TITLE: LIFE IS TOO PRECIOUS TO WASTE
SCRIPTURE: EPHESIANS 5:15-17
We all have been watching once again the sad reality of another one of our YOUNG BLACK MEN GUNNED DOWN IN THE STREETS AT THE HANDS OF THOSE WHO TOOK AN OATH TO PROTECT AND SERVE. The sad reality is, we will eventually move beyond this until the next time it happens. We know we will not have to wait very long. It is good to see a healthy awareness by gathering and marching across the land, even here in our State of Oklahoma. Could we do more, yes, I suppose we could. However; I am not sure marching is where we need to start.
So the question is – “HOW ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND MICHAEL BROWN AND FERGUSON, MO FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF FAITH?” As Christians we must begin with the premise that any attempt to understand the Michael Brown events must start from respect for him, his body, and his story.
Before it is anything else, Michael Brown’s death is a human tragedy. But for people of faith, human tragedies are also social and cosmic tragedies. We believe that human beings matter not only to each other but to God. So the injustice and oppression inherent in any American inter-racial killing is a Theological concern.
This morning I do want to say, that given this nation’s history of racial injustice, the issues and concerns in Ferguson really ought to be at the top of our prayer list and action agenda as a faith community. I don’t believe we are doing or have done enough as a Community of Faith in our state of Oklahoma. I pray that will change as this new Association we have been hearing so much about the past 3-4 weeks gives birth.
In certain communities, no one had to pay attention to Michael Brown.
• In certain communities, his death did not resonate with significance
• In certain communities, no one would confront the preacher and ask why they did not respond to the death of this young person
• And yet in other communities, his death was a touchstone
• A cause for prayer and lament and righteous anger and faithful expectation
These distinct reactions are a raw reminder that our communities of faith remain largely segregated.
• Though we worship the same God, the contexts within which we seek God's face are radically different
• In such a divided context, what does it look like to love your neighbor?
• What does it look like to be "one" church even as we are profoundly divided?
We don’t want to wrestle with the question – “WHO IS OUR NEIGHBOR?” We don’t want to wrestle with the thought “ARE WE OUR BROTHERS KEEPER?” ST. MATTHEW 12:46 – While Jesus was still talking to the crowd his mother and brothers stood outside wanting to speak to him. Someone told him:
• "Your mother and brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you." And Jesus replied to him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in Heaven is my brother and sister and mother"
We as Christians may not want to wrestle with our position, but the fact of the matter remains the same - the young man killed was human — like us all. He was made in God’s image. Regardless of the circumstance surrounding his death, We Can Care. Every Christian can respond to this situation. If an injustice took place, it matters because the Bible speaks to that – PROVERBS 29:27 “AN UNJUST MAN IS AN ABOMINATION TO THE JUST: AND HE THAT IS UPRIGHT IN THE WAY IS ABOMINATION TO THE WICKED.” And regardless of what actually happened, we have a responsibility to pray for “all people” without prejudice.
Can I admit to you, and perhaps I am naïve, but I thought we were moving beyond this. We were supposed to be more civilized - more enlightened. Race riots were supposed to be one of history’s artifacts, tucked away in the attic of time right between steam engines and leisure suits.
• We thought we had buried the past
• We were wrong
• The events in Ferguson, MO over the last two weeks have jolted the conscience of America
• A teenager is dead, and that is Tragic
• His family grieves, and that is Heartbreaking
• His community burns, and that is Regrettable
I don’t know what will happen in the court system, maybe another Javon Martin outcome. The bottom line at least Zimmerman went to trial. FERGUSON, MO – may not even go to trial. What do we do with the Killing of MICHAEL BROWN, an 18 year old whose life was Cut Short? What do we do? Where do we go from here? Perhaps the Judicial System will work this time. WE DON’T NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE STREETS, WE NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE HOME!
