In matters of faith there are any number of reasons for doing things.
Some act out of habit, others expectations or personal desire.
Others, decide that there is time enough for such matters of faith - and live as they please preferring to delay considering God rather treating him like a life boat on a ship.
Speaking of lifeboats - did you know that there were lifeboats on the ship the Titanic enough to accomodate all the passengers but it was felt that they clutterred up the ship so half of them were dispensed with?
After all the ship was unsinkable - Complacancy didn’t slip in - it rushed in.
Here is another example from politics:-
"My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And now I recommend you to go home and sleep quietly in your beds." ATTRIBUTION: Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940), British politician, prime minister. speech, Sept. 30, 1938, Downing Street, London.
Today I want to talk about the final issue in our Prayer action Plan:-
Complacancy.
A dictionary meaning:- A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.
An instance of contented self-satisfaction.
The inward complacence we find in acting reasonably and virtuously. --Atterbury.
Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacency, if they discover none of the like in themselves. --Addison.
Complacancy is a problem. It is a problem not only in our everyday lives but also in matters of faith - which if we are prudent will be everyday life anyway.
Let us read from Proverbs.
Prov 1:28-33 (NIV) "They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat of the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Here we find three possible positions where we can live our Christian lives.
Only one of these positions is really a safe way where we can truly be at ease.
Let’s look at it using an Acrostic SAFE this morning.
The first position is:-
Simple:- The waywardness.of the Simple. . For the waywardness of the simple will kill them
LK 17:26 "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
LK 17:28 "It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.
Proverbs talks about the waywardness of the simple.
What were people doing in the days of Noah:- 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.
These are the basics of life - "All I require." Someone says "Is a simple life!!"
Well if you look at the life of Noah we hear that people living like that were destroyed.
If you look at Sodom we hear the same thing - the result is the same - everyone destroyed.
Further Jesus moves forward to our own age
LK 17:30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. "
LK 17:37 "Where, Lord?" they asked.
He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
The question that comes to my mind what is the difference between a simple life and the life of NoaH?
GE 6:9 This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
GE 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
Moses did all the things that Jesus spoke of with regard to the people of his time - eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage.
The difference was Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.
We read in Proverbs this morning says: For the waywardness of the simple will kill them
Many years ago I visited a man who had recently been widowed.
He had had a normal working life and was now retired.
He had straight rows of lettuces and potatoes a lovely spring garden.
His car was well polished his family got on well with him.
He was part of the community.
I thought to myself what is missing this man seems to live such a well ordered simple life?
What is missing it now appears to me is the fact that he had no apparant regard for God.
God was not a factor.
He had reinvented the week - Sunday was about getting straight rows of lettuces instead of getting his life straightened out with God.
Simple isn’t enought.
The other thing I have discovered is that if you meet a person who is not walking with God there will be underwater hazxards beneath the calm surface of the life presenting to you.
I know this is true for all of us - but don’t believe the picture postcard picture of the simple.
Basically they are complacant and Jesus warns us that this is a fatal flaw to a life.
Secondly Proverbs talks of Attitude of Fools is complacancy.
Jesus goes on to say:-
LK 17:30 "It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the roof of his house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left. "
Whoever tries to keep his life says Jesus will lose it.
Clearly there are some who Christ saves and some who lose their lives.
Proverbs says the complacency of fools will destroy them;
When the bible talks about a fool it uses really strong languague.
Jesus once warned - MT 5:22Again, anyone who says to his brother, `Raca,(empty headed.) ’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, `You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
The bible is very serious when it talks about being a fool.
The foolish person not only misses opportunities to make wise use of time; he has a more fundamental problem: He does not understand what are God’s purposes for mankind and for Christians
Recently I read a biography by Helene Moszkiewiez who was a Jewish Belgian girl although able to protect herself she had a deep concern for her parents. Eventually she secured permission to smuggle them out of Belgian to England with the Resistance. But when she broached the subject with her Father he refused to move.
"If I stay here," he argued, "we probably have a betterchance of not being discovered by the Germans."
"Father," Helene replied, "the Gestapo are arresting more and more Jews all the time now. Sooner or later they could come for you too. Then it would be too late."
"You’re overreacting, Helene. The Germans couldn’t possibly search every nook and cranny of the city, and, besides, the war can’t last forever. I don’t see that it’s all that likely they’ll come after us here."
A few weeks Helene’s parents were arrested and shipped off to Germany where they were killed.
We too have a warning.
Jesus warns us very seriously about the seriousness of our position.
In order to save our lives we are encouraged to move towards Jesus Christ - to act out of all that he has taught us.
Let’s not be fools.
The message of the gospel is quite clear - when Jesus says Run for your lives - then we’d better run.
The place we are called to run is into the arms of a loving and amazing God who wants us to live as an integral part of His Kingdom.
Whoever tries to keep his life says Jesus will lose it.
Who keeps your life?
Our final point is made at the end of our reading from Probverbs.
Ease and safety -but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
In this reading it is referring to wisdom - but wisdom real wisdom comes from God.
Listening God brings you to a place of Ease and safety.
It is a curious parodox that many people strive hard all their lives working hard for a life of rest and ease which
Many never find and some only enjoy for a few short years.
While those who find God come to a place of ease.
Here we are not talking about a deckchair on some cruise liner but rather that deep inner peace one finds when one is at peace with God.
Jesus said:- MT 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
We have learned that complacancy about God is a deadly thing. It robs us of life and is toxic spiritual fodder.
Prov 1:28-33 (NIV) "They will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat of the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm."
Can I encourage you to press on in the things of God to discover your full purpose and destiny in God.
Get enthusiastic about God’s call in your life.
I read an item from Willow Creek church last week that I would like to conclude with:-
The Fellowship of the Unashamed
I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me…my banner will be clear!"
— by Dr. Robert Moorehead
A copy is printed out in the foyer for your help.
Can we pray.
Jgullick@xtra.co.nz
October 2003
