Under Warranty Series

When you go to buy a big-ticket item, they always try to sell you an extended warranty, or a service contract, don’t they. For just a few hundred more, they’ll come around and do maintenance and maybe even replace a part or two. My old Saturn came with a towing benefit as well... There was a nation-wide toll-free number you could call and they’d come and get you wherever you were and take you in for repairs. For free. That is, of course, as long as the warranty lasted, and if you didn’t do something to make it quit working, like run it into a telephone pole. Just a few hundred dollars more for the extended warranty... How do you decide whether or not it’s worth it?

Some people decide on the basis of probability... is the likelihood of having something go wrong greater than cost of the warranty? Some people decide on the basis of security. Not having to worry is worth a few extra dollars. And others decide on the basis of worst-case scenario... No matter how remote the possibility, can you afford NOT to have it if something does go wrong?

But once you’ve got it, whatever the reason, it’s pretty comforting, isn’t it, when something goes wrong, to know that the manufacturer is going to take care of it.

As Christians, we don’t even have to pay for the extended warranty on our new life. It’s standard equipment on the new model. Once you’ve traded in the old clunker, the manufacturer assumes responsibility. It’s really more like having a lease than full ownership, actually... "We are not our own; we were bought with a price..." [1 Cor 6:19b-20]

It still doesn’t mean that we have permission to get tanked and drive off a cliff unscathed. It doesn’t mean that we’ll never take a wrong turn. And it doesn’t mean that we won’t ever have to sit by the side of the road wondering when the tow-truck is going to arrive.

What it does mean is that no matter what happens along the way, all of it will somehow turn out all right. In the end. If we will learn to trust, to have patience, to keep our eyes open, and to cooperate with God. Reading the owner’s manual helps, too.

Because this passage isn’t a Pollyanna promise, a guarantee of a rose-colored Christian life. It’s something deeper and more powerful than that. And it comes with a few qualifiers.

First of all, this guarantee is not for everyone.

It is for a privileged class. It’s only for the spiritual “haves” of the world ... people who meet two important qualifications. It is for those who love God, and for those who have been called according to God’s purposes.

So these are my questions for you this morning.

First, do you love God? Now of course I know that no one loves God perfectly in this life. That’s not what I mean. Real love - even for wife or husband or child or friend - doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact the greater and more authentic the love, the more keenly we are aware of how often we fall short of our own ideals and intentions. I’m not challenging you to an impossibility. What I want you to ask yourself is, Do you treasure God? Do you delight in God, and desire his company, his approval, his pleasure? Is the relationship precious to you? What kind of effort do you invest in keeping it going? Is God just a comfortable presence in the background that you run to when you’re in trouble? Or is he maybe something more like a sugar daddy, someone you’ve hooked up with for the benefits and might dump if the going gets tough? Is he really your beloved?

Second, have you been called? Have you been called by God to participate in his purposes? This doesn’t mean, "Have you ever heard the gospel?" Or: “Do you go to church on Sunday and do other church stuff?” The calling from God is more than an invitation; it’s a summons to participate in the greatest adventure of all time. We do not belong to ourselves, and there is work to be done! For "we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life." [Eph 2:10] Now, I’m not saying that God is calling you to be somewhere other than here. sell your house and quit your job and go feed refugees in Ruanda. Or whatever. What I’m saying is that from the moment you are called on, your life is FOR GOD. Your work - in office or garden or kitchen or school, your relationships, your play, and your dreams - all belong to God. God is working in you and through you to accomplish his purposes. Now, if you love God, that’s a wonderful, exciting prospect. If, on the other hand, it sounds pretty grim or confining, maybe you’d better rethink the answer to the first question - whether or not you really love God.