Enthusiasm
Notes
Transcript
Today we are continuing the Stay Positive series. Not to sound negative, but in this world it is impossible to avoid negativity. It’s all around us. It’s on the news, it’s at the gas station, it’s in your bank account. Negativity is everywhere. Negativity spreads like wild fire. It causes stress and fear, and in turn we become a source of negativity.
So what can we do? How can we fight the negative without ourselves becoming negative? How can we change our negative environment and toxic culture to positive and uplifting? We’ve already talked about optimism, gratitude, encouragement, and generosity. Next week we will close this series by exploring the topic of confidence, but today we are looking at Enthusiasm.
To start, I want to ask you to think about something that you are passionate about. Are you passionate about teaching children? Do you have a strong desire to see people you work with come to know Jesus? Maybe you get excited about taking care of your family? Do you feel called to be organized, label everything in the house and at work, and have thorough and complete records? What are you really passionate about?
Maybe you would say, “No, that’s not me. I don’t get excited about things.” What is something you see other people get excited about that you think, “I’d like to be passionate about that, but I’m just not feeling it.”
There is a story about a lady who works at a kiosk in an airport. All day long she sings. As people walk by she sings compliments and encouragement to them. “Hey in the red shirt. Red looks good on you! Have a great day. Lady in the dress...” All day long. Being a little confused and curious, someone once asked her why she sings like this all day. She said, “Have you ever noticed how people in airports are always walking around grumpy and depressed?” One day a long time ago she decided to bring joy to everybody in the airport. So she sings.
When it comes to enthusiasm, there are two types of people…
Two Types of People
Those who let circumstances influence their enthusiasm.
Those who use their enthusiasm to influence their circumstances.
Those who let their mood determine their enthusiasm and those who let their enthusiasm determine their mood. In fact, those who let their environment determine their level of interest in something is not even true enthusiasm at all. Based on the origin of the word, TRUE ENTHUSIASM is actually a spiritual enthusiasm. It is a God born, spiritual interest that influences your environment. If you are taking notes, you may be interested in the origin of the word “enthusiasm.”
En Theos — In God, Filled with God.
The word “enthusiasm” actually comes from two Greek words. “En” which means “in”, and “Theos” which is where we get our word for “Theology”, the study of God. The root of enthusiasm literally means in God, or filled with God. So any time you use the word “enthusiastic” you are saying “this is born out of intimacy with God.” Enthusiasm isn’t just a mood, it’s the spiritual result of an intimate relationship with God.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul encouraged Christians to go above and beyond when working for the Lord. A kind of work that can only come from enthusiasm, born from an intimate spiritual relationship with God…
57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
How do we work? Enthusiastically! Who do we work for? We work for the Lord. To the Colossians, Paul said…
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
Whatever you are doing, do it with all of your heart! You gotta do dishes today? Don’t just do the dishes, do them as if you were doing it for God. If you start doing the dishes for God you will end up cleaning the whole house! Someone needs a hand with something? Help them out as if you were doing a favor for God! Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as if God asked you to do it, not another person.
When Paul wrote this to the Colossians he was in prison. He could have wrote, “HELP! Get me out of here! Send someone quick!” He didn’t. Instead of wishing for freedom, he was enthusiastic about the freedom he had in Christ. Paul wasn’t going to let his circumstances determine his level of enthusiasm. His enthusiasm came from his relationship with God. Pastor Craig Groeschel says it this way…
“Enthusiasm isn’t a product of your environment as much as the posture of your heart.”
This world teaches that you should seek what makes you happy. Treat yourself. Find what makes you happy, excited, or fulfilled, and pursue it. God teaches that way of thinking can often lead you down a path of destruction and pain. Finding your passion in God, your enthusiasm, born out of spiritual intimacy with God, will produce hope and joy no matter what circumstances you face.
THE EN-THEOS OF DAVID
THE EN-THEOS OF DAVID
In the OT, David gives us a great example of this enthusiasm. For the rest of our time this morning we are going to look at the EN-THEOS of David. We are going to look at two different seasons of David’s life. When he was a kid he had spiritual enthusiasm, then the little boy grew up to be king and he lost it. Like David, maybe you have grown up and you’ve lost some of your enthusiasm. Just like David, you can get it back again.
In the very well known story of David and Goliath, David faced off with the giant when he was just a kid. The backstory of where we are going to pick this up is that the Philistine army was standing against God’s people. The giant, named Goliath, was saying, “Who will fight me?” Whoever wins this fight wins the whole thing. Nobody wanted to fight him. High pressure, high stakes, and big scary looking giant.
David hears about it and is like, “What are you doing? We have God on our side!” As we read David’s response to Goliath, read it through the lens of spiritual enthusiasm. Listen to David’s passion that could only come from being filled with God…
45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!
Did you hear the enthusiasm? Enthusiasm that could not come out of human strength, but confidence in God. The En Theos that could only come from the fullness and overflow of a relationship with the Lord. How? How did David have SO MUCH enthusiasm? Where did his enthusiasm come from? There are specifically three things evidenced in David’s life that I believe were the source of his enthusiasm…
WHERE DID DAVID’S ENTHUSIASM COME FROM?
