A Religion of Convenience
Chuck Sligh
April 7, 2013
TEXT: 2 Samuel 24:18-25 – “And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite. 19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. 20 And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. 21 And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people. 22 And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. 23 All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. 24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.…”
INTRODUCTION
We live in a day of convenience.
Every time we sit down to eat, we eat in convenience compared to our ancestors.
• Our FOOD is cooked on an electric stove rather than in a big pot over a fire.
• The WATER we drink we get simply by turning on the tap instead of having to run down to the spring and carry up buckets of water.
• Our MILK we buy in a carton from a store instead of having to milk the cow ourselves.
• We simply unwrap a package of BUTTER instead of having to churn it ourselves.
• Our BREAD comes in a package—precooked, sliced and ready to eat—instead of us having to bake it in the oven.
• Our VEGETABLES come, not from our own garden where we tilled and hoed and sweated and worked to have a good harvest. Rather, they come in a CAN that can be opened—not by a manual opener, mind you! No, no, no—but by an ELECTRIC can opener that whizzes around the top of the can, neatly cutting the top of it off. Or we reach into the freezer, pull out a package of vegetables, defrost them in the microwave, and then cook them on the electric stove.
Conveniences—what a blessing! Who would want to have it any other way?
Illus. – One time Susan was in the States for medical reasons and she stayed with some friends of ours named Norman and Saundra. Susan went with Saundra to run some errands:
• First they went to the BANK—through a drive-through window.
• Then they went to the DRY CLEANERS TO PICK UP SOME CLOTHES—again through a drive-through window, without stepping out of their car.
• Next they went to PICK UP A FEW GROCERIES. – Since they only needed a gallon of milk, a cartons of eggs and some soft drinks, they stopped at the Minute Mart and…you guessed it: they drove through a drive-through window!
• The next stop was to DROP OFF SOME PICTURES FOR DEVELOPING. – Guess where?—At a DRIVE-THROUGH PHOTO STORE.
• Then they stopped at the DRUG STORE to pick up a prescription…from a drive-through window!
• Finally, they went to BOJANGLES a fast food chicken restaurant, to pick up some supper. – They drove through the drive-through and picked up some spicy chicken, dirty rice, and hot biscuits and honey (Do I hear and AMEN on that?)
Now think about it: They went out and stopped at six different places, and never had to step out of their car one time! Though it’s not quite like that here in Germany, the idea of convenience is increasingly becoming a universal goal round the globe.
Now don’t get me wrong—There’s nothing wrong with conveniences. Conveniences are wonderful blessings in modern society that make life less harsh; and make life a little bit easier to cope with; and make things a little more comfortable. But if we’re not careful, this can cause a destructive mindset in our spiritual lives.
The reason for this is that usually what is convenient spiritually is either wrong or not positive. The fact of the matter is that in our society we tend to carry our desire for convenience, ease, and comfort into the spiritual realm. We avoid total commitment and dedication because they’re NOT CONVENIENT; they’re NOT EASY; they REQUIRE SACRIFICE.
But King David had a real handle on this thing of dedication to the Lord. In 2 Samuel 24:18 he was commanded by the prophet Gad to build an altar in the threshingfloor of Araunah, the Jebusite.
When he got to Araunah’s house, Araunah offered to GIVE him not only the threshingfloor, but the oxen for David to sacrifice as well. That would have been much more convenient and much less time-consuming. But though Araunah meant well, David knew that simply taking the threshingfloor and the oxen at no cost or sacrifice was not a real show of his dedication to God. He said in verse 24, “I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offering unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing.”
Though I’m sure David used every conceivable convenience available in his day, he wasn’t looking for the easy way out in his relationship with God. He wanted more than a religion of convenience. He wanted a relationship with God that COST him something.
How different from many Christians today. Let me share with you how this plays out in our spiritual lives and in church as today:
I. SOME PEOPLE COME TO CHURCH ONLY WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT
They think, Well, there’s nothing else going on Sunday, so I guess we’ll go to church.
Or some people only come to church when they “feel like it.” They may get to sleep late, or they had a bad week, or they just wake up grumpy, and they think to themselves, I think I’ll just go back to sleep and take the day off on the Lord.
Illus. – Imagine pulling that one in your unit: You call your First Sergeant and say, “Sarge, I’m not coming in today.”
Your First Sergeant asks, “Are you sick?”
