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Aug 29, 2010

The Most Interesting Man in the World

Passage: John 10:10

Category: Sanctification, Theology

Keywords: dos equis, jesus, the most interesting man in the world, fully alive

Summary:

Who is the most interesting man? The man who has Jesus Christ living inside him. He is a man fully alive! How does the world's view of the most interesting man compare with God's view? How are they different? How are they the same?

Detail:

“His charm is so contagious that scientists have created a vaccine for it. He once built a city out of blocks, now, 600, 000 people live and work there. He is the only man to ever ace a Rorschach test. Every time he goes for a swim, dolphins appear. If he were to give you directions, you'd never get lost, and you'd arrive at least five minutes early. His legend precedes him the way lightning precedes thunder, he is the most interesting man in the world. He has amassed an incredibly large DVD library and it is said that he never once alphabetized it. If he were to mail a letter without postage, it would still get there. If it is raining, it is because he is thinking about something sad. He once punched a magician, that's right you heard me. His blood smells like cologne. His hands feel like rich brown suede. He is the most interesting man in the world. The police often question him just because they find him interesting. His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body. His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards. Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number. He never says something tastes like chicken, not even chicken. He is the most interesting man in the world. He's been known to cure narcolepsy just by walking into a room. His organ donation card also lists his beard. He's a lover not a fighter, but he is also a fighter so get any ideas. He is the most interesting man in the world. People hang on his every word, even the prepositions. He could disarm you with his looks or with his hands, either way. He can speak French in Russian. He once had an awkward moment, just to see how it feels. He lives vicariously through himself. He once said, “it is never too early to beef up your obituary.” He is the most interesting man in the world.”

 This is compilation of excerpts from a series of commercials for Dos Equis beer featuring this legendary character who resembles a retired-James Bond-type, Latin looking, suave, debonair guy with a gaggle of attractive women always surrounding him. You get the picture. It’s meant to be a parody of what “everybody” could imagine the most interesting man in the world to be.

 I have to admit if such a man existed I might think he was the most interesting man in the world. But maybe he does. I know, I know, you came to hear the Word, and I’m preaching from a beer commercial. Hang with me, it gets better. It might get worse before it gets better, but it gets better and Christ will be glorified.

 I’m looking at some of things that this commercial of this work up of the most interesting man in the world. Intriguing man, it says that when he swims, dolphins appear and when it rains, it’s because he is thinking of something sad. Interesting factor number one: his life energy transcends nature.

 

He doesn’t alphabetize his DVD collection, he never uses the fallback line that something tastes like chicken—this is a man who is not tied to convention. He’s a maverick. He’s just really mavericky. Interesting factor number two, his life is not bound by the traditions and priorities of other men.

 He once punched a magician, he’s lover not a fighter but also fighter so don’t mess with him. There’s something no nonsense about this guy. He doesn’t put up with foolery or trickery, there is sense of power there, physical authority. Interesting factor number three, he makes the weight of his life known.

 His organ donation card lists his beard, because he believes that even that seemingly dispensible part of his body is powerful. He cures narcolepsy just by walking into a room. Interesting factor numero quatro, his life has a healing effect on others.

 His blood smells like cologne and his hands feel like rich brown suede. There is something special, even desirable about his blood and his touch. Interesting factor number five, his life awakens life in others.

 People hang on his words even the prepositions. He speaks French in Russian. This guy transmits his life energy through his words, he is a communicator. Interesting factor number six, even the words he speaks have power.

 

Even his enemies list him as their emergency contact number. This guy has enemies, but even they respect him and ultimately recognize his clout. Interesting factor number seven, his life is well-regarded even by those who hate him.

 

If you follow his directions, you won’t get lost, in fact you’ll get there ahead of schedule. This man is a wise man who is able to give practical advice for everyday living. Interesting factor number eight, he’s is just plain helpful to have around.

 He built a city out of blocks and now 600,000 people live and work there. He created a habitable place out of the most basic of elements. Interesting factor number nine, he makes life possible where life wasn’t possible.

