LESS OF ME . . . MORE OF HIM
(All my sermons us illustrations found on www.sermoncentral.com and all scripture is NIV unless otherwise noted)
(This series of sermons, is a complete re-write of another series I wrote years ago called, When We Move Out God Moves In)
Many years ago, a good friend of mine, Pastor Rick Dunn, of Dallas, GA. Was going to fly out to the little church I was preaching at In the U.P. of Michigan and do Revival for me. At the very last minute some serious health issues came up with his wife and he was unable to attend. This presented me with the task of writing and preaching 5 sermons and VERY little time to make this happen. I was fairly new to the ministry and did not have a lot of material already written, so I asked, Rick, (A.K.A. BUBBA) what he was going to preach on, he told me he was going to preach a series of sermon entitled “When We Move Out . . . God Moves In” I wrote a series of sermons with such a title and have preached them in various locations throughout the years. Today, however, I have a completely different outlook on this subject and so have written, (actually writing) a NEW series and I am going to call them. LESS OF ME . . . MORE OF HIM. That is the concept John the Baptist gave us in the Gospel of Mark 1:7-8, And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."
PRAYER
John’s message is one we must take to heart today and understand that life must be LESS about us and MORE about Him. If people would see that the reason God is not moving and working in our lives, our churches, and our country, the way He CAN, is because we have allowed our world to turn us into a people that believe it is ALL about us, and therefore there is NO room for Him. A people unwilling to give up the things that are truly important to us, and therefore we give God no room to truly work in our lives.
Now, it is not just our world, there are numerous examples in the Bible of people unwilling to EMPTY themselves, in order that they might have ALL God has to offer them.
The young man that had great wealth, went away because he was unwilling to give up his wealth to follow Jesus.
Nicodemus of the Pharisees and the Jewish Ruling council, came to Jesus in the night, because he was a proud man that did not want to give up his stature to follow Christ.
Peter could have walked all over the Sea of Galilee, but he allowed doubt to choke out God’s place and because he did not trust God, he sank.
We see examples of those that stopped following Jesus because the times got hard and therefore it was ALL about them and with no room to work, God let them go their own way.
This week and in the weeks to follow we are going to talk about the things that keep us from having an Almighty and powerful God work in our lives, our church and our world. We will look at how greed keeps God from blessings our lives. We will look at how pride keeps God from directing our steps. We will look at how being comfortable keeps God from expanding our church. We will look at how are personalities keep us from being united. We will look at how our doubt and laziness could keep us from crossing the finish line that God REALLY wants to see us cross. It is my hope, prayer and desire to see this series of sermons teach us to empty ourselves that we may in turn be filled with Christ and His Holy Spirit.
God wants us to think about the needs of others and not so much about ourselves, Paul told the church at Philippi the same thing we need to hear today:
Phil 2:1-4 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 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.
It is NOT about us, it is about doing for others and in turn we do for Christ who told us, “Whatever you have done for this least brother of mine, you have done for me.”
“We’re all selfish. Selfish to the core. God sometimes chooses to deal with our selfishness by giving us someone to care for who is infinitely more selfish than you. Babies are not only the cutest creatures on the face of the earth, they are by far the most selfish. Farrar goes on to write: “The way God deals with my own selfishness is to give me someone to serve who has zero interest in serving me. You can’t tell me that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. Not too many people in the world could out-selfish me one-on-one. But every time we’ve had a baby, I’ve met my match. Each of my kids resembled me. I don’t mean they looked like me, I mean they were as selfish as me. That meant that somebody in the family was going to have to grow up. Guess who was nominated?" SOURCE: Steve Farrar in Point Man.
God wants us to renew our thinking on this LESS about us and More about Him, Paul told the church in Rome, 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. BUT, let’s face it, transformation means CHANGE and people do not always do well with change, it means LESS of them and MORE of HIM.
Jim Cymbala preaches at a church in the slums of New York. He tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting there I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about fifty, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, “Could I talk to you?” We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, “What a way to end a Sunday. I’ve had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here’s a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine.” He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I’d never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I’d talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn’t inhale facing him. I asked him, “What’s your name?” “David.” “How long have you been on the street?” “Six years.” “How old are you?” “Thirty-two.” He looked fifty- hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. “Where did you sleep last night, David?” “Abandoned truck.” I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I’ll give him some money. I won’t even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don’t give money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money out. David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, “I don’t want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I’m not going to make it. I’m going to die on the street.” I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me. See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels. But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn’t know what was happening. I pleaded with God, “God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I’m so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!” Something came over me. Suddenly I started to weep deeper, and David began to weep. He fell against my chest as I was sitting there. He fell against my white shirt and tie, and I put my arms around him, and there we wept on each other. The smell of His person became a beautiful aroma. Here is what I thought the Lord made real to me: If you don’t love this smell, I can’t use you, because this is why I called you where you are. This is what you are about. You are about this smell. Christ changed David’s life. He started memorizing portions of Scripture that were incredible. We got him a place to live. We hired him in the church to do maintenance, and we got his teeth fixed. He was a handsome man when he came out of the hospital. They detoxed him in 6 days. He spent that Thanksgiving at my house. He also spent Christmas at my house. When we were exchanging presents, he pulled out a little thing and he said, “This is for you.” It was a little white hanky. It was the only thing he could afford. A year later David got up and talked about his conversion to Christ. The minute he took the mic and began to speak, I said, “The man is a preacher.” This past Easter we ordained David. He is an associate minister of a church over in New Jersey. And I was so close to saying, “Here, take this; I’m a busy preacher.” We can get so full of ourselves.
