UNDER-ROWERS
1 Cor 3:18-4:2
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";
20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-- all are yours,
23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
CHAPTER 4
1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.
2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
The main text today is that of 4:1: ¡°So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.¡±
HOW MANY OF YOU CAN REMEMBER SEEING THE MOVIE, ¡°BEN HUR?¡± Raise your hands. It was made way back in the 60’s. A great film with a strong Christian emphasis and lots of action! I love action films. It¡¯s a guy thing It depicts Ben Hur, a Jew, who has been sentenced to serve aboard a Roman warship. He¡¯s below decks¨Cin the belly of the ship, as an oarsman. It¡¯s not a pretty picture, but true to life.
The title of the message, as you can see, is ¡°Under-rowers.¡± The word, ¡°servant¡± in I Cor.4:1 literally means ¡°under-rower.¡± When I got this idea to show this clip, I thought I had better be careful not to give the impression that serving Christ means that God is going to stand over you with a whip. That would be an erroneous view of discipleship. But on the other hand, I think that often we make the Christian faith too easy. We give the impression that all you have to do is pray a little prayer, join the church, worship a little now and then and then just go your merry way.
The fact is, living the Christian life is tough! Amen? I mean to really live for the Lord demands all-out effort. I don¡¯t think its any co-incident that Paul chose this word. We are called to be ¡°under-rowers¡± on the Gospel Ship.
Just like Ben Hur, we are called to work on the lowest deck. This is no pleasure cruise. If you thought it was, you¡¯d better sign off now, because there are going to be days when the waters are rough and the enemy is closing in.
Archbishop Secker used to say, ¡°God has 3 sorts of servants in the world:
¡õ some are slaves and serve God out of fear
¡õ some are hirelings and serve Him for rewards
¡õ some are sons and serve God because they love Him
Our service to Christ is the third kind. We are sons and daughters of the King. We serve Him because we love Him.
Illus.: ¡°Elderly Woman Keeps Busy Serving¡±
A certain lady was celebrating her 85th birthday and was asked by a reporter what advice she would have for others. Here¡¯s what she said: ¡°Stay busy helping others.¡± Then she was asked what she did. Her answer: ¡°I look after an old lady in our neighborhood.¡±
FIVE THINGS TRUE OF UNDER-ROWERS
1. They Rowed to the Captain¡¯s Beat
¡õ not to the world
¡õ not to the church
¡õ not even to a power group in the church
Gal 1:10: ¡°Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.¡±
Illus.: ¡°I Work for Him, not You!¡±
John Kenneth Gailbraith, in his autobiography, A Life In Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family¡¯s housekeeper. It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House. ¡°Get me Ken Gailbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson!¡± She replied, ¡°He¡¯s sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him.¡± ¡°Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him.¡± ¡°No, Mr. President, I can¡¯t do that. I work for him, not you.¡± When Galbraith called the President later, he could scarcely believe what the President said: ¡°Tell that woman I want her here in the White House!¡±
2. They Rowed Together
¡õ required harmony
¡õ had to be in sinc with the drummer who got his orders from above!
¡õ required that they all be team players¡ªthey had to ¡°pull together¡±
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Indian warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Tonto replied, ¡°What do you mean, ¡®WE,¡± paleface?¡±
Has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow.
Snowflakes are one of nature¡¯s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.
Illus.: ¡°Bicycle Built for Two
Two men were riding a bicycle built for two when they came to a big steep hill. It took a great deal of struggle for the men to complete what proved to be a very stiff climb. When they got to the top the man in front turned to the other and said, "Boy, that sure was a hard climb." The fellow in back replied, "Yes, and if I hadn’t kept the brakes on all the way we would certainly have rolled down backwards."
3. They Trusted the Captain¡¯s Orders
1. destination (assurance)
2. storms
3. warfare
Illus.: ¡°She Floated on Her Back¡±
A father was out swimming with his two children in the Atlantic Ocean, when he noticed that the tide was pulling them out to sea. Realizing that his sever-year-old son was not as well a swimmer as his 11-year-old daughter, he said, ¡°Honey, I¡¯m going to take your little brother back to shore and then I¡¯m going to return for you. Remember how I taught you to float on your back? You can float all day if you have to without getting tired.¡± The father fought the tide and in a state of exhaustion made it to the shore with his young son. He sounded the alarm and set back out with the lifeguards. Not finding her they continued out to sea in a frantic search. After 2 hours of looking one of the men spotted a small body floating in the water. It was his daughter still floating on her back. After they had pulled her into the boat one of the lifegurads asked her if she got frightened being out in the ocean all by herself. She answered, ¡°I wasn¡¯t afraid. My father told me to float on my back and he told me that he would return for me. I believed him because I knew he loved me and wouldn¡¯t lie.¡±
4. They Were Committed for Life
¡õ Couldn¡¯t quit even if they wanted to¨C-there is a sense in which that¡¯s true of the Christian; love compels us.
¡õ If the ship went down, so did they
Illus.: ¡°Cortez Burned the Ships¡±
Place: Veracruz, Mexico
Plan: 11 ships burned after the cargo was unloaded, stranding 700 men ashore
In the book "Kids Sure Rite Funny" Art Linkletter tells about the kid who made this solemn promise:
I have resolved this year not to fight my sister unless she fights me first or makes me mad or I feel like it.