• Parents need to get back to being parents
• Grandparents need to get back to being grandparents
• Uncles need to stop acting like Aunts
• Aunts need to stop behaving like Uncles
• Men of the church need to step in and become mentors to fatherless boys
• Mothers need to stop treating your sons like your husbands
I stopped by to tell you this morning –Life Is Too Precious To Waste. The sad reality is all too many will Waste This Life. Life can be wasted and we all know that because we have seen it first-hand. We see it happening all around us. Sometimes we even talk about it at the breakfast table.
• Too many in our own family have wasted their life
• Spend a life in Prison
• Spend a life on Drugs
• Spend a life struggling having very little income in this life
• Spend a life and now still trying to be an Old Player
Life Is Too Precious To Waste – sometimes it is the decisions we make that cause us to begin that spiral down a dangerous road. The Street Name is ordinarily the same everywhere – THE STEET OF NO HOPE. Whenever we feel there is no hope we begin the journey that leads to wasting time in this life.
• We start out with so much Potential
• We have Goals, Dreams, Futures
• They can be gone in an Instant
• We should instinctively know life is too precious to waste
All too often we are in an uproar when we see a life cut so short in the streets of our community or what we see in the media. But I tell you this morning we should be just as vigorous when we begin to see lives especially of our loved ones begin the journey of going nowhere. Wasted lives happen in other ways, too. A young husband starts drinking - just a little at first. No big deal. But soon he’s drinking more and more. He misses work. He comes home angry. He becomes more and more hateful to his wife and kids. It gets worse. Maybe he loses his job. Perhaps his wife has had enough. The family comes apart. A guy with so much going for him loses everything. Everybody who knows them says the same thing, “What A Waste!”
When we say life is too precious to waste, we’re not just talking about death and tragedy. We’re talking about:
• Wasted Talent
• Wasted Work
• Wasted Effort
• Wasted Opportunities
We have all been there, done that!
• It could be an opportunity to turn over a new life
• Step out into a new direction
• Break an old habit
• Get on top of a nagging problem
• Finally make a lifelong dream come true
• But we let it pass
• Maybe we’re not sure
• Perhaps it’s too good to be true
• Maybe we just don’t have the confidence to take the first step
• Unrealized potential
• Unmet goals
• Broken dreams
• Opportunities missed
• That’s the stuff of wasted lives
Life Is Too Precious To Waste – Death does not just happen on the brutal streets of Ferguson, MO. Death happens all around us, every day.
• Death of our Dreams
• Death of our Goals
• Death of our Aspirations
• Death of our Marriages
• Death of our Relationships
• Death of our Finances
• Death of Respect for one another
Life is too precious to waste for lots of reasons. Life is precious because there is so little of it. The Bible speaks our language when it tells us to get busy for the Lord.
• JAMES 4:14 “….FOR WHAT IS YOUR LIFE? IT IS EVEN A VAPOUR, THAT APPEARETH FOR A LITTLE TIME, AND THEN VANISHETH AWAY”
• Moses said - PSALM 90:12 “SO TEACH US TO NUMBER OUR DAYS, THAT WE MAY APPLY OUR HEARTS UNTO WISDOM”
Life is precious my Brothers and sisters. It is too precious to waste time. But Life is also more than Precious. Life passes so quickly. Bible says it is like a vapor, here today and gone today.
--I am reminded of a man who went to his doctor to find out why he had been having such severe headaches. The doctor runs some tests and after a few hours calls the man into his office. "I have terrible news," he tells the patient.
--"Your condition is terminal." "Oh, no!” the man cries. "How long do I have?" "Ten ..." began the doctor. "Ten what?" the patient interrupted. "Days? Months? Years?"
--"Nine," continued the doctor, "eight, seven, six...!"
Isn’t that how life is, it is much too short. Someone with too much time on their hands has calculated that in a lifetime the average American will spend:
• Nearly twenty years sleeping
• Nine years watching TV
• Six years eating
• Two years getting dressed
• Six months sitting at stoplights
• Eight months opening junk mail
• One year looking for misplaced objects
• Two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls
• Four years doing housework
• Five years waiting in line
• Yes, Life Is Too Precious To Waste
• (Survey of 6000 people polled in 1988, U.S. News and World Report, Jan. 30, 1989, p. 81)
David asks a very interesting Question, in actuality he is posing a question that could have a very dangerous response from God.
