Hebrews 12:1 - Finishing the Race

Source

Preached at Community Christian Church

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, August 4, 2013

           

Hebrews 12:1-13, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.  Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”

Have you ever felt like quitting?   Have you ever been ready to give up, to throw in the towel?  Some of us were there just last week, right?  Some of us may be there almost every day.  You know what I mean?  If you’ve been there, or maybe are there right now, then you need to know how to answer the question, “SHOULD I?”  And you need to know why…

This thing called Being a Christian, living for Jesus Christ not for yourself, this thing called Participating in the Lord’s Church in a vibrant, growing, fruit-bearing way - did you know what you were getting into when you said ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ?  When you confessed Him before me, when you submitted your life to Him as your Master and owner, when your old selfish sinful person DIED with Him in that watery grave of Christian baptism, when you were raised with Him to walk in newness of life.  Did you know what you were getting into?  And are you ready now that you’ve come to recognize what this kind of commitment really means, are you ready to give it all up? 

Quitting, giving up, throwing in the towel on being a Christian.  Whether we’re brand new in the faith, or have been a Christian for decades, likely most of us, at one time or another, have been so discouraged, so overwhelmed by temptation, so overcome by guilt because we’ve failed the Lord, that quitting seems to be our only option.  The question is, “SHOULD we?”  Should you, should I, QUIT? 

Before you answer that, let me ask you to consider, what if Noah had decided to stop his work on the ark at the 50% mark?  What if Abram, when God called him to follow Him all the way to Canaan land, had decided to pack it in at Haran and go no further?  What if Moses had given up after the 7th, 8th or even 9th plague?  Then, what?

Well, thank God we don’t have to answer those ‘what ifs,’ do we, because none of them are true, right?  Those Old Testament men of Faith, and many other faithful men and women of that era, didn’t quit.  Though full of imperfections and glaring weakness, nonetheless, they didn’t give up and throw in the towel when it came to following God.  And as such, as this great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, what do you think their answer is to the ‘SHOULD I’ quit question? 

Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  How is it that a cloud of witnesses, a roll call of faithful men and women, Abel, Enoch, Sarah, Jacob, Joshua, Rahab, how is it that these people’s lives and ‘testimonies’ actually serve to spur us on to run, when we’d rather quit?  Think about it with me. 

I’ve never been a coach - football, basketball, baseball - but I’ve played all three sports, little league, junior high, high school, and here’s what I’ve learned about winning and losing.  If you want to learn how to win, pay attention to how the LOSERS play the game…  Now, wait a minute.  Did I say that right?  And, did you hear that right?  Pay attention to the LOSERS if you want to learn how to win?  Huh?! 

Wrong!  You knew I was wrong, didn’t you?  Those who want to LEARN how to win, they don’t focus on the LOSERS, do they?  No!  They look at the winners! 

Hebrews chapter 11, the passage immediately preceding our sermon text, the so-called ‘Hall of Fame of the Faithful’ passage, why is it in the Bible?  For that matter, why are the fuller accounts found over in places like Genesis and Exodus, 1 Samuel and 2 Kings, why are those passages in the Bible?  To say to us, sort of like a coach in the sidelines, to shout at us, ‘Don’t quit!  Finish the race!  Don’t quit!  Keep going, all the way to the end!’ 

Throw in the towel, should you?  No!  Look at the winners, they’re saying, they’re example, it’s showing you and me that it’s possible to finish the race!  Jesus said, “He that endures to the end will be saved,” (Matthew 10:22).  ‘Jesus, You’ve gotta be kidding!’  Jesus said, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life,” (Revelation 2:10).  ‘No way, Jesus, there’s just no way I can make it all the way to the end!’   That may be what you and I are FEELING, but hear me, don’t listen to your feelings!  They’re wrong!  No!  Look at the winners!  Why?  Because their example SHOUTS to us the message that winning, finishing the race, IS possible.  It IS possible with God!  Through Jesus Christ!  Then, what?  Don’t quit!  Finish the race! 

Look to the winners!  Why?  Because they’re example will show you what you need to see and understand, and what is that?  Namely, that the CLOSER you get to the finish line, the HARDER it gets!  No surprises there, right?  Well, maybe for some of us.  Don’t believe me?  Ask Abraham.  He’ll tell you.  ‘Abe, how hard was it for you and Sarah to wait for little Isaac to finally be born?  Pretty hard, right?  But, tell us, was waiting all those years as hard as taking your dearly beloved son, Isaac, up Mount Moriah to offer him as a sacrifice?’  The closer you get to the finish line, the harder it gets.

