For those of you who were not able to be here last Sunday evening, Pastor Willie presented one of the best sermons I have heard in a very long time. In that sermon was an illustration that I thought was perhaps the best I have ever heard involving how we may want God, but we want what is in the world more.
He said that when a certain tribe hunts monkeys, they cut a coconut in two, place an orange in the middle and then put the two halves back together again, with a hole cut in one half that is big enough for a monkey’s hand to go through.
When the monkey smells the orange, he puts his hand in the hole, grabs the orange and then cannot free his hand with the orange in his fist. Willie said that the monkey would refuse to let go of its “prize” even when the hunters came to catch it.
That monkey holding on to the orange in the face of death, Willie said, is just like we are in that we hold onto those things of the world even though our we risk our spiritual death on them.
I heard another story that is supposedly true. It is said that about 200 years ago, the tomb of the great conqueror Charlemagne was opened, and the sight that greeted the workmen startled them.
It seems they found his body in a sitting position, clothed in the most elaborate of royal garments, with a scepter in his bony hand. On his knee lay the Holy Scriptures, with a cold, lifeless finger pointing to MARK 8:36:
"For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and looses his own soul?"
It is very sad, but all of us live too much in the world around us. We depend on the world for not just our food and health, but for our entertainment; our fulfillment; and even our emotional needs.
Winston Churchill, once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
I believe for us to become the best Christians that we are capable of becoming we must become losers. We must actually lose ourselves in order to find our lives. Jesus declares that he who loves his life loses it and he who hates his life will keep it – and, of course, He was speaking about our eternal life.
Where you and I are now, in our lives; in our struggles; and in our cares; is all about losing. Now, a loser by our social standards is one who has failed to accomplish any relevant success or significance in his life. But by God’s standards a loser is one who has totally dedicated his life to the will of Jesus. If I were to say that you must to become a loser, so that you can become a winner, would you think that I have lost my sense?
Some of you might be thinking that you have lost so many battles in your life that it is time to start winning a few. Well you may have lost much in your life, but God wants you to know that there is more you need to lose.
The essence of the gospel is about loss. It is about the cross; about the death of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not just about you coming to Jesus as you are; it is about you coming to Jesus with less than you have now. It’s about you losing your former life and gaining a new life in Christ.
There was a man who was having trouble with his leg so he went to the doctor.
The doctor told the man he had gout and for him to give up smoking and drinking. The man said, “Why? Just so I can walk a little better?”
We are just like the man; we do not want to give up anything we want, no matter what the consequences, do we? But there are certain things we need to stop doing in our lives if we are serious about being Christians.
1. LET GO OF THE ORANGE!
Do you think the Lord has asked you to give up anything in particular? Many people say “NO” because they haven’t ever really thought about it. I think the first thing we must be willing to give up is our habit of not thinking about it!
The Lord wants us to give up everything we are holding onto that might keep us from focusing totally on Him. He will ask you for the one thing that you said you would never give up, because He knows that if you feel that strongly about it, it controls you. And if it controls you, you have put it on a higher level of importance in your heart than you have put the Lord. Give it up!
MATTHEW 4:18-22 is our main text today.
“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.”
What would you have done if you had been in their positions? Some of you might have chosen to keep on fishing. And you can substitute anything you like to do in the place of ‘fishing’. Whatever you come up with, is it the thing that Jesus wants you to give up?
I am talking about the kind of relationship we want with Jesus. Do we want the kind of relationship that acknowledges the sacrifice He made for us, but doesn’t want to even think about the sacrifices we need to make to Him? That is the kind of relationship many Christians have with Jesus today.
Did you know that each one of us have been given a ministry by God? It might be a ministry within the church, and it might be a ministry where you help others outside the church. But there is something all of us need to understand.
Jesus demands a sacrifice from each of us. That sacrifice is to leave the world and all the things in it that you want to cling to. That is the cost for you to be a real Christian. A ministry that costs nothing will accomplish nothing.
The orange we hold onto can be anything in your life that keeps you from being a true disciple of Jesus – anything that keeps you from focusing fully on what He wants you to do. Let go of it – for God’s sake.
2. START BEING DEPENDENT ON JESUS – NOT THE WORLD!
There was a sign in a textile mill once that said, “When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman.”
