Part 3: The Timeout

Worship:

1. Your Grace is Enough

2. Blessed Be Your Name

3. What a Beautiful Name

4. Goodness of God

5. I Speak Jesus

Introduction:

How many of us here this morning would say that you are work-aholics? You have an idea of what you want to accomplish or, like me, you have a list of things you want to be able to cross off before the end of each day. There’s a sense of accomplishment when you can look at your list and everything that you set out to do has been done. And there’s a sense of defeat when you look at your list at the end of the day and still have things you weren't able to get to. If we aren’t careful, we can allow our list to determine our attitude and our emotions. In essence, we can allow it to lead our life we aren’t careful.

How many of us here this morning are basketball fans?

March Madness is in full swing. Who is going to win it all this year? Is your team still in it?

We started this series a couple of weeks ago and we have dealt with the truth that fouls are part of the game. I hope you have accepted the challenge to do you very best to regard people after their spirit rather than their flesh. I also hope that after last week’s message you have been working on the Triple Threat position. What are the three fundamental elements of our Christian walk that Jesus expected us to be involved in on a regular basis? Giving, praying, and fasting!

Today I want to look at another aspect of the game of basketball that has implications for us spiritually.

Today I want to look at an aspect of the game of basketball that has implications for us spiritually.

But, before I start with this illustration, I just want to brag on how much God is working in me! I’m a Buckeye fan and for those who don’t know, we Buckeyes fans refer to our arch rival as “The team Up North.” We don’t give them the decency of saying their name. But, this morning, I am proud to say that I will say their name in my illustration without any hesitation or guilt! LOL

In 1993, North Carolina coached by Dean Smith, squared off against Coach Steve Fisher whose Michigan team featured 5 freshmen sensations who called themselves the Fab Five. The most memorable play in the championship game and perhaps one of the most infamous moments in the history of March Madness came in the last seconds of this championship game. Down by only two points and now with an opportunity to either tie up the game or take the lead Michigan’s Chris Webber tried to call a timeout when double-teamed by North Carolina. Michigan had already used all of its timeouts, so Webber’s gaffe resulted in a technical foul. Michigan had no time left to recover and North Carolina ultimately won the national title with a 77–71 victory.

Chris Webber’s panicked mistake brought to glaring light an important truth about basketball . . . Timeouts can play a key role in the winning or losing of a game.

This morning I want to give us some basic information about timeouts while also making some very clear practical applications for us whether we are basketball fans, just plain work-aholics, or just trying to live life!

The best place for our text this morning is found at the very beginning. The very beginning of our world and our history is marked by the first recorded called timeout. It is found in Genesis 2:2-3:

Genesis 2:2–3 CSB

2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

Thus instituting what He later uses as the foundation for a command to keep the Sabbath holy.

Transition: My first observation about timeouts is:

Body:

I. Everyone needs timeouts.

It doesn’t matter how in shape you are or even if you think you are Superman on the court. Everyone needs to take a time out occasionally.

That is the message of Genesis chapter 2. Even God… the One who created the universe and who we have been told never grows tired, never sleeps, never slumbers and is never out of power, takes a day off.

God’s message is plain: “If creation didn’t crash when I rested, it won’t crash when you do.”

God’s own Son took time outs on a regular basis. He would go into a private place. He would separate himself from others for a period of time. He took timeouts. (Luke 5:16 tells us He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.)

Perhaps Francis Chan said it best when he said:

“We think He’s a great Savior, but not a great role model. The American church has abandoned the most simple and obvious truth of what it means to follow Jesus: You actually follow His pattern of life.”

Jesus knew that timeouts were necessary to provide rest for our soul and our body.

Is it just me, or are we a busy people?

For all of our new inventions, all our time-saving tools and toys, for all our shortcuts and overnight/same day deliveries and quick fix solutions and microwave ovens and fast food restaurants, we are always in a hurry and almost always running out of time!

We live in a 24/7 culture. We wear cell phones to stay accessible 24/7, we do business over the Internet so we can shop, and organize our lives and make decisions 24/7.

We hit the drive-thru window at McDonald’s at midnight and then go to Supermarket at three in the morning.

We push ourselves literally to the ragged edge squeezing in every bit of work and effort possible. Somehow, we think by driving ourselves constantly we will wring more out life.

I believe we have forgotten that “Warp speed can warp the soul.”

One man asked this question, “How thin can I spread myself before I’m no longer there?”

Listen, God knew that we would need timeouts that is why He modeled that for us!

Transition: So, no matter who you are or what you do, we all need to take a time out from time to time. And, just as God modeled for us, nothing will burn down, fall apart or implode if we take a time out. Secondly,

II. Timeouts can either break momentum or create momentum.

In the game of basketball, if a team is making a run on you, a timeout can be used to try to stop that run.

