Loopholes Are Easy to Find
Ezekiel 18:14-32
Jim Whittaker
14But if this man has a son who sees all the sins that his father has done, considers, and does not do likewise, 15who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, 16does not wrong anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 17withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no advance or accrued interest, observes my ordinances, and follows my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. 18As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, he dies for his iniquity. 19Yet you say, “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20The person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent, nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his own. 21But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. 22None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. 23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? 24But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die. 25Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? 26When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. 27Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. 28Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?
30Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. 31Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.
You know it really bugs us when we hear things like this: “we are going to fix the tax code so that millionaires are guaranteed to pay the same taxes that a middle class person pays.” I heard this on the news on Monday morning as I was running at the “Y.” Loophole – the rich seem to always get the loophole. The truth is we all are looking for a loophole. Remember my telling you of my spelling plan in the first grade (to write the words on the desk and then copy then over to the spelling test) – I wanted a loophole so that I didn’t have to study. In essence, I wanted the rules to not apply to me. I was in the first grade and wanted a loophole. We just have a tendency to want an easier way.
Remember the law expert that asked Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was looking for a loophole. Is there one rule that I should focus on above all others? Today we would answer him accept Jesus as your savior, but if we make that a one time moment and not a lifetime decision, we have made a loophole. You accept Jesus first as your savior and then as your Lord – master – it is a life time choice. Jesus asked him what do you think? The law expert cited the Shema – Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind. Good answer, but we need a loophole. So he asks “who is my neighbor?” Jesus responds by telling the story of the good Samaritan to close the loophole he was looking for. A priest and a theologian both pass by and do not help the man lying in the road. A person the Jews hated (Samaritan) though stopped and helped.
Rick Rusaw in the Externally Focused Life brings up these questions. He says the priest and the theologian were asking what will happen to me if I do this. The Samaritan asked what will happen to me if I don’t do this. Do you see the difference in the questions – the first question is concerned about my life in the here and now. The second question is concerned about my life for all eternity.
What will happen to me if I don’t do this? Which of God’s commandments do we want to look at? How about the Great Commission? What will happen to me if I don’t tell others about Christ? What will happen to me if I don’t life like Christ is truly Lord of my life? What will happen to me I I have only playfully said yes to Jesus as my Savior. We often are looking for a loophole. We are looking for the easy way. I give you today 3 things to consider as we consider how to live a life that demonstrates that we truly have repented and are sorrowful for our sin.
Evidence #1 – Time – Is your time God’s?
How many of you would say you “don’t have enough time.” Raise your hands. I am with you. I do not have enough time. I seem to have difficulty getting simple tasks done like washing the car, and emptying the trash. Yet, we have time for the things we want to do. I liked this quote from Golda Meir. “I must govern the clock not be governed by it.”
Let’s go back to our story of the good Samaritan. The priest and the theologian – I believe they were good people. I believe they had important good things to do. The priest had to report to duty for his delegated shift of work. The theologian might have been giving a lecture or transcribing the law – very important work. But was their important work a loophole? Was it a convenient way to not get involved?
What were the costs to the Samaritan?
1. Dirty Clothes – What if he or she was wearing their favorite pair of jeans and their favorite Duke shirt? Would that make a difference? Would people at work frown at you if you came in with dirt and blood on you? Probably! No loophole for the Good Samaritan.
2. Your plans have to change – Rick Rusaw said he was inconvenienced. Let’s face it – this was not in the plans. It is doubtful that the good Samaritan scheduled time in his day to help someone battered on the road. This is a cost of the most valuable of all assets – time. There is not rationalizing on how it would be OK if he didn’t stop and take the time. There is no loophole for the good Samaritan.
3. It cost money – the two most valuable assets we can give God or anyone is our time, which we have mentioned and that leaves our money. He paid for a motel room. He paid for the bandages (maybe he already had a first aid kit, but that cost money too). He was willing to pay for future expenses not yet incurred. There are no loopholes for the Good Samaritan.
We cannot forget Jesus’ last words on this parable – “Go and do likewise.” How do you demonstrate true repentance of our sins. We go and do as God told us to do. We go to help the least and the lost. The important word here is “go.” Do we have time for God’s command?
