Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

His Name is Wonderful: He’s the cure for boredom Isaiah 9:6 His Name Is… Sermon #3 Bertrand Russell, claimed that "at least half the sins of mankind" were caused by the fear of boredom. Do you often find yourself bored? Countless people, including many Christians, are totally bored with life.   One survey reports that 54% of all Americans go to work primarily to escape the boredom of life at home. It’s no surprise that 70% of teenagers say they are bored with school. The survey also reported 25% of teenagers admitted that they got drunk on the weekend because they were so bored.   Boredom is a combination of weariness, listlessness, apathy and unconcern that causes a person to feel like doing nothing. Related words include dreariness, lethargic and dull. To the bored person the world is painted in gray. When you’re bored, there’s nothing to do because there’s nothing to do that matters. For a younger generation one word encapsulates boredom, the all-purpose answer, "Whatever." "Did you hear what I said?" "Whatever." "I thought that was a great movie." "Whatever." The word "whatever" in that sense means, "I don't even care enough to give you an answer." Let me point out that… 1. There are two primary causes of boredom.   a) Boredom is caused by overstimulation. We live in a society that encourages us to believe that more is better. If a little of anything is good, then more will always be better. If one drink is good, two is better and five will send you to Nirvana. If one pill helps, two is a kicker, three is a party and five will knock you out. We see this in relationships as people jump from one person to another. We see it in the pressure to constantly move "up the ladder," so people hop from one job to another, hoping to find the perfect fit. And we move from city to city and from church to church. We make friends, keep them for a while, get to know them, and then move on to someone else. Advertisers prey on this tendency when they urge us to buy more, buy new, buy now. We’re so bombarded with images, with lights and sound and noise that we've grown accustomed to it. Why it is that the TV must always be on in the typical American home? Why is it that we must have noise in the background or we feel uncomfortable? We’re a media-addicted generation, trying to numb the boredom. We’re so overstimulated by TV, radio, music, movies, the Internet and video games, that we’re hyped up, tense, wound up tight, and as a result, easily bored and quickly distracted.   b) Boredom is caused by undercommitment. Believe it or not, this is partly a result of the massive overstimulation. Too many people live at the 20% level of commitment. We're like the man who, when asked what he believed, replied, "A little bit of everything." We’re like customers in a cafeteria line. We have a "little of this" and a "little of that" and in the end, not much of anything. We’re 20% committed to our marriage, 20% committed to our work, 20% committed to our relationships, 20% committed to our families, 20% committed to our careers, 20% committed to our church and we end up being 20% committed to Jesus Christ. Is it any wonder we’re so frustrated? No wonder we’re antsy and bored. We really aren't committed enough to anything to find a reason to even get out of bed in the morning.   And underneath all of this is a deeper, more serious problem. Boredom comes from an excessive self-focus. Bored people are essentially selfish people who view the universe through their own stunted perspective. Often the reason you’re bored is because…you’ve become a boring person. To be truthful you’re bored with yourself. The problem isn’t "out there" somewhere. Look inside if you want the answer. Lest I be misunderstood, I don’t think busyness is the answer to boredom. Busy people are often very bored and use their busyness to mask their inner emptiness.   Is boredom a sin? Good question. Personally, I think sin and boredom go together but I’m more comfortable saying that boredom is a disease of the soul. It’s a warning sign from God that there is a "dis-ease" in your heart that must be faced. Boredom is a sign that your life is moving in the wrong direction.   So how can we overcome boredom? We find the answer in Isaiah 9:6 (p. 489), “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful…” You and I are surrounded in this world by the miracles of modern science and yet people are bored, some of them to such an extent that they take their own lives. On the one hand we face a population explosion, and yet, on the other hand millions of people are slowly dying from the effects of loneliness and boredom. Our cities are crowded, yet hearts are empty. Thoreau defined the city as “hundreds of people being lonely together." In a world filled with all sorts of gadgets, you’d think that life would be exciting; but for many people, life is just plain dull. They look for new toys but once the novelty has worn off, they go back to the same old routine. Obviously, something is wrong. Jesus Christ is the solution. Jesus give us wonder because His name is Wonderful: He’s the cure for boredom. 2. What is “wonderful?” What do you think of when you hear this word “wonderful”? If you’re a soccer fan, you might be interested to learn that the root word in Hebrew is pele. Now I don’t know if the great Brazilian soccer player’s name comes from that same root, but when you think of the deeds of Pele on the soccer field and how wonderful they were compared to all the other players, you have a glimpse of what this word might mean in Isaiah’s prophecy. Pele is used in Psalm 78:12 which says that “He did miracles (or wonders) in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.” God is a doer of miracles, of marvelous, wonderful things that are almost beyond understanding and are certainly beyond mere human ability. Pele is used in Judges 13:18 where it means “incomprehensible” or “beyond understanding” and it’s referring to God. Other parts of the Bible say that God is pele or God is wonderful. When Isaiah calls this promised Child pele, he’s saying Jesus is divine, that this is God Himself coming in the form of a child. In fact the coming of the child would be the greatest wonder of them all, God’s greatest act of salvation. A real wonder then is something beyond human explanation. That’s why Jesus is called wonderful. Many different concepts cluster around pele: amazement, astonishment, awe, surprise, perhaps even bewilderment and worship. That’s because…   a) True wonder has depth. It’s not some shallow emotion or a passing wave of excitement. Wonder penetrates. It goes much deeper than sensationalism. Wonder has value. It’s not cheap amusement. When a person experiences true wonder, it enriches him and leaves him a better person. Something wonderful draws out of us the very best and puts into us the very best.   b) True wonder creates in us an attitude of humility. We’re overwhelmed and sense in ourselves the greatness of God and the littleness of man. King David knew this feeling and wrote, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).   Many have a false notion that wonder is based on ignorance. Bring an ignorant savage to the big city and he’ll be amazed at the things that he sees! But true wonder is based on knowledge – the more we know, the more we wonder. The childlike spirit of wonder is not founded on innocent ignorance. It’s founded upon an attitude of heart and mind toward reality. The wise man knows how little he really knows. Each trickle of truth only leads to the vast ocean of knowledge whose depths we cannot measure. Excitement over novelty passes when the novelty is explained and understood but wonder grows deeper when knowledge increases. Einstein put it this way: "The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious...He who knows it not, can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed out candle."   c) True wonder possesses the whole person, the mind and heart and will. Wonder is not an isolated experience that perplexes the mind only or merely stirs the emotions. True wonder captures the whole person; otherwise it’s just novelty or surprise. That’s because true wonder is an attitude of life, not an interruption or an isolated event. The person who lives in childlike wonder always lives this way. Wonder is not something one turns on and off like a radio. It’s the total outlook of one’s life at all times. In other words one’s entire being is involved in wonder all the time. This kind of wonder is hard to find these days. 3. Jesus gives us wonder, not novelty. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” This world is intrigued with novelty. Emerson observed that we’re always getting ready to live but never living. We ought to go ahead and live now. Instead we’re always preparing for the future. It’s time some of us started living now.   Little Johnny was pretty much a terror around the house. You never had to try to figure out where he was, you could just listen and hear him. One day though his mother heard nothing and she was just sure that Johnny was in trouble. She began a frantic search and discovered him in the living room just sitting. He wasn’t doing anything but sitting quietly and she said, “Johnny, What are you doing?” He responded as only a kid could do, “I’m just living.” Friend, are you just living or have you discovered the wonderful side of Jesus Christ? In Luke 2 those who heard the shepherds’ report, “wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.”   Jesus was wonderful in both birth and in life. Insignificant things become significant when touched by the wonder of Christ. At a wedding, the ordinary became wonderful. Ordinary water, in ordinary clay pots, became wonderful wine. He even made his disciples better fisherman. Ordinary fisherman became successful fishermen after fishing all night and catching nothing because of Jesus. They went on to become extraordinary fishers of men. One night the sea was rough and even these strong fishermen who were used to rough seas were alarmed, but Jesus calmed the storm. Everything He touches turns to wonder.   Jesus is wonderful in His death and resurrection.No man died as He died. Many view Christmas as just a joyous festive season. To those who don’t truly understand the full implication of the divine birth announcements and the real good news of Christmas, it may seem inappropriate to speak of death during this season. But we must not forget the angel’s solemn announcement to Joseph, "They shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). Faithful Jews were longingly and expectantly awaiting the coming of the Messiah of Israel. His primary name means Savior. Such a sinless Savior must die in order to save those who are lost and condemned. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). The true definition of the name Wonderful then is best understood standing at the foot of His cross and receiving forgiveness for one’s sins. The Nativity account would be just another childhood myth if our wonderful Savior had remained in the grave, but He didn’t. Death could not keep her prey. The greatest miracle then is not that Jesus would come to earth or that was born in a stable. The greatest miracle is that He would come to live in my heart and life. That He would bring focus and security and priority to my life. The fact that He would become our Savior is almost beyond belief. Paul said that eyes have not seen nor has ear heard. Everything that Jesus touches becomes extraordinary and wonderful!   The great English preacher, Charles Spurgeon, summarized it this way, “Christ shall be called Wonderful for what He was in the past; Christ is Wonderful for what He is in the present, and Christ shall be called Wonderful in the future as the Judge.” 4. We must be careful not to accept cheap substitutes for wonder. What a tragedy though that we don’t share in this wonder more often. Let me suggest several reasons.   a) We live in a mechanical world: Does it work? Why is there so little wonder in our world today? One reason is that the world is disappointing to most people. In every area of life we see major problems: low wages, high prices, discrimination, political manipulation, immorality, slums and smog and pollution, hypocrisy. It’s a long list. The good suffer and the bad succeed. It’s easy to develop a "what's-the-use" attitude, to become cynical, retreat into our own little world, letting the rest of the world go by.   Yet the real reason for our present-day loss of wonder goes much deeper. We live in a mechanical world which is very impersonal. Most look at the world and think of scientific law instead of a gracious Law-giver. We’re persons, made in the image of God; therefore, we must have a personal world if life is to have any meaning. When life loses its meaning, life loses its wonder. We become little more than machines! A false view of science and technology has robbed us of a heavenly Father who makes the lilies more glorious than Solomon and who puts out His hand when the sparrow falls. We must have a personal world if life is to have any meaning. When life loses its meaning, it loses its wonder. The result? We become machines! But we’re more than machines! We’re persons…individuals! A false view of science and technology has robbed many of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.   b) We live in a commercial world: Does it pay off? Thoreau insightfully observed that we have "improved means to unimproved ends." For centuries the philosophers and mystics have been reminding us that we cannot enjoy the things that money can buy if we lose the things money cannot buy. Making a living has replaced making a life. Searching after new schemes and methods has replaced discovering truth and building character. The very fact of wonder demands values for we do not wonder at that which is cheap and contemptible. When values vanish, wonder must vanish too.   How relevant this is to the time right after Christmas? One of the busiest shopping days of the year is the day after Christmas. And it’s not just returns, it’s more buying and consumption. We live in a controlled society asking two questions: "Does it work?" and "Does it pay?"   c) We live in a busy world: Do I have the time? Our world is a busy world. It has little time to pause, contemplate, and wonder. Even the vacationer pauses just long enough to adjust his lens and shutter so he can  take several pictures that he might later contemplate at home. We don’t have time to get close to people or to life. A child lives in a world of wonder because he stands still and watches and ponders. Our lives are so full, they’re empty. We boast about the quantity of our activity without admitting the lack of quality in our experience. We know how to count, but we do not know how to weigh and we’re the losers in the long run.   d) We live in an artificial world: Is there a cheaper substitute? Perhaps the greatest cause for the lack of wonder is that ours is an artificial world. Most live on substitutes and don’t even know it. Inane comedy has replaced humor, cheap amusement has replaced wholesome recreation, and propaganda has replaced truth. Millions of bored people depend on manufactured experiences to rescue them from their tedious existence. Each experience must be greater than the previous one. The end result is a nervous system so overtaxed by substitute stimulants that the person finds it harder and harder to recognize and enjoy a true emotional experience. A tragic consequence of living on the artificial is a gradual loss of the real.   From a Biblical worldview we know that the greatest substitute of all is sin. It’s at the root of the whole problem. Unless you and I do something about our sins, we’re never going to be able to experience and enjoy the wonder God wants to bring to our lives. The essence of idolatry is worshiping and serving something other than God; living, if you please, on substitutes. It’s a basic law of life that we become like the gods we worship, so if our god is an artificial substitute, we’ll become artificial too. The very senses that ought to thrill us with wonder become jaded, then paralyzed, then dead. As the Psalmist observed, “They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (Ps. 115:5-8). The only Person who can deal with our basic needs and once again restore wonder to our lives is Jesus Christ. His very name is Wonderful. We must stop living on substitutes and begin to enjoy the wonder that God wants to bring into our lives! 5. How can you and I share in the wonder? Isn’t that the most important question? In a Dennis the Menace cartoon there’s a vivid picture of grace. Dennis is shown walking away from the Wilson’s house with his friend Joey. Both boys have their hands full of cookies. Joey asks, “I wonder what we did to deserve this?” Dennis delivers an answer packed with truth. He said, “Look Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we’re nice, but because she’s nice.”   All of our names could be substituted for Dennis’ and God could be substituted for Mrs. Wilson. Any good that comes our way isn’t because we’re good but because God is so good. “Every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17). A holy God being gracious to us results in wonder!   So how can we share in this wonder? Do we even need wonder in our lives? Absolutely! Otherwise life becomes bland and blind, dull and dead. And we miss much of what God has prepared for us. The dullness of life is not caused by circumstances on the outside but by our spiritual condition on the inside. Remember Jesus lived in the same world as the multitudes that followed Him, and yet it was not the same world—it was a different and more wonderful world. Matthew says of them, “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (13:13).   Whenever Jesus spoke about deeper spiritual realities, they thought He was speaking of material, surface things. “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Now they thought Jesus meant the Jewish Temple but “But the temple He had spoken of was His body” (Jn 2:19-21).      "You must be born again!" "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus thought of physical birth but our Lord was speaking of spiritual birth. It was truly night for Nicodemus, he couldn’t see. The woman at the well thought Jesus was speaking of physical water; the crowds in John 6 thought he was speaking about literally eating his flesh and drinking his own blood. Oh, the blindness of those who have no wonder in their hearts!   Wonder is important; His name "Wonderful" leads the list. Unless I know something of His wonder, I can never come to Him for counsel or for power or for any other spiritual essential. Wonder leads to worship; worship to growth and growth to character and service.   So how can we share in this wonder? Wonder begins with receiving Christ into my heart and life, experiencing the forgiveness of sins and the start of a whole new life. As Paul said, “Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).  When you’re born-again into God's family, you receive a whole new set of spiritual senses. The inner person is raised from the dead and given divine life. Wonder comes to your life as you walk with Him in obedience and consecration.   How much the disciples learned as they listened to him, walked with him, and let him guide their lives! There’s no substitute for daily fellowship with the Lord in His Word and in prayer, and then walking with Him in obedience. This kind of daily experience sharpens the spiritual senses of the inner man. Your eyes begin to see what He sees; your ears hear what He hears; and (most important of all) your heart begins to love what He loves. Your values change as your vision sharpens. Your deepening love for Christ opens new windows and doors for you, and life begins to fulfill the promise of 1 Cor. 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”   Wonder is a liberating experience. It breaks the shackles and calls us to a life of faith and love. This life of wonder with the Wonderful One climaxes in glory. “We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Eternal wonder! Seeing with perfect vision—loving with sinless hearts—obeying with wills that are lost in the wonder of the glory of God! The glory of heaven is its wonder in Christ; the tragedy of hell is the absence of wonder. Darkness…dullness… frightening monotony…eternal loneliness...eternal purposelessness. That’s hell. Pain, yes; judgment, yes; but permeating it all, that awful dullness of man's sins when that first pleasure is gone. To be forsaken by God means that the wonder is taken out of your life for all eternity.   Jesus called hell Gehenna referring to the garbage dump burning outside Jerusalem. What a tragedy! Man ceases to be man and ends up just a piece of junk, a cast-off thing on an eternal garbage heap! But those who walk with Christ by faith know the meaning of wonder in their daily lives. Ordinary people experience extraordinary things because of the wonder of Christ. These wonders may not be obvious to those outside the family of God but they’re clearly visible to those inside the family. His wonders are seen in so-called little things, such as a flower, or a bird, or a baby's smile. And they are seen in big things, such as the courage to say "No" to sin or the strength to keep going when life’s road is difficult. Little things become big things when they are touched with the wonder of Christ. Conclusion: My friend, Jesus Christ can make your life wonderful because His name is—Wonderful. Henry Bosch used to ask, “Do you love the Wonderful One? If you do, your life here will be full of wonder, and the life hereafter, bliss.” Friend, do you know the One Who is Wonderful? Have you accepted Him? Are you sharing in the wonder of Jesus?