Rev. Dustin ParkerA difficult cal to devotion
A Difficult Call to Devotion
1 Corinthians 7:29-35
In Jesus Name
May you be stripped of all distractions, and fine that what is left is the presence of God, the mercifucl, gracious, loving, peaceful and joyous presence of God. And realizing you are in His presence, may you find the fullness of life.
The Call to the apostolate
What would you have done if you had been there, tired for a hard day’s work?
Could you have found this man’s invitation to leave everything and become His men as irresistible as Simon and Andrew and James and John did?
Would you just up and leave your work, work uncompleted?
Would you leave your co-workers, your homes, your beds, the Superbowl and your families behind without a thought?
What if you were in their shoes that day…
Could you just have gotten up – left it all behind, and followed him?
(Pause)
Could you leave everything you now have – to be with Jesus, to walk with Him?
Could you leave your family behind, so as to concentrate on the work of building God’s kingdom?
What about the joys of life, of watching your grandchildren? Or missing the Patriots win the superbowl, to visit someone who is alone?
What about the need for privacy, to weep because of the strains of life, because of that which you have lost and mourn. Can you leave that behind – to minister to others in Christ’s name?
What about the things you own, your house, your car, your television and bed our bank accounts and credit cards – how attached are we to these things – and could we decide to just drop everything and leave it – because Christ calls us to follow Him on His mission?
If you are thinking that such sacrifices are only for apostles, or pastors, or that we are immune from being required to make such sacrifices, today’s reading from 1 Corinthians is one you really need to hear… and realize…
The call to a devout life… is difficult to hear, yet it is our call as individuals and as a church…
Distractions from the Life
Marriage/Grief/joy,Shopping,
What demands you attention – what is more important, more necessary than walking with God and pleasing Him?
A different example – Is church work dealing with gophers and changing light bulbs, or is it about teaching the word?
As Paul begins what we see as the second paragraph of our epistle today, we see him begin to expound on what he means by “don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily.” He mentions marriage, grief, joy shopping and just the normal things of the world.
His concern is what demands our attention, those things that would tear us apart, should we need to decide between them and spending time with God. The example used is marriage, about the challenge of trying to choose between the demands of serving God and His people and responsibly nurturing and caring for one’s spouse. But the same is true for being pulled away from the joys of life, because someone is in need, or giving up our time of grief – to reach out to others, knowing that life in general is too short – and there will be a day of His glorious return.
It’s not that nurturing a spouse, or enjoying life, or even mourning is not proper – those things clearly have their time – yet those times may be found in competition with where God is taking us in life – and the struggle to be faithful to both can tear someone apart.
Even in the life of a church, this can be true, for we can’t be in all places, doing all things, at all times. There is a time to hunt gophers, and a time to visit shut-ins, a time for meetings and a time for action – and always – there must be times for prayer, and for worship – and a time for simply being quiet and resting and realizing again – we aren’t God – but we are loved by Him. The more encumbered we are with things, the more committed we get to them, and then what happens when they come into competition with time to worship – or time to pray together as God’s family? What if maintaining a facility takes so much energy, time and money the church can’t assist in missions, or spend time in fellowship and Bible Study, or find needs in the community through which we share God’s love with those He has sent us to minister to?
For it is there – walking with the Lord, resting with Him – being guided by Him, that we truly begin to find His glory, and we live – not burdened – but with an incredible sense of joy.
Not the yoke of duty, but the joy of undistracted devotion
Fighting for priority, as opposed to things we do together
Where does Christ need to go? Will we be with Him?
It’s not about me setting my priorities for hwo I will be holy… it’s about being with Him.
The translation I chose for this morning was chosen simply because of the last verse.
35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord
Paul’s reason for advising us to keep life simple is that we can live devoted lives – the kind of lives the apostles struggled to live – as much as we do. The more our life is not distracted – by things of the world, by our stuff, the more time we get to be devoted to God. We are indeed to live a life of devotion, undivided, unsullied, undistracted – yet we live in a world that provides all of this.
But we need to explore this word devotion – or we will hear this exactly as Paul tells us it is not – as a restrain, as law, as duty.
Yet devotion – even living the life of a disciple, is found in the definition of the greek word – the word translates to “constantly sitting near”, being in the presence of. Being with each other – together on the journey.
It hearkens back to the impelling invitation – come learn of me, come with me,
Hebrews 12 states it so well:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT)
Note that we do this – not by our own strength – but by keeping our eyes on Jesus who initiates this journey. You look to Him, go where He leads, walk with Him.
For some of you – that may take you to extraordinary places, for others, the race, the serving of God and His people takes place here. It may seem like the greatest of sacrifices, till you look back and realize something else Paul realized.
8 Yes, I will go further: because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all as filth if only I can gain Christ 9 and be given a place in him, with the uprightness I have gained not from the Law, but through faith in Christ, an uprightness from God, based on faith,
Philippians 3:8-9 (NJB)
This is the time folks – for we too this day, are asked to Follow Him, to the cross He endured for joy, to share in His ministry, to journey with Him, first, last and always to dwell in His presence…
Come, share in His body and blood and life…come be devoted to the Lord, who is devoted to you!
For here – this is peace. AMEN!
