Fat, Faint, or Fit?
(Matthew 10:8)
Introduction:
“A young man had finished his first semester in college, and was spending the weekend at home. Somewhat bored with the old place, he was regaling his father with the wonders of his campus and the enlightened people there. After getting up a head of steam and warming up to his subject he said, ‘Why, Dad, in our chemistry lab at college we have made an acid that will dissolve any known substance.’ The father turned and looked at him and slowly said, ‘That’s mighty fine. What do they keep it in, son?’” (Michael Hodgin, 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1994), 213).
Logic can be very complicated and confounding when we neglect to view all vantage points. But logic in and of itself is very simple. For instance, it seems logical that if I plug in an electric fence, I will feel the electrical charge surging through the lines if I touch them. Or, if I were to drink a bottle of poison, there would be some adverse type of affect on my body – possibly death.
Most of us use logic everyday as we go about our specific routines. We use deductive reasoning with lightening speed. And we do most of this sub-consciously. There are certain impulses in our brains that help us to make certain decisions like eating, drinking, and sleeping, and certain reflexes that keep us from physical harm and pain when we feel the heat of a stove, or prick of a thorn.
Also, there is some simple logic when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and livelihood. Regular exercise, eating the right kinds of foods in the right proportions, and eliminating stress through positive extracurricular outlets is a pretty simple way to maintain a good, healthy lifestyle and balance physically.
But what about when this healthy lifestyle is kicked to the curb? What happens when I throw caution to the wind and do whatever I do without a care for what might happen to me?
When I do this I neglect all logic, and live the way I feel like living, without a care for the adverse affects on myself or anyone else around me.
There came a time when Jesus’ disciples had been under his tutelage for a while and had come to understand who he was enough to go into the surrounding communities with this message of grace, mercy, peace, and love that Jesus had been instilling in them. And it’s in Matthew 10, we see Jesus giving the disciples some final instructions before their journey. Now most of this had become second nature to them by now, but Jesus reminds them of who they are and what they are to be about while they are away from him.
One specific verse stands out as the purpose for their trip in…
Matthew 10:8 (NLT)
“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!”
Jesus was, in essence, telling them to do all that he was doing. To go into the local communities healing the sick, raising the dead, curing those with leprosy, and casting out demons. And he tags this specific verse with the icing on the cake being to give as freely as they have received.
They were not to hoard all the blessings and truth that they had been given by Christ, but were to share it freely so as to give eternal life. They were taking part in God’s work and were to be sources and channels of God’s love to the rest of the world.
There’s a saying that goes like this…
If you take in but never give out you become FAT.
If you give out but never take in, you become FAINT.
If you take in and give out, you become FIT.
I want to take some time looking at each of these today to assess were we might fall within the scope freely giving as we have received:
• FAT:
When we take in but never give out we become fat. And when we become fat our mobility is slowed. We can’t move nearly as fast, and are not as agile. In some extreme cases of obesity, mobility is non-existent, leaving a person bedridden and incapable of leaving their own home. More often than not, this is a result of over-consumption with no evidence of output through exercise and physical activity.
Another example of this is the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a body of water in the Middle East located between Jordan and Israel. The Dead Sea is unique in that “nothing lives in it. It is some of the saltiest water anywhere in the world, almost six times as salty as the ocean! The Dead Sea is completely landlocked and it gets saltier with increasing depth…
“There’s no seaweed or plants of any kind in or around the water. There are no fish or any kind of swimming, squirming creatures living in or near the water. As a matter of fact, what you’ll see on the shores of the Sea is white, crystals of salt covering EVERYTHING. And this is no ordinary table salt, either. The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts, just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the Sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore by the wind and waves…
“The Dead Sea is continually fed water from the rivers and streams coming down off the mountains that surround it. But the kicker is this....no rivers drain out of the Dead Sea. The only way water gets out of the Sea is through evaporation. And boy does it evaporate! This part of the world gets plenty hot. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals in the Sea, just making it saltier. In fact, it’s through the dual action of; 1) continuing evaporation and 2) minerals salts carried into the Sea from the local rivers that makes the Sea so salty. The fact that the water doesn’t escape the Sea just traps the salts within its shores. There’s nothing living in the Dead Sea because it got so salty, so quickly, that no living creature has ever adapted to such brutal conditions” (http://www.extremescience.com/DeadSea.htm).
You see, the problem with the Dead Sea is the same problem that many of us find ourselves in at times: constantly taking in, but never giving out; and when this happens, life is non-existent.
Our spiritual lives are no different. When we continue to take and take and take, but never give, we become bodies of water where no life exists. We become islands unto ourselves with no life activity evident.
You see, I believe we have become so consumer-minded in our culture that taking has become second nature. Rather than taking only what we need, we live with the effects of over-consumption and we pay the cost with our lives and the lives of those we love.