• PSALM 39:4 “LORD, MAKE ME TO KNOW MINE END, AND THE MEASURE OF MY DAYS, WHAT IT IS; THAT I MAY KNOW HOW FRAIL I AM”
• I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to know my end day
• I don’t mind reading my favorite authors – Frank Patterson, Patricia Cornwell
• I don’t mind reading through and getting to the final chapter
• I don’t think I want to know my end
• That is why we are challenged to live every day to please Christ
• That is why the Bible has never asked us to “BE READY”
• We are challenged through the Word to LIVE SAVED
• If we lived Saved, we will always be ready
I am reminded of a poem that is attributed to Dr. Benjamine E. Mays --
--I've only just a minute,
Only sixty seconds in it.
Forced upon me, can't refuse it,
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give an account if I abuse it,
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.
But it’s not just the brevity and speed with which life races past that makes it so precious. It is compounded by the fact that we don’t get many “Do-Overs.”
• Don’t do well in school in early years you can repeat the grade -- Do-Over
• Don’t do a good job on a repair – fix again – Do-Over
• Even treat our marriages the same way, don’t get along, Divorce and remarry – Do-Over
• But, in this life, you only go around once
• And we don’t get many Do-Overs in this life
• Let’s turn things around before it is too late
Now, the Contemporary Church has no shortage of books, sermons, and mottos declaring exactly this lesson, because –
• Scripture teaches its Truth
• Experience echoes its Veracity
• And Urgency requires its Recognition
It serves as the grounding indicative for all kinds of urgent imperatives:
• The general encouragement: “Life is short — make it count”
• The pleasant reminder — “Life is short — enjoy every minute”
• The negative warning: “Life is short — don’t waste it”
• The ministry exhortation: “Life is short — serve the Lord”
• The missional admonition: “Life is short — reach the nations”
I believe the bottom line is, we are still flawed and broken. Our Brokenness Cannot Be Fixed By This World. Our society has no shortage of opinions on what it will take to better our world.
• Some say education is the cure for our ills
• Others say income equality will bring about unity
• Still others put their trust in any number of government programs ranging from healthcare to environmental protection
Yet, despite all the advances in all these areas, our brokenness is becoming more apparent, not less. Ferguson is just the latest symptom. In America alone we can point to a plethora of other symptoms ranging from CORRUPT POLITICIANS – SCHOOL SHOOTINGS – CULTURE WARS. As enlightened as we supposedly are, we have not yet achieved unity, not even in such a progressive country as ours.
So do we give up hope? We’re broken, divided, and helpless to fix ourselves. Do we abandon ship? Do we sit idly by and wait for the next Ferguson to happen? The answer is a resounding “NO!” Jesus has succeeded where all others fail.
• No amount of government programs, education, or income will ever achieve racial unity
• Neither will smooth talking politicians
• Forced integration can’t do it
• No amount of Sensitivity Training can fix it
The only thing that will work; the only hope we have is JESUS’ REDEMPTIVE WORK ON THE CROSS. At the cross not only are our sins washed away, but so are the lines that divide us. No longer do we see BLACK – WHITE – MALE – FEMALE – RICH - POOR. Instead we see former sinners who are now SAVED BY GRACE.
So, what does Ferguson Need? It needs the Gospel. Just like you do. And just like I do.
• We all need the redeeming power of Jesus Christ to work in us
• We need to offer Grace before Judgment
• Sympathy before Prejudice
• And Love before Hate
--This is the call of Christians everywhere
--To bring the Kingdom of God to earth
--In His Kingdom we are all equal and we are all united
--We are all in need of grace, and the good news is Jesus offers it to us freely
--Regardless of race, gender or nationality
--So if we want to move beyond Ferguson, we need to share the message of Jesus indiscriminately and rejoice that God saw fit to heal our brokenness
