“Life, What You Do With Yours Matters”
The Life – part one
I want to start this message out this morning by asking you to take out a pen if you haven’t already (share if you need to). And what I want you to do, on the left hand corner of your outline…or any other piece of paper. I want you to Write the year you were born – (now you can hide it with your hand if you want to) – then put a dash and then I want you to write 20__ __. Because we don’t know what the day is. Go ahead and do this – and as you are writing yours I write down the year I was born 1979.
OKAY – now I want you to look at it. LISTEN – every one of us has one of those days on left. And we all mark that day. We celebrate that day. We eat cake, blow out candles and receive gifts on that day. (I was talking to someone last week who said they were celebrating their 29th birthday, I think it was, for the 23rd time). YES - we all have one of those days on the left and do you know what we all have one of those other days too. UNDERSTAND - one day that right hand date will also be completely filled out.
NOW – we don’t really like to think about it all that much – but it’s inevitable, it’s coming. AND LISTEN - JUST as we had no control over that first date (“I didn’t say okay Thursday 6:30 am February 4th 1960 – this looks like a good day, No, I just kind of showed up) - we also, for the most part have no real control over that other date, the day we will die, the day our physical bodies will leave this earth, the day our life here is over…
OKAY – look at those dates again. Let me ask you a question - IS THERE anything you wrote down on the left hand corner that you can control? Do you see what it is? It’s the dash. It’s the years between your birth and your death… And over that you do have control…
SO – my question to you as we begin this new series, is this? How are you spending your dash? What are you doing with you dash? NOW UNDERSTAND - you only get one – nobody gets two? AND LISTEN – this morning, this moment would be a real good time for you to deal with this question – because life – it goes by so quickly, doesn’t it?
(You know what – I found out that when people so many years ago told me that the older you get the faster time goes, I found out that they were telling the truth… I can’t believe that I am 42 years old… I can’t believe how quickly this world is getting younger… I mean, Everywhere I look I keep seeing fewer and fewer old people. AND – though it is a very sobering thought, I know that I’m not too far from the day where when people see me they will comment to each other, “my, isn’t he a cute little old man)
We only get one dash – and it really does go by so quickly. CHECKOUT - how God describes your dash/how he describes your life in His word… James writes;
“Why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” James 4:14
The psalmist writes about the brevity of life several times;
“My life is no longer than the width of my hand…human existence is but a breath…” (39:5)
“…my days disappear like smoke…” (102:3)
“…for we are like a breath of air; our days are like a passing shadow.” (144:3)
AND Job said it like this;
“…my days are running out quicker than the thread of a fast moving needle…my life is just a breath…” (7:6,7 CEV)
QUESTION – wouldn’t you agree with me, that life is unspeakably precious and unbelievably short?
AND LISTEN BECAUSE – life is so precious and so short – it is really insane to waste it on such stupid things…
q Like being consumed with what other people think about us…
q Or getting really mad at someone and just stewing over that for years & years…
q Or just living in constant fear about something
q Or walking through life wearing the blinders of cynicism/negativity – so that you are never able to see the awesome wonder and beauty that God has surrounded you with everyday.
LISTEN – some people ( in fact, a large number of people) get to the right-hand side of that dash and they think to themselves “I just wasted my life, All those years gone…I’m not really sure how or why it happened – it just did…”
NOW I KNOW – that I say this nearly every time I begin a new series – that it is the most important series we’ve ever done together and that has the potential to radically can change your life – (BUT it is true every time.)
LISTEN – if you apply the truths that we will learn in this series we are calling, “The Life” - you will live an incredible dash and you when you get to that right hand number (and we all will) you will leave this world with few or no regrets… You will leave with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment…
PRAYER….
QUESTION – what do you think the most dangerous item in your house is?
