The Rhythm Of Life

The Rhythm of Life

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

One of the greatest gifts God has given to humanity is the gift of life itself! We have but one life to live and the way in which we think, speak and act matters to our Creator. Having been created in His image (Genesis 1:27) and a little lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7) God rightly expects the masterpieces of His grace to honor Him not by burying (Matthew 25:19-30) or outright rejecting knowledge of Him (Romans 1:28) and His right to rule over our lives (Psalms 2) but by belief (John 3:16) in and total submission to (1 John 5:2-5) He who atoned for our sins (1 John 2:2) and bought us at the price of His very life (1 Corinthians 6:20)! While our feeble attempts to “carve out” a legacy in a fallen world where sin is rampant and “chance” often dictates the results of one’s best intentions (Ecclesiastes 9:11), life is far from meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1). It is not what happens to us that defines who we are but the rhythm of response to the mountains, valleys and daily events in our lives that defines our character! To obtain a legacy that truly matters we are not to merely let life happen but are to seek, know and obey God’s will for our lives (Romans 12:1-2). To accomplish this, we are not to be satisfied with being mere babes in Christ but are meant to humbly come before His throne of grace so that in total submission we might “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13)! A legacy unto the Lord is a life lived for the Lord! The following sermon is going to use my experience learning to play a guitar to help explain some of the steps necessary to offer one’s life as a sweet fragrance unto God.

Step 1: Being Born Again

How does one get the full measure of Christ as their eternal legacy? While this seems like an easy question, the answer is not easily obtained. Since Christ often used parables to help explain complex truth, I am going to use my experience of learning to play the guitar to help explain the complexities of striving to obtain holiness. As a bi-vocational pastor I tend to work many long hours and as such God has told me to develop one or more hobbies to rest and “recharge” my batteries. Since I was a small boy, I always wanted to play an instrument. I tried playing the trumpet in high school, but it required a lot of wind and I got easily bored and dare I say annoyed with my lack of progress. Our church has been blessed with many great musicians but the instrument that I have always admired is the guitar. It requires no wind and has a mere six strings so foolishly I thought to myself, how hard can it be to play? If I wanted to learn to how to play a guitar my first step of course was to get a guitar! While I could try to play “air guitar” and go through the motions of making imaginary chords and hitting imaginary strings the best such an exercise could do is make me look foolish for everyone knows that imaginary guitars cannot produce sound much less music!

Likewise, if one wants to “make obedient music” in God’s kingdom then one must first have His Spirit living inside of them. While the actions of non-Christians have occasionally led to the furthering of God’s kingdom (Exodus 7:3-4; Matthew 7:21-23), without the Spirit to guide one in the truth concerning God (John 16:13) one remains outside the vine and incapable of bearing good fruit (John 15). While admission into God’s kingdom is impossible for any human to earn (Ephesians 2:8-9), it is a gracious gift offered to anyone perishing in their sin (John 3:16)! The moment one believes in the atoning sacrifice of the Son (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2) and asks Him to be the Lord of their lives (Romans 10:9) one is “born again not of a natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:13). Becoming a “new creation” is a radical transformation from spiritual death to everlasting life (1 John 5:11). Having God’s Spirit living inside a person means not only is one adopted into God’s family (John 1:12) but one also receives spiritual gifts to perform divinely assigned roles in His kingdom (1 Corinthians 12). What was once foolishness in one’s sight (1 Corinthians 1:18) becomes the bread and life by which one lives (Mathew 4:4; John 14:6). No longer do worship songs, reading the Bible and prayers seem senseless but instead they become heart-felt words that leap and resonate unspeakable joy (1 Peter 1:7-9) of having received every spiritual blessing in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). Like I could not play guitar without physical guitar neither can a person play beautiful music of submission and service in God’s kingdom without His Spirit.