Or if you are struggling as a team, a timeout can be used to try to spark the team’s effort and create momentum.

Scripturally, I was reminded of John Mark who had embarked on a missionary journey with Barnabas and Paul. He called a timeout that broke momentum.

Acts 13:13 CSB

13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and went back to Jerusalem.

However, I also remember that Paul, right after he became Saul, went on a long timeout in the wilderness that created momentum. (Galatians 1:17)

Galatians 1:17 CSB

17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who had become apostles before me; instead I went to Arabia and came back to Damascus.

Jesus often took timeouts that created momentum! In fact, He took one in the garden that created enough momentum for Him to face the cross. (Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)

Some of us have been under attack and we need a timeout to break the momentum of our enemy. A few days away could be the difference between victory and defeat.

Likewise, some of us have been ineffective, lethargic, and apathetic and we may need a timeout to kick us into gear. We may have been just going through the motions!

Question: Are you in a season where you need a timeout?

The enemy may be attacking you with all he has, and you are struggling to stand? You need a timeout to break the momentum of the enemy! Get into the huddle with your Heavenly Father and pay attention to His voice and what plan He is drawing up for you to execute!

Or maybe you feel ineffective, lethargic, and/or apathetic to the things of the Lord and you feel like you are in a spiritual rut; you’re stagnant. Get into the huddle with your Heavenly Father and pay attention to His voice and what plan He is drawing up for you to execute and get up and move!

Transition: So, we know life will not implode if we take a timeout as God took a timeout after He finished with creation. We also know that timeouts can either break the momentum of the enemy or create momentum we need to move and execute the plan God has given to us. Next, we need to understand...

III. Timeouts are used for specific purposes.

A. To provide rest.

How many of you have ever taken a timeout only to return to the game more tired than you left?

Have you ever made this statement, “I need a vacation after my vacation!”? That is not an effective timeout.

We must learn that timeouts should allow us time to rest.

In fact, that is the whole concept of the Sabbath. It isn’t so much about the legalistic argument about a certain day, but that it is God teaching us that there is a healthy way to work. The Sabbath is how God brings health to my work habits. It is the Sabbath that helps us understand the ebb and flow of the game! Do you hear that my fellow work-aholics?!

B. To deal with strategy. (I can’t do what I have always been doing because it isn’t working! I have to change something!)

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus talks about taking timeouts to learn how to live. Listen to this:

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Time -outs are crucial because it is during them that we learn how to live again. We strategize and come up with plans on how to live freely and lightly.

In fact, if you don’t do this part of it, you have wasted the timeout!

My concern is that too many times we run from something, but give no plan or thought to what we run to!

Timeouts aren’t just a chance to veg out! They should be coupled with a strategy on how to best use them and to grow from them. I think too many of us waste our timeouts and just numbly use the time away and have nothing spiritually to show for it when we get back!

C. To reconnect with teammates. (Small groups, coffee get-togethers, etc)

One of the overlooked aspects of time-outs is that it allows time for teammates to talk, encourage, confront, challenge and help one another.

One man spoke about this when he said, “The most disturbing result of hurry sickness is that I start to see those around me as obstacles that slow me down. Playing catch in the yard, leisurely walks with my wife, and unstructured evenings at home are viewed as interruptions. Yet scripture instructs me to invest the time required to cultivate rich relationships. (Col 3: 12-17; 1 Pet 1:22)”

Colossians 3:12–17 CSB

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. 14 Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

1 Peter 1:22 CSB

22 Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly,

“A hurry-sick world accepts shallow relationships as the necessary price of achieving our individual ambitions.”

Sometimes a timeout is essential because it helps to reestablish relationships with those who are in the game with us!

Question: When you take a time-out, do you feel rested or even more tired? Do you work on the next step in the plan you need to work towards? Do you take time to reconnect with your teammates and not just see them as a means to an end?

Transition: So, we know life will not implode if we take a timeout as God took a timeout after He finished with creation. We also know that timeouts can either break the momentum of the enemy or create momentum we need to move and execute the plan God has given to us. And time-outs are used for specific purposes. But who can call a timeout?

IV. Timeouts can be called by the coach or by the player.

I just wanted to mention this because there are times that the players need a time-out, but can’t see it and that is when the coach steps in.

