We
are continuing on today in our current sermon series called: “Greater”.
If
you are visiting with us, I want you to know that I’m super thankful that you
are here; and I also want you to know that over the last two weeks, we’ve been
looking at the life of a Dude by the name of Elisha, and his story can be found
in the books of 1&2 Kings, which is about ¼ way though the Bible.
Using
Elisha’s life as an example, we’re learning that God wants to do something greater in your
life.
What
a great thought for Father’s day! Actually, this is a great thought for any day
of the week.
Whether
we’re successful or not, whether our marriages have fallen apart or not, God wants to do
something greater in your life.
I
want you to think about that for another second… who among us doesn’t want
something greater done in our lives?
ILLUSTRATION- I do!
While I’m relatively happy
with how my life has played out this far—I’ve got a great wife who I drive up
the wall;
I’ve got two awesome kids—thank God they take after their mother—I’ve
got a great job, and I love all of you—most of the time—but I don’t want this
to be it.
I want God to
do something greater in my life; something that I can’t comprehend or fathom.
This
was certainly true in the life of Elisha.
In
1 Kings 19 we are told that Elisha was an ordinary man doing an ordinary job,
when God, through the prophet Elijah, called him to something greater.
Before
Elisha could begin this greater life that God had called him to, there was one
thing he had to do.
Elisha had to burn the plows.
“…Elisha returned
to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a
fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and
they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.” (1 Kings 19:21, NLT2)
Elisha caught a glimpse of the
greater life God had planned for him and he did what he needed to do in order
to follow God: he put to death his old way of life.
If
we want to live into the greater life that God has for us, we must be willing
to burn our plows; we must be willing to get rid of the things that are holding
us back from being a fully devoted follower of Jesus.
Unless
you’re satisfied with living a normal life. If you are, then by all means, keep
doing what you’re doing, keep living as you’re living, but to have God do
something greater in your life, you will come a point in time when God will ask
you to burn your plows; to give up that thing that is holding you back from
following God completely.
I
trust that some of you asked God about what He might want you to give up, and
you were faithful in burning your plows.
Doing so will allow God to do something
greater in your life.
Sometimes living that greater
life involves us doing the big things—such as burning the plows; but sometimes
it involves doing the little things.
Allow
me to set the stage for today’s lesson, which comes from 2 Kings Chapter 3.
A man by the name Joram became the king of Israel
after the death of his brother and their father, King Ahab.
While
Ahab was alive, he forced the king of Moab to pay him an annual tribute of
100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams; but now that Ahab was dead, the
king of Moab decided that he didn't want to keep this tribute going, so he rebeled
against King Joram.
This
news doesn’t sit well with Joram, so he gathererd up some of his best troops
and set out to do battle with the king of Moab.
As
King Joram was on the way, he sent a text message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah
asking him to join forces with Israel and beat up king of Moab.
King
Jehoshaphat sent a reply back telling Joram that he would join the battle, and
then he punches the info into his GPS and figures out that the best way to
attack King Moab would be through the wilderness of Edom.
Along
the way, the King of Edom joins forces with Joram and Jehoshaphat and they
travel in the wilderness for 7 days.
All of a sudden
the 3 armies are confronted with a huge problem.
Here’s
how the problem is explained for us in 2 Kings 3:9: “…there was no water for the men or their
animals.” (NLT2)
ILLUSTRATION- More than once, we’ve been in
the car without any water; and it’s not a pretty sight.
One of us,
usually Erica, will ask for a drink, and we will tell her than there is nothing
to drink; only to have her ask for a drink again 2 minutes later, and we tell
her there is no water….
Now,
imagine being in the wilderness with several thousand of your closest friends, you’re
dressed for battle, and you’re hot, and stinky and smelly, and Silver, your
horse, is just about ready to collapse due lack of water.
Can you imagine
the chaos this would have created?
Almost
immediately Joram thinks the worst. He believes that the Lord brought the three
armies into the wilderness to be killed by the king of Moab.
Fortunately,
Jehoshaphat still has some of his factuality’s, and he asked if there was a
prophet in town that could help them figure this thing out, and he was told
that:
“Elisha son of
Shaphat is here. He used to be Elijah’s personal assistant.” (2
Kings 3:11, nLT2)
Almost
immediately the three kings set out to find Elisha, but when they find him,
Elisha is less than thrilled to see them, particularly King Joram:
“Why are you coming
to me?” Elisha asked the king of Israel.”(2
Kings 3:13, NLT2)
Elisha
recalled how Joram’s parents had oppressed his mentor Elijah so he basically
tells Joram off: “Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother!” (2 Kings 3:13, NLT2)
Because
of Elisha’s respect for King Jehoshaphat he agrees to help the kings out of
their dilemma, and then he asks for: “…someone who can play the harp.” (2 Kings 3:15, NLT2)
Hang
on just a moment... let me see if I understand this right.
