Shane Willard | Nothing is Wasted

[Music] [Applause] [Music] well good evening everybody it's like ice falling an actual Bible first Corinthians 15 we're gonna get there in just a second as always it's an honor to be here with you and with my friends that we just journey together year after year after year I honor their faith honor their genuineness I'll honor their kindness and I just honor it's not so much what somebody believes it's how they believe what they believe that that matters and whatever you believe if it leads you to being kind and authentic and generous and Christ centered amen and this this the leadership of this place exemplifies that and I'm so honored by it on your way out as always we have our tables set up that's how we feed the poor and the afflicted and take care of mentally handicapped children in China and orphanages and rescue homes in Cape Town the only thing I would ask is always on these midweek nights if you would do so do me a favor and honor my team out there Robin and Linda and Shona and Sonia and the rest of them if you they have a long drive home so if you know you're not gonna get anything we still love you god bless you that's fine um but if you know before I leave I'm gonna get something if you get it first and then get your coffee second I'd be awesome right because it honors them to the fulfillment of Scripture is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you and so we don't want to ever be people who are simply right about the Bible we want to be people who fulfill Scripture by treating others as we would have them treat us and so you could do that tonight in a very simple way by buying first and chatting second that would be just really really good all right so I want to talk to about the cross and resurrection but before I do this is the middle of week and so I'm assuming everybody here is follower of Jesus and I so I want to I want to bring I'm really only have a two-point sermon tonight one is a massive encouragement and the other is a massive challenge but before but before you get to that I want to explain something about the nature of truth a very a very good hearted genuine authentic person who wasn't being antagonistic at all with saying che no I think I follow you but what exactly do you mean by we shouldn't we shouldn't just believe in the cross like well but it should be so what what exactly I I think I know what you mean but and they were really they were it coming from a heart of learning and a heart of curiosity there was no antagonist um in it at all and so I thought I thought you know what I'm gonna take my time tonight and explain what I mean when I say that because I think it's very important not just about the cross and resurrection but other things you might encounter with God or the or scripture or something like that so just quickly about the nature of truth okay truth exists on at least three dimensions and it has to have all three dimensions for it to be effective when we speak of it okay so let me explain if you if you remove any of these any one of these three dimensions truth becomes less meaningful all right so let me explain truth has three dimensions to it the first one is the literal alright so the literal or the objective nature of truth now that that just means something happened somebody told a story you you you you read the story of Joshua and Jericho or you read the story of the cross and resurrection or you read the story of the stoning of Stephen right there is a there's a literal objective part of all of of all truth and but that's only one nature that's only one dimension of truth the second part of truth is the symbolic or the meaning and the symbolic or the meaning actually carries more weight than the literal like somebody asked me in AQA not too long ago Shane was the cross and resurrection just symbolic er wasn't literal and and I said well that's not a that's not a great way to ask that question because if you're gonna use the word just you have to say just literal in other words it's just something that happened that has no meaning if something if something's just literal it has less weight than something that has a lot of meanings to it right because what gives the cross and resurrection meaning we're gonna crawl across the resurrection more weight is the infinite meanings that it carries not necessarily this simple fact that it just happened although we embrace that it literally happened the power in it is an infinite exploration of the meanings and the symbols and what that means for our life so so you have that and then the third element of truth is is the event on a churro vit in other words something happened and we've explored the meanings of that happening so that we don't simply believe into something that happened but that is something that happened that fundamentally shifts the way we see our entire world it has an event I'll qualify is an event that happened that changes the way we see all other events after that okay now let me illustrate this all right let's take let's take an Australian flag if we walked out here tonight and there was a drunk person defecating on an Australian flag or worse a sober person defecating on an Australian flag would you be upset yes but why it's just cloth and thread right no no if the flag is only literal it's only literally cloth and thread but the power of the Australian flag is all the meanings and everything that flag stands for right and so you can't if you remove the meaning from the literal it has less weight to it then they says or maybe the birth of a baby is a better way to explain it so let's say let's say a woman gives birth so she's she's in labor and they've got her in the delivery room and and hearing her comes the boy and there comes the baby right right and that's my best impersonation of a birth I've been a part of so many anyway all right so here comes the baby so they hand they hand this baby they they do whatever they do and they cut the cord and they wipe it off and whatever it is they do and they when you have a baby and then they they wrap the baby up in a blanket and in a hand the baby to the mom and and then and then they they they take the baby from the mom for a second and hand and they say they say sir here's your baby girls so you you hold the new baby and then the guy that the father says Oh she's the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world right now what if somebody in the delivery room was like you know Sheldon Cooper kicked captain literal right and they went really really prove that literally actually there's gonna be a lot of girls that are prettier than her and there's gonna be a lot of girls that are uglier than her she's actually gonna be