This thought brought me back to a familiar passage that I hadn’t really thought of in this light before. Psalms 23:2 says, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

Illustration: Making the kids rest/lie down/rest knees when they didn’t want to only to find them sleeping

There are times when He has to make us lie down. The coach knows what is best (if He is a good coach and we have the best one ever). He sees our need for rest. Have you ever had God call a timeout for you? He hides you. How many of you know if God hides you no one can find you? We don’t like these timeouts most of the time and we try to escape them, but we need to learn that God has our best in mind, and He knows when we need the timeout.

Jesus called time outs for the disciples. In Mark 6:31 he said, “‘Let’s get away from the crowds for a while and rest.’”

We need to learn to trust the coach again. If He says “timeout”, we should recognize that we need it rather than get mad that He stopped the game for a while. It is when we try to keep playing after He has said time out that we get in trouble.

I also believe this is why it is essential to have some assistant coaches in our lives who have the right to call timeouts too!

God is our head coach, but He wants to position some other coaches (accountability partners, friends, loved ones) who have the right to call a timeout when they see us becoming weary or struggling. In order for this to happen we have to be willing to give them that right and to trust them!

Players can call timeouts too! There are two inherent risks involved in this freedom.

The first, and probably most frequently practiced, is that we won’t call one.

Illustration: Coming home from Carson Newman Clinic and asked HL if she was tired because we left so early and she said no, she was fine and then she feel asleep.

We think we can handle it, we are strong, we are tough, just drink another Red Bull and try to push through with no rest and we are defeated.

The second, I don’t think happens as much, but is perhaps more dangerous is that we call too many timeouts! That’s what Chris Webber did and it cost his team the game.

Some people never get anything done because they never play the game. They goof off all the time and are not productive. They refuse to play and never participate in the contest. We only have an allotted amount of timeouts and then we have to play! You can run out of timeouts! This thought leads me to a last and similar point.

Transition: So, we know life will not implode if we take a timeout as God took a timeout after He finished with creation. We also know that timeouts can either break the momentum of the enemy or create momentum we need to move and execute the plan God has given to us. And time-outs are used for specific purposes. God calls timeouts and we should have assistant coaches in our lives (accountability partners) who can call timeouts as well. We also need to call a timeout from time to time as well.

V. Timeouts end at a specific time.

There are two types of timeouts in basketball.

There is the long timeout that lasts for 75 seconds or 1 minute and 15 seconds. Each team gets 4 of these per game.

Each team also receives 2 thirty second timeouts per game.

These designated timeouts end at a specific time. The refs make sure that the 75 second timeouts aren’t 6 minute timeouts and that the 30 second timeouts aren’t 3 second timeouts. They end at a specific time.

I mention that because I believe that too many of us call timeouts and never come back on the floor.

--We get hurt, we get mad, we get disappointed, we get burned, we get fouled, or winded, call a timeout or God calls one for us and then we refuse to start the game again.

Timeouts were never intended to be permanent. Can you imagine how silly the game of basketball would be if you could call a permanent timeout? The crowd is there watching, cheering, involved and then a player calls a permanent timeout, and everyone has to go home! That makes absolutely no sense and neither does you taking a permanent timeout either.

I have already said that everyone needs a timeout at some point. However, some of you have been on timeout for way too long. It is time to serve again. It is time to volunteer again. It is time to worship again. It is time to care again. It is time to love again. It is time to fight again. It is time to get back in the game!

There are two types of timeouts.

The long ones usually mean getting away for a while.

However, I believe the short ones are what our Sunday services are all about. They are 30 second time outs that enable you to receive care, rest, encouragement, meet back up with your teammates, strategize and plan, and then get back into the game. That is what makes Sundays each week together so important. This isn’t just something we do to do! These are essential, life-giving breaks in our lives that enable us to win!

Our tendencies as they relate to timeouts are:

A. We don’t think we need them. So we won’t call one.

B. We call too many or we refuse to answer the whistle when they end and we never get back in the game.

C. We waste them. We veg out; we gain no rest and no strategy.

Conclusion:

I want to close by mentioning a passage of Scripture and then re-reading a portion of Scripture to you.

Paul must have known we would need timeouts. In Galatians 6:9, he encourages us not to allow ourselves to grow weary in well doing. If he needed to implore us not to grow weary then he must have realized that if we aren’t careful we would! Even playing well is tiring!

Hear Jesus’ invitation to you again this morning in Matthew 11:28-30:

Matthew 11:28–30 CSB

28 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Prayer:

Music: I speak Jesus? or What A Beautiful Name?

Come unto me all of you who are weary and burdened, tired and worn out, burned out and hurt and I will call a timeout and give you rest, a strategy and allow you to reconnect to your teammates.

If you are in this condition, I am giving you the opportunity to enjoy a short timeout now in the altars. Maybe one of the assistant coaches that God has assigned to your life needs to come to you right now and minister to you as well.