NOW - there has been some research done on this question… AND recent studies show that there are many many household dangers… For instance each year:
q 460,000 injuries are caused by kitchen knives
q 100,000 injuries are caused by power tools
q Anybody got draperies in your house? 20 deaths a year by strangulation by drapery cords.
q And I don’t quite understand this one but 4,000 people will injure themselves every year on pillows (I don’t really know how that happens… zipped up? drip on them? Overcome and drown in drool)
What I want you to do now, is to turn to the person next to you and tell them what you think the most dangerous item in the house is?
NOW – I don’t know if there is any right or wrong to that question – but I want to propose to you this morning that – this is the most dangerous thing in your house…
This is not just any chair this is an ‘easy’ chair. AND - we like easy chairs because they are very comfortable…AND – we like to be comfortable. AND – it really doesn’t matter what the chair even looks like as long as it is easy… as long as it is comfortable…
Now I want to demonstrate what this thing can do to a person’s life
Volunteer
Have sit in chair – your job is to get comfortable… music playing
Shoes off slippers…
Food… snack food, comfort food, drink
Remote control…
QUESTION – does this look like a guy who is ready to spring into action?
Does this look like a guy who is passionate to do what ever God wants him to do? Does he look like a guy striving to live his dash well?
(do you think he’ll even make through this sermon if we leave him here?
THINK - about your own life… Is your dash, primarily dedicated to life in the chair? Honestly… is your life primarily devoted to figuring out how you can maximize your comfort, how you can maximize your security…how you can maximize your safety?
LET ME ASK YOU – does that make your heart beat faster…. Does that make you get up out the bed in the morning with a sense of purpose in your step and determination in your heart?…. I would doubt it…
That’s why I propose that this is probably the most dangerous thing in your house. AND LISTEN – the real danger is not what is done in the chair, NO – the real danger are the things that are not done when you are in the chair.
q I’m talking about the relationships that never get deepened.
q I’m talking about the people in need who never get served.
q I’m talking about the deep, needy desperate prayers that never get prayed
q I’m talking about the gifts that are never given
q The exciting dreams you never dream
q The battles you never fight
q The good news you never share
q The laughter you never laugh
q The tears you never cry
q The great adventure of life with God that you never live
FRIENDS – you were made for more than life in the chair… You were made for more then simply living to maximize your own, comfort, safety and security… You were made to live the life, that God called you to live…
UNDERSTAND – God made you for a purpose… YOU SEE - God doesn’t just create things for the fun of it…. He created dogs to be dogs, the sun to shine, the wind blow and he created you to be you… LISTEN – to these words from your Father in the heavens…
Psalm 139:16 (LB) "You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Your workmanship is marvelous. You were there while I was being formed. You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe."
Isn’t that an awesome passage? The Bible says you were a prescription baby. God prescribed your birth. You were custom designed by the Almighty God, you are not an accident. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth, you are not an accident. God planned you before you were born.
You are an incredible creation of God. The Bible says that each of us is made in God’s image. Well just what does that mean? It means God gave you a mind so you’d have the ability to reason. It means God gave you a will, so you’d have the ability to choose. It means God gave you emotions, so you’d have the ability to feel.
And the point is this you were put on this earth for a purpose. To make a contribution to this world. God planned you before you were born. There are things that God wants you to do – there are purposes he wants you to fulfill there is a life he wants you to live…
CHECKOUT – these passages…
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago…” Eph 2:10 (NLT)
You are what?
Created to do what?
“you are not your own. You were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Cor 6:20
LISTEN - for those of us who are in Christ… our dash is no longer our own…
SO the Big Question Is – what are you doing with your dash…? What are you doing with the life that God has given you? That Christ bought for? Are you living it for Him or are you living it in the chair? UNDERSTAND - the chair is about us – it’s about our comfort about what makes us feel safe and feel good…
BUT FRIENDS – you were made for something more than life in the chair…. You were made to spend your life in risky partnership with God. (Yeah, I think this chair just might be the most dangerous thing in our houses).
