I want to explore the concept of having a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ, having a look again at the absolute majesty and awesomeness of Him.  Unfortunately as human beings, we have a propensity to take amazing things and make them average as we're around them a lot.  We just end up familiar with things.

The other day, it was my turn to organise morning tea at my office.  I brought a box of a dozen original glazed Krispy Kremes.  And I walked in there, and I thought that when I walked in there, because I had a box of Krispy Kremes, it would be proclaimed "My Day" because they would be so excited to see me and the Krispy Kremes.  I thought they would have stood to their feet, applauded, cheered, I thought that was going to be the case, but as I walked in and said "Hey I have some Krispy Kremes!" they all went "uh.... Krispy Kremes..."  Isn't that funny?  Remember three years ago before Krispy Kremes came down to Melbourne?  When, every now and then, someone would fly down from Sydney and bring a box, and everyone would freak out about Krispy Kremes.  If there was a Krispy Kreme sighting within a suburb that would cause mass hysteria!  "Krispy Kremes, Krispy Kremes, so crispy and so creamy at the same time!"  Three years ago I remember there was a charity auction, and a box of Krispy Kremes sold for $120.  One hundred and twenty dollars!  Why?  Because they were rare.  They were awesome.  They were a new addition to the landscape of humanity, people went nuts over them.  A hundred and twenty dollars for a box of Krispy Kremes.  Now, three years down the track, I walk in with a box of Krispy Kremes for nothing and everyone goes "uh....Krispy Kremes..."  Ask yourself the question: why did they respond that way, when three years ago they would have gone crazy and thrown a party? 

The reason is Krispy Kremes have been in Melbourne for two years, and there is no longer a shortage of Krispy Kremes.  If you want a box, you go up the road and you buy a box, eat it, have a surag rush for a little bit, and then go on with your life.  What's happened is that now we're familiar with Krispy Kremes.  What was before a novelty, what before was awesome, what before was amazing, what before tasted so sweet and unique, now is something that is ho-hum, average, been there done that.  Here's the problem – everything awesome can be, in time, seen as average.  And here's the sad reality – Jesus Christ unfortunately in our generation sometimes can be seen as average.  We talk about Him all the time, we sing about Him all the time, we preach about Him all the time, Jesus this, Jesus that, and the reality is that Jesus Christ is so awesome that putting the word awesome in the same sentence doesn't even do Him justice.  He is might, majestic, powerful, the king of the universe.  But because we're around Him all the time, because we hear about Him all the time, sometimes we lose that sense of wonder and awe. 

We want to regain, recapture, reignite, a sense of wonder and awe for the saviour of your soul, the maker of your life, the holder of your destiny, Jesus Christ. 

I just wanna talk about climbing trees and making space.  Climbing trees, and making space.  Have you heard of Magic Eye pictures?  Here's a picture to jog your memory: http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/9364/sinwq6.gif

I've got a theory about Magic Eye picture – it's a worldwide conspiracy centred around attacking me!  Because I have never been able to see the picture in the Magic Eye!  I've tried absolutely everything, I've listened to everyone's advice!  Some people say "start really close, and work your way out."  Some people say "start really far out, and move your way in."  Some people say "make everything blurry and focus on nothing", others say "concentrate very closely and try to bring clarity to the picture."  Different people have told me different things, I've tried them all, they all have failed, because Magic Eye pictures is an international conspiracy against me.  The reason I believe that, is because I believe that there is nothing in that Magic Eye picture, but people all around me seem to be able to see some image in this picture!  I'll be sitting there and staring, doing the out-in eye thing, in-out eye thing, blurry sharp one-two combo, try my heart out, and I can't see a thing.  And people will walk past and stand behind me for five seconds, and say "yeah I see it" and they'll just move on.  And then I'll try even harder to look, and someone else will come by and say "oh yeah that's a good one, I see it!"  And I'm convinced that there's nothing actually there, it's just that everyone in my life has gotten together, and they thought it would be funny to make me feel stupid!  It's so frustrating!  Even the people at my work are in on the conspiracy now!  It's so frustrating because it seems like everyone else can see it, but I can't see it.  It's like everyone else gets it, but I don't get it.  It makes total sense to everyone in my life, but to me it makes absolutely no sense. 

The reality is that there are people who, if they were totally honest with themselves, they'd have to admit that Jesus is like a Magic Eye picture.  You go along to youth, service, jump around during the singing, but in your heart and soul, Jesus is like a Magic Eye picture.  It's frustrating because it seems like everyone around you sees Him, you're frustrated because everyone else seems to get Him, and the more you strain to see Him, the more despair you feel because you just don't see Him, you just can't quite make Him out.  You may be at church and you look around and you think "that guy over there seems so free to lift their hands and praise Jesus, to be excited about Him, why do I stand here, and why can't I jump in too?  I don't see Him, I don't sense Him!"  It doesn't matter if you've been at church for five years or five seconds, you just don't see Him. 

Go with me to the book of Luke 19.  We're gonna read about a guy who couldn't see Jesus, but he climbed a tree, made some space, and saw Him clearly.  Verse one says "and Jesus entered Jericho and He was just passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zachius, he was the chief tax collector, and he was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was. 

He wanted to see Jesus.

