CASUAL OR CONCRETE COMMITMENT
(All my sermons use illustrations found on www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise indicated)
A little old lady was amazed at how nice the young man was next door. Every day he would help her gather things from her car or help her in her yard. One day, the old lady finally ask the young man, "Son, how did you become such a fine young man?" The young man replied, "Well, when I was a boy, I had a drug problem." The old lady was shocked. "I can’t believe that." The young man replied, "It’s true. My parents drug me to church on Sunday morning, drug me to church on Sunday night and drug me to church on Wednesday night."
I wonder how many of us have this kind of DRUG problem, do we have to drag ourselves to church functions, or are we HUNGRY for God’s Word and the fellowship our church family provides? In fact the Bible tells us in Heb 10:25 Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near. (Living Bible) I have wondered for a very long time WHY do people start to neglect church meetings and WHY do people restructure their priorities to make church something secondary? I honestly believe that it is due to a loss of focus as we discussed last week, and it is due to a differing opinion of what COMMITMENT is. Some make a very casual commitment to God, and others make a concrete commitment. This morning we will see in the scripture, what commitment is; and how to make sure that ours is a concrete commitment, not just something casual. So let’s start with a scripture from Psalm 37, we will look at verses 4-7 this morning and I am going to read from 2 different translations of the Bibles this morning: Follow along with me, Psalm 37:4-7 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. NIV
Ps 37:4-7 Be delighted with the Lord. Then he will give you all your heart's desires. 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him to help you do it, and he will. 6 Your innocence will be clear to everyone. He will vindicate you with the blazing light of justice shining down as from the noonday sun. 7 Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act. Don't be envious of evil men who prosper. Living Version
PRAYER
David tells us here, to be extremely happy with God, to delight ourselves in Him, to rejoice in God. The word “delight” means much the same as Paul tells us in the New Testament when he says; Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
BUT, this is easier said, then done, AMEN? How does one become delighted with someone else? Well, it can only happen when we know someone very well. You must admit, it is impossible to rejoice for someone if we really don’t know them well. It is difficult, at best, to have any feelings for those we really don’t know, let alone delight ourselves in them. THUS, we must strive to know God better and the knowledge of Him, will reveal His great love for us. Knowing how much HE loves us will indeed give us delight.
David says that if we learn to delight in Him, then He will give us the desires of our hearts, AND then David says “COMMIT your way” or as the Living Version puts it “Commit everything” to God and both versions then say TRUST in HIM and He will do this. He will do this, either by helping us to see the desires of our hearts in a different perspective, or by striving harder to achieve them. The point of this scripture is simply this:
I. COMMITMENT BEGINS WITH TRUSTING GOD
There was a man who got lost in the desert. After wandering around for a long time his throat became very dry, about that time he saw a little shack in the distance. He made his way over to the shack and found a water pump with a small jug of water and a note. The note read: "pour all the water into the top of the pump to prime it, if you do this you will get all the water you need". Now the man had a choice to make, if he trusted the note and poured the water in and it worked he would have all the water he needed. If it didn’t work he would still be thirsty and he might die. Or he could choose to drink the water in the jug and get immediate satisfaction, but it might not be enough and he still might die. After thinking about it the man decided to risk it. He poured the entire jug into the pump and began to work the handle, at first nothing happened and he got a little scared but he kept going and water started coming out. So much water came out he drank all he wanted, took a shower, and filled all the containers he could find. Because he was willing to give up momentary satisfaction, he got all the water he needed. Now the note also said: after you have finished, please refill the jug for the next traveler.” The man refilled the jug and added to the note: “ Please prime the pump, believe me it works”! We have the same choice to make, do we hold on to what we have because we don’t believe there are better things in store for us? Thus we settle for immediate satisfaction? Or do we trust God and give up all that we have to get what God has promised us? I think the choice is obvious. We need to pour in all the water, trust God with everything.
Then once we have experienced what God has to offer, the living water, we need to tell other people, “Go ahead prime the pump, believe me it works”!
TRUST in God is the beginning of having a concrete commitment, and that needs to be a solid trust. A real faith. It needs to be a FAITH that God describes in His most Holy Word, and not what we give lip service to. God defines FAITH like this: Heb 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Or as the Living version puts it: Heb 11:1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.
