Thorns of Competition
March 25, 2007
Rev. Shannon Grubbs
PRAYER:
Father God, as we look to your Word this morning, we ask that your Holy Spirit will touch our hearts in such a way that we will be inspired, that we will be convicted, that we will be motivated to look at our life and our devotion to you in a different manner. I ask, this morning, that you remove the fog from our eyes that keep us from truly seeing what you would have us see. I ask that you would remove the cotton from our ears that keep us from truly hearing your call to us…the call to be who you want us to be. I ask, this morning, that the Holy Spirit fall upon these words which I am about to speak. May they be your words, not mine, and may they carry your anointing? I pray these things through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
INTRODUCTION (COMPETITION):
Our lives are full of competition. We see this on TV with all the commercials competing for our business, competitions such as beauty pageants and talent competitions. We see this in the world of sports both on and off the screen. We see it in our neighborhoods and workplaces and even within our homes. We compete for positions of authority in our jobs and even in our churches. We compete with our siblings for grades and favor with parents. We compete with jobs, TV, and extra curricular activities for attention from our spouse or, in the kids’ case, their parents. We compete for favor amongst our peer groups. We compete when it comes to who has the biggest, most expensive, most fun…you fill in the blank. Let’s face it, our life is one big competition. Sometimes we don’t even realize how competitive we really are. Our Lord is competing as well!! He is competing with our jobs, our extra curricular activities, our “family time,” even with the work we do in the church and community helping others (which are wonderful things that He calls us to do), but He still competes with all sorts of things for our attention and our devotion.
ILLUSTRATION:
Tommy Tenney, a minister and the author of well-known books such as God Chasers and God Catchers, tells a story in on of his books about taking his family to the Grand Canyon. His middle daughter, who was four at the time, wanted to know what everyone was looking at as the family stopped at one of the overlooks. Her parents told her that “it is a big hole in the ground in America with a lot of big, pretty rocks.” They stopped long enough in the gravel parking lot to point to the colorful walls of the canyon in the distance and say excitedly, “Look at the rocks, baby!” They then walked over to the overlook site. Tenny’s daughter kept saying , “Look at the rocks! Look at the rocks!” so they assumed she was keeping up with their amazement of this beautiful site. When they looked back, they realized their daughter wasn’t looking at the Grand Canyon at all. She had picked up a handful of gravel from the parking lot. She was cradling the rocks carefully and reverently as she said, “Look - American Rocks!’
Aren’t we just like this little girl? We get so focused on the “gravel” that life has to offer – which sometimes looks so magnificent and we care for so intensely, and all the while the true beauty in “THE ROCK of our SALVATION” we totally ignore because we can not take our eyes off of the gravel.
KEY QUESTION:
Are you looking at the rocks or THE ROCK?? What or who are you devoted to?
In the Scripture passage we just read (Matthew 6: 19-24) we are told not to collect earthly treasures (those many thing we spend so much time competing for) because they are not permanent. It will all go away, none of it is permanent. So why do we work so hard at hunting, gathering, and maintaining these things that will eventually go away? The Scripture tells us that we are to collect heavenly treasures, treasures that will last for an eternity. Here is the sobering thought…where your treasure is, there your heart is also. I believe we would all say that we love the Lord, and we do. But what does our life say to the rest of the world about our love for the Lord. Do we love the Lord the way we love sports or chocolate? Do we love the Lord the way we love “our neighbor,” a love that we are called to but one in which we really aren’t invested in, that doesn’t require a lot of our time and focus? Or are we truly devoted…do we love the Lord in such a way that we can’t wait to spend time with the Him, we want to abandon it all for Christ? I am going out on a limb to say that our love for the Lord is often times more like the former than the latter love. Where does God fit into our lives?? Our life reflects what is truly in our heart and we make our choices accordingly. There is an epidemic in today’s churches. It is seen in every denomination and in churches all around. The spiritual growth of church members is stagnant. I know that is a harsh thing to say, but it is very evident in the fruit that comes from them. You can tell without a doubt when someone is truly in love with the Lord. It is unmistakable because the fruit they produce is unbelievable. You won’t hear these people speaking negatively against another, you won’t see them doing all that they can do to get into positions of power (or what they believe is a powerful position). You will see them reaching out to those in need. You will see them not being afraid to commit to serving the Lord, and not on their terms, they are willing to do what is asked of them even if it is out of their comfort zone. You will see them in prayer for others, and you will see a love that radiates out to touch everyone they encounter and even those they don’t encounter. On the other hand, we have church members who occupy a seat on their favorite pew each week and then leave the church to go on about competing for whatever it is they are focused on. They do not want to commit to serving because it will interfere with their schedules and the earthly treasures that they are striving to obtain. They look at serving as a chore, a job that they will only do if it doesn’t inconvenience them. Then there are those who believe they are fully devoted to God and have all the good intentions in the world. They go about doing God’s work. They serve the poor and do this and that because it is the “right” thing to do. They serve the Kingdom of God without ever getting to know the King of the Kingdom. They focus on the gravel rather than the Rock.
