April 27, 2008

God’s BIG Give: Life

Live All Your Life

Luke 10:25-28

Opening Words: On March 2 the ABC Television Network premiered a brand new show, Oprah’s Big Give. It stars America’s newest golden girl, Oprah Winfrey. The eight one hour episodes are a competition. The contestants are asked to find creative ways to help complete strangers in some of life’s most challenging situations. As the ABC website states, “lives are changed in the blink of an eye.” When I read that I knew there was a sermon series inside. I found it!

I have called my newest sermon series God’s BIG Give. Consider this with me. Just like Oprah, God has been giving away some amazing things for a long time. Just like Oprah, God’s gifts changed our lives in the blink of an eye. Just like Oprah, God expects us to improve the lives of complete strangers. In this seven part sermon series we are going to be looking at some divine gifts. This morning we are looking to look at the gift of life, itself. When was the last time you thanked God for simply being alive? Let us hear God’s word’s together from Luke 10:25-28.

Luke 10:25-28 ²⁵On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

²⁶"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

²⁷He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"

²⁸"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

Dr. Halford Luccock tells the story of a little girl writing a letter to her favorite uncle. She ends the letter by saying, “I love you very, very much, and I hope you live your life everyday.” He understood the emotion behind that phrase but he questioned her logic. Then he thought about that phrase, “I love you very, very much, and I hope you live your life everyday.” He found the theology in that phrase to be outstanding!

How many people do you know who are not living everyday? How many people do you know who just exist? Their hearts are beating and their lungs are taking in air but their zest for life, itself, is gone? They feel like they are living life in a small prison cell without any hope of liberation. Life has sucked them dry. I see that within the life of the church all the time. How many people here today feel trapped by responsibility? (Everyone needs you.) How many people here today feel trapped by debt? (Life is expensive.) How many people here today feel trapped in your own body? (Your health is eroding.) How many people here today suffer in silence with depression and anxiety? How many people here today battle alcohol and drugs on a daily basis? How many people here today are haunted by some past experience? It maybe something you did; it maybe something that happened to you. How many people here today are afraid of the future? Do I have to go on? Life is hard. How many people do you know who are not living everyday? How many people do you know who just exist?

God never intended us just to exist. God intended you to live your life everyday. The key verse in this morning’s scripture lesson is verse 27. The teacher of the law is quoting Leviticus 19:18. It says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself." In verse 28 Jesus responds by saying, “Do this and you will live.” These two verses expose to us the importance of spirituality. There is a direct connection between your spiritual health and your happiness. Generally speaking, people who have a spiritual life are more balanced and happier then the spiritually immature. The spiritually mature person understands there is more to life then self. The spiritually immature spend their time studying the details of their lives. The details of life are not always pretty. How pretty are the details of your life?

This morning I want to challenge you to deepen your spiritual life, to get your eyes off the details of your life. I want you can live your life everyday. What I am going to give you are three divine truths. You can look at these three things as a formula for a happier or more content life. These three are equally balanced, no one is more important then the other. It is like sitting on a three legged stool. So if you are ready to live your life everyday say, “Amen!”

Love Yourself

If you really want to live your life everyday then learn to love yourself. How many people do you know who aren’t living life everyday don’t even like themselves? The first thing you need to live life everyday is a healthy self-esteem. American artist James Whistler, who was never known to be bashful about his talent, was once advised that a shipment of blank canvases he had ordered had been lost in the mail. When asked if the canvases were of any great value, Whistler remarked, "not yet." Whistler did exactly have it but he was headed in the right direction.

One of the things you should know by now is that you are important to God. We are so valuable to God that Jesus not only came into the world but he died on the cross. It is a great day in a person’s life when you discover your worth does not come from the car you drive, the clothes you wear, your address or your talents. You are valuable because you belong to the God of the universe.

Several weeks ago I was in Washington DC. I would encourage you to go. It is truly a special place. I would encourage you to see everything but don’t miss the Smithsonian Institute. There are the gowns of the President’s wives, the first telephone of Alexander Bell, the Wright brothers plain and the early space suits. Everything is impressive but one thing really grabbed my attention. In a glass case there is a little wooden whistle sitting on a piece of velvet. It didn’t look like much until I read the card in front of the whistle. The card read: HANDMADE BY GEORGE WASHINGTON. Then I understood. The value of that little handmade whistle was not in the material or the skill to make it. The value of that handmade whistle came from the creator, George Washington, the father of our nation. That is our story. We are valuable because we were made by God, Himself. You are valuable because you were created by God. If you want to live life everyday then learn to love yourself. You were made by God. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Love Others

If you really want to live your life then learn to love others. How many people do you know who aren’t living life everyday don’t like other people? The second thing you need to live life everyday is a love for others. Mother Teresa was once asked by an interviewer: "What's the biggest problem in the world today?" Without hesitating she replied, "The biggest problem in the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day."

