Text: Luke 2:40,52
A GROWING FAITH
A.W. Tozer was a mighty man of God who preached, it is said, with the power of a prophet. For a number of years he pastored the Alliance Church on Bloor Street before it moved to North York and became Bayview Glen Alliance and before he went to pastor in Chicago for 31 years. Well, A.W. Tozer tells of a time when he was walking through the hills of a southeastern state when he noticed a piece of white paper lying by the roadside. How it got there he did not know - to whom it belonged he did not know. What drew him to it he did not know, but he was curious. So he picked it up and found written on it in clear legible handwriting these words, "In all the world there are only two creatures that are larger when they are born than when they are old; one is a wasp and the other is a church member." Not being a wasp specialist, I don't know if the baby wasp is larger than an adult, but having spent most of my life in the church, I know that it is true for some Christians. I know it to be true that for some Christians they are not as zealous, not as enthusiastic, not as expectant in their faith as when they first began. Instead of growth in the Christian faith they have shrunk. Instead of a closer walk with God they are further away; instead of knowing more of Christ's Lordship in their lives they have less. Instead of growth, freshness, and newness, there is rot, rust, and smallness. Tozer's questions, as he reflects on the piece of paper that he found, are piercing as he asks,
This does not apply to all Christians to be sure, but enough to deserve our concern and our prayers. And to ask ourselves, "Does it apply to me? Have I grown smaller in my Christian faith with the passing of the years, or larger? And if I have grown smaller - Why?" Why? Perhaps we have forgotten that God encourages us, through Scripture, to grow in our faith. This is the word we read in Hebrews:
And in Peter's second letter we read:
And Paul, gives thanks for the Thessalonians "because their faith is growing more and more" (II Thessalonians 1:3) (NIV) And all through Scripture God gives us pictures of the people of God that denote growth - the people of God are his children who grow as children grow. We are to move from craving milk to solid food, steadily, slowly, but surely and certainly growing in our faith and understanding. Or the people of God are pictured as trees, needing to grow as a tree grows. So we read in Psalm 92:12, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him.' " We are like to be trees, with our roots firmly established in the person of Christ and our limbs stretching up ward in faith and bearing the spiritual fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not only are we encouraged to grow in our faith by the Word of God but we are given an example in the Son of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, who, we read in our text, "increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour". Or in the translation that the CGIT is familiar with, "He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man". Jesus is our example here. For, this text tells us how Jesus grew - He grew in wisdom - that is He grew in His insight into the true nature of life. And you can picture in your mind the little boy Jesus the teenager Jesus as He experiences life, as He helps His mother in the home, as He works in His father's carpentry shop, and He sits in the synagogue learning the word of God. He is making mental notes of all that He observes and growing in His wisdom of the true nature of life. To be sure it is based on the word of God. Here is the boy Jesus, the teenager Jesus, the young man Jesus attending the synagogue twice on the Sabbath and two more times through the week as was the custom of the age. He listens to the reading from the Law and the prophets, translated into the language of the day. And we know that He loved the word of God, but especially the book of Deuteronomy - He committed large portions of it to memory. The book of Hosea, and, oh, the book of Isaiah. He would read it often until one day He open it up and read,
"The Spirit of Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, he has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." And He would say afterward, "The prophet speaks of me." He grew in wisdom - through the word of God He would grow in His insight into the true nature of life. So, you can see the boy Jesus attending a funeral reception for a rich farmer in his community. Jesus' whole family have come to pay their respects and Jesus being just a young boy soon finds the other children and they begin to dart in and out from amongst the tables and chairs, around those gathered to pay their respects. Every so often running to the sandwich table to snatch their favourite. And in the midst of it all Jesus overhears the adults talking of the one who has died. He was a rich farmer who lived on the edge of town. And all the adults were saying how well he did for himself, how he was able to build such large barns and sure, he didn't demonstrate a relationship with God but look at all that he left behind for his children to enjoy. And the boy Jesus taking it all in, and as He grew in wisdom, in His insight as to what really makes for life - He would later tell his disciples about that man and would say that God reached out of heaven and wrote across that man's tombstone the word "Fool". Jesus goes on to say that life really consists of more than food and drink and the accumulation of things. Don't you know, He would ask, "that man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God?" He grew in wisdom. He grew in His insight into the true nature of life. Here He is playing hide and seek with His friends in the early spring. It's His time to hide and His favorite place to hide is in the field of wild flowers behind His house. He lies flat in amongst them and keeps His breath as quiet as possible and as He lies there He looks up at the delicate blooms and grows in insight - so that later He would point to them in one of His sermons and say, "Look at the flowers of the field. Do you see what great preachers they are? They are more beautiful than Solomon dressed in all his splendor, and if that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" Those truths that Jesus taught and we cherish did not did not just come to Jesus out of