Almost exactly ten years ago, I shared the following lengthy message on my first official Sunday as pastor of the Ely Baptist Church. I find myself once again drawn to it...
May God help us understand the fun!
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There is probably no more important time of the Christian year on which to talk about fun than this one. The Easter season. This time, more than any other in the Christian calendar, ought to be about fun. It ought to be about joy. About worship. About celebration. New beginnings and new hope! Even in the midst of all the pain, broken-ness, suffering and lunacy of our contemporary world, this season ought to be singularly about welcoming the King of the Universe into the Jerusalems of our lives. Wave your palm branches in the air, folks, the King has come to town!
And yet somehow the word “fun” just doesn’t seem to quite fit when it comes to discussions of our faith, does it? Somehow “fun” never seems to make it into the deep theological Sunday-morning discussions of our faith, does it? Somehow “fun” is a secular idea. Fun is something that non-Christians get to do on Sunday mornings when the rest of us are stuck in church, right? Fun certainly isn’t something we discuss in church! We have too much serious stuff to talk about, right?
I used to think so until one experience I had as a young soldier in the Army that redefined fun for me. I don’t think I ever really understood what fun was until one day at Ft. Bragg when my 1SG made me get four haircuts in one day. Now there’s a fun experience! I’ve shared this story with a few of you already, but I wanted to share it with all of you this morning because it was such a defining moment for my understanding of what fun-filled Christianity is all about, and, even more importantly, for what I believe God wants to say to all of us this morning.
We were having a Commanding General’s inspection one week when I was a new and inexperienced young soldier in the unit and, any time that happens in the military, everyone goes a little crazy getting ready for it. It isn’t uncommon to have several different uniform and grooming pre-inspections in which various people in the chain of command will conduct their own inspections of how you look. I had gotten my hair cut for my bosses’ inspection and had passed with flying colors. But when the 1SG inspected us later in the morning, he told me that I needed to get a better haircut. I was angry since I knew that my first haircut was well within regulation, but one does not disagree with one’s 1SG and hope to live, so I went and got my second haircut. But when I reported in to the 1SG for reinspection, he failed me again! Now really getting angry, I stomped back to the barber for my third haircut of the day. Barely controlling my temper, I reported to the 1SG for what I was sure would be my final reinspection. But as soon as he looked up from his desk at my hair, he just shook his head, rolled his eyes and said, “Hanson, go back to your barber and tell him that your 1SG is John Meyer and you have CG’s inspection tomorrow!” Fuming and spewing and stomping back across to the barber for the fourth time, I was met at the door of the barbershop by a laughing barber who said simply, “Son, who is your 1SG?” Almost yelling at him, I spit back “John Meyer!” He laughed again, muttered something about “why didn’t you tell me that the first time, boy?” and proceeded to give me the closest buzz cut I’d had since Basic Training.
By this time I could just about feel my anger pulsing in my now-shaved clean temples! I decided that, 1SG or no 1SG, I was going to let this guy know exactly what I thought. I stomped down the hallway to his office, did my little “Specialist Hanson reports for inspection” game, and, this time, was met with a broad and satisfied smile from my Sergeant Rock 1SG. At that moment, with all the courage I could muster, I bravely spewed out, “1SG, with all due respect, my first haircut was well within regulations!”
At that, my tired old 1SG looked back at me, slowly shook his head, and said something to me that I pray I will never forget. Without so much as a hint of anger in his voice, he said, “Of course it was, son, but we’re not here just to do the minimum. I want you to be the absolute best you can be. You see,...this Army stuff is just no fun at all if you’re only here to do the minimum!”
Until that moment, I don’t think I had ever heard the words “fun” and “Army” in the same sentence before. I had never before even considered the idea that getting “gung-ho” about Army stuff, or “gung-ho” about haircuts (of all things) could, in any way, ever be fun. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that, until that moment, a lot of my military life and also a lot of all of my life to that point, was not about fun, it was about doing the minimum. Doing just what it takes to be legal. Just what it takes to make it over the wire. Just what it takes to pass the inspection, but not a glimmer more. And the more I thought about this “do the minimum” perspective, the more it began to dawn on me that doing the minimum just isn’t any fun! This Army stuff, this life stuff and, most importantly of all, this Christianity stuff, is just no fun at all if you’re only here to do the minimum.
So as we’re gathered here for yet one more worship service, it occurs to me to ask you if you really know what fun is? How much fun you want to have here this morning? How much fun do you want to have in your life as a Christian? Are you here this morning just to meet the regulations or are you here this morning to have some fun? Are you just keeping the hair off your ears or do you really want to have some fun with all of this? How fun is your Christian life at this moment? What does the fun Christian life look like? How can we learn what it means to have a fun Christian life?
