This
is what Guardrails doà
they keep us from straying into off limit danger zones. Their sole purpose is
to keep you and me safe.
Guardrails
are not placed in a danger zone, Guardrails are placed just beyond a danger
zone; they warn us of impending danger.
If followers of Jesus were to
establish guardrails in their lives, they would be saved from a life full of
pain and regret.
This
is what the Bible teaches. Our memory verse for this series tells us that: “The prudent see
danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” (Pr. 27:12, NIV)
Wise
people—the prudent--- are the ones who establish guardrails around danger zones
to prevent them from straying into those danger zones.
Wise
people recognize what their temptations are, and wise people set up guardrails
to prevent them from giving into these temptations.
The
simple—the not-so-wise-people—will see the guardrail—will see areas that could
potentially hinder their walk with Jesus, and will ignore it, choosing instead
to do that harmful thing, and when they do, they must face the consequences of
their actions.
Last
week we talked about a Guardrail that all of us need to set up, or at the very
least, reinforce.
We
looked at a potent verse in 1 Corinthians 6 that tells us to “flee from—not
flirt with—Sexual
immorality.” (1 Cor. 6:18a, NIV)
We are to establish guardrails when it comes to sex,
because an unhealthy use of God’s gift to married couples will lead us into off
limit danger zones.
So,
how did you do? Did you formulate a plan to prevent you from straying into off
limit danger zones, or did you go off in to those danger zones?
You
see, the time to formulate a plan to avoid sexual immorality, isn’t when you’re
veering into the danger zone, the time to formulate a plan is when you’re on
the smooth road.
God
wants us to flee from—not flirt with—sexual immorality.
This
morning, we are going to look at another area where we need to install—or
reinforce— a guardrail.
If
it’s true that the top two issues facing our culture are sex and money, then we
as a church need to talk about sex and money.
We
need to talk about the issues that are plaguing our culture. We need to show
our culture that there is hope, and His Name is Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION- Please understand something,
I am probably the worst person in the world to be talking to you about stuff
and money.
Because I have
a lot of stuff and I want to spend money alot of money.
Sometimes
I have a little kid mentality: I see
something, I want something, and I get something.
Allow me to
expound just a bit: my lovely wife got me a compound miter saw for Christmas a
few years back. She decided that I needed a hobby, so she got me the saw.
What
she didn’t expect was what would come next. In a span of just about one year, I
purchased:
1)
A router
2)
A black and decker sander
3)
An oscillating spindle sander
4)
A drill press
5)
A rotary tool
6)
A scroll saw
7)
A jig saw
8)
A 2nd drill
9)
A new compound miter saw—because the old one was broken.
This list does not include all the wood,
screws and finish needed to make projects like this (display photo of shelf)
My wife, on the other hand, should be the one
standing up here talking to ME about money and stuff….
Friends, I share
that with you to let you know, that I haven’t got this thing all figured out,
but I am slowly coming to the conclusion that unless I establish a guardrail
when it comes to stuff in general and money in particular, I will lead my
family into a dangerous off-limit area.
But, if we’re
being honest with each other, I’m probably not the only one who needs to
install a guardrail.
“According to
the Wall Street Journal, 70% of
Americans are living from pay cheque to pay cheque, and USA Today reported that 55% of Americans admit to “always” or
“sometimes” worrying about money” (Ramsey, 2003, front flap)
Money is putting
unnecessary stress on a good number of people. Perhaps you are one of them.
Perhaps you are
so far in debt that you are secretly hoping that the world would end just so
you can be free from your money troubles.
If so, you need
to establish guardrails, because life isn’t about how much money you have, or
how much stuff you can acquire, life is about being rich toward God.
Our culture
teaches us that the goal of this life is to get as much stuff, acquire as much money,
as you can.
It even went as
far as issuing a statement a while back, a statement that said: “He who dies
with the most toys wins.”
But Jesus, as
was His custom, constantly challenges the world’s philosophy.
He tells us in
Luke 12 to “Be
on your guard against all kinds of greed; (WHY)
a man's life
does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke
12:15, NIV)
Contrary to
popular belief, life is not measured in the amount of money that is in your
bank account, or the amount of stuff that you own.
When God looks
at your life, when God looks at my life, He doesn’t look at the things we have,
He looks at what we do with what we have.
