Trinity Baptist Church January 7, 2006
A Look Back
Psalm 39:4-6
Patty and I joined a gym a while back. There’s something different about this one. You don’t just join and then show up and begin working out on your own.
Early in your membership, you have an appointment, for a thorough fitness evaluation. When I say thorough evaluation, I do not mean someone asks you, “so, how do you feel about your physical condition?” This evaluation is with an exercise physiologist and it
lasts for about an hour.
When mine was over, I’d been questioned, weighed, measured, pinched. Then they had the audacity to make me demonstrate -- for better or for worse -- the precise status of my current exercise strength, stamina and endurance.
The point of all the testing and evaluation was to establish some goals -- and you cannot establish realistic goals if you don’t know where you stand. As embarrassing as it was, I got a crystal clear picture of where I was at the starting point. The objective, of course, is, things won’t stay that way.
We‘re finished with week one of a new year. ‘06 is in the books. We can’t rewind -- much as we’d like, we can’t go back and correct anything we did or didn‘t do. But we can reflect -- and evaluate and -- if we’re wise, make change. Change is a dirty word for most people -- especially when it means personal change. But it’s a rare person who wants everything in his life to always remain “status quo”.
It’s therefore appropriate, at the New Year, to evaluate -- and re-orient. Like that physical evaluation, I’d like point you in the direction of some spiritual evaluation. No scales or tape measures, but there are some good measures.
Life isn’t composed primarily of large things, it’s mostly small ones -- it’s made up of the minutes and hours, daily interactions with people, of those little habits and decisions we make as we operate every day. When we reflect on how we use the small pieces of life, we’re thinking like God wants us to. Psalm 39 gives us some insight along those lines. It’s on the screen.
Verse 4, begins:
"Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man’s life is but a breath. Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it." (Psalm 39:4-6)
The New Living translates verses 4 and 5 like this: "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." (Psalm 39:4, 5 -- NLT)
David’s words declare three truths we often simply write off. One truth is life is fleeting. Everything we call “life” in the material world has extreme limits. The few dozen years we get go zipping past, ever more at warp speed.
The second truth: this life is not all there is. Our time on earth is just the ground work -- “the preparation period” for everything we will be and know and encounter in the eternal state. Scripture says, every last human being will experience eternity, either in, or apart from God‘s eternal realm.
There’s a third truth in Psalm 39. It rests on the first two: because life is short; because present experience is just the barest beginning of life -- therefore - stop and evaluate!
We know Christ will evaluate us. He will bring Christians before Him and He’ll examine --
our faithfulness -- our growth in Christ -- He will inspect the fruit and kingdom impact our lives have had. Doesn’t it make sense that we should regularly do the same?
Evaluating and appropriate changes are crucial so we don’t get stalled in our progress. So -- what would it be worth to you to set aside a couple of hours, right at the start of this year, to evaluate and lay some plans for your progress in the coming months? What kind of value would it be for you to take what we talk about today and process it?
Will you reject passivity? Passivity runs rampant in American culture and in the Church. Will you dump the “I can’t” attitude? Will you quit making excuses for not growing in Christ? God has such grander things in mind -- He so wants to work in us and through us all the way to the finish line.
Let’s begin with a look back. Next week, we’ll take a look forward. I want to pose three questions today. You have them on the blue outline. Your task and mine, then, is -- carve out some time -- a couple of hours -- and before God, write down some answers to these questions.
The first question:
1. How’s you heart? (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 6:21; John 4:23)
When you go for a physical exam, the normal drill is, the doctor will hold a cold stethoscope to chest and listen to your heart. If things don’t sound right, they get more serious equipment, to allow them to hear, see and analyze what your heart’s doing. They do that because the heart is right at the center of things physically; if there‘s a problem there, it will, without fail, impact the whole body.
So how’s your heart -- your spiritual heart? Scripture describes that component as the deepest and truest part of you. It’s a great reservoir -- it contains massive amounts of information and feelings. It’s also the control center. Your heart is composed of your mind and emotions and will. Your heart reveals who and what you really are, down there deep inside, where
no one but God ever sees. It’s reasonable that a spiritual check-up begins with a heart exam.
