I want you to think for a moment about the talented people you know or that you know of.
[advance]
They could be athletes; they might be musicians, or dancers, or writers, or painters. I think we all know talented people, skilled people. And maybe they aren’t skilled at athletic, or artistic things, but maybe they have a particular skill in wood-working, automotive repair, computer gaming, or chess.
I want you all, quickly, to take a moment to think of someone you know who has a skill that you respect, that really stands out as special. Think about it.
Do you have someone in mind?
Great!
Now…ask yourself one question for me. What is the single biggest factor that has led this person to being as skilled as they are? Why are they good at whatever they are good at? How did they get to be so good, so accomplished?
[advance]
And the answers to those questions, I suspect, would be something like this:
1. They have done it a lot.
2. They practice often.
3. They really enjoy doing it.
[advance]
We’ll tend to get answers along those lines so when you take those answers and start to examine what is at the heart of those answers you begin to see a pattern and that pattern is "repetition."
Whenever someone is accomplished at something, it never comes without repetition. You can have as many God-given skills to do an activity as there is, but without repetition, you won’t be successful.
[advance]
I often wonder if I have some other-worldly skill that I have yet to discover that I would be one of the best at. If only I played Cricket, or if only I made sculptures, or even, heaven forbid, played soccer, maybe then I would be one of the world’s best. Its doubtful, but intriguing to think about nonetheless, isn’t it?
[advance]
I mean you watch Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan play basketball and it is an amazing thing to watch because you feel like they are doing exactly what God designed them to do because they are so gifted at it.
[advance]
When you watched Ken Griffey, Jr. play baseball in his younger days, you watched in amazement because his swing looked so graceful, so natural.
[advance]
Some of you aren’t sports fans, so maybe you marvel at the artistry of Norman Rockwell or Thomas Kingcade. Perhaps you stand in awe of the creations of Frank Lloyd Wright, or Da Vinci, or Michelangelo.
[advance]
Many of you become saturated in the imagination that is brought about through the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and others.
None of those people, none of these amazingly gifted and talented people have attained or created what they have without repetition. Maybe we could call it practice, but whatever you want to call it, there is something at the heart of it all.
[advance]
Whether practice, repetition, or whatever; at the heart of it all is one thing…commitment.
All of these artists, athletes, writers have or had a commitment to their craft. Their talent could only take them so far, because in the end, they still had to want it. They had to have the drive, the passion, the will, to succeed, to win, to be one of the best.
That is what sets apart the skilled elite. They have an undying, relentless commitment to their skill, to their craft.
[advance]
And it is this commitment that we call a "work ethic."
Think about that for a moment. We value a good work ethic so much in this country, in our culture…and with good reason. A good work ethic glorifies God. A good work ethic gets things done. A good work ethic impresses an employer that you are worth your wage…or perhaps even more.
[advance]
We like to see a good work ethic rewarded. We enjoyed watching Michael Jordan win championships because he wanted it more than anybody. We looked up to Jerry Rice for his work ethic and then watched as he played at a high level well into his 40’s.
Maybe some of you have been employers. Let me ask you, wasn’t it easier to give an employee a raise that worked hard for you, that was trustworthy and efficient? Of course it was.
In the same way that we value a good work ethic in others, God values a good work ethic in us, not only when it comes to serving our bosses, but when it comes to serving Him.
[advance]
I read a recent article by Thom Rainer and the purpose of the article was to outline what should be expected by ministry leaders of the members of the church, specifically the younger generations.
His point was that we live in a generation now where church attendance has become optional. Going every week is not a priority…going at all is not a priority. And I have witnessed this first hand. I cant tell you how many times I have asked a person if they worship anywhere because they implied that they were "religious" only to find out that while they believe in Jesus or God or whatever, they didn’t see church attendance as a necessary part of their life.
They separated the two and my question is why? How? How do you become a follower of Christ and yet forsake his church, the very body of Christ?
Thom asked the question about our work ethic with regards to our jobs and careers. It was rhetorical, but he wanted to know if it would be acceptable for any of us to skip out on our jobs simply because we were tired, we stayed up late, we wanted to watch various sporting events , or whatever the excuse may be.
We all know what I am talking about, and if you don’t, then watch some of the men around here get a little anxious come September when football season rolls around and services go a little longer than anticipated. Some people may not show up at all.
[advance]
Why does that work with worship, but not with our jobs? Why has our God, why has Christ become so little a priority that we fit Him in when we find time?
[advance]
I see and talk to so many people who say and wish they had the ability to evangelize. They wished they knew how to talk to people about their faith. They want to know how to have that deep meaningful prayer life that they observe in others.
Perhaps they wish they had a better knowledge of the Bible. This probably describes us all in some way, shape or form. It describes me too. Nobody is alone in these struggles, but we have to realize what we are doing.
