Title: Meanwhile
Text: I Corinthians 15:50-58
Thesis: Hope is why we persevere in a long obedience in the same direction.
Explanation: In 1980 IVP published Eugene Peterson’s book, “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.” Thirty-five years ago Peterson had picked up on a cultural trend toward our being an instant society people. We like to get where we are going. We want to go from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. We even have shortcuts on our computers so we can with a “click” on the mouse go directly to the file or program we want.
The idea of going from entry level to CEO in one step is unheard of. In a trade or profession individuals served Apprenticeships which were like on-the-job training. Having completed one’s Apprenticeship the person became a Journeyman where he became fully educated and worked to perfect his trade. Eventually other Masters of a trade recognized their knowledge and skills and elected them to the level of Master Craftsman. And then as a Master Craftsman a person lived out his life continuing to master his craft to ever increasing mastery.
Impatience does not do for anyone wishing to become a Master. Diligence does. If we be Apprentices and Journeymen and Masters in following Jesus Christ we understand that we are in it for the long haul, so to speak. We do not simply sign on as followers of Jesus and step up to Heaven’s Gate where we are swept into a life of everlasting bliss.
So as followers of Jesus, we understand that the Christian life is a long obedience in the same direction in which we not only learn information and knowledge but the skills of Christ-like living, service to God and others.
Introduction
If you have driven across the country, you are aware that the landscape varies from state to state and even within a given state. I often hear comments about how boring it is to drive through certain parts of our country. So you might identify with this analogy.
We’ve been known to make the run from Denver to Chicago or St. Paul a few times in the last 15 years. The most horrible leg of the journey for me is between here and Ft. Morgan. I hate it… I’m not alone. I notice other travelers. Some are watching movies on video players or I-Pads or listening to their I-Pods. Others are reading. Some are napping. All are oblivious to the landscape around them. All are asking, “Are we there yet?”
On their way to the Grand Canyon they pass through Kansas, eastern Colorado, Oklahoma and Arizona occupying themselves in any way they can just to get through all the barrenness on their way to the Grand Canyon.
.The journey across the country is something we endure in order to get where we are going.
Our text reminds us that while there is a destination in mind… our journey is important as well.
In fact, we would be wise to note that the Bible has a lot more to say about how we live during our journey than about our ultimate destination. (Philip Yancey, "On the Grand Canyon Bus," Christianity Today (September 2008), p. 102)
Our text begins with an ethereal sense of our eternal and heavenly hope.
I. There is the not yet but will be of the then and there, I Corinthians 15:50-57
First there is the “Not yet.”
A. Not yet, I Corinthians 15:50
“What I am saying is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever.” I Corinthians 15:50 (I Corinthians 15:44 re natural and spiritual bodies)
In other words, we aren’t there yet because we still have our earthly bodies…
But one day we will… that’s what will be.
B. Will be, I Corinthians 15:51-53
“For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies… bodies that will never die.” I Corinthians 15:51-53 (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Our hope is for the return of Jesus and the transformation of our mortal bodies into immortal bodies in anticipation of life everlasting.
It is good to know where you are going! In January 2000, leaders of Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson's disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, "We don't expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you." So he agreed.
After wonderful things were said about him, Graham stepped to the rostrum, looked at the crowd, and said, "I'm reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time Magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of each passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his other pocket. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat by him. He couldn't find it. The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.' Einstein nodded appreciatively.
"The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry. I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.' Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going.'"
Billy Graham continued, "See the suit I'm wearing? It's a brand new suit. My wife, my children, and my grandchildren are telling me I've gotten a little slovenly in my old age. I used to be a bit more fastidious. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon and one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I'll be buried. But when you hear I'm dead, I don't want you to immediately remember the suit I'm wearing. I want you to remember this: I not only know who I am, I also know where I'm going." (John Huffman, "Who Are You, and Where Are You Going?" Preaching Conference 2002)
Knowing who we are in Christ and knowing we are going to heaven is our hope. But in the end, our text does not dwell on our hope… our then and there. The focus of our text is on our here and now.
Our text moves from the ethereal and heavenly to earthly practicality. (Human life on earth)
II. There is the meanwhile which is the here and now, I Corinthians 15:58
If there is a visual of me that I want you to tuck away in your hearts and mind it is of me standing before you with one foot planted firmly in the “then and there” and the other planted firmly in the “here and now.”
Meanwhile, in the here and now:
A. Be strong and immovable (Steadfast, stand firm or stable / unmovable, doggedly determined and devoted, persistent and faithful)
“So my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable…” I Corinthians 15:58
Being steadfast and immovable is in direct contrast with being spasmodic or irregular.