Evidence #2 – Abilities – Are your abilities being used for God?
We tend to see how many things we can’t do. I’m not good at math. I can’t carry a note in a jar. I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. I can’t remember anything. I am not really strong. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t – they are all loopholes. Now remember, a loophole is the excuse we give for not doing what God has told us to do. We have already considered out time. We in effect were asking are we willing to give our time to God or are we wanting to keep it to ourselves and claim a loophole. That was loophole #1. Now we are loophole #2.
We are going to consider the parable of the talents. A talent was a large sum of money or about 20 years of work for a common person. Three people were given a talent and were not given instructions. The only thing they knew was the king would return one day and would want an accounting of what they did with that 20 year investment of his. We find that the first two did wonderfully. They had different amounts just like we all have different abilities but they were willing to risk of themselves and doubled the return. In other words, they used what God had given them and more people came into the kingdom of God. It doesn’t say how they did it – they just did it – used who they were for the glory of God. The third person chooses another way – the Third person chooses a loophole when it comes to using who we are for God.
They gave as their excuse for not using their abilities for God as “they were scared.” We might think they were saying I was scared to lead people or I was scared to standup in front of people and to talk to them. No – that wasn’t it – they were scared of the judgment. They were scared that God might look at what they did and tell them that wasn’t a good job so they decided that the safe thing to do was “to do nothing for God.”
Let me ask you a question – if you have the equivalent of 20 years of wages, what would you do for it. They were scared to use the banks – remember the great depression. So they buried it in their backyard. Now how safe are you going to feel about that. You certainly couldn’t tell anyone, they might steal it. I believe you would be worrying all of the time that somebody might sneak in the backyard and dig it up. I mean let’s face it – this is too big of an investment to just bury in the yard. We might have to put up a surveillance camera and an alarm. So let’s learn a lesson here.
Doing nothing for God doesn’t mean a life of leisure.
Don’t miss this point. It might be harder to not do something for God as to do something for God. With that in mind, do you think God will be pleased if we claim a loophole that we couldn’t really do much. We were untrained. We were unskilled. We didn’t have a theology degree. We aren’t good with people. I share this story with you as told by Rick Rusaw from the movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness:
Gladys Alward as a young girl dreamed of being a missionary to China. She went to a Missionary Training School for 3 months when the Mission Society told here she was not qualified to be a missionary. She worked as a housekeeper and saved her meager money. She took the trans-Siberian train across Europe and Russian and then went down to China. She joined an aging woman who had an inn for muleteers. She led many Chinese to Christ. She led over 100 orphans out of harms way when Japan attacked China. She wrote later in life that she praised God that one so insignificant, so uneducated, so ordinary could be use for God’s glory.
Mother Teresa who helped thousands and thousands said she would have never accomplished such a feet if she didn’t stop and help the first one. This brings us to the second point.
This person was just plain lazy. God declares in this story being lazy isn’t a loophole. And the third point is:
God expects us to risk on occasion. God expects us to leverage his abundance to his advantage. Take the loaves and the fishes that fed the 5,000. God leveraged the little and turned it into a lot. God wants us to give of ourselves as though we were the richest person on earth. In fact, we are if you have Christ in your heart.
Do don’t claim a loophole on your abilities. Don’t say I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. But do this instead. Professional gambling has become a sport and you can watch it on TV. When a person knows they have a winning hand, they push all the chips to the middle of the table, and say “all the chips are in.” In the parable of the talents, the first two said “I’m all in.” The widow who gave two mites gave out of her poverty Jesus said of all she had – she was saying “I’m all in.”
Evidence #3 – Creating Intersections with God
Seneca writes and tells us of a practice back in the early centuries of Christianity that is hard for us to understand that Christians used to witness of God’s love. The difficult practice was law. The philosophers of the age talked about its positive qualities. So what was this practice? It was the practice of leaving a child out in the wilderness and elements that was left to die and to be eaten by animals. Why? If you have more children than you could feed, it made sense.
But Christians saw this as a way to use their time and abilities for God. Christians saw this as an opportunity to create an intersection where God’s love could be shown to the world. So what did they do? They went out and looked for babies left to die and took them in to their houses. It changed the way people thought of babies. Babies are not something to be discarded and left to die even if society says they are.
