Living The Dash
(What you do with your life matters)
One Month To Live (part one)
WOW – last Sunday was an incredible day… God really spoke to us His people in a huge way about what His Son accomplished on that first Easter Sunday 2000 years ago. THAT’S – why we decided to leave the Easter Door up for one more week… TO REMIND – each of us, that Jesus is STILL alive – that the wall between us and God (between us and the life God created us to live) is STILL knocked down and that the Easter Door (the door of forgiveness, restoration and hope) is STILL open for you to walk through and experience: forgiveness, restoration and hope.
OKAY – I want to read 4 passages as we begin today… THEN – we’ll invite God into our time this morning…
God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
– Romans 8:29 (Msg)
God wants us to grow up… like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. – Ephesians 4:15 (Msg)
In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. - Phil 2:5
Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. – John 14:11,12
Prayer…
BACK – in the early 1980’s I was in the USN stationed in Newport News and I lived in Yorktown Va. I attended a church there (Lebanon Church of Christ) that was started in 1825 and surrounded by history. Across the street from the church was the house where George Washington slept on his way to the battle of Yorktown. The chapel we met in on Sunday nights was built in the early 1860’s and was occupied during the Civil War. FIRST – by the Confederate Army who turned it into a commissary and then later by the Union Army who turned it into a stable. Outside of the chapel was a cemetery.
A lot of times either before or after church I would walk through the small cemetery reading the names and looking at the dates on the gravestones. IT – was crazy seeing the names of people who lived over 100 years ago and who fought in the civil war. I would find myself wondering what life was like in the mid 1800’s.
AND - looking at those tombstones, I couldn’t help but notice that when all was said and done that entire lives were reduced to two dates and one little dash. I would look at the dash of a particular person’s marker and wondered, What did they live for? Who did they love? What were their passions and dreams? What were their biggest mistakes and greatest regrets?
OKAY - I want to asked you to do something that I asked some of you to do back on December 30th. TAKE OUT - a pen if you haven’t already (share if you need to). AND - what I want you to do, (on the tombstone provided in your notes) is to write your name and then underneath it write when you were born – (now you can hide it with your hand if you want to) – then put a dash and then I want you to write 20__ __. Because we don’t know what the day is. Go ahead and do this – and as you are writing yours I write down mine…
(Yeah, that was a little creepy, wasn’t it?)
NOW - I want you to look at your tombstone. LISTEN – every one of us has one of those days on left. And we all mark that day. We celebrate that day. We eat cake, blow out candles and receive gifts on that day. YES - we all have one of those days on the left and do you know what we all have one of those other days too. UNDERSTAND - one day that right hand date will also be completely filled out. NOW – we don’t really like to think about it all that much – but it’s inevitable, it’s coming.
AND JUST AS - we had no control over that first date (I MEAN - I didn’t say, “Okay Thursday 6:30 am February 4th 1960 – this looks like a good day,” No, I just kind of showed up) - we also, for the most part have no real control over that other date, the day we will die, the day our physical bodies will leave this earth, the day our life here is over…
LOOK UP – like those people who tombstones stand outside a small chapel in Yorktown, Va. the only thing you & I really have any control over is the dash. IS - the years between our birth and our death… YEAH - over that we do have control…
SO – my question to you, this morning (March 30th 2008) is this? How are you spending your dash? What are you doing with you dash? NOW UNDERSTAND - you only get one – nobody gets two? AND LISTEN – this morning, this moment would be a real good time for you to deal with this question – because life – it goes by so quickly, doesn’t it?
CHECKOUT - how God describes your dash/how he describes your life in His word… James writes;
“Why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14
The psalmist writes about the brevity of life several times;
“…my days disappear like smoke…” (102:3)
“…for we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.” (144:3)
AND Job said it like this;
“…my days are running out quicker than the thread of a fast moving needle…my life is just a breath…” (7:6,7 CEV)
QUESTION – wouldn’t you agree with me, that life is unspeakably precious and unbelievably short? I MEAN – the needle of our lives keeps moving faster & faster. THE TRUTH IS - we don’t know when our time on this earth will be up, but the thread is quickly running out. IT - could be next week or next year or it could be decades away. Only God knows. Our lives are in His hands. HE – is control. KING DAVID – understood this, that’s why he wrote these words in Psalm 39.
