Pastor Rich's Sermon, October 3, 2004

How do you feel about your life? What do you have to show for the 20, 40, 60 or 80 years of living? Would you say that you have wasted your life? Would you say that your life has counted for something? What standard would you use to determine if your life has been wasted or not?

I hate feeling at the end of the day that it has been a wasted day. The kind of day I am talking about is when your feet hit the floor in the morning you had a mental list of all the things you were going to get done. Yet at the end of the day you hadn’t crossed off a single thing on your list. What is disturbing is that you know you didn’t have a moment of rest all day. You were busy every minute of the day and yet you have no sense of having accomplished anything.

I remember numerous times attempting to put together a toy for one of the boys. I laid out all the pieces. I read the directions and reread the directions. I starred intently at the diagram that was given. Believing I knew what to do I proceed to assemble the toy. Several hours later and a couple of frustrated outbursts the toy was assembled that’s if you don’t count the few extra pieces remaining on the floor.

I hate wasting time. Wasting time is like wasting life. Nothing wastes life more than a life that is not given completely to God.

“Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

Truth be told American’s are very wasteful. We waste food. We waste natural resources. We waste money. We waste life. When we think of someone who wastes life our thoughts focus on someone who is lazy, a homeless person, a panhandler. We may even think of someone who has committed suicide.

The truth of the matter is that there isn’t a single human being living today who isn’t wasting life. We waste life because we don’t give ourselves completely to God.

Ephesians 5:15-17 states “Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

“Be careful.”

In other words don’t be careless. Don’t stumble or drift through life. Paul is saying, ‘You have to have a plan.’ This is a life lesson that has been reiterated time and time again when I was playing sports. It didn’t matter what the sport. If I wanted to win or if I wanted to compete I had to have a plan.

If you want to live a purposeful life, you have to have a plan. The best plan is to follow God’s plan for your life.

What is God’s plan for living?

“Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

C. S. Lewis wrote, “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”

How would you feel if you learned that the person you care for the most, be it a spouse, parent, sibling, or friend thought of you as being only moderately important? While that person may never admit such a truth, what does there actions say?

Cat Stevens wrote a song entitled the Cats in the Cradle. It is a ballad about a little boy who wants to be like his Dad. During the many stages of the boys growing up the boy says to his father, ‘Come on let’s play.’ Each time his father said, ‘I’d love to, BUT there are planes to catch, there are bills to pay, there are…and the litany goes on and on.

We live in a culture that says, “You can do it all and you can have it all.” That is a lie. Unfortunately we have bought into this lie, at our own expense and at the expense of our relationship with God. Unless we find ourselves behind the eight ball, God all too often has become moderately important. Even though we profess and proclaim through song that Jesus is Lord he is all to often dethroned by money, sports, hobbies, work, schoolwork, family and friends.

While certainly God is not against you building a career, raising a family, maintaining good health, saving for retirement. God is against the fact that too often they take precedence over Him.

“Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

What does it take to give yourself completely to God, to make God number 1?

Discipline! You can’t be a disciple without discipline

Proverbs 10:17
“Whoever practices discipline is on the way to life.”

1 Timothy 4:7
“Spend your time and energy in the exercises of keeping spiritually fit.”

You and I are all disciplined in areas of our life, in areas we want to be disciplined such as work, career, and physical fitness. Disciplines are habits that define, design, shape and control our life.

What if –

You were as disciplined in having daily quiet time as you are in never missing a meal?

You were as disciplined is serving others as you are getting up and going to work?

You were as disciplined in attending church as you are in watching your favorite T.V. show?

“Giving yourselves completely to God” requires discipline. It requires “Spending your time and energy in the exercises of keeping spiritually fit.”

This starts with “Letting Go.” Because we have bought into the cultural lie that ‘we can do it all and have it all’ we overload our lives while at the same time overwhelm ourselves. We must learn to LET GO.

I have heard people say about our 40 Days of Purpose spiritual campaign, ‘I would love to participate but I can’t squeeze another thing into my schedule.’ They are absolutely correct. The only way you can make space for God in your planning calendar is by letting go of something. Making space means cutting some stuff out. Good stuff not just sinful stuff.

The 40 Days of Purpose is spiritual fitness campaign it requires weekly worship for six weeks, Fifteen minutes a day reading from the Purpose Driven life, five minutes a week to memorize scripture, weekly small group studies. The question shouldn’t be how could I squeeze these into my week? The question has to be, what am I going to stop doing in order to do these things?

Remember the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus came to their house. Martha went right into the kitchen and began preparing the meal for Jesus and his disciples. Mary on the other hand sat at Jesus’ feet and took in all that Jesus was saying and teaching.

Martha tired from all the cooking and frustrated that she was doing it all said to Jesus,

“Master, tell Mary to get into the
kitchen and help me.”

Jesus responded,

“Martha, Martha, Mary has chosen the better part.”

Unfortunately we are too often like Martha. Everyday tasks distract us from focusing on God.

Psalm 39:6
“All our busy rushing ends in nothing.”

If there aren’t enough hours in the day for you then that is all the more reason to focus on God.

Proverbs 10:27
“Reverence for the Lord adds hours to each day.”

“Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.”

WHY? Why should you give yourselves completely to God?

The CROSS! Jesus gave His life completely for you. He expects your life in return. We sang this morning the song When I Survive The Wonderous Cross. Do you remember the last line of the song that you sang. It, means the cross, demands my soul, my life, my all.

The CROSS of CHRIST there is no better reason to

give yourself completely to God.