1 Corinthians 7:29-35
In Jesus Name
May you be stripped of all distractions, and fine that what is left is the presence of God, the mercifucl, gracious, loving, peaceful and joyous presence of God. And realizing you are in His presence, may you find the fullness of life.
The Call to the apostolate
What would you have done if you had been there, tired for a hard day’s work?
Could you have found this man’s invitation to leave everything and become His men as irresistible as Simon and Andrew and James and John did?
Would you just up and leave your work, work uncompleted?
Would you leave your co-workers, your homes, your beds, the Superbowl and your families behind without a thought?
What if you were in their shoes that day…
Could you just have gotten up – left it all behind, and followed him?
(Pause)
Could you leave everything you now have – to be with Jesus, to walk with Him?
Could you leave your family behind, so as to concentrate on the work of building God’s kingdom?
What about the joys of life, of watching your grandchildren? Or missing the Patriots win the superbowl, to visit someone who is alone?
What about the need for privacy, to weep because of the strains of life, because of that which you have lost and mourn. Can you leave that behind – to minister to others in Christ’s name?
What about the things you own, your house, your car, your television and bed our bank accounts and credit cards – how attached are we to these things – and could we decide to just drop everything and leave it – because Christ calls us to follow Him on His mission?
If you are thinking that such sacrifices are only for apostles, or pastors, or that we are immune from being required to make such sacrifices, today’s reading from 1 Corinthians is one you really need to hear… and realize…
The call to a devout life… is difficult to hear, yet it is our call as individuals and as a church…
Distractions from the Life
Marriage/Grief/joy,Shopping,
What demands you attention – what is more important, more necessary than walking with God and pleasing Him?
A different example – Is church work dealing with gophers and changing light bulbs, or is it about teaching the word?
As Paul begins what we see as the second paragraph of our epistle today, we see him begin to expound on what he means by “don’t complicate your lives unnecessarily.” He mentions marriage, grief, joy shopping and just the normal things of the world.
His concern is what demands our attention, those things that would tear us apart, should we need to decide between them and spending time with God. The example used is marriage, about the challenge of trying to choose between the demands of serving God and His people and responsibly nurturing and caring for one’s spouse. But the same is true for being pulled away from the joys of life, because someone is in need, or giving up our time of grief – to reach out to others, knowing that life in general is too short – and there will be a day of His glorious return.
It’s not that nurturing a spouse, or enjoying life, or even mourning is not proper – those things clearly have their time – yet those times may be found in competition with where God is taking us in life – and the struggle to be faithful to both can tear someone apart.
Even in the life of a church, this can be true, for we can’t be in all places, doing all things, at all times. There is a time to hunt gophers, and a time to visit shut-ins, a time for meetings and a time for action – and always – there must be times for prayer, and for worship – and a time for simply being quiet and resting and realizing again – we aren’t God – but we are loved by Him. The more encumbered we are with things, the more committed we get to them, and then what happens when they come into competition with time to worship – or time to pray together as God’s family? What if maintaining a facility takes so much energy, time and money the church can’t assist in missions, or spend time in fellowship and Bible Study, or find needs in the community through which we share God’s love with those He has sent us to minister to?
For it is there – walking with the Lord, resting with Him – being guided by Him, that we truly begin to find His glory, and we live – not burdened – but with an incredible sense of joy.
Not the yoke of duty, but the joy of undistracted devotion
Fighting for priority, as opposed to things we do together
Where does Christ need to go? Will we be with Him?
It’s not about me setting my priorities for hwo I will be holy… it’s about being with Him.
The translation I chose for this morning was chosen simply because of the last verse.
35 I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord
Paul’s reason for advising us to keep life simple is that we can live devoted lives – the kind of lives the apostles struggled to live – as much as we do. The more our life is not distracted – by things of the world, by our stuff, the more time we get to be devoted to God. We are indeed to live a life of devotion, undivided, unsullied, undistracted – yet we live in a world that provides all of this.
But we need to explore this word devotion – or we will hear this exactly as Paul tells us it is not – as a restrain, as law, as duty.
Yet devotion – even living the life of a disciple, is found in the definition of the greek word – the word translates to “constantly sitting near”, being in the presence of. Being with each other – together on the journey.
It hearkens back to the impelling invitation – come learn of me, come with me,
Hebrews 12 states it so well:
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT)
Note that we do this – not by our own strength – but by keeping our eyes on Jesus who initiates this journey. You look to Him, go where He leads, walk with Him.
For some of you – that may take you to extraordinary places, for others, the race, the serving of God and His people takes place here. It may seem like the greatest of sacrifices, till you look back and realize something else Paul realized.
8 Yes, I will go further: because of the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, I count everything else as loss. For him I have accepted the loss of all other things, and look on them all as filth if only I can gain Christ 9 and be given a place in him, with the uprightness I have gained not from the Law, but through faith in Christ, an uprightness from God, based on faith,
Philippians 3:8-9 (NJB)
This is the time folks – for we too this day, are asked to Follow Him, to the cross He endured for joy, to share in His ministry, to journey with Him, first, last and always to dwell in His presence…
Come, share in His body and blood and life…come be devoted to the Lord, who is devoted to you!
For here – this is peace. AMEN!