 The other thing about this interesting man as he is portrayed in the commercials and yea, even on our subconscious minds, he is a lady’s man . . . a lover not a fighter. This guy has appeal to the ladies. He has virility. He is the one desired by women. Interesting factor number ten, knows the secret to a woman’s heart.

 

So

  • He transcends nature
  • Not bound by convention
  • He is physically potent
  • He heals others
  • He brings life to others
  • He is a great communicator
  • He is respected by all
  • He is helpful
  • He makes life possible
  • He is a lady’s man

 

This guy in the commercial may or may not exist in real life, but I tell you truth, if he does, he is just a shadow of the real thing. He’s a piker, an amateur compared to the real thing. He’s a copy cat at best and a distraction at worst. Let me introduce you to the real thing, Jesus Christ.

 All these factors that I just listed are really originated in Jesus Christ. Now is when we go to scripture. Let’s take a look at these attributes.

 

Transcendent of Nature

Mark 4:35–41 (NIV)

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

 

Jesus has the authority over nature. He commands the wind to stop and it stops. Why? How does he do that? I know how he did it. I’ll tell you in a bit. It’s one of the other attributes.

 So, the real most interesting man is really transcendent, even intentionally and purposefully authoritative over it. Next, the real most interesting man…

 

Not Bound by Convention

Matthew 15:1–11 (NIV)

Clean and Unclean

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6 he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

9 They worship me in vain;

their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’ ”

 

Why is Jesus unconventional? Is it for the sake of being unconventional? That would be boring, not interesting. People who are unconventional or non-traditional for the sake of being so become boring because that, in itself, becomes predictable and conventional. It becomes their tradition. What we find interesting about Jesus being unconventionality is that he cuts right to the heart of the matter? The truth is there and just beyond all of the those in the room or square…they can’t quite put their finger on it, but Jesus uses an unconventional approach and cuts right to the heart of the matter. Duh! It’s not what goes in that makes you unclean it’s what comes out that proves you already are unclean. He didn’t phrase it quite like that but when you think  about, which was His point (think about it!) apart from Christ, we all reveal our uncleanliness by our thoughts, words and actions. We need Him. Hmm, what an interesting guy! Next.

He is physically potent

Sometimes, we get caught up in thinking about Jesus as that man who stood mute as a lamb while the Romans, and Pharisees beat the tar out him. We forget that he willingly laid down his life. Check it out:

Luke 4:28–30 (NAS)

28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;

29 and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.

30 But passing through their midst, He went His way.

So, there were a few dozen men or more there determined to throw a single man off a cliff. He waits until he gets to the edge of the cliff and he says, “not time yet..” and walks through the midst of them. It’s not like he didn’t know what they intended to do. “Hmmm…I wonder where they are taking me.” No, he knew. He just waited. Why? Why did Jesus wait until they took him to the edge of the cliff? He wanted them and us to know that He wasn’t a wuss. That later, when He laid down his life, He really did willingly do so. He wasn’t taken by surprise or against His will.

John 2:13–17 (NIV)

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

 

Again, one man against many. These weren’t card tables he was turning over. Make no mistake, Jesus was physically potent.

He heals others

Luke 8:42–48 (NIV)

42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.

45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.

When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”

46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”

47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

 

The man in the commercial has a potent beard. Jesus has a potent cloak. Even the clothes that touch his skin resonate with his power.

Mark 1:40–42 (NIV)

A Man With Leprosy

40 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

41 Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

 

He brings life to others

John 11:38–44 (NIV)

Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

 

He is a great communicator

People hang on Jesus every word. They followed him out of town to hear him preach and forgot to bring their lunch.

Mark 1:27–28 (NIV)

27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.” 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Luke 7:29 (NIV)

29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John.

