APPLICATION:
Single? Use your energies to further God’s aims in the world.
Married? Remember God’s Kingdom is your first priority.
Do not get attached to material things. Use them for the Kingdom.
INTRO:
Men are notorious for being distracted. Most of us could qualify for having ADD — Attention Deficit Disorder. In fact, I heard about a guy who was so distracted over one thing and another that he had to have his wife tell him almost everything. One day his wife came into the room and said, “Here’s the sweater you asked me to find.” He said, “Are we going somewhere, or am I cold?” That would be funny if it wasn’t so close to home. I can’t tell you how many times I have walked into a room and asked myself what I am doing there. I knew that I came there for a reason, but it was beyond me what it was because I became distracted by something else.
It is hard to remain focused isn’t it? It is even harder to remain PASSIONATE about something!
As disciples of Jesus Christ, one of our main struggles in life is to stay focused on Jesus Christ – living for Him, sharing his love with others, leading others to Him, worshipping Him. Because LIFE HAPPENS! Our days are full of responsibilities, tasks, people, entertainment, and mindless drivel that threatens to suck all the passion and energy out of our commitment to living for Jesus Christ.
What do we do about this? The answer I’d like to explore comes from the 7th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Paul is discussing the role that marriage or singleness plays in our faith, and as you’ll remember from last week’s message – he is exhorting people to serve God right where they are, no matter what their situation. Throughout the verses we’ll read together in a minute you’ll hear the following theme: To stay focused on God’s Kingdom, we must live with a sense of urgency.
If I am honest I must say that I struggled as I put this message together for this weekend, because I’m not sure I’m really the best one to be teaching others in this area. I need to apply the things I’ll be sharing with you myself!
Let’s read…
1 Corinthians 7:26-35 (NIV)
26Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are. 27Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
32I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
OK, let’s start with the specific advice Paul gives to single people, and then work from there to a principle that all of us can apply.
It’s GREAT to be single and serving God!
Those who are married, and especially those with kids, know how much of our time and energy goes into managing daily schedules. More people means more food to buy, more clothes to purchase, wash, fold. More cleaning. More cars to maintain. More square footage living space to clean and pay for. More activities to get people to and from. More emotional needs to be met. More of everything.
Those who are single still have life details to manage. But as Paul points out – there are less details to distract you when you are single. Let me read verses 32-35 again, this time from the Message paraphrase:
1 Cor. 7:32-35 (The Message)
32I want you to live as free of complications as possible. When you’re unmarried, you’re free to concentrate on simply pleasing the Master. 33Marriage involves you in all the nuts and bolts of domestic life and in wanting to please your spouse, 34leading to so many more demands on your attention. The time and energy that married people spend on caring for and nurturing each other, the unmarried can spend in becoming whole and holy instruments of God. 35I’m trying to be helpful and make it as easy as possible for you, not make things harder. All I want is for you to be able to develop a way of life in which you can spend plenty of time together with the Master without a lot of distractions.
If you are single – there are times when you will feel lonely. But Paul encourages you to use your singleness to live a life that is focused on serving God and working for His Kingdom. The freedom of your single life allows you to say YES when God calls much more easily than someone who is married.
The question is, are you using your singleness for the advantage of the Kingdom? Or are you just trying to find a mate, putting your life on hold somehow until that day comes?
TRANS: But Paul isn’t just talking to singles in this passage. He is calling all of us to live with a sense of urgency. Why?
All of us must live with a sense of urgency because the time is short. (v. 29)
1 Cor. 7:29-31 (NIV)
29What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
If someone ran in the back door right now screaming and bleeding from having been shot, what would you do? I know what I would do! I’d jump off the stage, get someone to call 911 and immediately try to help the dying person.
Now that’s an unlikely scenario (thankfully). But what Paul is getting at as he writes the Corinthians is this: There are people dying all around us, and we dare not live our lives as if our marriage, our personal happiness, our personal unhappiness, or our personal “stuff” are more important than the spiritual battle for people’s souls!
ILLUS: We all know the story of the Titanic, how on April 14, 1912 an iceberg scraped the ships’s starboard side, ripping open six watertight compartments and leading to the death of over 1500 people.
