The Huge Price Tag of Instant Gratification
By Pastor Jim May
Matthew Chapter 15:22-28
We live in a world that wants what it wants and it wants it right now. There isn’t one of us that does not love a little instant gratification now and then. How do I know that? All you have to do is look at the society in which we live and you can see signs of it everywhere.
How many people have you seen drive through the traffic light even after it turns from yellow to red? We get in a hurry and we don’t want to wait another minute or two. Our journey is too important and we just have to get to Wal-mart in 30 seconds or the world will come to an end.
What about when we’ve finished shopping at Wal-mart? I’ve seen people spend an hour or more just wandering aimlessly down every aisle, just checking everything out to see if there’s anything new that they just have to buy. They don’t seem to be in any hurry while they are shopping, but it’s a whole different story when it comes time to check out. They’ll walk up and down the entire line of 40 cashiers to find the one register than can get them out 10 seconds quicker. Suddenly it’s a life or death race to the parking lot, and then you start the demolition derby to get out of the lot. I’m finished shopping, and now I just have to get home within the next 5 minutes.
We want everything instantly if not sooner, proven by the fact that we have microwave ovens, V8 engines with enough horsepower to pull a whole wagon train across the prairie at 80 mph.
One of the commercials that I’ve seen a lot in recent days has people screaming to the top of their lungs, “It’s my money and I need it now!” Just call J. G. Whatever his name is and you can have it now – but it’s going to cost you dearly. But we don’t care much about the cost, or what the future may hold. We want what we want now and we will pay whatever price we have to in order to get it now. We buy things we can’t afford, with money we don’t have, to have things that we really don’t want after we have them, and most of the time it’s all done on impulse.
The current financial crisis is a direct result of the “Gotta’ Have it Now” attitude. People went out on a limb to buy brand new, huge homes, much more than they needed or could afford. The Banks and loan companies were freely loaning money to people that they knew couldn’t afford the loan they were getting. It was all done because of all the money that could be made from the process.
Bankers got rich off of floating interest rates and bonuses from making loans; contractors were rolling in cash from sales; tax collectors were having a field day collecting sales taxes; everyone had his hand in the till, and the man who could least afford it was the one who was eager to take hold of the opportunity because he could get what he wanted now, and not have to wait to afford it.
The balloon grew and grew until it began to leak air several months ago. Now the balloon has burst completely and everybody is crying about it. Why didn’t they see this coming? I’m no financial expert but even I knew that people were overextending themselves with floating interest rates on houses they couldn’t pay for. But no one cared. Instant gratification over the money that could be made, and the status symbol of a brand new home in a fancy subdivision, drove the economy into the dirt.
Now the federal government is going to bail out the lenders and keep the mortgage brokers afloat with a $100 Billion or more grant to the same people who made all the profits from the bad loans in the first place. Why don’t they bail out the people who were duped into signing the huge mortgages, not the lenders? Help the common man pay his notes by giving him a fair deal? No, instead, they’re going to stick that same man who can’t afford his house payment now with a tax bill that won’t be paid off for 10 generations of his grand-children.
When are we going to learn that there’s no free lunch? And when are we going to learn that when the federal government gives away money that it all costs us much more than we get?
The bottom line is that instant gratification costs something. You may get what you want now, but you’ll pay dearly for it in the end.
If the younger generation wouldn’t get the idea that they can have everything at the age of 25 that it took other generations before them a lifetime to obtain, we wouldn’t find ourselves in such a financial mess. But instant gratification says, “I want it now and I’ll have it now, no matter what the cost. Don’t worry about tomorrow – live for today”. Well some got what they wanted, now tomorrow has come and we all will have to pay for the greed and avarice of a few.
We need to learn our lesson well in having patience. We need to know that sometimes the things we want won’t come quickly.
That works especially in the realm of the spirit. There is no instant gratification with the things of the Lord. Everything you get from God’s Word, and from the leading of the Holy Spirit, is going to come in God’s time, God’s way and it’s going to cost you something. It’s going to cost you perseverance, prayer, study, faithful and time. The good thing about it is that whatever you want from God is always worth the wait and the hard work to get it.
There is a story found in Matthew chapter 15 that deals a little with what I’m talking about this morning, so let’s turn there and read it.
Matthew 15:22, "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil."
The Bible says that this little lady came from the land of Canaan. What I want you to know is that the part of Canaan that she came from did not serve God. In fact, she came from the land of the Phoenicians where they worshipped idols. But she had a need, and she needed an answer now!
She wanted instant gratification by having the Lord to answer her prayer instantly, but she was soon to find out that Jesus wasn’t going to answer her immediately. There was a price that she was going to have to pay to get what she wanted from the Lord.
