Emptiness-Recipe For Disaster

By John Stallings


If you could do anything you wanted, go anywhere you chose, buy anything that appealed to you - would you be happy?

There was such a man. He was a powerful, wise, respected, wealthy man. He was able to do anything he wanted because he was the king, the absolute monarch of his nation. He had all the options imaginable in life because he was unbelievably wealthy.

He wrote three books. One when he was young and head- over- hills in love, -The Song of Solomon. Book number two was written when he was a little older, the greatest book on successful practical living ever written, The Book of Proverbs.

The last book he wrote is simply the testimony of a burned out life, despondent, weary and hopeless. The first paragraphs of Ecclesiastes are anything but inspiring.

Listen to verses one and two:

"The words of the teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: 'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the teacher. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."-

What a way to start a book. This book screams…“Been There, Done That, Now What?"

Of any place he wanted to go under the sun, Solomon could say, "Been there." Of any lifestyle or act of pleasure or fulfillment, Solomon could say, "Done that." Having been there and done that and finding it meaningless,he asked, "Now what?"

It’s not enough to say "Solomon, you ought to go to church." Solomon went to church. In fact, Solomon built the Temple. Further, Solomon preached and taught in the church. Verse one calls him, "the teacher." In other places he is called, "the preacher." He asked for and got wisdom which comes from God and he taught it in the Proverbs and preached it in the temple, but he lived by the wisdom which came from his own mind.

He indeed became rich, powerful, respected and EMPTY.

Let’s be real. Just as in the case of Solomon, our life can be empty. Perhaps in spite of all the glitter and glamour; deep beneath the surface lays an empty reservoir of lost dreams and hopes. Void and lack plague our lives and prohibit our pursuits of fulfillment and satisfaction.

All of us, in spite of our ages, wages, races and ethic identities, have to wrestle with the issue of emptiness. Empty marriages, careers, and even ministries sadly are the norms of our times. Life with all of its commotions and promotions still leave us empty. These are “The days of our lives.”

We pep and step, bling and ching, style and profile yet we are empty. “The butler, the baker, and even the candlestick maker, Lottie and Dottie and everybody” are wrestling with this thing called emptiness! All the subjects, servants and those who are served can’t escape cold harsh winter winds of emptiness. The question that confronts us all today is how do we deal with emptiness in our lives? How do we deal with failing and faulty finances, bankrupt relationships, broken homes and hopes that leave us stranded on an island of suffering and sorrow like Skipper and Gilligan-or Tom Hanks?

EMPTINESS MADE CHRIST’ FIRST MIRACLE NECESSARY.

God does big things in small places. The first miracle of Jesus took place in a place called, Cana of Galilee. Cana was an inconspicuous and obscure little town that lay outside of Nazareth. You talk about the “hinterlands” Cana had no social significance in its day!

However there happened to be a wedding in Cana and Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus and his disciples had all been invited to this wedding.

Cultural norms would have us to understand that this was a “peasant” wedding. Otherwise, Mary, of low estate would not have been there. Jesus’ ministry began in a small, and unimportant town.

Weddings then were a lot like weddings now; they were a big deal. The bride from babyhood had been prepared for this moment. For girls in Jewish culture, from the moment they were born, they were never allowed to be alone with any male other than their father and brothers. The lack of virginity could be a disgrace and financial liability to her family. The wedding ceremony would take place late in the evening after a time of feasting. Note that late in the evening means the wedding took place at the dawn of the Jewish day. The father of the bride would take his daughter on his arm, and with the wedding party and parade through the streets of town so that everyone could come out and congratulate the bride.

Finally the wedding party would arrive at the home of the groom. The wedding actually took place in the front door of the groom’s house. After the ceremony the bride and groom walked through the streets accompanied by flaming torches. This trip could take hours, many guest would wait along the road and join the wedding party as the procession passed. Attendants would walk with them keeping a canopy over their heads.

Once the couple arrived back at the house of the groom, the groom would carry the bride over the threshold and then stand at the door as the processional party entered the house. All that were to be a part of the festivities had to enter the house before the door was shut. The couple kept open house for a week. They were treated like royalty. They dressed in fancy clothes and many times actually wore crowns on their heads. Whatever they desired was granted. Jesus and his disciples showed up at this wedding by invitation.

Whenever Jesus shows up it is always the breaking of a new day.

CHECK THE GUEST LIST OF YOUR LIFE

If things are to start off right in our lives, or progressively get better Jesus must be invited. In those areas where we find emptiness in our lives we should check the guest list and see if Jesus is there.

It’s Jesus that transforms houses into homes, weddings into marriages, males to men, and females to women. Without Jesus our bright day is dark, our happiest moment is shallow, our lives are mere shells of what they could be. We need to check the guest list and see if we have invited Jesus in those empty and lonely areas.