somewhere in the middle so actually what you should say if your truth teller is oh this is the most average girl in the whole wide world well if somebody said that you a you know what to say to that because you're not speaking of the literal nature of the baby although you believe that the baby's literal you're speaking to the meaning right which is that this girl isn't literally the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world but she her presence has redefined what Beauty means right and so she's the most beautiful because here's the thing right let's say the hospital's overcrowded and you got a lady giving birth here and a lady giving birth there in the same room right and they both at the exact same time give birth like well in here it comes right and you got baby one here baby too wiped off cut clip snip snip right and then they hand both baby girls to the fathers that are standing there and both fathers simultaneously at the exact same time say oh she's the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world are these two people in conflict at this point no they're both speaking of the symbolic nature of the meaning of this new life that has just come into their life but but of course just like with all truth and all new life there has to be an eventful nature to it let me let me explain what I mean so let's say let's say you have a new baby and the hospital releases you and the baby's healthy and on your way home eight doors down a person you've never met has blue balloons in their front yard with a sign welcome to the world Billy now we would make an assumption at that point would we not that that person has had a baby boy and that baby's boy's name is Billy yes and we would fundamentally believe with all of our heart that the literal Billy exists without that literal Billy meaning anything to us but our baby we believe our baby literally exists but it takes a step further and our baby has meaning and symbolism and it's gonna change our life right and so you can believe in something without it meaning anything to you right but then let's say you go home let's say let's say every night of your life you go and throw darts in a darts league with your mates and so you go and you throw darts right and you drink a coke all right all right something nothing harmful nothing nothing bad you throw darts you drink a coke you throw darts you drink a coke you throw darts you take that's what you do right and so the first day home you go out with your friends and you throw darts until 2:00 a.m. and you drink a coke right and the next night you go throw darts and you drink coke and the third night you go throw darts you drinking cocoa finally your wife says excuse me we have a baby now and you go I know and I fully believe in the existence of that baby and not only that I've explored the meanings of that baby and that baby that Bay's most beautiful baby in the whole world to me but until the presence of that new life fundamentally changes the way we see our whole world and changes the way we live there is something missing in the nature of that truth and so when we talk about the Bible or scripture or Jesus or our experience with God we got to be sure that we don't just we don't get stuck in the literal only that there's a way there's a way that you could do a 20-hour presentation on why the resurrection literally happened and it might even could stand up in court but yet still have missed the entire point of everything that means and then it doesn't really change our life and we would be boring which is worse right so we don't want to get too stuck in the literal and we don't want to get bogged down only in the meaning we want to explore the meaning of that literalness until it fundamentally shifts the way we say our whole world so when we look at scripture we want to look at the literal and by the way sometimes the literal is fiction right if the original author intended to write a fictional story you have to interpret it is fiction if you're if the original author intended to write a poem you can't interpret it like a history book if it's originally a poem you can't interpret it like a science book yet like if I took us to Israel and you asked the history expert excuse me can you take me to the farm where the parallel the prodigal son happened they would be like what that's a made-up story it's a parable but but it's it's literal in the sense that Jesus told the story so its objective in the sense that told the story even though it's a fiction story and then that parable has lots of meanings and then hopefully if we explore the meanings with the help of the Holy Spirit it will then empower us to live our life different so that's what I mean when I say I want to talk to you about the cross the resurrection but not as a belief we already believe it I don't want to tell you something you already believe so you could go Oh amen that's good you know right I I mean I I don't mean I don't mean the cross and resurrection as a bullet point on a pamphlet I mean I want to examine some of the meanings of the cross and resurrection to fundamentally shift the way we see our whole world and how do people who've embraced this fundamentally see they're all different so there's this guy named Paul and Paul is examining this in first Corinthians 15 first Corinthians 15 is 58 verses long in biblical terms that is a saga that's the Shawshank Redemption okay that is a long passage of Scripture and he is examining not the literal resurrection he's referencing the literal resurrection in a way to go okay because Jesus rose this is what this means for our world and frankly he says some things that make you go but like so you see the mortal must put on the immortal to inherit the imperishable okay right right so you see because of resurrection we no longer have to baptize dead people which leads all kinds of questions like was that ever a problem right all kinds of things but like all great rabbis he summarizes everything in one statement at the end so if you can't make it through first Corinthians 15 just go to the end and because Paul's a rabbi he'll be like in case you missed it all here's here's what I mean right this is first Corinthians 15:58 this is his summary of the first fifty seven verses watch what he says therefore my dear brothers and sisters stand firm let nothing move you always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain Paul summary of the meaning of resurrection for our world was simply this if you woke up today saying yes to the infinite possibilities God has for you and you've given whatever gift is on your life back to God to be used whether it works or whether it doesn't work you have never wasted your life never which