One Thing…
Intro:
Movie=> City Slickers staring Billy Crystal
City Slickers is a movie about three men who are in search for “the meaning of life”.
Each year, these three friends get together and go on a manly adventure
This year they had decided to take a trip to an actual working ranch and help move several hundred head of cattle in a cattle drive
While on their adventure, they meet their trail boss, Curly: the grimy, gristled rough and tough cowboy who would lead them cross country.
As the story unfolds, a conversation between Billy Crystal’s character and Curly takes place.
In it Crystal asks Curly the meaning of it all
Curly slowly raises his index finger in a gnarly old leather glove and proceeds to expound on the meaning of life. “The Secret,” he says, “is ONE THING, but you have to find that one thing for yourself.”
Crystal is confused but Curly remains silent, not even hinting at what that ONE THING is.
Transition:
What a great question to ask yourself
What is the ONE THING that makes living worth while?
Now we can give the Sunday School answer and say, “God’s love or Jesus’ sacrifice, But I honestly think that there is more.
More to the question and more to what God wants us to realize about the life we live.
Have you found that “ONE THING”?
If not, don’t feel bad. Your not alone.
This morning we are going to look at five situations where people wrestled with the same question: What is the ONE THING?
Situation #1 deals with ONE THING SOUGHT
Turn to Psalm 27:4
I. One Thing SOUGHT (Psalm 27:4)
One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. (NIV)
David, a man after God’s heart understood what was important in his life.
Being Near God
Here he starts out by requesting ONE THING
The ONE THING that sums up his entire life
To live in the presence of God his “natural” life
To see the beauty of God’s Face
To know God in his intimate place
I love the way the Message translates this
Psa 27:4 I’m asking GOD for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I’ll contemplate his beauty; I’ll study at his feet. (MSG)
Are you like David? IS the one thing that means more to you, that makes life worth living your desire to SEEK GOD?
If so, get into his WORD
SPEND TIME IN PRAYER
AND make every effort to be NEAR TO GOD
Illustration:
Situation #2 deals with ONE THING LACKING
II. One Thing LACKING (Matt 19:17-21 Mark 10:21)
In Matthew 19:17-21 we see the story of the rich young ruler and Jesus
He comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to do to have eternal life
Jesus tells him that he needs to obey the commandments
In the parallel story in Mark 10, Jesus lists the commands
Do not murder
Do not commit adultery
Do not steal
Do not tell lies
Do not Cheat
Respect your mother and father
Love your neighbor as your self
The young man responds that he had obeyed these teachings since a young age
Then he asks, “What do I still lack?”
Jesus had compassion on this man
“ONE THING you lack”
Your Almost Complete
You’ve almost achieved your goal
You are doing so good, there is just a little bit more
Go Sell your possessions
Give to the Poor
Treasure will be in heaven
Come and Follow me
The rich young ruler went away sad and failed to follow Jesus
Not just because he had great Wealth
Not just because
But because he LACKED Compassion for his fellow human beings
Selling the possessions was the easy part
Giving it over to the poor was the difficult part
It meant that he was required to love others more than himself
And I don’t know if this man could manage the task
So he goes away, sad and unfulfilled
God desires us to have full lives
And from time to time he will ask us to examine our lives
Telling us that “ONE THING you lack”
How will you respond?
Will you be like the young ruler who missed out on an amazing adventure simply because he didn’t love others as much as himself? Or will you answer the call of Jesus and Follow him?
Illustration:
Situation #3 deals with ONE THING DISCOVERED
III. One Thing DISCOVERED (Luke 10:42)
Jesus and his entourage is invited to dinner
A woman by the name of Martha has welcomed him into her home
Martha has a sister, Mary
And while the men relax and commune around the dinner table, Martha decides that she is going to prepare a fantastic meal for her guests
She has everything that she will need laid out on the counter. All the spices, the breads, the meat. All there is left is for her to start preparing the meal.
But that’s when she notices. Her sister Mary isn’t in the kitchen. She is sitting at Jesus’ feet listening to the men
Mary’s Place according to Martha was in the kitchen. I mean how was she going to prepare a feast for her guest without someone to assist her. There was food to prepare, dishes to wash. It wasn’t fair that Mary was doing nothing while Martha slaved away in a hot kitchen was it?
So after brewing for some time over this, Martha goes out into the dinning room and interrupts
She pleads with Jesus
“Master, don’t you care that my sister has abandoned the kitchen to me? Tell her to lend me a hand.”
Convinced that She is right and her sister is wrong, Martha stands there waiting for Jesus to respond
Jesus looks at Martha, covered with flour dust. Then he looks at Mary, who has sat silent the entire time.
He loves them both. He appreciates the desire each of them have for him.
But he turns to Martha and says, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing…ONE THING is essential,” ONE THING is necessary….ONE THING is important…Mary has chosen it and it wont be taken away from her
What was the ONE THING that was essential?
What was the ONE THING that was necessary?
What was the ONE THING that was more important than preparing a feast fit for a king?
It was sitting down at the Master’s feet
So simple but yet so Profound
Mary discovered the ONE THING that mattered and Jesus made a stand; that it wouldn’t be taken away from her
Who can you relate to better, Mary or Martha?
