Why are you here? That’s the question I want to begin with today.
We might naturally divide that question as to whether it refers to being here in terms of
existing… or being here in this gathering.
I’m referring to BOTH our purpose for being here in terms of existing… as well as
being here as a people gathered together. I believe that both of those should be
deeply related. For if our lives have a Divine purpose… THAT is the purpose that we
should gather around.
The very reason we gather is in response to the Divine call of God and His purposes.
The problem is that the ideas we associate with “church” can come to mean so
much less. We may find ourselves simply wanting some moral foundations… or
some inspiration… or believe it’s our duty. But the essence of church is not a place
or program… nor even a particular gathering. The essence of church is that of joining
together in response to the claim and calling of God.
So I want to begin this Fall… with a series entitled “The Call” focused upon
God’s purposes for our lives both individually… but also the common call that
shapes us. As we consider the common call that shapes us, this will also be a
great series for capturing the vision and values that help define the Westside
Vineyard.
But I want to begin with the question itself… the very foundations of PURPOSE.
It’s a topic Rick Warren addressed so well in his best-seller The Purpose Driven
Life and I’ll draw from his thoughts as we set out.
Why are we here? - No question is more fundamental… more formative…
> We function through the constant application of recognizing the purpose of
everything around us. Car… chair… pen…. BUT NOT OUR VERY SELVES.
Clarity of purpose is essential to PROTECTION of life’s value..
If you don’t know something’s purpose, it is likely to be abused. When you don’t know
the purpose of something, it is likely to be misused, or abused.
Clarity of purpose is essential to life’s PACE.
Today we are increasing our speed in most dimensions of life… able to DO far more
activity than ever before…yet we have a decreasing sense of purpose and direction.
Without clarity of purpose… we have no priorities to help us discern from life’s endless
possibilities and choices.
Clarity of purpose is essential to facing life’s PROBLEMS.
I have found it interesting that while so many people want to get married… if I ask
what is the purpose of marriage… few of us have any clear answer. Marriage is hard…
and without any clear basis for assessing if it’s fulfilling it’s true purpose… the
challenges become defining.
> The same is true of life…. We need a clarity of purpose to put life’s problems in
perspective… to grasp a sense of meaning and purpose that transcends the problems.
A true sense of happiness requires a deeper answer to life’s deepest needs.
The two most fundamental needs of every human soul are SECURITY
(acceptance / belonging / relationship) and SIGNIFICANCE (worth / meaning).
Most people live their entire lives without ever knowing "WHY?" They exists
year after year with no idea of why they live or God’s purpose for their lives.
As a result, people try different ways to find security and significance …
• Some of us may look for happiness by acquiring possessions.
• Some of us may look for happiness by experiencing pleasure.
• Some of us may look for happiness by gaining prestige and power.
• Some of us may look for happiness by gaining popularity and the favor of people.
Rick Warren describes (actually just paraphrase)
A guy named Dr. Hugh Moorhead, who is the Chairman at the Department of
Philosophy at the Northeastern University, once wrote to 250 well-known
philosophers, scientists, writers and intellectuals of the world and asked
them, “What is the purpose of Life.” And then he published all of their
responses in a book. Some of these people offered their best guesses. Some
admitted they made up a purpose in life. Some admitted they didn’t have any
idea as to what the purpose of life was and if Dr. Moorhead knew, would be
please let them know. Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist said, “I don’t
know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were
meant by it.”
You know, those are tragic statements folks, because the life without purpose
isn’t a life worth living. It is no coincidence that the suicide rate in our
society has gone up. It’s now the No. 2 killer of teenage students. You
see, if you take God out of the equation, you don’t really have very many
alternatives.
Our current culture is tending towards a “spiritual DYI” approach … spiritual ‘do
it yourself’ approach… build our own spiritual reality based on our favorite ideas
or philosophical or psychological insight.
Reflects our tendency to be more self oriented… individualistic… and pragmatic. The
amount of books that offer some help in finding your meaning… is astounding…. An
unprecedented explosion…. Reveals that the question at hand is vital.
You can go into any bookstore and find hundreds of books that talk about
discovering your life purpose. They all are basically the same thing.
“You’ve got to invent your purpose.” You’ve got to create your own purpose in life.
