LifeBeaters: Taking Back The Life God Promised You (Wk. 1, 7/13/30)
Beat Down?
2 Corinthians 4:8-10,17
Introduction—What’s A Life Beater? Lifebeaters? The things in this life that beat you down. There are a lot of them you know, Things like worry, stress, depression, anger, guilt . . . They have the ability to beat you down, but what if, what if you could BEAT BACK these life beaters? What if you could take back the life God promised you—you know the promise, the one Jesus made, he said, I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest (John 10:10) In the Bible, the apostle Paul knew about being beaten down. Listen to what he says:
2 Corinthians 4:8-10, 17, We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. 9) We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.
It reminds me of the story of A New York lawyer went duck hunting in the mountains of East Tennessee recently. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the other side of the fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.
"I shot this duck, and it fell in this field, and now I’m going in to retrieve it."
"This is my property," the old farmer replied. "And you are not coming over here."
"I’m one of the best trial lawyers in New York," said the lawyer. "And if you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everything you own."
"Apparently, you don’t know how we do things in these parts of Tennessee," said the farmer. "We settle disagreements like this with the Tennessee three-kick rule."
"And just what is the Tennessee three-kick rule?"
"Well, first I kick you three times, and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up."
The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old-timer. He agreed to the local custom. The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city slicker. His first kick planted the steel toe of his heavy work boot in the lawyer’s shin. The man fell to his knees. His second kick nearly put a hole in the man’s stomach. The old man then quickly delivered the third kick to the side of the attorney’s head. Slowly, the disoriented lawyer managed to get to his feet.
"OK, you old codger," he said. "now it’s my turn."
The farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. you can have the duck."….----There are situations, there are circumstances, but many times it’s people who beat other people down.
Why do we do it? Why do people put others down? Sometimes it seems obvious. People put others down to demonstrate power over them, to feel superior themselves. When I was in Jr. High, I took karate, Tae,quon dae, and I had a teacher just like the bad guy teacher in the Karate Kid movie. I remember the first day of class, he told everyone, I’m stronger than all of you, I’m tougher than all of you, I am superior and I’m going to teach you to be superior . . . . He felt superior by pointing out how inferior we were. (I would have put him in his place, only he really was stronger and tougher than any of us—I wanted to learn to beat people up, not get beat up) Sometimes people put others down to feel better about themselves. Sometimes we put others down because we are jealous. It’s easy for me to be critical of those who know more or have more have more than I do. But am I exposing their sin of arrogance or greed, or just my own sin of envy. Sometimes we put others down because they are different. If I’m normal (which by the way, I’m not), but If I’m normal and normal is good, then if you’re like me, then your good, but if your not like me—well then, let’s talk about you . . . .
Why do people put other people down? Maybe it’s just our nature. Romans 3:10, 23, As the Scriptures say, “No one is good—not even one.” 23) For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glorious standard. Even as a believer, someone who has been born again by Christ, we still have problems with our nature don’t we. In Romans 7:18, No matter which way I turn, sometimes I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t. It’s a constant struggle, But you do have some control.
An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life: "A fight is going on
inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between
two wolves.
"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority,
self-doubt, and ego.
"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
"This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other
person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf will win?"
The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."—ask yourself, which one are you feeding this morning, this week, maybe last week. Which one are you going to feed tomorrow, next week!
People put other people down. Even Christian people feed the evil wolf—too often. How do we do it? How do we put others down? Often with words . . .
1. Beat down with words of DISCOURAGEMENT. Sometimes the Bible’s so clear. Ephesians 4:29, Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Yet often with us there is heard more than ONE discouraging word. Sometimes those words hurt, they damage, they scar. Be careful what you say, you can hurt people, and you may not even know it.
2. Beat down with words of CRITICISM. I love that quote, attributed to anonymous, on your outline-- The critic is one who never sees the good quality in a man, and never fails to see a bad one. The critic is one who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. –Have you ever met someone like that. Someone who could only see the bad, and never see the good—no matter how much or how great the good was. I’ve heard it said that for some people, criticism is just their nature—if they are not criticizing they are not happy. When I hear that, I wish great misery upon them. We all need people to teach us and to correct us when we are wrong. We all need people to come along side of us and help us to be the best we can be. But pure criticism doesn’t have building up as it’s goal—it’s work is to tear down. Criticism is never part of the solution—it’s part of the problem, often the biggest part—when we beat each other down with it.