leads me to this do we actually believe that and if we did how would that change how we measure results and happiness and meaning do we actually believe that it's very easy to believe that when it works when you put on an event and end up and you expected a hundred people and 225 show up very easy to believe that but when you put your heart and soul into an event and you're expecting 100 people and 23 show up and then we're tempted to disregard the 23 people there at the expense of focusing on the 77 that aren't that's when we have a problem do we actually believe that we can never waste our life if we woke up today doing what we're doing for God so my encouragement to you tonight is simply this be encouraged if whatever you're doing for God if you're doing it for God you cannot waste your life if it works and I hope it does nothing is wasted if it doesn't work and I hope you never have to face that but this is earth we will have to face that whether it works or whether it doesn't work it doesn't matter because you don't waste your life if you did it for God I have the gift of teaching when I exercise that gift to teach if I hope you like me and I hope you buy what I sell I hope you do I really believe that the stuff I've put my effort into to communicate if we got if we just grabbed a bit of it it would change our lives I believe that and I hope you will and I hope you do but truth of it is is whether you like it or whether you don't like it I did not waste my life because I did it forgot if you operate in the prophetic and you give a pretty and you step out and do a brave thing and you say you know I feel like I have a word for you and you share that word and they cry and they hug you and they go you just nailed that you didn't waste your life but if they run and call you a weirdo you also didn't waste your life because you did it for God if you're exercising the gift of encouragement and you feel you say I need to encourage that person and you walk over and you say you know I just want to give you an encouragement today and they cry a little bit they hug you and they say I really needed that you didn't waste your life but if they slap you and run you also didn't waste your life because you did it for God if you're the youth pastor and you put on a youth event and you put your heart and soul into it and you do it the best you can do and you do it with excellence and you do good marketing and you do everything and you know what and it works great you didn't waste your life but if it doesn't go as well as you thought you also didn't waste your life because you did it for God paul is saying because of resurrection no matter what if you did it for God you cannot waste your life you cannot waste your life now what if we actually believe that how would that change the world around us how would it change how we measure results in happiness how would it change how would it change our willingness to give something ago how would we change it that way what happens when it doesn't work so well can we still come back to the scripture and the Word of God and say you know what you know that didn't work so well but that doesn't mean I wasted my time because I did this for God and nothing is wasted nothing is wasted when you're coming to the end of a season and you look back on that season in you go were we effective and you'll be able to think of stuff oh yeah that was effective and that was effective and that was safe and you'll also be able to think of people who didn't like you so much right you go off and then the temptation of the enemy it's not to focus on the things that mattered but to focus on the one or two people he didn't like you so he started thinking all you know what I in that the psychological term is to generalize the particular so one particular person thought you were worthless also nobody listen to anything we do right but the encouragement is simply this if you did it for God if they liked it if they didn't like it you never ever waste your life because nothing is wasted nothing is wasted now which leads me to the story in the Old Testament it's such an important story that it's told twice from two different perspectives in two different books let me show you the first one so this is a story about David in a cave called agile 'im let me just set it up real quick um David is a shepherd he brings crackers and cheese to his brothers there's a Philistine warriors chanting people he acts in faith goes out defeats the the Giant gets promoted becomes very very popular the King hates it and so he ends up on the run and he ends up in a cave now when you act in faith and you defeat the Giant and you step up and you get promoted the last thing you're thinking is I'm gonna end up in a cave right but this is exactly what happens so watch what happens so David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Agilent when his brothers it is unbelievable if you think about this in context when his brothers and his father's household heard about it okay there was no internet or cell phones or GPS is right they heard about it they went down to him there and all those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him and he became their commander 400 of them now a couple of observations about this one if you read David's life David is sort of Jack Bauer with a slight violence problem okay he is a special-forces dude he is very adept at hand-to-hand combat evidently he killed a lion once with his bare hands another time he killed a bear he kills a nine-foot Philistine warrior he is he's a bad dude right but at as good as he is at hand-to-hand combat what we find is that he sucks at hiding okay he's very good at in in combat but when he tries to hide 400 people and his family know where he's at you suck at hiding now that's one too it says all those who were in distress in debt and discontented that sounds like an empowering group of people to be around listen this guy has he done anything wrong yet no he brought cheese he acts in faith he defeats the Giant he gets promoted and he ends up in a cave surrounded by people with issues now when you end up in a cave surrounded by 400 people with issues and they asked you to be their commander what's that called that's called pastoring it's called being in ministry that's called being in leadership Oh God I have just caught myself in a cave with 400 people with issues who want me to be their commander that's what this is okay now this guy's acted in faith he becomes 400 people with issues pastor right this is not going like he thought now watch this from there David went to miss pon Moab and said to the king of Moab would you let my father and mother come and stay with you right because he knew the