Scholars agree that the letter to the Hebrews reigns unchallenged as the best New Testament commentary on the Old Testament and its relationship to Jesus Christ. It makes clear that the sacrifices and other priestly activities were but shadows pointing forward to Christ, the once-for-all sacrifice for sin, the true Priest, the one mediator between God and man. Indeed, Hebrews may be considered a grand portrait of Christ with the Old Testament as its background.
We don’t know exactly who this letter was written by or to whom it was written. But, from the context of the letter, the writer makes it clear that this group of Jewish believers was going through a severe persecution (Hebrews 10:32-34), probably on religious grounds, by non-Christian Jews.
For a first-century Jew to become a believer in Jesus Christ required a great sacrifice. He was immediately branded as an apostate and a blemish to the Jewish nation. He was considered “unclean” in the strongest possible sense. Defecting Jews were immediately expelled from the synagogue; their children were denied the privilege of attending the synagogue school; they lost their jobs in geographical areas controlled by the Jews; in short, they lost everything of earthly value to them. Furthermore, the Jewish high priest had the authority in Judea, and to some extent in other provinces, to throw troublesome Jews in jail (compare Hebrews 10:33-34). It was circumstances such as these that apparently caused many of these Hebrew believers to wane in their commitment to Christ.
At first, these Hebrew Christians joyfully accepted persecution (Hebrews 10:34). But after a while, it apparently became too much for them to bear and their endurance weakened (Hebrews 10:35-36). The warning passages in the letter suggest that these believers were degenerating in faith. While they never considered actually renouncing Jesus Christ, they nevertheless contemplated drifting back into the outward observances of Judaism (including rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices see Hebrews 2:1; Hebrews 4:14; Hebrews 7:11; Hebrews 10:1; Hebrews 13:9-14). They apparently reasoned that if they took part in such rites, the Jewish leaders might be satisfied and leave them alone.
The writer of this letter set out to warn them about the futility of such reasoning. If they lapsed from Christianity back into Judaism as they had already begun to do to some extent—they would be identifying themselves with an obsolete system and a Christ-rejecting nation that was under judgment. The writer accordingly pointed them to a better way. His argument was revolutionary: Because of Christ, everything is new. Everything is better. Because of Christ, we as Christians get to redefine what “fun” is. The old has passed away, so hold onto your new faith and your fun commitments. Don’t go back. Instead, patiently endure your present circumstances. Your faith will be generously rewarded. This is certain, for God’s promise cannot fail.
The writer of this letter doesn’t want his readers to fall back into pointless religion as they struggle to face their difficult lives. He wants them to embrace the excitement of their faith for all its worth. He wants them to live to the maximum. He wants them to not focus on their temporary suffering. While the writer clearly understands and relates to the difficulties they are experiencing, he doesn’t want them to lose sight of the goal. He doesn’t want them to lose sight of the fun they are supposed to be having as followers of Jesus. And as he is explaining these things to them, he shows us all how to do that. He shows us all what real fun is. He shows us all what it means to have real fun… After spending a great deal of time discussing people that have endured for their faith in the past, the writer, in chapter 12, verses 1-3 says these simple words:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Believe it or not, I happen to believe this is a recipe for a fun Christian life. This is a recipe for a Christian life that does the maximum, not the minimum. A Christian life filled with excitement, adventure, surprises, miracles, and powerful demonstrations of God’s presence in our midst. I believe the writer to the Hebrews gives us six steps to fun here that will work for anyone in virtually any situation.
We Are Not The First People To Have Hard Times
The first step to this fun-filled Christian life is to realize that we aren’t the first people in the history of the planet (and certainly not in the history of our faith) to go through hard times. Our glorious faith is filled with “a great cloud of witnesses” who had difficulty in this life. If we go back just a few verses to Hebrews 11, we quickly discover that suffering for people of even great faith is nothing new! “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”
We must never think that our “light and momentary troubles,” as Paul said to the Corinthians, should get in the way of our fun, exciting lives as followers of Jesus.