Many have invited some Hollywood star, or musician to occupy an important place in their life. With others it may be some political cause. You and I need to check the guest list and evaluate who has access in our lives. We need to issue summons of restrictions for some people and things and extend a VIP invitation for JESUS. He wants to come into your situation, but He will not break in. He stands at the door of our hearts and seeks access.

Often we invite everything but the right things into our lives. I challenge you to check the guest list of your life and make sure Jesus is there. This story emphasizes that the disciples were the disciples of Jesus. They were there because of their affiliation and occupation with Jesus.

People miss the celebrations of life because of their lack of connectivity to Jesus. There is coming according to the book of Revelation another wedding celebration and only Jesus and his disciples/children will be there. Have we dedicated ourselves to the discipline of becoming His disciples?

When Jesus is in the house, he brings generous abundant blessing. He brings forgiveness, he brings the gift of the Holy Spirit, he brings purpose and direction for our lives, he brings the best. Jesus said - I have come that they might have abundant life. What a difference it makes when Jesus comes.

Not only should we check the guest list and ensure we have given access to Jesus, but we must ;

RECOGNIZE OUR NEED AND BRING IT TO JESUS

Mary, says to Jesus -they have no wine, -translation, we’re empty, we’re all out.

The Jews didn’t get drunk at these celebrations. Drunkenness was considered a social disgrace and spiritual defilement. But the host could have actually been sued for a breach of hospitality to his guest if there was no libation. This was no minor issue. Mary understood the urgency of the moment and so she comes to Jesus and says, “Son, we’ve got a problem here, and we need your help. The groom’s family is running out of wine.”

There are differences of opinion as the whether the wine Jesus made was fermented or just grape juice. I’ll let you make up your own mind about that. All I’ll say is- I’ll gladly have a glass of anything Jesus makes.

MARY HAS A LITTLE TALK WITH JESUS

Mary is obeying a Biblical principle here. We’re told;

…. in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.- Philippians 4:6

Mary coming to Jesus with such a problem is a portrait of what we need to do when we are running out of spiritual strength and life is getting on our “last nerve.” This is how to respond to empty situations. Mary goes to Jesus and tells him all about it. When we’re empty we shouldn’t hesitate, or cover up. Follow Mary’s example and come clean about the situation.

Mary shows us that if we are serious about our search for solutions to the problem of emptiness we must be real about our situation. This is a prerequisite to the manifestation of God’s power; he requires that before He will show up; we must be willing to call out to Him.

There’s something here that at first blush seems a bit puzzling; Jesus seems to tell his mother off: ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?’ The NIV puts it: ‘Dear woman, why do you involve me?’ ‘My time or hour has not yet come.’ It helps us if we remember that in different cultures people have different customs and speak in different ways.

In the culture that Jesus lived, it was in no way rude to address a person as woman, although we would think it rather rude. That’s why NIV makes it ‘Dear woman’. Jesus was not rude to his mother, but rather what he was saying to her was ‘My main purpose in life from now on is not solving all the practical problems of my family and friends. God has given me another task to do, and the time for that has not yet come.’

Jesus basically came to do two things; to teach and preach to the “house of Israel” then to address himself to the mission of dying for the sins of the whole world. Remember, he lectured the Syro-Phoenician woman about this. Then he went ahead and granted her request anyway. His mercy constrained Him to reach through dispensational walls if necessary to help people.

Though we realize that Jesus is concerned with greater issues than just our minute problems and difficulties, that’s no reason to stop bringing to Him our requests and concerns and putting our trust in him. Mary heard what he said but she still persisted in her faith and trust, knowing Jesus was going to make something good happen. She says to the servants, ‘do whatever he tells you.’ That is always very good advice for anyone,

DO WHAT JESUS TELLS YOU TO DO

There were six large water pots available that had been used for Jewish Rites of purification, but Jesus pressed them into a different use.

Jesus took 180 gallons of Jewish laws, the rituals of purification, and transformed them into 180 gallons of grace. Jesus took 180 gallons of guilt, 180 gallons of laws, laws and more laws, 180 gallons of “don’t do this and don’t do that,” 180 gallons of laws that numbered more than 600 regulations. Jesus then transformed these religious regulations into a new religion, a new wine that would burst old wine skins. Jesus transformed the old religion into the new religion.

There is enough grace here for a whole city, enough grace for a whole state, enough grace for the whole wide world. From God’s fullness of grace, right up to the brim, we all have received grace upon grace upon grace. I love that line in the text where the vats are filled up right to the brim, right up to the top of the lip of the vessel.

THE DANGER OF EMPTINESS –SEVEN MORE DEVILS

Let’s look at another example of emptiness.
Jesus said,

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return to the house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

This is the story of a demoniac who suffered a relapse. The man was demon possessed, and by the power of God the demon was cast out of his body. A demon is a fallen angel. But after the demon was cast out of him, the man did not repent of his sins, improve his life or make any changes in his life. Again, an empty life is a recipe for disaster.

