OPEN: The story is told of the time Albert Einstein was taking a train to an out of town engagement. The conductor stopped by to punch his ticket, but the great scientist preoccupied with his work, explained that he couldn’t find his ticket. Not in the coat pockets, not in the briefcase.
The conductor said, “We all know who you are, Dr. Einstein. I’m sure you bought ticket. Don’t worry about it.”
As the conductor moved along, he looked back to see Einstein on his hands and knees searching under the seats for his ticket. The conductor walked back, “Dr. Einstein, please, don’t worry about it. I know who you are.”
Exasperated, Einstein looked up and said, “I too know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”
APPLY: He knew who he was… he just didn’t know where he was going…
There are a lot of Christians know WHO they are – they are children of God/belong to Jesus. BUT… they don’t quite know where they’re going. They seem to wander aimlessly about in their faith.
Now, by this, I don’t mean, that they don’t know their ultimate destination – heaven. What I mean is that their Christian walk (here and now) is without purpose. Without a destination. They just don’t seem to know what to do with their lives RIGHT NOW.
I. One of the reasons Christians don’t know what to do with their lives is because they’ve failed to distinguish the difference between how they used to live w/o Christ and the excitement of how They Can Live with Christ
ILLUS: They’re kind of like the story of a man who visited a bazaar in India. Many merchants were there with their items they wished to trade and sell. One old farmer had brought in a covey of quail to sell. He’d tied a string around one leg of each bird and each of the strings was tied to a ring which fit loosely over a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk around and around in a circle.
Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the Hindu idea of respect for all life, so his heart went out to those poor little creatures walking in their monotonous circles.
“I want to buy them all,” he told the merchant.
But as soon as the man had paid, he told the merchant, “Now, I want you to set them all free.”
“What’s that sir?”
“You heard me. Cut the strings from their legs and turn them loose. Set them all free.”
With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed. What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally, the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released, yet they kept going in circles as if still tied.
These quail didn’t realize that their new life could be different than their old one.
They didn’t know what to do with their freedom… so they went back to the life they were used to. And that’s a danger for us as Christians.
If we don’t realize the contrast between how we USED TO LIVE and how WE CAN LIVE IN CHRIST we can end up walking around in circles in our faith. Getting nowhere.
I believe that’s what Paul had in mind when he wrote Ephesians 2. He starts out by spelling out how our lives used to be before we became Christians. Read it with me:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Ephesians 2:1-3
Did you catch that?
BEFORE we became Christians we did have a purpose in our lives. It was to gratify “…the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts” Ephesians 2:3
Our lives used to be centered around ourselves. We walked AROUND ourselves. Our lives were focused on OUR thinking - OUR desires - OUR priorities - OUR purposes.
BUT Paul goes on to say: That’s all changed now! Now (says Paul) you and I “are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
So… we used to live for ourselves,
but now (because we belong to Jesus) we live for God
We are created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
We need to clarify that our good works don’t save us (Paul spends an inordinate amount of time making that clear in this chapter) but those good words are part of what we become when we’re saved. That’s what Jesus had in mind when He said: “…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” - Matthew 5:16
God’s people DO good things/ good works/ good deeds… because that’s what Jesus saved us to do with our lives.
II. So… if that’s what we should do with our lives… how do we go about doing it?
How do we “do” these good works for Jesus?
Peter writes: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” I Peter 4:10-11 (keep up on screen)
What Peter’s telling us is this:
God has given each of us special gifts/ abilities we can use to do our good deeds
For example, some people are very good at SPEAKING. They love to teach, or preach, or giving communion meditations.
And then there are others who are very skilled at SERVING. They just love to give money to the poor… or make quilts for children in Children’s homes… or organizing activities within the church.
But the point is this:
• God has given you and I specific gifts or abilities
• AND (according to Ephesians 2:10) He has created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
So, God has prepares the task for us AND He PREPARES US for those task
Well… if He’s prepared the tasks and He preparing me for the tasks… where do I begin? Where do I get started?
II. You get started where you’re at - and you start with the abilities that you have.
As I was preparing this sermon, I struggled with the best way to illustrate this... and I believe God led to the story of David.