A guy came to his pastor and said, "Reverend, I want to serve God, but I only have one talent." The preacher asked, "What’s your talent? The man said, "I have the gift of criticism." The pastor was wise and replied, "The Bible says that the guy who had only one talent went out and buried it. Maybe that’s what you ought to do with yours."
3. Beat down with LIES
A busload of politicians were driving down a country road when, all of a sudden, the bus ran off the road & crashed into a tree in an old farmer’s field.
The old farmer, after seeing what happened, went over to investigate. He then proceeded to dig a hole & bury the politicians. A few days later, the local sheriff came out, saw the crashed bus & asked the old farmer where all the politicians had gone.
The old farmer said he had buried them.
The sheriff asked the old farmer, "The coroner wasn’t here. Are you sure they were all dead?"
The old farmer replied, "Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how them politicians lie." ----We like to joke about it, but the truth is those politicians don’t lie any more than any one else. WE all have the tendency to say things about people that are untrue—when it helps us, when it furthers our agenda. We have these preconceived notions about people, and we hear things, gossip, rumors, second, third hand whisperings, and before you know it, you’re putting down someone with lies, innuendo and falsehood. God knows the trap: Listen to Ephesians 4:25,(speaking to Christians) So put away all falsehood and tell your neighbor the truth because we belong to each other. When you receive Jesus Christ, you become part of the family of God—so why would you want to hurt the ones you love. I know what your thinking, “Maybe I don’t love certain people in this family?” Maybe you don’t. But the Bible says, if you don’t, “ Maybe you’re not really in this family?” Why don’t we stop beating down, and start building up?—But what if you’re the one who’s been beat down? How do you respond to those who have beat you down?
II. BEAT BACK—RESPONDING TO THOSE WHO BEAT YOU DOWN . . . Here’s how you respond—YOU BEAT BACK! That’s right, you beat back. You beat back, but maybe not the way you first think…
1. Beat back the desire to RETALIATE. That’s tough to do, because that seems contrary to our nature and it’s the opposite of what our society teaches. The bumper sticker says, I don’t get mad, I get even. That’s become our way, in many ways it’s become the American way.
Maybe you heard about the Desert Storm soldier who received a "Dear John" letter from his girlfriend in the states. To add insult to injury, she wrote, "Will you please return my favorite photograph of myself—I need it for my engagement picture in the local newspaper."
The poor guy was devastated, but all the soldiers came to his rescue. They collected pictures of the girlfriends of all the soldiers. They filled up an entire shoe box and sent it to the girl along with a note saying, "Please find your picture, and return the rest. For the life of me, I can’t remember which one you were!"---we love to retaliate, if only in small ways,
Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson paid a $1000 fine for disputing a third strike called by umpire Joe West. On the memo line of his check Dawson wrote: "Donation for the blind." Those things seem cute and we’ve all participated, but listen to what the Bible says:
Romans 12:19-21, Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord. 20) Instead, do what the Scriptures say: “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, given them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you.” 21) Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good. I love William Barclay’s quote . . . .
Evil for evil is man’s way. Evil for good is the devil’s way. Good for evil is God’s way, and His way must be our way. His way, God’s way, must be our way, if we are His people!
2. Beat back vengeance with ACTIVE LOVE!
There is a short story entitled, "The Trouble Is." In that story there is one very moving scene. A riot is in progress with blacks & whites fighting each other. The mother of the little black boy who is telling this story has been hurt. Her family has just gone down & picked her up off the ground & carried her upstairs & placed her in bed.
Now, the little black boy is standing by the window with his grandmother watching what is going on below. As they watch the fighting they notice a white boy running away from a group of blacks. It seems that he’ll get away until he makes a fatal mistake. He turns down their alley, not knowing that it is a dead end. Too late, he realizes his mistake & he turns with a look of horror on his face towards the black youths who are coming after him.
