Me, Myself and I 9-30-07
Last week the warning was about a danger that is within the Church even if not within this congregation. This week’s sermon is also a warning but it is a warning of a more intimate nature. This morning I want to sound the warning against the three most dangerous individuals in this room. They have the ability at any time if left unchecked to damage the body both in perception and practice. I struggle with the three of them weekly and on occasion I have let them control me to the point of losing my proper focus on the kingdom of God.
This trio of trouble makers confront me daily on every aspect of the church. They offer their opinions regardless of what others want or even what the body needs. They always know how and when everything should be done and are eager to make sure everyone is aware of their opinion. They offer advice where they have no experience; always insisting that “it,” whatever “it” may be, should be done exactly to their standards. My inability to rein them in has more than once damaged both my ministry and this congregation. Even as I recognize them and willingly do battle against them I know in advance that I at times I will lose.
I ask God daily to help me deal with them in a way that will be beneficial both to the Kingdom of God and the members of this congregation.
Does everybody know who I’m talking about? Most of you have guessed the three that I am talking about are “me myself and I” And truth be known I struggle with them daily.
It’s part of the human condition and it starts at a very early age. We don’t have to teach our children to be selfish it’s just a part of human nature. How quickly a child learns to say “mine” Learning to share can be a very difficult part of life for young children. Some adults never do get really good at sharing. We all retain a certain amount of selfishness, some more than others. So how do we know if we are having a problem with self?
The answer seems obvious you take the selfish test.
So here we go:
1. If the last time you said “I love you” and really meant it, you were looking in a mirror you might have a problem with self.
2. If your most memorable vacation only required one airline ticket you might have a problem with self.
3. If you always know more than the people you hire to do a job you might have a problem with self.
4. If you have come to the conclusion that no body really knows how to do anything without your advice you might have a problem with self.
5. If you have already come to the conclusion that this sermon applies to everyone in the room except you; you might have a problem with self.
6. And for all of you who have somehow been able to handle each of these questions without seeing fault in yourself at all I have one more qualifier: If you were born after man’s fall in the garden but before the second coming of Christ then chances are you might have a problem with self.
If the truth be known, we all have a problem with self.
Some hide the problem better than others. We all recognize the symptoms of those who never really learned to control “self”
We all start out as infants grabbing everything that catches our eye and then screaming “mine.” As we grow up most of us receive a certain amount of correction and we begin to realize that our actions are unacceptable. In order to mix socially with others we must conform to rules of social acceptability. And so we learn to control “self” at least to the point where others accept us, and our actions, as being normal or acceptable. That’s as far as most people ever go. Most people control “self” to receive social acceptance, so once they have learned how to behave in a manner that keeps them from being labeled as “selfish” they have no need to control self beyond that point.
Christians on the other hand are called into a life of ever increasing control of “self” our standard; our model, is not to be socially acceptable; our goal rather is to imitate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was, is and will always be, the perfect model of self sacrifice.
As Christians we are not called into, nor are we to be content with, a life of being socially acceptable in our level of self denial. To mature into Christianity is to mature into self-denial to an extent that society will be unable to understand your actions.
Our call to self denial is unquestionable yet many who call themselves Christians only practice it to a point of public acceptance, some never even get that far. No wonder we have to tell people that we are Christians. If we don’t live lives of self-denial how is the world ever going to see a self-sacrificing Christ living within us? If they don’t see Jesus living within us then what does the church have that will attract the lost? What will attract them to us?
Some have answered that question with stadium seating, a Starbucks franchise in the foyer and a praise band.
Some churches may truly find these things truly helpful, however, if they attempt to replace living a life that illuminates Jesus with a worship service that imitates the midway of the state fair: they have wandered from the faith.
So many churches today sit and fret over what they need to bring the people in. If we had a gymnasium we could bring them to Jesus, If we had a more modern facility then we could bring them in. We need more advertising, we need more classrooms, we need better teachers, if only our preacher was a better speaker that would bring them in, we need to remodel that’s what we really need to do, we need to remodel this building and make it a more attractive more comfortable more people friendly place to worship. Hogwash, that’s pure hogwash! I pray Oh God that you don’t ever let us at Memorial Park fall into that trap.
We know better than that. We know what will truly bring them in and we need to start praying for the strength to do it.
Brothers and sisters let me tell you the painful truth: When we follow Jesus into a life focused on self sacrifice and the needs of others to the point that the world can see the compassion and love of Jesus Christ living in us in our daily lives we will so stand out from this self-absorbed world that they will beat a path to our door and settle for standing room only. When they can see Jesus living in us they will stand barefoot on broken glass to know the secret of our joy and contentment in Jesus.