phils needs to be after them and he and he don't want your mom in a cave with 400 men with his shoes not safe right so he left did the king of Moab and they stayed with him as long as David's and strong but the Prophet gad said to david don't stay in the stronghold go into the land of judah so even though the prophet says this is not safe either you you're hiding from a king and 400 non Kings know where you are doesn't take a prophet to tell you don't stay here right so david has to leave now in case you're not following the story here we go David's being hunted he's surrounded by people with issues and his family right and the enemy has his hometown under siege just a quick geography lesson you have the cave Evangeline the cave Evangeline is high on a mountain it goes down into a valley called refine at the bottom of that Valley over here is Bethlehem that is where David is from he could have seen it from he could have seen all this from the top of this mountain and what the Philistines did was instead of taking vengeance in Jerusalem what they did is they got intelligence that the man who killed their warrior his family is from Bethlehem and so they surrounded Bethlehem which is a small small place that couldn't defend itself they surround Bethlehem to starve them out the idea was is if we caused harm to Bethlehem we'll probably cause harm to the people that matter to him most and so that's what's going on you've got the Philistine army surrounding Bethlehem now this story gets told again in second Samuel from a different perspective same story different writer different perspective watch what it says during harvest time three of the thirty chief warriors came down to David at the cave Evangeline while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of refine at that time David was in the stronghold and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem and David longed for water and said oh that someone would get me a drink from the water near the way to all the near the gate of Bethlehem now is David being literal no David's from Bethlehem that's the well he drank from all the time let me explain what's going on here David's like you know what when I was tending sheep and I thought I was overlooked and I asked God to promote me and then God promoted me and I'm ending up in a cave for people with issues I just think I want to go back to that simple life that I didn't think was very good I want to go back to that and here's the truth of it if you're growing as a leader at all or you're growing in your calling at all there will be times you long for simpler times there will be times you thought I want God to make this thing bigger and then God makes it bigger and now we got bigger problems and bigger stress and we just rather go back to our living room with our mother-in-law that's what we'd rather do right well if we're growing as a hey maybe you started a small business and you're like God grow our business God grow our business God grow our business and now you have 60 employees and you have to worry about things like the ATO and and assic and you got to worry about things like staying compliant and you got to worry about things like payroll tax and you're like oh we can we just go back to that because sometimes what we think we want doesn't lead us to where we imagined that thing leading us David wanted to be promoted and he got promoted and ended up in a cage with people with issues and he's like I just think I want to go back to Bethlehem if someone could take me back there now three of these guys take him serious he's being metaphorical and they're like oh you serious it's like remember the movie National Lampoon's Christmas vacation right remember McClarty Griswold he spends his yearly bonus before it actually comes in he buys a pool and then on Christmas Eve that the courier had lost something and he brings his Christmas bonus on Christmas Eve and Christmas bonuses have been canceled and it was a fruit of the Month Club right and remember Clark Griswold loses the plot in the movie and he goes what I wouldn't give for my good-for-nothing boss to be drugged out of his mansion across town in his silk pajamas with a red bow around his head and brought right here to my living room obviously metaphorical and it's crazy crazy cut net cousin Eddie takes him serious and goes you're serious Clark and he goes and kidnaps the guy remember than the FBI right that's what I picture happening him three guys he's being metaphorical and three of these guys take him serious and literal and they go bust through enemy lines to get him water a crazy move watch what happens so the three mighty warriors broke through the Philistine lines drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David yet it is a 40 mile walk but he refused to drink it and instead he poured it out before the Lord far be it for me Lord to do this is it not at the blood of the men who win at the risk of their lives and he wouldn't drink it so these guys risk their lives through enemy lines to bring him a thing of water and instead of drinking it he goes and that's where the rubber meets the road when you give your life to bring something for somebody and they pour it out it's really easy to believe God and act in faith when everybody's drinking what you're giving them whenever you hey when I spend 12 hours putting together one talk and I take 40 minutes to deliver it in the room goes yes yes yes yes then it's really easy to believe I'm not wasting my life but when one nameless faceless clunker sits behind a computer screen and eviscerate Smee on the internet it's very easy to go oh man no one's listening I'm wasting my life right it's very easy to do that here's my encouragement to you if you're doing it for God nothing is wasted if they drink it they drink it if they pour it out they pour it out it doesn't matter if you did it for God nothing is wasted nothing's wasted all right so let me in case you got lost in all this let me just walk it through like in talking points okay so so here here we go this is agile 'm right that's a real party waiting to happen right hey sweetie Vegas or agilent all right agile um right it would have been 120 degrees right up in there is it is a very it's a very elevated thing let me um just do a quick history lesson on this right Agilent was a fortified city to protect Judah and refugees in times of danger Agilent was a series of caves and tunnels that would have made it very hard to find an attack right this is the the same landscape as say Afghanistan right Alexander the Great took over the whole world he got to Afghanistan and went no we're gonna go around right right yeah jingis gone uh we were going we're going around the Roman Empire