Easily Distracted

Read: 

Psalm 119:9-16 and John 12:24-26 

When I travel to Memphis, which I do at least once a month, I stay with my friend, Dennis. He and I mountain bike together, we work together at a local bike shops, his dog Kodak is a best friend to my dog, Polar Bear, his house is dog friendly, and he is a hospitable guy. So, I always enjoy the visit. Typically, when I stay with Dennis, in the mornings I will wake up, make some coffee and breakfast, then watch the morning news. When I do this Dennis will typically go into his garage and clean up or work in the yard. I used to wonder why he didn’t watch the news and chat with me. A few months ago I found out why. Dennis cannot watch the news without getting mad. One morning he sat and started to watch the news and his reactions were humorous. He started yelling at the reporters! Even the meteorologist was purged into a personal fire pit with Dennis’ condemnation. He sat with me for about five minutes and waked out of the room. “I just can’t take this. I can’t watch the news without getting angry. I have things to do that make me happy.” Being that Dennis is a really good friend of mine, I laughed at him and told him that he was weird and old. However, I started doing some thinking about Dennis’ response to the news. I find myself getting angry at the news too but I don’t verbalize it. I do, however, internalize it. It is often depressing. When I watch the news and I watch television I am often distracted in regard to my plans for the day and I am often less productive.

Before the Lent Season started I did some reflecting on sacrifices that I could make. I concluded with this, rather than going into the wilderness for forty days, I am going to abstain from the wilderness. Huh? Let’s face it; “the wilderness” is a great metaphor for the world we live in today. Cat Stevens said it well when he sang, “Ooh baby, baby, It’s a wild world”. I decided to spend forty days without watching the news in the morning. I know it doesn’t seem like much to sacrifice. But when it is a large part of your daily routine it makes quite a difference when it’s not present. Since Lent is nearly over I feel that I can accurately give a summary of my experience. To easily summarize, I don’t think I am going to start watching the news again. It has been very good for me and it has given me the opportunity to focus, prioritize, learn, pray more, listen, and not be distracted by the noise from the “wilderness”.

Have you ever put much thought into the things that distract you from your relationship with God? Have you ever recognized that you were being distracted? What does it mean when we are distracted from God? I think that is the question you have to ask yourself when considering loyalty to your faith, or rather your piety. What does it mean to be distracted from God? After putting a lot of thought and reflection on this I have come to a marginal conclusion that it is when a believer starts to focus more inward than outward. I call this a marginal conclusion because there are times that a believer needs to focus on him or herself. As a matter of fact, I am a strong proponent on taking care of your self before you serve someone else because I have discovered (the hard way) that you cannot serve another person until you take care of yourself. A vessel won’t get too far if it has a hole it. A bird can’t fly if it has a broken wing. With that said, we must look inward to make sure these vessels can float the Holy Spirit into the world before we go out serving. But, think about it; when your inner self was broken down, you were not distracted from God. As a matter of fact, you were looking for someone to fix it and you knew there was refuge with the Lord.

Thus, back to the point, we become distracted from God when we look too far inward and we forget about what is going on outside of the shell. Though, the Holy Spirit lives within, the Holy Spirit’s concern is what's outside. God wants us together. God wants us to live for and love each other. In order to seek God’s desire and accomplish God’s plan we must always focus on God’s plan. I will be the first to tell you, it ain’t easy.

So, what is the problem? How do we become so distracted from our faith? What makes God’s plan so hard? Have you ever just sat and pondered that simple question? Why do we have such a hard time obeying God’s commandments? Is the fruit from the tree of life that appealing? Maybe it is not fruit that is so appealing. It might be a fat paycheck. It might be a new car, home, or some other possession. It might be a cream filled donut or a slice of pizza. I don’t know. Whatever it is, the world tells you that you need it to survive. (Why are they so convincing?) But, God tells you that you do not need it because God has already given you what you need.

