The Gospel According to Gump: Finding Jesus
I’ll give you a little bit of
background to this Forrest Gump clip: it’s set in a hotel room with Forrest and
LT. Dan. Lt. Dan is in a wheelchair because in Vietnam, their platoon came
under attack. Lt. Dan felt like he was destined to die in the war, just like
his previous ancestors had in previous wars. But instead, Forrest saved his
life, and in the process, Lt. Dan lost his legs. And it left Lt. Dan without a
direction or purpose in life.
Lt. Dan has a bit of a potty mouth
from this point forwards, so I’ll paraphrase. Basically, he mocks the idea that
God is listening. If God was really listening, then God would know that he
doesn’t have any legs, so he isn’t going to be walking with anyone anywhere.
And he basically dispels the idea that there is any God at all. To which
Forrest replies, “I’m goin’ to heaven, Lt. Dan.”
I think Lt. Dan in this scene really
captures well the immense disbelief that many people hold today. The only
difference is, not everyone who doubts the reality of God looks like Lt. Dan.
They aren’t all junkies, alcoholics out living on the streets. Just like there
are people from all walks of life who believe the truth of God, there are
people from all walks of life who doubt it as well. Not everyone who lives in
the suburbs is automatically a Christian, though we like to think so. We think,
“How can I help someone find Jesus? Everyone I know is a Christian.”
First of all, everyone you know is not
a Christian. Second, if everyone you know actually is a Christian, you need
some more friends. The bottom line is, there are way more people out there that
do not know Christ on a personal level than we like to think. By the way,
that’s what it means to be a Christian. Having that personal relationship with
Christ. Making that commitment to live for him. It’s the difference between
knowing about someone and actually knowing them.
Like I know a lot about the
So with that information in mind,
rethink what you think you know about who is a Christian. Think about all the
hard-working, decent, honest people you know, and ask yourself, “Do they have a
relationship with Jesus?” Because it would be a shame for them to miss out,
just because no one told them about what it means to have a relationship with
Jesus.
Look, I can honestly tell you that
having a relationship with Jesus is the greatest thing that has ever happened
to me. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a pastor and I have to say it.
When I was 15, I would have told you the same thing: having a relationship with
Jesus is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Even better than
finding and marrying my wife, even better than the birth of my daughter, and
even better than the 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl that gave the Buckeyes a
national championship. Having a real relationship with Jesus is beyond any of
those things. That relationship is what I rest my hopes and dreams on. It’s
what I get up for on a daily basis. It is the rock in my life. When everything
else seems to be going haywire and is getting out of control, Jesus is the rock
that I can turn to and I can always be sure of. He consumes my life. Does that
mean I always do a good job in following his commandments and maintaining that
relationship? No. I still mess up, a lot. But Jesus is really good at
forgiveness, and He always takes me back with open arms.
I have to share with you a little bit
about what happened to me this past week, because I messed up. Most of you have
figured out by now that I’m not perfect. For those of you who haven’t yet
figured that out, that I’m not perfect, please plug your ears while I tell this
story, because I want as many of you as possible to remain in that delusion.
But this last week or so, I messed up. I didn’t practice what I preach. I was
really worried about some things. I let worry creep into my life on a huge
scale. And I was worried about things that I couldn’t even control. But I was
doing everything in my power to try to fix the situation and I felt like I was
getting no where, maybe even making things worse. Finally, through the wisdom
of my wife, I turned the situation over to Jesus. And I said, “Fine, you win.
You take care of me and this situation, because there’s nothing I can do about
it.” And basically no sooner had I done that, then Jesus provided everything
that I needed, and then some.
In my weakness, He gets even stronger.
And I praise Him for that. And I feel a deep sense of sorrow for those who have
not yet found what I have found, who have not yet turned everything over to
Jesus. I sometimes wonder, “How is it that anyone could ignore Jesus? How is it
that anyone who has heard of Jesus could go on living the same way that they
always have?”
I think Lt. Dan gives us a good
insight into some of the reasons that people continue to push Jesus away. One
reason people push Jesus away is doubt. Sometimes it seems as if logic and
science get in the way. It is just too hard for our human minds to wrap
themselves around the idea of God. The idea of Jesus. Eternity. The idea of
Jesus dying on the cross for the sin of the world. Coming back to life. And
some of the teachings of Jesus are difficult. Turn the other cheek? Love your
enemies? Rejecting wealth? Those are tough pills to swallow. So this doubt
lingers there, and it makes it hard.
Another reason people don’t find Jesus
is because of the past hurts in their lives. How many of you have seen the
movie, “The Santa Clause” with Tim Allen? There’s a character named Neil who
doesn’t believe in Santa, and his wife asks why, and he said, “When I was 3, I
wanted an Oscar Meyer weenie whistle. Christmas came and went, no weenie
whistle. So I stopped believing.” And we look at that and say, that’s
ridiculous! But people do the same thing with Jesus, right?
How many times have you heard of
someone, or maybe that someone is you, who got hurt in the past, and that was
when they stopped believing. It seems to happen often times when people die.