Sounds like the commitments we make sometimes, doesn’t it? Like the guy who said, "From now on, I’m going to church every Sunday...unless there’s a game on."
Our goals, plans, and promises are only as strong as willingness to keep them--regardless of the cost.
5. They Received no Honor
¡õ never seen, but success depended on them¡ªlike lots of ¡°behind the scenes¡± folks right in this church
¡õ rowed to the Captain¡¯s honor¡ªnot looking for credit or recognition
Illus.: ¡°The Boy Who Tried to Please Only His Master¡± (p.204, Come Alive With Illustrations, Flynn)
Are you on board? Are you willing to serve with an oarsman¡¯s heart? The Captain is depending on you. Remember, the benefits are out of this world.
FIVE THINGS TRUE OF UNDER-ROWERS
1. They Rowed to the Captain¡¯s Beat
¡õ not to the world
¡õ not to the church
¡õ not even to a power group in the church
Gal 1:10: ¡°Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.¡±
Illus.: ¡°I Work for Him, not You!¡±
John Kenneth Gailbraith, in his autobiography, A Life In Our Times, illustrates the devotion of Emily Gloria Wilson, his family¡¯s housekeeper. It had been a wearying day, and I asked Emily to hold all telephone calls while I had a nap. Shortly thereafter the phone rang. Lyndon Johnson was calling from the White House. ¡°Get me Ken Gailbraith. This is Lyndon Johnson!¡± She replied, ¡°He¡¯s sleeping, Mr. President. He said not to disturb him.¡± ¡°Well, wake him up. I want to talk to him.¡± ¡°No, Mr. President, I can¡¯t do that. I work for him, not you.¡± When Galbraith called the President later, he could scarcely believe what the President said: ¡°Tell that woman I want her here in the White House!¡±
2. They Rowed Together
¡õ required harmony
¡õ had to be in sinc with the drummer who got his orders from above!
¡õ required that they all be team players¡ªthey had to ¡°pull together¡±
Tonto and the Lone Ranger were riding through a canyon together when all of a sudden both sides were filled with Indian warriors on horses, dressed for battle. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and asked, ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Tonto replied, ¡°What do you mean, ¡®WE,¡± paleface?¡±
Has it ever occurred to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which one must individually bow.
Snowflakes are one of nature¡¯s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.
Illus.: ¡°Bicycle Built for Two
Two men were riding a bicycle built for two when they came to a big steep hill. It took a great deal of struggle for the men to complete what proved to be a very stiff climb. When they got to the top the man in front turned to the other and said, "Boy, that sure was a hard climb." The fellow in back replied, "Yes, and if I hadn’t kept the brakes on all the way we would certainly have rolled down backwards."
3. They Trusted the Captain¡¯s Orders
1. destination (assurance)
2. storms
3. warfare
Illus.: ¡°She Floated on Her Back¡±
A father was out swimming with his two children in the Atlantic Ocean, when he noticed that the tide was pulling them out to sea. Realizing that his sever-year-old son was not as well a swimmer as his 11-year-old daughter, he said, ¡°Honey, I¡¯m going to take your little brother back to shore and then I¡¯m going to return for you. Remember how I taught you to float on your back? You can float all day if you have to without getting tired.¡± The father fought the tide and in a state of exhaustion made it to the shore with his young son. He sounded the alarm and set back out with the lifeguards. Not finding her they continued out to sea in a frantic search. After 2 hours of looking one of the men spotted a small body floating in the water. It was his daughter still floating on her back. After they had pulled her into the boat one of the lifegurads asked her if she got frightened being out in the ocean all by herself. She answered, ¡°I wasn¡¯t afraid. My father told me to float on my back and he told me that he would return for me. I believed him because I knew he loved me and wouldn¡¯t lie.¡±
4. They Were Committed for Life
¡õ Couldn¡¯t quit even if they wanted to¨C-there is a sense in which that¡¯s true of the Christian; love compels us.
¡õ If the ship went down, so did they
Illus.: ¡°Cortez Burned the Ships¡±
Place: Veracruz, Mexico
Plan: 11 ships burned after the cargo was unloaded, stranding 700 men ashore
In the book "Kids Sure Rite Funny" Art Linkletter tells about the kid who made this solemn promise:
I have resolved this year not to fight my sister unless she fights me first or makes me mad or I feel like it.
Sounds like the commitments we make sometimes, doesn’t it? Like the guy who said, "From now on, I’m going to church every Sunday...unless there’s a game on."
Our goals, plans, and promises are only as strong as willingness to keep them--regardless of the cost.
5. They Received no Honor
¡õ never seen, but success depended on them¡ªlike lots of ¡°behind the scenes¡± folks right in this church
¡õ rowed to the Captain¡¯s honor¡ªnot looking for credit or recognition
Illus.: ¡°The Boy Who Tried to Please Only His Master¡± (p.204, Come Alive With Illustrations, Flynn)
Are you on board? Are you willing to serve with an oarsman¡¯s heart? The Captain is depending on you. Remember, the benefits are out of this world.
