Die Empty – R. Neal Gracey May 5, 2019
Where is the wealthiest place on earth? The Cemetery! Why the cemetery?
Because in the cemetery are books that were never written, and cures that were never discovered.
The graveyard is filled with music, we’ve never heard. The cemetery is filled with paintings no one has ever seen. The graveyard is filled with poetry never read. The graveyards are filled with businesses that never got opened and companies that never got started. The cemetery is full of inventions that we never used, all because someone was too afraid to take that first step, and keep with the issue, or stay determined to carry out their dream.”
Friends, all of us, are the next candidates to add to the wealth of, the cemetery. Have you ever written an article or a thesis, or a book? Just one? If you stop at one, the cemetery has robbed us. Why haven’t you written 10 books? Have you ever sung in a choir? If you die before you do, the cemetery will have robbed us all of hearing you sing in a choir just once, here on earth. Because we’re all gonna’ sing in heaven.
Have you ever shared Christ with someone else? Have you ever led anyone to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? What have you wanted to do in this life that you haven’t done yet? Why aren’t you perusing those things?
Friends, when you and I die, we need to die empty.
I want you to die with nothing left to do. I want you to die after you’ve poured out all your dreams, all your talents, and all your strength. I want you to die empty.
Use up your ideas, use up your visions, your energy, and inventions. The goal of life should be to die, empty. Don’t die young, or old, die …empty. Pour out your soul.
The most beautiful statement I ever read was from a young man, you may have heard of Him, that hung on a cross. He said, “It is Finished.” He didn’t say, I am finished, he said, it is finished! His name is Yeshua Christos, a carpenter’s son, a Nazarene, better known as Jesus Christ, he was only 33 years old. He came to pour out all that he had, and at 33 years of age he emptied himself of everything he came to do. Then he died. I know, there is only One Triune God, and nobody could do what He did, but everybody’s goal in life should be, to pour out, everything we have.
Friends, when you get to the cemetery, and you’ll get there, “for it is appointed for all people to die once, then after that the judgement, I want you to disappoint that grave. When you get there, have nothing left for it.
Go like the Apostle Paul went. He said, “I have finished my cause. I have kept the faith. I have been poured out like a drink offering. There’s nothing left.” Friends, I want to finish when I do because there is nothing left to keep me alive. When I’ve done all that God has sent me to do.
The graveyard is the wealthiest place on earth but when you die, may it’s wealth not increase one thin dime.
Whether you’re a baker, a mechanic, a nurse, a secretary, a teacher, or preacher, a student, a carpenter, a construction worker, …your future is not ahead of you, it’s inside of you, and it needs poured out.
The cemetery is full enough. Not of bodies; we’ll all end up there, hopefully later than sooner, but of ---desires and dreams, of talents and contributions never used, of testimonies never shared, of hugs never hugged. Even here in church, you see people walk past each other and never say hello to one another, never bat an eye, and never look their way. I’ve seen people pass each other like two ships in the night. I guarantee not everyone knows everyone in this church family. Yes, I called us a family, because in Christ, we are.
I remember one time many years ago a lady got upset with Carole because she didn’t run over and say hi to her and ask her were she’s been. We all knew where she’d been…not in church, actually, not in church for a month and a half. Carole was busy saying hi to her church family that was sick last week.
A church family is different. It’s hard to miss the people that you don’t see for months, but it’s easy to miss the ones you are used to seeing every week. When you don’t see a regular, that is a concern. When you are here the church grows and you grow. When you’re not here the church doesn’t grow and neither do you.
Don’t take it with you, --use it, spend it, pour it out, here, now, today, not just every Sunday, every day, before your life is through. Pour it out, everyday!
Steve Jobs was a fascinating entrepreneur and business leader of our times. Steve died at the young age of 56. One of his last quotes should really peak our interest. It says, “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me…Going to bed at night saying, we’ve done something wonderful…that’s what matters to me.”
What matters to you?
There have been gravestones, mausoleums, tombs, and even entire family buildings built worth millions and billions of dollars. Do you know what the saddest thing is about that? There is no one in them. It was all a waste.
The richest place on earth is the cemetery, not because of the money thrown away for stones and buildings, it’s because people are dying every day, without sharing their wealth, their talents, their hearts. People are dying everyday and keeping it all to themselves.
Where is the wealthiest place on earth? The Cemetery! Why the cemetery? Because too many of us are dying full. Let’s be like Paul, and more like Christ. Let’s pour ourselves out like a drink offering, until there’s nothing left.
Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
When Jesus spoke these words directly to His disciples, and indirectly to us, He was giving the church her marching orders. He was telling exactly what He expected us to do in His physical absence. The disciples took the Lord's command seriously.
They went into the world and shared the Gospel of Jesus and thousands upon thousands were saved by the grace of God. Their message was so powerful and their witness so effective that their critics accused them of “turning the world upside down”
Have you ever been accused of turning the world upside down? Me either, wanna know why? Because we are many times slack in our witnessing. Why is that? Well, at times we think:
• I don’t have the time
• They are too far gone
• Nobody will listen to me
• I’m not spiritual enough
• I’ll get into trouble
• I’m not smart enough
• I don’t want to upset or make someone mad
• My friends will make fun of me
• Other Christians don’t witness
• I don’t know what to say
• I’m not a good enough Christian to be telling others
These are a few off the top of my head and honestly, I may have used all these excuses at one time or another.
I was telling my wife just before Easter that I was sitting next to a young man at work. Out of the blue he turned to me and said, “You know, I just found out that Good Friday and Easter are related. I never knew they had anything to do with each other.”
I was shocked! But then, not really because his generation is a generation unlike any other. They aren’t being taught Spiritual things like we were when we were kids. Soooooooooo, I looked over at him and said, “Jake, my friend, you and I are going to take a ride together!”
When I told my wife this story she said, “I have never seen God put so many people in someone’s path as He does for you.” 😊
Friends, Ephesians 2:8-9 says,
8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” I cannot boast about what I do for the Lord, nor can you. I do get opportunities to witness. I am thrilled to be a Sunday school teacher. I am glad that I get a chance to speak in churches once in a while. But one thing is sure, and I remember it all the time. IT IS NOT FROM ME, IT IS FROM THE LORD.
So, friends, the next time you feel the Holy Spirit, “poking at you” to witness, or speak up, He Will Tell You What To Say! Christian believers have the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s power is available to God’s people who want to do His will and be His witnesses.
We do not have to be an apostle to have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Therefore, let’s practice what our Lord commands. Let’s witness for Christ -- Let’s make disciples! “Not all will be saved, but all deserve a chance to hear the Gospel.”
Dear church, don’t keep it for the cemetery, pour it out, and die empty!