To illustrate this
point, Jesus told a story about a rich man who: “…had a fertile farm that produced fine
crops.”
17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for
all my crops.’
18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build
bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.
19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough
stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
(Luke 12:16-19, NLT2)
Jesus told us
about a man who had enjoyed a banner year, his crops produced more than he had
anticipated, and instead of giving his extra crop away, he tore down the
super-value and put up a super Wal-Mart in its place.
He
would then have all kinds of room to enjoy all his stuff, but notice God’s
response:
“…God said to him,
'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will
get what you have prepared for yourself?'
“This is how it
will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward
God.” (Luke 12:20-21, NIV)
The man in our
story trusted in things that were temporary, leaving no room for that which is
eternal.
Friends, life
isn’t measured on how much money we make, or on how much stuff we have, but
life is measured on being rich toward God.
From this story,
Jesus is telling us that the way to be rich toward God is by remembering that
some things are temporary and other things are eternal.
Thus the need for
guardrails, because they will help us differentiate between the two.
For things are temporary
and people are eternal, and being rich toward God involves focusing on
the eternal more than focusing on the temporary.
ILLUSTRATION- In his book, “When the game is over it all goes back in
the box” author John Ortberg tells of the time that Pastor Bill Hybels
attended a meeting where a speaker stood in front of a large group of people
with a roll of stickers in his hand.
Behind
the speaker on the platform were tables filled with props that represented the
stuff of our lives: A (matchbox) car, a dollhouse, a tiny desk that stood for
our jobs.
The
speaker roamed the stage and placed a red sticker on each item.
He explained that each sticker contained the same word: “Temporary”.
The speaker went
on to say: “Everything that I’m putting a sticker on is temporary. It will not
last. It will fade away.”
Bill
watched as the speaker plastered red stickers on everything sitting on the
stage.
The speaker
walked before the silent room, pronouncing with his hands the ultimate fate of
the greatest goods this world has to offer — “temporary”
The speaker
then went on to say: “there is only one thing in this room that is not temporary.
There is only one item that you will be allowed to take with you from this life
to the next.
He then had a
little girl join him on stage and he put a blue sticker on the collar of her
dress.
“When you get
to the end of your life, he said, and take your last breath what do you want
your life to have been about—what will make you rich in God’s eyes? People.”
(Ortberg,2007.30-31)
Jesus reminds us
that life is not measured by how much we have but who we have.
So I wonder
today what do we need to label “temporary” and what do we need to label “eternal”?
What is your
greatest prize? Is it something you purchased? Or is it a relationship that you
have?
What things to
you need to label “temporary”—your man cave? Your car? Your
cheque book?
What—rather
who—do you need to label eternal? What relationships are suffering
because of your constant want of stuff?
What area of
your life could benefit from a guardrail?
What area of
your life could benefit from a boundary marker reminding you that there is more
to life than simply acquiring goods?
To help you out,
I’ve got a take home exam. I’ve got two cards to give you; one is marked “temporary”
and the other one is marked “eternal”
Can I encourage
you to take these cards home, and place the temporary card on or near that “thing” that you enjoy the most, and
place the eternal card on or near the one relationship that you
should enjoy the most?
This will help
you define what is—and what should be more important to you, because temporary
things won’t last, but eternal things—people—will.
If we establish
guardrails when it comes to stuff, if we remember that stuff is temporary, it
will help us from acquiring more stuff; it will help us from straying into
dangerous off limit zones.
“A prudent person
foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and
suffers the consequences.” (Pr. 27:12,
NLT2)
Is there an area
of your life that could benefit from a guardrail? Are you spending too much
time or money on things that are temporary, on things that will fade away?
If so, the instillation
of a guardrail will prevent you from straying into a danger zone.
Remembering that
things—all things—are temporary, will allow you more time to focus on things
that are eternal: the people in your life.
If God has been
speaking to your heart about your constant need for stuff, maybe it’s time to
install a guardrail, because “…a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his
possessions.” (Luke 12:15b, NIV)
Here's how we're
going to close off this morning: the
band will come back and lead us in our closing song, and if there has been a
tug on your heart today, I want you to come up to the front and pick up these
two cards: Temporary and Eternal.
Say a quick prayer
as your standingn at the front:—“Jesus show me where these cards need to go”—and
go back to your seat.
When the band's
done, I'll pray and we'll go home.
No comments:
Post a Comment