Ask Moses, how hard was it for you leave the luxury of Pharoah’s palace?  Pretty hard, right?  Especially when you had to trade it in for tending your father-in-law’s sheep in nowheresville.  But, then, how hard was all of that compared to having to stand toe-to-toe with Pharoah, the most powerful king at the time, and demand that he let your people go?

Or, how about Daniel and his three friends, how hard was it for you fellows to forego the king’s rich food in order to obey God’s laws and maintain your purity?  Pretty tough, right?  10 day long veggie and water fast, right?  But, then, how did that compare to when you fellows either had to say ‘yes’ to God and to a lions’ den and a fiery furnace, or ‘yes’ to the king?  How hard was that? 

Are you thinking about quitting?  My friend, don’t do it, even if the going gets tougher the further along you go!  No!  Look at the winners, consider their example, their ‘testimony’, if you please, and through the strength of God’s Spirit finish the race!  Keep the faith! 

Yes, look at the winners, that great cloud of witnesses, the Noahs and Abrahams, the Joshuas and Calebs, the Clintas and Eds and Dorises.  Look at them, at their example and what do you see?  Here’s what you see, you see how to run with endurance, you see how to finish the race.  Two words, repeated nearly 20 times in Hebrews chapter 11, what are those two words, the two words that summarize how we are to run so as to win?  By faith.  By faith.  Trusting in the unseen hand of God to strengthen them, to guide them, to protect them, to bless them.  These Old Testament worthies learned that if they were going to finish the race they must lighten the load, and yes, they must loosen their chains.  But, most important of all, if they were going to finish the race, they must look to the Savior, by faith!  They must lean on His ever-lasting arms! 

Quitting, throwing in the towel, giving up.  Have you been there before?  Maybe that’s where you are now?  Not many months ago that’s where I was, some of you know the details, and believe me, it wasn’t pretty.  ‘God, are you finished with me?  Am I no longer useful to you?’  For my family and me, that was our wilderness period.  But, because, ultimately, HE is faithful, God brought us through that time, to where we are today.  Praise Him!  And you know what He’s shown us through all of it?  Just like Hebrews 11 and 12 indicate, those winners, the example of those Old Testament men and women showed us that it’s worth it.  It is worth it to endure.  It’s worth it to persevere and finish the race! 

Let me show you what I mean.  Hebrews 12:6 – Ever feel like quitting because you think that God has abandoned you or given up on you?  Don’t do it!  His rebuke, His chastening, His discipline which may very well be what He’s carrying out through the hard things in your life, what’s He trying to say to you through all of that?  Hebrews 12:6, “I love you!  You are My child!  I lovingly accept you as My child!  I delight in you!”  Is it worth it to endure?   Look at the winners, not the losers: the Cains, the Achans, the Sauls, the Ahabs.  No, look at the winners.  And, what’s their testimony?  ‘It’s worth it to endure, Hebrews 12:10.  Yes, even to endure the correcting instruction and discipline of the Lord – why?  Because His goal, His target in working all of that in our lives is to prepare us to share in His holiness!  And to produce the peaceful fruit of righteousness, as we allow Him to train us, Hebrews 12:11. 

Quitting, throwing in the towel.  Giving up, perhaps, when you think God has given up on you.  Look at the winners, that Great Cloud of Witnesses that, like a cheering crowd urging us on to the victory, surrounds you and me.  Look at them and hear their words.  Listen to their testimony, including all the trials and hardships, what all of that mean for them, and what do they?  Don’t quit!  It’s worth it!  Don’t quit!  By faith, you can make it!  Don’t quit!  Sure, it will get harder the further you go, but don’t quit.  Through Christ, you can win, you can finish the race! 

Through Christ…  Look at the winners.  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” ‘Jesus, did you ever feel like quitting?   Did you ever feel abandoned, like God had given up on you?’  Look to the winners – yes!  And, don’t quit.  But, listen, as important and meaningful as their example, their testimony might be, they are not the Author and Pioneer, the Originator of our faith, nor are they its Finisher, its Perfecter.  But He is.  Even more, even better, because HE didn’t quit, because He obeyed His Father all the way to Calvary, where did that put Him, ultimately, and where does that leave us, as we battle the urge to quit? 