I must confess to you this morning that I seriously questioned the idea of preaching about “fun-filled Christianity” with all the garbage that is going on in the world today. For a moment, I thought that even using a word like “fun” in connection with our faith trivialized the difficulties under which most Christians in the world live. How can I possibly talk about “fun-filled Christianity” when my missionary friends are still being held captive in Colombia? How can I talk about having fun as a Christian when most Christians in the world today might be going to bed hungry or in fear tonight? But then I realized that precisely because of all the suffering in the world today, I must even more loudly talk about the fun of the Christian life. Because of all the difficulty and the drudge in which we swim daily, we need to be reminded even more loudly that the Christian life is still supposed to be an adventure. We don’t slip back into pointless religion or some sort of dull, mediocre existence because things are hard in this life. To the contrary; it is precisely because things are hard in this life that we must seek to live our lives even more radically committed to the One who can make all this drudge exciting!
“...we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Folks, we need to understand that this life is only the slightest speck of our eternity. We need to understand that there is nothing that the world or the Enemy can do to us that can possibly separate us from the excitement of our faith.
Ditch The Baggage
The second step the writer encourages his readers to take here seems uniquely suited to our materialistic culture. If we want to experience the full fun of our faith, we need to not let our momentary difficulties bog us down but, secondly, we need to ditch all the unnecessary baggage from our lives that is holding us back. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders...”
If we want to experience the thrill of winning this race, then don’t you think it might be helpful to not carry the sandbags of this world along with us when we run? I love the imagery of a race in this passage because it so perfectly illustrates what the Christian life is like. And yet it absolutely amazes me how few of us seem to be able to really listen to it. It seems to me that many of us look at the marathon that God is calling us to run and we think that, in order to finish it, we need to carry about 200 pounds of running gear along!
It reminds me of a scene in a very bad Steve Martin movie I saw once called “The Jerk.” The movie was generally pretty awful, but there was one scene in which, after losing all his riches and being thrown out of his house, the main character walks out of the house making a silly speech about how little he really needs to be happy. But as he gets closer and closer to the door, he ends up collecting more and more garbage from the house which he considers essential to his happiness. “All I need to be happy is this chair, and that picture, and these glasses, and that rug, and these books...., that’s all I need!” And pretty soon he is struggling even to walk under the burden of all these things he thinks are essential to his happiness.
I think that is exactly what a lot of us try to do as Christians. God calls us to an exciting, fun-filled Christian life lived to the extreme and we tearfully wander slowly off after Him out the door slowly carrying the chairs, the books, the furniture and all the silly toys we think are essential. “OK, I’ll follow you. But I just need these few things. That’s all I need!” God says to us simply this morning that we can’t run this way. Our Christian race isn’t going to be any fun at all if we’re going to try to carry a whole bunch of junk along! None of these things might necessarily be sinful or even bad, but if you really want to live a fun Christian life, if you really want to run fast, then you’ve got to ditch the baggage that is slowing you down!
But that isn’t the only thing God wants us to ditch...
Ditch The Sin
The third step God wants us to take towards a fun-filled Christian life this morning and the second thing God wants us to ditch from our lives is sin. If we are going to have the exciting lives of the “great cloud of witnesses” before us, we not only have to ditch all the baggage we’re trying to carry, we need to ditch the sin that is twisting around our legs and making us trip.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles...”
This is so obvious that we don’t need to spend much time on it. Suffice it to say simply, folks, that there is no way we can ever hope to experience a fun-filled Christian life if we are so bound up by sin in our lives that we feel guilty all the time. We need to radically change our thinking about how fun sinning is!
One of the most twisted reversals of our fallen human existence argues to us that sin is fun and sinlessness is not. How many times in your life have you heard that message in subtle and not-so subtle ways? But is that really true? Is sin really fun, even using the world’s definitions of what fun is?
Think about it for a moment, what single sin in your life can you think of that offers you more than a moment of pleasure? Why is it so hard for us to see this? Why is it so hard for us to see that gluttony, for example, offers only short-term pleasure and long-term pain? Why is it so hard for us to see that sexual sins offer only momentary thrills and often a lifetime of painful consequences? Even if we assume, for purposes of discussion, that the devil knows anything about real fun at all, why is it so hard for us to see that our favorite sins just aren’t meaningfully or lastingly fun? Forget all the religious rules or theological arguments about morality and right and wrong for a moment; just think about it!! What sin in your life is lastingly, enduringly fun, by any definition of fun that anyone might choose to use?!
None of them! While sin might tease us with a momentary pleasure, it is woefully inadequate for a lastingly fun-filled life. So let’s ditch sin also this morning, alright?! Let’s throw our sins at the feet of the Master and ask Him to help us have real fun in our lives instead! Fun that lasts! Fun that endures! Real fun!
Run With Perseverance
The fourth step to be remembered as we seek a fun Christian life is perseverance.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance...”
