One of the things I wanted to talk with you all about is that we have oftentimes this idea
of whatever is surrounding us is our opportunity for what influences us. Whatever it is that surrounds
us is the very thing that ends up affecting us the most. Now one of the things is a few years ago
some of us were out on a boat that we had. Now while we're out there you need to realize
something about me. I get motion sickness. It is bad. It is not a good thing. Now the thing with
it is that being on that boat I was not feeling too great and neither were a couple of the guys
that were next to me as well. Now as we're over there contemplating what we had had for breakfast
that morning what we're thinking about also is that the boats captain said you know what
you'll feel better if you jump into the water. Okay so we're out on this lake just get off the
boat you'll get on the into the lake you'll feel much better. Now we did jump into the lake like
we were told but you see the reason why the boat is rocking is because of the water okay. I don't
know what it was that they were thinking at the time but we were still feeling nauseous and not
good at all and what I realized is that the guy next to me was feeling worse than I was and I realized
what was about to happen and that if it did it doesn't go away it stays right there with you in
the water. So I leaned back and I just started kicking and I kicked my way I swear it was like
a quarter mile off to the shore. I wanted to get as far away from him as possible. I knew that
whatever was going to be there I did not want to be stuck with it and about an hour later when
they finally picked me up yep turns out exactly happened and I'm very glad I got away when I did.
The thing with it is you know just in case anybody didn't know who it was so there you go.
But our surroundings oftentimes decide what affects us what we are around ends up determining
what influences us and whether we are around things that are keeping us focused on what is good and
right or whether we're around things that are distracting us and pulling us down no matter
what it may be whatever we are surrounded by ends up influencing us in many ways. Now one of the
things that we discover is that we as people and not just Americans but really throughout the world
so many of us spend about an average of seven hours a day in front of some sort of screen.
Seven hours a day. Now I'm saying that and some of you may be thinking wait a minute I'm from an
earlier generation I don't spend seven hours in front of a screen every day remember that's an
average so if you're not spending seven hours in front of a screen every day half with your
cell phone and half with a computer that's how many more hours the next generation is spending
because even middle schoolers might end up spending nine hours a day in front of a screen.
The thing is is that they are constantly being influenced just like we are and what are some
of the things that are influencing us so for example as it turns out is that there have been
different trends that happen at different points in time so for example you might end up having
some people that are stacking milk crates up in a giant pyramid triangle and they're trying to get
up to the top of the milk crates and then walk back down to the bottom when it turns out based
on physics they are not going to stay upright and you're going to fall on your face but there are
videos of people trying to do that so what is it that people try to do they try to do the exact
same thing themselves or then there are others who apparently think that well you're going to have
to keep your detergent closed and tightened and locked down because there are videos out there
of people eating pods of detergent now does that sound like a good idea to be eating a pod of
detergent absolutely not but it's on a video on the internet so what is influencing people every
single day watching somebody eating a pod of detergent and even to the point where there are
people in schools they they are stealing things and you might think to yourself okay people steal
pencils or erasers or something simple no no no sinks young people in schools will steal the sink
from a bathroom or a toilet bowl they will go in rip it out and try to steal it why because they
saw somebody doing it on tiktok or instagram or facebook or youtube or whatever whatever we talk
here at the church about being involved in small groups or youth group or children's ministry
this is not just trying to give you something else to check off your box it is that all of us are
genuinely being influenced by things each and every day and we are looking for opportunities
to help you be influenced by what is good and right not just by whatever may come up in front of you
see it's very easy oftentimes for us to hide the things that we're struggling with because oftentimes
we can end up pulling ourselves into the darkness you see we pull away from what is light in the
world and we hide away because we don't want other people to see the things that we're facing or
struggling but are we going to be able to deal with the issues in society are we going to be able
to deal with the issues that we see in our world better if we are by ourselves and isolated from
each other or if as the people of god we actually come together to hold each other accountable
to grow in faith to grow in our life and what we learned are we more likely to be able to deal with
all of the messiness that we're seeing in our world when we isolate ourselves from each other
or when we spend time with each other learning and praying and doing what is right together
whenever we were isolated during the times of covid and later we were not truly isolated we were
still being influenced each and every day either by the things that were being put online in front
of us or by the individuals that we did see who were being influenced by everything on there
now you may be saying to yourself well you know what I am going to church once a week
all right pastor Jason he does ramble about marvel comics from time to time but you know what
he does talk about the bible in there somewhere so you know what maybe a good 20 minutes in there
I'm doing well I'm learning a lot right but you see just by sitting and listening you're only
you're only going to absorb about 10% of what I'm teaching so out of a 20 minute sermon you may
absorb two minutes of it and then it's anyone's guess what you'll remember by tomorrow see there's
a whole cycle a whole method by which we try to internalize the things that we've learned you see
this idea of going from head knowledge to heart knowledge there's actually a whole a whole process
by which people actually internalize what they learned into their lives you have to take the
time to to frame it as far as why is what we're discussing today a part of a larger picture
and then you can't try to learn all of it at once you have to take it piece by piece a little at a