The theme verses for this series of messages that we are calling “The Life,” are the following;
“…so I urge you now to live the life to which God called you…” (NCV)
“We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was given to us by God’s own power…” 2 Peter 1:3 (CEV)
The title for today’s message is, “Life, What You Do With Yours Matters…”
NOW – the things we have talked about so far, the things we have looked at (the chair, the dash), the scriptures that we have read – clearly underscore the truth that what you do with your life matters…
AND – to drive this point home even further I want to study for just a moment a parable that Jesus told – to his disciples only days before he would complete his mission and give his life… It is story about three guys who were challenged to get out of the chair – who were challenged to live their dash well… Who were challenged to live the life they were called to live…
It’s found in Matthew chapter 25 verses 14-30… And in these verses we see at least 3 reasons why your life and what you do with it matters to God…
Read Matthew 25:14-18
FIRST – of all what you do with your life matters – BECAUSE…
Your Life Is A Gift From God
QUESTION – who does the master? Servants? Represent….
I think one thing that Jesus is clearly illustrating here is just how generous and lavish our God is.
NOW - in those days there were no corporations as we know them. Wealth was concentrated in a few rich households. This is a story about one of them. The master gathers three key employees and he entrusts them with some of his property.
AND LISTEN - Jesus is talking about vast sums of money here. The master gives his first servant 5 talents, the second 2 and the 3rd one talent. A talent in that day was equal to about 15 years wages. (so the one guy was given 75 years worth of wages). AND in an era where people lived from day to day to have that much wealth all at once was incredible.
THINK ABOUT IT – up until now these guys have simply been carrying out someone else’s orders. Their lives had been routine, predictable, safe. They have little authority, few resources and not much authority. THEN – with a single act the master changes their destinies forever. It was a chance of a lifetime – it was a defining moment…
NOW – the first servant, realizing this - immediately goes to work, he wastes no time because he knows that he may never in his lifetime get another opportunity like this…
As one writer says;
He responds at once because if someone offers you a front seat on the NASDAQ in a bull market, you don’t ask them if maybe they were thinking about someone else. Because if the phones rings, and it’s model Cindy Crawford calling to ask you out for a date, you don’t check to see if perhaps she dialed a wrong number. You just say yes. QUICKLY.
LISTEN – God is very generous. AND REMEMBER – Jesus is telling a parable. AND – a parable is basically telling a story that people could understand in order to teach them (and us) an awesome, powerful and life changing truth that usually gets overlooked… SO – just as the master and the servants represent something more, something deeper – The money also represent something more, something deeper…
UNDERSTAND - in place of the word talent, you might think about your life. Your mind. Your abilities, Your spiritual gifts. Your body. Your money. Your will. LISTEN – like the servants in the story our master has given us the opportunity of a lifetime.
The master has called each of us – and we stand before him… and here is some of what he has given us – what He offers us… (PRAY…)
HE OFFERS TO:
q Make us a new creation , to take away the old and bring on the new
q Cleaned up your past & forgive your sin…
q To place His Spirit inside of you
q To give you unlimited access to his throne room
q To give you armor that will enable you to defeat the evil one
q To make available to you the same power that raised Jesus from the dead
q To be with you always even to the end of the ages
q To give you a spirit of power love and self-discipline
q To guide you when you need wisdom, encourage you when you falter, pick you up when you fall, fill you when you are dry, equip you for every good work through his word
q The power to over and rise above any and every circumstance
q To give you hope that is living, joy that is unquenchable, peace that passes understanding and a purpose for living that will inspire
LISTEN - God has given us the opportunity of a lifetime… he offers to partner with us in this thing called life…
AND – those who recognize the enormity of the offer immediately take advantage of it – (they live their dash well?) and the rest simply bury it, as they live their life in the chair…
What you do with you life matters - BECAUSE, your life is a gift from God (God has given you the opportunity of a lifetime….) A 2nd reason what you do with your life matters is; BECAUSE…
God Is Returning To Settle Accounts
Read Matthew 25:19
The master was coming back to settle accounts… This is something that the one talent man either forget or failed to think about.