Here are the answers flowing forth joyfully, powerfully, from this Book, this Word from our great God: because Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame, because He made it all the way to His ‘it is finished’ moment, NOW He is right where we need Him to be, at the right hand of the throne of God – why?  So that there, at God’s right hand, as One who faced His own ‘I’m gonna quit’ crisis moment, He can intercede for you and me.  So that there, from there, at God’s right hand, He can dispense the mercy and extend the grace we’ve got to have to help us in our time of need. 

Don’t quit!  Look to Jesus!  He’s been there.  Don’t give us, look to Jesus, He IS there, at God’s right hand to help you, to strengthen your limp hands and your feeble knees.  Look to Jesus, trust in HIS strength, and run!  All the way to the end. 

The Blessed Unity of God's People

Preached at Community Christian Church, Durant, Oklahoma

David P. Kautt

Sunday Morning, June 23, 2013

Psalm 133:1-3, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.”

                                                                   

You don’t have to be much of a historian to know that the history of the world is replete with examples of brothers who couldn’t get along with each other.  Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, even Jesus and his brothers.  All of these names are names that are or were associated with the opposite of what David the psalmist describes for us here.  Unity, oneness.  But, not just unity among any group of people – the Sooners and the Longhorns, the Democrats and the Republicans – but unity, the BLESSED unity of the people of God, brothers and sisters in Christ who truly are one in the Lord. 

For the next few minutes, I want to invite you to explore this subject with me, to investigate what this Book, God’s Book, has to say about the subject.  And, then, come around with me to ask ourselves, “what must I do to preserve and promote this precious commodity we call unity?” 

Someone who probably was a little burned out on church as, too often, too many of us have experienced it, rewrote a famous Scripture passage like this: “For where two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, THERE trouble is about to break out!” 

DIS-unity, broken fellowship, churches split WIDE open, far too many of us have experienced far too many of those gut wrenching, heart-breaking situations, haven’t we?  And, maybe we have come to expect it, even accept it, as the norm.  But, listen, take careful note of what David the psalmist has to say about the subject: “Behold!...”  What a great word that is, to begin a brief and potent passage like this one.  “Behold!”  That means, “sit up and take notice!”  “Behold!”  That means, “Hey, you there, falling asleep in your pew, wake up!  Pay attention!”  What I am about to describe for you is not ‘ho-hum, who cares?!’ stuff.  No!  Rather, the unity, the blessed unity of God’s people is worth talking about!  Worth learning about and studying out!  Worth praying for and striving after in the manner God lays out for us here. 

And, why is it, why is unity between BROTHERS and SISTERS in Christ so valuable, so precious?  True Christian unity, rooted as it is in our fidelity, our faithfulness to things as God originally intended them to be, the language of the Psalmist here is so simple, even a child can understand it, and it is packed with a punch.  Take a look.  David writes, “Behold!  For brethren to dwell together in unity, how good and how pleasant that really is!” 

Recently, at my mother’s home in Dallas, where my family and I have been living for the last year or so, we have been gathering in the peaches that have been falling from the big tree in her back yard.  Several Tupperware®-type boxes full of them have been stowed away in the freezer, and several dozen have been blended up into frosty fruit smoothies to be drunk or poured over our favorite breakfast cereals. 

I know that about now I’m making you hungry.  But, listen – my favorite use of the peaches is what my daughters concocted last week: peach crisp.  Toasted oats, chopped almonds and peaches, and a little cane sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top for good measure.  One word sums up the whole thing; what’s the word?  No, not delicious.  No, not exquisite.  Ok, here’s the word: ‘Sweet’. 

What makes the unity of God’s people, the BLESSED thing it is, is that – like my daughters’ delicious peach crisp and like the pungent, aromatically-pleasing oil poured over the head of Aaron and the high priests who succeeded him – the beautiful, blessed unity of God’s people is sweet.  Exceedingly, exquisitely SWEET. 

To use a different word picture, unity, brothers and sisters in Christ saying to each other, NOT ‘get out of my face!’, NOT ‘get out of my life!’, but ‘I’m praying for you, brother,’ and ‘I’m thanking God for you, my sister…’  Those words, those thoughts and feelings conveyed through tender and affectionate words, you know what they are, don’t you?  They are MUSIC to the ears of every true Christian, and MUSIS, sweet, heavenly music to the ears of our Savior, Jesus Christ! 

Unity, the blessed unity of the people of God is sweet, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments.” 

