God in the drivers seat.
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.” (Matthew 16:24 MSG)
Matthew 16:24-25Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
In the next few sermons we will be comparing the Christian life to driving a car not a leisurely Sunday Drive but on the edge.
We are calling this series Top Gear because it is a Christians responsibility to always aim for excellence in their lives and in their Christian witness.
There are plenty of people who are competant drivers at the slowest pace but not many who are able to drive at the absolute limits.
Jesus called us to live a radical christian life – not dull – boring or safe but on the edge. Living like this as a Christian does not involve greaty physical energy or even necessarily being young. It involves passion, singlemindedness and great skill.
When Jesus was moving towards the cross – He very deliberately set his heart towards Jerusalem in other words he racked it up a gear, put his foot to the floor and entered into an action pack mode that meant that he was on the edge of life as he knew it in fact he was facing death itself.
This morning I want to explore this theme in relation to putting God in the driving seat – Of course, we will mix this metaphor a bit later on when we talk about driving God’s course and so on but this morning I want to talk about putting God in the drivers seat.
Our scripture this morning is the message bible version of the scripture that we have already shared.
Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.” (Matthew 16:24 MSG)
Of course this is not a instruction to let God drive your car or even your life in the sense that you do nothing but rather to let him direct and pervade all that you do.
But it is to say that you have surrendered your situation and situations to God
Brother Andrew tells the following story
During the height of the Cold War, Communist countries were keeping a tight control on their borders, but God had called Brother Andrew to help the Christians behind that Iron Curtain.
"When I pulled up to the checkpoint on the other side of the Danube, I said to myself, "Well, I'm in luck. Only half a dozen cars. This Romanian border crossing should go swiftly."
"But when it took forty minutes to inspect the first car, I began to worry...literally everything that family was carrying had to be taken out and spread on the ground.
"Every car in line was put through the same routine. The fourth inspection lasted well over an hour. The guards took the driver inside and kept him there while they removed hub caps, took his engine apart, removed seats.
"Dear Lord," I said, as at last there was just one car ahead of me, "what am I going to do? Any serious inspection will show up these Romanian Bibles right away.
"Lord," I went on, "I know that no amount of cleverness on my part can get me through this border search. Dare I ask for a miracle? Let me take some of the Bibles out and leave them in the open where they will be seen. Then, Lord I cannot possibly be depending on my own stratagems, can I? I will be depending utterly upon You."
"While the last car was going through its chilling inspection, I managed to take several Bibles from their hiding places and pile them on the seat beside me.
"It was my turn. I put the little VW in low gear, inched up to the officer standing at the left side of the road, handed him my papers, and started to get out. But his knee was against the door, holding it closed. He looked at my photograph in the passport, scribbled something down, shoved the papers back under my nose, and abruptly waved me on.
"Surely thirty seconds had not passed. I started the engine and inched forward. Was I supposed to pull over, out of the way where the car could be taken apart? Was I ... surely I wasn’t...I coasted forward, my foot poised above the brake. Nothing happened. I looked out the rear mirror. The guard was waving the next car to a stop, indicating to the driver that he had to get out. On I drove a few more yards. The guard was having the driver behind me open the hood of his car. And then I was too far away to doubt that indeed I had made it through that incredible checkpoint in the space of thirty seconds.
"My heart was racing. Not with the excitement of the crossing, but with the excitement of having caught such a spectacular glimpse of God at work!"
Matthew 16:24-25Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV)
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
If any one Intends in the King James If any man “will” come after me.
If you want God to be the driver of your life it will depend on your intention. Or as the King James says will It is a matter of the will.
What you intend for your life will in the end determine what is happening in your life.
Jesus said – John chapter 6 verse 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
If I was to do my will it would be to do entirely everything that happened to please me.
At the end of my life having lived only for myself people might say of me like these two allegedly true comments in eulogies
1. She died as she lived: oddly dressed and smelling vaguely of turpentine.
2. Bill was not a rich man. He was not a proud man. He was not a successful man. Nor was he especially attractive, articulate, or even remotely respected. Neither was he particularly well-liked or hygienic. So I suppose, what I'm really trying to say is... there's cake back at the house and if we hurry, we can probably catch the second half of the Bulls game.
If we don’t let God lead it could easily all end up like that The question is what do you intend for your life.
the age of 17, Dwight L. Moody left his poor widowed mother's farm to set out on his own in the big city of Boston, where he began working in his uncle's shoe store as a clerk. The year was 1854. Then one day, the most significant event that ever happened in his entire life took place:
Edward Kimball, a dedicated Christian who had met young Dwight when he first came to the city, felt that he needed to witness to him and tell him about Jesus and God's plan of Salvation. So Kimball went to the store where Moody worked, and finding him in the back room wrapping shoes, told him how he could receive Jesus as his personal Saviour. Moody listened attentively and prayed with him to receive Jesus on the spot!