Her need was real. She truly needed an answer to her prayer. Jesus was her only hope and she expected him to give her what she wanted, but she didn’t realize the cost.
She came running to Jesus and cried out for his help. She knew that she didn’t deserve his help. All she could ask for was mercy.
Can you relate to her? I certainly can. None of us deserves anything from God. We didn’t earn the right to know him. We couldn’t pay the price to understand his Word or to know salvation. It had to be God’s mercy extended to us that brought us into the knowledge of Christ. Thank God for his mercy.
Her need was real – her need was great – her request was made in the right spirit – but look what Jesus did.
Matthew 15:23, "But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us."
Jesus seemed to ignore her cries! Does that sound like a compassionate, loving Savior? Did he not hear her? No – he heard her, he just chose to ignore her for a while.
But she persevered; she kept following Jesus and the disciples crying out over and again, “Lord Help ME!” “It’s my need and I need you now!”
She followed them around so much, making such a scene all the time, that the disciples got sick of listening to her. “Lord, if you’re not going to help that lady, then send her away. She’s making life miserable with her bawling, screaming and crying. Just get rid of her, please!”
Matthew 15:24, "But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Jesus looked at the disciples and reminded them of their calling. You see, Jesus had come to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. He had come to be a prophet, a Savior and to show himself as God to his chosen nation. The time of the Gentiles had not yet come. Though Jesus was the Savior of the whole world, his earthly ministry was meant only for the nation of Israel. The time to help this woman of Canaan had not come.
Was this all there was? Would his mercy not extend to this woman? I wonder what she thought if she heard this? “You mean, You are going to help me because I’m not one of your precious chosen few?” She could have got her feelings hurt because the Lord ignored her. She could have walked away in anger at being rejected for not being a Jew. She could have said, “Well, if the answer is NO, then I’m outta’ here”! But that wasn’t how she reacted.
Matthew 15:25, "Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."
Her first request for mercy was directed toward Jesus as the Messiah, the Lord, a more political term than a spiritual one. She knew of this man called Jesus who could perform mighty miracles of deliverance, and it was on that basis that she cried out for mercy.
But now her approach changed. This time she ran to him, fell down and worshipped him, calling him Lord, but a different meaning was attached to the word, Lord, this time. This time she recognized him as God, a deity to be worshipped, more than just a man.
She didn’t give up; she just ramped her faith up to another level and came again with the same request on a different plane.
Matthew 15:26, "But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs."
What! What kind of an answer is that? I’ve begged; I’ve cried; I’ve had faith to believe; faith to ask; and now you’re telling me no! What does it take to get an answer? What more can I do? If that’s all there is, then forget it. She could have gotten truly discouraged, and went home without her answer. But she needed that answer and she wasn’t going away that easily.
Not only did Jesus tell her that it wasn’t right to give that which was meant for the Jews and give it to her, but he called her a dog too. To most of us that would be like adding insult to insult and rubbing salt in a wound. I know people that have gotten mad at God and walked away over far less than that.
Matthew 15:27, "And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table."
Now that’s what I call perseverance. She took it on the chin. She accepted that fact that she wasn’t worthy of anything. She accepted the fact that she was considered as no more than a dog to the Jews. She accepted that fact that Jesus was called only to the Jews. But she still wouldn’t give up.
She found a way to get what she wanted. She ramped her faith up once again and said, “Well, yes I’m a dog, but even dogs are fed and live on the leftover crumbs from the table. Just throw me a bone. Drop me a crumb. I don’t need anymore than that. One crumb from the table of God will be more than sufficient to meet my need and deliver my daughter from the demonic powers over her.”
She wanted instant gratification, but she didn’t get it. In fact, she learned that sometimes the answer is no, but that doesn’t mean that it must stay as no. With perseverance, prayer, supplication and importunity, the answer can be yes. She knocked, and kept on knocking. She was hungry and she wouldn’t stop until she was fed. She asked, asked and asked again. It all paid off in the end. Waiting, pleading, working hard, begging, crying and seeking finally paid off and it was worth the price she paid.
Matthew 15:28, "Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
She got her crumb, and what a crumb it was. Jesus applauded her faith, the faith of a gentile woman. He recognized her unwillingness to give up. Her faith moved mountains, and it moved the heart of God. Her daughter was delivered instantly.
Now we all must learn from the example of this woman of Canaan. We must all realize that instant gratification isn’t God’s way of doing business. Anything and everything that we desire from the Lord is going to come with a price.
God takes us from a place of bankruptcy and lifts us to a place of blessing. That’s just about the opposite of what the world will do for you.
We must learn to pay the price to get God’s best. Don’t look for the easy way out. You already have it. There are no shortcuts in knowing Jesus. Great faith requires great burdens and a great price in commitment and faithfulness. You’ll never get God’s best for your life if you only seek after instant gratification.
