Battle of the Mundane (Chapel)

TSC VS. SUMMIT GAME

personal chapel

Introduction

Hollywood Movies

What is a favorite movie of yours?

I like action/adventure

We see ourselves in stories, and there is always something dramatic, exciting, tension, that is happening.

The show 24 hours (Jack Bauer)

Eventually we all settle into this space called the mundane.

Mundane means: characterized by the practical or ordinary; lacking excitement, or dull.

The unknown will become known

The out of the ordinary will become the new normal

Heightened senses will begin to dull a bit

The excitement of newness will begin to wane

And it’s in this new space where a battle begins…what I call the battle of the mundane.

And it’s not because mundane is bad in and of itself, the battle comes in how we respond to it.

When things are new, fresh, and exciting, we tend to be more intentional, purposeful, alert, aware, prepared, etc...

New year’s resolutions in January versus July

Coming to Summit first couple weeks vs Second semester in February

The new pair of shoes, you are so careful not to get any scuff marks or grass stains, eventually just becomes another pair of shoes.

Being married in your first year, versus the 5th year.

Story of taking out the trash

The battle of the mundane is trying to maintain a sense of importance, intentionality, purposefulness, when the excitement/newness wears off.

Because the mundane can become the breeding ground for apathy.

Apathy - lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern

Now when you’re talking about the excitement wearing off of a new pair of shoes.....it’s not that big of a deal.

But it really matters when we’re talking about things like raising our kids, our marriage, our love for other people, and most importantly, our Christian life.

The battle of the mundane is the most important in our Christian life.

Becoming a Christian, being involved in ministry, reading the Bible, praying, being a part of a church community can be super exciting at times, but even that can settle into the space of the mundane....we get used to it.

“The Christian life is never boring.”

I’ve been a Christian for many years, and I’ve been bored plenty.

“Being a Christian/working in ministry is an adventure.”

Aboslutely, but not always.

Coding for Amex Card

Going through the logistics of planning for an event is not an adventure.

Now...Excitement doesn’t necessarily equal fulfillment.

Excitement is shallow....fulfillment is depth.

I may not have had this constanst high of excitement in my Christian life, but I am fulfilled in it…and I wouldn’t want anything else.

But even though I find a great sense of fulfillment in being a Christian, I will still face the battle of the mundane.

The Race

Hebrews 12:1-2 illustrates the battles, trials, and temptations we face with a race.

Hebrews had two primary purposes:

to encourage Christians to endue

to warn them not to abandon their faith in Christ. (These warning passages appear throughout the book)

The author encourages his readers to remain faithful to Jesus, by showing them the superiority of Jesus and the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenanant and old sacrificial system

He’s saying don’t go back to an inferior way

The temptation for the Christians in the book of Hebrews was that after all the excitement and newness of this faith wore off, and they were being faced with the realities of persecution, trials, and temptation, mundainity of life, they would just revert back to how everything was before....going back to Judaism.

He encourages them to:

Continue to endure the persecution and trials of life

Hebrews 12:1-2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, (talking about the models of faith that have gone before us) let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The Weights

let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely

Get rid of anything that is going to slow you down.

A habit of sin

a good thing that is keeping your from a better thing

The Race

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us

Some suggest the word “race denotes “conflict” (so patiently endure the conflict. trials, temptations, etc…)

Many times when this passage is talked on, the “running with endurance” has to do with facing trials, conflicts, persecution, etc...

Which we have to endure those things as well....but I want to come at a little bit different angle.....and say......there is a more sublte type of battle that requires endurance....and that is the battle of the mundane, or apathy.

It’s such a battle because this is where we really need discipline

I ran track in highschool....I ran the 800 meters.

For me, the worst part of the race was right in the middle

Start of the race is exciting

The end of the race…you are almost done.

The worst part of the race was right in the middle.

I’m far enough removed from the start that the initial adrenalin has worn off.

And I’m far enough removed from the end, that it was easy to lack proper motivation

Many times in life we hear about the importance of starting well, or finishing well, but the biggest portion of your life is right in the middle.

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

In his commentary on this passage, the Great Theologian Charles Spurgeon said this:

This is a soul weariness against which we must resolutely fight. It comes to many good workers and shows itself in different ways. Some think the work less important than they did at the first; others fear that their part of it will prove an utter failure. This is heart weariness. But it is a pity to faint just when the time is coming to reap.

run with endurance the race that is set before us....and here is the motivation

The Motivation

looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus is the reason we keep going forward

He is our prize

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:24 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

He is our example

He is the founder and perfecter of our faith…he has gone before us

I love what Pastor Warren Wiersbe said on this:

Our Lord went through many trials while on earth. What was it that helped take Him through to victory? “The joy that was set before Him” (v. 2). This was His goal—the joy of presenting His church before the Father in heaven one day.

“Consider Him!” “Look unto Jesus!” These words are the secret of encouragement and strength when the race gets difficult. We need to get our eyes off of ourselves, other people, and circumstances and get our eyes on Christ alone.

Keeping Jesus at the forefront, keeps us oriented, reminds us what we are living for...and guards us against the apathy that can breed in the mundaneness of life.

Pastor W. W. - His battle against sin took Him to the cross and cost Him His life. Most of us will not run on that course; it will probably be our task to live for Him, not die for Him.

There is something so profound about that observation.

When analyzing people’s dedication to Jesus, the question often asked is “Are you willing to die for Him?”

Our task is to live for Him

Living for Christ can be harder at times than dying for him.

I would die for my wife and son:

without condition

without hesitation

without complaint

without reserve

But how do I live for them, by the way that I serve them?

Far too often I’ve served conditionally

I’ve hesitated to be the first to apologize

I’ve complained or moped when having to sacrifice

I’ve been selfish with my time and attention.

When the rubber meets the road, life happpens, consistenly living for something can be more challenging than dying for it.

We are all martyrs in a way…some are martyrs of death, every Christian is a martyr of living.

Because when we live for Jesus....that means we have to daily die to ourselves, in submission to his Lordship over our life.

If you can live for Jesus by dying to yourself daily, in the everyday, ordinary, mundane, times of life when it doesn’t feel inspiring, exciting, and motivating (that middle portion of the race), you’ll physically die for him if it ever came to it.

How are you running in the middle?

Application

What might that look like for you this week?

What are some ways you can live for Jesus by dying to yourself, even in the mundainity of life

The way I speak about other people?

I’m bored, and so I start talking, and gossip begins to spread.

My attitude

I’ve become apathetic and critical of everything around me.

Are some of you felling the pressure to “go back to something?”

An old way of life

An old way of thinking?

Do you need to renvision yourself by looking to Jesus, and syaing....”ok, he is the author and finisher of my faith.”

He endured the cross, I can endure my trials or my mundane

He despised the shame, I can despise my shame

He is seated at the right hand of God, one day I’m going to be seated in heavenly places with Him.

I’m going to endure this thing with patience.

How am I running in the middle? How is the battle of the mundane shaping my perspecitves, attitudes, and actions.