But, then note with me also that unity, rooted in faithfulness to God’s original design and plan, heart-felt oneness produced by the Holy Spirit of God, it is satisfying.  Intensely, overwhelmingly satisfying.  For years my family and I have longed for a church home where the truth, spoken in love, is the norm.  A church home where each and every part of the Body is growing up in all things into Him who is the Head, even Christ.  A church home as Paul says in Ephesians 4:16, where the whole Body truly is “joined and knit together…”  Together, I love that word, don’t you?  That’s the kind of church home we have been yearning for, hoping for, praying for, and it looks like maybe we have found that home.  But, why would a family like ours even give such a desire and pursuit a second thought?  Psalm 133:3.  Because, like the dew of Mount Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion, unity, the blessed unity of God’s people that this Book describes in places like Acts and Romans and 1 Corinthians and Ephesians and Philippians, it is satisfying, like finding a refreshing oasis after a long trek in the desert.   Like finally seeing the light at the end of a very dark and very, very long tunnel.  Unity, this kind of unity where those who wear the name of Christ are fully committed to believing and obeying this Book is satisfying!  It is satisfying! 

Now, before we go on, we must come to understand three important aspects of Biblical unity.  Likely, we’d all be glad to taste the sweetness of genuine Christian unity, and to experience the satisfying nature of it in our lives and church involvement.  But, what must we understand about it, if we are to go after it?  If we are to pursue it?

Three things, three important aspects of unity, like the legs on a three-legged stool, each one of them is crucial to making it work.  Number one: genuine Christian unity has a doctrinal aspect to it.  Recently, I have had some rather lively discussions with a friend of mine who claims to be a Christian, claims allegiance to Jesus Christ, claims he believes the Bible, and yet at the same time he holds to the unscriptural belief that a certain present-day African religious leader by the name of Alumbu-Alumbu-Abu is Jesus Christ returned in the flesh.  What did the true Jesus have to say about false Christs and false prophets appearing more and more as the end of this age drew near?  Unity, that sweet, satisfying, Bible-centered, Christ-centered, oneness David the psalmist describes – is that possible, with someone who believes something like that?  I hope you know the answers to that!  Of course I can’t be one in spirit with someone whose doctrinal beliefs are so out of alignment with this Book.  Unity, true Christian unity rooted in fidelity to God’s original design and plan, I know that that is a rather astonishing example, my friend and his erroneous belief about the African preacher, but take note anyway, will you please?  My brothers and sisters, this is why – THIS is why, 2 Timothy 2:15 – we must give our very best efforts toward rightly, properly, dividing, interpreting the Word of Truth!  Unity, doctrinal unity is at stake!  God does care what you believe!  And that is because true Christian unity is inextricably bound to truth – believing and obeying the truth as it is made known in this Book!  This Book, these words, were breathed out by God to make clear what we need to know, understand and hold to, and, to protect us from being blown and tossed about by every wind of false doctrine!  (Ephesians 4:15)

By the way, in my experience, the more I take God at His word and humbly submit to it and obey it, the more of it I come to understand!  That’s the ‘I’ll SEE it, when I BELIEVE and OBEY it principle.’ 

Doctrinal unity: what you and I believe about God, about Christ, about Salvation, about the Church, and so on.  That’s the first aspect of Biblical unity. 

Then, there’s aspect number two.  It’s what I call Behavioral unity.  Or, what might also be called Moral unity. 

I don’t know if you have figured this out yet, but if you haven’t I hope that what I’m about to say will help you.  Here goes: what you believe, your ‘doctrine’, directly affects how you behave.  You may not have thought about it quite this way before, but a Christian’s behavior, Christ –like or not Christ-lie, affects the unity of Christ’s Church.  Let me give you some examples.  What if I was in the habit of lying to the Elders, what would that do to my unity with them?  What if I was in the habit of stealing from the Church offerings, or if my wife was in the habit of gossiping about the other women in the church?  What is that going to do, what is our behavior, going to do to the unity of the church?  The Apostle Paul answers that for us when he wrote these words to Titus, in Titus 1:15-16,

“To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.”

Beloved, you and I can either build or blast away at the sweet, satisfying, Spirit-produced unity God intends for His people to enjoy by what we Believe, or don’t believe, AND by how we behave!  Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven…”  Have you looked in the mirror lately?  When it comes to your behavior, your morality, are you a unity builder, or a unity blaster?  True Christians, because they are motivated by love, both of the One who first loved them AND love for their fellow believers, will seek to BUILD unity by both their belief in and their obedience to the truth. 