took over the entire world they got to Afghanistan and said let's leave these people be right Russia couldn't take over Afghan or what America thinks they're doing anyway doesn't matter no one's ever been able to take it why because no matter what you've always got your enemy covered from an elevated position and you're in a series is very difficult very difficult that's where David is David's there as a refugee from a very jealous powerful man agile amidst two miles from where David defeated Goliath right so from that elevator be hit us all where it all started that's where it all started I just walked away minding my own business I just be back tending machine you know my hometown wouldn't be under siege goodness me what did I mess up here tonight did I I thought I was acne in faith I thought I was believing God I thought I was happening with courage how does someone who acts with faith and courage and action end up in a cave with people with issues having to hide his family from an army how does this happen houses this is a biggie sense houses happen this is what David's facing right David surrounded by marginalized discontented and indebted people that's very energizing David grew up at Bethlem Bethlehem is 12 miles from Agilent that's 20 KS this is 40 Kay's round trip 12 miles one way 12 miles the next 20 K is one way twenty days the next David seems to be using a figure of speech longing for simpler days he's like you know what I thought I wanted to be promoted I acted in faith I acted with bravery I acted I I believe God and not the enemy and I ended up here I just think I want to go back I I want to take I want to take back my request to be promoted III I'm happy with my sheep now I'm I'm happy with that I'm happy with that well it's just three of these guys with issues take him serious and walk 12 miles each way that's 40 KS after walking 40 case through enemy lines David refuses to drink at any pours Adela and this is where all this was leading this entire teaching is leaning this one point right here that is this David turns their act from duty to an act of worship here's my challenge my encouragement is if you're doing it for God you can never waste your life that's what resurrection means if you did it just think back whatever you did if it worked did you do it for God if it didn't work did you do it for God you cannot waste your life but here's my challenge my challenge is is are we doing what we're doing for God because it's our duty to serve God and here's the problem right that's not wrong it's not wrong she's not wise it's not it's not the wrong ggest place to be to go well it's my duty to serve God today God died for me it's my duty to serve Him that's not wrong but it's not wise there's a more profound way to live because if we're doing what we're doing because it's our duty to serve God it had better we're but if we're doing what we're doing because we're giving our life as a living sacrifice then whether they drink it or whether they don't drink it it doesn't matter because the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless here's my encouragement if you're doing it for God keep going you can't waste your life but if here's Mike here's the challenge did you wake up today doing what you're doing for God because it was your duty or because you see your life as a living sacrifice and you're offering your gifts back to God because if that's the heart of it I hope it works and honestly if it doesn't work you should sit down and evaluate hey how can we do this better that's not the point but you should never feel like you've wasted your life never because if you if I operate and teaching out of duty you'd better like it I wasted my time tonight but if I'm operating out a teacher in my teaching gift and because God gave me a gift to teach and I'm offering it back to God as a living sacrifice I hope you drink what I give you tonight but if you pour it out it doesn't matter because the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless because nothing is wasted the chat and only you know and only I know and this is not a one-time decision all of us cross lines where we enter into something because it's our duty to do it when actually God has called us to something more profound a life of living sacrifice which is an entirely different thing let's put some language around this and see if we could it helps put some understanding around this all right sometimes you end up sometimes you're in the center of God's will in a cave with people with issues sometimes God's will is not what we imagined God's will to be it's not always promotion it's not always sometimes God's will is is across sometimes God's will is this sometimes God's will is this season to lead to something bigger better more abundant more peace David did nothing wrong at this point and yet he ends up in a cave with people with issues and that's exactly where he needed to be sometimes people misunderstand you you're speaking in metaphor and they take you literally sometimes that happens right let's say this way as you grow there are times you will long for simpler times if you're growing a natural healthy part of growing is wanting it to go backwards at times wanting it to be more simple like Oh remember what it wasn't so complicated remember it was just you and me and the eight of us that were best friends and now we've got 250 people and man it Jane and Joe don't get along oh I just want water from that well I just want water from that one or remember when we were first married remember that remember when we were first married and we had nothing but love for one another and we felt really fulfilled in that right we're eating ramen noodles at night and it doesn't matter we got three channels on TV because can't afford nothing else we're stealing Wi-Fi from the neighbors by getting his password so we can maybe get a bit of netflix on dick remember that remember that Oh remember that and then you know what happened you know what happened somebody talked us into adding more lives to our simple life but these lives do nothing but take and never put anything in they don't make money they eat all of our food they eat they take they crap that's what they do somebody talked us into somebody somebody talked us into adding lives to our simple life that made it more complicated and we thought that was a good idea and then we needed to make more room for them so here's what we did we bought a home that actually has rooms we've never actually walked in we have signed up for 30 years of entirely too much pressure so that people we don't actually like will think we're more successful than we actually are and this sounded like a good idea at the time oh I just want