I will give you another example of early Christians. When the plagues rolled into Europe, people rushed out of the city because of the dense population and concern for the sickness and disease to grow. But Christians did not leave. Christians stayed to help the sick. This kind of sounds like a death wish to me but surprisingly, it was just the opposite. The death rate for those who left the city was as high as 40 to 50%, but those who stayed (the Christians), the death rate was only about 20%. But, that is not all of the story, because of this act of kindness, Christianity grew 40% every decade. Why? Those Christians demonstrated they truly loved the people around them.
We need to say “we can.” We can as the body of Christ. We can as God supplies and resources us to be a witness to him in our community. What is our intersection with God and our community? What are our opportunities? Where is it that I personally can demonstrate the love of Christ to others in my community? Who is it that I am going to invite to church?
Jack Jezreel of Just Faith Ministries says, “we are to comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.” We have probably also heard “give a person a fish, and you help them for a day, teach them to fish, and you help them for a lifetime.”
As we look at this passage in Ezekiel, it says keep God’s commandments and gives examples of ones we should keep. It is not an inclusive list. The question we are asking today is this: Are we trying to keep God’s commandments in every way we can, or are we trying to find a loophole in every way we can.
God has given us an opportunity for this time and place. How are we leaving our mark on this community? Who are we touching for Christ? Are we willing to invite people to church? Are we willing to give of our time and abilities and resources for God’s glory?
God is looking for us to say “I’m in.” I am asking you to say it here together with me today, “I’m in!”
Amen.
August 28th – Open Your Eyes – Luke 7:36-39; I Peter 4:7-11;
The External You Series
Jim Whittaker
Luke 7:36-39
36One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. 37And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 38She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”
I Peter 4:7-11
7The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Opinion – Opinion means truth in the eyes of the beholder.
I share with you this story from the Externally Focused Life.
“A priest and a rabbi who lived in the same neighborhood were putting a sing along a curve in the road near their homes. The sign said, “The end is near. Turn back.” As they were pounding in the last post, a car screeched to a stop just past the sign. The driver backed up, rolled down his window and shouted to the priest and rabbi, ‘You people drive me nuts! Why are you always trying to scare people to get them to believe in God? Keep your views to yourself!’ He went roaring off and left the priest and the rabbit in a cloud of dust. A few seconds later, the priest and rabbi heard a loud crash. The rabbi said to the priest, ‘Maybe we should have just made the sign say, The Bridge is out.’”
The sign truly indeed was truth. The driver interpreted this truth as fiction. Why? Because in his opinion, the sign was fiction. We all have opinions on what life is about or what the purpose of life is. Where do those opinions come from? Culture or scripture?
Our culture definitively has a message. The recession has turned down the volume of the message, but we still have the same message here in America. Spend, accumulate, and hoard. Rick Rusaw says we live in the mentality of the “more.” What does that mean?
According to this definition, more is all about us. It is about us getting more. Restaurant plates are bigger. Houses are bigger. Cars are bigger. More. More. More. More is the mentality that it is truly all about us. It is about our views, way of life, and personal satisfaction.
Rick Rusaw says in contrast God offers most. Sounds similar, but it is different. Most is about abundance. More is personal accumulation because we live in scarcity. God is about helping the most people so by default “it is not all about you.”
Luke gives us a story that no one else gives us. It is the story of a woman who poured a very expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet and washed his feet with her hair. Would that make anyone uncomfortable? We have to ask the question – why? Let’s establish the facts not our opinion.
First, Jesus was invited to the home of Simon the Pharisee. Simon had not treated Jesus with proper respect. Now I am sure that everyone has heard of “Southern Hospitality.” What does that mean? We are accepting and welcoming of those in our midst. For example, if someone knocks on your door around supper time, Southern Hospitality is to say sure we got plenty come in and eat with us. Hospitality is living in abundance. It is living in the most, which means God want the most for all of us. More means, we want the most for us.
