Keep it Simple Silly
Notes
Transcript
Margin & Simplicity
Margin & Simplicity
Prayer
I value productivity. I value hard work. I value efficiency as well. These are all values engrained into my personality by my our culture but even more specifically, my dad. Ever since I could drive, I’ve always had a bad habit of being involved in too much.
High School (Spring of Senior year):
School Track Working at Buchanans Play practice Home around 10 and do it all over again. Life was busy, and it cost me.
I had to go to Shinglehouse one day during school to a doctors appointment. I left school, hoped in my Cavy and started driving. …wreck.
I was living in my margins. You know that tricky space between the edge of the paper and the words. That space that is statistically called the margin of error, between the actual breaking point of a ladder and what the manufacturer says is it’s max weight…
You know margin… space that is mean to be there, but most of the time in our society because we value productivity and efficiency we hack away at how much margin we can remove so that we get the most bang for our buck.
Today we are talking about the discipline of Simplicity and Creating Margin in our Life
We are talking about creating space for correction and guidance. Creating space for the editor to do his work.
Hebrews 12:2- The pioneer and perfecter of faith.- KJV, NASB say the “author” and perfecter. He is the one writing your faith story and like all good stories, in well printed books there is ample margin.
Margin is not something that Jesus ever specifically talked about, but it is a principle he lived into.
The problem is, most of us live a life so full that we are living in the margins, living in that space where we are called to have nothing so that the author can do his best work.
We fill up that empty sections on the page because we believe that we can be more productive, more efficient. And it will cost us dearly.
Life without margin…
I don’t think I’m alone here. Margins are foreign to the Western world. We value progress ‘round these parts. And while progress ushers in advances in technology, education and affluence, it devours margin. Progress asks for more, and paints the tipping point as some badge of honor. It’s almost as if God is pro-overload, exhaustion and burnout as long as we’re doing more good things. But what if he’s not, and what if our drive for more costs us more than we realize?
You see, when we live without margins, much of what suffers is spiritual and relational. (this is a partial list from Ray Johnston, pastor of Bayside Church in California)
Pray before going into this list!
…we’re left with a kiddie pool understanding of God. There’s no time for silence or solitude, reflection or contemplation, the foundation of intimacy with God. “Be still and know that I am God,” as the Psalmist says. Instead, God receives an hour or two on Sunday, and maybe a few minutes in the morning before life hits.
…worshipping Jesus takes place for actually following him. It’s interesting, the phrase “worship me” never appears in the gospels. What you find repeatedly, however, is the phrase “follow me.” I don’t think worshipping Jesus is evil or wrong, but it asks very little of us. Following Jesus, however, asks a lot of us. Everything, in fact. Worshipping Jesus only requires a few hours of our schedule. Following him requires all of it.
…interruptions become frustrations rather than opportunities. When we operate at or near 100% capacity, we have no time for interruptions. No opportunities to see God outside of our pre-ordained to-do lists and jam-packed schedules. Yet, I could argue this is primarily where God is found, in the margins and “interruptions” of life.
…we suppress stress and anxiety rather use them as warning signs to slow down or rest. When there’s no space for stopping or listening to your body, the only response is to numb it. We’re the most medicated generation in history. Praise God for these medications when they’re needed. But often they’re numbing agents rather answers to an illness.
…relationships fall apart. And this might be the greatest tragedy of a margin-less culture. Relationships always fall apart in a microwave. They simply can’t survive without unfiltered time. Why? The currency of relationships is love, and love is, first and foremost, patient. Love takes time. It grows slowly in the soil of grace, forgiveness and humility.
Do any of these ring a bell with you?
Let me share a story with you to illustrate this better…
Because I still do not have this down well…I mean I am a lot better than I used to be but I still have seasons of my life where I’m living filling my margins rather than living with margin.
A couple years ago I took a 3 day retreat to Kinzua...
Life with margin…
1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. 5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” 6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” 8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” 10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
Margin is created with purpose.
All good margin space has a purpose and design. But it has to be something that is created.
I absolutely love the story of Ruth. Ruth’s story of love and redemption is such a beautiful love story and reminds me how much God cares for each of us, no matter our past. Ruth’s story reveals so many of God’s attributes for us to ponder. But one that astonishes me every time is God’s provision. I have walked with Jesus most of my life, but for some reason, I am still unreasonably astonished every time I witness God’s provision in the Bible as well as in my own life. I’m not sure it’s so much astonishment that God provides, but maybe more in the way He provides. While at times, God’s provision is supernatural, such as the manna in the wilderness for the Children of Israel, more often he uses people just like you and me to provide for those in need. In fact, after God rescued His people from Egypt in the Old Testament, one of the laws He gave them while they were camped at the base of Mount Sinai was intended to provide for the poor and foreigners who lived among them.
In Leviticus 23:22, God instructs His people,
“When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.”
Now let’s take a look at Ruth’s story. Ruth’s story takes place within a dark time in Israel’s history, either during or right after the time when judges guided God’s people. In fact, we learn in Judges 17:6,
6 In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
“In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”
”Everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” I imagine that taking care of the poor and foreigners was not at the top of most people’s list in those days. That’s what makes Boaz’s actions even more beautiful. Boaz was living for God. In the midst of a land where every man was living for himself, Boaz followed God’s instructions and through Boaz’s obedience, God provided for both Ruth and Naomi.
But what specifically did Boaz do? He obeyed God by leaving grain along the edges of his field. He lived with a margin in his life and friends, I have discovered that God does some of his best work in the margins!
Creating margin in my life creates space for God. Creating margin in my time, allows God to use me in unexpected ways during my day. Maybe it’s just taking a moment to pray with a co-worker who is carrying a heavy burden. Or perhaps having time for coffee with a girlfriend who needs a listening ear, or even extra time to cook a hot meal for a neighbor who is sick.
Jesus often created this space at the beginning of his day, sometimes he would spend all night with his Father.
42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.
16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
When we live with margins like Jesus, interruptions are no longer frustrations but rather opportunities…
40 Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. 41 Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house 42 because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. 43 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. 44 She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 45 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” 46 But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” 47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” 49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” 50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” 51 When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. 52 Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” 53 They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. 54 But he took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” 55 Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were astonished, but he ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.
Following the Way of Jesus…who lived with margin, not in the margin.
You know Pastor…I hear what you’re saying, and I know I need margin in my life but I can’t afford to take time to put margin like you. I can’t just take a couple days to get away, i can’t afford to.
Can I ask you a question… Can you afford not to?
The Spiritual Discipline to help us create margin is called Simplicity.
Google defines:
Simplify: the process of making something easier to do or understand
The spiritual discipline of simplicity is intentionally getting rid of the things in our lives that hinder our walk with God. It is learning how to put first things first. It is about being clear about our purpose and our priorities.
See we really like to make life complicated, stressful and outright burdensome with all our rules, laws, expectations and tax codes.
I mean seriously, look at this graphic…
Torah vs. Mishna vs. Talmud
TAX CODE
While the actual tax code is only
This is a topic for another day in another venue, but our tax code could use a little simplifying.
The church did it with legalism. Which is basically a set of rules that you should and should not do to please God. But rather than setting us free from the law, legalism puts us right back into bondage.
When Jesus called his disciples to him, he asked them to give up their jobs, their homes and follow him, knowing full well they would not have a bed to call their own.
When he sent his disciples out he said this to them:
Luke 9:1-6 Take nothing with you.
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
The disciples were called to go and make disciples but take nothing with them.
Jesus may ask some of us to make that same commitment… but I wonder, are you willing?
Are you willing to give up all your possessions? All the things that tie us down so that we can go?
That is a hard question to answer.
In Luke 9:56-62
56 Then he and his disciples went to another village. 57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” 59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” 62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”
This first man’s struggle was he was tied down to too much stuff.
What area of your life has too much stuff? Start small…maybe it’s just a drawer or a closet that you haven’t taken the time to clear out…but get rid of some stuff.
See the world will tell you that you need to get, and then get some more. You can never have too much stuff.
When you look around here, I am amazed at the amount of storage businesses there are. Even back in my hometown, there are storage buildings everywhere. We like our stuff.
But what happens to us when disaster strikes?
I want to share with you some pictures from a trip I took 12 years ago.
Cheryl and her smiles.
The pile of stuff.
Fires come, floods come, tornados come, earthquakes come.
But are we too attached to our stuff to follow Christ?
Maybe it’s not your stuff, maybe it’s other preoccupations, other things that stop us from listening to Jesus. Sitting at his feet and doing the things he asks us to do, or going to the places he asks us to go.
Jesus says there is one thing you need. One thing.
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
He told Martha who was serving and worried about all the stuff she needed to get done.
with all these different disciplines that we looked at…this one is very simple. And we need to keep our spiritual discipline simple.
He asks us to get rid of the things that hold us back from following him.
It’s not just stuff that we need to simplify.
We like our stuff. We like our baggage. So what stuff do you need to lay down? To take out and put it out as garbage.
Maybe it’s forgiveness…maybe it’s confessing sin. What stuff needs to be set aside, simplified so that you can follow Christ.
Matthew 6:33
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.”
I’m not telling you to go out and sell everything. Or to give it all away, but I am asking you…
Would you be willing to?
Is there anything in your life God is asking you to simplify?
Is there anything holding you back from sitting at the feet of Jesus?
If so, are you willing to let it go so that you can follow HIM, wherever He calls?