He trusted God daily.
He walked with God daily.
He worshiped God daily.
David trusted God daily. When he first told Saul that he would fight Goliath, Saul tried to talk him out of it. He said, “There’s no way you could beat him. He is a giant who has been fighting his whole life and you are just a little kid!” Then David starts telling Saul of all of the lions and bears that he has had to fight off while he protects his father’s sheep and goats. He said, 1 Samuel 17:37 “37 The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
He walked with God daily. He didn’t just go to church on Sundays and say, “Check! Got that done for the week.” That’s not the kind of person who would write the 23rd Psalm. Someone who would call God his shepherd. Someone who would fear no evil, even though they walk through the valley of the shadow of death, simply because God is with them. Psalm 23 is described in commentaries as a Psalm of confidence in Yahweh, showing an intimate relationship between the psalmist and Yahweh. A hymn of trust portraying God’s care.
He worshiped God daily. When the Ark of the Covenant came into town in 2 Samuel chapter 6, David worshiped and danced for God. In fact, scripture says that he “danced before the Lord with all his might.” Now-a-days when someone really lays down some moves people either say, “Wow, he really tore up the dance floor,” or they say something else. Like, “He worked hard.” I can’t help but think David was the latter. His wife probably tried to slowly disappear in the crowd due to embarrassment. He danced with all his might.
Where did David’s enthusiasm come from? He trusted God daily. He walked with God daily. He worshipped God daily. At some point you have probably experienced God’s enthusiasm…
You opened up your bible and read God’s word and it really spoke to you. Like it was written just for you.
You prayed and God answered that prayer in a big way.
A song came on the radio or at church and you could sense God’s presence as you let go and worshiped God with all of your heart.
You used one of the spiritual gifts God has given you to serve someone and it turned out meaning as much or more to you.
You invited someone to church and they showed up, or you had an opportunity to share what God has done in your life.
You felt God calling you to give resources you didn’t think you could go without, but then God provided what you needed.
Trusting God. Walking with God. Worshiping God. Filled with God. En Theos.
There are two important seasons in David’s life. David as a kid, and David as a king. At this point in the story David is just a kid. He is also enthusiastic! He is fueled by his relationship with God. He is so fueled with passion from God that he steps out to face a giant and all he has is a sling. No big weapons. No heavy armor. Just a sling and a rock…
48 As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
Later, David becomes a king. As a kid, David’s enthusiasm influenced his circumstances. As a king, David’s circumstances influenced his enthusiasm…
1 In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites. They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem. 2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
If you are taking notes, write this down…
WITH ENTHUSIASM, DAVID RAN INTO THE BATTLE TO SERVE HIS GOD.
WITH APATHY, DAVID WALKED ON THE ROOF TO SERVE HIS COMFORT.
How did a man who had such enthusiasm as a kid lose it as a king? How does David go from having a God driven passion that makes him enthusiastically run out on a battle field when he shouldn’t be there to face off against an enemy he has no business fighting, to being a king who refuses to fight in wars he makes his armies fight so that he can take afternoon naps he has no business taking and walk around on his rooftop where he should not even be?
David took his eyes off of his calling and put it on his comfort. The tragic part of this story is how common it is today. Going from enthusiastic kid to apathetic king is what so many people in the world do today. In fact, in revelation Jesus said that was the one thing he had against the church in Ephesus…
Revelation 2:2–5 (NIV)
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…
What were the things you used to do? What did David do at first? He trusted God daily. He walked with God daily. He worshiped God daily. Trust. Walk. Worship. Trust. Walk. Worship. When you find yourself living like a king instead of like a kid, what do you do? You go back and do what you used to do. You do what you did when you had enthusiasm.
That’s what David came to recognize. The prophet Nathan confronted him and told him a story about a rich guy who took a poor guy’s land and killed him. David got angry and said, “That’s awful! Anyone who would do such a thing deserves to die!” Then Nathan said, “That’s you, David. That’s what you did.” That’s when David realized what had happened to him. That he had fallen.
If you are taking notes, you can write down Psalm 51 if you want to. It’s a prayer of repentance. Repent and do the things you did at first. That’s what David does. He cries out to God and says…
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Go back to what you did when you were a kid in Christ. Turn from the life of a king or a queen and be a kid again. Ask God to restore the joy of Christ’s salvation in your heart.
Enthusiasm is not a product of your environment as much as it is the posture of your heart. Think about how enthusiasm would change the climate around you! How the passion of living for God out of the fullness of an intimate relationship with Him could change the environment you live in.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
I’m gonna serve God in my job, working with all of my heart. I’ll do my best and do it for God, not for someone else.
I’m gonna love my family as though I am doing it for the Lord. I’ll give them the best of me!
What is God calling you to be passionate about? It starts with your relationship with Him. Enthusiasm begins with a full and intimate relationship with the one who gave everything to forge that relationship with you.