And they all give the same basic approach –
• discover your dreams,
• go after your goals,
• have some ambitions,
• dream big dreams, aim high, believe you can achieve, have faith,
• figure out what you’re good at,
• never give up,
• involve other people.
> Now those are all good advice and they and offer pragmatic strategies for
personal achievement. But pragmatic achievement and knowing your purpose
in life are not the same thing. You can be a raving success in life and still never
know, “What on earth am I here for?”
On several occasions… watched a show… read an article… claimed to offer the
secret insight to life…
> Nothing there… that was grounded or lasting. Looking within is not the
answer. You know if that really worked, all of us would know our purpose. I’m sure
you’ve tried that. I have and I bet everyone else has, too. And I didn’t find it there. It
takes more than looking within.
What did God put me on this earth for?
Rick Warren (The Purpose Driven Life)
“The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your
peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your
career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you
were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His
purpose and for His purpose.
We typically begin with the wrong starting point – ourselves. We ask ourselves
self-centered questions like What dio I want to be? What should I do with my
life? What are my goals, my ambitions, my dreams for my future? But focusing
on ourselves will never reveal our life’s purpose.”
“You were made by God and you were made for God and you were
put here for His purposes. And until you understand that, life isn’t
going to make sense.” (Rick Warren)
The Bible says this in
Colossians 1:16 (Msg) - ”For everything, absolutely everything, above and
below, visible and invisible…everything got started in him and finds its purpose
in him.”
Bertrand Russell, a great Englishman said, and he was an atheist (at least he
was intellectually honest to say this) he said, “Unless you assume the existence
of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant.” You see, if
there is no God, if you’re nothing more than matter and molecules… with no
intention behind life.. other than some primal survival – then your life doesn’t
matter. It has no more inherent meaning than any other form of matter.
But we don’t naturally live that way… because our very nature senses that something
of real worth… something sacred.. . lies within life… and something of unique worth
within human life. Rightfully so… because we were created by God. The only way
you’re going to know your purpose is first looking to Him.
The only way you’re going to know what some things are is either a) you talk to
the creator, or the inventor of it, or b) you read the owner’s manual. The only
way you’re going to ever know your purpose in life – it’s not by listening to the
philosophers, because even the best ones are just guessing. It’s not looking within,
because you’re not going to find it there. It’s not looking within self-help books,
because they’re just saying create a purpose. You’ve got to talk to the Creator and
look in the owner’s manual. It’s the only way you will ever know your purpose in life.
Genesis 1:1, the first verse in the Bible…”In beginning, God (not in the beginning,
you) created.” If those words hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t be discussing the
meaning of life. We wouldn’t be discussing your purpose in life. It all starts with God,
it continues with God, it ends with God. “In the beginning, God created.”
Proverbs 9:10 – read it with me.
“Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.” You want to
understand the meaning of life; you want to understand your purpose of life? Write
this down.
> You find your purpose by getting to know God. It all starts with God.
> We’ll be giving a week of focus to each of five purposes that can clearly been drawn
from all He has made known… but it’s important to recognize that all these
PURPOSES are a reflection of a PERSON…. of God our heavenly Father.
If you want to know your purpose in life, start getting to know God. The more you get
to know God, the more you’re going to understand the ways and the wisdom of God
and the more you’re going to understand the meaning and purpose of life. And the
more you’re going to understand everything else because the Bible says, knowing God
results in every other kind of understanding. You’re not going to learn it on some talk
show. You’re not going to learn it in some séance. You’re not going to learn it
reading tea leaves. You’re not going to learn it going to a seminar.
> The only way you’re going to learn the meaning of life and your purpose in life is to
get to know God.
Proverbs 16:4 - “The Lord has made everything (circle everything) for His own
purpose.”
It’s for His purpose. Now God has never made anything without a purpose. Every
rock has a purpose, every plant has a purpose, every animal has a purpose and if
you’re alive, you have a purpose. If you want to know if God still has a purpose for
your life, check your heart. If it’s still beating, God still has a purpose for you
here on earth.
What we discover is that the essence of our purpose… our meaning in life… is not
found in a program… or even a set of principles… it is found in discovering life with
the God who is sovereign over history. It is finding our part in the divine drama that
runs through life.
Apart from God we are like actors without a story.
There is an echo that still resonates… but doesn’t penetrate.
