A. Have you heard about the guy who said, “Some people call me self-centered, but that’s enough about them”?
1. Maybe you’ve known someone like that – someone who lived life like it was all about them.
2. To be honest, there was a time in my life when I was way too much like that.
B. I heard a story about a guy like that.
1. He arrived at the airport and there was a long line at the airline ticket counter.
2. All of the ticket agents were doing their best to politely process each passenger as quickly as they could, but that was not fast enough in his opinion.
3. So the well-dressed man at the end of the passenger line became so impatient and frustrated at having to wait so long in the slow-moving line that he marched up to the counter to demand that he be given his boarding pass.
4. The ticket agent gently said, “Sir, as you can see, there are many passengers ahead of you. We are doing our best to process the passengers as fast as we can. I’m afraid you'll have to get back in line and wait your turn.”
5. Outraged and red in the face, the man yelled at the ticket agent, “Do you know who I am??!!”
6. The ticket agent calmly picked up the public address system microphone and said, “Attention everyone in the airport. We have a medical emergency. There is a man at the ticket counter, who does not know who he is. Anyone who may be able to identify this man is asked to please step forward and identify him. Thank you.”
7. The man quietly returned to the back of the line to wait his turn.
C. That question or demand: “Do you know who I am?” is a “me-centric” way of thinking, right?
1. It is a way of thinking and living that says “I am the center of the universe and everything should go the way I want it to go, and the way the benefits me the most.”
2. The voice inside of us demands: “Don’t you know who I am? I’m important and special and I shouldn’t have to wait in line for my turn. These people, on the other hand, are lowly and unimportant and they should wait for their turn, but not me!”
3. We might never say such a thing out loud, but we might live in a way that reflects that attitude.
4. We might be tempted to live in a way that says, “It’s all about me! I am the center of the universe.”
D. Think about this for a minute: For thousands and thousands of years, we earthlings enjoyed center stage.
1. Back in that day, fathers could place an arm around their children and point to the sky and say, “The universe revolves around us!”
2. Ptolemy’s second-century finding convinced us that earth was the center of the universe.
3. And so, everyone at the time believed that everything in the universe revolved around earth.
4. Earth stood still, but everything else rotated and had an orbit around the earth.
E. But then in 1543, along came Nicolaus Copernicus with his maps, drawings, Polish accent and pestering questions.
1. Questions like: “Can anyone tell me what causes the seasons to change?” “Why do some stars appear in the day and others at night?” “Does anyone know exactly how far ships can sail before they fall off the edge of the earth?”
2. I think they are pretty good questions, but most people scoffed at him, saying, “Who has time for such trivialities and problems?”
3. But Copernicus persisted and he pointed his finger at the sun and declared, “Behold the center of the solar system.”
4. And guess what? People denied the facts for over half a century.
5. When the like minded Galileo came along, the throne locked him up and the church kicked him out.
6. Why such a reaction? Most people don’t like being told they are wrong, especially when it means a demotion in status.
F. Think about it: what Copernicus did for the earth, God does for our souls.
1. God comes to each of us who believe that we are the center of the universe and God points to the SON and says, “Behold the center of it all.”
2. The truth of the matter is: “It’s all about Jesus.”
3. Listen to what Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: He [God] exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens— far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church. (Eph. 1:20-22).
4. Similarly, listen to what Paul wrote to the church at Colosse: He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. (Col. 1:15-18)
5. So when God looks at the center of the universe, He doesn’t look at you or at me.
6. When heaven’s stagehands direct the spotlight toward the star of the show, the spotlight isn’t on you or me – no need for us to worry about being blinded by the spotlight, right?
G. Brothers and sisters, and other people of the earth, we are all lesser orbs.
1. Yes, we are all appreciated and valued, and are loved by God beyond measure.
2. But no, none of us are ultimately central or essential.
3. So contrary to the Ptolemy within us, the world does not revolve around us.
4. God does not exist to please us.
5. Our personal comfort and will is not God’s priority.
6. It’s not all about us, rather it’s all about God.
H. And so, a Copernican shift is necessary and is in order.
1. Our place is not at the center of the universe.
2. God does not exist to make a big deal out of us.
3. Rather, you and I exist to make a big deal about God.
4. It’s not about you and it’s not about me, rather, it’s all about God!
I. For me, one of the most helpful illustrations or models for us is the moon.
1. Think about the moon, for a minute.
2. What does the moon do? Does the moon generate any light on its own?
3. Contrary to the lyrics of the old song, this harvest moon cannot shine on, shine on.
4. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch-black, cratered rock.
5. But when the moon plays her proper role, and is properly positioned, then she can shine.
6. And how does she shine? She simply reflects the great light.
7. But what an important role the moon plays when she reflects the great light.
8. The moon becomes a source of inspiration.
9. And the moon becomes the reflector of the true light on the dark earth.
J. We too, can play a role like the moon, but it requires a great shift in our thinking and living.
1. Such a shift doesn’t come easily or without stubborn resistance.
2. Most of us have been demanding our way and stamping our feet since infancy, right?
3. Aren’t we all born with a default drive that is set on selfishness and self-centeredness?
4. Our default setting says: “It’s all about me!”
a. I want to be the quarterback of the team.
b. I want a spouse who makes me happy.
c. I want the weather that suits me and traffic that helps me.
