CHRISTIAN CHALLENGE SERMON VII: DISCIPLINED CHRISTIAN LIVING
Long ago the psalmist said poetically what you and I have learned as the years have gone by: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
The Apostle John put it more succinctly than anyone: “We know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is Son of God and Savior of the world, God dwells in him and he in God.”
Obviously, where we dwell is of utmost importance to our spiritual existence - not only in the here and now but also in the hereafter where we shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
“In Christ” was Paul’s favorite designation of the Christian’s dwelling place in this life - mine too, and hopefully yours.
Therefore, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus . . . All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” Now:
What is it that mature Christians have already attained? Disciplined living! It just comes naturally to mature kingdom dwellers! In Christ we have mastered the discipleship requirement of motive. Whatever we respond to, do, act upon tends to occur instinctively and, more often than not, turns out to be the right response, deed, way to go about it.
To get to the mature level which we have attained, question: Whose instructions have we heeded, whose example have we followed in order to behave in a manner that is pleasing unto God and in order to relate to others in a way that elicits from them a sincere desire to know Christ whom to know is life eternal? Let me answer that question this way:
A hundred years ago, Rufus McDaniel penned the text and composed the tune to a hymn which pretty much says it all about the who and how of our spiritual transformation: “What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart!”
Jesus walked up a hillside and, when the people gathered around Him, He preached a Sermon that laid out for His followers how to live a life true to Him.
About mid-way through the Sermon He zeroed in on the fundamental principle of motive – a principle that underlies all of His teachings: “Be cautious about doing the right thing for the wrong reason!”
He developed this principle by citing three Jewish practices that had been given top priority by Rabbis, scribes, and Pharisees – giving, praying, fasting:
Matthew 6:1-4 . . . 6:5-8 . . . 6:16-18 . . .
Jesus took these three orthodox practices (laws) and, rather than destroy them, shed light on their intended purpose and real meaning. You might say that Jesus took that which came naturally, routinely, ritualistically and lifted it to a higher level of understanding and personal application.
What is it that comes naturally to us humans from childhood to adulthood? Desire for attention and approval? “Watch me” . . . “Look at me” . . . secret desire for popularity, even if has to take the nonconformity route . . . that old “What will the neighbors think” hang-up that a lot of folks have –like the British Lady Hyacinth on that TV show Keeping Up Appearances.
Well, on the surface, there may be times when we ought to be concerned about what people think - IF for the right reason – not the false motive of a fella who facetiously made the remark, “I know I’m supposed to be humble, but what if no one notices?” Wrong reason!
Eugene Patterson (The Message) paraphrased it this way: “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good, so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don’t do it to call attention to yourself.”
Folks: Whose opinion of you really matters? Jesus said: “I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.” YET Jesus also said, “Let your light so shine . . .”
What is the difference between “Let your light so shine” and “Seek not to please oneself”? It has to do with right versus wrong motive. A right motive says, “I see that need and I’m gonna do something about it. It’s the right thing to do.”
Why do mature Christians think and act that way? We are kingdom dwellers! Disciplined Christian living comes naturally to kingdom dwellers. Mature Christians know, instinctively, that it’s the right thing to do– regardless.
Anyway, why would anyone even want to do whatever good they do so others will take notice? People are so fickle . . . Generally speaking, do people outside your circle of family and friends really care?
A colleague of mine remarked: “If you worried too much about what people think of you, you’d probably be disappointed to discover how seldom they did.”
A young lady by the name of Serena Williams won the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament for the first time. A reporter asked her if it bothered her that many of the English fans were rooting against her. She politely said, “No. I understand. I’m not British. What’s more, there have been people rooting against me all my life. Besides, my dad was sitting in those stands, and I knew he was rooting for me. And I wanted to please him. That’s all that matters to me.”
Shouldn’t it be that the heavenly Father’s approval and His “well done thou good and faithful servant” is what matters most to children of God?
Jesus challenged us to focus on giving, praying and fasting as worship of the kind referenced by Paul: “I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – all of which is your spiritual worship.”
That is to say, our motive for all that we do is to honor our Father who art in heaven and to express His love via who we are and what we do.
Thus, for example, our giving says to God (see bullet points in PSG page 15) . . . Giving is a way for you and me to “do something about that need we became aware of - because it’s the right thing to do.”
At our level of maturity, we no longer have to be reminded . . . instinctively we respond, and give it no second thought, no expectation of a favor in return.
Likewise, our praying has become an act of worship for the sake of our own spiritual well-being as well as that of others. We have come to realize that there is nothing to be gained, either spiritually or materially, by “babbling” . . . by “badgering” the One who already knows our needs.
“It is not our prayers that move God. It is God who moves us to pray.” Yes, our Father wants us to ask but the Father is not impressed by our rhetoric or our repetition. So folks, keep it simple, direct, and sincere. “The Lord looks at the heart.”
When Jesus was sneered at by Pharisees who had heard about His warning to hypocrites, His emphasis on humility, He simply said to them, “God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among you people is detestable in God’s sight.”
Praying with humility sometimes requires us to deny ourselves. There are times when we feel the need for a “closer walk with the Lord” but there may be obstacles to overcome. So, we rely on disciplinary measures such as fasting in order to refocus, and thereby remove the obstacle. We do so without drawing attention to ourselves. We just do whatever needs to be done to get back into the groove.
We may have to give up something, forego a pleasure of some kind, stop catering to this or that, come apart into a quiet place and rest awhile, relearn the power of positive thinking . . . all for the purpose of refocusing and renewing our relationship with God and others.
Exercise is a good thing! Let us ask God to grant us strength to exercise the disciplines we need in order to do the right things for the right reasons: God grant me the wisdom to discern the disciplines I need to exercise and then grant me the courage to do so. Amen.
