INTRO.- ILL.- A teacher gave a subject for composition class. The subject given was the word, “WHAT?” For an hour, the whole class busily expounded and defined this word. One boy, however, submitted his paper in only 1 minute and left the class. On his paper, he had written: “SO WHAT?”
Was he being cute or lazy, or perhaps both? Probably both.
Many young people don’t want to do the work when it comes to school. And it takes work to make decent grades.
ILL.- My twin sister visited us last week and she said to me, “Steve, don’t you remember sleeping through the first grade?” I said, “No, I don’t.” I must have been tired, sleepy or else lazy.
Take your choice. Some children can make good grades without much work, but they are few and far between. My sister made the top ten in our graduating high school class, but she also worked hard to get there. I just graduated.
ILL.- The man told his doctor that he wasn’t able to do all the things around the house that he used to do. When the examination was finished, he said, "Now, Doc, I can take it. Tell me in plain English what is wrong with me?"
"Well, in plain English," the doctor replied, "you’re just plain lazy." "Okay," said the man. "Now give me the medical term so I can tell my wife."
Brothers and sisters, the lazy person is a sluggard. He is perhaps related to what we call a “slug,” which is a little slimy, fat, slow-moving creature and not fit for much good except for fish bait.
Laziness is a problem. It’s a problem that we all deal with and in nearly every area of life.
ILL.- Sign at highway construction site: “Men working ahead—we hope.”
ILL.- Just after Elaine and I moved here, we had a man come to remove some border in our living room and then paint the room. He wasn’t at our house more than an hour and then left. He also left a note, saying he couldn’t do the work. WHY NOT? We don’t know if he was lazy or had been out the night before.
We’ve all seen people who wouldn’t work or would do as little as possible in order to keep their job. But laziness doesn’t just deal with work. It deals with relationships as well. There are people who also have poor relationships to others because of laziness. It takes work to maintain any relationship, particularly marriage.
Some couples don’t make it in marriage because they don’t want to work at it. And some children suffer tremendously in life because some parents are too lazy to discipline them, teach them or spend time with them.
ILL.- Tony Campolo tells this story about himself. “I remember as a boy being told that it was my job to wash the dishes after dinner. My first response was to pretend that I did not know how to wash them and that I could not learn.
“My mother proceeded to show me how but I pretended to be too stupid to learn. I thought she would give up after a couple of weeks, but she knew that I needed to do those dishes more than those dishes needed to be done. When my mother would not give up on me, I realized that there was no escape from the dishes, and that if I said for the next ten years that I did not know how to wash them, then for the next ten years my mother would daily teach me how to do them.”
Brothers and sisters, it takes work to raise children and teach them about the responsibilities of life. But some parents are too lazy to do the work.
Our text in Proverbs 24 speaks of the sluggard, the slothful man, the man too lazy to work. I want us to think about this subject and apply it to the Christian life.
Why? Because I am convinced there are many lazy Christians in America today. Lazy in what way? Lazy in worship and work. What am I talking about? It should be obvious. Some people are not faithful in their church attendance. They are either lazy, indifferent or perhaps distracted by other things. And the same things hold for Christian service or Christian work.
ILL.- I had a preacher write me the other day via e-mail saying that it was “work day” at the camp, but they couldn’t get anyone from the church to go work so he and his wife were going.
Getting people to work and serve in the church is getting harder all the time. Again, this is either because people are lazy, indifferent or are distracted with other things.
PROP.- Let’s consider three thoughts about the sluggard.
1- His nature is evident (30-31)
2- His failure is applied (32)
3- His life is poor (33-34)
I. HIS NATURE IS EVIDENT
V. 30-31 “I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins.”
The writer was saying, “I went past the field of the sluggard and SAW…” He SAW the thorns and the weeds that had grown up. He saw the evidence of the man’s laziness.
ILL.- Missionary Hudson Taylor once said: “If your father and mother, your sister and brother, if the very cat and dog in the house, are not happier for your being Christian, it is a question whether you really are.”
The way we live is evident to people and perhaps to our pets as well.