In our story, Simon did not do the traditional Jewish version of hospitality. If he had, his servants would have washed Jesus’ feet to get the dirt and grime off of them. If he did not have servants, he would have taken the form of a servant (like Jesus did at the Last Supper) and wash Jesus’ feet.
Here is my question on this point. Was Simon following the value of “more” or “most?” Let me help you – was Simon following scarcity or abundance? Was Simon thinking of lifting himself up or others? Simon was thinking of himself. To wash Jesus’ feet would have made him look like a servant. That was beneath him. It would make it look like Jesus had greater authority. Basically, Simon was worried about his reputation above the goodness and love of others.
Second, an uninvited guest arrives. That’s always awkward. Somebody shows up that you weren’t expecting. You didn’t necessarily plan to exclude them but at the same token, you did not plan to include them either. How do we react when someone enters our life, and we really don’t want the mess that comes with that relationship?
Well here is what happened. Jesus was known to forgive sinners. This woman was a sinner. She is considered to be a prostitute. She knows Jesus loves here regardless of who she is. She is overwhelmed with love and appreciation for a person who accepts her, does not condemn her, does not talk down to her, treats her like a person, like she matters that she can’t help herself. She gives all of her savings account, which was in the form of expensive perfume – think gold today – and sacrifices it all for Jesus. Jesus’ feet probably didn’t stink so bad that she said, I have got to do something about that. She did this out of love. No one gave her a towel so she used all she had and washed Jesus’ feet in her perfume. Now Jesus and this woman smell the same.
Now Simon has some thoughts running around in his head. He thought this man could not be the prophet of God that I thought he was because he is allowing a sinful person to touch him; thereby, this makes him a sinner.
Here is the question: More or most. Was Simon thinking of his reputation for allowing Jesus who allowed a sinful woman to touch him? Was Simon thinking of himself? Likewise, did the woman think of herself or others? The woman is the one who is values more, which means God’s abundance and Simon values scarcity and acts selfishly.
Jesus gave Simon a Sunday School less on forgiveness and love. Jesus demonstrated something really valuable here. Our opinion of the world needs to be Jesus’ opinion. Here is Jesus’ last words in this passage in verse 50 as he said to the woman, “your faith has saved you, go in peace.” To Jesus, the recognition of the need of salvation to everyone was what was important.
Your personal ego, and self importance need to be laid down at Jesus’ feet. There is a very valuable lesson for us here. We need to open our eyes to the “most” in the world. We need to sacrificially lay the “more” down at Jesus feet. In other words, when Jesus said the wheat fields were white for the harvest he was seeing the fruit of many people being saved. That’s abundance. We can actually get in God’s way when we see the scarcity in the world and start hoarding for ourselves.
We need to see that Jesus is proclaiming not only salvation but a way of life. Where we need help is in the practice of Jesus’ way of life. We need help in being able to see the needs around us. We need help in not falling into the default of its all about me. So we turn to Peter.
We began by saying that “opinion is truth in the eyes of the beholder. Now here is our goal. We need to allow our opinions to be in the eyes of Jesus. That is truth. Open your eyes and see Jesus in the world. Peter says consider the seriousness of the situation. God has blessed us with life. We are going to die. God will judge us according to our belief and our deeds. How have we lived? God wants us to practice living into the moment.
1. Live in Love
I quote from Externally Focused Life - “Love people even though they are unlovable, unbearable, and undesirable” (57). Nancy was on a prayer team. She had tried to call a woman to allow her to know she had prayed for her, but she got no answer. She decided to drive to her house and leave a card in her door. When she came to the woman’s house, it looked like a Halloween prank. Someone had turned over her garbage and smashed a pumpkin on her porch. She left her card in the door and prayed that her problems would be resolved. She drove off and wondered when the woman would come home. Would it be dark? Would she see the card? Would she see the pumpkin? Nancy had ran into one of the intersections we encounter in life. She had to make a choice. Could she see God’s values? Actually it was the scriptures that spoke to her. She really had done nothing for the woman and felt God tugging on her heart and saying, “be warm, be filled, and go in peace.” In other words, she saw Christ in this situation and if she ignored it, she was ignoring Christ. Christ asks us to live in love. Nancy went back and cleaned the porch. A neighbor came to help. (Externally Focused Life, 52).
