Choices – 1st Sunday 2016
Part 1
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Romans 4:21
Introduction
The title of my message this morning is “Choices.” On Monday of this past week I mailed to each of you (kids included) a personal letter. The letter was addressed to each individual so it was not a general letter to “all Church members.” In each letter I shared the Scripture that I have been meditating on for several weeks and I asked each of you to consider what this Scripture would mean for you in 2016. This Scripture will be our foundational Scripture for the first quarter and I hope that each of you will meditate on it and commit it to memory. The Scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and it reads, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus; not with uncertainty. Thus I fight; not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
I will come back to this Scripture shortly, but for now I want you to consider the choices you will make in 2016. If you were running a race, you’d have to choose to train in preparation for the race. If you are seeking a job, you have to choose what job to seek and how to go about applying for it. If you were making a major purchase, like a home or car, you have to choose what is best for you and how you finance your purchase. My point is this - our lives are made up of choices. Whether they are good, bad or indifferent, our lives consist of the choices we make the consequences that accompany those choices. When you hear people talking about being free-willed, they are talking about the ability to choose – the right to be able to make my own independent decision. This morning, I want you to consider the choices you will make in 2016. Will you make the same choices as you made in previous years or will this be the year when you step beyond yourself and make different choices? Will you come into your own person to allow others to decide who you are or will become? How will you make your choices in 2016??
I. One Man Chose To Believe Life Was Good
I read an article in a magazine once about a man named George Dawson. You may have heard about him. In 1996 he enrolled in a class to learn how to read and write. At the time of his enrollment, he was 98 years old. Four years later, in 2000, he published the story of his life. He was the grandson of slaves, born in a log cabin, labored at menial jobs and endured racism throughout his life. What is profound about his story was the philosophy that his father had instilled within him. His father believed and taught him that no matter what, life is so good. Please understand what I am telling you. His father did not deny the circumstances in which he lived – he chose to live above those circumstances and believe that his life was so good regardless of the messes he had to deal with on a daily basis. This is what he imparted into his son. A choice to believe that his life was good! He died in 2001 at the age of 103 believing that life was so good! His life was not so good because of the things he dealt with, but because of his choice to believe that his life was good!
Each of us has made choices about our lives. We have chosen what we wish to believe about what we can or cannot do from this day forward. We believe that our time has passed for some things as we are just too old while we believe that we are still able to do other things. We believe that there are some things that we just cannot do because of where we are in life while other things we can do because we see ourselves as still able. The choices that we are making are choices that confirm what we already believe – that we can or cannot do something. How many of us at the age of 98 would go back to school to get a GED? Many would say it was not worth it – we’re just too old to put forth that effort. But what if you believed that it was worth it? What if you believed that you could do it?
I want to say this and then I will move on. Our abilities to do something often do not start with our being able to do it; but it starts with a choice to do it. Once the choice is made, the ability can come through training! Why do I say this? Because when you read our foundational Scripture Paul confirms this. If you’re running a marathon, you do not start out being able to do it. Your body is not able or ready to take on that level of stress. However, once you make the choice to do it, then you start preparing your body to do it. Your preparation might take longer and be different from others, but once the decision is made, barring any physical ailment restricting your training, you can do it. It starts with a choice.
II. A Choice To Live The Gift
When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, we accept the gift that had been presented to us long before we were born. This year we must decide how we will allow the fullness of that gift to be manifested in our lives and in this Church. Two weeks ago Rev. Fulks told us that about gifts. She told us about the process people go through to find and give a specific gift to an individual. When God gave us His Son, He chose to give us a gift that would change our eternity. That same gift also changes our today. Sometimes we get so caught up in focusing on when we get to heaven that we forget that Jesus has made provisions for us right here on earth. Because we’re focused on heaven we never make the choice to actually “live the gift!” What do I mean about living the gift? When we accept Christ that was the first step; the first decision. Once we have done that, then we must make additional choices pertaining to how we will live the gift – how that gift will be manifested in our lives.
If you are going to give someone a gift that they need, you spend time picking out the right one. It has to be specific if it is going to meet their need. Once you decide on what you’re going to give, you decide where you will get it and then you go purchase it. Sometimes we will place the gift in a gift bag or wrap it prior to delivering it, but regardless, at some point we do deliver the gift. Once the person has received the gift, the gift is no longer in our control. We cannot tell the receiver how or when to use the gift. It is totally up to the person. Sometimes those gifts are so nice and expensive that the receiver places them in a box or vault and only bring them out for special occasions. They want to make sure that the gift is protected so they do not want to use it every day and risk losing or damaging it. So that gift, although needed, is used sparingly because of the value that the receiver placed on it.