Matthew 7:15-16 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?”
By their fruit you will know them. The fruit of their life tells the story of who they really are or what they really are.
ILL.- The fruit of prophet Jim Jones’ life was death. In November of 1978 he led nearly a thousand people to their deaths, including women and children. It was evident that he was a false prophet and evil. And the same was true for David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, Waco, TX, April 19, 1993.
ILL.- Televangelist Jim Bakker’s love for money was very evident and it landed him in prison. On Dec. 5, 1988, Jim Bakker was indicted for fraud and conspiracy, after embezzling $158 million from the PTL ministry.
ILL.- Faith healer, Benny Hinn’s love for money is evident by his extravagant lifestyle, namely a $10 million dollar home on the Pacific coast, flying around the world in a private jet and staying in the most luxurious rooms in the richest hotels, etc.
ILL.- Then there is Brat Pitt and Angelina Jolie, referred to now as “Brangelina.” Last Tuesday evening, ABC’s Diane Sawyer interviewed the popular actor from Missouri, Brad Pitt. He’s actually from Springfield, MO, a southern MO boy raised in something of the Bible Belt. (I think the whole Midwest claims to be the Bible Belt area) This interview was centered on his breakup with his wife Jennifer Aniston, his new movie with Angelina Jolie and his interest in the poor people of Africa, namely Ethiopia.
Pitt said reports that he and Aniston ended their marriage because he wanted children and she did not were "Ridiculous. … completely fabricated. You know, you find that these stories … will turn one of us into the good guy and one of us into the bad guy. If you look at it closely or even not that closely … it’s ridiculous."
The big deal now is centered on Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Are they? Did they? Are they a number since they made a new movie together? What about the pictures taken of them on a beach in Africa? Pitt denies there is anything going on, BUT THE EVIDENCE IS…Well, you decide.
The nature of a person is evident in the way they live, the things they do, the words they speak, etc. A lazy person’s life speaks for itself.
II. HIS FAILURE IS APPLIED
V. 32 “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.”
ILL.- In his first sermon, the new preacher at the church in TN preached against gambling on horses. Sometime later a deacon came to him and said, “Folks didn’t appreciate that sermon. A lot of horses are raised in this part of the country.”
The next Sunday he preached about the evils of smoking. Again, that same deacon pulled him aside and said, “Too many folks in these parts grow tobacco. You can’t preach about that.”
The third Sunday came and he preached against the evils of drinking whiskey, only to be told by that same deacon that there was a large still less than a mile from the church and many church members worked there.
The frustrated preacher said, “Well, what in the world can I preach about?” The deacon said, “Preach against those heathen witchdoctors. There ain’t one of them within a thousand miles of us.”
ILL.- A gray-haired old lady, long a member of her community and church, shook hands with the minister after the service one Sunday morning. "That was a wonderful sermon," she told him, "-- just wonderful. Everything you said applies to someone I know."
The spiritually lazy person is quick to point his finger at someone else, saying, “So and so needed to hear that sermon,” but they may never consider the truth of a sermon for their own life.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” KJV
The whole point of scripture is application. How does this passage or that passage apply to me, to my life? The Word of God is not just meant to educate us but also to change us.
“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.” I applied to MY heart what I saw and “I” learned a lesson from what I saw.
Every thing in life should be applied to our lives: sermons, what we witness in the world, etc. We should think, “How does this apply to my life? What good thing can I learn from this?”
ILL.- Dr. David Busby was a psychiatrist in Anna, IL, but originally from Memphis, TN. Dr. Busby attended the church where I preached and we became good friends. We even socialized some…went to some movies together. And one of the things that impressed me about him was that he applied everything to his life. We would come out of a movie and he would say, “I could see a good lesson in that movie.” And he would proceed to explain what he saw.
He didn’t just apply the Word of God and sermons to his life, but also everything he saw in life. And this is something we need to do. We need to constantly search for applications to our lives in regard to living the Christian life. How does this apply to me?