There is a Call to every life that seeks to break us out of our isolation and
independence.
That is where the Call of God comes in.
The Creator of the universe.. of all life… calls us out… out into a Divine drama that
begins afresh with Abraham… and the formation of a people called into an eternal
destiny. Next week we’re going to see how history is “His-Story”… and then begin to
look each week at one of the defining purposes of life… and how we are to understand
our very reason for gathering.
This morning I just want us to see
The heart of God that calls us…
Look at this next verse,
Ephesians 1:4, read it with me…”Long before He laid down the earth’s
foundation, He had us in His mind and settled on us as the focus of His love to
be made whole and holy by His love.”
Circle the phrase “the focus of His love”. Cause if you don’t get anything else …I want
you to understand this,
God says He made you, to love you.
You were created to be loved by God. God is love and God wanted to create
something to love and so He created you. He didn’t need you. He wasn’t lonely.
But He made you in order to love you. He didn’t need you, He wanted you. And
before we can talk about anything else, you have to understand this is what on earth
you’re here for – to be loved by God.
I believe knowing we’re loved the most fundamental of all questions… but it still longs
to make sense of what this life is about…. Why this particular existence… this
time and place?
Isaiah 49:4a. He said, “My work all seems so useless. I’ve spent my strength for
nothing and for no purpose at all.” You were made for meaning, and if you don’t
have a meaning and purpose in your life and you don’t know why God put you on this
planet, life doesn’t make sense.
Optional Illus:
During World War II, there were prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary, that
were processing human sewage in a factory. The allies came along, bombed that factory and
blew it apart. So the prisoners had nothing to do. The Nazi soldiers had the prisoners take all
the rubble of that factory and move it to another field. The next day, they had them take that
same rubble and move it back in reverse. The next day, they had to take that stuff and move it
back and day after day they had no meaning, no purpose. It was just work doing the same
thing over and over with no meaning and no purpose. Then something strange began to
happen. The prisoners began to go crazy. They began to lose their will to live because there
was no meaning, no purpose in their work. They were just moving bricks back and forth, back
and forth. Many of them began to throw themselves in front of the guards trying to get shot. In
essence, trying to commit suicide. > Because you and I were made for meaning.
We too may wonder….
Is God playing games with us? Is God intentionally trying to confuse us? Does He
keep us in the dark so we don’t know really why we’re here and what we’re here for
and what our meaning is?
Natural question…. But God offers a very different perspective on why we live in
the dark…
Romans 1:22-23, 25 (NIV)
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the
glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds
and animals and reptiles.
…They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served
created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised.”
It’s never been God’s intent that we would have to wonder if our lives matter.
We capped off life… cut ourselves off from the source. We have turned to look
within and around…. when we need to look beyond.
We turned away…wandered off… but God’s heart remains the same.
OPTIONAL SECTION:
It’s been said that we can go through life at one of three levels:
The first and lowest level is what I call the Survival level. The Survival level is really where
most live today. They’re just in survival mode. They are just barely getting by. They’re just
existing. They’re not living. They are controlled by their circumstances. They put in their
time and live for the weekend. They’re just in survival mode.
A step up from that, a better way to live, rather than the Survival level is the Success level.
Honestly, this is where most of you are. By the world’s standards, you’ve got it made. You’ve
got a comfortable living, compared to the rest of the world; you’re extremely wealthy,
compared to the rest of the world. So you have possessions, you have freedom, you have
good health and you may have prestige and you may be quite successful. But today there
are a lot of books coming out that say things like, “If I’m so successful, how come I don’t feel
fulfilled?”
> The reason is, it takes more than success and it takes more than status to satisfy.
You need to go to the third level of living, which I call the Significance level. Not a Survival,
not a Success but step up to the level of Significance. Survival and Success both reflect a
closed system…. Limits any sense of significance. … Really nothing beyond me that offers
meaning.
It’s hard to be dying to live… if we’re just living to die.
Psalm 33:11 (GN) - “His plans endure (what?) forever; His purposes last (what?)
eternally.”
Now listen, the purposes we’re going to talk about in the coming weeks are not just
for the rest of your life on earth, they’re for the rest of your life forever and ever, and
ever and ever and ever. Because God’s purposes are eternal.
