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FALL 2007 STEWARDSHIP EMPHASIS
"STEWARDSHIP IS LORDSHIP"
MESSAGE #2 OF 4
"WHY IS LORDSHIP NECESSARY?-PART 1"

GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT: LUKE 9:57-62
DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 21, 2007

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 57As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." 61Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family." 62Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God."

MESSAGE: As our fall 2007 series of messages on Christian stewardship, we're examining the topic, "Stewardship is Lordship." On Sept. 23rd I introduced you to what I called Lordship "Law" #1. Lordship Law #1 states this - "Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all." Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all.

In that message, we spent quite a bit of time responding to the question, "What is Lordship?" We were offered five Biblical answers to that query: First, Lordship is submission to God's will. (That's from Matthew 8:2.) Second, Lordship is placing God first in your life. (That's Matthew 22:36-40.) Third, Lordship is accepting responsibility and accountability (Matthew 25:14-30). Fourth, Lordship is doing God's will (Matthew 7:21-27.) And fifth, Lordship is personal obedience regardless of the cost. That comes from John 21:15-23. In sum, back to Lordship Law #1: "Jesus is either Lord of all or not Lord at all."

Now that we've reviewed and brought everyone up to speed, let's move on. Today I introduce to you a second Lordship "Law." Lordship Law #2 says this: "If Christ is the center of my life, the circumference will take care of itself." If Christ is the center of my life, the circumference will take care of itself. If Christ is in the center, He will carefully and appropriately arrange your life in balanced, sensible ways. You'll be a consistent, "together" person. However, if Christ is in your life, but not in the center, you'll be constantly off-balance - because your human nature and your spiritual nature will be continually warring within you. And if Christ isn't in your life at all, well - all I can really say is "Good luck!"

A lot of Christians today, including many of us in this congregation, have Christ somewhere in their lives, but not in the center. For that reason, I'm wondering if we ought to change the lyrics to the old hymns some of us love to sing around here, primarily in the later worship service. For example, several months back we sang as a closing song for worship, "I Surrender All." Realistically, for many of us, we ought to be singing, "I Surrender Some."

The old favorite, "He's Everything to Me," would be more appropriately sung as "He's Quite a Bit to Me." "Fill My Cup, Lord," should probably be downsized to "Fill My Spoon." "Onward, Christian Soldiers" would be more honestly rendered as "Onward, Christian Reserves." And "Take My Life, and Let It Be" should be re-titled to "Take My Life, Then Let Me Be." "O, How I Love Jesus" should be updated to "O, How I Like Him." "Just As I Am" should be revised to "Just As I Pretend to Be." Finally, "Where He Leads Me I Will Follow" might be more truthfully worded as "Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following."

Why is Lordship necessary? Some of the most miserable people in life aren't, as some of you might think, non-believers in Christ. I was a non-believer for a long time, and I got along quite well. I kept busy, focused on what I had to do that day, and carefully avoided thinking about the ultimate future. Yes, I was clueless -- but ignorance can be bliss.

No, the most miserable people I know in life are those who have, supposedly, accepted Christ as Savior - but haven't yet allowed Him to become their Lord. For folks like that are always, like Jacob of old, wrestling with God. "Yes, I know what a Christian is supposed to do in that situation, but I want to do it my way." "Yes, I know that adultery is forbidden, but that's an awfully fine-looking girl over there - and since I'm here in town on business all by myself, nobody I know is ever likely to find out." "Yes, I know that tithing is God's minimum standard for Christian giving, but I have my heart set on a new car this year."

Wrestling, always wrestling. Constantly sparring with God. When Christ is in your life, but not at the center, your life will continually be out of balance. You'll always be struggling within yourself. Unfortunately, many Christians never do give up this silly struggle. They want to serve God - and be worldly at the same time. And that's a miserable lifestyle.

Why is Lordship necessary? First of all, it settles what can be termed the "position" issue. In other words, it defines who is #1 in my life. Pride is the oldest sin in the universe, and it shows no signs of weakening with age. Do you remember the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? When the serpent spoke to Eve, tempting her to disobey God, he said, "When you eat of it -- the forbidden fruit - your eyes will be opened and you will be like God…" That's a blatant appeal to human pride - to dethroning God and taking over the #1 position in life itself.