Folks, we are running a marathon, not a sprint. Just as for the “cloud of witnesses” before us, even though we ditch the baggage and the sin from our lives, we still need to remember that this is a distance race. This fun Christian life that God is calling us to is not a race that is going to be over in 10 or 12 seconds. This isn’t a 100-yard dash...this long-distance. This is perseverance. We need to remember that this long race is going to have its good moments and its hard moments; moments in which we think we could run forever and moments in which we think we have hit a wall we can never climb over.
Sometimes I think that if the writer to the Hebrews had been to U.S. Army Basic Training, as I have, he would have phrased this section a little differently. I think instead of just calling this life a race, he would have called it an obstacle course. Sometimes we’re running through tires, sometimes we’re climbing across a rope bridge, sometimes we’re crawling through a mud bog or climbing over a wall, but regardless of where on the course we are, we need to concentrate all our energy on simply persevering. Folks, if you’ve ever seen a bunch of guys running an obstacle course at 5:30 in the morning, you’ll know that stylishness rarely plays much of a role in the race! It doesn’t matter so much what you look like as you’re climbing over the wall; just get over the bloomin’ thing! That’s what God is telling us this morning. If you want to experience the real fun that God has in store for you, just get over the wall somehow! Persevere! Keep going! The prize is worth it!
Run Your Race And No One Else’s
But there is another part of the advise in that same sentence that we also need to remember. Look again at the passage:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
That is the fifth step towards a fun-filled Christian life. We don’t simply persevere in this marathon, obstacle course race we’re running, we concentrate on our race. We concentrate on the race marked out for us!
If we are believers, we are all running the race that God has marked out for all of us collectively. The Greek word for “us” in this passage is a plural one. We are certainly and wonderfully running our race together.
But make no mistake about it; God isn’t asking you this morning to run the race that I’m running. God isn’t asking you to do the fun things He’s asking me to do! The Bible is very clear: you’re not supposed to steal my fun, you’re supposed to have your own fun! God is asking you to have the fun in this life that He wants only you to have. There are things in this life that only you can do! There are places on this earth that only you will go! There are people in this town that only you will speak to!
One of the things about organized Christianity in this country that has always driven me absolutely crazy is how incredibly “white-bread” it often is. We serve a God who has a custom-made, fun-filled individual plan for each of our lives and yet often we collectively seem to want to do everything we can to eliminate those fun-filled differences. Instead of embracing each and every difference among us, we argue about what we should wear, what kind of music is “appropriate” in here, how we should all think about certain, very debatable issues and we seem to completely ignore the fact that all this fun-filled diversity between us is God-created and God-intended!
Folks, the reason God calls us together into community as the Church is that we are better together than we are apart! God has a fun-filled plan for the Church which He cannot complete without the full communion of His weird and wonderfully different creations. Each of us has a distinct and different purpose in this place. Each of us has a race marked out for us!
Keep Your Eyes On Jesus
So what holds all this fun-filled weirdness together? If what I’m saying is true, and each of us is running a completely different race, then what holds us all together? If all of us are supposed to be having our own fun, then how are we possibly supposed to have fun doing it together? Look again at the passage:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
This is the last and greatest argument of this passage. We must never forget that we are not the first ones who have had difficulty in following Jesus. We must strip away all the unnecessary baggage and entangling sin that slows us. We must must run our fun-filled marathon race with perseverance and we must run only the race that God intends for us uniquely to run. But, at the end of the day, if we are ever going to hope to be able to accomplish any of these things, we must always and only keep Jesus in our eyes. If we are ever going to be able to stave off the demons of weariness and heartache, then we must remember Our Source of joy, hope and excitement. We must never forget that Jesus is the Author of Fun! Only Jesus can give us the victory. If we fail to keep only Jesus in our eyes, then our race will never be the fun-filled adventure that God intends it to be.
Jesus suffered in a way none of us will ever suffer. Jesus never carried the baggage or fun-destroying sins that we do. Jesus persevered till the end. Jesus carried out the mission that only He could carry out. And He did it all so that you and I wouldn’t have to listen to what the world says is fun! He did it all so that we would have the ability to endure what we have to endure, to cast off the things that we need to cast off, to persevere in the missions that only we can complete. He did it all so that we would have the fun-filled privilege of holding Him in our eyes until that day in Eternity when He will hold us in His arms.
Conclusion
How much fun are you having in your life today? How much baggage and sin are you hanging onto? What kind of race are you running? But, more than anything on this morning of so many new beginnings for all of us, who is in your eyes?
Folks, this Christianity stuff is just no fun at all if you’re only here to do the minimum! Let’s commit to having some real fun together in this place!
