Sermon for February 12th (Get A Life)

(Lightning McQueen #1)

Men in particular, but people in general, don’t like being saved.  We’d rather make it on our own.    We want to be rugged individualists.  We are a proud.  We want to be able to trust ourselves to handle even the most difficult situations.  We think that getting any help would get in the way of living life that way we want.  But there are times when even the most self-reliant of us, need to look outside of ourselves for help. 

(Mr. Restroom toilet paper refiller)

 As that Real Men of Genius commercial points out, we may not want a savior, but when you are stuck in the bathroom with no hope of getting out, even the restroom toilet paper refiller person becomes a hero for you.   As human beings, people like to handle things themselves, but there comes a time in every person’s life when you not only want a Savior, but you need a Savior.  Who is Jesus to you?  A 3^rd wheel or a hero?  The answer to that question will define your life.

                The trouble is that most of us live thinking that we are doing fine on our own.  We don’t want any help.  The theologian Martin Luther said that sin makes people who are blind, think they can see, it makes someone who is deaf believe that they can actually hear, sin makes someone who is lost who believe that they have found their way, when they are actually walking to their death. Sin either leads to pride or despair:.  Either way, we stop truly living the life God intends for us.   What happens when we fail to realize our dreams?  What if our great plans end in disappointment and there is nothing to fall back on?  What happens when you lose all hope?  Or, what happens if you get everything you ever wanted and then realize too late that your priorities were all wrong? 

                Whichever way you go, the wages of sin are death.  But there is hope.  There is a hero for you. Psalm 18: “The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.  The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.  In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.  He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.  He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.” 

Jesus gives a different kind of hope than the world gives.  A new kind of life.  But it only comes from admitting the truth.  “I cannot live on my own.”  Repeat it with me if you so choose, “I cannot live on my own.”  You can’t be your own hero.  When you have utterly despaired of all other things, when you’ve given up your personal salvation project, you are ready for a hero.  You are ready to really start living.  Then Jesus Christ becomes more than just a friend, or simply a great man of history, but YOUR Savior.  He becomes your life! 

Without a crew chief, McQueen couldn’t race.  Without Mr. restroom toilet paper refiller, you are stuck hopping around a stall.  But with Jesus as your Savior, get ready to step out into a new life.

(2^nd Lightning McQueen clip)

There are some of you who haven’t heard a word I’ve said today.  Why?  Well, like I said before, you are doing just fine on your own, “Thank you very much!”  You aren’t in trouble.  In fact, your dreams are working out perfectly nicely.  You are just getting better and better every day of your life.  I want you to listen to this:

(Mr. Silent Gas Passer)

Some people are so proud that they believe even some of their most disgusting habits are to be admired.  But the prophet Isaiah said that even our most righteous virtues are as filthy rags before God.  Self-sufficiency is great, but how many of us use it as a weapon against God’s mercy saying, “I don’t need your help right now God.  Thanks anyway.”  We use our power and achievement not in service to God, but as an excuse to NOT worship God, “I’ve got too much work to do on Sundays, can’t go to church.”  Working hard, standing on your own too feet, making money—these are virtues both in the eyes of God and in the eyes of this world.  But if they have pushed God out of your life, they don’t make you a hero, they stink up your life as much as Mr. Silent Gas Passer stinks up his house. 

The Devil seeks to steal, lie and destroy.  It is obvious when we are depressed, that our lives are falling apart, but many of you here are sitting with smiles on your faces with your life falling apart.  You just can’t see it.  You have no idea what your life could be like. 

In the movie, The Family Man, a successful president of a huge company is given a glimpse of what his life would have been like if he had chosen love over his career when he had the chance.  To choose family over success.  Love over money.  At the start, he thinks he’s got it all.  He’s rich, powerful and popular with the ladies.  By the end, he has realized that he never knew what meaning his life could really have. 

You see, the Devil wins when we lose all our hope and become depressed—that’s obvious—but he also wins when we begin to hope only in ourselves.  We settle for so much less than what God has in store.  For some of you, YOU are your own worst enemy.  You trust in yourself and NOT in God.  You’re afraid that having Jesus as your Savior would destroy your life.  Saint Paul gives you the another possibility, “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. “  Following Jesus will give you a life.  Full of adventure, purpose, meaning and love. 

God values power and competence.  It’s just that he wants you to trust in His power and competence more than anyone else’s—more than the power you have.  “Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”  That’s what Saint Paul said in the book of Ephesians.  You can trust God to defeat the evil in your life, but only through His power, not your own.  Having a Savior doesn’t mean that God destroys your self-sufficiency.  Jesus Christ gives you the power to really live, to be a hero for others, to stand up against forces you could not hope to defeat on your own.  You cannot be the hero you want to be unless you bow down to God, let Him be YOUR hero, and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. 

                .  Psalm 28 says it best, “I love you, Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.”  The world, your mind, the law, your family, they all say, “Do this,” but it is never done.  You never start living.  Jesus Christ says, “Have faith that God can do it” and everything is done already.  This week, get a life.  Figure out who Jesus is.  With Jesus as your Savior, you can start living the life God has planned for you.  Amen.