Pride is position conscious. I'm the captain of my ship, the master of my fate. I'm a lone cowboy; a self-made woman. All humans, in our fleshly nature, are position-conscious. "I'm second-vice-president in charge of outside sales -- and I'm ahead of you."

Jesus was not position conscious. Rather, He was totally secure in His identity. According to John 13:3, "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God." Jesus knew His origin, His task, and His destiny. Therefore, He had no problem stepping down from the head of the table and washing feet. As Philippians 2:6-7 puts it, "…being in very nature God, (He) did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…" Jesus submitted to the Father - He let the Father be in charge of Him. And those who claim to be followers of Christ need to let Jesus be in charge of them.

From Holy Scripture, there are at least four areas in which Christ needs to be #1. First and most obviously, he should be #1 in our salvation. We don't save ourselves; we don't even help - Christ does it all. Reference Romans 10:9 for that. Second, Christ needs to be first in our everyday lives. That's Colossians 3:23. Third, Christ must be #1 in our occupations - our business lives. We don't often think of Him in that arena, but He's Lord there, too. Check out Romans 12:11 for that. And fourth, and this one is probably toughest of all for many, Christ must be first in our family lives. Ephesians 5:22 and 25 is a good reference for that. Lordship settles the position issue: If Christ is my Lord, then Christ must be #1 in every area of my life.

Why is Lordship necessary? A second answer is that Lordship settles the "permission" issue. In other words, who has a right to my life? I know a lot of Christians who complain, "Why is God testing, checking me out in this area? What right does God have to bug me about this particular issue - I've already let him have most of my life - why can't he let me keep the remainder to myself?" But that's exactly how God works: Whenever we say, "Lord, you can have all of my life except these three things," God will focus on those three things. For until He's Lord of all of you, He's not really Lord of any of you. Until you grant Him permission to come in and fully claim your life - including those parts you least want Him to "mess with" - you'll be continually unbalanced, dissatisfied, unfulfilled as a Christian.

Our text today - I'll bet you thought I'd forgotten it - tells us of three men who briefly encountered Jesus. Each of these three men thought he was ready for Lordship - "Lord, I will follow you…" - but none of them really was. You see, Jesus saw through their lip service. He cut straight through to their hearts. The first man couldn't let go of his creature comforts. The second couldn't put Christ ahead of human relationships. And the third simply couldn't believe that "now" should be the proper time to follow Christ.

The first of these men teaches us that Lordship means accepting the future with Jesus regardless of the cost. The second tells us that Lordship means leaving the old, fleshly past behind, no matter how strong its pull, in order to follow Him. The lesson of the third is that Lordship means turning control over to Jesus now - not promising you'll "get around to it" later.

I want each of you to look in your bulletin today. There, you should find a "Consecration Check." If you don't have one, I've given our ushers extras to pass out - just raise your hand. This is a check, yes. But it's not one that you'll be putting into the church collection.

Take a careful look at it. It bears today's date. It says, "Pay to the order of 'The Lord Jesus Christ.'" Where the amount would usually be written, it says, "I acknowledge Jesus as my Lord and willingly consecrate my life and all my resources to be used for His glory." In the corner is printed "First United Methodist Church" with this address - merely to remind you of where you received it. At the bottom, it references, along with other Scripture verses, Romans 12:1-2. In case you don't know those two verses by heart, let me read them to you: "Therefore, I urge you, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- His good, pleasing and perfect will." And finally, there's a blank - for your signature.

As one of our invitations today, I'm asking you to take out a pen or pencil and sign this Consecration Check - if you can. You can sign it if you meet one of two conditions: If you've already made Jesus Lord of your life a long time ago; if you've previously settled the Lordship issue once and for all - sign it. Or, if you're willing to make Jesus Lord of your life today - sign it. Sign it right now.

If neither of those conditions applies to you, just tuck it away in your purse or wallet unsigned - until the day arrives when you really can sign it. But remember, as today's text teaches us - there may not always be an acceptable time, in His sight, for you to make Him Lord.

For those of you who have signed your "Consecration Check," I'm not asking to collect it from you. It's a covenant between you and Jesus. But you also might want to tuck your check into your purse or wallet - to remind you of your Lordship agreement with him. There might come a tough time in your life when you need a tangible reminder that Jesus really is your Lord. So keep the "check" - and keep the covenant it represents. Amen.

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