Yolo

 

John 5:24-30

YOLO

Circa 2011 Canadian Rap Superstar Drake popularized the phrase YOLO. Standing for you, you only live once, in line with Carpe Diem, Seize the Day,  and other slogans through out history that encourage us to live our best lives now. However, YOLO grew an added twist with encouraging and even embracing risky and dangerous behavior. This made the news with the tragic death of aspiring rapper Ervin McKinness just prior to his death, tweeted the phrase while driving 120 MPH while drunk.

Many of us spend life playing as safe as possible waiting for all the stars to align and our the situation to be perfect before we being our lives. Some of us live recklessly as if tomorrow will never come and there will be little to no long term consequences for the choices we make today. However, we choose to live or not live our lives there is truth in the saying YOLO in that we only have this one life and what we do it is of the utmost importance!

 

²⁴ “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

Jesus is having a discussion with the religious leadership of Israel. Jesus healed a man on the sabbath and the pharisees see this not as a miracle from the Lord but an opportunity to attack Jesus. Jesus saw this as an opportunity to teach the teachers and explain His relationship with God the Father.

He is painstakingly clear here in verse 24. He who hears my word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment. There’s an entire series of sermons here but I feel they have been covered pretty well in previous sermons and will be covered pretty well in future sermons. Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no man comes to father expect through him.

Acts 4:12 “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

 ²⁵ Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, ²⁷ and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice ²⁹ and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 

Jesus warns the Pharisees that there time is limited. That now they have a chance to listen to His words and receive life or continue on dead in their sin. If they reject Him as Savior now they will face Him as Judge later. Not only as a Judge who renders a verdict but carries it out as well. In effect Jesus is Judge, Jury and Executioner that we all must face one day.

Don’t be surprised by this He says! Everyone alive and dead will one day face this judgment. Let’s pause on that for a minute. We all have had friends, and family pass on. We have all visited graveyards and funeral homes. There are presently 7 Billion people alive on the planet but how many have been buried or passed since Genesis 3? Conservative estimates put that number in excess of 100 Billion that’s 15-30 people dead for everyone 1 that’s living today. This is a number we can’t even wrap our brains around. Yet, our Lord tells us that a day is coming in which all those who are in graves will hear His voice. This is an astounding thing to contemplate!

We think we are something! With our modern technology we can put something on the internet and if it goes viral thousands possibly millions can view it in 24-48 hours. Within a few years it could have billions of views like the music video for Despacito by Luis whatshisname. Jesus speaks and the whole of creation past, present and future hear it and respond. This! This is what we are told NOT to marvel at!

One day, everyone, stands for the Lord and gives account some will walk into Eternity with the Son in Heaven others will walk into eternity without the Son in Hell. What we do and how we do it in this life matters.

 

 ³⁰ I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

What is God’s will? We talk a lot about God’s will. I’m trying to do God’s will. I am seeking God’s will. I believe many of us, and my self included, have at times had this huge misunderstanding about the will of God. We view it as this grand complicated mystery. Are the ways of God mysterious? Yes of course. Do we always understand what He is doing and why? When we are truthful no probably not. Can we easily know the will of God for our lives? Yes absolutely!

The problem comes in how we look at the will of God, how we picture it! Do you picture it as a target? As a multiple choice test? For the longest time I did. David started as Senior Pastor at Antioch in 2003. The first book he preached out of was 1 Peter. 1 Peter is about our living hope in Christ, our call to holiness and the importance of seeking God’s will in our lives.

At that time, I was 23 and I would do my grocery shopping on Sunday afternoons after church. The sermon concerning the will of God was rattling around in my head while I was on the cereal aisle. As I reached for a box of cereal I hesitated wondering if it was God’s will for me to buy this particular cereal. There was also a lot of change and adult decisions that I was having to make then. I deeply desired the will of God in those decisions which did not have a clear yes or no to them. It all became too much and I just froze. I stood there for I do not know how long having a quarter life crisis over a box of cereal.

I wish I could say I had a huge spiritual epiphany at that time, but I did not. I did however buy Honeynut Cheerios that day for what that is worth. A lot of us view God’s will as as Yes or No thing. As we are presented with A, B, C, or D and one of them is clearly the answer and the other three are clearly wrong. In all fairness, there are times where that is the case. Does God want me to commit adultery, Idolatry, or murder? No, those are very clearly explained in the 10 commandments. Yet, there are times where choosing between A, B, C, or D is as clear as mud. What do we do? Just freeze like I did in that cereal aisle?

Matthew 23 Jesus is calling out the Pharisses & Sadducess “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” He accuses them of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. What does God want you to do? What’s God’s will for your life? Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. After all you only live once.