Shortly afterwards, Kimball challenged his young new convert with these stirring words: "Dwight L. Moody, there is no limit to what God can do with a man who is YIELDED and WILLING to do His will!" Moody looked him in the eye and replied, "By the grace of God, Edward, I am DETERMINED to be that man!"--And he WAS! A short while later he moved to Chicago where he began preaching the Gospel and witnessing to others, and was soon so thrilled to be able to lead other folks to Jesus, that he quit the shoe business and began serving the Lord fulltime! He went on to become one of the World's greatest evangelists, with literally tens of thousands of eternal souls won as a result!
Moody’s secret?
His intention he said "By the grace of God, Edward, I am DETERMINED to be that man!"—
What you intend will almost inevitably lead to what you become.
If you want to put God in the driving seat
First then comes identifying your intention.
Secondly comes Fulfilling your intention. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am.” (Matthew 16:24 MSG)
We have to let God lead. This is in my opinion the greatest issue in the Christian faith – I am not great at dancing but they tell me -
that one of the biggest problems couples have is letting the other lead. When they’re both trying to lead, they’re stepping on each other’s feet all the time, and it doesn’t look very pretty.
Your life doesn’t look very pretty when you’re trying to lead with God at the same time. You just need to let God be God and make Jesus the manager of your life.
Imagine if you will a rally car with two steering wheels it just wouldn’t work.
The apostle Paul does an excellent job of this when he surrenders to God’s will on the Damascus road.
When he sets out on this road trip – Paul is convinced that he is doing God’s will by going to persecute the Christians – When Jesus meets him his intentions change.
When Jesus meets us, our intentions, change – but the question for both Paul and ourselves are will we let God lead us. Paul undisputably does.
He says 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 2 1And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
Paul could have come to them as an extremely learned man flashing his great learning in front of them and as an emerging international Apostle and leader – but he doesn’t/
The other day I was watching a documentry on Lewis Hamilton – World champion formula one driver – what struck me was that his dream of being a great driver was nurtured in him
since his father gifted him a battery operated car at the age of six - a dream that took him through the circuits of karting, Formula Renault, Formula Three, GP 2 and straight into Formula One.
Early racing years
The journey though was one of determination and single-minded focus on being fast.
You want to be a great christian then you need to work out what you determine to be get your focused dream then yield to God in that dream.
You will need to do what you need to do in order to fulfill that dream.
Imagine Joseph – He gets a dream but at the time of receiving the vision he is unbroken – he is a work in progress – not ready to run a shop let alone a nation. But he commits to his dream and tragedy seems to follow tragedy in his life. Betrayed and broken – imprisoned and forgotten he never loses his dream and stays faithful to the God he loves. It seems somewhere down in the cavities of his soul Joseph knows that God is asking him just to be faithful. Until in a moment of divine elevation – facing unprecedented g’s he is raised up to run Egypt and his original vison of the sheaves bowing down before him is fulfilled. –
Genesis 50 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead.
With his dream Joseph declares his intention but he has to let God lead if he doesn’t let him lead then there will be no fulfillment of the dream. Letting God lead is vital.
Thirdly You will need to suffer pain.
To get to the top in driving involves focus and sacrifice.
How much more in the Christian life it involves pain.
Joseph endured it – Elijah did and Jesus certainly did.
Avoiding pain is not an option if you are intent on letting God in the drivers seat.
For every great rally driver there are thousands of others with similar or greater potential – but they were not willing to put in the hard yards.
Jeff strite has this illustration
. A number of years ago on the "Merv Griffin Show" a guest appeared that was a body builder. As he entered with his huge muscular frame the crowd went crazy with applause as he flexed his muscles walking over to take his seat to be interviewed. Merv’s first question seemed to catch the body builder off guard however; he asked him "What do you use all those muscles for?" A bit puzzled, the body builder simply stood up and flexed his muscles again while the crowd again applauded wildly. As he sat down Merv again asked him, "What do you use all those muscles for?" Again with a puzzled and somewhat frustrated appearance the body builder stood up and flexed his muscles once again to a cheering audience. Merv however was undaunted and insisted a third time, "What do you use those muscles for?" The body builder was stumped and had no answer, all he could do is sit there and look bewildered at Merv’s constant question. The man was all power, but with no purpose! While he could impress the audience there was no application for all this power.
You see power needs to be converted to useful work it involves pain.
In the parable of the talents. There are three men - Luke 19:11-19:28 – they are given different sized investments to invest for the King – Two do really well and one doesn’t – The one who doesn’t fails to fulfil the three points in this sermon .
He has no vision – He is in the blame game he blames the King and circumstance for blocking his vision – he doesn’t do anything – in rally terms he leaves the car in the pits – and he digs his own pit. And he avoids the pain the cost and yes the risk.
The result – No net gain. If you spin your tires in the mud then you will go nowhere.
You have to pay the price – Great rally teams are supported by sponsors who are ready to pay the price.
When God is in the driving seat you are well positioned to meet your full potential.
I think all of this reveals the incredible potential each one of us has to go on an amazing road trip with God.
When you let God do the driving you will be wonderfully positioned to realise your full potential and to become the person God intended you to be when he said you were fearfully and wonderfully made.
1st point identifying your intention.
2nd point Fulfilling your intention.
3rd point. Paying the price - Enduring the cross.