Thirdly, there is what I call a RELATIONAL aspect to unity.  How many of you have noticed the numerous ‘one-another’ passages in the New Testament?  Pray for one another, encourage one another, show hospitality one to another, edify one another, love one another, and so forth.  These ‘one another’ passages point up the third leg of the three-legged stool called Christian Unity.  This leg is the one I call the RELATIONAL leg.  Like the other two legs of the unity stool, this leg is crucial also.  For you see, through our pursuit of godly relating and relationships, we can actually PROMOTE unity in God’s Church…  But, what if you and I instead are like Diotrophes?  Ever heard of Diotrophes?  The Apostle John, writing in that little letter we call 3rd John, rebukes this man Diotrophes – why?  Because he loved the preeminence, because he always, ALWAYS had to be first, up front, at the HEAD of the line.  To put it bluntly, the Apostle John rebuked him because he was selfish, and what do you think that ME-centered attitude and way of relating to his fellow Christians did to the unity of the church?  Beloved, by our attitudes, Christ-like or not, by the Biblical or UN-Biblical way in which we relate to our fellow believers, we can either build up or blast away at the sweet, satisfying unity God desires for His people to enjoy. 

Which leads me then, to the last and perhaps most important thing I want you to know about the blessed unity of God’s people.  Whether it’s Psalm 133, or Acts 2, or Romans 15, or 1 Corinthians 12, or Philippians 2, or Ephesians 4 – whether it’s the moving account of the reuniting of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 45, or the touching description of the heartfelt friendship of David and Jonathan, or the power prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, the message is all the same.  Through the Scriptures, both through precepts and practical examples, UNITY – because God desires it for His people, because God has made provisions for it through the gift of His Word and His Spirit given to His people – unity, the blessed unity of God’s people is SACRED!  Exceedingly sacred!  So sacred, in fact, that God the Holy Spirit would lead His servant the Apostle Paul to pen these words about unity, in Ephesians 4:1,

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

And with these words from the hymn “The Church’s One Foundation” I will close:

“The Church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is His new creation by water and the Word:
From heav’n He came and sought her to be His holy Bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.

Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation, One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

’Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace for evermore;
Till, with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won:
O happy ones and holy!  Lord, give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, in love may dwell with Thee.”

What Does it Mean to Love the Lord Our God?

Preached at Community Christian Church, Durant, Oklahoma

David P. Kautt

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Matthew 22:34-40, “But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”  Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

            How many of you have a ‘life verse’?  Maybe you’ve never heard the term ‘life verse’ before, so let me briefly explain.  Likely, a lot of us have a favorite Bible verse or passage; John 3:16, the twenty-third psalm, something like that.  But that’s not what I have in mind when I ask, “How many of you have a ‘life verse’?”  What I mean by a ‘life verse’ is a verse that, when you run across it, when you read and study it, delve into what it means by what it says and how all of that relates to your life, you say to yourself, ‘Hey!  That’s what I want my life to be all about!’  ‘Hey!  That’s how I want God to work in my life, how I want to see Him work in me and through me. 

So, now that I have explained what I meant by my initials question, allow me to ask it one more time, “How many of you have a ‘life verse’?”  And, if I may be so bold, what is your ‘life verse’?  Anybody? 

I noticed two or three things in today’s worship bulletin that I wanted to connect with for just a minute, while you’re pondering my ‘life verse’ question.  First of all, the insert sheet that gives you a glimpse into who I am and what kind of family the David Kautt family is.  Some of our life verses are Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight…”  Out in the margin beside those verses in several of my Bibles I have written my name, David Kautt, why?  Because those verses encapsulate at least a part of what I pray God is making of my life, of my family member’s lives.  The same holds truth with 2 Timothy 2:20-26.  Look those verses up, read them, and, if you’d like, ask me, ask us, how they connect with who we are, how they relate to what we pray God is doing in and through our lives. 

Yes, I noticed the info published about my family and me, and I appreciate the ‘red font’ and ‘green sheet’ welcome you have extended to us so far!  But, what I also made notice of is that today, May 19, 2013, you are honoring all the mothers and all the graduates!  Nathan H., your Youth Minister, and Garrett L., who is graduating from Durant High School, are the graduates.  And, you ladies, you know who you are, the dear women who have been God’s instruments in giving birth to us, you are the other honorees today.  Congratulations to all of you, praise God for all of you! 