5. It’s all about me: self-centeredness, self-preservation, self-promotion.
6. Isn’t that the mindset the world encourages us to have?
a. We are urged to: “Look out for number one.”
b. We are encouraged to: “Find our place in the sun.”
c. We are told to: “Make a name for ourselves.”
K. And we are told that living this way will lead to our happiness.
1. But the truth is that this approach to life leads to chaos and a dead end.
2. What happens to a symphony orchestra if each instrumentalist lives with the attitude: “It’s all about me”?
a. Imagine each talented artist clamoring for self-expression and the spotlight.
b. Picture the tubas blasting loudly and continually.
c. Picture the percussionists pounding to get attention.
d. Imagine the second violinist shoving the first violinist out of the way.
e. Or picture the trumpeter standing atop of the conductor’s stool tooting his horn.
f. In that scenario, the sheet music is disregarded and the conductor is ignored, and the result is chaos and virtual musical war.
g. There would be no beautiful music and no harmony, and no real happiness.
3. But that’s what life looks like when everyone is living with the “it’s all about me mindset.”
L. But aren’t we all guilty of acting with a me-centric mindset at times?
1. And when we do, it is not a surprise that our homes are noisy with chaos.
2. And our businesses are so stress-filled and dog-eat-dog like.
3. If you think it’s all about you and I think it’s all about me, then we have no hope for melody and harmony.
M. But what would happen if we all became God-centered and had a God-centric mindset?
1. What would happen if we all took our places and played our parts?
2. What if we all followed the direction of the Maestro and played the music he gave us to play?
3. What if we made his song our highest priority?
4. What if we made it all about him?
N. The change would be truly revolutionary – we might call it a revival.
1. It would be a Copernican shift and the most healthy and helpful shift imaginable – because God made us for living with a God-centric mindset.
2. Think about how a God-centric mindset would change our lives.
3. Our relationships would be characterized by “love God and love your neighbor as yourself” – and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
4. In our business and work life, we would seek to bring glory and honor to God, rather than have the goals of money-making or name-making be first and foremost.
5. When it comes to our time or our bodies, rather than thinking “it’s mine and going to use it for myself,” we think, “It’s God’s and I will respect it and use it as He directs.”
6. And we will even learn to see our sufferings from a different perspective – rather than thinking that my pain proves God’s absence, we begin to think that my pain expands God’s purpose.
O. See, life makes sense when we understand God and accept our place in God’s universe.
1. It really is all about God.
2. The gifts God gives us and the purpose behind our problems are all for Him.
3. The God-centered life works and it rescues us from the me-centered life that does not work.
P. Today’s sermon is the first in a new series that I am calling “It’s All About God – Living A God-centered Life.”
1. I was inspired to preach a series on this subject after reading a book by Max Lucado called, “It’s Not About Me – Rescue from the Life We Thought would make Us Happy.”
2. Max’s book will be a primary resource for this series.
3. During this series, I want to help us to see and to understand God completely, so that we can then reflect God clearly.
4. God-centered understanding leads to God-centered living.
5. If we don’t rightly grasp who God is, then we can’t rightly reflect who God is.
Q. Therefore, during the first half of our series, we will be focusing on our great God.
1. We will attempt to move from the me-focus to God-focus by beholding God and experiencing God and grasping God.
2. Following the advice and explanation that Paul gave to the church in Corinth, we will focus on God.
3. Paul wrote: We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18, CSB)
4. The New Living Translation renders the same verse as: So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
5. Here’s Peterson’s paraphrase of that verse: Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
6. When we truly behold God and grasp God, then we are changed.
a. And couldn’t we use a change?
R. Then, during the second half of our sermon series, we will be focusing on reflecting a God-centered mindset in our living.
1. And I think John the Baptizer can be an excellent example for us.
2. I love the God-centric mindset John exercised.
3. John knew and understood his role, and he was happy to play second fiddle in Jesus’ orchestra.
4. John’s role as forerunner of the Messiah, meant that for a while, he was the focal point of what God was doing.
5. But once the Messiah arrived on the scene, and John properly pointed to Him, then it was time for John to step out of the spotlight, and allow the spotlight to be on Jesus alone.
6. The apostle John helps us see John the Baptizer putting that very thing into practice in John chapter 3: Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. 26 So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is going to him.”
27 John the Baptizer responded, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:25-30)
S. Like John, our motto must be: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
1. John knew that Jesus, the Son of God, was the SUN, and that John was the MOON.
2. John was the lesser light who reflected the greater light – Jesus.
3. It wasn’t all about John, rather it was all about Jesus.
4. May God help us to learn how to make it all about God and to live a God-centered life.
5. So that when any of us declare: “Do you know who I am?” our answer will be: “I am the moon, whose sole purpose is to reflect the SON of God.”
Resource:
• It’s Not About Me, Max Lucado, Thomas Nelson, 2004
