This is the season of baccalaureate services (and we had a great one last weekend here in Kendallville), of graduations, and of weddings that mark the end of one chapter of life and the beginning of a new chapter of life. It is a time of year in which we frequently celebrate life, love, and learning.
We have also just concluded a season of hard work and deep faith that culminated last weekend in a commitment of at least $58,000 dollars over the next three years in conjunction with nearly $30,000 of already designated building fund money for starting a new chapter in our life and ministry here in Kendallville. I thank the Lord for that commitment and I give all honor and praise to Him for it! Amen? Amen.
Next week we will conclude our current series, Celebrating Our Past… Embracing Our Future… In Christ with a visit from Norberto and Julie ______ as they share of God’s work and their service in South America. A portion of our service will also be used to honor our veterans as part of the Memorial Day weekend. We hope that you will be here.
However, this morning, I am thinking about Brooke, Hillary, and the class of 2004 not only here at East Noble but across Noble County and across the US. This time of year often reminds us of the passing of time because summer is traditionally the time of High School reunions. For some of us we are now in the 5 to 10 year reunion range. Others of us are in the 15 to 20 range and still others of us find that High School is now 25 to 30 years (and longer) in the past and we have kids and classmate’s kids (even grand kids) who are now graduating from High School!
It is always interesting to go to our reunions, high school and college, and see how much people have changed over the years. Some people have changed very little and we immediately recognize them. Others have changed a great deal and we would not know them on the street at all!
Those we thought would turn the world upside down have not moved it at all. And those we thought were “slackers” have turned out to be more successful than we thought they would.
Often during these times we stop and look back at our lives since we walked to “Pomp and Circumstance” in a hot gym or on a hot athletic field. We recall choices made that altered our life in many different ways. We recall the “What if’s?” that leave us wondering from time to time what our lives might have been like had we followed through on some of those “What if’s.” But we also come away with a peace and joy as we return to everyday life with our family and friends and the Lord because we know that we are where God wants us to be and we are right with the Lord. We experience the joy of a living a life well lived.
This morning I want us to spend sometime considering the importance of celebrating and embracing a life well lived. I say these words not to just Brooke and Hillary but to all of us, on either side of High School graduation because how we live our life is a very important issue that we need to address in moments and times like this.
Many years ago, Winston Churchill, during the Second World War I believe, revisited a school, Harrow, that he had attended as a child. He gave a brief speech, lasting less than a minute. He stood before the students and simply said, "Never give up. Never, never give up! Never, never, never give up!"
This morning I want to say the same thing as Churchill said those many years ago. However, I quote St Paul out of our text for this morning, “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”
A life well lived, well lived with God at the center, is one of the ways that we celebrate and embrace what God has for us. Furthermore, living such a life tremendously contributes to a strong church because it can affect the rest of the congregation by the clear and strong testimony that such a life gives. What constitutes a well-lived life? Here are some important aspects to it.
A life well lived is lived by consistently doing what is right.
Earlier in our text for today Paul says, “Remember that you can’t ignore God and get away with it! You will always reap what you sow!”
A familiar e-mail story provides us with a very pointed illustration of this truth. Two cars were waiting at a stoplight. The light turned green, but the man did not notice it. A woman in the car behind him is watching traffic pass around them. The woman begins pounding on her steering wheel and yelling at the man to move. The man does not move. The woman is going ballistic inside her car, ranting and raving at the man, pounding on her steering wheel and dash. The light turns yellow.
The woman begins to blow the car horn, flips him off, and scream curses at the man. The man, hearing the commotion, looks up, sees the yellow light and accelerates through the intersection just as the light turns red. The woman is beside herself, screaming in frustration as she misses her chance to get through the intersection.
As she is still in mid-rant, she hears a tap on her window and looks up into the barrel of a gun held by a very serious looking police officer. The police officer tells her to shut off her car while keeping both hands in sight. She complies, speechless at what is happening. After she shuts off the engine, the police officer orders her to exit her car with her hands up.
She gets out of the car and he orders her to turn and place her hands on her car. She turns, places her hands on the car roof and quickly is cuffed and hustled into the patrol car. She is too bewildered by the chain of events to ask any questions and is driven to the police station where she is fingerprinted, photographed, searched, booked and placed in a cell.
After a couple of hours, a police officer approaches the cell and opens the door for her. She is escorted back to the booking desk where the original officer is waiting with her personal effects.
He hands her the bag containing her things, and says, "I’m really sorry for this mistake. But you see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping that guy off, and cussing a blue streak at the car in front of you, and then I noticed the "Choose Life" license plate holder, the "What Would Jesus Do" and "Follow Me to Sunday
School" bumper stickers, and the chrome plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally I assumed you had stolen the car."
Oh, the dangers of a bumper sticker faith! But this woman sowed discord and anger and she reaped the results of it in an embarrassing way. Granted, we all have moments of weakness when we respond in such manner that our testimony and faith takes a hit. But, we reap what we sow, not always immediately, but at some point, we have to deal with the consequences of our actions.
Paul is telling us this in this segment of scripture. In fact, he links sowing with doing good and not giving up at doing good by sowing (or living) to please God. Why?
Well in the immediate text, we are given a reason at the end of verse 9. “For we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.” What does this mean? “You will be rewarded when the time comes for your faithfulness.”
