"Time" to Serve -morgan young 5.7.06
(This was during our 20/20 Campaign/series. For 20 days we blitzed the community with serving projects to celebrate our 20th year of ministry. It's our prayer that this outward focus continues.)
I find that when I'm not IN a situation, but just observing people, I have the highest levels of discernment imaginable, and bionic vision (old people help the young people w/the reference).
This plays out when I read the Bible too. Dateline Garden of Eden, Genesis 3 evening News:
This just in. Adam and Eve not satisfied with having everything they want, including a face to face relationship God, decide to have applesauce for dinner so they can be like God.
I read that stuff and I'm like, "What are you thinking?! Hello?! Adam--you have EVERYTHING! You're living a sinless life---you and Eve are walking around naked and life is so pure that you're not ashamed--you & God are both "good" with your nakedness. Why would you & Eve want to be God? C'mon?!"
And Adam & Eve decide to listen to this snake rather than God who made a paradise for them. They choose to trade their sinless face-to-face life with God for a life separated from God.
I look at that situation and say,
"Adam, Eve what are you thinking?! Let God be God, let Him be huge and in control, and you & Eve just tend to the garden. Why are you trying to be God??!! Why can't you see things how God meant them to be?"
It's not long after that, the human race becomes so wicked and violent that their thoughts are consumed with evil "all the time." So by Genesis ch. 6 God says to Noah, "Better build an arky-arky, build it with barky-barky." (actually Cypress wood.)
So God wipes out man's wickedness with the flood and starts over.
That's Genesis ch. 6. By ch. 11 there's this Tower of Babel story. And man says,
"Hey I've got yet another really cool idea! Let's build a tower that reaches up as high as God and it will be a testimony to how cool WE are! Dudes, it'll be a rockin testament to US! It will show how BIG & famous we are!"
I read that and I think, "Guys, what are you thinking?! Why are you so stuck on yourselves? Life isn't about YOU it's about God! Build something as a testimony to God, for how good He's been. Don't build this monstrosity that's all about you."
So I look at those two little Bible stories that most everyone's heard. And because I'm reading them and not living them I can see how flawed the thinking is and I can see the writing on the wall and how "not good" this little apple snack and building project are going to be.
Like I said, it's so easy for me to see clearly when I'm not in the situation.
In fact here's a simple situation where I didn't see it clearly:
I've had this kind of really stupid realization since we started these 20/20 serving projects. Since we were expected to look for serving projects in our neighborhood I thought about this sweet little old lady who had sat Meghan & Slater when they were younger, noticing that her garage could use some carpentry & paint--so a bunch of us are going to spend next Saturday doing that.
How stupid of me to NOT think of doing this on my own, apart from this 20/20 campaign. I know this woman, she's a good friend of the family, she doesn't live that far away from us.
Why did I need a 20/20 campaign to open my eyes to the obvious way I could easily help this little sweet woman who's spent her whole life serving others?
(reference planner)
I think the answer is in here. (planner) Do you know what is in here?
My life. My busy life. My very scheduled life.
(Just for the record, this represents your life too.)
Whether you have one of these, you live one of these.
I really believe that one of our biggest challenges is this---our busy life.
In here is all kinds of stuff--some of it's very good:
Little League baseball games & practices,
work (& all its "stuff"),
lunches with people,
small group meetings,
physical activity,
grocery store runs,
picking up kids and moving them from A to B to C to D to E to F to G & then back to A again,
mowing the yard and landscaping,
walking the dog,
taking the dog to the vet,
cleaning the house,
taking the car for an overdue oil change,
washing the car,
golfing,
paying bills,
going to graduations, baby showers & weddings,
reading your Bible,
getting something around the house fixed that broke this week,
dropping in on friends you haven't seen in too long,
watching television,
going to a school program,
making or catching dinner,
And that's just SOME of it!!! ("amen" anyone?)
If I were reading a book about my life and your life, (much like I read Genesis) I think I'd say, "Dude--what are you doing? Why are you cramming your life so full of stuff, that it's all you can do to keep up? Why are you going so fast that it's all you can do to sense God?"
And let's go back to our Adam & Eve story for a minute. We said, "Why would Adam & Eve want to be God?"
