The Miracle of Selflessness (sermon notes)

The Miracle of Selflessness

My life as a born again believer in Jesus Christ has been anything but a continuous climb upwards. Like those who have gone before me, there have been tremendous highs and catastrophic lows. There have been times of great spiritual success and times that I wished I could turn my back on the faith because of discouragement and not being able to “get it”. I have learned many lessons along the journey, most of them the hard way.

However, there is one primary lesson that I have learned and that is the absolute necessity of being able to rid myself, as much as possible, of self seeking, self centeredness, and self pity. My buddy Mark loves to take Goody Powders when he feels physical pain in his body, what I have learned and hope to communicate tonight, is like the Goody Powder for the heart and mind of the Christian. It just works! It brings instant relief and it eradicates pain. The pain relief I am speaking of, I will call “the miracle of selflessness.”

I grew up rather spoiled. I was adopted as a kid and afforded all that a young man would desire. I had a great family growing up but being in private school for 12 years and being a part of a family that provided the way mine did, led me to having a spoiled brat mentality. As I was learning to deal with the adoption as a young boy I went through childhood sexual abuse and later into drug addiction. All of these situations in my life greatly contributed to a preoccupation with self that would almost kill me in my late twenties and early thirties.

This narcissistic way of life ranged from a selfish need to always try to fit in, to a self loathing and self pity, to the extreme selfishness of addiction. Though I grew up in the church and have been in the church my entire life, there was no real conversion in my heart until 1999 and when that happened, all of the self-related preoccupations came with me. It has taken the better part of the last 10 years to come to grips with the Goody Powder of faith that is the relinquishing of self.

Am I totally there? No, not even close. But I have experienced enough of the freedom that comes from the desire to make the choices to follow Jesus instead of my own selfishness. Jesus tells us in John chapter 8, verses 32 and 36 that “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” and that “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” - so why such a lack of freedom in the life of the believer and in the church today? Because many times we profess our faith and trust in Him as Savior but sometimes we do not submit on a DAILY basis to Him as Lord!

In Luke 9:23 Jesus tells us that “any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow [Him].” The freedom comes in the absence of self.

THERE ARE 3 POINTS THAT I WANT TO MAKE CONCERNING ALL OF THIS:

…. TO ISAIAH CHAPTER 58 AND LETS LOOK AT WHAT THE LORD TELLS THE NATION OF ISRAEL:

· Freedom for the Believer (Is 58: 1-11)

1. Heart inclined to selfishness and self-centeredness.

2. Many times we may tend to practice spiritual discipline w/ selfish motives.

3. God’s “fast” is others-centered and focused on the oppressed and less fortunate.

4. God promises freedom to His people when they meet the needs of others.

…. TO PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 2 AND SEE WHAT PAUL SAYS TO THE CHURCH AT PHILIPPI:

· Grace for the Brethren (Php. 2: 1-4)

1. Selflessness brings a fellowship that is in the Spirit of grace.

2. Leaders experience joy when followers are united and like-minded.

3. Selfish gain or vain glory prevents us from granted or receiving grace.

4. Because of grace, we are to always esteem or consider others greater than ourselves.

· Unity for the Body (Ps. 133:1, Eccl. 4:8-12)

1. God has designed the church to function as on Body, in unity.

2. Unity is like precious oil that brings an anointing and blessing.

3. Unity brings strength, safety in numbers and protection for the Body.

4. Unity in the Body unites us with Christ as our head.

Solution

I subscribe to several blogs that relate to social issues within our society, most of which involve homelessness, poverty, the poor, and the ills of alcoholism and drug abuse (also not excluding mental illness). Unfortunately most of these, in many cases, are interconnected. Perhaps the greatest number of comments or posts that follow within the blog rolls include statements like "there has to BE a solution" or questions like "can anything really be done about this?" or "what is the solution?", etc.

It is a great thing to be concerned. It is wonderful to care. It is fantastic to ask questions about what the solution(s) might BE? But we have to get out of looking for and searching for A solution and we must BECOME the solution!

Each and everyone of us has the potential to BE the solution, not just sit back and care about or consider what needs to be done. We become what needs to be done and we just DO IT!

The movie "Blindside" is a perfect example. Any of us can do just that. Many of us have businesses both small and large that can not only hire people that have lost their way in this life, but we can be intentional about seeking these folks out and not just to offer them a job but to experience life with them in a way that both sides are changed forever. We go about our business each and every day having numerous opportunities to make a difference and we pass them by.

How many of us have extra food in the cupboard? How many an extra room in the house? How many of us have some extra furniture that we really do not need? How many the extra couple of hours a week to just sit and develop a relationship with someone who feels like they are a lost cause and that no one will ever truly love them?

It is estimated that there are 3,500,000 people in American that are homeless and that 20% of those have full or part-time jobs but cannot afford housing. It is estimated that the population of the United States is around 309,036,000. Now I am certainly no mathematician and I am reluctant to even include numbers, but for the sake of a comparative example, the difference there is about 305 million people. 3 million homeless (the vast majority due to poverty) and 309 million solutions (or younger, future, potential solutions).

Now, to get even more personal, for those of us that profess to be "born again" Christians....... It is estimated that 42% of the American public attends church WEEKLY. That is 129.7 million people. OK, there are 3 million homeless poor and almost 130 million weekly church-goers in the United States. Is it just me, or is there something TRAGICALLY wrong with that?

Please forgive me if my math is wrong, but this seems to indicate that only around 4% of those attending church weekly need to actually implement what the God of Judeo-Christian values and ethics says about these issues for there to be a tremendous drop in all of the aforementioned so-called "ills" of our society. To me, that is an absolute travesty!

If we, who call ourselves Bible-believing Christians, will do what our Bibles say and teach us, the world would be a radically different place. Millions of people who feel they will never be genuinely loved will truly experience the love of God in their lives. The marginalized of our society will know that they matter, have value and can begin to dream and pursue purpose in life again. People who have given up on themselves because of past sins can know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are forgiven and have a Savior.

Please, it is not enough to care. It is not enough to feel their pain. Please, it is not enough to sit in the comfort of middle/upper class society, enjoying a latte on the back deck (both of which I love) without being willing to share that same joy and pleasure with someone who has never known how great that can be.

Please, stop looking for or praying for a solution and BE the solution!