We cannot and should not compete with the world for the entertainment dollars of society by making them feel comfortable and entertained in a modern technologically advanced facility where their every need and desire is met.
You don’t have to go down that road to far and you will find the church building theme parks to “bring them in.”
We only need to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses and follow Him and we will stand out in this self absorbed world. Show them Jesus at work in you and they will be drawn to the light like a June bug in the darkness.
Our Bibles give us the story of two men and their lives as they interacted with God and each other. One is a perfect example of humility and submission, the other a prime example of a man who is so self-focused that in the end he destroys even himself.
Lets turn to 1 Sam 24:1-13:
We are at a time when Saul is king of Israel, but even though he is King another man, David, has found favor with both God and the people of Israel. Saul has not obeyed the Lord, instead he has done not what was pleasing to God, but instead he has done things his own way disregarding God and God’s prophet Samuel. Saul is outraged by David’s popularity and seeks to kill him out of jealously. We pick up the story in chapter 24 starting in verse 1
24:1 After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, "David is in the Desert of En Gedi." 2 So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.
3 He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. 4 The men said, "This is the day the LORD spoke of when he said to you, ’I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’" Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
5 Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. 6 He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." 7 With these words David rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.
8 Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, "My lord the king!" When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9 He said to Saul, "Why do you listen when men say, ’David is bent on harming you’? 10 This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ’I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’ 11 See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. 12 May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. 13 As the old saying goes, ’From evildoers come evil deeds,’ so my hand will not touch you.
David was being hunted by Saul. He had not wronged Saul in any way yet Saul, out of jealousy, wanted him dead. Who could have blamed David for killing Saul in the cave that day? David was only human; you know there was a part of David that wanted to take Saul’s life to save his own. David had already been anointed with oil by Samuel the prophet he would have been king with Saul dead. Life would have been much better for David if Saul were dead, but David did not consider what would be best for him, he only concerned himself with what God wanted. God had placed Saul on the throne and no matter how beneficial Saul’s death might be to David, David would not kill him.
How many of us would have spared Saul that day? On the other hand consider Saul; he had already been told by the prophet Samuel that he would not remain king, that God would tear him from the throne, yet he would not step aside. He thought only of retaining power for himself at all costs.
Saul was shamed that day when David spared his life in that cave. He made peace with David but it would not be long before Saul’s jealousy got the best of him and he again hunted David down to kill him.
Suppose you were David and had spared Saul’s life only to have Saul hunt you down and try to kill you again. I dare say most of us would have wished that we would have killed old Saul when we had the chance. When David heard that Saul was again trying to kill him do you suppose David wished that he had killed Saul that day in the cave? I would have, but not David. How do I know? Because in Chapter 26 Saul’s life is once again handed to David on a silver platter and once again David refuses to do what is clearly in his own best interest but instead subjects himself to God’s will.
David finds Saul asleep and instead of killing him he sticks his spear in the ground beside Saul’s head and leaves him there asleep and unharmed. Some may argue that when David spared Saul’s life the first time it was because David thought that in doing so Saul would quit pursuing him, but when he spares Saul’s life a second time in Chapter 26 David clearly knows that Saul will continue to try and take his life, yet he still spares Saul. How could David do that knowing everything that he knew, how could he still spare Saul?
He spared Saul because he did not allow his obedience to God to be affected by the outcome that it would have on him.
His decision was to be obedient to the will of God despite the personal consequences. He did not consider “self” in his decision.
Can you imagine allowing yourself to be wronged rather than seeking justice even when justice is available?
Is it possible there are times even when I am in the right that I should not come to my own defense for the sake of the body of Christ?
Could Jesus really expect us to set aside “self” to the point of suffering loss?
Paul seems to be making that argument in Phil chapter 2:3-4
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
He gives the same message to a different church in his first letter to the Corinthians chapter 6 starting in verse 7
7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.
Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
It’s a message the world neither understands or obeys: to allow one’s self to be cheated, to allow ones self to be wronged for the good of others, for the unity of the body. It’s a message that is beyond comprehension for those who are stuck in a world dominated by “me, myself and I”
I challenge you this morning to die to self in order that you might live for Him. Allow your lives to become living letters written from Jesus, who lives within you, to a lost and dying world that they may see the sacrificial Jesus that lives within you and in doing so be drawn to Him.
The danger is that the lost will look at the world and then look at the church and be unable to see Jesus, unable to see any difference between us and them because “me, myself and I” will be standing in the way.
There are a lot of things that “me, myself and I” desire for this church but there is nothing that we need to bring the lost to Him other than to die to self and live for him that others may seem Him through us and be drawn to the light. Amen
(Invitation)