It is this kind of trust that starts a concrete commitment to God. The kind of trust that allows us to LEAP out in faith and know that God is there for us.
The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that only fear allows to entrap us.
This is the kind of Faith and trust that shows God we are committed like concrete. Yet another way is simply this:
II. CONSISTENCY MAKES CONCRETE COMMITMENT
One of the reasons we lose consistent commitment is because we become impatient. We want we think best, and we really want it yesterday!! But the scripture tells us differently.
Ps 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
Or once again as the Living version puts it: Ps 37:34 Don't be impatient for the Lord to act! Keep traveling steadily along his pathway and in due season he will honor you with every blessing, and you will see the wicked destroyed.
You see David tells us to WAIT on God and KEEP HIS WAY, or keep traveling steadily along the path He has designed. When God is ready, He will act upon or on our behalf. Many times it is difficult to wait on God because we see time go by and things are not getting better. Things do not always go according to the plan we have in our head. We allow our feelings to get in the way of trusting God and waiting on Him.
I have gone through this many times, I am sure many of you have as well. We pray and God says WAIT, now that is not the answer we want. YES is what we are usually looking for, NO is something we might learn to accept, BUT WAIT???
I read of a helicopter pilot who flew from an aircraft carrier in the Pacific told this story. He said, "I was flying the helicopter back to the ship when a blinding fog rolled in. Flying at a low altitude, I knew that a single mistake would plunge my crew and me into the ocean. Worse yet, I was experiencing a complete loss of balance -- which is common for pilots flying by instruments. This loss of balance was so bad that despite the instrument readings I was certain that I was lying on my side. For 15 minutes I flew the helicopter by its instruments, fighting the urge to turn it according to my feeling. When we finally broke safely through the fog, I was deeply thankful I had been trained to rely upon my instruments rather than on my feelings."
That is what people who live by faith do -- they remember that feelings can be misleading, but the truths in God's word are reliable, trustworthy, and consistent. The Christian life, like walking on water, is humanly impossible. It can only be lived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Storms are going to come. When you're in a storm with the wind raging and the waves pounding, and you feel like you're sinking, know this: The same Lord who stills the storm allows the storm.
It is hard to fly sideway when we have to do it for any prolonged period of time. It is difficult to be consistent in our walk with Christ when the world around us is a raging storm. But rest assured, God knows our every pain and our every trial, they are there for a reason.
Perhaps the greatest thing to break our consistency is other people. We see that other people are walking a different path and they are succeeding. Or are they? This scripture talks time and time again about seeing “the wicked destroyed,” It says we should not “fret when we see men succeed in their ways.” I believe this is a reason we become casual in our commitment rather than concrete. We see the success of worldly people and lose the newness of our love for Christ. We simply FORGET about the thrill of the moment we accepted Jesus Christ and we were baptized and the Holy Spirit took up residence in our lives. We start treating our commitment to Jesus as a casual thing because we forget the fire that once burned within our hearts.
Just as when a man and woman fall in love, so also new believers rejoice at their new found forgiveness. You know how it is when you first get married. The newness of it makes it so exciting. An 80-year-old couple was having problems remembering those good times, though they were having problems remembering anything. So they went to see their doctor to get checked out. They explained and, after checking the couple out, the doctor said they were physically OK, and they should write things down, make notes. They thanked doc and left. Later while watching TV, the man got up from chair and the wife asked, "Where are you going?" "To the kitchen." "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?" "Sure." "Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it? "NO, I can remember that."
"Well, I would also like some strawberries on top. You had better write that down, because I know you will forget that." "I can remember that you want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries." "Well, I also would like whipped cream on top. I know you will forget that, so write that down." With irritation in his voice, he said, "I don’t need to write that down; I can remember that!" He then fumes into the kitchen.
After about 20 minutes he returns and hands her a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment and says angrily, "I TOLD you to write it down You forgot my toast!"
No wonder, they couldn’t think back to how it used to be. We tend to forget as well. Our new found love, our salvation is exciting. The newness of it makes it so exciting. But when we lose sight of the seriousness of sin. We being to lose the thrill of our forgiveness.