You remember when David fought Goliath? How many of you remember that story? Of course you do. Everybody knows that story. It’s the story of David facing a gigantic problem for God. And there are some who would believe that this was the 1st time David had done something for God
BUT that’s not true.
• This wasn’t the first time David had served God
• This is just the 1st time we pay any attention to David…
• David had been serving God long before this confrontation with Goliath.
In I Samuel 17:33-37 we’re told that Saul told David,
"You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."
You see... David took God to work with Him. When there was a problem at work God and David worked together on it. David started with God where he was at… out in the field with his dad’s sheep. And David involved God with what he did every day. So… when a lion or a bear came and a got a sheep DAVID AND GOD WENT TO GET THAT SHEEP.
They were joined at the hip.
David didn’t compartmentalize his life. He didn’t just pay attention to God when he went to church/ or the temple. God was always with David and David was so conscious of God’s presence that he wouldn’t have thought of doing ANYTHING without Him.
AND THAT’S NOT ALL!!!
David didn’t just start with God where he was… he started serving God with the abilities that God had given him.
Longggg before he ever met Goliath
Longgg before he ever became famous
(pause…) King Saul… the king of Israel, was a troubled man. He was a troubled man because Saul had shut God out of his life… and evil spirit came upon him.
And then Saul’s servants advised him: “Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the harp. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes upon you, and you will feel better.”
So Saul said to his attendants, "Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."
One of the servants answered, "I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with him."
…Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. 1 Samuel 16:16-18; 23
David loved to sing… and he loved to play his harp. And whenever he sang and played his harp… and sang and he played praising God. And people knew that and asked him to come and sing and play for Saul.
But this was not a high profile job. Even though David was singing in the King’s court, the King really didn’t pay any attention to him. Later, when Saul speaks with David about confronting Goliath… it’s almost as if Saul doesn’t know who this boy is. David has been playing and singing in obscurity even in the court of Saul. His was not a significant position in life even when he did that. It was if he existed in the shadows and received no recognition for what he had done.
In fact, when we think about David and what makes him memorable in Scripture… his singing in Saul’s court is NOT the first thing that comes to our mind.
But now… when we’re struggling with our faith, or faced with difficult times in our lives, where do we usually turn in scripture for comfort?
The Psalms? Hmmm. Most of those were written by David. And David had written them to be sung along with his harp. Psalms like “The Lord is my shepherd… I shall not want…”
We probably wouldn’t have psalms like that in our Bible … if David hadn’t decided to serve God with the abilities that God gave to him.
You don’t know what abilities you’ve got that God can use
And since you and I don’t know what abilities God can use for His purposes… we should use all of our abilities for god whenever we can… and we might be surprised with God can do with what you and I give to Him.
ILLUS: Shamgar had an ox-goad
Rahab had a string
Gideon had a trumpet
David had a sling
Samson had a jawbone
Moses had a rod
Dorcas had a needle -
All were used for God.
These were all great men and women within Scripture… but the tools they are identified as using were obscure, common items. Just like our own abilities and talents.
Use the abilities God has given you and you’ll be surprised at what He can do with it.
CLOSE: A young man who had heard the Gospel accepted Christ. He had believed and repented and decided he wanted Jesus to be the owner of his life, and he was buried in the waters of Christian baptism.
Like every knew earnest Christian he went to church and Sunday School and eagerly drank in as much as he could about what he needed to learn. Several months later a Christian teacher asked him: “What have you done for Christ since you believed?”
He replied: “Oh, I’m a learner.”
“Well,” said the questioner, “when you light a candle do you light it to make the candle more comfortable, or to have it give light?”
He replied, “To give light.”
“Do you expect it to give light after it is half burned, or when you first light it?”
He replied, “As soon as I light it.”
“Very well,” was the reply, “go thou and do likewise; begin at once.”
The others sermons in this series are:
1. Irreplaceable - Genesis 1:24-31
2. Shaped to be a Servant - Ephesians 2:3-10
3. Making God Smile - Psalm 51:15-19
4. Formed to be Friends of God - John 15:9-16
5. Adopted for a Purpose - Ephesians 1:3-14
6. A Purpose Filled Love - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
7. Purpose Driven Worship - Romans 12:1-8
8. Purpose Driven Strength - 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