that other will this is why healthy marriages regardless of children two or three times a year they take some time off from those children and they get away by themselves to drink from that other well don't fall home remember when we had no money so taxes were not an issue everything now we are worried about income tax remember we did any monies that didn't matter remember that remember we had a small house with small bills and we were still happy and somebody talked us into signing up for pressure and we did and this is not what promotion was supposed to feel like oh let's say let's say this way far be it from me Lord David saw this as a sacred act not a duty act he said no no they they thought they did it out of duty but I see this as something more profound and He pours it out before the Lord now in the ancient world they would have understood this immediately because the drink offering was something that was very common they had to do it at the first of every month they had to pour out part of their wine and part of their water - just to say Lord you are the source of all things that we aren't not that's what Dave is doing Dave was like you know what David is challenging his men and he's saying you thought you were doing this out of duty but I see - something more profound than that I see you offering your gifts as a sacrifice and if it's a sacrifice it's holy and if it's holy I can't touch it and what does that mean for us I think what it means is is that if we're doing what we're doing for the Lord out of duty it had better work or we've wasted our life but if we're doing what we're doing for the Lord out of sacrifice then whether they drink it or whether they don't the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless let's say it this way the sacrifice makes it sacred and if the sacrifice makes it sacred then nothing is wasted and we know this intuitively like we know like like let's say you were it let's say I said hey I was that I was at the grocery store today and I saw a lady in her late 50s leading around of a man that was roughly 30 and that man was blind and obviously a bit mentally handicapped and the lady was being so kind to him walking slow he had her by the arm and she's like okay be careful now we're gonna take a right now we're gonna be careful there's someone your left and we're gonna we're gonna in somebody's be said now what assumptions would you make you would make an assumption that that was probably the mom and this is her disabled child and she's taking good care of him and what would you think if I said you know what I did I walked up to that 58 you're a woman and I said listen here at best you've got 30 good years of life left and you're giving it to somebody who's never gonna get better you have wasted your life now if I did that that would make me an absolute jerk right it would just be what are you doing why because inside we know that whether that kid gets better or whether that kid never gets better it's her love and sacrifice that makes the whole situation sacred and nothing is wasted nothing she is not wasting her life because she's acting in love or what about the daughter taking care of her aging parents what about that you say all name but so many years of life left and you're you're giving it a taken care of this slew of elder what are you doing what are you doing if they if they don't somehow escape death you've wasted your life it's like wait a minute hold on hang on if I'm doing this out of duty yes I am but if I'm doing this as a sacrifice then the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless I know someone who's um 27 ish she she'd be the greatest singer I've ever heard in person in a church I was doing a conference once and she was the she was the singer and she came out and listen I mean I speak every night from now till like March 15th or something okay it's very hard to like to to stand out I'm in music every night right when she opened her mouth I was on the front row and I was like it was unbelievable come to find out she was like third on Australian Idol Sony record contract here's what happened her father was I guess mid-50s or so got early onset oh yeah and some other Parkinson's problems all kinds of stuff you know she did she broke her contract with Sony records to move in with him and give him care and here's what she said she said I want to know that my father has the best quality of life until the day he dies and if somebody said what are you doing you're 27 Sony this is what you live for your whole life if he doesn't get better you've wasted your life well if she's doing it out of duty yeah she did waste her life but if she sees her life as a living sacrifice and she's doing it out of love then whether he gets better or whether he doesn't get better her sacrifice makes it sacred regardless and nothing is wasted nothing is wasted or what about when the business doesn't work you give seven years to this business and you did it your best no and it just falls over you think oh I just wasted seven years of my life yes you did if she did if you did it out of duty but if you were using your business gifts as a living sacrifice offering them back to God then whether it works or whether it doesn't work and hear me clearly I hope it does but whether it works or whether it doesn't work your sacrifice makes it sacred and nothing is wasted my encouragement to you tonight is if you did it for God you cannot waste your life my challenge is is to do a deep heart check and go am i doing what I'm doing for God because it's my duty or am i doing what I'm doing for God to offer my gifts back to God as a living sacrifice because if it's that then the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless of results let's say it may be this way I gave 20 years to this relationship and they still left man I just wasted my life wasted 20 good years of my life on that person yes she did yes you did if you were a wife out of duty and he leaves you you wasted your life but if you were offering your gifts as a wife back to the Lord and living it as a living sacrifice then whether he approves of you or whether he doesn't you did not waste your life this her face makes it sacred if you give if your husband if you're if you're a husband out of duty and she doesn't approve and she leaves you wasted your life but the good news is better than that the good news is that if you're a husband because you're giving your gifts as a loving man back as a living sacrifice to God if she approves if she doesn't approve the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless I gave it all and they didn't they didn't respond like I thought they would like I've I'm giving my all in the stage tonight