Building Your Alliances
January 28th
Tonight’s the night, no not the Super Bowl, tonight is the night that Survivor two begins on CBS, you know, outwit, outplay, outlast. How many people watched all or part of the first Survivor, it’s OK you can admit it you’re among friends. I watched parts of the last episode, but Greg kind of kept me up to speed during the season. But there was one part that I remember quite vividly, it was down to the last ballot and as they come forward and cast their ballots they are explaining why they are doing what they are doing, remember that? And Rudy, whom I personally was hoping would win marked his ballot he said “Rich, We had an alliance to the end and I’m fulfilling my obligation.” Early on in the show some of the players formed alliances to keep each other in the game. This morning I want to speak on “Building Your Alliances.”
The story is found in the first book in the Bible, Genesis, Angela read it this morning. The two key players are Abraham the father of the modern nation of Israel, who was still known as Abram at the time and his nephew lot. A little background here. In Genesis chapter 12 God called Abraham to leave his home and to go to a land that God was going to show him. And along with the command to go God made Abraham a really awesome promise, this is what it was Genesis 12:2-3 I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.” Neat huh? And here we are five thousand years later and his offspring are still impacting the world in entertainment, science, medicine and art.
And so following God’s instructions Abraham packs up everything he has and with his wife Sarah and Abraham they hit the road. If we were to pull up a map here we can see that this is where Abraham was from originally, this is where he started his trip with Lot, and so after a trip that takes them to Egypt and back they end up here between Bethel and Ai. And at this point they discover that they have a strange problem, they have become too successful. That’s right you can become too successful. Between Lot and Abraham their herds had come to the point that they couldn’t be supported within the area that they had settled. The land just wasn’t capable of supporting the livestock of both men and so their employees started quarrelling and fighting over who had rights to what grazing area. Eventually it got to the point that Abraham realized that something would have to be done and so he did it. He was a man of decision and he recognized the truth of Yogi Berra’s words: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
So Abraham met with Lot and explained the situation and said “this doesn’t have to happen. We have the entire land to choice from, I’ll give you first choice. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, if you go to the right I’ll go to the left.”
If you know the story then you know what happened. In perfect world Lot would have said “Ok Uncle Abe, why don’t I take the east side and you go west.”
Instead what happened is that Lot looked across the entire plains that led to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and said to himself “why don’t I just take all of it?” He obviously couldn’t think of a reason not to because he moved into the most fertile area and left his Uncle the rocky hilly area surrounding Cana.
I wonder how Abraham felt? Abraham was his nephew, he had partnered with him and allowed him to travel as a part of the family. It was no doubt because of Abraham that Lot had prospered and some scholars go so far as to say that Abraham saw Lot as the son he didn’t have. And then to have Lot do this, to betray his trust. Reminds me of a Peanuts comic that I read: There are two pieces of cake left for Lucy and her little brother Linus, Lucy picks first and of course she picks the biggest piece. Linus interjects at this point and says “Lucy if I had the first choice I would have picked the smallest piece!” To which Lucy responds by saying, “Well that’s what you got isn’t it?”
1) You Need Alliances
Abraham had made the assumption that he and his nephew had an alliance. Lot on the other hand was of the same mind as Henry Kissinger who said “We cannot always assure the future of our friends.” By the way Kissinger said that right after the U.S. withdrew their support of the Shah of Iran.
I’m sure that Abraham at this point would agree with Ethel Watts Mumford who said “God gives us our relatives—thank God we can choose our friends.” After Rudy had been voted off the island, in his final interview he made this observation: “My advice for anybody who plays this game is form an alliance and stick with it.”
What is an alliance? The dictionary defines it this way: al·li·ance (ə-lîʹəns) noun
1. a. A close association of nations or other groups, formed to advance common interests or cause. b. A formal agreement establishing such an association, especially an international treaty of friendship.
2. A connection based on kinship, marriage, or common interest; a bond or tie:
It is the second definition that we are looking at this morning: A connection based on kinship, marriage, or common interest; a bond or tie: In the Bible there are a group of books called “Wisdom Literature” they were written by Solomon and one of the books was Ecclesiastes and in chapter 4 verses 9 and 10 Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labour. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.