"Show me, O LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. – Psalm
DAVID – knew that God was in control and that He had the number of his days. AND – as I try to read behind the request of David, I hear him saying, “Lord remind me of how quick (how fleeting) this life really is – because I don’t want to waste it.”
NO – you don’t to decided when you are born and when you will die but you do get to decide how you’re going to live your dash. QUESTION…
• Do you know how fleeting your life is?
• Are you living it or wasting it? How are you spending your dash?
Are you living the dash, knowing fully who you are and why you’re here? OR – are you dashing to live, hurriedly spending precious time chasing things that will not really matter in the end? THAT – unfortunately is the path many are on today.
In 2006 Adam Sandler starred in the Movie click. Where he plays the part of Michael Newman. Michael Newman is a hard working guy who wants to advance in his career, move up the corporate ladder for ‘his wife and children.’ BUT – he’s finding really hard to balance the two. He’s finding life very frustrating. One night at home he becomes really frustrated when the TV remote control breaks. So he heads out to find a universal remote and winds up at a store called ‘bed, bath and beyond.’ WHERE – he meets a CRAZY inventor who gives a very unique remote control.
A remote control so powerful that it allows him to be able to fast forward, rewind, pause and practically control all the events in his life. What happens as the movie progresses is that Michael discovers that he can fast forward through his life with the remote control. So he decides to use it to fast forward to his promotion – which he does but what he doesn’t realize is that he has skipped an entire year. Before he knows the remote control takes on a life of it’s own and he winds up fast forwarding through his entire life. This fast forwarding has had tragic consequences. It lead to the break up of his marriage and the loss of his family.
I want to show you a small clip from the movie… In this clip Michael is in a hospital. He has just had a major heart attack at his sons wedding. His son and daughter come to visit him. But – first he gets a visit from the crazy inventor.
“It’s not the life I wanted…”
LISTEN – some people (in fact, a large number of people, like Michael Newman) get to the right-hand side of that dash and they say to themselves “I wasted my life, All those years gone…I’m not really sure how or why it happened – it just did…” UNDERSTAND – God never intended for you to live your life in fast forward and miss out on what really matters. BUT AGAIN – so many do. IN FACT – we all do in varying degrees.
THAT’S – why we starting a brand new message series today… ONE – that has the potential to RADICALLY… re-focus, re-new, re-energize and change your life. IT’S - called One Month To Live – 30 Days to a No-Regrets Life.
YOU KNOW - as a pastor for over 16+ years I have had the privilege of ministering to many people during the last months and days of their lives. AND – I’ve noticed some common characteristics in each one. WHEN PEOPLE - know they only have a few months or weeks to live they have amazing clarity about how they should spend their time. They focus on their relationships, saying the things they had always wanted to say. They forgive and ask for forgiveness. They don’t waste time on insignificant & trivial things… BUT - made the absolute most of their time left.
TIM – I guarantee that if you knew you had one month to live… THE WAY – you would spend the next 30 days would be radically transformed! BUT – here’s the million dollar question… WHY - do we wait until we’re diagnosed with cancer or we lose a loved one to accept & embrace this knowledge and allow it to free us? I MEAN - don’t we want all that our life has to offer? Don’t we want to fulfill the purpose for which we were created? Wouldn’t life be a lot more satisfying if we lived this way all the time?
BEGINNING THIS MORNING – through May 4th… we are going to challenge each other to live life as though we only had one month to live. That’s what this series is all about. LIVING – the next 30 days as if they were our last…. AND – in the process discovering the life we’ve always wanted and were created to live.
NOW – for those of you who are like me and are numbers people you’re probably thinking, ‘Hey wait a minute… Today is March 30th… FROM – March 30-May 4 is more then 30 days. YEAH – you’re right it’s 34 days… OUR - official month for the 30 day challenge will be the month of April… AND – for those in this room who (join a challenge group; read this book and come on Sundays) it’s going to be a stinking amazing month for a lot of us in this room…
OVER - the next several weeks together we will discover four principles that will transform the question, “What would you do if you had one month to live”, into an amazing lifestyle of meaning and purpose.
NOW – these 4 principles can be seen in the life of Christ. Think about it. Jesus knew when there was only one month until the cross. QUESTION….. WHAT - did Jesus do when He knew He had one month to live? WHAT – were His priorites? HOW – did He live? ANSWER…. THE – same way He had always lived.