When the demon came back and found the man's heart and life empty he entered the man's body again and brought seven more demons with him more wicked than himself. Jesus said the last state of that man was worse than the first. The chief lesson in this passage is the danger of emptiness of good in a person's life after God has cast evil out of his life.

There are two profound truths in this passage. One is that unless our minds are possessed of good, they will be possessed of evil. The other valuable truth is that evil once removed from our lives can return to our lives, and as a result, we will be far worse than ever were before. This story is about far more than a demon possessed man, for Jesus said the same thing that happened to this man could happen to most of the nation of Israel. In Matthew's account of this story Jesus said,

“So it will also be with this wicked generation”(Matthew 12: 45

When a demon returns to a life after being put out and he finds man's heart bad and empty of good, he’s even better suited for that man than before. He had not repented of his sinful life, and therefore was a very fit dwelling place for a demon. Some people today, after God has forgiven them of their sin, refuse to correct their lives and grow in grace, fall into a worse condition than before they became Christians.

Judas Iscariot is a perfect example of that. Jesus spoke of people whose last state became worse than their first state. As the demon possessed man had a relapse, many Christians have had relapses into sinful living.Then Jesus made an application of this teaching to the entire Jewish nation by saying, “Even so shall it be also to this evil generation.”(Matthew 12:45).

The last years of Jerusalem before the Romans destroyed it were years of wickedness. Their condition was evil when Christ walked among them, but by 70 A.D. they were in worse condition than when Jesus walked their streets. What Jesus is saying here is that the nation would be worse off for having known Him and rejecting His teachings. His teachings could have changed their lives and made them righteous and holy in God's sight.

What all this amounts to is a serious warning about negative improvement only. To receive forgiveness for sins of the past life, but make no positive course correction and improvement in our lives puts us in a most dangerous condition. This is quite common in Christianity. People get rid of their sins, but then make little or no improvement in their character. At conversion the character of Christ is not transferred to us in some mysterious way as a gift.

The only righteous people are those who practice righteousness. We must correct the mistakes of the past; and we must develop a Christian character. God won’t do that for us. We must do the repenting and the changing. We must overcome evil in our lives; and Christ will not do that for us. He cleanses our heart from evil at the new birth, but we can leave our hearts empty; if we choose. But if we do so evil will return to us. As a result we will be worse than were before we became Christians. Jesus framed these words so as to include the entire Jewish nation when Jesus lived.

Those listeners to whom He was speaking were fitting representatives of most all people in Israel who rejected Jesus as their Messiah. The words of the Lord in Luke 11:26, “the last state of that man is worse than the first,” are quoted by Peter.

The apostle Peter applied these words to Christians in 2 Peter 2:20,

“For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the proverb: A dog returns to his own vomit and a sow having washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Can you imagine such words spoken to Christians who were once cleansed of an evil life, and then returned to their old evil way of life and enjoyed it? Peter referred to many who became immoral and false teachers and caused pollution in the church. This is exactly what happened to some who had been healed of demon possession, and Jesus says this same condition can occur in people who have never been demon possessed. When God cleanses our lives by the truth, and we continue to live an impenitent and unrighteous life, we are worse off than we were before we became Christians. Jesus applied this teaching to the entire nation of Israel, and it equally applies to you and me. Another step for dealing with emptiness is;

CONSULT A SPECIALIST

If your life seems empty and tasteless, don’t try to fill it with some substance or some exotic location. You can travel the world looking for meaning and when you return home and put your hand on the doorknob, the same old emptiness will be there. If you tried to do it without the Lord you’ll say- “been there, done that, now what?”

Mary not only acknowledges the crisis, and verbalizes the deductive conclusions of her rational comprehension, but she demonstrates to us; it’s not so important that we have problems, but what we do with the problems.

Mary recommends to us that when we have problems, we should CONSULT A SPECIALIST.

Too many turn to sister Cleo, and palm readers, fortunetellers and other forms of spiritual witchcraft. Mary says to us; when we are empty, it’s not Taurus the bull, or Pisces the Fish or the Gemini Twins that will help us, -we need someone who specializes in making a way out of no way. If your car were broken, you would seek a specialist. If your vision were failing you would consult a specialist. Mary takes her problem to Jesus.

We have to take our hurts and brokenness to someone that specializes in meeting human need.

As an old song says;

“Got any rivers you think are uncrossable. Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through?” God specializes in things thought impossible. And He can do what no other power can do."

Forgive me for waxing ancient here but there’s another old song I seldom hear these days. If I knew the author I’d gladly give credit;

Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that’s well known,
We’ve no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.

Blessings,


John