But, listen, now that I have hopefully connected with virtually all of you – mothers, graduates, prospective minister and others – let me ask you another rather important question: what is your life’s PURPOSE?  I mean, mothers, you give birth to those precious little babies, knit together so skillfully, so wondrously by the hands of Almighty God, in your womb, God uses you, as His vessel to bring these little ones into this world.  Now what?  Do you see it, ladies?  And fellows, those of us who are their husbands, and the fathers of those dear children, do we see it?!  And are we, as the ones God has called, commissioned, and yes, empowered by His Holy Spirit to assist our dear wives in seeing it and acting upon it, are we leading them to carry it out?  Ladies, mothers, what IS your life’s PURPOSE?  Matthew 22:37-39 – you’re more than just a ‘baby-making machine’!   You are more, God intends for you to be MORE than just a ‘homeroom mother’, or a ‘soccer mom!’  Several years ago, the Christian recording artist Steve Green sang a song that included the following line in it: “To love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission…”  Mothers, ladies, you want to zero in on a powerful, course-altering ‘life verse’ or ‘theme’?  There it is: Matthew 22:37.  All that you do, all that you are, all that God wants to do THROUGH you and make OF you, can be summed up in that verse, and in the two or three verses that follow it! 

As you learn what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and as your PURSUE loving God that way, realizing - as 1 John 4 puts it - that you love God because He first loved you.  You know what?  I’m certain that God will, then, help you recognize how He wants to use you, how He’ll give you what it takes for Him to use you, to instill that all-encompassing love for God in your children!  Ladies, mothers, let’s say it again, shall we?  Repeat it after me, “To love the Lord our God is the heartbeat of our mission.” 

Then, Garrett and Nathan, where are you, my young friends?  Garrett, how old are you?  You will be graduating from Durant High School any day now, right?  Garrett, 34 years ago this week I graduated from High School, and what a huge step, what a wonderful milestone that is in your life.  Congratulations! 

And, Nathan, I understand that you walked across the stage at SEOSU, a week ago yesterday.  It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get that sheepskin, didn’t it?  30 years ago this month, I was blessed by God to be able to do the same.  Congratulations to you, too! 

But, Garret and Nathan, now what?  What is your life’s purpose?  Being a student, either in a desk in a classroom, or at a keyboard and in front of a screen at home, being a student is fine and dandy.  I spent 22 years of my life in school, counting kindergarten, elementary, junior high, high school, college and graduate school. 

But, listen, fellows, even as a Christian student, to be perpetually pursuing another diploma or another degree, if Jesus’ words in Matthew 22 have any truth and meaning to them, sitting in a classroom or in front of a key board and screen is not your life’s purpose.  What is?  Hey, fellows.  Pop quiz time.  How does the theme phrase go, the one I had the mother’s recite?  Ladies, let’s say it with them, okay?  “To love the Lord our God is the HEARTBEAT of our mission!”  Garret, there’s your life’s PURPOSE: loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.  Nathan, there’s your ‘life verse’, Matthew 22:37, and the verses that go with it. 

But, what does all of this mean?  Can you explain it a little more for me, please?  Well, with what time we have left, let’s do that, shall we?  “To love the Lord our God,” this life’s mission and purpose ‘heartbeat’, “to love Him with all that we are – heart, soul, mind and strength – what we’re talking about, first of all, is relationship, not religiosity.  Love, what is that word?  Well, the English teachers among us will tell us that, depending on context and usage, it may either be a noun – person, place or thing – or, it may be a verb – an action word.  But, if I may, I’d like to suggest to you that the word love, at is core, it is a very powerful and meaningful RELATIONSHIP word!  When Jesus told the Pharisees, and their lawyer spokesman, that the greatest, most important commandment in the law was to love God, He wasn’t suggesting that those Pharisees offer up more sacrifices and bring to the altar more whole burnt offerings.   Jesus wasn’t urging them in the direction of more religiosity!  No!  He rebuked empty religiosity: “These people honor me with their LIPS, but their HEARTS are far from Me!”  (Matthew 15:8ff; Isa. 29:13)  Rather, He was challenging them to go the direction one of their own, a man named Saul of Tarsus, later went.  Yes, Jesus was calling them to “count all things LOSS for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…”  (Phil. 3:7ff)  To love God, to love Him with ALL that we are, that mission, that life purpose, it’s all about relationship.  The surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord, it’s all about relationship, not religiosity. 