2. Act out Hospitality
I quote - “We are either enhancing God’s reputation or detracting from it” (Externally Focused Life, 59). Acting out hospitality means
3. Serve one Another
“We have something to contribute that will meet the needs of others” (Externally Focused Life, 61) Another quote – “We are either focused on ourselves or serving others” (61).
4. Speak God’s Word
More or Most – how are we living. Amen.
Passion and Purpose – Ephesians 4:11-13; Romans 12:4-6
The External You Series
Jim Whittaker
Ephesians 4:11-13
11Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, 12so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. 13This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. (Contemporary English Version)
Romans 12:4-8
4 We have many parts in one body, but the parts don’t all have the same function. 5 In the same way, though there are many of us, we are one body in Christ, and individually we belong to each other. 6 We have different gifts that are consistent with God’s grace that has been given to us. If your gift is prophecy, you should prophesy in proportion to your faith. 7 If your gift is service, devote yourself to serving. If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. 8 If your gift is encouragement, devote yourself to encouraging. The one giving should do it with no strings attached. The leader should lead with passion. The one showing mercy should be cheerful. (Common English Bible)
Matching Your Passion with God’s Purpose
Our Scriptures today bring across two important points in our self discovery of an external life focused on living for God. Point #1 – We should learn to serve.
This should not surprise us. On the last night Jesus lived a human life on this earth, he took the servant’s towel and did the servant’s job and washed the disciple’s feet. He then said go and do likewise. The difficulty is often, we do not know where to begin. Truthfully, the possibilities of service are almost unlimited. I believe this is where point #2 comes in.
That is God has created us all differently. Some of us have gifts in one area and others have gifts in a different area. We all do not have the same gifts. Take preaching for example: Some of you probably could give a wonderful sermon, but standing in front of people scares you dearly. Either God has to help you overcome that fear, or that really isn’t your gift. I have never had a problem with talking in public. On my first grade report card there was a check mark in the box that said I need work on this subject: refrains from unnecessary talking. I taught a Bible study in our youth group. I taught a Bible study in college. As soon as I was out of college, I taught Sunday School class pretty much until God called me to preach. Speaking in public combined with Bible knowledge – these were signs that something might happen here. But, I think there is one more necessary characteristic – that is passion. We all have a passion for something. Maybe it is farming. Maybe it is restoring old cars. Maybe it is people.
What do we have a passion for?
I have a passion to compete. When I was about 5 years old, I remember crying when my 10 year old brother beat me in monopoly. I thought he had an unfair advantage over me. It wasn’t that I had to win, but I wanted to have a chance at winning. I like to compete.
At 16 years old, I raced motorcycles. I was somewhat intimidated that my motorcycle did not have all of the fancy equipment that others had. I didn’t plan on anyone beating me though. I was going to make up for my shortfall of equipment with dare devil tactics and having a 30 pound weight advantage. The starter fired the gun. We took off a straight stretch that you could get up to about 50 miles per hour and then into a sharp curve to the left followed by a sharp curve to the right. I actually was first off the line, but some of the faster motorcycles caught me by the curve. I was determined to not allow anyone else to pass me so I hit the second curve hard – so hard in fact that I caught the motorcycle ahead of me and got tangled up in his rear wheel. We wrecked. I got my bike and waited for the last motorcycle to pass. In the next half lap, I was passing everybody that I caught up with. It was then I came to a straight stretch where it was dusty that I couldn’t see ahead of me. I was undeterred and kept it wide open. That is when I caught glimpse of a motorcycle wheel in front of me. Since I was probably going 20 miles per hour faster than he was, I hit his rear wheel dead on. It flipped me over the handlebars. I got back on my bike and waited for the last motorcycle to pass me. I was at this point aggravated that two motorcycles were going so slow they caused me to wreck. I took off like a wild man. I came to a long hill with a ditch on the bottom. Most people let off the gas and drifted to the bottom. I hit the top of the hill and held it wide open passing motorcycles left and right. I locked my brakes up and slid down the last half of the hill and hit the ditch about 10 or 20 miles an hour faster than I should have. I was completely air born. Only my hands were on the handlebars. My feet were higher than my head but I wouldn’t let go. When I came down I heard the announcer say that my number on my bike was making a move. I finished 6th out of about 15 bikes and managed to come in 4th in the series. Winning wasn’t necessarily important, but competing was.
It should only make sense then that somehow we found ourselves racing sailboats. I had called a guy about racing sailboats on Kerr Lake and he said come on. It was a very light breeze day. They were already racing. We came up to the race course and joined in. They invited us to race in the next race. We came up to the starting line and waited for the horn to blow. It did. Everybody was taking off. We were still sitting stilled. It seems I had found out how to stall a boat. We came in as last as last can be. A couple of years later, we finished 4th for the whole season.
It shouldn’t surprise you then that as we exercised, walked, started running, and now have run in 3 races and I am training for a ½ marathon. I need to get up to 10 miles in one run before I am ready to complete. I am closing in. You may ask why do this? I don’t have to win. As a matter of fact my race results this year have been my usual numbers: 6th, 6th, and 4th. But, I like competing. I am considering next spring in doing a duatholon. You run for 2.5 miles, ride a bike for 26 miles, and then run for 2.5 miles. I mean – how hard can it be?
Here is the thing. God created me. God gave me the gifts that I have. God can even equip me with gifts that I do not have. God wants to use me as I am.
How can I use the determination to compete in Christian witness? So far Dianna and I have run in 3 charity races: For Wake Med, for the Catholic Church in Apex, and for Pulmonary Hypertension. We are thinking about running in the Turkey Trot at Pinehurst for some of the work of First Health at Moore Regional Hospital. I found out that Angela Campbell ran in a 5K in Pittsboro for Relay for Life this spring. In 2012, I want to run in the “race for grace,” which is a race to raise funds for Christian mission. God will use who you are if you let him. My passion will put me out in the community. That is our external focus. I will have the opportunity to bump into people and talk to them and get to know them. Dianna has several people that are keeping up with her running at work.
Here are a few other passions I have:
I have a passion to care and watch out for the underprivileged, the hurting, and those not standing on firm ground. This is what drives me to be a part of the Food Pantry or when we were in Cary, the Wake Interfaith Fellowship.
This passion to care for the underprivileged came out this way when I was young. I was always concerned about the last person picked on the baseball team. I was concerned about the person everyone made fun of at school. That was James Blankenship in elementary school. One of the people I befriended at High School was Lee Crouch. He was only 5 feet tall if that tall and probably about that around. His size made it more difficult for him to have friends. He was the best man in our wedding.
What makes you come alive? Howard Thurman said this: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come fully alive” (The Externally Focused Life, 39). God not only saved us from the controlling nature of sin and death, but God saved us for something. Remember last week? We said God created us for a purpose.
The Sweet Spot
We are looking for the sweet spot. Whatever sport you play, there is a sweet spot. It is the place where it feels just right, takes less effort, yet gives the best results. In Tennis, when you hit the ball right in the center of the racket it feels good. In golf, when you hit the ball perfectly with the driver it goes straight and looks like a line drive. It feels good. In running, it is the zone where you are running fast yet feel like you could run forever. It is more results than you feel you have put into it. It is the biggest bang for your buck.
God wants us to find our sweet spot. What is yours? I have told you I have a passion for Bible teaching, for competing, and for caring for the least of these. God made me this way. We need to look at our passion and see how it aligns up with God’s purpose. In Chariot of Fire, Eric Liddell he can run and run fast as he leaves the pack behind, we hear these words: “God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure.” Liddell went on to become a missionary in China.
Here is the thing – are we matching our passions with God’s purpose? Let me give you an example: Bill Hybels races sailboats on the big sailboats at Chicago on the Great Lakes. His crew purposely recruits non-church people to be part of the crew. Why? First, so they can show genuine Christian fellowship. Second, with the hopes, there might come the time where they can share their faith, and they will love them regardless of whether they accept Christ or not. I could have done that in sail boating here but I failed to see the opportunity that God was putting before me. I love to sing the song, “I once was blind but now I see,” but do I allow God to enable me to see?” It was only after I read Billy Hybels story that I had an ah hah moment. God will help you match your passion and God’s purpose. Listen to these scriptures:
God has chosen some to be leaders so that we may all “learn to serve.” (Eph 4:11-12).