How’s your heart? Before you answer, remember Jeremiah’s words about the heart: under God’s Spirit, he pictured man’s heart as deep, and complex and very dark. In Jeremiah 17:9 we read, "the heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick,
who can understand it?" Who can know the heart of man?.
But there is good news. When we come to Jesus Christ by faith, God works a miracle in our hearts. Ezekiel promised, God would give us a heart transplant. 36:26 says, "I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new obedient heart."(Ezekiel 36:26, NLT)
When we believe, our hearts are transformed; but they still need to be directed. God’s desire for us is in the Proverb that says, "My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe My ways." God’s interested in both our conduct and our character -- not just your performance, He wants your heart.
Does He have it? How can we know? There are some good ways to tell. We can call them
"barometers of the heart" -- they provide us an accurate reading on our hearts’ health and vitality.
One barometer is my speech, how I communicate. In Matthew 12:34, Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The operative phrase there is the abundance of the heart. That means, what the heart is full of. My heart is full, so is yours. And we know what they’re full of by what comes out of our mouths. So, when I’m tired, or stressed, or ticked, or in traffic; what comes leaping off my tongue tells the tale. When I’m alone with my wife or family, what comes out is what I’ve been hoarding down there.
That filling, that abundance is what’s been occupying my thought life, what I’ve been chewing and meditating on, and saving down in my private thoughts. So, if you want to know the condition of your heart -- take a reading -- how do you communicate with people? In the different situations of life? Do people hear a lot about you? Or is lots of your speech gossip? Do critical things dominate? Or do you speak the Truth in love? Do you encourage people spiritually and lead them with the way you speak? What would people around you say about your communication patterns? Are you known for speaking words that hurt or words that heal?
Another barometer is money. Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). Again, Jesus lays His finger on a key Truth about my heart. The way I spend, or save, invest, or freely give describes what is pulling the strings of my heart.
Jesus spoke those words when He pressed people to be invested in His kingdom, not just to put away money on earth. They say, money talks. What’s yours saying? If someone opened up your check register -- or they got on your computer and opened up your Quicken or Money, what would they see there about your heart? More to the point, what’s Christ see as He observes you handling money?
Does a bunch of it go for things we’d be embarrassed about? Do you spend more than you earn, like the average American? Are you still trying to find that material thing which is going to fill the hole in your heart? Are you part of the 80% of American Christians who in essence give nothing to Christ’s Kingdom?
Or are you learning to give more and give for the right reasons? Are you getting more generous than you’ve ever been? Are you getting your heart wrapped around what God is doing on the planet, by continuously giving away what He’s given you?
A third barometer is worship. Scripture informs us that we are “hard wired” to worship. In other words, we all worship -- something. By nature, we look outside ourselves for something to which we will gladly and willingly give our interest, our loyalty, allegiance -- our devotion. Worship by definition and by right belongs alone to the God of All Glory. The Psalmist said "it is He Who made us, not we ourselves." He made us for Himself and He redeemed us so He could own us again.
God desires that our expression of worship be His exclusively. He wants worship that comes from the heart. Jesus told the woman at the well, in John 4:23 "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth -- for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23)
What’s the object of your worship? Is there a relationship, or a possession that occupies your heart? The crux of worship is transferring that place to the One Who deserves it. Is He more and more occupying His place in the throne room of your life?
A fourth heart barometer is love. The things and the people I love -- paint a picture of my heart. The greatest calling of God on man is to respond to His love by loving Him with everything you are -- and to love people in your life like you love yourself.
Jesus’ critique of religious people in His day was they did the right things, they showed up at worship services, they prayed right prayers, and gave money, but they did it all without authentic love for God or people.
Their hearts weren’t in it. So, beyond yourself, what -- who are the focal points of your love? Is your love for Jesus Christ become more real and growing? Are you committed to noticing people around you and expressing love to them in practical ways?
The toughest question is the heart question. It requires some significant time to honestly answer before God. How’s your heart?
The second follows it.
2. What are your commitments? (Ephesians 5:15-17; Matthew 6:33)
Ephesians 5:15-17 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Ephesians 5:15-17)
Paul suggests that people of the world live outside the bounds of wisdom. They approach life, they approach all of life’s choices foolishly. But he’s not content to simply observe that, he urges Christians: “don’t let yourself get squeezed into that mold, don‘t fall back into that trap“.