What type of alliances do we need? First of all we need Temporal Alliances, or Friendships. And so I got to this part in my preparation and thought, “Ok now I’ll list the characteristics we should look for in a friend. They should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, dependable, non-judgmental. Someone you can count on to be there when nobody else is, someone you can bear your soul to. And I thought of all the cute sayings about friends. You know you probably get the same e-mails that I get: "A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." And "Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say." Or "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
Then I thought, a pictures worth a thousand words.
Wayne and Garth were friends, do you have someone you can lay on the hood of a pinto with and bear your innermost thoughts to, even if they are thoughts about Bugs Bunny in a dress.
So then I had to ask myself, “Self where do you find a person like that?” Maybe Truman Capote was right when he said “Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t have too many friends because then you’re just not really friends.”
You don’t find friends, you make friends. Kind of like you don’t find time you make time. And you have no control over what type of friend your friend will be, but you have all kinds of control over what kind of friend you will be. And that will probably rub off on your friends, for better or for worse. It was Jesus who said Matthew 7:12 “Do for others what you would like them to do for you.”
So figure out everything you would want in a friend and be friend to others.
I am not an isolationist, that is I don’t believe that Christians ought to only associate with other Christians. I know that there are believers who feel that way, they tolerate having to work with unbelievers, and having to shop with unbelievers, and having to go to school with unbelievers but they most certainly aren’t going to make friends with non-believers. Well OK, all I know is that the charge that was made against Christ time and time again was that he was a friend of sinners. And he never denied it and never defended himself against it.
But, listen to me, while I not only think you can and should be friends with people who don’t profess to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ there is a warning in the scriptures that we need to pay attention to. 2 Corinthians 6:14 Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can goodness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? You might recognize it better in an older translation
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
It was Aristotle who said Friendship is essentially a partnership. But there are partnerships and there are partnerships. Do no be unequally yoked has been used for years to warn believers against marrying non-believers. But that wasn’t what it was specifically dealing with when it was written. The warning is against becoming involved with people whether it be in business partnerships, political alliances, or marriage relationships who don’t share the same values as you, don’t hold to the same morals as you don’t observe the same principals as you. God doesn’t give us these guidelines to be a spoil sport he does it to protect us against the conflicts that will inevitably arise. Enough said. Be the type of friend that you would like to have.
Spiritual Alliances These are your Church relationships. If we are going to maintain a vibrant Christian faith it will be with the help of others. The disciples discovered that. Christianity was never intended to be a solitary religion. As a believer you need other Christians to teach you, to encourage you, to hold you accountable and yes sometimes even to rebuke you. Billy Graham made this statement “Churchgoers are like coals in a fire. When they cling together, they keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.”
And Dwight Moody who was the Billy Graham of a hundred years ago said “Church attendance is as vital to a disciple as a transfusion of rich, healthy blood to a sick man.”
Throughout the bible the church is described with the word together, meeting together, singing together, eating together.
Hebrews 10:25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.
How do you build those spiritual alliances? By being with other believers. Going to church, on a regular basis, preferably every Sunday. Taking part in a small group, attending the social times, and making friends in the church, if you are out of here like a flash on Sunday Morning and never hang around to talk chances are you aren’t going to build any real deep spiritual relationships. You say you don’t like coffee and donuts, then help with the tear down putting all the sound equipment away, and cleaning up after the coffee time or counting the offering.
And the most important alliance that you will ever form will be your Eternal Alliance Jesus Christ made an incredible statement when he walked this earth, a statement that made him unpopular with some people, and still makes him unpopular with some people. In John 14:6 Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. People say “Well that sounds pretty exclusive” Yep, sure is. Jesus Christ, the son of God came to this earth and died for the people of the world. It was the ultimate sacrifice, but only the people who accept the sacrifice will benefit from it. Time and time again we have quoted Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
You ever turn down a gift? No really I don’t want it, you shouldn’t have, no seriously keep it. And what happens? The gift doesn’t benefit you, it doesn’t matter what it was, you didn’t take it and so it’s not yours. And the giver isn’t to blame. And so God offers us an eternal alliance in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. He’s saying here’s my gift to you. And you can either accept that gift or you can reject it and say, “No really I don’t want it, you shouldn’t have, no seriously keep it.”
The choice is yours.
Will you be a spiritual survivor, well if you are going to play the game you have to form an alliance and stick with.
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