So we know what distracts us from God. The next question is why can’t we just look the other way? Why can’t we just turn off the television, hide from the world, avoid people? (That is a hell of an idea!) Here is the answer: we cannot do that because that is where the mission field is. But, among this mission field we have all of these things that take our focus away from God. It’s like asking an opioid addict working in a pharmacy. Or, it’s like sending Bruce Banner into a boxing match and telling him to not let the Hulk come out. Sending a believer into the world and asking them to not be distracted from God is asking a lot. Media, the desire for wealth, anger, hate, selfishness, family issues, work problems, illness, natural disaster, war, and our culture’s persuasive rhetoric to be better than everyone else and live up to a certain standard makes living for God a hard thing to do. Is it possible to always focus on God and seek the mission of Christ during our lives here on earth? I don’t think it is. Our world has too many imperfections. However, it is possible to always try. We make never make it to the stars, but we can always reach for them. 

In Johns Gospel the writer records an interaction with Jesus speaking with a group of people. It is not certain who all was part of this group but the writer includes that there were some Greeks in this group. The Greeks were not Jesus’ people; they were not Jewish. They were mostly gentile and polytheistic. The Greeks were very attached to a certain culture that glorified by Rome. This culture was defined as Hellenistic. Wealth was paramount in this culture. You had to be a certain way and live up to a certain standard to be accepted. Sound familiar? Even the wealthier Jews were second-class to most of the Romans. So it’s odd that these people approached Jesus with the desire to meet him. They wanted to know him. Jesus says to them, “Those who love their lives will lose them, and those who hate their lives in this world will keep them forever. Whoever serves me must follow me.” Let’s break down what Jesus is implying in this message. He is not suggesting that you stop loving what God has given you and starting hating your life. That’s why it is important to look into this Greek language. Jesus is telling these folks to stop looking inward and look outward. Do not live selfishly, but rather selflessly, because that is pleasing to God. To further that request he is specific to say, “in this world”. The Greek word in the text for “world” is defined as an arrangement, constitution, order, or government. As it would seem, Jesus did not just offer a lesson; he gave them a challenge. He told them that if they wanted to please God, they had to turn away from what their culture encouraged them to do.

That is where we are at. Our culture tells us how to live. I feel that many people are distracted so far from their faith that they lose touch of it. That is the influence of the world. As I said, I don’t think it is possible to always live up to God's desire for our faith; we are too weak. But, when we make an effort we focus on the effort we are making. When we are reaching for the stars we know what we are reaching for. We find methods to this in constant prayer, actively serving our neighbors, being confident in God’s presence, and spiritual practice. Since our culture makes it so difficult, we must be intentional.

In 119^th Psalm the writer creates a prayer in poetic form. This is very congruent to a prayer that we might lift up in regard to living for God without distractions. I have interpreted it a little to help us understand the prayer:

How do we do right? By sheltering ourselves from the world?

I stray so much; is it possible to do right for you?

I try to do right so I will please you.

Teach me to do better.

I will repeat what you ask of me.

I know I can live by your laws.

I will think about you as I plan for the future.

I will be content as I live for you.

I try, I fail, I grow, I learn, and then I try again. I think this might be the vision of the psalmist. The writer knew God and what God was asking. The writer was very knowledgeable in regard to God and the Law. But the poet knew that living this life was problematic. However, he or she actively sought God’s plan.

How can you actively seek God’s plan in a world full of distractions? What distractions can you eliminate from your life? Do you need to add to or complement your faith practices? Are there activities in your life that distract you from God? Can you live without those activities? Are there certain people that you need to separate yourself from to better focus on the plan God has for you? Asking yourself these questions and genuinely wrestling with these questions is part of actively focusing on God and the mission of Christ. That is part of reaching for the goal. We may never achieve the goal but is essential to reach for it. Our Lord knows that we are weak. When do not live up to God’s commandments our gracious God picks us back up and sends us on our way. That is the Gift we have because God loves the world. Since God so loved the world, let us show God our love by making our best efforts to be focused on God’s plan.