Lewis Memorial UMC

If you have been outside much over the past 3weeks or so you probably would not describe the weather as comfortable! It has been anything but comfortable for most of us. We live in the south so we are not used to this many below freezing mornings and high temperatures not even getting out of the 30’s. I am blessed in that I don’t have to work outside in this kind of weather, although I do like cool weather better than hot. I used to work outside my first year out of high school when I worked for a tree cutting business so I remember the joy of coming in out of the cold. What I remember the most is coming into the shop and standing by the heater and drinking some hot coffee. There was a certain amount of comfort that was easy to feel. There is something soothing and comfortable sitting by a fire place in your favorite chair at home safe from the elements outside.

What it means to be comfortable has been interesting to me for many years. I think I probably took that for granted before I started going on mission trips and comparing my comfort level to others around the world. Think about what makes you comfortable. How about right now? Sitting in a warm church with loving people should be very comforting to you. If you have been coming here to Lewis for a long time then you are probably very comfortable with your surroundings. If you are here for the first time this morning then I pray you are comfortable and have felt welcomed. If not, PLEASE let me know! Having a feeling of comfort in God’s house is soothing and gives us a sense of peace. This place should be a safe haven and a place where you can be comfortable being who you are and worshiping God however you feel led to do so. So are you comfortable?

I may have told you this before, but when I left the comfort of the church I had been a member of for 10 years and served on staff for 5 of those years to my first appointment as pastor I was a little scared. I asked my senior pastor for some advice and he told me 2 basic things to remember. First, he said love them! No matter what always love the people. The second thing he told me was to remember the unwritten rule of the pastor – comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable! Now I think he was kidding, but I also understand what he was meaning. Sometimes, as church people, we get a little TOO comfortable in our spiritual journey and in our spiritual surroundings.

My comfort zone may be different from your comfort zone and it is something that many Christians struggle with at different times in our lives. Why do I HAVE to get out of my comfort zone? A good question! Somehow I think we can only grow so much and then we stop if we don’t expand our horizons at least a little. Every time I think about that I remember Jesus’ disciples after Christ’s death. They were in the Upper Room for what may have been weeks because they were afraid they would be accused of being a follower of Jesus and then suffer the same death. They were comfortable just staying in that room where it was safe. But twice Jesus appeared to them and they finally realized that they were doing no one any good – including themselves – by staying where they were comfortable. They had to get out and tell others about Jesus! If they didn’t do it then who would? If we stay where it is safe and keep Jesus to ourselves, all wrapped up in our hearts only and not on our tongues then who will tell others about Christ today? More about that in a few minutes!

Regardless of what your zone is it is God who ultimately gives us comfort. In our scripture reading this morning Paul had something to say about comfort. In the NIV he uses the word comfort 9 different times in just 4 verses!

Paul loved these people in the church in Corinth and he was grateful for their love and support. He told them how thankful he was for the comfort they gave him through the years. Although he was a faithful servant as a missionary for God, he also experienced pain while doing it for you see it is not always easy being a follower of Christ! But Paul found peace and comfort first from God and secondly from the church! That should be the same for all of us today! We should be able to always feel God’s peace and comfort with us because He has promised it to us! We also should experience the same feelings as a household of faith!

Let’s look back at 2Corinthians 1:3-7 again. At the beginning of this we read how Paul felt about God as he wrote this letter. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort!” We use a lot of words to describe God, but have you ever referred to Him as the God of all comfort? What a great description! If we look at the beginning of verse 4 we see why Paul referred to God this way – “who comforts us in ALL our troubles!” What’s great about this is that Paul didn’t say that God comforts us only if we ask Him to do so, He just does it! But Paul says in the rest of this 4th verse that there is a reason for this. He says that God “comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” We receive comfort from God so we will know how to comfort others!

Just like so many other gifts we have been blessed with this gift is not for us only. We know how to love because Jesus first loved us! We know how to forgive because God forgives us! And we can give comfort to others in trouble because we have all received comfort in our troublesome times from God. Verse 5 says that our comfort overflows because of Jesus and through His sufferings for us. So let your comfort and care and love for others overflow! How can you do this? Because you know how it feels to be comforted.

What brings you comfort? When are you the most comfortable? I have a favorite pair of old blue jeans and they are so comfortable! I have had them for a long time and they fit perfectly and I love to just lounge around in them or do work around the house because of the comfort of them. Here’s the thing though – they are only comfortable to me! Trust me when I tell you that I can only wear them around the house! They are not what I could wear out in public and if you ever saw me out in public with them on you probably would not be very comfortable. So my point is this – what makes one person comfortable may not be the same for others. Comfort varies from one person to another. But when it comes to God He gives comfort to ALL of His children and that same comfort is within each of us to be able to give to ALL who need it.

A couple of Sundays ago I challenged you to consider taking on 5 resolutions for 2010 found in Hebrews. Do you remember what they were? Draw closer to God with a sincere heart! Hold unswervingly to your hope! Spur one another on toward love! Keep worshipping God together! And encourage one another! I hope you have been working on these and asking God to help you. But even these goals will make some people uncomfortable. You might start worrying about the amount of time it is going to take. You might be concerned that about the amount of your hope. You may even have to start going to church more often! Encouraging someone might scare you to death! When we look at these 5 resolutions where do we see comfort? If you draw closer to God you will be comforted! If your hope is in Christ alone then you will feel His comfort! If you spur someone on to love more by your own example of loving others then you will receive comfort! When you worship God every day and join others in church on Sundays then a sense of comfort will come over you! And there is certainly a great feeling of comfort when you encourage others!

There are many things that bring us comfort in today’s world. I think about that every time I go on any kind of mission trip, whether it is across the world or here in Augusta. Being comfortable can be wonderful and it can lead us to being complacent. Living a life of comfort, for some people, has kind of a negative sound to it. Should we apologize for our comfort? I don’t believe so. As long as we remember that we have received comfort so that we can comfort others.

Paul reminds us today of a very important characteristic of being a Christian. It reminds us also of yet another gift God has given us in the form of His Spirit. You have with you the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called the great comforter in the Gospel of John. The Holy Spirit is with us always and it guides us and reminds us of the teachings of Jesus. When I am reminded of all that Jesus did for me it brings me comfort! When I think of God’s love and grace and peace and forgiveness then I have a great feeling of comfort! When I get closer to God and think about the hope I have in Christ and when I can spur other on toward love and encourage others and when I worship the Lord I get an unbelievable amount of comfort! And THAT kind of living a life of comfort is alright! Are you comfortable?