NOW – it is interesting to me that the one talent guy is the one who goes and buries his gift. Maybe he guy thinks that his one talent is so small that doesn’t matter… (even though Jesus’ listeners knew this one talent was an extraordinary amount of money – 15 years wages.) Maybe he wished that he was one of the other guys that got more…
YOU KNOW - I think there is this universal tendency to compare talents… To compare ourselves with others and wish we had what belongs to them. I wish I had there physical attractiveness, their achievements, or marriage, or car, or house, or hair, body type, career or ministry…
LISTEN – (and you really need to get this) if you spend your life wishing for gifts and talents that you don’t have – you will miss out on the life that God wants you to live…
UNDERSTAND – at the end of the day, God will not ask you why you didn’t lead someone else’s’ life or invest someone else’s’ gifts. He will not ask you, “what did you do with what you didn’t have?” BUT God will ask you, “what did you do with what I gave you..”
God one day will settle accounts with me & with you – what we do with our dash matters…. QUESTION – Have you buried the life that God has given you? Are you living in the chair? BECAUSE you have been comparing the life you’ve been given with someone’ else - and some how you feel ripped off, treated unfairly – short changed?
LISTEN – you must come to the point in your life (and friends this is no minor issue here) – you must get to the point in your life - where you identify, cultivate, invest, prize and enjoy the gifts and the life that God has given you.
UNDERSTAND – the Lord of the gift is very wise. He knew exactly what he was doing when he created you. He is well-pleased that you exist. AND – in Christ He has given you everything you need to accomplish and fulfill the purpose for which you are created… He has given you everything you need to live a life that pleases him… (You’ve not been short changed – you just have been trying to live someone else’s’ life)
LISTEN – the master is coming back.. AND - He is going to settle up with everyone… CEO’s – presidents, movies stars, mothers, fathers, plumbers, rich – poor, young – old, me and you…
ON THAT DAY - Jesus is going to want to know, what you did with your dash… He is going to want to know what you did with the life he gave you… AND – he is not going to ask your boss, your spouse, your parents, your kids or your friends – Jesus is going to ask you…
LET’S – pick up our reading in Matthew 25 again;
Read Matthew 25:20-25
20-23; Notice that the results are different – but they still get the same reply from the master – POINT – God doesn’t expect you to live someone’s else’ life.. he expects you to live yours… GET IT?
24,25;
QUESTION – have you ever noticed how life in the chair is full of excuses? It’s always blame someone or something else for the thing we do or fail to do…
“they alarm didn’t go off”
“they just make me so mad”
“I’ve been so busy”
Like so many of us - this guy is attempting to evade responsibility for the way he lived his life.
“Master, if life hadn’t been so scary, if you had been more gracious… I might have done something. The reason I didn’t do anything is because of you – its your fault – that why I stayed in the chair… that’s why I buried your gift…”
AND DO – you know what the master doesn’t say? He doesn’t say;
“You know you’re right. Maybe I should have been more clear. You have misunderstood me. How you live your life and whether you use your gift or talents, doesn’t really matter to me. I see this has been really uncomfortable for you. And my primary goal for your life is to make you comfortable – to keep you pain free – to give you a really awesome chair to set in. I’m really sorry I brought this whole thing up – let’s just bury the whole issue..”
He doesn’t say that friends…
LISTEN – it is important for us to understand this because sometimes people misunderstand the notion of God’s grace. Many people look at grace the wrong way and think that God’s primary goal for them is to make them a really nice chair… BUT that is not true…
UNDERSTAND – the lord of the gift is also the Lord of the settled account…
Let’s look at how the master responds…. Message Bible
The Master was furious, “That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with bankers, where I would have gotten a little interest. Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this ‘play-it-safe’ who wouldn’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.”