UNDERSTAND – Jesus did not need to change a thing… YOU SEE – Jesus’ lived His entire life based on these four principles that will enable you & I to really live our dash instead of just dashing to live. Jesus lived passionately, He loved completely, He learned humbly and He left boldly. AND – it is God’s plan and desire that we live the same way.
We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
God wants us to grow up… like Christ in everything
In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus
Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing
IN – the coming weeks we will look at each of these principles… Each week I will paint a portrait of Jesus living one of these principles and then show you & I how we can do the same.
BUT THIS MORNING – in our time remaining I want to talk about, living the dash and how what you do with your life really matters. UNDERSTAND – God did not breathe life into your body and knit you in your mothers womb so that you can fast forward through life living only for you.
UNDERSTAND – God made you for a purpose… YOU SEE - God doesn’t just create things for the fun of it…. He created dogs to be dogs, the sun to shine, the wind blow and he created you to be you… LISTEN – to these words from your Father in the heavens…
Psalm 139:16 (LB) "You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Your workmanship is marvelous. You were there while I was being formed. You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe."
Isn’t that an awesome passage? The Bible says you were a prescription baby. God prescribed your birth. You were custom designed by the Almighty God, you are not an accident. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth, you are not an accident. God planned you before you were born.
AND - the point is this you were put on this earth for a purpose. To make a contribution to this world. God planned you before you were born. There are things that God wants you to do – there are purposes he wants you to fulfill there is a life he wants you to live… CHECKOUT – these 2 passages…
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago…” Eph 2:10 (NLT)
You are what?
Created to do what?
“you are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor 6:20
LISTEN - for those of us who are in Christ… our dash is no longer our own… SO the Big Question Is – what are you doing with your dash…? What are you doing with the life that God has given you? That Christ bought for? Are you living it for Him or living it in fast forward for you?
2000 years ago during the last week of his earthly live Jesus told a about three guys who were challenged to live their dash well… It’s found in Matthew chapter 25 verses 14-30… And in these verses we see at least 3 reasons why our life and what we do with it matters to God…
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
- Matthew 25:14-18
FIRST – of all what you do with your life matters – BECAUSE…
Your Life Is A Gift From God
QUESTION – who does the master? Servants? Represent…. (God & Us) I think one thing that Jesus is clearly illustrating here is just how generous and lavish our God is.
NOW - in those days there were no corporations as we know them. Wealth was concentrated in a few rich households. This is a story about one of them. The master gathers three key employees and he entrusts them with some of his property.
AND LISTEN - Jesus is talking about vast sums of money here. The master gives his first servant 5 talents, the second 2 and the 3rd one talent. A talent in that day was equal to about 15 years wages. (so the one guy was given 75 years worth of wages). AND in an era where people lived from day to day to have that much wealth all at once was incredible.
THINK ABOUT IT – up until now these guys have simply been carrying out someone else’s orders. Their lives had been routine, predictable, safe. They had few resources and not much authority. THEN – with a single act the master changes their destinies forever. It was a chance of a lifetime – it was a defining moment…
AND – the first servant, realizing this - immediately goes to work, he wastes no time because he knows that he may never in his lifetime get another opportunity like this… As one writer says;
He responds at once because if someone offers you a front seat on the NASDAQ in a bull market, you don’t ask them if maybe they were thinking about someone else. Because if the phones rings, and it’s model Cindy Crawford calling to ask you out for a date, you don’t check to see if perhaps she dialed a wrong number. You just say yes. QUICKLY.
LISTEN – God is very generous. AND REMEMBER – Jesus is telling a parable. AND – a parable is basically telling a story that people could understand in order to teach them (and us) an awesome, powerful and life changing truth that usually gets overlooked… SO – just as the master and the servants represent something more, something deeper – The money also represent something more, something deeper…
UNDERSTAND - in place of the word talent, you might think about your life. Your mind. Your abilities, Your spiritual gifts. Your body. Your money. Your will. Your dash. LISTEN – like the servants in the story our master has given us the opportunity of a lifetime. WITH – a single act (His victory on Easter Sunday) He has changed our destines forever.