this is the best effort I got this is it and Tony loves me and here's the thing I hope you all do too but here's the thing right here's the thing if if whether I feel like I wasted tonight or not depends on your response why that's a bad thing if I'm doing it out of duty you better respond or I wasted my time but if I'm offering this gift as a living sacrifice I hope you respond but whether you do whether you don't the sacrifice makes it sink regardless and I did not waste my night I did not waste my night okay I raised my kids the best I could they turned out terrible you know so somebody's tell me this is crazy six months ago so they just had this freshly baked baby right and this baby was like this yeah and they came to me they said pastor Shane check out check out our new baby you know this is Jared or something ah say hello and they were so excited you know they were like wow we're so excited so I was excited with them you know I was like yeah sounds good you know for you I'd be going alright they said they said you know what we're gonna do pastor Shane I said what's that they said we're gonna raise this kid just like proverbs tells us to so they'll turn out great that's like good luck with that doesn't sound very smart but okay yeah cuz help me honestly we all know somebody with four kids same home same church same mom same dad same scripture same God fairness same everything and three of them turn out awesome and one of them's a flippin lunatic you don't get guarantees in life and here's the thing and here's the beauty of the profundity of it right here's the thing if you parent for the guarantee you rob yourself of the joy parenting actually if you're parenting out of Duty they better turn out great but if your parenting because you're giving your life as a living sacrifice back to God for the sake of the next generation the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless let's maybe let's say this way maybe it's the love that makes it sacred David sees the world sacramentally the sacrifice makes it early it doesn't have to work perfectly to be holy because it's the sacrifice that makes it that way how then should we rethink how we measure results and happiness now great teaching is not meant to be agreed with or disagreed with great teachings meant to be wrestled with so let's wrestle a little bit where do we live with the delusion of guarantees or control is there any place right now that we are living and we're operating in our gift with the delusion that we can control the outcome robbing us of the joy of just expressing the gift if if if the results have to be there for me to know that I've operated my gift well think about the preachers in the room if if we do here's how I know when I've crossed the line into duty this is my litmus test I know I've crossed the line into duty when I find myself tempted to manipulate an altar call or manipulate a response so that I can feel better that's when I know so I know and here's the thing it's not wrong to teach out of duty it's just not the wisest place or the most profound place what if I operate in teaching I'm gonna give my best because I offer my teaching get back to God and leave all the results to God then it would make me far less manipulative and far less in Deus of people who get farther than you it just is it's the best let's say this way does it have to work out perfectly in order to feel as profitable this this is it what would be perfectly so I could feel it was profitable how much am I gonna ignore about this let's let's say this way what do we need to hand over to God as a sacrifice that makes the outcome sacred regardless is there anything we need to just hit let me say let me say that same thing one other way because I find saying something three different ways it will grab most of the room let's say this way all we get is a gift have we offered it regardless of outcome just give the gift and let God do the rest right let me um let me be very concrete and literal with you okay and only if this helps on Saturday night I have an exercise I did it's a quiet exercise I'm not loud about it I don't do it with candles I don't write it's it's it's a it's a spiritual exercise I do that I find helps me and here's here's what I do first is I try to name what I feel likes Ben taken from me that week and forgive the people who took it right so so I try to forgive people who've hurt me that way so I don't carry it into the next week right it's a good thing I try to do is admit where I've wronged people and I let I let it go myself so first thing I do is I let them go Segur they I do is I let me go right then the third thing I do is I spend some time in gratitude and this is the rule I'm only allowed in that moment to be thankful only for what's in my right now like if God never did one more thing for me my life is awesome and I take audit of everything that's true of my life right now and I have a I have a few minutes of gratitude only for in it you cannot believe what it does to break the power of envy and jealousy in your life we've you tempted to look at people who are a little further along than you and you envy them that this this kills that but then the other thing I do is I take account of all the gifts that's all my life that I could think of and I physically just I offer them back to God and because I want my week to be sacred regardless of outcome and it keeps me from giving in to the temptation to manipulate a response if you're wondering what I wonder where that looks like let me show you right so go Lord um thanks for my voice it's a gift from God thank you that my voice is healthy please keep it that way and it's long I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a voice I can't do nothing else this is all I'm good at I can teach I can do this this is a if if I lost my voice and I had to start working with my hands I am so bad say Lord if if you keep this healthy you can use it for this week I offer my voice to you as a living sacrifice Lord thanks for my mind thanks that it works different than anybody else's thanks that I'm a little unique thanks for that oh thanks Lord from my photographic memory I it's not completely photographic but I can close my eyes and read pages of a book or I can I can see my sermon notes if I close my eyes I can see them right that's unique and it's a gift I didn't ask for that I didn't earn it it's a gift it's such a it's such a huge gift unless you're trying to forget something it's not so nice like I saw my granny nekkid once yep still there gosh go oh goodness she looked like a hound dog and a shower cap we're the most unbelievable things you've ever seen nothing was in the right place it's ridiculous but thanks for my