032. 100% Freedom

100%  FREEDOM

Today I’m going to tell you a parable. The dictionary tells us that a …. Parable – (is) a short simple story that teaches a religious or moral lesson.

I’ll call this one … The Parable of the VW and the Big Truck

I’m driving down the highway in my little VW beetle.  In the distance I see a truck coming towards me ….

… and as he gets closer, I can just see the driver in there.  And maybe it’s my imagination, but he looks like a really ugly looking driver, and he seems to have two horns coming out of his head!  And if I can see it quite correctly, I think I can see a pitchfork behind his head.  He doesn’t look good.  He looks evil.

And he’s coming towards me.  Coming down the highway.  And just at the last moment, he’s not letting up, he’s driving straight at me, and at the last moment, I drive quickly off into the ditch and down into the ditch I go.

And I’m scared, because I didn’t expect that to happen.  But it’s happened alright, and finally I get the nerve to drive back up onto the highway again, and along I go again on the highway.  And I’m driving a bit slower this time, I’m not so fast, I’m driving towards my destination.  But this big truck has slowed me down a bit.  And so I’m going along, and then after a little while I see, …  yes it is, it’s a man ahead.  It’s somebody hitch-hiking.  It’s not a big truck again.  It’s somebody hitching a ride, and so I pull over to the side because I’m into picking up hitch-hikers.

And this hitch-hiker is dressed in beautiful white clothes and he’s got a lovely smile.  He’s got a lovely character by the look of him.  I choose to pick him up.  I put him in the offside seat, the passenger seat, and we’re just driving along the road there.  He tells me where he’s going and in fact we happen to be going in the same direction to the same place, the same destination.  And he’s good to talk to, a very kind person.

We’re driving along, and in the distance I see to my horror, here comes another big truck.  And as I get closer, yes this truck’s coming straight at me and down into the ditch I go.  We actually rolled the vehicle on its side down in the ditch, and when we both get out of the car finally, and we rock the car and get it back on its feet again, back on its wheels …   We looked at the car actually, and it wasn’t too good, because all the mud-guards were bent in against the tyres and we wouldn’t have been able to drive it at all, but my hitch-hiker friend dressed in white, he is strong, and he takes the mudguards and pulls them away from the wheels and he said to me, You know, would you like to drive the car for you?

I thought to myself, Well I’m certainly not doing a very good job along this highway of life along which I’m travelling to this destination and I said, Yeah, look I think I’d like you to.  Anybody’s got to be better than me.  So he gets in the driver’s seat, and I’m in the offside in the passenger seat.  We get back onto the road, onto the highway, we’re cruising along the road, and my driver is doing a very good job, and we’re travelling, not at half speed like I was, but we’re getting along there at about 100km an hour, and then what do I see in the distance up ahead?  Here comes a truck, and this time, I’m just bracing myself.  I wish in a VW you could get under the dash to brace myself but I couldn’t, so I’m just doing the best I can and holding on and gritting my teeth, and my driver, I notice something interesting about him.  He’s got a smile on his face, and the other thing is, as he drives along, he’s been doing 100kmh but he pushes it up to 120km per hour, and we are moving.  It’s an open highway and you do just about whatever speed you like, and here comes the truck.

The truck’s coming straight for him, and I’ve got my eyes shut and I don’t know what to do.  I’m not prepared to even look.  Next thing, I hear the roar of a big truck going past, and then I hear the tearing of steel, and the smashing of glass, and I hear an explosion.  And it’s not us!  It’s not us!

I slowly come up and I open my eyes and I look back.  I look back behind us, and there over in the ditch there’s fire coming out of its side, out of the truck that’s down on its side in the ditch.   Unbelievable!  My driver, he is fantastic!

So, I’m sitting there in the seat and I’m a bit proud of my driver.  He’s doing so well and I notice while we’re driving along, I see these kind of, they kind of look like nail scars in his hands.  And I said to him, What are those scars for?  And he said to me, Oh, that’s something that happened a long time ago.

And anyway, he’s a lovely person, my driver.  And after a while, and after a while, I’m thinking to myself, Heh, I could drive like that.  I could make the trucks go off into the ditch like that.