Many of you know the story of Albert Schweitzer. He is remembered as the most famous missionaries of the modern era. Leaving behind both an academic career (Schweizer had Phds in both theology and physics) and a musical one (Schweizer was also a concert organist) he set up a medical clinic in French Equatorial Africa. He was 85 years old when Andrew Davison of Colgate Rochester Seminary had the privilege of visiting. Davison tells how one morning, at around 11.00, he, Schweitzer and some others were walking up a hill. It was extremely hot. Suddenly the 85 year old Dr Schweitzer walked away from the group. He made his way toward an African woman struggling up the hill with a large load of wood for the fire on which she would cook her food. Schweitzer took the entire load of wood from the woman and carried it up the hill for her. When Schweitzer rejoined the group one of them asked why he did things like that. With the rest of the group this person was surprised and concerned that a person of Dr Schweitzer's age would strain themselves so. Dr Schweitzer looked at the group, then pointed to the woman and said, "No one should ever have to carry a burden like that alone." That is the story of our world.

The burdens that people carry are heavy. Like it or not, our world is getting smaller. There are burdened people everywhere. They can be as close your neighborhood or on the other side of the world. Their burdens are heavy and they need your help. But don’t just help them because they need help. Help them because what it will do for you. When you pick up their burdens you will discover that your burdens are so heavy. The more you get involved in their lives the less time you will have to study the details of your life. If you want to live your life everyday then simply love others. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

Love God

If you really want to live your life then learn to love God. How many people do you know who aren’t living their life everyday are frustrated with God? The third thing you need to do to live life everyday is love God. Listen to what I said. I didn’t say you had to understand God. I said you had to love God. There is a great difference.

One month from today Kathy and I will celebrate our 20^th wedding anniversary. It is hard to believe. The time has gone fast. I can honestly say we have a good marriage. We have good lives. We have a house that is really a home. We have partially raised two people, who haven’t given us any real problems. With our volunteer in mission trips, we have seen the world! We have careers that challenge us. We have avoided poor health and indebtedness. After twenty years of marriage I can honestly say I love my wife more now then ever. Our core values are identical but in any ways we are different. We love each everyday but there are many days we don’t understand one another. Can anyone here relate to that statement? You love your spouse but you don’t understand your spouse?

Last Sunday morning Kathy and I were in Ft. Myers. We were there for a week. We flew down with her brother and sister-in-law. It was a true vacation. Going to a Russian orphanage, eating strange food and working with severely handicapped children is not a vacation. Going to Annual Conference, with a collection of competitive complaining ministers, is not a vacation. Chaperoning college students, who do strange things, is not a vacation. Going to Ft. Myers is a vacation. Do you know what we did all week? Nothing! It is the only time of the entire year when I do nothing. We just lay by the pool and did nothing.

I didn’t promote the fact I was clergy but I did listen to what people were saying. I was amazed how many discussions I heard about spirituality. If that group of people was a sample of society then I heard two great themes. First, people don’t trust or respect the church. Leonard Sweet in his book, The Perfect Storm, say that there are many in our society who are angry at the institutional church. The church is seen as irrelevant and hypocritical. Second, people don’t understand God. Why would an all powerful God let so many good people suffer? I don’t have an answer to that question. However, I have asked that question myself. If your faith is balanced on your understanding of God then you are in trouble. You will never be able to fully understand God and His ways. Our minds are too limited. Someone once said, “If you had a God you could understand then you wouldn’t have much of a God.” I believe that is true. I have been in the ministry for twenty-five years and I understand less about God then I do my wife. That does not mean I don’t love them both.

Understanding God is not as important as loving God. When you love God you are able to trust Him with your past, your present and your future. When you love God you are able to stop worrying and start living life everyday. And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”

I end this morning’s message with a promise. I promise to pray for you. I pray that you live your life everyday. I pray that your heart isn’t just beating and that your lungs aren’t just taking in air. I pray that you are really living and getting the most out of everyday. I pray that you are both happy and content. If you want to live your life everyday then taking a cruise is not enough. If you want to live your life everyday then learn to love yourself. (You are a child of God!) If you want to live your life everyday then learn to love others. (Your burdens are not as heavy as you think!) If you want to live your life everyday then learn to love God. (Love God enough and stop worrying about the things of this world!) And all of God’s people said, “Amen!”