God says, “I have plans and purposes for your life, but they don’t end at death.” When
you die, your heart is going to stop and that will be the end of your body, but
that’s not the end of you. You’re far more than a body. You were made to last
forever. The Bible says this, Psalm 33:11 says, “His purposes last eternally (write this
down). God says, “I was made to last forever.” I was made to be loved by God,
and I was made to last forever. This life is not all there is. One of the biggest ways
you can waste your life is thinking all there is, is here and now.
Without eternity this life can become frustrating…. Because we try to squeeze
more out than it offers… or it becomes futile… offering nothing that lasts.
ETERNITY gives meaning to life… now and forever.
Eternity offers the proper perspective on life that empowers us to
live in the present.
This is the key to the meaning of life. Realizing that life is both part of and preparation
for eternity.
2 Corinthians 5:1, “When this tent we live in – our body here on earth – is torn
down. God will have a house in Heaven for us to live in. A home He himself has
made, which will last forever.”
C.S. Lewis
“…our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the
universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door
which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy,
but the truest index of our real situation. And to be at last summoned
inside would be both glory and honour beyond all our merits and also the
healing of that old ache.
-C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, "The Weight of Glory", Ch 1, pp 15-16
You want to know how much you matter to God. Well, I’ll tell you – you matter so
much to God; He wants to keep you with Him for the rest of eternity.
God wants us to be with Him ______________________
So why are you alive?
God says, “I made you to love you… and to be with me forever.”
That is the heart of God that calls us.
Acts 10:35 (Msg)
“It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if
you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open.”
There is a CALL that seeks you.
Calling is defined as that which seeks “to invite or summon.”
I realize that all of us here are at different stages in our spiritual
journey.
• Seeker
• Been adrift
• Ready to go deeper
> Regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, you can grow.
George Herbert once said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” It’s not
too late.
My challenge today… is to listen to the Call.. or to seek it afresh.
This implies opening up our hearts.. to hear.
Three steps to help hear the Call…
1. Reduce the noise that distracts you
We live in a noisy world. Noise around and within.
Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
"Be still, and know that I am God…”
MESSAGE translation…
"Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God.”
> Make an intentional commitment to NOISE REDUCTION.
2. Face the fears that hinder you
C.S. LEWIS: OUR SEARCH FOR GOD CAN BE LIKE CHILDREN PLAYING
BURGLAR GAME . . . FRIGHTENED AT THE IDEA OF FINDING THE REAL THING
“It is always shocking to meet life where we thought we were alone. "Look out!" we
cry, "it’s alive." And therefore this is the very point at which so many draw back - I
would have done so myself if I could - and proceed no further with Christianity. An
"impersonal God" - well and good. A subjective God of beauty, truth and goodness,
inside our own heads - better still. A formless life-force surging through us, a vast
power which we can tap - best of all. But God Himself, alive, pulling at the other end
of the cord, perhaps approaching at an infinite speed, the hunter, king, husband - that
is quite another matter. There comes a moment when the children who have been
playing at burglars hush suddenly: was that a real footstep in the hall? There comes a
moment when people who have been dabbling in religion ("Man’s search for God!")
suddenly draw back. Supposing we really found Him? We never meant it to come to
that! Worse still, supposing He had found us?
- Miracles, chapter 11, paragraph 19, page 94+
3. Listen to your longings
Suggest some longings that can direct our souls… ‘echoes of the voice’ that
calls us…
• Justice – longing for the world to be made right
• Spirituality – longing for transcendence
• Relationships – longing for acceptance and connection (love)
• Beauty – longing for what inspires us to be fully realized
Final word of encouragement….
“Continue seeking Him with seriousness. Unless he wanted you, you would not
be wanting Him.”
-C.S. Lewis, (Letters of C.S. Lewis, p. 233)
Prayer
“Dear God, I realize that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive. But because you
made me, you must have a purpose for me. I admit that I focused on my plans for my
life, not yours. But I want to know your purposes for me. Thank you that you made
me so you could love me. Thank you that you cared for me even when I didn’t know
you. Thank you that I was made to last forever. I want a life filled with meaning. I
want to start by getting to know you better. So as best as I understand, I ask you,
Jesus Christ, to come into my life and help me to understand your purposes for
me. I want to take the first step today. In your name I pray, Amen.”
(Much of this message was drawn from Rick Warren’s initial message in Purpose
Driven Life)