And I said to him, I think I’d like to drive again.  I think I could drive alright.  And, the man in the white, for the first time, instead of a smile on his face, seemed to have a look of sadness as he gives me the wheel back.  And he could have said, No, I’m going to drive.  No, he’s a gentleman.  He lets me choose what I’m going to do in life, so I take the wheel back.  He doesn’t force me to leave the wheel with him.

I take the wheel back.  We get up on the highway.  Moving along the highway there.  And guess what happens when the next truck comes?  I am down in the ditch.

Well, from there on, I’ve chosen to let the man in white drive for me.

You know, in this parable, in this story, who the man in white is, don’t you?  Who is it?  It’s Jesus of course. What we’re going to see today is that … Whoever is driving is the one who is 100% in control.

It is a big thing to hand someone else the steering wheel of your car.  If I’m driving, I choose the destination.  I choose the route.  I choose the speed.  You’re in the passenger seat.  But if we are to change seats, if you’re going to drive, I have to trust you.  It’s all about control.  Whoever has the wheel is the person in control.

Sometimes when I’m driving, it doesn’t matter where I'm going, even if it's just three blocks away, someone will question the route I take!  As soon as we start going, I hear, "Why are you going this way? This is the long way. We shouldn't go this way; we should go the other way."   I have to tell them, "This is my car. These are my keys. This is my way." But everyone else wants to sit in the driver's seat.

Sometimes when I’m driving, it doesn’t matter where I'm going, even if it's just three blocks away, someone will question the route I take!  As soon as we start going, I hear, "Why are you going this way? This is the long way. We shouldn't go this way; we should go the other way."   I have to tell them, "This is my car. These are my keys. This is my way."   But everyone else wants to sit in the driver's seat.

Here's why I bring this up. Jesus came riding into Jerusalem. He came into town on—does anybody remember what His mode of transportation was? It was a donkey. Not an impressive way to come. It was like coming into town in an old bomb of a car.

Everybody was cheering for Him, but they all had an agenda for Him.  Hosanna! Jesus, come and take care of me.  Come and heal me.  Come and deliver me.  Come on in and overthrow the Romans.  Come on in and take back the temple.  Come on in and get rid of the foreigners. Come on in and rearrange the circumstances of my life the way I want them to be. We'll all shout "hosanna!" if You do what we want You to do. We're glad to have You in the car, Jesus; but just remember, it's our car. These are our keys. This is our steering wheel. This is our way, but You're welcome to be in the car as a passenger.

A lot of people find Jesus handy to have in the car as long as He's in the passenger seat, because something may come up where they require His services.  Jesus, I have a health problem, and I need some help.  There's something going on at work, and I'd like it to be different.  I'm feeling some anxiety, and I would like Your peace of mind.  I'm feeling a little sad; I would like some of Your hope.  I'm facing death one day - I want to make sure I'm getting into heaven and the new earth. I want You in the car, but I'm not so sure I want You driving.

Here's the question today,….

Who is driving your life?

Who's steering your life?  Have you ever surrendered it?  Be honest now.  Is He just your passenger or is He steering?  Have you ever said to Him, "All right, Lord, I am now giving you the steering wheel of my life"? Jesus is clear about this. There is no other way for a human being to come fully to God than to surrender the steering wheel to Him. We find statements in Jesus' teaching like this one from Matthew 16:25…

Matthew 16:25  

"Whoever desires to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Or Jesus puts it this way another time in John 12:24.

John 12:24

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."

If you and I want our lives to be fantastically multiplied, we need to die to self and let Jesus steer. He puts it another way in Matthew 16:24 …

Matthew 16:24

"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves (give over the steering wheel to Jesus) and take up their cross and follow Me."

Listen carefully to this next statement:  (slowly)   Surrender is not the same thing as being passive.   ---  Part of God's will for your life is that you be active, make choices, be creative, that you initiate and take responsibility.  It is not at all the same thing as passivity.  It does not mean being a doormat and allowing other people to walk all over you.  It doesn't mean that you just accept any and every circumstance.

