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I Thessalonians 4:9-12; John 15:1-17
Note: Audio file is at the end of this text.
Yesterday many of us attended the funeral of Rene Naccari. He was 87 and part of the group that some have labeled, "The Greatest Generation". He enlisted in the Navy right out of high school and was shipped to the Pacific to fight with others who believed that they should sacrifice for their country. After the war he got a college education, married, raised five children and worked for Texaco.
Some of his neighbors from his generation spoke at the funeral and they talked about how they all helped each other rear their children and keep their homes and yards in good repair. Everybody pitched in on the hard projects that were made easier when many hands joined in the work.
Sadly, I am part of the generation that has turned out to be self-centered. Somehow, these hard-working parents of ours made our lives so easy that we developed a sense of entitlement and it looks like, in general, the next generation is more like us than Mr. Naccari.
So let's turn to two scriptures that tell us how to get back to living more like our parents and grandparents who put their faith, their country and their family above self.
In Thessalonians Paul is writing to the Jesus followers and reminding them of what Jesus himself said that is recorded in John 15. He says, "I am telling you all the secrets of God our creator. I am telling you that you I have loved you and will lay down my life for you because of my love for you. And, I expect you to love others as I have loved you. This means you must be willing to lay down your life for others. This is my command: Love each other."
Paul assumes everyone in the church at Thessalonica remembers these words of Jesus and then he adds more. Paul writes,
9 Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, 11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
From the starting point of loving so much that we are willing to die for another person, Paul gives us three steps to success in life here on earth.
First, live a quiet life. Don't be bragging and bringing attention to yourself. This is like Mr. Naccari and his friends. They didn't have vanity plates on their cars, they didn't try to jump ahead in line, they didn't assume that they deserve anything without working for it. We need to do our best at every task and even do the work before we are asked and we need to let the results of our efforts speak for themselves.
Second, mind your own business. Take care of yourself and don't worry about the other person. UCLA Coach John Wooden lead his basketball team to 10 national championships and he practiced this key to success. When he was asked how he prepared to beat the competition he said he never thought about the other team he only worked to prepare his players to do their very best. This scripture is telling us to spend our time improving ourselves rather than wasting time thinking about and worrying about what someone else is doing or what someone else has achieved.
Third, work with your hands. This to me means you have to roll up your sleeves and be willing to get dirty. This is for sure what we saw our parents and grandparents do. They worked the soil, built their houses with their own bare hands and were willing to do for themselves what had to be done to provide for their families. They didn't ask for a handout from the government or complain that they didn't have steak on their tables every night for dinner.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Think On These Things
Go to the home page: Do You Need A Winning Game Plan For Your Life?
Philippians 3:12; 4:8-9
To prepare for communion this morning, let's reach back in Philippians to 3:12. This famous verse says we must, "forget what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul is saying we need to confess our sins of the past, accept the forgiveness Jesus promises and say we're sorry to those we have hurt. This is a cleansing exercise that we should do daily and especially prior to receiving communion. Paul uses the athlete as a powerful metaphor. Imagine going to a track meet to watch runners compete and you see them line up at the staring line. You see them in the sleeveless t-shirts and shorts made of thin fabric and we know that these uniforms have been improved and made lighter through years. The runners don't want any extra weight to carry or even any drag caused by too much fabric blowing in the wind. But on the line you see one runner who has a backpack and you learn it is full of books. You don't know why anyone would want to compete carrying a load of books, right?
Well, that is what we do when we start a new day carrying around our mistakes of the past. Every mistake is like a page in a book and then we bind the books and date them so we can keep track of our storied lives. When Paul says to forget what lies behind he means toss out those books full of pages listing your past failures, get rid of the backpack and run free.
Then in 4:8 Paul tells us how we are to think while we are running the race toward our goals. He says, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Verse 9 packs a powerful punch. Paul says that if we think on the right things, "the peace of God will be with you." Maybe at the core desire of all our hearts is the desire for peace and here we see exactly how to get it.
God is our parent. The Bible says that God knitted us together in our mother's womb and the Bible is clear that we are all God's children made in God's image. Right now I am working on a case that will come to trial soon about a basketball player who died playing the game. The prosecution is trying to blame to coach and I will be an expert witness to show that it was not the coach that caused this untimely death of a young athlete. In the depositions I am reading there is one given by a doctor who describes how the values of our heart begin to form at just 12 weeks. This is scientific evidence that God knits us together in our mother's womb.
God wants all the best for you so just tell him what you want, thank him for hearing your prayer and trust him to work in your life. While you are trusting God, think true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable thoughts and your wait will be in peace.
Philippians 3:12; 4:8-9
To prepare for communion this morning, let's reach back in Philippians to 3:12. This famous verse says we must, "forget what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Paul is saying we need to confess our sins of the past, accept the forgiveness Jesus promises and say we're sorry to those we have hurt. This is a cleansing exercise that we should do daily and especially prior to receiving communion. Paul uses the athlete as a powerful metaphor. Imagine going to a track meet to watch runners compete and you see them line up at the staring line. You see them in the sleeveless t-shirts and shorts made of thin fabric and we know that these uniforms have been improved and made lighter through years. The runners don't want any extra weight to carry or even any drag caused by too much fabric blowing in the wind. But on the line you see one runner who has a backpack and you learn it is full of books. You don't know why anyone would want to compete carrying a load of books, right?
Well, that is what we do when we start a new day carrying around our mistakes of the past. Every mistake is like a page in a book and then we bind the books and date them so we can keep track of our storied lives. When Paul says to forget what lies behind he means toss out those books full of pages listing your past failures, get rid of the backpack and run free.
Then in 4:8 Paul tells us how we are to think while we are running the race toward our goals. He says, "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Verse 9 packs a powerful punch. Paul says that if we think on the right things, "the peace of God will be with you." Maybe at the core desire of all our hearts is the desire for peace and here we see exactly how to get it.
God is our parent. The Bible says that God knitted us together in our mother's womb and the Bible is clear that we are all God's children made in God's image. Right now I am working on a case that will come to trial soon about a basketball player who died playing the game. The prosecution is trying to blame to coach and I will be an expert witness to show that it was not the coach that caused this untimely death of a young athlete. In the depositions I am reading there is one given by a doctor who describes how the values of our heart begin to form at just 12 weeks. This is scientific evidence that God knits us together in our mother's womb.
God wants all the best for you so just tell him what you want, thank him for hearing your prayer and trust him to work in your life. While you are trusting God, think true, honorable, just, pure, lovely and commendable thoughts and your wait will be in peace.
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