As the little boy watches, he sees a door open below & his grandmother standing there beckoning the white boy to escape through the open door. The little boy says, "At first I was glad because my grandmother had opened the door so the white boy could escape. Then I remembered my mother bleeding & suffering on the bed, & that white people had done that to her. Then I was angry at my grandmother for opening the door."
He goes on, "The trouble is that when people hate each other, that the people who are the objects of the hate want to hate the people who hate them, & hurt the people who hurt them, & insult the people who insult them. Soon we find ourselves in a vicious cycle of hating, hurting, & insulting. And nobody opens the door. So we just keep on hurting & hating & insulting.”—So much wisdom from a little boy. I love the way Jesus says it too—
Luke 6: 27-28, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28) Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. Matthew 5: 45, In this way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. That’s how we break the cycle of putting each other down. That’s how we break the cycle of criticism and discouragement and negativity. It’s how we act and live like who we really are—Children of our Father in heaven.
1 John 4:18-19, Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. 19) It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord.
3. Beat back unrighteousness with RIGHTEOUS LIVING! There’s a song by the Rock group U-2 called Peace On Earth, these lines from it, echo something the philosopher Nietsche said, but I like U-2 better than Nietsche, so here are the lines: Where I grew up, there weren’t many trees, Where there was, we’d tear them down and use them on our enemies. They say that what you mock will surely overtake you, And you become a monster, So the monster will not break you! It hurts when someone beats you down—when someone discourages you, criticizes you, lies about you. But don’t try to fight urighteousness with unrighteousness. It’s far too easy to become that which you hate. Don’t become the monster so the monster won’t break you. Anchor yourself to the Rock, so that you won’t be broken by unrighteousness and then fight unrighteousness with Righteous living. Live by the Spirit and don’t give in to the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16) Live by the Spirit and follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of your life—The Spirit is always going to lead you to beat back unrighteousness with righteous living.
When you do that, you can know this for sure: Psalm 37:25, I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken . . . God will take care of you, when you are living for Him. AS God told Paul, My grace is sufficient for you . . . Really that’s all you can do. You can’t control the person next to you (some try, that’s the problem), but you can’t really control them, and thank God, you won’t be held accountable for what they say or do. (Amen) But you are accountable for you. You can’t make someone else love, but you can love. You can’t make someone else forgive, but you can forgive. You can’t make someone act and talk in a righteous manner, but you can live righteous—Remember what the Bible said in Romans 12:21, Don’t let evil get the best of you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Here’s what so good for us this morning. I know a lot of you have been living that way, to the best of your ability, by the power of the Spirit, you’ve been building others up, not beating them down--you’ve been beating back unrighteousness with righteous living. You’ve been beating back vengeance with active love. You’ve been beating back the desire to retaliate when others beat you or anyone else down. I want you to know, your lives are inspiring and encouraging to all of us. But I want to ask you to do one more thing: Teach somebody who’s not doing it, how to do it!
At one point during a game, the baseball coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?"
The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
"Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called, or you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?"
Again the little boy nodded.
"Good," said the coach.
"Now go up there in the stands and explain it to your dad!”----Find someone who’s always beating people down, and show them a better way. Find someone who’s been beat down, and who’s fighting unrighteousness with unrighteousness, and show them how to beat back God’s way, in love, forgiveness and righteous living.
I’ve got the hammer here, it’s the symbol of the LifeBeaters series. How many of you have ever hit your thumb or finger with a hammer? (how many of you can repeat what you said in church?) The hammer’s a great symbol, because you boil it’s function down to two things: You can tear stuff down with it, you can bust stuff, break stuff—and anybody can do that with a hammer. Any person can take a hammer and tear stuff down. Or this hammer, in a skilled hand, can build stuff. It can hold stuff together, and build a strong, beautiful house or building, or just about anything. The hammer’s like you and me—it’s like your life. Anybody can tear others down. But in a skilled Hand, God’s hand, your life, can build others up and together We can take back the life God promised Us! (Prayer)