Now, not only should we apply the Word of God to our lives, but also the mistakes of others. When we see the mistakes of others, we should learn a lesson. WE SHOULD LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS!
ILL.- When I was about 18 or 19 years old I worked at Safeway in Joplin, MO. The produce manager and I were good friends. We had played pool together and drank beer together, but one night Tom went to Galena, KS, and got into a fight with a guy. And the guy was much bigger than Tom and knocked Tom clear across the pool table. The next day at work, Tom looked awful. He was all bruised up. I asked him what happened and he told me. And I thought, “I’m not going back to Galena, KS, to drink beer any more!” And I don’t think I ever did again.
That’s learning from the mistakes of others and we all should. We should learn from lazy people as well, that is, what not to do.
ILL.- A preacher friend of mine told me years ago about a young preacher in the next town. He said that his church members wondered where he was all the time. My friend said, “I knew where he was… He was at the local swimming pool, sunning himself instead of working.”
I learned from that young preacher. I learned that I should never go to the local swimming pool to sun myself. Actually, I learned that he was lazy and I didn’t want to be that way in my work. Likewise, when we someone who is lazy in their faith, we should pray for them and at the same time, learn from them.
“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw.”
III. HIS LIFE IS POOR
V. 33-34 “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”
Poverty in some form comes to the person who is lazy. In the case of the farmer, he might not have a crop and consequently, have no money with which to live. No money and no food on the table.
Do you realize that doing little or nothing can get you into trouble?
ILL.- A man lived in a very low-lying area near a river. A man in a jeep drove up one day and said, “This area is about to be flooded. You need to get out of here!” The man replied, “I’ll just stay here and trust the Lord to take care of me.” And very soon the water was swirling around his front porch as he sat in his rocking chair.
Soon after that, a man came by in a boat, saying, “You need to get out of here. The water is getting higher and higher.” The man replied, “I’ll be okay. I’m just going to trust the Lord.”
Finally, the man ended up on his roof because of the rising water. It had already flooded his house. Suddenly, a helicopter appeared overhead and lowered a chair so he could be taken to safety. He shouted back, “It’s okay. I’ll stay here. I’m trusting the Lord to take care of me.”
Well, the man drowned and in heaven, he complained to the Lord that He hadn’t take care of him. And the Lord said, “Hey! I sent you a jeep, a boat and a helicopter. WHAT ELSE DID YOU WANT ME TO DO?”
Several applications could be made to this story but the one I want to make is this: Doing nothing will get you into trouble! Doing nothing with a person’s life will get them into trouble: trouble with the law, and they may well become poverty-stricken!
II Thess. 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
That is the rule of God, but it is also pretty much the standard rule of life. If you don’t work, you won’t eat. In fact, you may not have a bed to sleep in and a house to live in! Laziness leads to poverty!
Laziness always leads to trouble in some form or another. It’s been said that idleness is the devil’s workshop. Besides you get nothing accomplished for the kingdom of God!
Spiritually lazy people don’t go to church regularly and they don’t do anything to enhance their relationship to Christ. They don’t read the Word of God or any kind of devotional material that will strengthen their faith. Consequently, they have little or no faith.
ILL.- The married couple that doesn’t kiss, hug, go out on dates, do things for one another, cook special meals, buy flowers, etc. will lose ground in their marriage and may well lose their marriage. ALL RELATIONSHIPS REQUIRE MAINTENANCE FOR IMPROVEMENT AND GROWTH!
CONCLUSION-------------------------------------
ILL.- HE SIMPLY DID NOTHING AT ALL
He made no mistakes, took no wrong roads,
He never fumbled the ball.
He never went down ‘neath the weight of a load,
He simply did – nothing at all.
He lost no hard fight in defense of the right,
Never bled with his back to the wall.
He never felt faint in his climb to the light,
He simply did – nothing at all.
So death came nigh, for life slipped by,
And he feared the judgment hall.
When they asked him why, he said, with a sigh,
“I simply did – nothing at all.”
Please don’t be lazy in your relationship to Christ. Work at that relationship. You’ll never be sorry for the benefits received.