time one bite-sized chunk at a time and then you have to have a debrief to discuss the key points
about what was learned now are we stopping in the middle of the sermon to debrief
no because we're Lutheran we don't do that but then even afterwards is to pause
and to let whatever we learn sink in for a few minutes first and then when we do
to come back together to discuss it again in the bigger context and finally to give you a chance
to say what did you learn how is it that we oftentimes conduct a church someone's supposed
to teach you the right answers you learn the right answer and then you go back to your life
but everything we know about how we learn is that that does not stick you have to have an
opportunity to share what did you pick up what did you actually absorb what did you learn and
actually share it with other people have we given ourselves as the church that time that
opportunity to process or is all that we want do we just want to have a 20 minute data dump
and hope that maybe one or two things stick and that's one of the harder parts about this
is that the life of discipleship is not a one hour data dump it is a life that is transformed
and lived together it says in our passage wake up sleeper rise from the dead and christ will
shine on you if you're looking at it in the in your bible in front of you it probably has it set
aside as a quote the apostle paul is quoting something and if you try to go and do a search
and try to figure out what he's quoting you're not going to find anything because what he said is
not an exact quote from anybody and that's why i think that the apostle paul is like me because
it doesn't matter how many times i may see the same television show or the same movie or listen to
the same music i am going to quote it wrong every single time i'll get one word wrong i'll get 10
words wrong i will get something wrong but it still matters to me and i still like to do my best to
say it and that's the thing about paul is that he's trying to get across something that still
stands out in his mind and even though he's in prison and he doesn't have all this books he
cannot quote it exactly he's trying to get a point across to you and so the debate comes down to are
you discussing something that isaia said or something that jonah said now you may be wondering why
does that matter because isaia was sharing the difference between do the things that are good
rather than the things that are evil but jonah was a little different because jonah had to come back
from the dead jonah was swallowed by a fish if you are swallowed by another animal that's pretty
well assuming that you're probably dead by now and yet what happens is that god moves that fish to
spit him back out so he could do the work he'd been sent to do do we really want to stay in a world
of death if you found yourself in a box sealed up and six feet below the ground and someone
were to come and dig you out and open up the lid would you want to stay in that coffin or more
than that would you want to go back to it if you realize that you are living in a home with hoarding
where the rooms are so packed and so cluttered that you cannot even think or you cannot even move
and someone were to come and to clear out everything for you and give you your house back
would you want to go back to where you were before and yet what do we continually do
we want to make space and time and energy for everything else that is around us
that has no interest in our well-being and yet we want to shrink more and more and more of the time
that we have with the people and the presence of God how much more do we want to narrow down
how little we have to spend with God because the thing about our life in Christ is that it's not
something that just happens by osmosis we're not just hoping that we absorb something maybe a little
piece but it is about our whole life being formed and shaped and influenced by the one who is around us
but you see this is not pastor Jason trying to come up and just get you to try to add a bunch
of more things to get on your plate that's going to exhaust you and bore you and wonder why in the
world that I do this because living a godly life it's meant to be one of joy and friendship
it's meant to be one where we get to live in ways that bring us hope and that bring us to a place
where we want to be there was a time in my life I was a little bit young where I thought that when
I saw a musical that I thought that those were people who were genuinely just in their life
singing and dancing without any preparation in exact harmony and exact step with one another
I thought when I was a little kid that all the people those musicals they just naturally knew the
songs and they just naturally knew how to dance with each other and I thought as long as I'm a good
dancer and singer someday I'll be able to do that no matter where I am what I'm doing I will not
tell you how old I was when I realized that that was staged and that that doesn't happen in real life
but what I did think about one time is what would be the closest I could come to that
and so when I was in my 30s and I went with a college group to go to a mission trip to New Jersey
it had a a hurricane that blew through there and they we were going off to go and do a
bunch of work out there to clean up and while we were doing dishes I just looked over at some people
and I realized I hadn't been able to sing karaoke for a while and I just started saying you never
close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips because of course I love top gun you have to
know the words after top gun and so I'm singing through it and people are like looking over
and everything and I just finally go and gesture everybody baby I know it you lost that love and
feeling and they were singing whoa that love and feeling and I think they got the words right you
lost that love and feeling now it's gone gone gone whoa whoa see and a few more people saying this
time than in the early service so thank you for that because whenever we are with people
that's the time whenever we influence them the most but then what we did after laughing
and singing is we went we prayed together and we talked about what we did and we found joy the
next day for the rest of our trip that's the thing about this life of discipleship with each
other y'all this is not about trying to add extra tasks this is about finding joy with each other
and that in that joy we have purpose and meaning and we grow in God's word together
so I hope and pray that this year and in the years to come that when we talk about being
accountable to each other we see the joy that we get to have about being that influence with one
another and I hope you'll be here next week because we have a lot of this to do together
as a community that loves one another finds joy together and grows in faith and in relationship
with God and with one another with that thanks be to God