“Nah,” you say, “I just don’t feel like it this morning. I was up a little late last night and, I don’t know, I haven’t been sleeping too well lately. But look, I promise I’ll do my best to attend work tomorrow. Now, I’m not making any promises or anything, but I’ll give it a try.”
I’m sure your First Sergeant would understand, don’t you?—Just like God’s supposed to understand when you don’t come to church because you don’t “feel” like it; or because you’ve got other things to do, or because you’re tired (WHO ISN’T?); or because you’re just “feeling blue” today.
Now I’m not talking about if you are genuinely ill. You ought to stay home if you’re truly sick—if for no other reason than not to pass your germs around. We want to have a SHARING church, but not THAT kind of sharing!
But we should be faithful to our church, not on the basis of how we feel, but because it honors God to be in church; because it’s good for my spiritual growth to be in church; because that might be THE Sunday I’ll finally get a grip on a key area in my life through the preaching of God’s Word.
By the way, it’s not convenient to come to church to ALL THE SERVICES, is it? You can count on it—there will ALWAYS be something more convenient to do on Sunday nights and homegroup night. But we ought to be with God’s people so we can grow, so that we can be encouraged by Christian fellowship, so we can know God better.
Let’s cast off the world’s attitude of living for Christ only if it’s convenient.
II. SOME PEOPLE SERVE ONLY WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT
To serve God is almost always inconvenient.
Illus. – For instance, think about working in the nursery. You have to put up with a bunch of babies who aren’t even yours. And those babies don’t even have the common decency to keep their diapers clean! And you labor in there—usually with too many kids and not enough workers—and you wonder, “I came to church to do THIS?” It’s inconvenient because you come early and stay later, and it’s not always fun. But it’s a way to serve God and others and I believe God will bless you for it.
Illus. – It’s not convenient for Susan and I to minister over here in Germany.
• When we got the news of my mom’s breast cancer years ago and my dad’s silent heart attack, it was not convenient for us to be in England and them over there.
• When Susan’s mom started having physical problems that eventually led to her death, it was very inconvenient to be over here and her to be over there.
• When each of our sons went off to college, it was really inconvenient to parent them from over here. Praise God for telephones, but you can’t give a hug over the telephone. It’s mighty inconvenient sometimes.
• It’s really hard being a grandparent from over here. Yes we can FaceTime with our granddaughter, but it’s just not the same as being there. It’s not convenient to maintain strong family ties thousands of miles away.
If I’m not careful, I can concentrate on the inconveniences of serving God, but when I really think about it—really, there’s no price too great to serve God, and to be in his perfect will, and to be in the place of blessing for our lives.
III. SOME PEOPLE READ THE BIBLES AND PRAY ONLY WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT.
I’ll be honest with you, I have yet to find a convenient time to read my Bible and pray! In the morning, my mind races in 25 directions and it’s hard to focus. In the afternoon, I’m at work or running errands. In the evening, I’m too tired.
There’s always going to be SOMETHING PRESSING; there’s always some reason IT’S NOT CONVENIENT; there’ll always SOME EXCUSE.
If you only pray and read your Bible when it’s convenient, you’ll NEVER get around to it and I’ll tell you why: Satan will make sure there is something pressing to keep you from it; he’ll tell you you’re too tired and need that extra 15 or 30 minutes of sleep in the morning; he’ll tell you that it won’t hurt to just skip it today (but then he’ll give you the same excuse tomorrow morning, and the next and the one after that, too).
I don’t think God wants us to let our quiet time with the Lord become mechanical and dry, but if it gets that way, it’s not because we’ve made it a priority or that we’re faithful to do it every day, but because we’ve waned in our love for the Lord; we’ve become lazy and indifferent; we’ve not sought the Holy Spirit’s help to focus our attention on Him and what He wants to say to us in His Word that day.
So make a devotional time a PRIORITY in your life. When it’s not convenient, do it anyway. Rearrange some other things in your schedule. But pray for God to reach through to your jaded heart, and confess your sins freely to the Lord, and be tender and search diligently, not slothfully, both for doctrinal truths to feed your soul, but also for comfort and solace and strength and courage and power over temptation to help guide you and fortify you through each day to live for God and please Him and serve others.
IV. SOME PEOPLE DO RIGHT ONLY WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT.
Illus. – Jesus tells us Matthew 18:15-17 that if a brother or sister has offended us, we should go to that person and try to resolve the issue and restore fellowship. Can I be honest with you?—That’s a whole lot easier said than done! It’s not very convenient. In fact, I can always think of about a hundred reasons to put it off. But we should do it because it is RIGHT to do it.