God gave us the gift of His only Son – Jesus Christ and we have placed Him in a safe to be brought out on special occasions – maybe Sundays, Christmas time and Easter. We cannot allow this gift to be placed in a vault only to be used during special occasions. This is not a gift that we can protect from others per se, but one that we should be living. This gift is the only gift that when allowed to live within us can be given to others without us losing it. In reality, the more we give this gift away, the more that gift is expanded within us. But it starts with a choice. It starts with a decision that each of us must make to take the gift of Christ off our personal shelves and share it. It starts by each of us making the choice to train. We must learn what it means to walk the walk and talk the talk. We must make the choice to allow the gift to be manifested within us. We must choose to make 2016 different from our previous years. Yes we will have struggles; heartaches and pains, but we can live beneath them and see the world around us through them, or we can choose to rise above them and not be hindered by them. It comes down to our decision.
III. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Before I close, I want to take you back to what Paul said to the Corinthians in First Corinthians chapter nine. He said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus; not with uncertainty. Thus I fight; not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)
Let me quickly summarize what he was telling us and I will go into much more detail of each verse in the coming weeks. Paul illustrates the duty we have of practicing self-denial for the salvation of others by a reference to the well-known games which were celebrated near Corinth. The games near Corinth were equaled to the Olympics which were actually conducted in Olympia during Paul days. He speaks of the racers, wrestlers and boxers. He makes it clear that if these athletes discipline their bodies through training so that they could receive the prize of an earthly garland crown, how much more should he discipline his body (through self-denial) so that he could receive an eternal crown. Everyone was familiar with the training that the athletes went through in order to compete so he was speaking their language. These games were celebrated every fourth year so even when the athletes were not competing, they practiced lifestyles of consistent training. Let me give you an example of how serious they trained and disciplined their bodies. Being fast was regarded as an extraordinary virtue; and great pains were taken in order to excel in quickness. During this time there was a belief that the spleen slowed down one’s quickness so many athletes actually thought it worthwhile to remove/burn their spleen (literally) so that their quickness would not be hindered and they could compete on a higher level. This is an example of the disciplined life-style that they lived in order to compete for the prize.
I will confess to you this morning that I am as guilty as the next person for not living a more disciplined life. In 2016 I will be taking personal steps for me to become more disciplined. I am also encouraging each of you to examine your lives. Are you ready to run the race for the prize or are you happy being a spectator of the race? Are you competing as a trained athlete, as an amateur, or are you watching from the sidelines and following your favorite athlete as they go from one event to the next? If you have ever watched a golf tournament you know what I am talking about. You see lines upon lines of people following their favorite golfer from hole to hole as they observe the game. Many Christians are observing the game from the spectator seats. We must choose to stop being spectators!
For a Christian, winning is about souls being saved. When we accepted Christ, we were saved and came from the spectator’s section into the actual race. Once we were saved, our lifestyles were to become such that we can lead others to Him – we could compete in His race.
Many Christians are running the race and are happy just to be competing and do not expect to win. They have no plans to win, but only to participate in the race. Others have yet to enter the race. Is this really what God has for us? Does He really want us in the spectator rows and not competing? Does He really want us competing and not expecting to win? Paul said that he disciplined his body so that as he competed (preached to others) he would not be disqualified! He disciplined himself, practiced self-control, so that he could run the race (win souls) and not be disqualified (losing his testimony because of the life he was living.) If the race is winning souls and the prize is the incorruptible crown we will receive once we have finished the race, how many Christians have yet to enter the race?
This year I want us individually and as a Church body to make a choice. Let’s choose to compete with the prize of winning ever before our eyes! It’s not about how many members we have or don’t have, it’s about us running our race according to the will of God and winning our crown. You see, unlike other races, there is a crown already ready with our names on it if we run our race well. If we run our individual race and our corporate (Church) race as God has defined it, we will receive our crowns. Will you make this choice for 2016 to fully enter His race?
Please stand with me as we make this confession as a Church body. Romans 4:21 records the following of Abraham when he believed God’s when God told him he would have a son: “And being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform.”
Confession: “I confess and proclaim that in 2016 I am fully persuaded, living in boundless faith, that what my Father says my Father will do!”
I love you and I will continue this next week.