God wants us to focus LESS on us and become MORE like His Son Jesus Christ.
Col 3:5-14 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or un-circumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Hear those words? Put to DEATH whatever belongs to the SELF and allow Christ-likeness to grow in you. The world changes who we are in Christ IF WE LET IT. The idea is that when we accepted Christ we knew that the world had made us into something that GOD did not like, we were turning our lives over to Him and were going to allow this transformation to happen, BUT, through a period of time we get hardened, we allow the world to change the great desire we had to be changed by the Holy Spirit and we find ourselves doing as the world would have us do. Perhaps a great illustration of this is what happens to mothers.
THE EVOLUTION OF MOTHERS Being a parent changes everything. But being a parent also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child is different from having the first.
Your Clothes: 1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your doctor
confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.
Preparing for the Birth: 1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing. 3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.
The Nesting Phase: 1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn’s clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby’s little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains. 3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can’t they?
Worries: 1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby. 2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn. 3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
Pacifier 1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle. 3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
Diapering 1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not. 2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
Activities 1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. 2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.
Going Out 1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times. 2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached. 3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
At Home 1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby. 3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
Now of course this does not describe all mothers, it is intended to show how much we change from our original plan when we are worn down and life becomes MORE about us and LESS about others. Remember that when we serve others we are in turn serving God and this is, and should always be our goal. God loves us so much that he does not want us to stay the way we are, HE WANTS US TO CONTINUE TO CHANGE. Always remember that this is a process, we have not arrived.
Phil 1:4-6 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
HE, began a GOOD WORK in all of us and HE truly wants to complete it, which will be seen at the return of Christ.
God wants so badly to see us follow HIS plan, but Satan wants just the opposite, and we are a people that like what we like and do as we feel fit.
How It Happened:
God populated the earth with broccoli & cauliflower & spinach, green & yellow vegetables of all kinds, so Man & Woman would live long & healthy lives.
Then Satan created McDonald’s.
And McDonald’s brought forth the 99-cent double-cheeseburger. Then Satan said to Man, "You want fries with that?" And Man said, "Super-size them." And Man gained pounds.
God created healthful yogurt so woman might keep her figure that man found so fair.
Then Satan brought forth chocolate. And woman gained pounds.
God said, "Try my crispy fresh salad." Then Satan brought forth ice cream. And woman gained more pounds.
God said, "I have sent your heart healthy vegetables & olive oil with which to cook them." Then Satan brought forth chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter.
And Man gained pounds & his bad cholesterol went through the roof.
So God brought forth running shoes & Man resolved to lose those extra pounds.
Then Satan brought forth cable TV with remote control so Man would not have to toil to change channels. And Man gained even more pounds.
God brought forth the potato, a vegetable naturally low in fat & brimming with nutrition. Then Satan peeled off the healthful skin & sliced the starchy center into chips & deep-fat fried them. And he created sour cream dip also.
And Man clutched his remote control & ate the potato chips soaked in cholesterol.
Satan saw it & said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest. God sighed, & created quadruple bypass heart surgery. Then Satan created HMO’s.
As we travel through this world, we need to bend to God’s way of doing things and allow HIM to work in our lives in our church. When His work is COMPLETE then:
1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
“More about Jesus let me learn, More of His Holy will discern; Spirit of God, my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.” - Hewitt
God loves us too much to let us stay the way we are.
In the weeks to follow we shall look at being less greedy, less proud and less selfish. We will look and moving out of our comfort zone and trusting God more. We will look at moving out in service and endurance.
We can’t change Jesus BUT He longs to change us, let me leave you with this story this morning:
Illus.: “I Can’t Change Jesus”
Bill Irwin, a man who is blind, has a talking computer he uses to study the Bible. He’s had a few chuckles over some of the pronunciations. "For a long time," Bill says, "the computer pronounced Holy Bible as ’holly bibble’ until I figured out how to modify it." But there was one thing Bill couldn’t change. The computer uses the Spanish pronunciation for Jesus Christ--HEYsus Krist. "The programmer is Hispanic," Bill told me with a smile, "and he made sure that HEYsus Krist cannot be altered."
I like that. It reminds me that among the things in life that can be changed to suit my taste, one remains tamper-resistant--I can’t change Jesus.
When life is unsettled, I gain great comfort from the Bible’s affirmation that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). But the statement is also a stern rebuke to my tendency to try to modify the words and character of Christ when I don’t like what He says. How easy it is to forget that I came to Christ longing for Him to transform me, not the other way around! Praise God that His Word and His love are perfect and unchanging. And praise Him too that in His love He is working to change me.
INVITATION
