Desperate For You

We are in the midst of a sermon series where we are looking at popular and favored hymns or worship songs and preaching around the theme that they offer. We have engaged songs such as “Amazing Grace” and “One Day at a Time”, and now here today we are engaging with the song entitled, “This is the Air I Breathe” sung by various artists like Rebecca St. James, Michael W. Smith and the worship group Hillsongs.

“This is the Air I Breathe” was written and first sung by a woman named Marie Barnett who led worship at her church, but did not consider herself to be a songwriter. Her writings of worship were more something she did behind closed doors, described as something just between her and the Lord. One Sunday, however, that would change and as she led worship that morning, she was moved by the Spirit and the words from what we now know as the song, “This is the Air I Breathe” , spontaneously came out. She and her husband had been singing the song, “Isn’t He” and as that ended and her husband continued playing music, Marie says this… “I was so enthralled with Jesus at that moment, thinking I could never live, I could never even take a breath, if I didn’t have a word from him everyday and I heard from him these words – This is the air I breathe, this is my daily bread… so I started singing them.”

As she sang, the congregation joined in and sang the song, the words, the praise of wanting more of Jesus – touched the congregation. Over time the song was recorded and became a popular worship song, being sung in churches all over the USA. Take time to listen for yourself the song and meditate on the words as you listen – – “This is the Air I Breathe” .

Do you hear it? Do you hear the desire for more of God in the words of this song? As I listen, I’m struck by the words, “I’m desperate for you.” Desperate… I can relate to being desperate to or for a lot of things.. but desperate for God – most days is not something I’d put on the list…rather, I can relate to.. the kind of desperate that comes with being new parents, up all night with a new baby who doesn’t like to sleep more than 20 minutes at a time. I remember all too well those days and nights where I was desperate for sleep. I can relate to being desperate for school to end, homework to be done and summer to begin.

I know what it’s like to feel like I am desperate for a drink of water after a long hot run, or desperate for a bite of French fries or a slice of pizza as the scent of them taunts you from the boardwalk as you sit on the beach. I know, sounds rough huh? I also understand the desperation of wanting good news, of being in the waiting and the wondering and the wanting badly for the nightmare that you are in to be over. The desperation for a new morning, another word, a second chance, a do over. One more moment with our child, one more conversation with our parent, one more hug with our spouse.. desperate for those moments to have again. We get being desperate for those things. We all have things we are desperate for, that we long for.

But being desperate for God? I’m not sure I find that as easy to relate to or as often expressed nearly as much as perhaps I would like or need. Perhaps I’ve experienced a desperation in wanting something from God or wanting God to do something, to change things, to act in a certain way. But a desire to be ALL God, breathe in and breathe out God, to desire him more then I want or need or crave anything else in this world… I fall short. I do not desire God the way I should, the way he desires and wants me. But as I have thought about the words from this song, as I have pondered what to write in this sermon, as I have closed my eyes and prayed for God to move, I have found myself praying for God’s spirit to make me more desperate for Him.

We read in the Old Testament – these instructions to the Israelites – and it’s these words that point us in the direction of wanting and desiring and being desperate for God in every part of our life. “Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”

And again we hear from Paul in Ephesians as he prays for believers to be filled with the wholeness of God, to know of the fullness that comes in being loved by God. Like Marie Barnett sang that one Sunday in her church – to recognize God, the Spirit of our Living God, as the very air we breathe, as our sought after daily bread, to pursue a desperate need to be that filled with all that God has to offer to us. And yet I don’t think we even come close to really grasping, to understanding how high and wide and deep the love of God really is for us. How outrageous this love that God has for us is, how indescribable, how relentless, how extravagant this love is. And friends, that is the love we need to be desperate for. That is the kind of love, the WHO of love that we are to desire above all else in our lives.

And yet, if we ask one another what it is we desire most, what we are most desperate for, – an intimate, faith filled, seeking after Christ in all we do – relationship with God is prob. Not the answer we most hear from people. But what if..
Instead of desiring perfect lives with little to no struggles -we desire God and his love and his redemption in less than perfect times. What if We pursue God over pursuing a life of no struggles?

What if.. Instead of desiring more money, bigger homes, fancier toys, more things to fill our house with – we desire God and what we most want is for our hearts to be filled with His Spirit of truth and grace, over our homes being filled with décor and toys and possessions. What if.. Instead of desiring the job of our dreams, or popularity, a lot of friends or a house full of well-behaved children – we are to desire God, to want God more than we want anything else in all of life.
What if – instead of worrying about how we compare with others, instead of casting judgement, instead of trying to get ahead, instead of seeking wins and raises and straight A’s and accolades and awards and trophy’s to hang on our walls and define as – what if instead we hung bible verses on our walls, kept on our eyes on Jesus and recognized ourselves as a child of God and realized that nothing else compares to that.