In fact, if you fully give up your steering wheel to Jesus, if you become a strong and devoted follower of Jesus, it will require courage in fighting the status quo – courage in standing firm when others try to turn you back to your old habits – courage to resist the temptations Satan will throw at you.  He’ll try his darndest to stop you following-his-arch-enemy Jesus Christ. Surrender does not mean that you cease to use your mind, ask questions, or think critically.  Having Jesus steer is not a crutch for weak people who can’t handle life.  Surrender of our steering wheel to Jesus and our heavenly Father is the glad and voluntary acknowledgement that there is a God, and it is not me.  God’s purposes are wiser than my purposes, and His desires are better than my desires.

Jesus and our heavenly Father do not come into my life to rearrange my outside life the way I want it to be. They come to rearrange my inside life the way they want it to be.

I know, ----- this word ‘surrender’ is a hard word.

Surrendering to Christ is not easy, but it leads to 100% freedom and life. We need to surrender. We are sinful, and stubborn, and stiff-necked, as the Bible puts it.   That's not the whole truth about us, but it is a truth about us. We are self-centered and self-promoting, often in secret ways.  We are often self-deceived as to how broken we really are. We need to bend our knees before God. We need to submit our heart.  We need to confess our sins. We need to surrender our life to God.

Is anybody excited about that message? I'll tell you one person who didn't want to hear that. Me.

I'll give you a personal example. I grew up with this need to think of myself as a winner. To think of myself as stronger and more popular and more confident than I was. The teachers used reverse psychology on me and said I’d never do good at anything. Well I’d show them!  I left school early and worked my guts out to prove them wrong. Sometimes I won and sometimes I lost. The truth was, I was more introverted and insecure than I ever wanted anybody to think, or wanted to let myself think. As I grew up, it was like trying to be somebody I wasn't, trying to grab something I couldn't, and it would make me more defensive and hidden and unhappy and driven and inauthentic in ways I didn't even realize.

I finally decided I needed something better.  I needed Jesus.  I didn’t want to let go of my pride and ambition, but there was no real joy in where I was heading.  I finally said, “God, I will let go of my need to be this person.  I will trust You.  With Your help I will let go my steering wheel and let You drive.  All right, You drive!”

It is strange to look back on that, because as I gave up the steering wheel, what I was giving up was nothing.  It was a false self.  It was this illusion of misplaced pride and ego and junk.  Of course, I still have a lot of surrendering to do, but one thing I have learnt is that on the other side of death to the old life is wonderful freedom and new life as I let Jesus take the wheel. Now here’s an interesting point -

We cannot will ourselves to victory; we must surrender our will. But I can’t surrender to God unless I trust that He has my best interest at heart.   Does He?   He most definitely does.  Jesus has a lot to say about death to self, but it is always the death of a lesser self, of a false self, so that a much better self can come to life and I can thrive as the person God wants me to be.

Life works better when Jesus is driving. Here's why: Through surrender, You receive power that you can’t get any other way. Through surrender, You receive freedom that you will otherwise never know. A lot of you are familiar with the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous - the 12 steps of AA. These 12 steps lay out a way of life that is the greatest single vehicle to freedom for addicts that the world has ever known. AA is for people who find it impossible to stop drinking.

This is what's so interesting to me. In which of the 12 steps does it say, "Now try really hard not to drink"?  Does anybody know which of the 12 steps says that?  None of them.  None of them even say,  "Now decide that you're not going to drink anymore."

The most powerful tool against the most powerful addiction in the world never asks people to decide to stop doing what they must  stop doing. They do not try to mobilize their will. They've tried that before. They must surrender their will.

Step 1. I realize I am powerless. My life is unmanageable. When I'm driving, I'm going to mess it up.

Step 2. I come to believe that a power greater than myself can restore me. Then this is step three, this is our step today. This is a killer as we say, but it’s a life-changer. ---

Step 3. I make a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God. Have you done that? ----  It's a strange thing when you try to overcome your problem, your junk, your whatever it is by your own will -- it will beat you every time. --- But surrender your will, as scary as that is, and then another kind of life becomes possible.  ---- Surrender. We think of that word as defeat;  that's loss. -----   But, it turns out to be the only way to victory, the only way to real life.  Not just with alcohol, but with other addictions, habits, and brokenness—sin in general.

