Overcoming Tomorrow
James 4:13-17
One day a man went to his doctor for his annual physical. A couple weeks later, he went back in order to hear the results. His doctor said, “Well, I have some bad news and some even worse news. Which do you want to hear first?” The man became somewhat anxious, but stated that he would like to hear the bad news first.
“Well,” the doctor said, “The bad news is that you only have 24 hours to live.” At that point, the man jumped up, completely flabbergasted and distraught. He paced through the doctor’s office and lamented, “Twenty-four hours to live? I can’t possibly get my affairs in order that quickly. I can’t believe this. This is just completely incredible. Doc, are you sure? I mean, what could possibly be worse news than this.”
The doctor then sadly stated, “The worse news is, I was supposed to tell you this yesterday. Sorry about the scheduling mix-up.”
I have always kinda gotten a kick out of the musical “Little Orphan Annie.” The story itself is quite touching and inspirational. I mean who wouldn’t be touched by the story of a little girl, raised in a mean, cruel orphanage, and yet despite her circumstances, for the most part, she always possessed hope. And her hope was fulfilled when she was finally adopted by her Daddy Warbucks and she went off to live happily ever after.
And who can forget probably one of the most hopeful and inspirational songs ever composed, “Tomorrow”? You all know the words right? Sing it with me…
The sun will come out, tomorrow;
Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow,
There’ll be sun.
Just thinkin’ about, tomorrow;
Puts away the teardrops and the sorrow,
Til’ there’s none.
Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya’ Tomorrow;
You’re only a day away….
Okay, enough of that. But the reality is, the thought of tomorrow is kind of inspirational, don’t you think? I mean it gives us something to look forward to, a sense of a new beginning. It gives us an opportunity to perhaps redeem ourselves from the current day’s flops and failures.
But the reality is, there is a somewhat negative side to tomorrow. Maybe is it not a negative side about tomorrow itself, perhaps the negativity comes from our humanly faulty understanding of tomorrow. Because the reality is folks, we all know that tomorrow is not a guarantee. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. It doesn’t matter how rich, smart, good-looking, young, old, whatever, nobody is guaranteed a tomorrow. All we possess is the here and now. Tomorrow even though it might be only a day away, it is still an eternity away.
In our passage this morning, James addresses the whole issue of tomorrow. Now, he does this in light of those early Christian believers who were so focused on the business of tomorrow and the whole concept of greed (which ironically we’ll look at next week—Lord willing!) that they were spending a considerable amount of time “just thinkin’ about” tomorrow, and all the many more ways that they could make more money and get more stuff, and they were failing to take advantage of the day that they currently possessed.
If you have your Bibles with you this morning, please stand, turn, and read with me James 4:13-16. There are three things that James addresses when dealing with concept of tomorrow. The first of which is…
I. The Boast of Tomorrow (v. 13)
The Boast of Tomorrow. Here in verse 13, James speaks of another one of those things in which our tongues and our pride can so often get us into trouble with. And that is the arrogant boast of tomorrow. Notice at the beginning of verse 13 he says “Come now, you who say… tomorrow we will…” What James is doing here is confronting those whose tongues and spirits were writing futuristic checks that their present day accounts couldn’t cash.
Basically those whom James is confronting and challenging here are those folks, both believers and otherwise, who would make such a boast thus implying that they themselves were the masters of their own destinies. He is confronting those who possess an attitude and a mindset that they are in control of their own futures. That they are in control of their own lives. And therefore, they can either procrastinate and put off their current responsibilities until tomorrow, or they can make whatever plans they want to for the future without any regard to the future’s uncertainty.
However, James brings to these early recipients a huge does of reality when…
II. The Reality of Tomorrow (v. 14)
In verse 14 he shocks them with the Reality of Tomorrow. He tells them, “you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow.” To boast about tomorrow, to make humanly arrogant plans regarding tomorrow, to “put off” until tomorrow is stupidity at its worst, absurdity at it’s best.
And he proves his point by reminding them of just how short life is. He tells them that their life is like a vapor. It is smoke. It is a shadow. Life is uncertain at any time. It comes. It goes. It is obscured by various trials and afflictions. He is basically telling them that no one knows what is going to happen tomorrow because no one is guaranteed tomorrow.
But that being said, he does not completely rule out the consideration of tomorrow. For…
III. The Hope for Tomorrow (v. 15-16)
In verses 15-16 he brings to light the Hope for Tomorrow. Whereas the speaker in verse 13 possesses the attitude of assuming tomorrow is his, James reminds the reader that one cannot make that assumption. The problem is, that the speaker in verse 13 is leaving God out of the equation.
And in verses 15 and 16, that is the exact mistake that James seeks to rectify. Notice he says is verse 15, “Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills…” Beloved, James knew who held tomorrow in his Hand. He knew in whom he had placed his hope and trust, not only for salvation and eternal life, but also for life in current reality. James puts the Lord back into the equation because the reality is beloved, the future, whatever that future might be, is in the hands of the Lord, God Almighty.
James knew that all of the hopes and dreams for his “tomorrows” rested in the hands of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And he challenges his initial hearers and readers to return to that understanding or to come to the realization of this eternal reality by declaring “if it is the Lord’s will”.
So, once again, this begs the question of what does all of this mean to us as 21st century Christians? Well, one of the things that it means is that as God’s people, we should never procrastinate. We should never put off doing tomorrow what we ought to be doing today. I know this sounds so cliché, and can be extremely difficult. I am probably one of the world’s worst procrastinators, so I am preaching to myself this morning.
But it’s the honest to goodness truth. Again, we don’t have tomorrow. All we have is today, and even then, today is limited. And the ramifications of this eternal truth are numerous.
In our jobs, are we putting in an honest day’s work? I don’t mean working one’s self to death. Killing one’s self over their job does not equal honesty. We should work hard, but there is nothing wrong with working “smarter” as opposed to working “harder”. Are we accomplishing the day’s tasks or are we just doing our own thing?
What about our familial and interpersonal relationships? Do we both show and tell our friends and loved one’s we love them enough? Have we forgiven those who have wronged us and/or have we asked for forgiveness from those whom we have wronged? Or do we hold a grudge and/or keep deceiving ourselves by saying “some day I might, but not today” when the reality is “some day” may never come?
Beloved, you do not want to enter into eternity having not shown and told your loved-ones how much you love them and care for them. And neither do you want to enter into eternity holding a grudge toward or with someone. We have all heard stories of and/or perhaps are a part of a story where we have had a loved one or former friend/brother or sister in Christ go into eternity and we have either not expressed our love towards them enough or we never forgave them, or asked their forgiveness. And now the opportunity is gone. It’s too late for that situation. And quite often the feelings of guilt, regret, and heartache are overwhelming.
And then probably most important, what about your salvation? Have you asked Jesus Christ to forgive you of your sins and to come into your life as your personal Lord and Savior? Or like the former, do you keep deceiving yourself by saying, “some day or tomorrow I might, but not today, I have more “living” to do” when the reality once again is that “tomorrow” or “some-day” may never come and that so-called “living” that you want to do is nothing more than feeding your sinful nature.
Beloved, if nothing else, the events within our community and in our church the past few months have taught us that life indeed is short. It is a vapor. And we never know when that vapor, that smoke is going to be snuffed out. And trust me on this, you do not want to enter into eternity having missed the opportunity to ask Christ into your life. You do not want to wait until your “deathbed” because your “deathbed” may never come.
I think I am a pretty decent preacher. I’m not great, but I’m okay. Anyway, it’s not about me, it’s about the Lord. But neither I, nor any other preacher in this town, nor Billy Graham, nor Charles Stanley, nor Joel Olsteen, nor Rick Warren, nor the Pope, nor anyone else for that matter can preach a good enough funeral sermon to get you into heaven. It’s something you have got to do before your time on this earth is up.
If any of these scenarios fit you this morning, then in a few moments, come to this alter and experience Christ’s salvation and/or repent of your failures and reconcile with those whom you need to reconcile. Don’t wait til’ tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. Do it today.
Beloved, another thing that this means for us as human beings in general, Christians in particular, is that we must never leave God out of the equation. As a matter of fact, we can’t. He holds tomorrow in the palm of his hand. It’s okay, as a matter of fact it is wise to plan for tomorrow, but we must do so knowing full well that the only thing certain about tomorrow, is that the Lord God, Almighty is in control of it. Everything rests in him. And everything is going to be accomplished on His terms.
And one final reminding thought (I am sure there are others, but for our purposes today) about what all of this means to us is that life is a gift. All we have in this world is our next breath. So we need to take advantage of that gift and make the best of that breath and live today by God’s grace. May God help us to live each day, to live this day to it’s fullest in Him.
I encourage you this morning, do what you need to do. James closes this chapter by saying that to the one who knows what is right and yet chooses not to do it, to him it is sin. Beloved, you know the truth. Now live it! Reconcile and love those with whom you need to do so. Make your salvation certain now. Because tomorrow may never come. Let us pray.
Date Preached: Mother’s Home—10/28/07 A.M.