ILLUSTRATION:
Tina Sinatra in her book entitled “My Father’s Daughter,”
tells a story about how focused her father, Frank, was on making money. His
family kept telling him he needed to retire, but every time Frank would say
“No, I’ve got to make more money.” He had to make sure that everyone was taken
care of. He was so totally focused on this. Over time, his performances
became more and more uneven. His memory wasn’t as good as it had been so he
was forced to use TelePromTers with his words on it. He had sung “Second Time
Around” thousands of times, but the audience ended up having to finish it for
him at one point. Frank Sinatra had gone on much longer than he should have.
The desire he had to finish on top of his game had gone out the window. His
response was always the same, “No I’ve got to earn more money. I have to make
sure everyone is taken care of.
After Frank died, the family remained divided over his fortune, ironically
enough. (Sinatra, Coplon)
His desire for earthly treasures that seemed to be the answer ended up being a pile of rumble with a family in turmoil, just as the Bible states. What the world has to offer is full of lies and temporary satisfaction, but what the Lord has to offer is eternal.
We can compete all day long for what we think is the true treasure, but there is only one true treasure and that is the devotion we give to the Lord and our relationship with Him. That is the eternal treasure we should all be seeking.
In John, chapter 12, we heard the story of Mary who was so totally devoted to Jesus and Judas who knew of the Lord, and followed Him daily, yet really did not really know the Lord. Mary was criticized by Judas for pouring out her bottle of expensive perfume over Jesus in an act of worship rather than even saving some it to sell to contribute to the work of the kingdom. Judas believed that Mary had acted irresponsibly, that she had wasted all that money on Jesus. Are we not just like Judas sometimes? Aren’t we so focused on doing what we think needs to be done for the kingdom that we forget to honor the very One that this kingdom belongs to? Judas’ argued that this perfume was too costly to pour out like that. The perfume cost one year’s salary (300 denarii). Let’s look at that in today’s terms. Let’s say a person works for $6/hr, a day’s wages would be $48 a day, so a year’s salary would be about $12,000. That is a lot of money, and I can see Judas’ point, but it is the wrong perspective. There is nothing more valuable that Jesus Christ and of our worship of Him. He has given everything for us, why would we not give Him our very best? Mary knew this. She was willing to give ALL that she had, not just part…whatever was the most comfortable for her to give. She sacrificed it all. And there was something about that fragrance… In the book God Catchers, Tommy Tenney makes a great point about the fragrance. You see Mary poured the whole bottle out over Jesus. Then she got on her knees and wiped His feet with her hair. Not only would Jesus smell beautiful, but so would she as she drenched her hair with this exquisite perfume. The fragrance of her worship would go with her. “When she went to bed that night, she smelled like Jesus. When she woke up the next morning and she still smelled like Jesus!!” Do you have any desire for that kind of commitment? Mary sacrificed the security of her future (her retirement) for Jesus, just to bask in His presence. Do we do this?? We might fit in time with Him here and there, however we can fit it in, if we can fit it in, yet, we manage to do the other things that we want to do in life.
“Worship that costs you nothing is momentary, but worship that costs you goes with you.” (Tenney, p190)
Where is your focus? Is your love for the Lord an extravagant love? Are you willing to give it all for the One who gave everything for you? Think about that for a moment…
***SONG – ALABASTER BOX***
INVITATION:
God should not have to compete for our devotion. He should be first on our list of priorities.
Over the triple doorways of the cathedral of Milan there are three inscriptions spanning the splendid arches. Over one is carved a beautiful wreath of roses, and underneath it is the legend, "All that which pleases is but for a moment."
Over the other is sculptured a cross, and there are the words, "All that which troubles us is but for a moment."
But underneath the great central entrance to the main aisle is the inscription, "That only is important which is eternal."
If we always realize these three truths, we will not let trifles trouble us, not be interested so much in the passing pleasures of the hour. We should live for the permanent and the eternal.
Jesus Christ was born to die for you and for me so that we would not have to face a life of eternal damnation for our sins. Does any of the things that we place the most amount of time in promise to give us that? Do the sports events and extra curricular activities that we give up our time with God to attend provide any long lasting hope for us? Does all the additional hours we spend in an effort to move up the latter have any eternal significance? Our family is a God-given gift, but we can worship this gift more than we worship the Giver of the gift?
Maybe you are ready to be broken, to confess to God that you have been pricked by the thorns of competition that have kept you from an extravagant love for the One who matters he most. If you are ready to become an Extravagant Worshiper, then I invite you to pray that prayer of confession and give your heart fully to Christ.
Maybe you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior and you realize that your priorities are all wrong; I invite you to give your heart and devotion to Him today. We are not promised tomorrow.
Or maybe you are looking for a place where you can come to worship, where you can be held accountable, and where you can grow in the Lord. We offer that to you here at First Christian Church and we welcome you with open arms to join us at the front as we sing our closing hymn: # 339 (early) #417 (late) “Just As I Am”
BENEDICTION:
Chosen and beloved of God, go forth to pour out your extravagant love on all you meet. Keep your eyes on the prize – the call of God to new life in Christ. Go out rejoicing and declaring God’s praise. Amen