In the first steps of your Christian life, you may have had enthusiasm without knowledge. Do you now have knowledge without enthusiasm? Both are necessary if we are to keep love for God intense and untarnished. Do you love God with the same fervor as when you were a new Christian?
So trust is the start of a concrete commitment, trust in God, faith in what He will do for us, delighting ourselves in Him. Then we must be consistent, waiting on God, remembering what the moment we were converted felt like, Keeping the fire alive EVERYDAY. Finally, in order to have a concrete commitment we must:
III. OUR COMMITMENT TO CHRIST MUST BE COMPLETE
We can not have a concrete commitment to God if we are only willing to give God a portion of our lives, a fraction of our time, a smidgen of our talents. We must give Him our ALL. Let me give you one more scripture this morning, from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8, vs 21-22. Now this is a scripture that many of you have heard before, and there is some disagreement about the meaning of the scripture but let us look at it and gleam wisdom about our commitment:
Matt 8:21-22 Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." And once again in the Living version: Matt 8:21-22 Another of his disciples said, "Sir, when my father is dead, then I will follow you." 22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me now! Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead."
It is possible that this follower was not asking permission to go to his father’s funeral, but rather putting off following Jesus until his elderly father died. Perhaps he was the firstborn son and wanted to be sure to claim his inheritance. Perhaps he didn’t want to face his father’s wrath if he left the family business to follow some preacher from Nazareth. Whether his concern was financial security, family approval, or something else, he did not want to commit himself to Jesus just yet.
Jesus is always very direct with those who wanted to follow him. He made sure in scripture that they counted the costs and set aside any conditions they might have for following him. As God’s Son, Jesus did not hesitate to demand complete loyalty. Even family loyalty is NOT to take a priority over the demands God makes on us. His direct challenge forces us to ask ourselves about our own priorities in following him. The decision to follow Jesus should never be out off until we get something “right” or something “happens” so we can get ready to follow Him. Nothing should be placed above a total commitment to living for Him. It needs to be complete, it needs to be an unqualified commitment.
A college student walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend. He wanted the picture duplicated. This involved removing it from the frame. In doing this, the studio owner noticed the inscription on the back of the photograph:
“My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity.”
It was signed "Helen,” and it contained a P.S.: “If we ever break up, I want this picture back.” Helen was obviously no completely committed to that relationship.
Ruth, of the Bible, was a young woman who understood total commitment. God so loves total commitment. That’s why He included Ruth’s statement to her mother-in-law in your Bible: "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me." Ruth 1:16-17 That’s the kind of commitment God admires - unqualified commitment.
This morning let me leave you with one last story about total and complete commitment, and then we will offer an invitation for anyone that is ready to make that kind of commitment to Christ, and/or this local church.
Dale Hays writes: “On a recent trip to Haiti, I heard a Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. His parable: A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door. After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable, and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.”
When we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation. Commitment and compromise make strange bedfellows. There are certain things in this life, and certainly in our eternal life, that can’t be negotiated. If you are going to quit something or start something, committing to the hard work and sacrifice are essential. But, nothing is more essential than eliminating all the small compromises that each of us is inclined to make in order to make the passage to change more palatable. Certainly this is no more true than in our commitment to Christ. He wants all of us without compromise or negotiation. That means our time, talents and treasures. It may be comfortable to leave the door open just a little bit to our “old man.” But, give the devil a toe in the door, and he will most certainly push his way in altogether. There is no place for compromise in a committed life.
This morning you must ask yourself if you are ready to make a TOTAL commitment to Christ. A commitment that is much more like concrete then it is a casual commitment. One that will have you in church every chance you get, a commitment that will change your life and the people around you as well.
As the ladies come forward this morning, please turn with me to page #295 and we will sing “Jesus, I Come.” This morning won’t you come to Jesus? Won’t you consider making a commitment that is as solid as concrete and one that will change this church. A church can only be as strong as its’ member, and this morning I am asking you to make a commitment to Christ’s Church. If you are here this morning and you have not yet accepted Jesus, then this is your time to come. If you are here and you know Jesus personally, you have been immersed in baptism BUT have not made a commitment to this local church, YOU COME.
INVITATION