Paul is helping the church in ancient Galatia to understand the “long haul” of following Christ. It is important to remember ( and I think that is biblical as well) that the our relationship with God through Christ is not a sprint (something that I believe has been emphasized in the past decade or so in our country) but a marathon race that requires stamina and endurance with the aid of the Holy Spirit.
Paul begins this last chapter of Galatians, chapter 6, with some words of instruction to the church that illustrates one way that a “long haul” faith is lived - by helping those who have stumbled and fallen in the faith get back up and by helping one another with their problems and troubles. He says these things because God has created the church to both tell the faith to those who are yet to believe and to also help those who believe live out that faith and belief in everyday life because a life well lived that includes doing what is right, is helped and strengthened by the community of faith; the church.
Paul then offers other directions that further clarify the importance of doing what is right as part of a well-lived life:
1. Verse three – If you think that you are too important to help someone in need, you are only fooling yourself. You are really a nobody. This verse points to doing what is right in the context of caring for those in need
2. Verse four – Be sure to do what you should, for then you will enjoy the personal satisfaction of having done your work well, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. This verse points to doing what is right in the context of being satisfied with the effort of doing work well and not playing the comparison game.
3. Verse five – For we are each responsible for our own conduct. This verse points to doing what is right in the context of taking responsibility for one’s own conduct rather than blaming others.
Yet there is more to living a well-lived life than doing what is right. Living a well-lived life also includes living life with the right perspective in mind.
I wonder what Paul would think about this poem?
I’ve never made a fortune
And it’s probably too late now.
But I don’t worry about that much,
I am happy anyhow.
And as I go along life’s way,
I’m reaping better than I sowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
Haven’t got a lot of riches,
And sometimes the going’s tough.
But I’ve got loving ones around me,
And that makes me rich enough.
I thank God for his blessings,
And the mercies He’s bestowed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
{I} remember times when things went wrong,
My faith wore somewhat thin.
But all at once the dark clouds broke,
And sun peeped through again.
So Lord, help me not to gripe
About the tough rows that I’ve hoed.
I’m drinking from my saucer,
’Cause my cup has overflowed.
If God gives me strength and courage,
When the way grows steep and rough.
I’ll not ask for other blessings,
I’m already blessed enough.
And may I never be too busy,
To help others bear their loads.
Then I’ll keep drinking from my saucer,
Cause my cup has overflowed.
Do think that he would want to share it with other followers of Christ? Living a well-lived life includes an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving to God, and others, for many things. In Philippians 4 Paul wrote of the importance of being grateful and thankful and giving our concerns and problems over to the Lord on a regular basis.
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Rejoice in the Lord! Be full of God’s joy! Don’t worry – pray…about everything! These are habits of our hearts and souls that help cultivate the right mindset that helps us live a well-lived life.
A life well-lived makes this perspective necessary because it allows us to keep focused on the Lord and His plans and purpose when life get out of focus for us. For these actions and attitudes helps us to stay open to the work of the Holy Spirit who gives us the ability and power to live life well and live life with God at the center of it.
But for this well-lived life to be a reality for us no matter where we are in life we have to embrace it, personally embrace it by faith in Jesus Christ. Now we can embrace something or someone else but I believe, (not because I am standing in this place as a pastor, but because I personally believe it to be to true) that centering, (no, immersing) our life in Christ is the foundation for a well ordered live.
Why? Listen to Isaiah 63:7-9
I will tell of the LORD’s unfailing love. I will praise the LORD for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. He said, “They are my very own people. Surely they will not be false again.” And he became their Savior. In all their suffering, he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.
I know of no one or nothing else other that God who could do that for us. I love the last sentence of this passage, “He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.”
Last Sunday afternoon at the baccalaureate, one of the seniors read the familiar poem “Footprints in the Sand.” This Old Testament verse reminds us of God’s ability to lift us up and carry us throughout the years as the poem says.
And the result of such a life is one that is well lived. Well-lived in the arms of God; well-lived in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit who helps us live as we should and can; well-lived in meaning and purpose because God’s meaning and purpose for such a life is embraced and lived out.
One of my favorite Bible stories is that of Joshua and the Israelites getting ready to cross the Jordan River and take possession (finally) of the Promised Land. I would have loved to been a little fly buzzing around the people listening in on their conversations that were filled with hopes and dreams and celebration or watching their faces across which would come feelings of joy, uncertainty, and perhaps a little nervousness.
That event was a big event in the history of ancient Israel. That event was a big event in the history of our faith because that crossing firmly established the nation of Israel into which the Christ child would be born and crucified and out of which would come a faith that has, and continues to change the world.
This story has come to represent to me the many rivers we cross in life and this time of year, we celebrate with seniors (and GED grads) in High School and colleges the crossing of one of many rivers that will be crossed in the years ahead. But, we don’t cross the rivers alone!
We cross them with others just like the Israelites did! We cross them with classmates, friends, teachers, and family just like the Israelites crossed the Jordan. We cross them with excitement, anxiety, and celebration, just like the Israelites did.
But most importantly, we cross them with God! They are part of the road that God has set us on to follow Him and do His will. They are a portion of the plan to help us live life well.
I conclude with a portion of this story because the words that are given to Joshua are the words that God gives to Brooke, Hillary, and their classmates as well as to all of us at various points in our lives. They are also words that are important in living a well-lived life:
“For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you… I command you—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Amen? Amen.
