Father in Heaven, today we humbly come to you in thanks for all you have provided our little Church. Please forgive us for forgetting you and our relationship in you! We ask Lord that you would continue to grow us in your image. Amen!
17 October 2021 Sunday Message; Life is More Than: A Night of Yahtzee!
Run your horse hard and put him up wet,
Who thought, a horse could sweat.
Live your life tough, course, and cragged,
Never worry as your sole is dragged,
Through endless cycles bereaved
Across our mind’s eyes reach,
Feeding an endless pit our greed conceived.
I thought I was in control,
I played my game fair,
Until I heard the familiar drole,
Yahtzee! Over there.
And that’s why I don’t write poetry!
Please forgive me, I listened to some cowboy poetry last weekend and it got me a think-in. I was fascinated by the eloquence of the poem read to us by our newest friend down in Hurricane Utah. As he recited and read about his cup runeth over to our little family group, I felt emersed in a glow of care and hope that only comes when you are with those that love each other, and I began to think about the good things in life.
The stuff (the encouragement) that God provides endlessly to help us through our ups and downs. Our challenges, and our ecstasies. The frenzies of joys, and the hardship of losses, that make up this life of ours; come with a tour guide, or better put a companion. Which is why we call him Lord and Savior, who shares His Holy Spirit to sustain us, and His example to teach us how to better love, serve, and praise our Father in Heaven.
In my own case, I know that at times, I get so caught up in me and my junk, that I forget to step back, take a breath, and reflect on all that is going on all around me. Its as if I am so enmeshed in my little game of the Yahtzee of life and the few players around me playing my game, that I begin to filter out all of the other really big important things in this life.
Here are a couple of examples of what a self-absorbed game of Yahtzee might look like in other realms of life to different people:
- Collecting Antiques
- Buying stuff like anything collectible to include, Books
- Playing Golf
- Politics
- Watching TV (some of my vices are);
- Sports
- Motor Trend channel
- Home improvement channels
- C-Span weekend edition (Book TV)
- History / Discovery channels
- News (which I am really working on not watching)
- Eating (out or in, its all good!)
I could go on into infinity, but you get the idea. When we make something our whole lives to the exclusion of living our lives, with God and the people He places in our lives, we are in the escapism that is the hallmark of society.
And before you begin to think that I am telling you to not have hobbies, don’t watch TV, and to starve yourselves, think again. My thought is all of those things are gifts from God. We just need to recognize that living in each of us is this unfillable urge to over do all of that stuff we can’t get enough of. That inside all of us, we are hardwired with the desire to have, get, and take more and more of anything on the docket of the moment. From worthless junk, to more worthless junk, we scramble to acquire more of it.
Along with the unfillable urge for more stuff, we also come equipped with the resistance gene, which makes us want to rebel to any authority. Beginning with God Himself. This is inherently bad for the human condition, and if you think that using the I’m an American clause to excuse our not following God, please think again.
As a side note: Our whole American system is based on self-governance, doing the right thing, following God and the rule of law, even when others are not watching. Digging in and working on our problems even when we don’t want to.
This reminds me of the children of Israel, who faced these very same challenges in life. Like many of us, Israel went down that road of selfishness, lawlessness, and endless partying. Like us, our Israelite ancestors were blessed with the bounty of the Lord, and struggled in spite of God’s providence of gifts and blessings. Reminding me of Paul’s instruction to the early church in Corinth Greece, where Paul continually battled the idolatry of the day, which is putting other things before God, and being attracted to the alure of the bling of the time. From today’s Call to Worship from 1 Corinthians 10:1-7;
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”
Paul is teaching that even though the children of Israel had been given the same spiritual drink as us, from our Lord and Savior, our rock Jesus, Israel struggled. Even as Israel learned to survive day to day by the food and drink God directly provided them for 40 years in the wilderness, the children of God still struggled with their own selfish desires.
Human beings are a strangle and selfish species. It seems that the more we are given, the more we appeal, and beg for more. Case in point, the easiest way to ruin a child is to give them everything their little hearts desires. It’s not called spoiling for nothing. Yet people still spoil children, and adults still petition for more and more from a loving God that wants the best for us. Not what our cravings demand, but what we really need.