A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought she would straighten it out by herself. She tried, but the situation only got worse. Finally she called the foreman. She told him that she had done the best she could, and he said, “No you never. If you would have done your best, you would have called me first.”
If we want to have the best life we can, we need to learn total dependence on God. And the one thing we must do before we can accomplish that is to humble our attitudes so that we can humble our hearts. If we don’t do that, we lose everything.
God puts the full weight of our responsibilities in our hands. We need to remember that we are too weak to carry that load without the strength of God helping us. And to get His help, we must trust Him with our very lives.
God is not interested in what we can do for Him, but He delights in our trusting Him in all we do.
All the people that Jesus talked to fell into three categories; the ‘convinced’, the ‘curious’, and the ‘committed’. Which category do you fall into? The disciples that left their nets, their boats, and their father were not just curious. And, they were way past convinced. They were committed.
The curious show up to church but don’t tithe fully, or try to get involved in the church. These people will forever be on the outside, looking in.
The convinced are faithful in their attendance and tithes. They get involved in the church, and they know God is real. But since they will not leave those things of the world that give them what they want, they can only know about Jesus, they cannot know Him personally.
The committed are the ones who have made a definite decision in life to walk with Christ – no matter what the consequences are. There is a Christian singer by the name of Steven Curtis Chapman, and he describes the committed Christian perfectly.
We will abandon it all
For the sake of the call.
No other reason at all
But the sake of the call.
Fully devoted to live and to die
The mark of a real Christian is their dependence on Jesus and allowing him to lead them, no matter what direction it happens to be. And that leads into the third thing we need to do in order to be committed Christians.
3. STOP TRYING TO LEAD!
There are many people in church today who like to sing, “Wherever I Lead, He’ll Go.” We are obsessed with our own self-importance. The problem is, we have no importance without Jesus in our lives.
If we were to stop trying to lead God in the pursuit of our desires, and let Him lead us in the pursuit of His desires, the missions fields would be full; and hospitals would still be in the hands of the churches, not the private companies who only see medicine as a way to make a very big profit.
But, what I describe is the perfect world, and that is something we shall not see until we are in Heaven; or at least those of us who have completely trusted in the Lord to lead us.
To solve any kind of a crime, detectives must ask a myriad of questions. Some are mundane, but some are very hard and tough questions to ask, depending on whom you are asking; but no matter how hard they are, they still need to be asked.
The way in which we live our lives will always demonstrate the level of our commitment to the Lord. Knowing this, what does your life demonstrate? Another hard question to own up to is, “Am I willing to truly let Jesus lead me?”
Now, if we are going to be honest, we must be realistic when we ask these questions. If we are willing to let Jesus lead, just where will He lead us? I don’t know. He might lead us to get more involved in the community or the church. He might lead us to completely change our lifestyle. It could be anywhere, but one thing is for certain. If you are willing to be led, he will lead you to give up the one thing in the world that you want to hold on to the most.
Jesus needs people who are willing to follow him to the ends of the earth. I’d love to tell you that you can make this kind of commitment casually and it won’t affect your fishing trips or your football games but that is simply not true.
Becoming a real follower is something that is going to require a very real commitment. But it’s what real followers do. But, only those who are willing to make that commitment to God will be allowed to enter His house. Those that want to live with God, but don’t want to give up the things of the world will not inherit the throne. Only those who are willing to follow as called.
You may not be called to go into the preaching ministry; you may not be called to go into the missions field; but He will call you into serving Him.
When you are called, what category will you fall into? Will you be among the curious, the convinced, or the committed?
Jesus came to take away the sins of the world. Jesus wants you to follow Him with your life, but to do so; you must first become a loser. You must lose the sin in your life and you must lose the heart that always wants to be in control.
When you follow Jesus, you have to realize that there is only one leader, and it isn’t you, no matter how much you’d like for it to be. Jesus is your leader – fully and completely, or He isn’t in your life at all.
Jesus has a job for you to do. He wants you to be one of His ambassadors here on this earth. He wants you to realize that outside of Him, you have no strength; you have no hope; you have no comfort; and you have no life.
He is asking you to make a decision this day. Will you? Are you willing to lose the orange in order to grab Jesus?
INVITATION