The Kings of
Israel, Judah and Edom, and their armies and animals are out in the wilderness
and they are dying of thirst and Elisha wants a musical selection?
To
some of us, this might seem weird, but it’s not totally off base.
ILLUSTRATION- When I talk to God, I
sometimes play a song to put me in the right mindset to hear from God; and this
is what Elisha was doing, he was getting everyone on the same page to hear a
word from God.
Here’s
the message that came from God, by way of Elisha the prophet:
“Make this valley
full of ditches.
17 For this is what
the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be
filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.
18 This is an easy
thing in the eyes of the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you.
19 You will
overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every
good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with
stones." (2 Kings 3:16-19, NIV)
Did you catch
that? Elisha said that victory would come to the three kings if they dug
ditches.
Sounds kind of
different doesn’t it? After all, you’re headed into battle against an enemy and
you’re told that in order to gain the upper hand, you first have to pick up a
shovel and dig a ditch.
Actually, it
wasn’t just one ditch they were to dig. The valley was to be filled with
ditches.
So the armies
set out to obey this command, and they spend all night digging ditches and when
the time for the morning sacrifice arrived, the valley was filled with ditches
which were then filled with water.
By this time,
the Moabites had heard of the three armies coming against them, so they bulked
up and headed into battle, but when they arrived in the valley, the sun was
reflecting off the water — which was there because of the ditches—leading the
Moabites to believe that the three armies had turned on each other and the
battle would be simple.
But it wasn’t,
because Israel, Judah and Edom ran into battle and defeated the Moabites just
as God, through the prophet Elisha, had told them.
So, I would like
to answer a question that some of you may be thinking: how does this story apply to my life?
Sometimes to enjoy the greater
life that God has for us, we will actually have to show up for practice.
(in case you’re wondering, AI said practice 26 times in that rant.)
Sometimes we have to do the
little things well before we can enjoy the bigger things.
Sometimes we
have to spend time with our kids instead of watching the ball game.
Sometimes we’ll
actually have to do the hard work at forgiving the person who wronged us, and
in doing so, we’ll find that we set ourselves free in the process.
Guess what Jesus
had to say about this?
In Luke 16:10,
we read: “If you
are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you
are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater
responsibilities.” (NLT2)
In order to experience the greater life God has for
us, we’ll have to dig ditches.
We’ll have to do
the little things that fathers are supposed to do—tell our kids that we love
‘em, no matter what.
We’ll have to
tell our families that we’re proud of ‘em no matter what.
ILLUSTRATION- There were times that my
father and I fought like cats and dogs.
But when we weren’t fighting, he always made sure to tell me that he
loved me and that he was proud of me, not because of what I had done, but
simply because I was his son.
The battle is won after we dig
our ditches; after a night of prayer, after a phone call asking for
forgiveness, after burning our plows.
So
I wonder how many of the Christ followers in this room today, need to dig some
ditches this week.
If you don’t
profess to follow Jesus, you’re off the hook; you dont have to do a single
thing that you've heard today, but those of us to follow Christ; I wonder how
many of us need to grab a shovel and dig some ditches?
How many of us need to take the
time and do those things we should do with our families to show them that we
love them?
How
many of us need to make a phone call to the person we’ve been avoiding and
begin to make things right?
Who
among us needs to take a step of faith and begin to consider the difference
Jesus wants to make in your life?
“It really
comes down to this: “what small steps and practical preparations is God asking
you to make for the greater life He wants you to live? What ditches is He
asking you to dig?” (Furtick, 2012, 68)
By
now, I hope that some of you have an idea of one ditch that you need to dig;
one area of your life that requires a little elbow grease.
If you are willing to partner
with God and dig that ditch, you’ll be amazed at how God shows up and brings
the water you need to win your battle.
So
as we wind down today, I’m wondering how many of us need to dig a ditch or two
this week?
Ø How
many of us need to say yes to God and dig a ditch with our families?
Ø How
many of us need to say yes to God and dig a ditch with our spiritual lives?
(You will commit to going deeper with God)
Ø How
many of us need to say yes to God and dig a ditch and surrender our lives over
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
The
first step is acknowledging that you need to dig a ditch, the second step is
actually digging it, so while it’s all well and good to say you need to dig,
the question morphs into Will
you dig a ditch?
Will
you actually commit to spending time with your family? Will you actually commit
to knowing more about Jesus? Will you commit to digging a ditch?
If
you’ve answered yes to digging ditches, I'm going to ask you to come up front
and pick up a card off the alter and take it back to your seat, fill it out,
and put it in a location that will remind you to dig a ditch.
As you're coming I will be praying for
you I will pray that you will roll up your sleeves and make your valley full of
ditches.
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