Not even an Olympic Gold Medal.. it has been so very fun to watch the Olympics this past week. To engage in the competition, to cheer on our favorites, to watch my kids play as they pretend to be swimmers or beach volleyball players or gymnast as my floors bounce and vibrate with activity. Some of my favorite moments are watching the interviews with the athletes following competitions, their emotions and excitement.. – David Boudia and Steele Johnson, are two athletes who have given powerful statements after winning. They are 2 of America’s Olympic divers – a team of 2 who share in interviews, not just about encouraging one another as divers, but encouraging one another towards Jesus. They share in a very powerful interview after winning the silver medal about the most important thing being WHO they are in Christ, not who they are as Olympic winners. Watch this interview after they won silver.

I think it’s fair to say that these two athletes understand how high and how wide and how deep is the love of God found in Jesus Christ and that that Love, the Who of that Love, is so much greater than a stand on a podium or a medal around their neck. A pursuit of Christ trumps a pursuit of gold or silver or bronze. A pursuit of Christ in all things takes intention – intentionally putting verses up around our house or around our necks as medals. The intention of a favorite Bible verse atop our door as the first and last thing we see as we come and go. I am convinced that the more we pursue Christ, the more we will desire him, the more desperate we become for him, the more we depend on him for all things. We pursue Christ by opening our Bibles and spending time reading Scripture, studying the words of God, meditating through the Psalms, engaging in the history of the Old Testament, asking questions like the disciples, memorizing Scripture passages so in moments of struggle, in times of grief, as we praise God or question God, when we want to hide and when we dance with joy – the words and promises and encouragement of who God is and what God does is on our lips first and foremost. We cannot know His promises or recall His words if we are not spending adequate time in the Scripture every day. Friends – this is being desperate for God, his word is the air we breathe – our daily bread. Fill up on that and desire more.

A pursuit of Christ is reacting and living and doing and being – in faith. It’s reaching out to touch the cloak of one who heals because we believe so strongly in the power that comes from our Savior. It’s living in faith when your brothers sell you into slavery like Joseph and you end up in prison and yet you still trust in God’s goodness and you still worship and you still pursue God because it’s not about your circumstances or how much people like you or about your plan playing out -it’s about the redeeming grace and love of Christ Jesus who has already claimed us and declared us victorious because of the cross. A pursuit of Christ is singing and worshipping and lifting praise hands to God when we feel trapped and things seem unfair and we feel cheated and persecuted and not understood. Paul was arrested and put in jail for doing God’s work, it doesn’t get more unfair than that and yet Paul continued to pursue and desire and was desperate for God, so he praised God and he worshiped God and trusted God and his faith was in God and not in that tiny jail cell or the condemnation being put on top of him.

We pursue God by strengthening our faith and our faith strengthens when we worship together, as we fellowship with one another. Our faith strengthens and our desire for God becomes greater as we sit and study the word of God together – through Sunday School classes, or small groups, in bible studies, through prayer for one another. Our desire for God becomes greater as we love our neighbor and we serve together. Here at West Grove, we have so many opportunities to desire God through service – have you joined in yet? You can serve with Family Promise as we host families who are currently without homes. In September, we have the opportunity to go to Crisfield, MD and work on repairing homes that were damaged in hurricane Sandy 4 years ago. The youth had their mission trip over the summer and now, as adults – we have a turn to put our faith in action and desire God through serving. Have you spoken with anyone of our mission team members? They have loads of opportunities where you can serve, in person in various ministries and missions in and throughout our community. In October, we will partner again with Good Neighbors and work on a home right here in our own neighborhood. You can serve by volunteering as a Sunday School teacher for our little ones, or taking a Sunday to be in the nursery. Join the youth ministry team and serve as you build relationships with our teenagers. Show up this Thursday or Friday morning over at the West Grove Memorial Park for an outreach to our children in the borough as we host some soccer clinics and games. Bring water or cookies or put your sneaks on and play soccer with the kids. As we show up and pursue the things that are of God, our hearts and our minds become more and more filled with the Holy Spirit and we begin to turn this world upside down and we live out the Kingdom of God right here in our own backyards. That is what it looks like to be desperate for God. To Love the Lord with all our hearts, our souls, our strength. To be strengthened with God’s power, in faith to have Christ dwell in our hearts, to even begin to grasp – together as a community – how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ Jesus and to be filled beyond measure with the fullness that is our God.

What is it you are most desperate for right now in your life? Let me encourage you to evaluate that and to pursue more than anything else – loving Christ Jesus as you are loved by our awesome God who sent his son to the cross. We are loved extravagantly. We are loved widly. We are loved with pursuit. We are loved relentlessly. Go this morning with the knowledge that we are invited into a scandalous relationship with a mighty God who can and will awaken a desperate desire in us for the very God who created us and loves us. Let us be desperate for God.

Amen and Amen.

Old Testament Lessons: Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.  Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.  Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

New Testament Lessons: Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.  I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.  I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.