The master has called each of us – and we stand before him… and here is some of what he has given us – some of what He offers us…
HE OFFERS TO:
Make us a new creation , to take away the old and bring on the new
Clean up our past & forgive our sin…
To place His Spirit inside of you
To give you unlimited access to his throne room
To give you armor that will enable you to defeat the evil one
To make available to you the same power that raised Jesus from the dead
To be with you always even to the end of the ages
To give the power to over and rise above any and every circumstance
To give you hope that is living, joy that is unquenchable, peace that passes understanding and a purpose for living that will inspire & excite you.
LISTEN - God has given us the opportunity of a lifetime… THE – Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of this world offers to partner with us in this thing called life… HE – offers to guide you when you need wisdom, encourage you when you falter, pick you up when you fall, fill you when you are dry, equip you for every good work and forgive you when you stray.
AND – those who recognize the enormity of the offer immediately take advantage of it – (they live their dash well?) and the rest simply bury it, as they fast forward their lives for themselves.
What you do with you life matters - BECAUSE, your life is a gift from God. A – 2nd reason why what you do with your life matters is because;
God Is Returning To Settle Accounts
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. – Matthew 25:19
The master was coming back to settle accounts… This is something that the one talent man either forget or failed to think about. OR – like so many of us he convinced himself that he would get around to using that talent someday, when things settle down.
NOW – it is interesting to me that the one talent guy is the one who goes and buries his gift. MAYBE - he thinks that his one talent is so small that doesn’t matter… (even though Jesus’ listeners knew this one talent was an extraordinary amount of money – 15 years wages.) Maybe he wished that he was one of the other guys who got more…
YOU KNOW - I think there is this universal tendency to compare talents… To compare ourselves with others and wish we had what belongs to them. I wish I had there physical attractiveness, their achievements, or marriage, or car, or house, or hair, body type, career or ministry…
LISTEN – (and you really need to get this) if you spend your life wishing for gifts and talents that you don’t have – you will miss out on the life that God wants you to live…
UNDERSTAND – at the end of the day, God will not ask you why you didn’t live someone else’s’ life or invest someone else’s’ gifts. He will not ask you, “what did you do with what you didn’t have?” BUT - God will ask you, “what did you do with what I gave you..”
God one day will settle accounts with me & with you – what we do with our dash matters…. QUESTION – Have you buried the life that God has given you? Are you living in FF for you? Are you living a life (written, directed, and produced by you and for you? BECAUSE you have been comparing the life you’ve been given with someone’ else - and some how you feel ripped off, treated unfairly – short changed?
LISTEN – you must come to the point in your life (and friends this is no minor issue here) – you must get to the point in your life - where you identify, cultivate, invest, prize and enjoy the gifts and the life that God has given you. (Get it?)
UNDERSTAND – the Lord of the gift is very wise. He knew exactly what he was doing when he created you. He is well-pleased that you exist. AND – in Christ He has given you everything you need to accomplish and fulfill the purpose for which you were created… He has given you everything you need to live a life that pleases him… (You have not been short changed – you just have been trying to live someone else’s’ life)
LISTEN – the master is coming back.. AND - He is going to settle up with everyone… CEO’s – presidents, movies stars, mothers, fathers, plumbers, rich – poor, young – old, me and you…
AND ON THAT DAY - Jesus is going to want to know, what you did with your dash… He is going to want to know what you did with the life he gave you… AND – he is not going to ask your boss, your spouse, your parents, your kids or your friends – Jesus is going to ask you…
LET’S – pick up our reading in Matthew 25 again;
20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21"His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22"The man with the two talents also came. ’Master,’ he said, ’you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’ 23"His master replied, ’Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ - Matthew 25:20-23
NOTICE - that thought the amounts are different – but they still get the same reply from the master – POINT – God doesn’t expect you to live someone’s else’ life.. he expects you to live yours…
24"Then the man who had received the one talent came. ’Master,’ he said, ’I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ - Matthew 25:24,25
QUESTION – have you ever noticed those living life in fast forward are always full of excuses? They always blame someone or something else for the things they do or fail to do… “they alarm didn’t go off” “they just make me so mad”
“I’ve been so busy” “It’s not my fault”
Like so many of us - this guy is attempting to evade responsibility for the way he lived his life.