Let’s take this to a deeper level. Why does the will fail?  I’ll tell you why. Your will fails because your mind is crazy, and it will mess you up. This is from the Big Book, the guidebook of AA.  It's a profound reflection of the way the mind works and why we need a power greater than ourselves. When it comes to drinking, AA says,…

"We ought to ask this question:

Why is it that I can't stop?

I say …… 'Never again. I know that way is death.'

I say never again, but I do it again.

Why do I do it again when it violates everything I think and believe and value?"

My cousin Priscilla, an alcoholic, age 54, will be buried this Monday.  She died from liver failure, gangrene, many complications.

This is what the AA book goes on to say...

"We are unable at certain times to bring into our consciousness, with sufficient force, the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even one week ago."

Again, this could be around drinking or any violation of any values or bad habits.

"The certain consequences that follow taking a drink do not crowd into the mind to deter us. If these thoughts occur, they are hazy and readily replaced by the old thread-bare idea that this time, we can handle it ourselves."

Now here comes a very important point. … "We must surrender daily.” The only way to be free is to hand over the steering wheel. But I don't want to do it. Neither do you. Of course, the good news about surrender is, if you do it one time, you never have to worry about it ever again. Right? May-be-not.  Jesus put it like this in Luke 9:23…

Luke 9:23

"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

What's the key word in that little sentence? Daily. Today, we're in church. I love God. I want to follow God.  ---   But then comes tomorrow. Then Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday. In Romans 12:1, Paul puts it like this, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."   This idea of ‘reasonable service’ is the continuous offering of our bodies and our minds to God – every day!   The achieving of all worthwhile goals requires perseverance, doesn’t it? Have any of you ever been mad at somebody? Ever had anger that was difficult to deal with? You feel someone has treated you very unfairly.  Your mind goes crazy.  It’s filled with all kinds of thoughts about what a bad person they are. Your mind feeds on and enjoys bad thoughts about this person. Has anybody here ever done something like that?

Fortunately, other thoughts come, this time from God, about what not to do:

“These are things Ray, that you should not do. Number one, thou shalt not murder.” Okay, I won't kill him.

“Number two, no violence.” Okay, I won't have him beaten up.

“Number three, no gossip .” Well, Lord, if I agree to no murder and no violence, couldn't we leave gossip on the table? You know, as a possibility?  J

Surrender - is when I say, "All right God, I will seek to handle this anger in a way that honors You.   I may not even know what that means right now, but I know certain things it doesn't mean. It doesn't include gossiping, blasting people, avoiding or deceiving them. So okay God, I'll let go.  You're driving. I want you to have the wheel.”

If it's a burning issue where the hurt goes deep, once I've surrendered to God it will be maybe just five minutes before the ideas of revenge start coming back again. Then I have to surrender again. Maybe I react to my conscience a little quicker this time, but you see, it's every day.  As Jesus said, we ‘take up the cross’ moment by moment. It takes courage! Every day in our lives there's this question: Who-is-driving?

So we have options, choices.  God never forces anyone.    You can, if you want to, live with a rebellious heart toward God. "God, it’s my car, my life, my steering wheel, my way. I want nothing to do with You. I will live the way I want to live. You stay out of my life. I'm not going to talk to You. I'm not going to believe in You."     Friends, you can live with a rebellious heart if you want to.

Now this next option is all too common--- to live with a divided heart. Jesus is in the car, but you're driving. "I'll keep this space, this relationship under my control. I will hold onto this grudge. I will enjoy the pleasure I get from this habit. I will retain this secrecy.  God, I know you want full surrender, but I don't trust you."    Who's driving?! Friends, you should be aware of this:

If you live with a divided heart, it will be a miserable way to live. It will block you from that sense of ease and a full life and freedom that is given to someone with a surrendered heart. If you keep Jesus out of the driver's seat, it will gnaw at you. Only one thing gives real peace and real life, and that is (oddly enough) a surrendered heart.

You lose an old life, but you gain a new life, and the life you gain is way better than the life you lose.

