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This is a (slightly edited) transcript of a sermon I delivered at Lighthouse Foursquare Church on September 28th of 2003, in a service commemorating my ordination in the Foursquare Gospel Church. The message was preceded by an audio/visual collage of my life (cute baby pictures and such), a presentation of my ordination certificate, and an introduction by Pastor Stephen Knoll Many friends and family members were in attendance. |
“Don't
be Late for Your Life”
by Kyle Knapp
Thank you… a lot of changes, a lot of experience. Gail, friends, family, it’s been quite a ride hasn’t it?
(Acknowledge visiting friends and family) Gail and I have been really blessed – there’s so much love in our life. I feel like James Stuart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” – I’m “the richest man in town”
I am what you might call a “collector of words” – I’ve always been intrigued with the process by which language is used to convey ideas, so I enjoy observing how people use words, and I tend to notice when words are misused, or used in a way that distorts or confuses their meaning. One popular medium for the expression of ideas through words is the use of bumper stickers. Here are a few that have caught my attention:
Phil 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with His glory, by the exertion of the power He has to subject all things to Himself.
Eternal perspective – some of you may recall a teaching I did a year or so ago about being “Heavenly Minded”, keeping our eyes focused on our future in eternity. For those of us who belong to Christ – when we are adopted into God’s family, and “married” to Christ, we acquire citizenship in another realm. You sometimes hear about immigrants who marry US citizens in order to stake a claim to US citizenship. Likewise, when we are joined to Christ, we relinquish our claim to citizenship on this planet and become citizens of Heaven
I’m not taking any of that back – it’s important to have an eternal perspective, keeps us from placing too much value in things that don’t really matter.
Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
Matt 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
On the other hand, we do live here now. And if this business of “future glory” is true, doesn’t it stand to reason that our time here must have some purpose also? This is easy to believe if our lives are marked by accomplishment, fame, or prosperity. But shouldn’t it also be true of those whose lives appear “ordinary”? or whose journey through life is characterized by great adversity and suffering? For some, life itself means the enduring of endless pain – what about them? Is there meaning and purpose to their lives?
I had a friend once who was very creative, but also very melancholy. When things didn’t go well, when he faced obstacles in his journey sometimes he would get depressed and just give up on life “I wish I could just die already so I could go to heaven – this life sucks, there’s nothing here for me.” Is he right? Can our lives have value and purpose now, or are we all just marking time?
Consider the example of:
Simon Birch – (this motion picture came out a few years ago, and is based on a true story) Simon was a boy with a severe physical deformity, a high IQ, and a big mouth, who irritated church leaders by asking a lot of hard questions. He believed God had a special destiny for him, a unique mission for his life, and was not shy about telling people so. Most everybody mocked him, even his pastor told him to give up this lame idea. But Simon knew God had a purpose for his life, and that made everything else in his life not only bearable, but meaningful. (I won’t ruin the story for you by telling you how it played out in his life, but it’s a wonderful movie and you should see it if you haven’t yet)
Viktor Frankel – Viktor Frankel was a German psychiatrist whose happy and prosperous life was stolen from him by the Nazis - he spent several years in a Nazi concentration camp. The horror and abuse that holocaust victims endured is almost beyond the capacity of our cultured minds to imagine, yet this survivor learned that even in the midst of the worst kind of suffering the world can dump on a person, life can still have value and purpose. He later wrote “Man’s Search for Meaning”
Still, for many of us it seems our purpose is not revealed to us. How it is to be lived out in our lives certainly is however. Go back to our passage in Philippians and skip forward just a few verses and you find (Gail’s favorite Bible passage, by the way)
Phil 4:4-9 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Sometimes issues of great social or spiritual importance intersect with ordinary lives, altering forever the character of our journey on Planet Earth. These events define us, sometimes becoming the stuff of the great stories and legends of our culture. In JRR Tolkein’s “the Lord of the Rings” a small, common, unassuming character by the name of Frodo comes into possession of a magic ring of tremendous power, and discovers that the very fate of the world may rest in his hands - a burden which weighs heavily upon him. “I wish none of this had ever happened” he complains. Let’s listen to the response from his wise counselor Gandalf:
Frodo: "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."
Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.
There are many choices, important choices, that we make, but much of our role in life is simply given to us with no consideration at all given to whether we “want” it or not. “I didn’t ask to be born!” many of us have heard our kids say, “I didn’t choose this life!”. Well, it’s the only one you’ve got… Like Frodo, what “matters”, what defines our character is what we do with the role we’ve been given. To use a gaming metaphor, you have to play the cards you’re dealt.
These words are familiar to most of us:
Eccl 3:1-8 To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven--
A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
But what of these, which follow closely after…
Eccl 3:9-14 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--it is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.
“He has set eternity in their hearts” - we’ve been divinely implanted with something that makes us bigger than our physical parts, something in us that aspires to greatness. Such greatness, however, is not attained by twiddling our thumbs as we wait for some “big break”, but by living fully each day, recognizing that life is a gift – embracing the gift as well as the Giver, and - not worrying so much about the things we don’t understand – applying the things we do.
The Bible records a story of another apparently ordinary guy, a carpenter, who went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath, and at the proper time in the service he began to read from the scroll of Isaiah. Nothing unusual here, the prophet Isaiah is always read this time of year, and this week it’s the carpenter’s turn to read. He read these words:
Luke 4:18-19 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."
This passage was familiar, (Is. 61) and commonly understood to be a metaphoric reference to the “Year of Jubilee” prescribed in the Law. Jubilee, which was to be supposed to take place every 50 years, was to be a time for all debts to be forgiven, slaves to be set free, and land ownership to be restored to the original owners. Historically this custom was rarely put into practice – it’s rather impractial, after all. Especially if you’re a wealthy landowner and your prosperity depends on collecting debts owed to you and the work performed by your slaves. “Set them free? Forgive all debts? Just doesn’t make very good business sense…”
Nevertheless it’s in the law, and every year they read it in the synagogue. Today, it’s “that carpenter’s” turn. Nothing out of the ordinary here, we know him, and we are familiar with the words (even if we don’t understand what they mean). But wait! Something’s different this time… and it quickly became evident that something quite extraordinary was going on. And the Bible says “they marvelled at the gracious words that were falling from his lips.”
Perhaps this prophecy was not simply refering to a specific time to take place at some point in the unknown future; what if it was intended all along to be fulfilled in a way that transcends both time and space…
and then he said…
Luke 4:21 "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Christ, the Author of life Himself put on humanity and came to us, to restore us to our original place in relationship with the Father, so that we could live in freedom (Jn 8:32, Gal.5:1) and in abundant life (Jn 10:10).
St. Paul talks about this, also quoting also from Isaiah, where God says:
2 Cor. 6:2 “’at the acceptable time I will save you’ [quoted from Is.49:8], behold, Now is the acceptable time, Now is the day of salvation”
Note that he uses the expression “acceptable time” In the passage we read from Luke Jesus referred to the “favorable year” of the Lord. (Favorable – acceptable – appropriate – all are translated from the same Greek word: “dektos”)
Life is a gift – it’s an adventure. If you want to live your live to the fullest, you need to embrace the Author of life. There’s no time like the present… After all, He’s the one who somehow took the “hereafter” and the “today” and brought them together, placing “eternity in your heart”.
Late for Your Life
words and music by Mary Chapin Carpenter
You've been saying for the longest time that the time has come
You've been talking like you're of a mind to get some changing done
Maybe move out of the city, find some quiet little town
Where you can sit out on your back porch step
And watch the sun go down
No one knows where they belong
The search just goes on and on and on
For every choice that turns out wrong, another one's right
A change of scene would sure be great
The thought is nice to contemplate
But the question begs, "why would you wait
And be late for your life?"
You may never find that perfect town, but the sun still sets
On a rooftop where the city sounds like a Gershwin clarinet
And you may still be searching every face for one you can't forget
Love is out there in a stranger's clothes, you just haven't met him yet
No one knows where they belong
The search just goes on and on and on
For every day that ends up wrong, another one's right
Call it chance or call it fate
Either one is cause to celebrate
And the question begs: "why would you wait?"
Don't be late for your life...
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