Other translations add ‘where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…’ I think possibly besides gnashing in pain – it’s the gnashing of regret – “man, I missed the opportunity of a lifetime…it was sitting right in my hands”
NOW – did you notice that the master kind of let’s the slur on his character slide by. He didn’t try to argue with the guy, he didn’t say, “can’t you see how utterly generous I was with you.” NO – he didn’t get into an argument with the guy – he let it go… BUT – what he does say is this – “HEY, you got this much right – what you do with your life matters to me – and it matters to the world who so desperately needs what I gave you.. and it should matter to you”
LISTEN – everyone of us bares appropriate responsibility for our lives. IN – this story the master brings everyone into account.. When Jesus returns he will do the same. AND UNDERSTAND THIS – Jesus Christ, has no intention of settling for mediocrity – we will be held accountable for the stewardship of what the master has given us… THIS IS – the clear and avoidable teaching of this story..
[NOW – of course this does not mean we are not saved by grace – we are saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. We are. It doesn’t mean we are on a performance track and that our works will get us into heaven.. UNDERSTAND – it’s the result of love. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT – It is precisely because I love my kids that I want to hold them accountable..]
AND – notice this the 3rd servant is not judged for doing bad things. Rather he’s judged for doing nothing. He didn’t steal or embezzle or defraud – he merely buried his gift – stayed in the chair – failed to live his dash well…
THIS ASPECT – of the story – that Jesus comes down so hard on the 3rd servant simply for inactivity – has always trouble people (in the 2nd century – one writer in retelling the story – added that the 3rd servant wasted his money in wild living) AND - I remembering teaching on this awhile back and a very intelligent guy who was visiting with us – who I contend was sitting in the chair – refused to accept what Jesus was teaching here… Being judged for doing nothing…
Max Depree in his book “The Art of Leadership” calls what the 3rd servant did in the story - the sin of unrealized potential… the willful refusal to use the gifts and develop the life God has given us… The willful & rebellious choice to choose life in the chair over a life lived for God…
LIFE – what you do with your matters…
BECAUSE – your life is a gift of God
God will settle accounts
God is Returning To Reward Us
“Well done, good and faithful servant… You have been faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share you masters happiness..”
NOW – I’m not going to say much here…
Clapping for us…”well done”
Share his happiness (how happy is God)
AS WE CONCLUDE – today I want you to imagine that your life is over… and you are led to a room.. there are 2 chairs in the room, one is for you and one for God and there is a DVD player. God pops in the DVD. It has your name on it – it says “Steve Malone – What Might have Been”
IMAGINE – watching all that God wanted to do in and through your life – if you would have let Him – if you would have gotten out of the chair..
IMAGINE – seeing all the lives you could have touched…
IMAGINE – seeing what God could have done with your financial resources if you had trusted him and gave generously of your first fruits…
IMAGINE - - what he might have done in your relationships if you trusted him enough to be fully truthful and fully loving.
IMAGINE – what he might have done with your character, if you had dared to confess sin, acknowledged temptation and pursue growth…
Life, what you do with your matters…
AND LISTEN – HERE is some good news…..that DVD of your life and mine is not complete yet…
There is still time for you to get out of the chair
There is still time for you to live our dash well…
AND – this is what our new message series is about… IF – you lived out what we will learn in the next 9 weeks….
UNDERSTAND – if you are a Christian you have been given the opportunity of a lifetime… LISTEN – what you have because of Christ – what you have this side of the cross those faithful of the old testament could only dream about…
“The prophets who told us this was coming asked a lot of questions about this gift of life God was preparing. The Messiah’s Spirit let them in on some of it – that the Messiah would experience suffering, followed by glory. They clamored to know who and when. All they were told was that they were serving you. You who by orders from heaven have no heard for yourselves – through the Holy Sprit – the message of those prophecies fulfilled. Do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this…! 1 Peter 1:10-13 (msg)
“…so I urge you NOW to live the life to which God has called…” Eph 4:1 (NCV)
“We have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was given to us by God’s own power…” 2 Peter 1:3 (CEV)