He'd heard about Jesus, he'd been in discussion with Jesus as the topic.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was a short man, he could not because of the crowd.  His vision was blurred, he had a desire, an ache, he wanted Jesus to go from this person in a story t someone that he saw for himself and experienced, but being a short man within a crowd, that vision, that picture, was blurred.  So he ran ahead and climbed a fig tree since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached that spot, He looked up and said to Him "Zachius, come down immediately, I must stay at your house."  So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly.  All the people around Him began muttering, saying this Jesus guy has gone to be the guest of a sinner, but Zachius said "Look Lord I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have ripped anyone off, I'll pay them back four times the amount" and Jesus said "today salvation has come to his house because this man too is a son of Abraham, and because the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost." 

Here was a man who said "I hear about Jesus, I get excited about Jesus, I hear this Jesus word and my heart jumps, I want this Jesus to jump from being a concept and into reality, but He's still just a blurry picture for me!"  This story is amazing because no matter how clearly we want to see Jesus, Jesus wants a million times more for us to see Him clearly.  Jesus Himself, not a pastor, not an usher, not a youth leader, but Jesus Himself wants to reveal Himself to you!  Here's a man Zachius, who says "I've heard about Jesus, but I just can't see Him, I've been excited from stories about Him, but I can't see Him clearly!"  The Bible says he ran ahead of the crowd, climbed a tree, waited for Jesus, and Jesus called him down.

I want to challenge you with this concept, whether you've been in church for years or only just stumbled in, super highly religious, can't even spell "God", it doesn't matter who you are or where you're at, but there is a truth in this story, that if you want to have a fresh encounter with Jesus, if you want Him to stop being like a Magic Eye picture that you just don't get, if you want to see Him clearly for yourself, you need to learn how to climb a tree and make some space!  You see, in this story, the case can be made that finding Jesus is less about forcing the issue, is less about trying harder, is less about working out a formula for working out Jesus, is not about faking and pretending that you can see Him when inside you feel like He's a million miles away.  Seeing Jesus clearly is often less about forcing anything, and more about you learning how to make space in your life and letting Him come and find you.  And that's a challenge because we all lead difficult, fast paced lives.  But we need to learn to be disciplined in climbing a tree and making space. 

What kind of space am I talking about?  We need to learn how to run ahead of the crowd, to break away from the crowd.  I love attending church, hanging out at youth groups, hanging out with friends, but we need to also learn the discipline to break away from the crowd.  If you want Jesus to become real in your life, you need to learn to say to your group "you know what I love you, you're cool, we dress the same, we're homies, but at the same time I need to break away and find Jesus for myself."  Find that quiet time to find yourself alone with Jesus.  It's cool to be cool, there is nothing wrong with it, but don't ever let your desire for coolness from preventing you from running ahead and making space.

Climb a tree.  One of the primary reasons why youth come to church, jump around, sing for a little bit, then go home and feel like nothing has changed is because they're living a life that is full of so much other stuff, and Jesus just becomes that product that you buy every week.  Zachius moved up the tree, above the crowd, above distractions, nice and high, made some space so that he could see Jesus.  How much space do you allow for Jesus to freshly encounter with you in your life?  I'm talking about quiet time.  Don't go "you know, like you know, quiet time is for, like, old people and stuff, like mum and dad, they like, get up early in the morning and they read the bible, but for me, I'm sleeping in because I've been like, Facebooking all night and stuff!"  Some people haven't had a fresh encounter with Jesus because they haven't left any space. 

You know what?  If you were to wake up one hour earlier in the morning, and do nothing but sit quietly with your bible open, if you have just one hour of space in the morning, you have a one hour opportunity for a fresh encounter.  If you go through your entire life, and it's filled with noise, activity, entertainment, you're gonna be a pumped up energetic person, but you may also be someone walking around without a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ.  Start developing that discipline now, the discipline of making space.  For the girls, before you wake up and get dressed, have a shower, do your hair, and go out, and for guys, before you get up... and go out, if you get into that discipline of making that space, it'll stick with you for the rest of your life. 

I wanna challenge you about the concept of fasting.  To many people now it seems like an old-school concept.  I'm just talking about what it really is – it's cutting out the things that invade our space.  Even for a day, all the things that you naturally hunger for, even for one day, cut it out if it will help you see Jesus clearly.  Maybe for some of you guys to give up on computer games for a week?  Ok, even a day?  Seriously!  Ok, Metal Gear Soild, whatever it's called, 4, God bless ya, that's cool, you never know when you're gonna need those jungle warfare skills, but weigh that up against having a real encounter with God! 

Wait for Jesus.  I love that part, when it says Zachius climed the tree, and waited for Jesus.  He didn't say "Ok I've climbed up, I'm here for a bit, but Jesus hasn't come" but he stayed there.  This isn't a formula, I can't guarantee you that if you give up Metal Gear Solid for a week you're gonna see Jesus, but what I can tell you is that the Bible says that you will see Him if you seek Him with all of your heart.  We need to learn how to wait patiently.  It won't be like a formula, it won't be like a celestial vending machine where you put these things in the slot and out comes this fresh encounter, but as we sit with Him, and wait with Him, we will see Him.  There are times where you could sit for weeks on end where you sit consistently in your quiet time, and it will feel like He's still a million miles away, but all I can testify to you is this – He ALWAYS shows Himself in His time, He always comes through. 

Climb a tree, make some space, and wait for Him.