I look at our busy lives and I see a flurry of activity that's all swirling around us, our kids, our family, our home. I look at our planners and flip through the pages-- and if I were to guess who the most important people in this story is---I'm afraid it might be US. We might look more like God than God does
When I look at the Tower of Babel story I say, "Whoa! Guys, life is not about YOU and your glory--it's about God and His glory--it's not about you."
But again, if we look at our planners, our stories, I'm afraid I might see that the vast majority of these activities are all about US, our family. I get concerned for us, that if we're not too careful our flurry of activity could create a little Babel at our address
Let me give you a really simple paraphrase of the entire Bible:
The world and everything in it is for God's Glory. He is Huge. He is über important. We are small. We are tiny. God is the Main Character in the story. We are the supporting cast whom He loves like crazy. He is about His glory and lovingly bringing as many people into His story as possible. It is God's story.
(respectfully)Our planners look way too much like our story. We are huge. We are important. God is small. We are the main character in the story. God is the supporting cast Whom we bring in as needed. We are about surviving our story and doing everything we can to be comfortable in our homes. It is our story
Ok timeout: (I can hear your thoughts) "This is our 20/20 series that's supposed to be about servanthood, what's the deal with bringin' the heat with your "conviction curve ball" about my busy life?"
(planner) This thing here can be full of good stuff. But it can have so much good stuff in it, that all we feel at the end of the week is exhaustion:
Too tired to love our spouse.
Too tired to come to church this week.
Too tired to notice a neighbor that could use a hand.
Too tired to notice the hurt in the face of a friend whose dying for us to ask them how things are going.
Too tired to make any kind of real full-on God time (not "in the car"),
Too tired to think about anyone else's needs because we're on empty our self.
Too tired to serve someone else, in the church or in the community.
Here's what I know about me--the more overscheduled I am--the more worn out I am, the shorter my field of vision becomes. When I'm running a crazy schedule I can see about "this far" in front of my face.
And when I can't see beyond myself, I can't see that you need a hand. I can't see that the church needs my help. I can't see the road signs God's putting along my path to get my attention.
I am bringing the "conviction curve ball" because our busy life is the enemy of servanthood. My life needs room in it to serve people. My life needs room in it to allow for those times that God is nudging me to do something on Wednesday that I didn't plan for on Monday
When I'm living a full week, my prayers go like this, "God help me do this, and please show up in this other thing I'm doing."
When I'm living a less-than-full week my prayers go like this, "God, what do You want me to do this week? Guide my feet, Lord. Bring people to my mind. Have your way in me. Not mine but thine."
When I'm slammed I never pray for God to bring more stuff my way. I only end up praying for Him to get me through it. When I'm too busy, I pray about me. When I have more space, I pray about you.
I notice this other weird dynamic to this (planner). It's like it has a power and authority to it.
"Hey Morgan can you help me out with blah-blah-blah?"
"No, I have this thing I have to do--I can't--my schedule won't allow it."
We almost respond like the planner is "the boss" and we're the employee. (sarcasm)"Sorry, schedule won't let me do it."
But we are the boss of the planner...
God gave us this great power when He created us--it's called free will. It's the power to choose. The power to choose to submit to His authority in all things--Power to choose what goes into our life...
Except for a few extreme type-A "mutants," nobody I know enjoys a crazy-busy life. Nobody. Everybody I know wants a life with a little more space in it. So I was wondering why so many of us don't.
I think that one of the reasons we live busy lives is that we're tempted to buy into lies. Lies like:
If I work harder now, that will free-up time later and then, everything will be ok...
If we work harder now so that we can get a bigger house, new car, lake home, or __________, then everything will be better...
I have to be this busy right now--it's my season of life; things will slow down in time...
I have fallen into this lie. I started noticing that every one of my "busy seasons of life" was ironically followed by yet another "busy seasons of life."
By the time I was about on my 7th consecutive "busy season of life" a light bulb went off in my dense head and I began to realize that life is always busy unless I put my foot on the brake.
The Bible tells us there is a "father of all lies." There is a satan. I really believe that in our day and age his best tool to make us ineffective is busy-ness.
He whispers the lies we're tempted to believe. Lives that take us down self-centered roads instead of the God-centered ones. And these self-centered ones are busy, they're not fun, there's not room in them to serve, and at the end of them we are unfulfilled.
(get full-on positive preachy!)