Like when someone loses a spouse, or child, or parent, or grandparent, and the
hurt is so bad, they just can’t believe that God would allow that to happen,
and they stop believing. I have to tell you, my heart just goes out to these
people. How awful to not only lose a loved one, but also your God. But for
whatever reason, tragedies cause people to lose faith.
Another reason people don’t find Jesus
that is particularly bothersome to me is the hypocrisy of Christians. I’ve
heard it said that the greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is
Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and
deny Him with their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds
unbelievable. Christians say, “Love your neighbor,” and then we do nothing of
the sort. Christians say, “Jesus died for everyone,” and then they pick and
choose who is allowed to come to their churches. And Christians all the time
are in the spotlight saying and doing things that make the world question why
anyone would want to be a Christian. And sometimes I think, “Man, if I wasn’t a
Christian, I’d probably hate Christians.”
But despite the doubt, the past hurts,
and the hypocrisy, for centuries, people have come to have a relationship with
Jesus. They’ve seen past all these things somehow and they have found the
truth. They have found Jesus. How? With all these things holding them back, how
can anyone find Jesus?
Because if you remember the scripture
that was read for us at the beginning, Jesus is asking for something crazy.
He’s asking us to die to ourselves. Matthew 16:24-26 says, “Jesus told his
disciples, if any of you want to become my followers, let them deny themselves,
take up their cross, and follow me. For those who want to save their lives will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will
it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?” In case
you had a hard time following, Jesus is saying this: If you really want to
live, then stop living for yourself. You’ve got to give yourself up. You can’t
be number 1 anymore. That’s what it means to die to yourself. That’s the only
way you can really live. Give yourself up – your dreams, possessions,
ambitions, control – and turn it over to Jesus. Trust in Him. That’s the only
way you can truly find life.
I don’t know if any of you have gone
down the alley back on the south side of the church, but along the back of my
garage, I have a garden. And in the spring, all along the back edge, I planted
sunflowers. Now if you go back and look, you’ll notice that there are a few
places where it looks like there should be a sunflower, but there isn’t one
there. It isn’t because a seed wasn’t planted there. It isn’t because I watered
the rest of the seeds but not that one. It just didn’t grow. You see for a seed
to become sunflower, the seed has to basically die. It has to stop being a
seed. It’s as if these seeds that didn’t grow said, “Look, all I know how to do
is be a seed. I know what the life of a seed is like. I hear that growing is a
good thing. I hear photosynthesis is great. But I’ll be giving up control. I’ll
have to let some gardener take care of me, and I don’t even know if he’s going to
come out and water me every day. I can control life as a seed, but if I give it
up and decide to become a plant, then I’ve lost control.” Those seeds that were
too comfortable being seeds just stayed that way, and now they are rotting in
the ground. Those who stepped out in faith and decided to lose their life as a
seed are now taller than my garage.
Taking that step is hard. Deciding to
let go of your life and put it in the hands of an invisible God is hard. The
doubt, and past hurts, and hypocrisy makes it harder. But Jesus has a trump
card, and it is the reason that over the centuries, people have decided to lose
their lives for his sake. And that trump card is the transformed lives who
those who have given their lives to him. The life of someone who has died to
themselves for his sake far overshadows any doubts or hurts or hypocrisies that
may have stood in the way. It’s the thing that makes people say, “That person
is different. I want whatever it is they have. I want to be as happy and
content and satisfied and at peace and full of love as they are. I want that.”
My prayer every day is that my life
may be a life that others can look to and find Jesus. And it doesn’t take a
preacher to have that kind of a life. Guess what: anyone who has given their life
to Christ and has a relationship with him is an evangelist, whether you like it
or not. People are looking at your life. If you are in Christ, then you are the
greatest evangelism tool the world has ever seen. Because no brilliant sermon will
ever totally refute every question of logic, and no amount of sympathy with
account for the past hurts, and no matter how strong of a Christian you are,
there will always be times when you will falter and be at risk of being a
hypocrite.
But if you have a changed heart, a
transformed life, there’s no argument that can stand up against the love of
Jesus. Kind of like the greatest argument against staying a seed is the beauty
of the sunflowers who have given up the life of a seed and put themselves into
the gardener’s hands. I’m glad to be a part of a church full of sunflowers,
people who have given their lives up to Christ. But there are some of you out
there who are still seeds. And we have a lot of seeds still in our community,
people who are afraid for whatever reason to give their life completely to
Jesus. And the greatest reason that any of them will decide to give their lives
to Jesus is by seeing his love in those who have already done so.
Folks, more than anything today, I
want you to find what I’ve found: a life that comes from dying to yourself. If
you are still looking for that, seek out a sunflower today. Find someone who
has done that and ask them to tell you how Jesus has changed their life. And if
you have already let Jesus consume you in this way, then stand tall and proud
and never, ever be ashamed to tell others about the joy you have in your life
because of him. Help others find Jesus. He’s calling to each and every one of
us: “Come home, come home. You who are weary, come home.”
Pastor
Dan Metzger
Van
Buren United