 

He is respected by all

Mark 5:6–10 (NIV)

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

 

He is helpful, Gives Practical Advice

 

According to the commercial, if you follow directions from the most interesting man, you won’t get lost, you’ll even get there ahead of schedule…

Luke 5:3–8 (NAS)

3 And He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the people from the boat.

4 When He had finished speaking,

Now, Jesus had taken up their time with His teaching. These were men that still had to make a living and support their families. He takes up their business hours with His teaching. Now, it’s never a waste of time to listen to what Jesus has to say, but this what Jesus does:

He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

6 When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break;

7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink.

8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

Why does Peter say he’s a sinful man? One, He questioned God’s judgment. And think, two, He still needed to make up for last night’s lack of a catch. As Jesus went on and on, Peter may have been thinking, “I wish he’d kind of get to the point, tie up his sermon, I gotta catch some fish.”

I don’t know…I’m just supposin’

K. True story. When I was getting ready to come to Spokane to go to Moody Northwest, I lived in Southern California and I need a job to pay off some debt. I applied for a job at Disneyland in February of ‘99. I had a friend who knew somebody who was going to hook me up. Well, a few weeks went by and I hadn’t heard anything. In my morning devotions, I read this passage about re-casting the net. I didn’t think much of it until my grandfather asked me about the job. I told him they hadn’t called yet, and he suggested that I re-cast my application. I thought the idea ridiculous. I didn’t want to be a nag. But I considered the above passage of scripture and I did so. Turns out they had lost my application. I got the job and the job was exactly job I needed. It was at a restaurant in the resort area that was scheduled to close that August. I made enough money to pay off my debt and be ready for school, up here with a place to stay a week before classes started. Not five minutes, a week.

He makes life possible

John 1:1–3 (NAS)

The Deity of Jesus Christ

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was in the beginning with God.

3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

John 1:14–17 (NAS)

The Word Made Flesh

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’ ”

16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

That is how Jesus has authority over nature. That’s the secret to the little trick He does with the wind and waves. If He designed it, He knows where the off switch is. We don’t, He does. And that is another thing that makes Him just so darn interesting.

Genesis 1:1–2 (NAS)

The Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Jesus created a habitable place not out of blocks but less than blocks, that is nothing. He created everything out of nothing. And more than 600,000 people have come to live and work here.

Not only that but because of death and sacrifice, he makes eternal life possible. Adding to that, He prepares a place for us in Heaven.

John 14:2–4 (NAS)

2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

4 “And you know the way where I am going.”

 

He is a lady’s man

 

Follow me on this.

Luke 8:1–3 (NAS)

Ministering Women

1 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

 

Now, what I don’t want to do with this is imply that Jesus had a harem going on. When we hear the term ‘ladies man’ we usually think of a womanizer. How many healthy women out there do you think really want to share a man with other women?

 Probably none. Just based on what my wife, would say that she wanted in and from a man—security/protection, good with kids, makes her feel loved and special, faithful. Some would say, I good provider! That’s cultural preference. In Jesus day, the whole family worked. If you doubt that give Proverbs 31 another read through. There really wasn’t an emphasis on the kids going off to school and or the wife sitting at home in front of the tube with bons bons and curlers.

 How do you think the woman caught in adultery felt when Jesus challenged her accusers and they all walked away? Do you think she felt protected? I wonder if she became one of the many other women that followed Jesus. The alternative was going back to a life of sin and/or hanging out in the city where she had known enemies who would do who knows what to her when Jesus wasn’t around.

 When the disciples tried to prevent people from bringing the children to Him, He said, “Let the little children come to me.” Good with children.

 

Jesus spoke to women in public at a time when women had little value. He elevated the status of women. I would find it difficult to believe than any of these women wouldn’t jump at the chance to marry the man, Jesus. And don’t think that Jesus never struggled with that thought himself.

Hebrews 4:15 (NIV)

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Every way would include sexually. Getting married wouldn’t have been a sin, just incredibly inconsiderate. He knew he would make his wife a widow and his children orphans.

 He defends another known sinful woman in front of the well to do men of the city. She gushes all over him crying over his feet amidst the mocking and derision of others. I think Jesus had a reputation having something to offer the women that was just a little more powerful than his sexuality.