People live as if material life will last forever. They work and buy and relate as if -- as if there’s no eternity, as if there is no God in heaven, as if there’s zero accountability.
But, God’s Truth teaches us something very different. And because you know the Truth, Paul says, buy up opportunity. He’s not talking earth bound opportunities. He means making spiritual commitments, spiritual investments. Understand -- you’re here for God’s purposes and priorities. So, invest to get His will done.
Jesus addressed those priorities in Matthew 6:33 when He said, "pursue first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will added to you." His followers got in a tizzy over the same stuff we do -- food, clothing, material gain. We add cars, houses, careers, retirement.
Jesus says, will you stop primarily focusing the aim and direction of your life on things that won’t matter, and get your heart and mind on what will matter? And He spells out what’s of highest value: pursue God’s righteousness. That’s whatever helps you be transformed into Christ’s image: those are what you should be giving attention to. Is there rock-solid commitment and conviction in your life that you will grow in your maturity? Have you made the commitments and taken the steps to be certain that happens?
His second priority is the expansion of Christ’s kingdom. In other words, set your sights on, and employ your resources on what leads to building and expanding Christ‘s Church.
You want to get a read on your commitments? Scan back through the last couple of weeks of your calendar. What occupies your evenings and weekends -- what consumes your discretionary time. What kind of commitments do you make to entertainment, hobbies, and relaxing. On the flip side, what amounts have you given to time in the Word and prayer? To hospitality with believers and unbelievers? Have you made time for building relationships with people who need Christ?
Another way to know what you’re committed to, again, is where your money goes. Page back through your checkbook and bank statements. Check things through.
Turn back and look at life through the lenses of your calendar and checkbook, and let God speak to you about the commitments you‘ve had.
Beside commitments, comes a third question:
3. What are your daily habits? (Matthew 6:33, 2 Timothy 4:5-7)
Psalm 39 said our days are numbered. If you have the average American’s lifespan you’ll get about 25,550 days. I checked a couple weeks ago what I have left. If I live as long as my dad did, I might have 10,000+ days left. That sounds like a lot, but when you take away all the time we commit to work, and family and school and just getting done the business of life --
one calculation said we each have a total of 350 days about which we make decisions.
Our days are numbered. People react to that in different ways -- some of us want to do what an old beer commercial suggested: we try to grab for all the gusto we can in life. We want to live and experience and do and buy and travel and -- just squeeze as much as we can into the days we have.
Another reaction is to passively ignore the truth that life is temporal. Passive people live one day at a time. Take life as it comes. Go with the flow, go with whatever feels right at the moment. They live with no intentionality at all.
That always reminds me of a story from 1 Kings 20. The prophet there used an illustration about a man who was charged to guard a prisoner -- somehow the prisoner escaped. When he was called to account, he told his superior, “while your servant was busy here and there behold he was gone!”
We get busy with this or that thing -- and suddenly, a year is gone, suddenly life itself goes by us. All of a sudden, you’re 55 like me, and you realize that unless you’re going to live until you’re 102, life is more than half over. I said at the beginning, life is largely composed of the small things. The minutes, the hours, the days, the interactions we have with people.
So what are the daily habits that mark your days? What are habits you practice for which you trade in the days of life? Little decisions don’t seem significant. A few dollars here. A little entertainment there. A few comforts. A couple of TV shows. Suddenly, life evaporates, as the Bible says, like your warm breath on a cold night, suddenly we’re not at all where we had wanted to be at this age.
What are your habits? What do you do everyday which helps set out the course of your life? Is Scripture part of your daily regimen? Is time with your Father? Is there time for people who need Christ? Time to invest faithfully and regularly in advancing Christ’s work?
We could each name a half dozen or dozen things we do every day. Take a look at yours and see where the course will take you.
Steps I need to take
The start of the year. A most appropriate time to evaluate.
I don’t want to leave you with guilt this morning. Neither do I want to leave you comfortable.
Will you -- as I said at the start -- will you -- before God, right now, commit to spending at least 60 minutes in the next 7 days to answer openly, before Him, these 3 questions and any others that are associated with them. I’ve raised them; under God, I urge you to answer them. I will as well.
Next time, we’ll take up some biblical priorities to which we can each freely and gratefully and wholeheartedly give some of the time of our lives. But we need first to come to grips with the status quo.