Secondly, to love God, to have that PURSUIT as the HEARTBEAT of your life’s mission, it’s about RESPONSIBILITY.  Responsibility, not selfish passivity.  To love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind and strength, it’s kind of like hugging your pillow, squeezing and caressing your favorite pillow cushion, right?  Aw, come on, right?  No, listen, my friends, hugging your pillow has about as much to do with loving God as holding a remote control while you make like a spud on your couch at home does, with standing in the batter’s box commissioned to hit a home run off Yu Darvish!  One is selfish passivity, the other is active, courageous, and yes, even obedient carrying out of one’s responsibility.  Remember how Jesus put it?  John 14:15 – He said, “If you love Me” – there’s that relationship word again.  Now, listen to the second half of the verse again, here’s where the responsibility comes in: “If you love Me, then KEEP My commandments!” 

Jesus, the originator of this first and foremost command, how does He define love?  Whether it’s being used as a noun or verb, the definition is the same: active RESPONSIBILITY – keep my commandments – not selfish passivity! 

Number three, what does it mean to LOVE God?  I mean, if this is to be the HEARTBEAT of who we are as Christians, then we’d better understand it, right?  To love God, to love and serve Jesus Christ, with all that we are, what does that look like? 

Allow me to suggest to you at least two key passages to study for answers to that question.  Matthew 6:1-18, and Matthew 23:25-28.  Find the Matthew 6 passage with me for just a moment.  Scan down through there and note with me that Jesus is teaching about three main subjects: prayer, fasting and alms, or doing what we might call ‘charity work’.  Keep looking down through there and what do you see in verses 1-4, 5-6 and lastly, verses 16-18?  To love God, to loves and serve Jesus Christ, what does it look like?  Well, first off, what it DOESN’T look like is an empty SHOW, a hollow SHADOW:  trying to gain the praise of men, all the while neglecting the evaluation of the Unseen One, the only one Whose approval or disapproval really matters!  To love God, what does it look like?  Well, whatever it looks like, as far as the Father in heaven is concerned, it looks REAL, it IS real, not just for show!

To love the Lord our God, what is it, Christians?  It is the HEARTBEAT of our mission!  And, what does that mean?  Explain it, one more time, will you, please? 

Got your seat belts fastened, yet?  Now’s a good time to do so.  Here’s why: because to love God, with ALL your heart, ALL your mind, ALL your soul, and ALL your strength, you know what it is, don’t you?  You see what it is, don’t you?  It is exceedingly RIGOUROUS.  “If any man would come after Me,” Jesus said, “let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me…”  To love God, to love and serve and obey Christ this way, listen, my friends, it is RIGOUROUS.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it, discipleship is COSTLY.  It is!  But, listen, it also is exceedingly rich and rewarding! 

You see, it is to those who love God in this way that God promises to work all things together for their Good (Romans 8:28).  And, it is to those who love God in this way God promises to know them, to be in loving relationship with them.  (1 Cor. 8:3)  And, to those who love Him, those who love God in this intensely rigorous way, God promises ultimately, to preserve them, deliver them and to set them on high.  (Psalm 145:20, Psalm 91:14) 

Were You There?

5 Warnings/Dangers in Hebrews

1. The Danger of Neglecting One's Salvation

Hebrews 2:1-3: "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.  For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

2.  The Danger of Hardening One's Heart ~ Hebrews 3:7-4:13

Hebrews 3:12, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God."

Hebrews 3:18-19, "And to who did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

3. The Danger of Not Progressing Spiritually ~ Hebrews 5:12-6:12

Hebrews 6:11-12, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

4. The Danger of Drawing Back ~ Hebrews 10:19ff

Hebrews 10:22-23, "Let  us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." 

Hebrews 10:35, "Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward."

Hebrews 10:38-39, ""Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."  But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul."

5. The Danger of Refusing to Listen to and Obey God ~ Hebrews 12:18-29, 13:22

Hebrews 12:22a,24-25, "22 But you have come to Mount Zion... 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.  25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks.  For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven."

Hebrews 13:22, "And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words."

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Hebrews 11 is the famous hall-of-faith chapter.  What was the motivation for all these people of faith - Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Samuel, David - to do these hard things?  "A better resurrection," (v. 35), the heavenly reward they knew they were going to receive. 

Hebrews 11:35b, "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection."

Hebrews 11:39-40, "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." 

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Hebrews 12:1-3, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls."