Make This Muddled World A Better Place
January 24, 2018
Lanier Christian Church
David Simpson
The Academy Award Nominations came out yesterday. Of the movies nominated, one of them is about famous British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, entitled: Darkest Hour. Churchill left us with many inspiring words worth quoting.
Churchill once gave a speech in which he referred to a relatively unknown scripture found in Genesis 47:9:
And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. (KJV)
Here is what Winston Churchill said on that October day in 1908 in Dundee, Scotland:
"Few," it is written, "and evil are the days of man." Soon, very soon, our brief lives will be lived. Soon, very soon, we and our affairs will have passed away. Uncounted generations will trample heedlessly upon our tombs. What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal? And I avow my faith that we are marching towards better days. Humanity will not be cast down. We are going on - swinging bravely forward along the grand high road - and already behind the distant mountains is the promise of the sun."
These words were spoken before World War I and World War II. It was Churchill's noble causes and faithful optimism which propelled his nation forward through the difficult days of the two World Wars. I love his phrase: "...to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone."
Shouldn't that define us as believers in Christ? Yes, we live in a broken world. Yes, of course, the promise of a better day will come when heaven is unveiled before us. Yet, in the meantime, isn't it our calling to make this muddled world a better place for the next generation?
It's time to say "ENOUGH!" Enough of wasted days and wasted opportunities. Enough of selfish behavior and greed. Enough of entitlement and demands. Enough of self-centeredness and conceit. Enough of apathy and laziness. The time is NOW to make a difference, to strive for noble causes, to make this muddled world a better place!
Jesus set the example. He showed us the way. He gave us the challenge. He empowered us through His Holy Spirit. Now, it's simply time to get out there and do it! Peter said, as recorded in 1 Peter 4:10 - "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."
By serving others and striving for noble causes we are connecting with our Heavenly Father like no other time. We are connecting with the infinite. When we serve, we are reflecting the truth that we are made in His likeness and there is not a selfish bone in the Almighty!
So today, this week, this year go out and make this muddled world a better place through the strengthening power and guidance of our Savior at work within you. If you do, it will not only bring you to a closer relationship with God, but it will benefit those who come after you!