In our “fast-food” mindset, we come to church many times with a gobble-up and hurry-up mentality, and we leave fatter than ever with the truth of the Gospel message only to keep it to ourselves until the next Sunday.
But if there’s anything I know for sure, it’s what Jesus said in…
Matthew 10:39 (NLT)
“If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it.”
Real living isn’t about holding tight to what we have; rather it’s in giving it all up for the sake of Christ. For when we do this we find true life; we find abundant life. It’s only by giving up those things that we cling so tightly too that God gives us the keys of heaven and the gift of eternal life. What greater treasure could we ever hope for than this?
• FAINT:
When we give out but never take in, we become faint. And when we become faint – just like becoming fat – our mobility is slowed. We become weakened, sluggish, and overall paralyzed by the lack of strength-giving resources.
There are several dry lake beds in the west around Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico. These dry basins were once flourishing with life. Filled with plant life, fish, and others creatures, these lakes were once central sources of biological and ecological activity. But to look at them today – dry, cracked, and a vast expanse of barren ground – it’s hard to believe they were anything more than they are now.
Dry lake beds occur several different ways, but the most common way is by lack of tributaries, rivers, and run-offs feeding them. All lakes are fed water by other sources, but when these sources stop flowing into the lake, the lake begins to dry up.
Just like dry lakebeds, our lives can become just as dry and as barren. When we constantly give without thought for rest and replenishment we become weak and feeble; we become fatigued and exhausted.
This happens to many people who neglect to take the time to rest, pray, read their Bible, and fellowship with other believers. The spiritual life needs nourishment and rest in order to thrive. The problem that many of us have, however, is that we run at breakneck speeds, constantly doing, doing, doing many times unaware of where God is in the process; but rather than wait upon his leading and his direction, we take matters into our own hands and work ourselves until we are completely burned-out, dry, and spiritually sick from malnourishment.
Jesus knew the importance of resting, and spending time alone with the Father, and also having fun with his friends. There were many times he got away from the crowds to be alone. He needed his strength renewed and to release the burdens of this life to the Father. Not only did he do this but he asks others to do it as well.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT)
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”
Isn’t it time we slowed down a bit? Isn’t it time to make the most of every moment even those moments of rest and relaxation. Isn’t it time to get nourishment for our souls as we wait upon the Lord to renew our strength?
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)
“Have you never heard or understood? Don’t you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. [29] He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. [30] Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. [31] But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
• FIT:
Ephesians 4:16 (NLT)
Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
You see, this is the perfect picture of the Church. Part of God’s perfect plan is that each one of us has an active part in receiving his blessings from above, and also giving freely within the body of believers so that we help each other grow into a healthy body full of love. A healthy body works together fulfilling its functions uninhibited.
Just like the human body, when one part falters and fails the rest of the body feels the effect, so when each one of us succeeds and functions completely the whole body functions without problems.
When we function as givers and receivers of the divine blessings of God, we function with abundant life in all wholeness, being complete in Christ.
We find very simply and very logically that the fitness program demanded for complete spiritual health is to freely give as we have received. It’s as simple as that!
Conclusion:
“One of the great heartbreaks of the 1988 Winter Olympics was the story of speed skater Dan Jansen. Just hours before his race he received the news that his sister, who had been fighting leukemia for more than a year, had just died. Bearing the weight of his sorrow, Dan laced on his skates to race for his sister. When the gun sounded, he sprinted from the starting line, only to slip and fall in the first turn. Four days latter, in the 1,000-meter race, he fell again. The whole country mourned with him.
“Many Americans sent Dan letters of consolation. According to Sports Illustrated, not long after returning home, Jansen received a letter from Mark Arrowood, a disabled thirty-year-old from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Mark wrote:
‘Dear Dan, I watched you on TV, I’m sorry that you fell 2 times. I am in Special Olympics. I won a gold medal at PA State Summer Olympics right after my Dad dies seven years ago… Before we start the games we have a saying that goes like this. “Let me win but if I can’t win let me be brave in the attempt.”… I want to share one of my gold medals with you because I don’t like to see you not get one. Try again in four more years.’
“Inside the envelope, Dan Jansen found a gold medal that Mark Arrowood had won in a track-and-field event.
“Those who share their blessings are the greatest champions of all. They freely give because they have received. And because they do this we find that goodness is greatness” (Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, & Writers (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 271).
So, where would you fit within the grand scope of things today? Have you been taking in but not giving out? Have you become fat, obese, and immobile? Are you like the Dead Sea, a large body of water that has all sorts of inlets by no outlets, and because of this is incapable of life? Or, are you faint? Has your once flourishing lake now run dry, so much so, that you’re only a shriveled up replica of what once was?
My prayer is that you are fit. I pray that you are the light on a hill that gives light to the world. I pray that you are the salt of the earth that gives flavor and richness to the world around you, all in the name of Christ. I pray that you are freely giving from what you have received?