“Master, if life hadn’t been so scary, if you had been more gracious… I might have done something. The reason I didn’t do anything is because of you – its your fault – that why I stayed in the chair… that’s why I buried your gift…”
AND DO – you know what the master doesn’t say? He doesn’t say;
“You know you’re right. Maybe I should have been more clear. You have misunderstood me. How you live your life and whether you use your gift or talents, doesn’t really matter to me. I see this has been really uncomfortable for you. And my primary goal for your life is to make you comfortable – to keep you pain free… I’m really sorry I brought this whole thing up – let’s just bury the whole issue..”
He doesn’t say that friends…
LISTEN – it is important for us to understand this because sometimes people misunderstand the notion of God’s grace. Many people look at grace the wrong way and think that God’s primary goal for them is to make them a really nice comfortable life. BUT - that is not true… UNDERSTAND – the lord of the gift is also the Lord of the settled account… Let’s look at how the master responds…. Message Bible
The Master was furious, “That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with bankers, where I would have gotten a little interest. Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this ‘play-it-safe’ who wouldn’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.” - Matthew 25:26-30 (Msg)
Other translations add ‘where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…’ I think possibly besides gnashing in pain – it’s the gnashing of regret – “man, I missed the opportunity of a lifetime…it was sitting right in my hands”
HEY – did you notice that the master kind of let’s the slur on his character slide by. He didn’t try to argue with the guy, he didn’t say, “can’t you see how utterly generous I was with you.” NO – he didn’t get into an argument with the guy – he let it go… BUT – what he does say is this – “HEY, you got this much right – what you do with your life matters to me – and it matters to the world who so desperately needs what I gave you.. and it should have mattered to you”
LISTEN – everyone of us bares appropriate responsibility for our lives. IN – this story the master brings everyone into account.. When Jesus returns he will do the same. AND UNDERSTAND THIS – Jesus Christ, has no intention of settling for mediocrity – we will be held accountable for the stewardship of what the master has given us… THIS IS – the clear and unavoidable teaching of this story..
AND NOTICE – the 3rd servant is not judged for doing bad things. Rather he’s judged for doing nothing. He didn’t steal or embezzle or defraud – he merely buried his gift – failed to live his dash well…
THIS ASPECT – of the story – that Jesus comes down so hard on the 3rd servant simply for inactivity – has always trouble people (in the 2nd century – one writer in retelling the story – added that the 3rd servant wasted his money in wild living)
Max Depree in his book “The Art of Leadership” calls what the 3rd servant did in the story - the sin of unrealized potential… the willful refusal to not use the gifts and develop the life God has given us… The willful & rebellious choice to choose life in fast forward lived for us, over a life lived for God…
LIFE – what you do with your matters…
BECAUSE – your life is a gift of God
God will settle accounts
God is Returning To Reward Us
“Well done, good and faithful servant… You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share you masters happiness..”
NOW – I’m not going to say too much here, because of time… Just a few things from this text…
Clapping for us…”well done”
Incredible wealth & resources
Sharing in His happiness (how happy is God)
Not to mention eternity in a perfect world and the CRAZY thing that Jesus says in Revelation 3:21…
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. – Rev 3:21
I DON’T KNOW – about you, but this story motivates me to live my dash well.
AS WE CONCLUDE – today I want you to imagine that your life is over… and you are led to a room.. there are 2 chairs in the room, one is for you and one for God and there is a DVD player. God pops in the DVD. It has your name on it – it says “Steve Malone – What Might have Been” (written, directed and produced by Almighty God)
IMAGINE – watching all that God wanted to do in and through your life – if you would have let Him – if you would have stopped FF through life living only for you.
IMAGINE – seeing all the lives you could have touched… The hopeless situations you could have changed.
IMAGINE – seeing what God could have done with your financial resources if you had trusted him and gave generously of your first fruits to his church…
IMAGINE - seeing what he might have done in your relationships if you trusted him enough to be fully truthful and fully loving.
IMAGINE – seeing what he might have done with your character, if you had dared to confess sin, acknowledged temptation and pursue growth…
Life, what you do with your matters…
AND LISTEN – HERE is some good news…..that DVD of your life and mine is not complete yet… There is still time for you to live our dash well…
AND – this is what our new message series is about… living our dash just like Jesus lived. Living Passionately, Loving Completely, Learning Humbly and Leaving Boldly…
“…I urge you who have been chosen by God to live up to the life to which God called you. - Eph 4:1 (NCV)