memory if you could use my memory this week I'll give it hey my legs my legs worked thanks to that you know a few years ago they had to do a $14,000 surgery on my feet because the blood wasn't getting back to my heart properly had to do with seeing an economy class to it and they had to put all they had to put a wire at my feet go away to my groin and heat it up to 1500 degrees did ya then they had to reroute the blood and my feet to a different vein source you know to get it back to my heart properly Hey oh and you taught Sunday School now my legs work hey hey you can use these so what I do is I go through the gifts on my life and I offer them back to God as a because my desire nobody does this perfectly but my desire is to live a life of a living sacrifice instead of living out of duty let's say this way control is an illusion in that the truth guarantees our deception we're have deceptions and illusions determined our evaluations of where we are where do we need them to drink what we brought them or we feel like we wasted our life let's say this way where do we try to live in the illusion of controlling the outcome instead of just offering the gift God has called us to offer our gift operate in faith and leave all the results with him what and if we do that nothing is wasted where is God when the child makes the wrong decision the business fails and the divorce happens does God only get the credit on the good end or does the sacrifice make it sacred regardless my encouragement to you tonight is that if you're doing it for God you cannot waste your life that's one of the meanings of Resurrection my challenge is is would you at least commit to once a week maybe you need to do it once a day maybe you're at a point where once a weeks enough maybe you're at a point where once a months enough whatever's true for you would you regularly make a commitment to check your heart and say you know what am i operating today for God out of duty or out of sacrifice the problem is is that if we do it out of duty it's not wrong but it had better work or we feel like we wasted our life and there's a more profound way to serve God and that is to offer our life back as a living sacrifice and if we do that the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless and nothing is wasted nothing is wasted one less thought why this waste I bless you my brothers and sisters so not just be on your way to heaven when you die I bless you my brothers and sisters to keep going without ever asking the question why you waste did you like why did I waste my time with that why do i paul says nothing is resurrection nothing is wasted nothing is wasted nothing is wasted for most of you you're a critical part of leadership here at this church you've got Shawn and Megan Ian and Lee and Tony you got out this whole team here and then you've got the church as a whole and you're thinking you're thinking you know what I need to find a place to to operate in my gift and they would encourage you to do that and live in faith and I try to learn something from everybody I gotta say like like dr. Jerry Savelle and Ian and Diane and and and people like that they they here's what they're trying to do they're trying to Center you on Christ and teach you how to live a life where you work your faith and that's just a simple foot you know and then and then along the way you know some nameless faceless clunker behind a computer screen will try and attack these people and and and and the temptation would be is all man is what we're doing mattering and you know what if you're doing it out of duty it's a different story but when you see your life as a living sacrifice nothing is wasted if they drink it they drink it if they don't they don't but the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless I bless you to be free from the thought that you could ever waste your life because of resurrection so keep going let me pray for you lord we love you we honor you we proclaim your king there's none like you let this place Lord be a dwelling place for your name the compassionate gracious slow to anger abounding in love God for our response time tonight I just want you to ask two introspective questions one could you take a second and name three gifts on your life three gifts that God's given you encouragement compassion finance teaching prophecy leadership whatever the case may be and then I want you to just in a prayer underneath your breasts say Lord whatever gift you've given me I offer it back to you as a sacrifice I want to live in sacrifice second question I want you to ask is this is there anything I'm doing I am doing it for God but it's out of duty and I want to make a more profound step and live in sacrifice may we check our heart with that often amen would you look this way thank you so much for being a part of what we're doing tonight thank you so much being so kind I love you very much I've offered you some water tonight I do hope you drink it I do but drink it or pour it out it doesn't matter because the sacrifice makes it sacred regardless go and live in freedom knowing nothing is wasted grace and peace everybody go back what a wonderful service we've just had we've experienced the presence of God and I know his presence and I know him personally and I want to ask if you've been watching this do you know Jesus personally want to avoid you to become a part of the family of God I'll have to ask you to pray live if you've watched the service and you say but you know what I don't know Jesus but I would love to know him this prayer is for you salvation is now don't put it off don't leave it come along with me and pray this with me and say Lord Jesus come into my life take care of me Lord wash me clean of my sin bring me into your family Lord make me the head and not the time take me from darkness into light from sickness into health thank you Jesus you've paid the price that I may have eternal life with you and the Father and the Holy Spirit but more on that I can live a successful life here on earth thank you Father in Jesus name if you prayed that and and you'd like to we'd love to be able to actually send you some resources if you would like that please contact us via the phone or email we'll have to get some things into your hand and if you're in the local area we'd love for you to join us for our next Sunday service we're open all are welcome god bless and if we prayed that welcome to the family [Music]

Channel: Heritage of Faith Church Gold Coast

Views: 1,006

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Heritage of Faith, Gold Coast, We are Heritage, Shane Willard

Id: rzb5kAmEZjE

Length: 57min 12sec (3432 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 05 2019