Sermon Central
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Enjoying What Belongs To God - Simple Living Series
Contributed by Greg Buchner on Nov 2, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: If we’re going to simply our life, we need to recognize that what we enjoy belongs to God, and that, as good stewards, we need to act accordingly.
Simple Living – Enjoying What Belongs To God
2003 Searching Series
November 1, 2003
Purpose: If we’re going to simply our life, we need to recognize that what we enjoy belongs to God, and that, as good stewards, we need to act accordingly.
I. Introduction
This week I had had enough. Every time I would get into my 1994 Mazda Protégé the seat belt buzzer would go off and on erratically depending on how I was situated in the driver’s seat.
For the most part, it was just an inconvenience. If it started to go off as I was going down the road, I’d just shift in my seat and little and eventually I’d find that spot where the buzzer wouldn’t buzz anymore.
That is until this week…
That shifting spot was getting harder and harder to find. I talked to the car dealer, and he said he could replace the whole system, which would cost more than the car is probably worth! I talked to some mechanics that said there was nothing they could do about it. So, I thought about it, and took my tools to the problem.
First, I took out the seat. (This was actually easier than I thought.) Attached under the seat was a line connecting the seat-belt buckle to the buzzer….snip….no line no more.
Second, after getting the seat out, I went after the console where I thought the real problem to be. Finding just the right screws, I was able to loosen it just enough to see the seat belt connections. Snip…snip…snip…no connections no more.
Bottom line…I no longer have that annoying buzzer, it’s gone. However, I know have the “seat belt” warning light is now on all the time…but I guess I can live with that…at least for now.
II. The many buzzers in our lives.
I don’t need to tell you that there are many “buzzers” in our lives that regularly annoy us. Our lives, in many different ways, are getting more and more complicated, and the message we often receive is that we’re not living up to our full potential if we don’t have all the gadgets that complicate our lives.
There is no doubt that life is getting more and more complicated.
And what do we get for it? Well, we’re supposed to get that better life aren’t we? Feeling more secure with who or what we are? But in reality, many feel less and less secure.
We live in a society that values people by what job they have, what car they drive, and what home they live in. So, as the economy falters, as jobs are lost, as fore-closings go up and bankruptcies skyrocket, we’re beginning to see that maybe…just maybe…all the “buzzers” we’ve placed in our lives aren’t worth the hassle. Living a more simple life is really our goal.
Garlinda Burton, editor of the Interpreter magazine wrote an awesome editorial in this month’s edition (Nov.-Dec. 2003) regarding “rediscovering simple gratitude.” In it she said…
“Last week, after the disc got stuck in his DVD player, my 11-year old godson used a knife to force the player open. It no longer functioned, and his mother rushed out to buy him a new one—his second this year.
That same day, a colleague told me about a town in southern Africa, where people are so poor that four churches share one Bible. So precious is that Bible, so rare, that Christians walk for miles just to see the Holy Scriptures being read.
We are entering one of the most holy seasons for Christians, which leads us to the birth of our Savior” she continued. “It is a time for reflection, prayer, grateful hearts and taking stock of how to honor the One who chose birth in a rude barn to demonstrate his love for us all.
In the United States, however, this is also the season of unparalleled spending and avarice, when angels’ songs are often drowned out by the constant ding of cash registers; when those drowning in debt will go down for the third time in the name of “celebrating” Christmas; and when those who have nothing feel even more dehumanized because they can’t afford to buy into the season frenzy.
And yet, in that African town, people will celebrate Advent and Christmas with fervor, simply because they get to see the Jesus story read from the Bible. Despite debilitating poverty, I would wager that those townspeople would enjoy this Christmas much more than, say, my grandson.
As for me, I’m buying my godson his own Bible instead of a leather jacket for Christmas (he lost the leather jacket I got him last year.)”
Simple living…while it may be evidenced in the physical, it is, at its heart, a spiritual issue. How do we correct the trend? Well, first we need to understand that we enjoy what has been given to us.