God equips us through the scriptures: “so that everyone who belongs to God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (II Tim. 3:16-17).
Christians on the journey with us encourage us: “let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Heb. 10:24).
God enables us: “Each one should use whatever gift they have received to serve others.” (I Peter 4:10).
God provides resources: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” (I Tim. 6:17-18).
You may ask, well I know God will provide but how will I know that I am doing God’s purpose? Do what Jesus did. He provided for the needs of people. He fed them. He served others. He prepared people for eternity. We need to find our sweet spot where our passions and God’s purpose meet.
I am trying to keep my eyes open for opportunities so my passion is also God’s purpose.
Will my running allow me to talk to others?
My passion to compete: We have talked to several people in the Y at Sanford and Cary. My running has allowed me to find some local events in Pittsboro, Siler City, and Sanford. People at Elois’ will ask me how far did I run today?
My passion to care:
I was eating at Brownie Lu’s when a man said I know you. You are a pastor. I was at your Food Pantry last year. Times are rough and I may need to come back. I had the chance to talk about God’s love. My challenge is to keep my passions in God’s purpose.
St. Augustine said in his book Confessions, “our heart is restless until we find rest in you.” In The Externally Focused Life, it is described this way. Everyone is invited to accept Christ and to fill that vacuum that we have without Christ in our heart. We are also invited to do the works God has created us to do to fill a second vacuum that is custom made for us. You can’t fill my vacuum and I can’t fill yours. Only, when we do what it is that God has called us to do will the second vacuum be filled. I quote, “the second vacuum is filled when we spend our time passionately doing what God has given us to do.” (Externally Focused Life, 31).
We are called to get out into the world to give a witness to salvation in Jesus Christ. We are called to serve and called to use God’s gifts. We are called to find God’s “Sweet Spot.” It is going to look a little different for each of us. Here is my first challenge: Everyone needs to pick up the cross of Jesus. There are no exclusions here. Everyone in this church should be trying to live out a life for Christ. Every member should be in service. We all have something we can do.
Here is the second challenge: We need to ask ourselves where are we?
I want to ask you two very serious questions. It comes from the Book of Revelation chapter 20. It says the dead, great, and small are standing before the judgment throne of God. The books are opened. That means we are held accountable to what we do in this life. The first book was opened. It was called the book of life. If we want to go to heaven, our names better be in that book. This means have we accepted Jesus Christ as my savior. We are saved by grace and grace alone. But, we have to answer that question – is your name found in the book of life? If you say no, then today is the day, you need to make it right. If you said yes, we are not done yet.
There is another book. It is the book of works. I quote, “the dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books.” We established last week that Jesus has a heart for the people on the margins and fringes of society. What will our works reveal about them? We also said God desires that we prosper the community. Will our works reveal that as well? Will our works should that we went outside of our church in search of disciples? So here is my question, do your works demonstrate that you are living like you are saved? If you said no, then you need to make it right today. If you said yes, then praise Jesus.
The third challenge is this: Learn to serve. It is time to keep from being fearful. Fear is a lack of trust. It is time we trusted God to help each of us find God’s will in our lives.
God has created us for good works. He saved us for good works. How did the 3 challenges effect you? Have you found your sweet spot? Is God calling you up to the altar today? Are you being moved to a new place today? Answer God’s call on your life. Amen.
Today, we look at the classic “salvation by grace alone” passage accompanied and held in tension with “we are saved to do God’s works.” I was reading a book titled “Bible Basics” on understanding the Catholic faith. It begins with we are saved by grace alone and then continues it is only by grace that we can do works. Sometimes Catholics are said to believe in “works salvation,” but that is a little bit of a misnomer, as Catholics believe that no one can do enough good works to be saved. It takes grace to be saved. Works are the result of our salvation and a life lived in obedience to God. Now theologians are going to disagree on the precise points of salvation and works, but unless you throw out Ephesians 2:10 and the book of James, it is clear – God has saved us for a purpose that goes beyond saying our citizenship is in heaven. God has saved us so that our life story will give witness to the saving grace and mercy of God.
Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson, from the Christian and Baptist churches, wrote two books. One is titled the “Externally Focused Church,” and the second is labeled, “the Externally Focused Life.” They state people are looking for authenticity. The big question they say that our culture is asking is “what can I do to make my life work?” (Ext. Focused Church, 27). That’s kind of like asking what is my life’s purpose? Why did God put on this planet, in this time, and in this place? I don’t believe we are here by accident. One of my passions that led me into ministry was a God felt calling to make a difference in the world. Jesus talked about living our life as the salt of the earth or the yeast in the bread. Salt and yeast make a difference. So what is our story?
My story begins with my family. My dad growing up moved about 20 times in his first 18 years of life. My grandmother had a rocky marriage. Off again, on again. Move out. Move in. This instability led my dad to declare he was done with school in the 6th grade. He jumped out the school window to never come back. This led to long days playing in the woods and work coming at a young age. Our life is our story. What does our story tell? Our story will reveal our choices in life – some have been good and others not so good or even bad. None of us are above a bad choice. My dad worked at a young age on delivering beer. He loaded the beer into the stores. His partner drove the truck and drank beer. Not exactly the best situation and yes we do have alcoholics in the family. My grandmother lived a touch life. It was difficult to put food on the table. Her choices were not always good choices. Dad decided early on that he was going to do things differently. He was going to make a marriage work. He was not going to let alcohol control him like it had uncle Jack, uncle Norman, and uncle Ellis. He worked hard and tried to make up for a lack of education. My dad made it easier for his children to succeed because we had a stable home life and has a stress on education. But, the story that impacted me the most was how to live out a Christian life. My family doesn’t have the best track record on attending church, but they fully understood that if one did not live a life for Christ, they had no faith. What I witnessed in my growing up was a man that gave of himself and his means to help others. A man who believed that all God’s people are created equal and all are to be loved. Dad taught me that we get to choose our story. It might start bad, but it doesn’t have to end bad. How does our life story reflect one lived for Christ?
The scriptures are clear today. The Ephesians passage says, God created us to be saved or reconciled unto God so that we can demonstrate this saving grace to the world we live in. James gets even clearer. If you say you are a believer, and there is no evidence that you believe, you are fooling yourself. You have no belief, because if you believe, you will live it.
God wants to change our insides so that we can change our outsides. We are familiar with the scripture that says “don’t be conformed to the world, but be transformed” (Romans 12:1-2). God wants more that for us to read the Bible, pray, and attend church, because if that is all we do how are we being the salt or the yeast to the world? How are we obeying the “Great Commission” that says “go.” It doesn’t say “stay.” It says go.
Statistics reveal that all denominations in America are losing ground. The US population is growing and our denomination is shrinking. People I believe are looking for two things from Christians and churches.
“created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Christians are to live a life that demonstrates God’s goodness to the world. So how do we do demonstrate God’s love to the world?
We are telling our life story today. When I die if the preacher will say, he had a heart for God and a heart for people, I will have lived my life well. My beginning does not have to be my end. I am writing my story today. If I adopt the Deuteronomy passage and the Jeremiah passage as rules to live by, it will change how I live. These are examples of the good works that we are created for: to care for the least of these and to help prosper our community. I believe that we need to hear the word again that Jesus said – “go.” He did not say “sit still.”
Did you feel that any of these methods of touching people outside the church wasn’t the work of God? I would say they all are. If one only get 1 out of 3, that’s failing. If we only get 2 out of 3, then we are barely passing. We need to get all 3 out of 3. We don’t want to do Christ’s work in a failing manner or a barely passing. If God created us to do good works for God, then we are to do them as Ephesians says. If the book of James says take a test and see if your actions line up with your mouth. Do you believe? Do your actions demonstrate that belief.
The external you. We all have a story. What story is our life telling? Is it the Christian story? Does it give a Christian witness?
You may feel good about the story your life is telling. Praise God! You may not feel good about the life your story is telling. Just because it started out bad or weak, by no means, it has to end that way. Let’s end strong. Let’s let our life stories reflect Jesus’ love and grace from this moment on. Amen.
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