Why do some musicians or athletes excel while others remain mediocre? In his book The Social Animal, David Brooks points to current research that reveals the common denominator in attaining excellence in a field: is a long-term commitment to discipline and practice. Think Apprenticeship. Journeyman. Master. Brooks wrote:
In 1997 Gary McPherson studied 157 randomly selected children as they picked out and learned a musical instrument. Some went on to become fine musicians and some faltered. McPherson searched for the traits that separated those who progressed from those who did not. IQ was not a good predictor. Neither were aural sensitivity, math skills, income, or a sense of rhythm. The best single predictor was a question McPherson asked the students before they even selected their instruments: “How long do you think you will play?” The students who planned to play for a short time did not become very proficient. The students who planned to play for a few years had modest success. But there were some children who said, in effect: "I want to be a musician. I'm going to play my whole life." Those children soared.
Growing Christians approach discipleship with a similar attitude: "I want to follow Jesus (or love others, or study God's Word, or build up the church). I'm going to follow Jesus my whole life." Those Christians may stumble often, but over the long haul they will also soar. (David Brooks, The Social Animal (Random House, 2011), pp. 134-135)
So there is the “be strong and immovable” aspect of the here and now but there is also the work of it.
B. Work enthusiastically (always abounding, let nothing hold you back, throw yourselves into it, excelling at it)
“Always work enthusiastically for the Lord…” I Corinthians15:58
We typically think of things in terms of reaching a certain standard. Some who are capable of accomplishing a great deal in life and others, barely, if at all, achieve the standard. The standard is what you shoot for. It’s par. Abounding means to exceed the fixed standard. It means to do the over and above.
According to USA Today, firms are spending billions of dollars to fire up workers—with little results. The article states:
There has been exhaustive academic research trying to find out what motivates workers, and it has turned up almost no evidence that motivational spending makes any difference.
Poll-taker Gallup analyzed its massive database and determined in March that 55 percent of employees have no enthusiasm for their work—Gallup uses the term "not engaged,” based on several criteria, including loyalty and the desire to improve job performance. One in five (19 percent) are so uninterested or negative about their jobs that they poison the workplace to the point that companies might be better off if they called in sick.
Further into the article, Spencer Johnson, author of “Who Moved My Cheese?” states he "believes research may one day show that the only long-lasting motivation will come from employees who bring it to work in the form of God, spirituality, or something else that causes them to “rise to a higher purpose.'" (USA Today, 5-10-01)
Meanwhile we have within us a heartfelt desire to love and serve God and others… to be enthusiastically engaged in all of life here and now. We are not just biding out time here.
And we do that because we know it is worth it.
C. Know what you do for the Lord is worth it
“…for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” (in vain, futile or a waste of time and effort)
Rationale… if life in this world were all there is to life, our labor would be in vain. Or if the next life were disconnected from this life, our work would be in vain. But in fact they are connected and what happens in the here and now carries over into the there and then. (See I Corinthians 3:10-15)
Our present existence has lasting value…
I know it does not take much to entertain me but one of the things I like is going to Panera Bread and ordering a Country Loaf or a loaf of Three Cheese or Rye, watching then drop it into the bread slicer and bag it. I prefer to slice my own Holiday Bread into nice thick slices but otherwise, the slicer is really cool.
We’ve been eating bread nearly 3,000 years, but it was . In the early 1900's a young man named Otto Rohwedder overheard a familiar complaint among housewives: slicing bread was burdensome, time-consuming, and sometimes even perilous. “What if”, pondered Rohwedder, “there was a machine for bakers to pre-slice bread?”
Otto was so moved to create and to help that he sold his jewelry business and embarked on a long, painful journey to bring his invention to life. In 1916, he built his first prototype of a bread slicing machine in an abandoned warehouse outside of town. After an initial failure, Rohwedder retired to his warehouse and feverishly sketched hundreds of blueprints. Then in 1917, a fire broke out and all of his blueprints and years of hard work were burned to ash.
By 1927, he had built a new and improved bread slicing machine. Unfortunately, nobody showed any interest in the five-foot by three-foot monstrosity. Finally, after a friend stepped in and invested in the project, on July 7, 1928, the first loaf of commercially sliced bread was sold. A newspaper ad claimed that the sliced bread was "the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped.”
Today, deeming something to be "the greatest thing since sliced bread" is a testament to its ingenuity, and to the decades Otto Rohwedder spent toiling in his workshop to bring flourishing to the world—one slice at a time. (Adapted from Zachary Crockett, "The Invention of Sliced Bread," Priceonomics blog, 11-12-14)
It was worth it for Otto Rohwedder and his bread slicer and it is worth it in our service to God and others. What we do in this life is of worth both temporally and eternally.
I never heard of C.T. Studd the British Evangelist, Poet, Missionary who died in 1931 while serving in what was then the Belgian Congo. But when I was just a boy, I knew an adage lifted from one of his poems that I have never forgotten:
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Conclusion
After my dad died my mother enjoyed taking Mystery Tours. The kind of mystery tours were those in which she found out her destination when she arrived. There is indeed the aspect of life being about the destination rather than the journey. Life is about the there and then. For Christians the there and then is eternal life in heaven.
But there is something to the here and now of Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
So meanwhile, in the here and now and if there be a word I wish to leave with you it is: So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. NLT