[advance]
I want you to think about a man in the scriptures. His name is Noah and think about this, he lived in a time prior to Abraham, Jacob, and Moses. When Noah is introduced to us, we know nothing about any sort of religion, except that the world was corrupt and evil. There weren’t even any Israelites yet because they come after Jacob who was renamed Israel by the Lord.
We know nothing about what following God was like for people in Noah’s days. There was no temple, no tabernacle, no commandments, no scriptures, nothing, and yet we are told that Noah found favor in God’s eyes, that God wanted to spare him and his family and start over.
So however this all worked, God told Noah that he had plans to flood the earth and that Noah was to build a big boat to save his family and two of every animal on. And some how, amazingly, Noah listened.
The people in those days had never seen rain so imagine how crazy Noah looked when he started building a giant flotation device to escape falling water.
And then imagine how crazy Noah looked when 100 or so years later, he is still building this same boat.
My point is not to talk about how crazy Noah was, but to show you a man who followed God and had enough faith that he built some alien object to combat an alien concept called "rain." He had enough faith to spend 100 years doing it too.
THAT is a work ethic. Think about that. We grow up hearing these famous Bible stories to the point that we become numb to them, but realize just how special a commitment that was for Noah and his family to carry out. It was extraordinary.
[advance]
Now, ask yourselves what your lives could look like if you, if we all had even a fraction of that dedication, faith, commitment and work ethic for our God. What would the world look like?
[advance]
Imagine a world where people read, memorized and meditated on God’s word instead of watching TV. Imagine a married couple including God in the conversation when discussing buying a new car.
[advance]
What if people’s hobbies involved feeding the homeless instead of playing guitar? What if bible studies replaced video games?
[advance]
What if the love that we exhibited was directed entirely at God and at others above and beyond even ourselves.
Yeah, I know the world tells us to do everything to make ourselves happy because we deserve it, but it isn’t working. We keep trying to make ourselves happy, but we are seeking something that we can’t get from ourselves.
We cannot love ourselves with enough love to fulfill ourselves with the love we desire and require. That comes from God and from others.
[advance]
Am I saying that we need to give up our hobbies and activities that we enjoy? No…not entirely, but I am suggesting we begin to sacrifice our own interests and use our time to make a difference because if God really was number one in our lives like He deserves to be, then we are doing an awful disservice to Him aren’t we?
[advance]
You heard the scriptures read for us this morning. What did they say? Paul said in Ephesians that we were created to do good works. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that he accomplished what he accomplished as Christian because he worked harder than everyone else. James tells us that faith, apart from work, is dead.
Nobody is a better example of this than Noah, literally, if he didn’t have the faith to build a boat for 100 years, he would have been dead.
[advance]
God calls us to work. In a time where our economy is at its worst in quite some time, when unemployment continues to rise, we say we need work and I say, "Christ works." He worked for us and he works in us.
Do you need something to fill that void in your life that selfish love has left? Christ works.
Often times when work comes up in a conversation between Christians, the debate will arise that says we cannot earn our way to heaven; we cannot earn salvation and this is true. But so many people use this as an excuse to do nothing with their faith.
[advance]
You see, we don’t work to earn anything, we work because we already have everything. We don’t work to earn salvation, we work because we already have it.
I want the world to hear the gospel, I want the world to know who Jesus is, but I can’t do it on my own. It takes a commitment from each any every one of us. It takes a work ethic and dedication to spreading the message.
So you wish you knew the Bible better, do you wish it enough to cut some TV, some computer out of your life to read it and learn it.
So you wish your prayer life was better, but do you wish it to the point that you will play less video games, or less softball to have that better prayer life?
You see, the results of your faith are your responsibility. Anybody can be well read in the Word and anybody can have a good prayer life if they want to. What do you want more? To serve God or serve yourself?
Just like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are champions. Just like all these people and skills and trades that we talked about, you can be a champion, a master of your faith too.
Does it mean you have to be perfect? No. Even the best baseball players in the world only get a hit 1 out of 3 at bats, the rest of the time, they mess up, but no one will argue that they aren’t great at what they do, that they haven’t worked very hard to get to that level.
[advance]
Do you truly want to be a great Christian? If so, are you willing to work for it?
It starts right here. It starts right now, immediately. It won’t be easy, but we all like to be good at certain things, so we work at them, and slowly, but surely, we get better at them.
If Christ is tugging on your heart to live a more dedicated life, to be a stronger Christian. If you want to have the faith of Noah, then I encourage you to leave your seat and come forward where someone can talk to you about that.
If you are visiting with us today or haven’t dedicated your life to Christ yet, now is the perfect time to do so. There isn’t a more perfect time and I would ask that you come and be baptized where all your sins are washed away and you are made blameless and pure and are joined to Christ.
Will you come as we stand and sing?
