Living Today

 

  1. Well, we are at no number in a series today. This is neither the introduction to nor completion of any series. In fact, this really the second in well over a month of unconnected sermons. Which, I must admit, I am looking forward to. Don’t get me wrong, in the regular course of action I favor the exegetical model, but I think this will be a unique opportunity to hear what on is on the hearts on minds of some very interesting people, maybe even today’s speaker ;~)
    1. By the way, thanks again to Teresa Froehlich for the fine job she did lat week
  2. So, that freedom combined with the unusual circumstances of Dan & Laurie being away and us being of intimate summer gathering size, I am intend to use this time less as a one of our typical sermons and more as a theological/philosophical reflection.
  3. Prayer.
    1. Now, let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
  4. I have noticed something about myself and really many of my fellow Americans. We spend far too little time actually living the day we are in. Seriously, it seems to me that we consume a lot of our mental-emotional energy in the past or the future. See if any or all these categories speak to you.
    1. The deliciously sweet sadness of melancholy memory

                                                               i.      A past time, past friend, past location, past love. Isn’t the mind tricky that way? How we so easily create dreamy memory out of dreary past? Why didn’t those times seems as magical when we where in them?

1.      I spent my Childhood moving back and forth between Washington and California. Where ever I was, I was fondly remembering where I was not. Never pleased to be in either location. Even now I can remember Massachusetts so tenderly in can move me to tears. Seminary friends so lovingly, that I can hardly stand the ache

    1. Wallowing in bygone pain or shame

                                                              i.      If allowed, the past can be so painful it actually negates the present. It reaches up through the channels of time and chokes off love, joy and hope. Its like a wet towel wrapped around your head, so thick and sufficing you simply cannot draw fresh air

    1. Worrying about the future

                                                               i.      I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. —Albert Einstein

                                                             ii.      Ironically, I think this may be the most powerful snare for me, and simultaneously the one I can most obviously do the least about – the future

1.      I worry how I will handle challenges I know are coming and I worry about the challenges that I do not know about. How crazy is that?! At one point last year, my job was growing so stressful and so many things were going on at once, that when I would wake-up in the morning the fear would settle on me like a crushing weight. The whole day stretched out in front of me as one long concern. When I drug myself to the office, the sight of my voicemail message light gave me fits of panic. What would be waiting for me today? The sight of the serene campus for me was chilling. What would happen that day that I could not cope with?

                                                            iii.      Worry about the future accomplishes nothing and paralyzes the present.

    1. Anticipating the Future

                                                               i.      I find this equally fascinating. How much beauty and opportunity passes while we anticipate the future? It seems like we are an entire culture looking forward to not doing what we are doing. We anticipate an upcoming vacation, a raise, a new job, a new love, a new something- a new anything. If the vast luxury and comfort we live in as Americans begins to bore us, we go buy something new for a temporary reprieve from our boredom.

1.      As many of you know Jennifer and I just completed over three weeks of vacation. We went to the Hamptons on Long Island, New Jersey, New York City, and The Oregon Coast. We had a great time

a.       My first week back at work I was already planning our return trip and dreaming about what we could do next summer!

  1. And so life goes by. . .
    1. Living in the past or the future but never in the now. It’s sad really, but it is especially sad for the Christian, because we and only we actually have the theology- philosophy, and teleology to meet the situation.
  2. Lots of people say “Carpe Diem – Seize the Day” In other words, Live Today, “Stop and smell the Roses.” “Don’t let life pass you by”. This is not a new idea, it’s just one we stink at achieving
    1. When the Hedonist (this captures much of our culture) says Seize the Day, it is because that is all he cares about. The moment – His moment. He has cleared his conscience of matters of history of future and lives quite selfishly for himself. There is nothing noble or good about this philosophy. It is not to be praised or admired but pitied and avoided.
    2. When the Buddhist says “Live in the Now,” this is not enlightened philosophy. This is not peaceful good news at it is often purported to be. The Buddhist believes you must live in the moment because nothing is real! There was no past, there is no future, you, yourself are not even real, and when you can figure out the life is pain and supercede the "childish” idea that there is anything, you just may after 5-lifetimes get to vanish into Zen nothingness. Cheery, hopeful, peaceful thought – not really.
    3. When the agnostic or atheist says Live Today, they mean – “you might as well, it all a great cosmic joke anyhow.” As Jena Paul Sartre proclaimed. “It is all Nausea” There is no cause and effect, you cannot trust or hope in anything. What is, is what is, nothing you do really matters.
  3. But the Christian says “Seize the Day” it is because we know we receive it as gift from the absolutely trustworthy Father. In a world that actually does exist. And in a reality includes the past and future. See, you cannot take the “now” position too radically. The truth is that we have a faith grounded in the past that looks toward the future. There is no admonition against fond memory, the real effects of pain, or sane anticipation of the future. Rather, we are encouraged to not worry over them, to not live in these mental spaces, but rather live in the now that you have.
    1. The Scriptures tell us

                                                              i.      Psalm 37:7

                                                            ii.      Lamentations 3:22-24

                                                          iii.      Luke 12.24-31

                                                          iv.      Romans 8:1

                                                            v.      James 4:13-17

    1. Simply said - our past - is past

                                                              i.      Pain need not be forgotten but is held in context with the beauty of forgiveness and the glory of the gospel. Pain should be your lesson. Pain should shape your faith. To hold tightly to our own justice is to forget the grace shown to us. To concentrate on our suffering is only to deny of hope.

                                                            ii.      As for our past joys, they should enrich our lives without distracting from our present

    1. We are called to fully live each day trusting in God

                                                              i.      To see appreciate each day as a gift.

                                                            ii.      We can Carpe Diem! –because we know the creator. We know the beauty of the world is real and the pain is evil and Jesus is victorious and all suffering is answered in the Savior. We know that our work, even when difficult or unfulfilling, is honoring to God when we do it with integrity and excellence. We have the privilege of infusing everything we do with the divine. This is not positive thinking – this is positive reality

    1. Furthermore, we do not live for tomorrow because all we are promised is today. Life is like mist that evaporates in the morning. We all know we ought to live with a sense of urgency regarding the kingdom of God and the return of Christ, but that urgency seems to be missing!  I suppose this is a good time to enter an observation.

                                                              i.      We have it way to easy. Period. By us, I mean western Christians. Honestly, when is that last time you suffered because of your faith? When did you give out of obedience instead of abundance? When were you threatened because of what you believe? When did you loose someone you love over Christ? Some of you have, I suspect many of us have not.  I think one of the main reasons we struggle to “live for today” is because we are not forced to think in those terms. We have plenty of days coming. You see integral to the promise of today was the idea that our Faith is so revolutionary, so radical, and so dangerous, that we might not make it to tomorrow! Isn’t that interesting? When I ok at contemporary Christianity, it seems to me that we have become so of the nicest, least threatening, least radical, and most accommodating people on Earth. The first rule of Christianity could easily be misunderstood as –be nice. Be nice, this does not sound like the words of Jesus in Luke 10:34-37

  1. So, here it is in a nutshell –an admonition to myself - Seize the Day –Get of your couches - Get out there and live –take risks for the gospel – live today for Christ and trust God for tomorrow.
    1. Carpe Diem!

                                                              i.      Not in Hedonistic selfishness

                                                             ii.      Not in Buddhist nihilism.

                                                          iii.      Not in Agnostic apathy

                                                          iv.      But rather in the Truth, Hope and Faith of the Christian Gospel