 There is a musical out called Jesus Christ Superstar. Actually, a rock opera Written in 1970 by a seventeen year old Andrew Lloyd Webber. It’s not the most Biblically accurate portrayal of the Gospel, but it does offer some very useful perspectives. One of which Mary Magdalene who sings song, “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” In the song she contemplates her feelings for the man Jesus. I don’t have a problem believing that some of these women didn’t struggle over this concept of Jesus being a potential physical husband. Nor would it have been improper. I think it’s naïve to think otherwise. But I doubt Jesus ever had to have the “Now you know we’re just friends speech, don’t you,” speech either.

 We pray for our daughters to marry a Christ-like man. How much better to be married to Christ, himself.

 Indeed. This last attribute is good place to bring the comparison to a close because it rubs right up against the conflict between the world’s interpretation of who the most interesting man in the world is and who is indeed, the world’s most interesting man.

 Earlier I said that this commercial construct is at best a copy cat and worst, a distraction from the real thing. That’s what I mean. The media puts out a comedic portrayal of what we should think the world’s most interesting man to be. It’s put in a comic light because the underlying idea is that we could never hope for such a person and so you should just sit back with a Dos Equis and settle for having or being something less.

 The real appeal of The Most Interesting Man in the World, whether it’s the guy in the commercial or the real thing, Jesus Christ is that he is a man that is fully alive. We all want that. That’s a good thing to want. What does Jesus have to say about such a desire?

 

John 10:10 (NIV)

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 Jesus is not just the model of that life, He is the give of it. Jesus doesn’t want us to live a life of mere survival. He wants us to have life and have it to the full. What does that look like? It looks like Jesus. I’d map it out for you, but it’s going to look different for each and every one of you.

 I will tell you this. It will be marked by these attributes:

 It will be a life that overcomes, and is increasingly transcendent of the winds and waves of circumstance

It won’t be bound by convention or what the world dictates as normal

It will be physically active and challenging to yourself and others

It will bring life to others

It will be communicative

It will command respect, even from your enemies

It will be helpful, not harmful to others

It will make life possible for others

You will become more attractive to other Godly people, in friendships and in marriage.

 How do you get that life? Well, it’s too late. If you don’t have it already, it’s too late. You need to start all over again. That’s right, you heard me. You must be born again. Those are Jesus’ own words.

 

John 3:5–8 (NIV)

5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

 

If you have bought the lie and lived the best life that the World, not God, has to offer, you’ve failed. It’s a sham, it’s a counterfeit, it’s sawdust hotdogs and paste jewelry. If you want more than Dos Equis, you need to start over. That means acknowledging you failed, accepting that Jesus Christ offers his real life to you by way of his death and resurrection and then living that life. Talk to me afterwards or pastor John if you want to enter into that type of life.

 For those of you who have already come to Jesus with that but you don’t feel that you’re living it, it just means getting back on track.

 But make no mistake. The Christian life is not supposed to be a boring one.

There might be sin to repent of, habitual or otherwise. Are you spending time regularly praying, or looking regularly at the face of Christ as revealed through His Word, fellowship or obedience.

 

The fully alive life is not merely gift that you take with you and go your own way. It flows from Christ through you by way of the Holy Spirit. So, if it’s feeling a little flat—ask for more of the Holy Spirit.

 Matthew 7:7–11 (NAS)

Prayer and the Golden Rule

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

9 “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?

10 “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?

11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

And so, maybe you do that and God says, “I’m sorry you don’t have room in there for me, there’s too much other stuff in way for me to fit. Get rid of that stuff so that I can fill your whole life.”

 Find out what’s getting in the way. Eternal life is not something that starts when you die. That’s just a stupid idea. It starts when you have God living inside you. If you’re not experiencing that, ask God why. Last week, John said, it’s God likes our questions. Jesus says, I He has come so that you may have life to the full.

 As one who was dead in sin and running around in circles, I can tell you, it’s an adventure I’d not trade it for anything. God is good. Let’s pray.