Thinking Outside The Box.

ACT 1: The Very Real Battle

Each person has a spark inside them that causes them to think, feel, and act different than any other person.  This spark was given to us by God.  It is our drive, our motivation, and the source of all of our emotions.  There is no 2 people that go through life the same way or look at a specific thing the same way.

This was how God planned it.  He made is so that each of us have a very individual relationship with him.  He wanted each of us to seek him out and find him, and do it in such a way that we wouldn't be able to write an instruction manual for the next person.  It makes it so that each person has to seek him out in their own ways.  It is possible for us all to interpret messages, lessons, warnings, and scriptures a very different way.  This was for a reason.  This is proof to him that no matter what flames you have to go through to get to him, he knows that you were steadfast in your own walk to find him. 

What does that mean? That means that if you look around right now, you are in a room full of people who are devoted to seeking out their relationship with God.

I have talked to a lot of people in this room over the past couple of months, and their is one common thing that they all have: They are all *devoted*....dedicated... to being in Heaven with God. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I want to look at "Status Quo" and what that looks like to you.  As time goes on, media and social norms try to define for you how to live and those norms change for on a regular basis.  An example of this is television.  In the 50's, there was a specific standard of what goes on network tv.  Fast forward to now, look at the same network, and the shows that are on would be classified as porn back in the 50's.  Average home size in 1973 was 1500 square feet.  Average home size in 2010 was 2100 square feet.  Since the time that Jesus left,  the world has been degrading on a regular basis, and it has been doing it so slowly that we don't notice it.

Society tells you "You work hard, you deserve to have fun and spend money!".  God says "You work hard because you are cursed.  There is no reward for a curse."

You are probably asking yourself, "Where is this going?".  Well, I'm here to talk to the people who feel like outsiders.  I am here to talk to the people who have never felt like they fit in.  You know who you are.  You feel like you are on the fringe watching others live their lives.  You feel like you need to pretend to be something in order to keep up with others.  You walk into a group of people and you feel like a square peg in a round hole.  You go throughout your day wondering why others have it so easy, while you are battling thoughts in your head just to figure out how to behave in situations.

I am here to say, "Rest assured...You are doing it right."

I have a story about somebody in the bible who was just like you.  In many sermons, he is referred to with a negative conotation, but I hope to change that today.

ACT 2: Becoming Awesome
Imagine for a moment: You are in church.  You have done everything in life to please God.  You have done everything that you have been told what to do and you have made the changes in your life to live completely separate from the rest of the world.  You have built your entire life, career, and social circles around pleasing God.  You serve the church and your goal is nothing but to serve God.  One day, you are in church.  You are worshipping, sacrificing, praying and doing what everyone has told you is right....and then something happens.

A homeless man walks past your church.  He is unshaven, dirty, and you can tell right off the bat that he might be a little crazy.  He is telling stories that are confusing, answering questions with questions, and then he says something:  "I am the son of God, and you must be baptized to see him.".  

This dirty homeless man is threatening you and your faith and everything you have learned about God.  How could somebody who knows nothing about you be so bold to assume things about you.  You have devoted your life.  This guy doesn't even wash his hands or stay away from the diseased.

Your peers are yelling at him, and he is yelling back.  There is very clear conflict between the 2 parties, and everything that you have been learned in your life and about God is being challenged as false and jeapordized.

This is the conflict that we face every day between status quo and relationship with God.

This is the point in history where Nicodemus becomes awesome.

John 3: 1-2
"Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.   He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

- This is the pivotal point where Nicodemus "Breaks Bad" and walks away from everything that he has learned.  He crosses the line from what is socially required of him and into a scary void of uncertainty to learn from Jesus. 

-People ask, "Why did he have to meet at night?" and it is important to understand that this meeting was not a "Let's have a beer at Applebee's" meeting.  This was life-threatening.  It is a meeting in which Nicodemus had to make sure that he wasn't being followed.  If this were modern day, he would probably check to see if Jesus was had a wire.  If ANYBODY in the Jewish church knew that this meeting took place, they would make 100% certain that his life and everything he had worked for would be destroyed.  

Look at this sentence:  "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God."
Nicodemus has just become a mole.  With this sentence, he double-crossed the Jewish Church. The moment those words came out of his mouth, he crossed a line with everything he's known...and he could never go back to with a conscience. 
Why?  Because he just admitted to Jesus that the Church recognized that he is from God.  He Just told Jesus (the church's adversary) that from this point on, the Church will believe one thing, but will be telling everybody something else, thus lying.   Nicodemus just let the conspiracy out of the bag to his "adversary".

As of this meeting, Nicodemus had nothing that he could go back to with a clear conscience.  Before Bourne Identity, and Bourne Supremacy...There was this story...Bourne Again Nicodemus...  

Act 3:  The Outsiders become the pre-cursor to Chuck Norris Awesomeness
Some of you might be doubting just how awesome Nicodemus was...but I hope this changes your feeling.  The most inspiring stories of conversion are those where somebody comes from one situation, struggles and comes out on top.    

Have you ever wanted to quit your job?  Have you ever had thoughts about making it a big public spectacle like standing on your desk and throwing your papers, or having a marching band come in and do it for you?  It's fun to look at those "stick-it-to-the-man" stories and say, "That is so cool."

John 19:38-42
-Did the Roman Guards bury Jesus' body?  No. 
-Did the apsotles bury Jesus' body?  No.
-Did Jesus' disciples bury Jesus' body?  No.
Who buried Jesus' body?  "Joseph", who gets 2 sentences in the bible, and Nicodemus.
You can imagine that Jesus' crucifiction was a very public event and all of the jewish church was in attendance that day.

Imagine for a moment, Being a member of the Jewish Church, and watching a church leader walk up and pull down Jesus' body.  Imagine being those same church people, and having Joseph and Nicodemus working their way through the crowd with his broken lifeless body.  Imagine them push their way past people with the Jesus' blood dripping all over them.  His broken legs, Hole in his side, Torn up flesh and defeated.  Imagine how betrayed they feel as they watch these two leaders buring Jesus as though he was Jewish royalty...In the garden, wrapped in fine linens, 75 lbs of myrh and aloe,  in a tomb intended for the rich.

Words can not describe the scene as Nicodemus returns from the tomb.