BALANCE
“Be Fit!”
Luke 2:52, 1st Corinthians 6:12-20
Most of us have been to the circus at least once so I am guessing that all of you have seen the guy known as the plate spinner. Usually around 6 to 8 plates. However read this week that the world record is actually 108-2 people got together and they were able to keep 100 and 8 plates spinning at once. As you can imagine, that’s the hardest part; keeping all the plates moving and balanced all at the same time so that none of them fall to the floor and break. Can you imagine 108 plates at once?
The scripture tell us in Luke 2:52 that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Scripture tells us, reminds us that Jesus knew what it meant to live a balanced life. In all four areas he grew wiser. He grew stronger. He grew spiritually. He grew in his relationships.
This is what the Scripture tells us here. Live a balanced life, first of all we must learn wisdom. We must learn to be wise. I told you last week that James tells us that if any of you asks God, he should ask God and he will give it to him. I emphasized last week that doesn’t mean we should all just ask once and expect that we will have all the wisdom we will ever need. Really, it’s a daily thing. In some ways all four of these areas we’re looking at require daily attention. Otherwise the plates fall and we lose balance and something breaks.
(1) So we must learn to be wise. Be wise.
2nd. Jesus not only grew in wisdom. He also grew in stature. He grew stronger physically. Be fit! Now I don’t know how much you have given to this the past I want you to consider the fact today that there was nothing weak about Jesus. He worked-he grew up most likely working in a carpenter’s shop with his father. Easy work especially considering the fact there were no power tools in that day-no electricity. So cutting lumber was a very strenuous job.
There was a young man who had just gotten his driving permit so he asked his dad, will you buy me a car now? Dad said well I tell you what, if you will do three things I will. This is okay. What three things? I want you to bring your grades up at school, read your Bible daily and also get a haircut. So a month later, the young man comes back and says I was hoping we could talk about the car again. His dad says sure. He says I noticed you brought your grades up and also notice that you been reading her Bible more. He says and I am really proud of you. Also notice that you still haven’t gotten a haircut. The young man thought for a moment says, and says but Dad... Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair; even Jesus had long hair. You said yep and you also might have noticed that that they all walked everywhere they went. ? So the fact that Jesus would have walked everywhere that He went tells us that he must have been in pretty good shape. In all the paintings I’ve seen through the years of Jesus I have never seen an overweight version of Jesus. I’ve seen overweight Buddha, right? But never overweight Jesus.
The apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth. Listen to what he says. 1st Cor. 6:19-20. No we would do well to look at a few verses that lead up to this statement. Specifically there are two slogans that are mentioned. Philosophies. They became a way of life. One has to do with food and drink. The 2nd has to do with sexuality. And he gives us an honest look at both. Let’s look at the first area.
(1) Everything is permissible for me. Food and drink. Vvs. 12-13a. We immediately come across this phrase here that says, “Everything is permissible for me.” Paul says this four times in this letter. And we need to recognize here that there were two slogans that were floating around in the church at that time. The first one was this: everything is permissible for me. Now listen carefully---just because this was being taught does not mean it was true. Or correct. This was used to justify all kinds of activities that simply were not healthy/good. People were using it to justify sexual sin. To justify all kinds of sin actually. In other words, I’m saved so I can do as I please. Paul counters this by reminding all of us that just because we no longer live under the OT law does not mean that doing those things will be beneficial to us. We will look at this further in a moment.
(2) Food for your stomach and the stomach for the food. This one spoke to the area of sexuality. V. 13a. This slogan was being used to promote sins of a sexual nature. There were two primary groups that existed in that day. (1) Judaizers. (2) Libertines. Judaizers said that you must live by the letter of the law. All of it. Libertines said you can do whatever you please. Do what you want to. We live under grace. In fact if you want more grace, then sin more. After all, God gives grace to sinners. So if you want ore grace, sin more. So these two groups were huge in that day. And neither was correct in their theology.
So here is where this word BALANCE come to play. I can’t say that everything in excess is wring but I will say that almost everything in excess is wrong. BALANCE is extremely important in the life of the believer. And part of living a BALANCED life is that you and I should be fit … physically fit. Now there are many who will say, now, you’re meddling pastor. I understand I need to be spiritually fit. But should the church be focusing on being physically fit? Absolutely. Let me remind you that it is God Himself who said, don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you! So glorify God with your body. Take care of the temple.
So how do we stay physically fit? (back page) Well we have been taught from childhood that we need to do 3 things.