It turns out that nothing you lose was worth keeping anyway.   Ask any excited and vibrant Christian if they think they’ve made the right decision to surrender their life to Jesus.

So here is the question: who's in your driver's seat? Have you fully surrendered your life to Jesus? Jesus will be relentless about this.  He was back in His day.  A woman gets caught in adultery, and Jesus says, "I don't condemn you. Now go. Sin no more." Jesus says to us, surrender your sexuality issues to me, your habits, your thoughts, your actions. If you need help in some areas of life, if you need to talk some things through with some people as part of your surrender, then you do that, do whatever it takes for you to surrender to Me, Jesus says.

A lot of times it's around money. A rich, young ruler comes to Jesus, and Jesus knows this is a place where he needs to surrender. So He tells him, "I want you to surrender your wallet to Me and help the poor." He won't do it.  On the other hand, Zacchaeus the sinner, volunteers, "Half of everything I own, I give to the poor, and I pay back everybody I cheated four times over."  He surrenders, and lives! Maybe it's in your relationships. Has anybody here ever been the control freak in a relationship, or at work? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to the relationship if you said to God, "I give up my control of that other person or that situation.  God, I trust You.  Please come and steer us through this relationship.

I give up having to have my way." If you have a struggle in your life, Jesus will help you, because He understands your struggle. --- Many years ago, Jesus knelt down in a garden, and prayed, "God, I don't want this. I don't want the cross. I don't want the weight. I don't want the burden. I don't want the shame. I don't want the pain. I don't want the death. I don't want it.   But Father, not My will, but Yours be done. Father, you drive.  I'll pay whatever it costs."

Have you ever done that?  Really trusted your heavenly Father with your future?   Jesus trusted and was victorious and you can be too. This is your day.  --- Maybe you have yielded your life to God, but there is still some area that you're clutching onto. Maybe today, you want to say to God, "God, I want more than to just believe in You, now I want You to drive.  I want to surrender my life to You.  I don't want to be in control anymore."   Maybe you want to say to Him,  "Lord, my time, my money, my will, my future, my desires—I want to hand them to You.  I want to surrender everything to You.  I want You to be my leader.  I want You to be my Lord."

Maybe God is speaking to you today, and you know it.  Maybe it's a habit or an attitude or a grudge.  Maybe it's around money or possessions, and in your mind you've been holding onto it.  Will you surrender it?  Will you let it go?  This is your day to do that. Will you?

Let’s stand and pray

Dear Father, thank You very very much for these dear folk here today.  Thank you for Your patience, thank you for Jesus.  Father, we want 100% freedom, and I just pray for every person here today that today, we will make a conscious decision to give our lives fully over to You and let You steer our life.  Whatever it is in our life that’s holding us back from walking more powerfully with You, I just pray that we will give it over to You, give over those thigs that are bothering us and holding us back from following You properly and from being a better person in the community, within our families, amongst our friends, and in the total community.  Father, please bless each one of us as we go away, and as we go away today, may we remember what we’ve been speaking about and put it into practice this week and into the weeks and months and right on into our lives.

In the precious name of our very best friend and our Saviour Jesus. Amen.

Well, I’d like you to sit for a couple of minutes. Every morning I wake up early and talk to God.  He’s my most glorious Papa and I ask Him how the day is going for Him.  I always wish Him a great day.  The same for Jesus.  But I really do wonder how they could possibly be having a great day when they’ve got an apprentice like me helping in the business.

Anyway, they love you and me dearly even though we mess up quite a bit.  Nevertheless, I do say to God each morning, “Father I don’t want to do my will today.  I want to do Your will.”   Then I tell Him I’m putting this rubber band around my wrist to remind me during the day to do His will with His help.  I thank Him for putting the desire in my heart to want to do His will.  I ask God to give me the strength to always hold onto His will during the day and not to take my will back instead.

So here’s my offer to you.  You can have a rubber band too.  Two sizes, take your pick.  I’ve been doing it each morning for a few of years now and it’s been a great help and a great blessing to me.  And when your rubber band gets too worn out or dirty or whatever, you can have a new one.

Friends, if you have been blessed and challenged by this message, then please take time now to send it on to your friends.

To God be the Glory!

Thank You.