On board the ship that night was John Harper and his much-beloved six-year-old daughter Nana. According to documented reports, as soon as it was apparent that the ship was going to sink, John Harper immediately took his daughter to a lifeboat. It is reasonable to assume that this widowed preacher could have easily gotten on board this boat to safety; however, it never seems to have crossed his mind. He bent down and kissed his precious little girl; looking into her eyes he told her that she would see him again someday. The flares going off in the dark sky above reflected the tears on his face as he turned and headed towards the crowd of desperate humanity on the sinking ocean liner. As the rear of the huge ship began to lurch upwards, it was reported that Harper was seen making his way up the deck yelling "Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!" It was only minutes later that the Titanic began to rumble deep within. Most people thought it was an explosion; actually the gargantuan ship was literally breaking in half. At this point, many people jumped off the decks and into the icy, dark waters below. John Harper was one of these people.
That night 1528 people went into the frigid waters. John Harper was seen swimming frantically to people in the water leading them to Jesus before the hypothermia became fatal. Mr. Harper swam up to one young man who had climbed up on a piece of debris. Rev. Harper asked him between breaths, "Are you saved?" The young man replied that he was not.
Harper then tried to lead him to Christ only to have the young man who was near shock, reply no. John Harper then took off his life jacket and threw it to the man and said "Here then, you need this more than I do..." and swam away to other people. A few minutes later Harper swam back to the young man and succeeded in leading him to salvation. Of the 1528 people that went into the water that night, six were rescued by the lifeboats. One of them was this young man on the debris. Four years later, at a survivors meeting, this young man stood up and in tears recounted how John Harper had led him to Christ. Mr. Harper had tried to swim back to help other people, yet because of the intense cold, had grown too weak to swim. His last words before going under in the frigid waters were "Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Does Hollywood remember this man? No. Oh well, no matter. This servant of God did what he had to do. While other people were trying to buy their way onto the lifeboats and selfishly trying to save their own lives, John Harper gave up his life so that others could be saved.
John Harper knew what it meant to live life with urgency.
(Sources for this article: "The Titanic’s Last Hero" by Moody Press 1997, Scriptures are quoted from the King James Bible.)
We don’t know how much time we have to share Christ with others before he comes back and the clock runs out for those who don’t know him. We don’t know when the clock is going to run out on our life. And we don’t know when the clock is going to run out on the lives of those outside of Christ in our communities.
So we’ve got to recapture that sense of urgency. Hell is a real place, where those who have not received Christ’s payment for their sins must make payment themselves.
ILLUS:
Lyrics from MercyMe’s “In the Blink of an Eye”
You put me here for a reason
You have a mission for me
You knew my name and You called it
Long before I learned to breathe
Sometimes I feel disappointed
By the way I spend my time
How can I further Your kingdom
When I’m so wrapped up in mine
In a Blink of an eye that is when
I’ll be closer to You than I’ve ever been
Time will fly, but until then
I’ll embrace every moment I’m given
There’s a reason I’m alive for a blink of an eye
It’s a sense of urgency for the lost in the Causasus Mountains of Russia that has the Bonner family preparing to drop everything and go in Christ’s name. It is a sense of urgency that has Ken Mann leading a group of young people each Tuesday night witnessing to people at the laundromat.
A couple months ago Terry Krueger told us about the men in India who are starting CTK churches there. Terry went there and saw first hand that these men and women are willing to suffer death for the sake of the Gospel of Christ. They live with a sense of urgency.
Did you know that their leader, Yadidja, and his wife are coming to our area next month? I must admit I’ve felt embarrassed at the thought of them coming. They are going to see and experience a culture so full of “stuff” and so void of spiritual power and spiritual urgency.
Lord may we never forget we’ve been saved for the reason of spreading the Kingdom. We have the best news in the world! There is hope! There is life! It is found in Jesus Christ – not the comforts of this world!
In order to live a life of urgency, however, we will all need to say “NO” to other activities in our lives.
ILLUS:
In her book, A Practical Guide to Prayer, Dorothy Haskins tells about a noted concert violinist who was asked about the secret of her mastery of the instrument. She said, “There are many things that used to demand my time. When I went to my room after breakfast, I made my bed, straightened the room, dusted, and did whatever seemed necessary. When I finished my work, I turned to my violin practice. That system prevented me from accomplishing what I should on the violin. So I reversed things. I deliberately planned to neglect everything else until my practice period was complete. And that program of planned neglect is the secret to my success.”
I like the idea of planned neglect. She had a purpose, and she put that purpose first and deliberately neglected other things. She was a violinist and she never forgot it. She was a violinist first, and everything else came after that. What would happen in your life if you would not check your email or surf the net until you spent time in the Word? What would happen if you would not turn on the TV until you had shared Christ with someone that day?
CONCLUSION:
Psa. 86:11 Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Lord give us a sense of urgency so that we won’t just talk about “having our arrows out” – we actually will be living that way!
PRAY
