Ever wish you could just run away?  In the movie bearing his name, young Forrest Gump becomes a very good runner because he learned to outrun those people and events that made his life miserable.  You and I spend our lives doing the seemingly important things -- working, learning, engaging in relationships.  Some of us are constantly on the run -- after an education, or a certain job, or marriage and family, or financial success.  While all of these are important, maybe we're running after them because we're afraid of facing something more important, such as a relationship with God.  It's easy to be on the run if we fear the One we're running from.

          Most of us don't run from God, though.  We shuffle away from Him, or we slip and slide away, a step at a time, a task at a time, a pleasure at a time.  Then one day we wonder why God seems so far away.  Running from God began with the first  sin in the Garden of Eden and is part of our human nature that feels uncomfortable, even a bit threatened, by a holy God.  David said, "Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?" (Psalm 139:7)  The human urge to run from God will probably never leave us till our last breath.

          Though it's human nature to run from God, still God wants a loving relationship with us.  He wants us to run with Him, not away from Him, and to work with Him in service and fellowship.  If you and I want to follow the Lord, we can't stay where we are.  We need to get involved with Him in His work.  God speaks to us through His Word and calls us to follow.  Sometimes He speaks to us through answers to prayer, newspaper headlines or even personal experiences.

          Last Thursday one of our members related a close call at work.  Boyd works at a power plant, and repairs to the parking lot required all office workers to walk through the plant instead of going in the office door.  Inside the plant entrance was a small bulletin board and though he usually ignored it, that day he stopped for a few seconds to read something.  As He did, a steam pipe ruptured in the hall ahead of him, precisely where he'd have been had he kept walking.  If he'd not stopped to read that board, he'd have been burned by 600 degree steam.  He believed God stopped him, and so do I.  Like poet Walt Whitman said, letters from God appear every day, but it's up to us whether or not we read them.

          When God speaks, we need to listen and follow.  But we usually struggle with this.  Should I follow God?  If I follow Him, can I stay where I am or will I have to change?  When we get a message from God, it can lead to a crisis of faith that requires us to step away from our comfort zone, away from the things we hold near and dear, and into a deeper relationship with Him.  And if we make some adjustments, we can experience His presence in a more wonderful way, and maybe even participate with Him in His work.  This is what brought me to Epiphany Lutheran Church.

          What I've just told you is a powerful truth, something we cannot absorb in just one hearing.  We must experience it several times before we can accept it.  But now let's look at how some people in our Bible text went "Looking for the Lord."  Turn to the insert with today's lessons.

          In John 6, we see Jesus had been a busy man.  He was hard into His ministry and did not stay long in one place.  After feeding 5000, He walked across the lake, on top of the water, quieting a storm along the way.  The next morning people He'd fed saw He was gone and went looking for Him.  "Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

          Jesus disappeared so they went looking for Him.  But why?  To thank Him?  To worship Him as God's Son?  No, because they wanted something He had.  This was no ordinary Rabbi, One who could give them great things.  Jesus was the star attraction, the celebrity, the Tiger Woods of His day.  He had something no one had seen before: not money or fame or power, but Truth.  The people knew He was special, someone from God, and wherever He went, they sought Him out.  When they realized God was speaking, they went looking for the Lord.

          We Americans are fascinated with celebrities.  We go to their games or concerts or movies.  We may shake our heads when they get into trouble, but we fantasize about meeting them.  We may decry that an athlete can earn $15 million a year, but we'd love to get his autograph.  Something in all of us wants to be around famous people.

          Jesus knew this.  He wasn't surprised at why people went looking for Him.  He knows all our reasons.  Even today when we come looking for the Lord in our worship and prayers, we come with our big problems and our small requests, and -- Praise God -- each time He listens!  He has told us, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." (Matthew 22:21), and so we come, hoping He will give us what we want.  In time we may come to Him for true and pure worship, but generally we're like those people who were headed across the lake looking for Jesus, because He had something they wanted.

          Did you watch the final "Survivor" show last Wednesday?  I didn't, but I must have been the only one not to see who survived months of adventure in island isolation.  Only in America would an audience give a TV show highest ratings to see which person would be the most selfish.  Only in America would the winner be the most obnoxious man, a deceiving manipulating man, even an openly homosexual man, who did whatever it took, right or wrong, just to bring home the million dollar prize.  Only in America would people week after week watch a program whose only purpose is to get something at the expense of everyone else.  And now, of course, for the winner comes the fleeting fame, the celebrity appearances and the inevitable book deals.  Mr. Hatch now has a little fame, but I wonder if it will make him a better person.

          Are we survivors on this island called earth?  Are we willing to sacrifice everything good and right to get what we want?  Are we takers or are we givers, are we complainers or servers?  Jesus came to serve people and to give His life for the sins of all people.  He showed love and mercy for the poor and lowly.  He was patient with the obnoxious and didn't punish the manipulator.  Though He hated the sin, He always loved the sinner, no matter what.  He who possessed the riches of the universe became poor, that we might have the riches of His grace.  He owned nothing but the cloak He wore, and in the end they took that from Him.  Jesus was not a selfish survivor, but a selfless server who gave up His life that you and I might inherit eternal life through faith in Him.

          Yes, people often do go looking for the Lord, and they are blessed.  But what happens when the Lord comes looking for us?  What happens when He wants to get us involved in His plans?  Do we run like Jonah or hide in a cave like Elijah?  Do we refuse to participate because we don't think we're capable or we don't agree with His plans, or we're just too busy?  When God comes looking for us, how will we respond -- with cooperation or with evasion?

          You and I can't follow the Lord and stay where we are.  Either we heed His call and follow, or we plug our ears and get left behind.  If God is calling us to follow Him, to get involved in His work, it's for our eternal benefit and also the benefit of those around us.  God loves us just as we are, but He doesn't want us to stay that way forever.  He wants us to be more like His Son Jesus, the Suffering Servant.  God wants us to follow Him.  He will get His work done with or without our help, but what a great blessing will be it for us if we Hear Him and follow.

          As Martin Luther used to ask, "What does this mean?"  What does this message mean for me?  What does this mean for those I love?  What does this mean for my church?  It means we live out the Five Purposes of our Church.  Remember them?  (1) Joyful Worship as we gather each week here to praise and honor God above all, and it means (2) Faithful Service to all those around me.  It means (3) Positive Outreach to my community with the Good News of Jesus; and (4) Loving Fellowship as we gather together in the family of God called Epiphany Lutheran Church.  And finally it means (5) Biblical Nurture, growing in our knowledge of God's Word, listening to the Lord tell us of His love and His will.  In short it means looking for Jesus and then following Him.

          Do you believe God is at work around us?  Do you think He wants a love relationship with us?  If so, have you heard Him speaking to you through Bible, through answered prayer or daily events?  Are you willing to make some adjustments so you can join Him in what He's doing?

          Jesus knew God is always at work around His people.  He heeded the call of His Father and got involved in His Father's work.  He was tempted to quit, and He had several crises, such as the time He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  But yet He made the necessary adjustment, and He gave His life for us on the cross of Calvary.  Now He wants us to follow Him in faith.

          What are you looking for in life?  Are you looking for comfort and personal satisfaction, or are you looking the Lord?  In Jesus we can have both.  We can have the comfort of knowing God is walking with us, and the personal satisfaction of spending heaven with all the saints.  I don't know about you, but I want to experience God's presence and love in the fullest way.  If we follow the Lord Jesus in faith, we will do just that.  Amen

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.