1. Eat right
2. Exercise
3. Sleep well. Get adequate rest.
But somehow when we became adults we started ignoring at least one of these areas. I live on my own now and I will do what I want to do. We go on the seafood diet. We see food and we eat it. And while we do it we sit in our recliners and the stay up half the night. I think all of us understand the importance of these 3 areas but here is the problem in one word. TEMPTATION.
Giving in to temptation will affect every area of your life. Physically, emotionally, spiritually. Let me emphasize something I said last week.
If your life is out of balance, something will eventually break. And it is you who will have to pick up the pieces.
So Satan looks for ways to keep us unfit physically. Here are four.
(1) When we are Hungry. A confession. 2 weeks ago on a Wednesday. It’s 5:00. Now on Wednesday now for over 40 years we don’t eat dinner until late. Usually around 9:30. But on this day I needed something because I had a Bible study and music rehearsal and I was hungry and I was tired. So I got in my car and headed to RaceTrac. Now things are placed in specific places in stores for specific reasons. Milk is in the back; bread is in the front---they don’t this because they want you to get exercise—it is so that you will have to walk past everything in between.
And when you walk into RaceTrac and look straight ahead….you see donuts. So I went past them … got my Diet Dr. pepper ---zero calories—then I saw the Krispy Kreme honey buns. Read the label. 600 calories. Well the diet soda cancels that our right? Haven’t had one in at least a year so I go for it. My entire lunch that day was only 700 calories by the way. Food is a temptation for us. We need to eat but to eat to excess is sin. But we justify it by saying it’s permissible for me. After all I don’t smoke, I don’t gamble, I don’t ….. We all have a list we can come up with at any moment to justify our behavior/sin. It should not surprise us that when Jesus had fasted for 40 days the first temptation that came his way was food. Satan said, hey turn those stones into bread. But the stones in that area resemble a small loaf of bread. And bread is a weakness for many people. Hot loaf of bread with butter. Right? We are tempted when are HUNGRY and we can fall into sin easier.
(2) When we are angry. One of the first things some people say when they are angry or mad is you know what, I need a drink. I need something calm me down. When we are angry, things can go wrong.
• Cain killed Abel.
• Moses didn’t get to go into the Promised Land.
• Peter cursed.
You know why these things happened? They were angry. Did you know that anger:
• Increases your risk of heart disease
• Damages your kidneys and liver
• It fuels/drives depression. Over ½ of those who deal with depression have anger issues. There is a direct correlation.
• Slows the body’s healing process.
Anger can cause us to hurt ourselves. Anger can cause us to hurt others.
(3) When we are Lonely. Many a sexual temptation has been carried out because someone was lonely. You feel unloved perhaps so you seek out some kind of fulfillment in the wrong place. We look for ways to medicate the pain of loneliness. But they never work and they become addictive.
(4) When we are tired. Weak. When you’re tired you give in. Your child asks for something. You say no but they ask again And again AND again. Then it’s like OK, just stop asking. We’re tired. So you can perhaps imagine what happens when all four of these take place at once. You have a perfect storm. You get upset at work----worked too many hours---worked thru lunch maybe, go home to an empty house, worn out---- you are an absolute target for Satan. You have a bullseye right on your back. Now if you didn’t see it the key word there is HALT. When these things happen, stop. Pray. Read scripture. Get refocused.
In some respects the church today is like a football game. Bud Wilkinson, football coach of the Oklahoma Sooners before he joined the President’s Physical Fitness Program and later became a commentator for ABC, was asked, “What contribution does professional sports make to the physical fitness of Americans?” To the surprise of no one, he answered, “Very little. A professional football game is a happening where thousands of spectators, desperately needing exercise, sit in the stands watching 22 men on the field desperately needing rest.” That could well describe the typical church today. A host of spectators but only a handful of participants. A message like this… many will just walk away and do nothing. But you don’t have to be one of them. Make a commitment. Set a goal. As NIKE says, just do it!
NO PAIN, NO GAIN. It’s a simple statement that tells us this—before you will experience the benefits of exercises you have to first experience some pain. In order to get physically fit there is a level of pain you must go through. So at the beginning of the New Year many times we realize we have had too many desserts in December so we decide that in January we’re going to get in the gym. So we join; we have great intentions and then after a few weeks we stop going. The gym empty out. In fact that is why gym memberships are so low now. They actually count on the fact that at least 2/3 of those who join will rarely show up. There is a simple reason why that happens. It’s called pain. Our muscles get sore. We hurt. It’s not fun anymore. And whether we will admit it or not we make a decision in the back of our mind that it’s just not worth it. The Bible says it is. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