Do you think it’s right to tithe to God through your local church? You’re going to have to go through some pretty fancy intellectual gymnastics to excuse yourself from that one because it’s so clear that’s what the Bible teaches. And yet, I’ll bet there are a bunch of you who are spiritual freeloaders (sorry to be so blunt), who partake of the blessings of the church and its ministries, but don’t contribute to support it and uphold it and maintain it.
Our text actually deals with the issue of giving. David saw it as matter of showing his dedication to God by making sure his giving was A SACRIFICE.
How often do we give God our leftovers?! Have you ever been guilty of saying, “God, finances are tight right now, and it’s just not convenient to tithe this month. But as soon as things return to normal, I’ll start back giving to you.”
Just forgetting for a moment that we’re commanded in Scripture to tithe or the promises God gives to bless us if we give—just put those facts aside for a moment—and think of how much more meaningful to God it would be if we sacrificed OTHER things in our budget and gave God what rightfully belongs to Him—not because it would be the EASY thing to do; not because it would be the CONVENIENT thing to do; but because it was the RIGHT thing to do.
You know, it’s always right to do right, even if it hurts; even if it means sacrifice or pain or suffering.
Illus. – I’ll never forget in our church in Wiesbaden when our church was on the second floor above TEAC, an electronics firm. One Saturday, one of our men filled the baptistery for a baptism the next day. He turned the water on, and while it was filling up, went to do some other chores around the church…and when finished, forgot all about the baptistery or the water, and walked out the door with the water running full blast.
When we arrived at church Sunday, the carpets throughout the second floor were soaked, but not flooded, so I knew the water had seeped down to TEAC.
Monday morning I went to TEAC, only to discover that this little mishap had caused almost one hundred thousand Deutschmarks in damage.
I was sure we had insurance because the previous pastor had assured me we did…but we had THE WRONG KIND of insurance and we were told that the insurance company would not pay one Pfennig in damages.
Seeing our dilemma, our landlord suggested we get insurance that day, and claim that the accident happened the following day, and that the owners of TEAC had already agreed to lie about the date of the accident.
I’m sorry to admit that I hesitated for a brief moment. To have this not laid at our church’s door and to have an insurance company with millions of dollars of assets pay for it (a drop in the bucket for them) was a very attractive temptation.
Then the landlord said—like the devil himself whispering in my ear—“I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.” Suddenly I awoke from my moral slumber and replied, “I’m sorry, but that is not an option. That would be both wrong and illegal.” He turned red, but then smiled, as if I had somehow passed some test. And I had; I had passed the test of PERSONAL INTEGRITY.
I’ve often thought about that temptation and the fact that most probably I could have gotten away with it and saved the church thousands of dollars. But what is a CHURCH that represents Jesus Christ without integrity?—A SHAM! What is a PASTOR who claims to lead the people of God without integrity?—A FRAUD! What is a CHRISTIAN without integrity.—A PHONY!
Brethren, it’s ALWAYS right to do right, even if it’s inconvenient or painful.
V. FINALLY, SOME ARE WAITING TO BE SAVED WHEN IT IS CONVENIENT
There’s a story in Acts 24 of a Roman governor named Felix who the Apostle Paul appeared before by the instigation of the chief priest to answer for false charges. Paul defended himself against these charges, and then began to witness to Felix. Listen to Acts 24:24-25 – “And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla…he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.”
There’s no record that Felix ever found a convenient time to deal with the matter of his soul. If he had done so and converted to Christ, you can be sure it would have been recorded in the Bible. But sadly, Felix let this opportunity to be saved when he was tender, when God was working in his heart…slip through his fingers, and most probably went out into eternity lost to hell.
There will never be a more convenient time to be saved than right now. That’s why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:2 – “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” If you need to be saved, don’t put it off to a more convenient day.
That day may never come, for Proverbs 27:1 says, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” You can be in perfect health today and die in a car accident tomorrow.
Don’t delay the most important decision you will ever make in your life. Turn to Christ and ask Him to save you TODAY.
CONCLUSION
We live in a age of convenience, but don’t approach spiritual things with a desire for convenience. The basic nature of dedication to God involves sacrifice and commitment. Are you looking for a convenient form of Christianity? Is there an area where you have become lazy or selfish or noncommittal in your Christian life? My heart’s desire this morning is that you repent of convenience Christianity and pray, “Lord, I will not give to you only that which costs me nothing, or which is easy or convenient. I’ll pay whatever price you desire me to pay to please you and advance your kingdom.”