But friends, (we're gonna turn this talk on it's ear right now)
God-focused people with some spare time on their hands are some of the most potent weapons in the world. We're seeing that right now with 20/20.
God is helping the poor and people who can't help themselves because you are being God-focused and freeing up your time.
What is happening right now in our church is powerfully beautiful---hundreds of us showing up at organizations, lovingly doing all kinds of work for free. People in-need in our neighborhoods are being ambushed by small groups that are rolling up their sleeves to help.
Friends, what you are doing in this campaign is powerful and has eternal ramifications. God's people getting involved all over the community helping people in need.
Man, that's Acts ch. 2, this is faith-in-motion, this is God with skin working His plan. This is BIG GOD thru LITTE YOU & ME living God's Story. This is the opposite of the Planner of Babel, this is the Story of a BIG loving God. This is us at our best. (amen?!)
52 weeks a year, I see the power of God-focused people with spare time. Every week it's my honor to lead staff and lay people that put together weekend services, Easter & Christmas services.
Every week vocalists, actors and tek people, (in here & osm, Kids' ministries) spend hours memorizing lyrics & scripts. Then they spend a couple more hours at a week-night rehearsal. Then they get up at the crack of dawn on Sun morning for a rehearsal, do two services and then maybe go home around noon or so.
Every week I marvel at how these people make time in their crazy schedules to humbly serve.
I've seen mom's and dad's bring in little babies in carriers for Thurs. night rehearsals. I've seen moms and dads serving together in the same service doing flips & twists with their schedules so they could be God's hands and feet that day.
Every week I see humble people who could easily say, "Life is too busy right now." Who could easily say, "This is too much work--this is a hassle." But they don't. And I am "wowed" by them. I am honored to serve with them. I am inspired by them.
And every week I marvel at how the Holy Spirit takes their God-honoring efforts and moves in our hearts and minds during services. Every week I am humbled that I get to see the mystery of how God uses ordinary people who serve, to tell His story and to bring lost people into it
"Morgan's Who's Who" audio theme
(Pic of Louie Giglio w/David Crowder)
Louie Giglio wrote in his book I know I am Not but I Know I AM,
"God is always looking for ordinary people to play significant roles in His unfolding story.
And, given that He is God and supremely confident in Himself, He is free to choose the least among usthe slowest, the lesser-known, the last, the smallest, the poorestto accomplish amazing, God-sized stuff. While as humans we try to partner with the brightest and most powerful, God is simply looking for people who are willing to take Him at His wordthose confident that with Him in the equation, everything is possible."
Little League season is upon us. And as I thought about this quote I thought of how God sees His team in such a counter cultural way.
In Little League not everyone gets picked up for majors. And then not every kid gets to play. You draft the best players and play your best players. When you're good enough you get drafted. When you're good enough you get to take the field. But until then you wait.
And then you get older and life in general works pretty much like little league baseball. And after a while people believe that all they'll be this side of heaven is minor league---or a benchwarmer.
But on God's serving team, everyone is in the majors. Everyone is a starter. Everyone who has a heart for God and makes time available can be used by God to do great things!!
Right now I'd like to introduce you to some great "normal" guys that God has been using...
(Interview w/Derek Weed & Tyler Eglen)
Interview Qs:
1. intros, age, school
2. what are you involved with around here? Did you do 20/20 project?
3. tell me about your schedule this last year
4. Why serve in the midst of school-easier not to?
5. Has serving had an affect on your relationship w/Christ?
6. What would you say to people not serving regularly?
I'd like us to seal this service with Scripturejust under-girding this topic & God's heart for servanthood.
We're gonna read several Scriptures that underscore what this whole 20/20 campaign and the biblical serving value is all about. So let's read these and let the truth of them sink in...
So now Israel, what do you think GOD expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve GOD, your God, with everything you have in you.
Deut 10:12 The Message
Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me--you did it to me.'
Matthew 25:40 The Message
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?
Romans 12:1 NLT
We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.
1 Corinthians 10:24 The Message
With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.
1 Corinthians 15:58 The Message
Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Philippians 2:3-4 The Message
wrap by:
1. Thanking & encouraging 20/20 efforts
2. Challenge them on planner--God's Glory, not our Babel Planners, serve ALWAYS, not for 20 days
3. Pray out