At some point, we begin to make our desires a way of life. Going from one craving to another, and yet not ever being satisfied in the process. Isaiah puts it perfectly when describing how people chase after all that stuff out there. He instructs in Isaiah 55:1-3
1“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
What God offers at no cost, we repeatedly spend our fortunes and time, our inheritance, relationships, and our brainpower to control what we have no control over. That’s what life without our Lord devolves into when we are driving without any thought to riding with God and each other. And when a chance of reality is available, so often instead of addressing our challenges directly, we chose to do as Paul recalled to the Corinthians. Many tend to; sit down to eat and drink, and get up to indulge in revelry.
If life is only about sitting to eat only to get up to do mischief, it’s a wonder we all are not on meds for depression. After a while there is no joy left, because what was once fun has become just a fog of existence. Living from one thing to another but not ever really living.
After a while everyone is forced into the coercion or lie of convincing each other how much fun they are having. Even the language become courser as the realization comes into focus that everyone has been deluding themselves into the groupthink lie of the moment. Isaiah in part two of today’s “Call to Worship” revealed the gallows humor of the already dead in Isaiah 22:13;
13 But see, there is joy and revelry,
slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
eating of meat and drinking of wine!
“Let us eat and drink,” you say,
“for tomorrow we die!”
If your life has become one of just sitting down to eat and drink and then getting up to indulge in revelry…, perhaps you are not really living, not to mention playing a decent game of Yahtzee.
Please do not hear what I am not saying. I am saying life is incredibly fun, happy and good, when we can take it on its terms and not have to force our own ideas into the mix. Or when we do, find some balance between our desires, and the needs of others, and the direction of God. In other words, living a day to day life in and with the Lord and other people, and learning how to enjoy that life deeply and richly.
This process begins with understanding who God is, and what we are not, and then grows by learning what does not work. A great place to start is Today’s Message Reading from the Gospel of Luke. Returning now to Luke 12:13-21;
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
You see both kinds of people (those doing their own thing, and those following God), want to live like there is no tomorrow, its just that our tomorrow is focused into eternity with God, and going it alone is all about the infinity of nothing, and abyss in a void of nothingness. When I put everything into my wants, ego, and greed, there is absolutely nothing left to enjoy down the road. The diminishing returns of my addictions have left me high and dry in happiness, friends, and family.
Some of us right now might be left with the question of; How do I learn to enjoy life when all the stuff I want is bad for me? Well not all of it is bad, but all of it in excessive amounts is bad. In other words, we are hard wired to turn anything good in moderation into an addiction, on the fly. Here are a couple of ideas (my ideas, work on a list for you), to start a process of enjoying this incredible life God has given us more robustly and deeply:
- Begin by being grateful for all you have right now.
- Thanking God openly for everything. Items like;
- Grace for meals
- Beginning and ending your day with prayer
- Stepping back and reflecting on the creation
- Reading and studying God’s word
- Thanking God for fun times that you enjoy
- Thanking God for surviving the hard times
- Keeping and working at relationships
- Thanking God for your relationships
- Thanking in-laws for your spouse if applicable
- Thanking your friend’s family for your friendship
- Helping others
- Praying for and thinking of others
- Giving your blessing to the people you meet
- This can be between you and God and in private
- This will get you in the habit of caring for others.
Please feel free to work on you own list and plan of attack that works for you. By making all or just part of the previously mentioned a habit, you will begin to change your life and be more available for happiness.
My hope and prayer for all of you this week and in the days to come, is that you love deeply your God, and the people He has placed in your lives. May we all learn to be grateful for all He has provided, as we compete to love each other deeper each day.
Amen!
Benediction; Based on 23 Psalm and thinking of Meryl
1 May the Lord be your shepherd, and you not want.
2 May He make you lie down in green pastures,
lead you beside still waters,
3 May He restore your soul.
May He guide you on paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though you walk
through the deepest, darkest valley,
May you fear no evil,
for He is with you;
His rod and your staff,
may they comfort you.
5 May He prepare a table before you
in the presence of your enemies.
You anoint your head with oil;
your cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow you
all the days of your life,
and may you will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
and Numbers 6:24-26
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”