Both had the interest of the Master in mind. Yet Mary discovered that the things of this world can take a back seat so we too can sit at the feet of the Master.
When was the last time you dropped everything simply so you could sit at the master’s feet?
Maybe that’s something you need to DISCOVER again
Illustration:
Situation #4 deals with ONE THING EXPERIENCED
IV. One Thing EXPERIENCED (John 9:25)
I love this story
Jesus and his disciples encounter a man who had been blind from birth
They ask, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
Jesus replies, “Neither but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”
At this point we should get a clue that Jesus has something awesome in store for this individual
GOD IS GOING TO WORK IN HIS LIFE
So Jesus spits on the ground, makes some mud, and throws it on the man’s eyes
He then tells the man to go wash his face in the Pool of Siloam
So the man is obedient. But honestly if you had mud in your eye wouldn’t you want to wash your face too?
As the man is drying is face he notices something. A bit of light in the distance. Then as the seconds start ticking, the light gets brighter and brighter
He sees outlines of people. Then the outlines begin to focus and he can clearly make out details of people’s faces
Familiar People he had only known by voice now had a face.
He races around the court yard in a glorious glee
The people who knew him start to ask, Wasn’t he blind yesterday? Isn’t that the beggar who had been blind since birth?
Then they call this man aside and ask him what happened
“A man called Jesus made some mud, put it on my eyes, told me to wash, and now I can see”
The Pharisees hear about this incident and decide to investigate
They question the man
They accuse Jesus of breaking the Sabbath and thus being a sinner
They question his parents
They question the man again
We know Jesus is a sinner
Catch what this man’s response is to the Pharisees
“Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. ONE THING I do know. I was blind but now I see.”
Why did Jesus reach out to touch this man?
So that he could experience God in his life
When Jesus touched him, he experienced a life change
He was no longer blind
He now could work rather than beg
He could rejoin society
He could worship God in the temple
His touch allowed him to EXPERIENCE GOD
Perhaps you need a touch from the master this morning
Maybe that’s the ONE THING you need, to EXPERIENCE the power of God in your life in a practical way
ONE THING is for sure: When Jesus touched this man, he was never the same again!
May our life reflect the same truth
Illustration:
Situation #5 deals with ONE THING FOCUSED ON
V. One Thing FOCUSED ON (Phil 3:13)
10 I want to know Christ and he power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his suffering, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But ONE THING I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul, in the earlier part of this chapter is discussing where his confidence lies
His conclusion is that his confidence is not found in this fleshly body
It is not found in the law
It is not found in things this world can offer
But it is found in the POWER that comes from a knowledge of Jesus
More importantly, the POWER of the resurrection of Christ
And that is the ONE THING that he is focusing on
He desires to know the POWER
He desires to share in Christ’s suffering
He desires to become like Christ when it comes time to die
To be resurrected
To be before God
To be found Worthy of God’s calling on His life
And in order to fulfill this he finds himself FOCUSED
FOCUSED on Perfection, though it is still out of his reach
FOCUSED on Jesus, taking a hold of him
FOCUSED on the Future, Forgetting the things behind him and STRAINING AHEAD
And through being FOCUSED he knows that he will be able to reach his Goal
“ 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
WHAT ARE WE FOCUSED ON?
It is so easy to look at the past and become discouraged
Are we FOCUSING on the Life God intended us to have, not yet reaching it, but STRAINING for it?
WHERE DOES OUR FOCUS LIE?
Illustration:
Hitting a Ball in golf
I have a terrible hook or slice. I cant remember which. it’s the one that cuts to the right.
If I get all my weight behind a ball I can drive it for about 300-350 yards
But it doesn’t help when I cut it to the right
I’ve tried everything
Slowing down, taking my time
Trying new grips, new clubs
I even turned my body at an odd angle hoping that the ball would go straight
But nothing seems to work
Then one day, at an in door driving course, my father watched what I was doing
He told me that as I swing down on the ball, I lift my head
This in turn moves my eyes
And my focus is moved from the ball to where I hope it will go.
My dad told me that I need to FIX my eyes on the ball until the ball is struck and follow it out into the green
As I watch other golfers hit the ball I can’t help to watch them in motion.
Their head is locked, their eyes fixed, the ball is struck and their goal is accomplished
Conclusion:
ONE THING
My hope is that God has been speaking to you this morning. Maybe not in all these areas but maybe just one. What makes life worth living? What is the ONE THING God wants to show you this morning.
Perhaps He is telling you to SEEK HIM- looking in the WORD and finding purpose for your life.
Maybe He is saying you are LACKING- there are parts of your life which he wants control over.
Or He is saying you need to DISCOVER- discover what is really important in life. Discovering that sitting at the feet of Jesus is what is important.
Perhaps He is saying you need to EXPERIENCE- remembering the touch of the master and the influence it had on changing your life.
He may be saying to you that you need to FOCUS- your eyes have moved. You no longer look to the future but rather are stuck in the past. FIX YOUR GAZE ON JESUS.
Whatever God is saying to you this morning, listen to his leading. Listen for the ONE THING that God wants to do to and for you this morning.
