, that’s what it says in Exodus 15. But God says, “why are you crying to me? I gave you the tools to move forward.” Let’s look at verse 19– the angel opened the doors of the prison. Isn’t this seemingly the case in our lives? We seem trapped by life and by our circumstances and nothing seems to be going right and for some unbeknownst reason, we have a way out. It may be divine intervention, but most of the time it’s a revelation. It’s that fantastic idea you get while sitting on the toilet or singing in the shower. It’s fantastically brilliant and it’s amazing how wonderful it is. You never thought of thinking about it, but you know it’ll work because somehow sitting on the porcelain pot helps you think of the nuances and we raise our fingers toward heaven and give God the credit for helping us think this one through. Am I right? This is it? Isn’t it? But then we are faced with a problem– do we continue what we were doing when we got to jail or do we do something else to avoid it? Most would answer, do something to avoid it! Who wouldn’t? You’d have to be a fool to think otherwise. Here’s what made it worse and this is exactly what we need to learn from these 12 dangerous men. They were so dangerous that they were imprisoned, you have to remember this, and it’s better than an episode of prison break! The angel that sprung them loose say: “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” In simple English, the Angel basically says, you know that thing that got you in trouble? Yeah, go back out there and do it again. And maybe this is where some of us have a problem—we don’t have a consuming focus so even if we run into problems only later to be sprung out of jail, we don’t have the grit to go back with what we were doing because we never knew what we were striving to do in the first place. But we need to know what our consuming focus is. The angel says, “speak to the people all the words of this Life.” That is, to evangelize, yeah, that’s one thing and you have to remember what I mean by evangelize—I’m talking about sharing your vision for life with them and setting up goals towards that vision. But when the angels tell the disciples here to share all the words of “this life” the angel was talking about the absolute fullness of life that comes to us in a very active, genuine and vigorous way. Simply put, the angel is talking about the lifestyle. The life style that they are living is not necessarily what we would deem Christian, but it is a lifestyle that is consumed with a singular purpose and desire. I know I’m like ten years behind, but a few weeks ago I started and finished watching Battlestar Gallactica. I feel like such a dork for admitting that and now it’s on the internet. But here’s what their miserable life stories told me about what it means to live life as opposed to watching people pretend to live lives in search of Earth—there is a singular purpose that consumes people and it lasts forever until that goal is reached. That is what we’re searching for and aching for in our lives. The disciples went and did exactly that. They took the very thing that gave them life and energy and filled them with zeal and started to do it as soon as the sun came up. They did this even after suffering horrible consequences. This is our lesson, we need to have that resolve and fortitude to be bold. Let’s keep going, verse 24. 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:24-29. I want you to underline that last part of verse 29. Then I want you to write this question in your notes and think about it this week: what instruction has God specifically given you that directly contradicts the way society operates? When I say “contradict” I don’t mean break the law, I mean, it is uniquely yours, for you to change something in your sphere of life. We have all received that. We’ve all gotten that from God. I don’t know if any of you know this, but some of you have asked me why I even chose to go be a pastor and go waste money paying to go to seminary. And I know I’ve given some of you some really stereotypical answers but here’s the motivation behind all of that, which I’ll share with you all. I could be somewhere better in my professional, non religious career, yeah, but when I submitted to the will of God, which is for me to lead people like all of you toward a communal life of strategic change and disturb the sensibilities of society and make it uncomfortable for the sake of unveiling God’s glory, I chose to listen to God over what society told me. Yeah, the hours suck, you lose your weekends and crazy people somehow always get your phone number, but the joy and happiness that the hell of working for heaven brings is magnificent and it is for that I would rather obey God. All of us have something like that within our hearts and in our minds. We have just wavered too far off from dangerous to realize it. 33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. – Acts 5:33-40. Here’s what you need to know about the world. When we have a consuming focus that is God centered and from God people are going to doubt you. I get doubted all the time and sometimes when I fail, I doubt myself and somebody usually has to smack me in the back of my head on a Monday night, as I quietly sulk in the corner of my office, that I realize I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for God. Write this down: Consuming focus comes from God ordained activities. This leads us to several conclusions, the first being that when we idolatrously mess around, focusing our energies on stupid things, the world is great in that it has a way of murphying it all up. Like I have a friend who always does this and I don’t think he realizes he does this and when I confront him about this he admits it and does it anyways. What I mean by this is, this guy constantly has a girlfriend, and I don’t even pretend to know the girl’s name anymore because he always introduces my friends and I to these girls always saying, “I’m going to marry her, she’s the one.” Then they turn out not to be the one. But the time and energy he spent, people say is cute and romantic and all that patronizing jazz, but really, it’s not. It’s stupid, it was meant to be killed. Don’t get me wrong, I do this too. I’ll be obsessed with something for like an hour, and then get bored of it and throw it out. Just ask Bestbuy, they love me there, I’ll play with things for a few days, it’ll lose it’s luster, and I’ll go back and buy some other worthless item. Don’t worry, I’m detoxing from that. It’s like a bad diet. Second, just because your God ordained focus hits a snag, doesn’t mean you should give up. We give up too easily on people, projects, businesses, family members, friends. I know why—it’s because we don’t believe God ordains it, so we break up. Now, don’t get me wrong, if the dude is hitting you or I guess in our church, if the chick is beating you and leaving you with unwanted bruises, you break up, call the cops and then call me. I’ll make the person feel bad in a nice way as they go to jail. But seriously, we give up too easily, we have to stop. Some of us don’t ever become dangerous in our life times because we give up too easily on what God has given us. People have said to me, “Jonathan, this is too hard, I’m going to give up.” Then they have the nerve to ask me what I think and I say, “sure, do it if it’ll make you happy, just don’t regret that later.” Or if I really like you, I’d say, “give it one last try with all your strength and let’s make a new decision at later date.” But sometimes God ordained focus hits snags and that’s okay and we have to be okay with that. 11 out of the 12 disciples get martyred. The 12th keeps living, but not before he was boiled alive in a vat of oil, and didn’t die and then exiled to an island with people who live in caves. Here’s where I want to conclude today: 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. – Acts 5:41-42 If you want to be dangerous, you just need to decide to become unshakeably devoted to something. If we look at the life of Jesus, this is what we see. He was unshakably devoted to saving humanity. He knew the price and he paid it with his life. The disciples followed his cue and did the same thing. We are disciples of Christ also so we must decide to become unsahakeably devoted and become dangerous. That is the only way our lives become fulfilling. That is the only way we can recover and live a full life after all things go arwy. That is the only way the gospel’s power can be known to all people around us. We have to be dangerous with a consuming focus. Let’s pray.