the whirlwind of life. No, they are the result of a lifetime of growth of listening to the word of God, of growing in wisdom. So it is with us, the great spiritual discoveries rarely just dawn on us one morning while we are munching on our bran flakes. No, the real truths about God and His world and what He has called us to be come out of a steady growth, a continual walk with Him a day after day progression that at times seems small but with the passing of times we can see - certainly others can see - that we are not what we once were. We are called to grow. Jesus grew in wisdom - as to the true nature of life. But the text also says that He grew in stature. That is age, height. I believe that this word is linked with the first. They are not separate but a matched pair. What Luke is telling us is that as Jesus grew older, as He grew physically larger His wisdom grew also. He didn't stagnate, He didn't grow complacent with age, thinking that He had arrived and that there was nothing more to learn. God calls us to grow - and He gives us His son as an example to follow. We need to beware of contentment when it comes to spiritual growth. It has been said that contentment with earthly goods is a mark of a saint; contentment with our spiritual state is a mark of inward blindness. God calls us to grow, not to become complacent in our present spiritual state or understanding. There is to be rather a perpetual hunger and a thirst for the living God. It is to propel us forward and upward. So that we grow in our faith, moving from a trembling faith that says, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" to a confident faith that lays hold of each promise that God has given believing that He is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. Our faith needs to increase in extent, believing more truth; let it increase in firmness, getting a tighter grip of every truth, let it increase in constancy not feeble or wavering; let it increase in its simplicity, resting more fully and more entirely and more completely on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Then we need to grow in our love. Ask God that your love, which may be just a spark, be fanned into flame that touches everyone you meet. Pray that your love may be extended reaching out to the unlovely, the unloving. May it be more practical, not loving in word only but loving in word and deed. Oh, that we would growing every way to be like Christ, so that your critics, your neighbours, your family and friends, will take note that you have been with the Lord Jesus Christ and have learned from Him. And do not forget commitment. Oh, let's grow in our commitment so that when you hear God call your name you will be able to echo the words of the boy prophet Samuel, "Speak Lord, Here am I" or you can say with the apostle Paul, "Lord, what is it you would have me do?" Basically whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, (Philippians 4:8) if anything can increase your usefulness, and service to the glory of God then grow in it, for you have not attained it, we are not yet perfect. It is God's plan that you grow. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and as He did so He grew in favour with God and man. He grew in favour with God so that all would hear the Heavenly Father say, "This is My Son whom I love; with Him I am well pleased." He grew in favour with man - that is, people knew that He was fair, that He was godly, that He was above reproach and who would speak the truth. Later we know that humanity would grow to hate Him and even kill Him. But at this time He grew in favour with God and man. So God calls us to grow in our faith - He gives us an example in Christ. But one last question must be addressed and that is, what is the means of growth? What is the means to growth? You know them - so fundamental to any spiritual growth - the practice of prayer, the reading of the Word of God, and the attendance of worship. All that we see the boy Jesus practicing here in this account of Luke 2. He must be in His father's house if He was to grow spiritually. But there is this, and this is also fundamental to spiritual growth - our focus must be fixed upon Jesus Christ. He is not only our example but He is our Saviour and our Lord. And our focus must be fixed upon Him. Now listen carefully, because this is what so often trips us up and causes us to be stinted in our growth, sometimes we focus our attention on everything but Christ. We focus our attention on an issue in the church, or we focus our attention on a group in the church, or a spiritual experience, or a style of worship, or a certain preacher. And what happens is that when that issue is finished, or that experience cannot be repeated, or that style of worship is no longer found, or that certain preacher falters, then the enthusiasm for that which is eternal deflates in a life. My friends, when you were converted, you were converted to Christ. He is to be the focus of your attention, let your eyes fixed upon Him for He is the source of every spiritual blessing. Other Christians will fail you - but not Christ. Experiences will dim and fade - but not Jesus Christ. With Him all things are new, every moment is new, nothing ever gets old. He can show us one aspect of His glory every day for all eternity and still we will only be touching the surface of His infinite being. In order to grow you do not need another religious pep talk, you do not need a greater religious experience, you do not need to hear the latest preacher, or buy the newest book on the Christian book shelves. No, instead keep your eyes firmly fixed upon Christ. Continue to see His love for you that is deeper than the ocean, and higher than the heavens. Continue to know His grace in your life that wipes clean the greatest and the smallest sin in your life. Continue to know His strengthening presence in your life so that through Him you can do all things. Continue to trust in the work He did on the cross for you and know that it is the very wisdom of God and the power of God. Continue to follow Him even when the world calls you a fool and be assured that you are in Him, and He is in you. Continue to fix your eyes upon Jesus and you too will grow in wisdom, stature and in favour with God and man.
Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - May 2002
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