"The Disciplines" - Part 2 Frugality, Chastity, Secrecy & Sacrifice

Introduction

So we are in the midst of a series of messages we are simply calling…Disciple.

And last week we began looking into some disciplines or “practices” if you prefer, that will help us in our discipleship journey.

These practices can be placed into two categories.

There are Practices of Abstinence, where I abstain from doing something I would normally do, and then there are Practices of Engagement, where I actually DO things I would not normally do.

We began with the Practices of Abstinence, where I abstain from doing something I would normally do.

Last week we looked at the practices of Solitude, Silence and Fasting and perhaps some of you were able to tap into those practices a little bit this past week.

Now remember last week I said that attempting to practice ALL of these will probably do nothing more than frustrate you.

And I also said that you are not more spiritual if you practice them all. You are better served to choose the practices that address your particular area of struggle.

Now, again, why practice these things? I gave you 4 reasons last week.

1) These are the same practices that Jesus Himself engaged in. And part of being His apprentice is to do as He did. So that is the most important reason.

2) Also, remember that I said that there is freedom to be found in every one of these practices. Every practice sets you free from some level of bondage.

We said last week that practicing Solitude frees us from the patterns we fall into when we are around others. Patterns of performance expectations. Patterns of comparing ourselves to others or worrying about what others want from us.

The practice of silence builds into us a great trust in God to protect our reputations. Silence. much like solitude, frees us from worrying about what people think of us.

Fasting allows me to recognize that I do not have to immediately satisfy my appetites to survive. Again this practice brings freedom.

A third reason we should engage in these practices is because quite frankly...

3) Life transformation will not happen apart from these practices.

And...

4) Learning and practicing these disciplines will lead you to discover the secret of the easy yoke Jesus has invited us into. Remember His words in Matthew 11:29.

Mat 11:29 ESV - 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

We look to Jesus....we look to Jesus....we look to Jesus, we learn from Him, we do what He died and gradually we will be set free from so many things and actually begin to experience the easy yoke He has invited us into.

The secret of this easy yoke comes by learning to effortlessly do the things that Jesus himself would do if Jesus were you by doing one thing. That is arranging your life around those practices and activities that Jesus engaged in. He did these things and we should do these things in order to be constantly at home with, and receiving power from, our Heavenly Father.

But it won’t happen by osmosis, we must practice.

So this morning we are going to talk about 4 more practices of abstinence that can help free us from unnecessary bondage and hardships in life. They are frugality, chastity, secrecy and sacrifice.

Now I should say that for some of us, these four practices may not be as basic to the process of our full redemption as say silence, solitude and fasting are. But they are of great importance because practicing these disciplines also allows us to come to grips with some behavioral tendencies we all have, that can destroy us, or at the very least render us ineffective as disciples.

So the first is the practice of Frugality.

Oh boy! A money practice! The subject matter that garners more hate mail to pastors than just about anything else we can talk about. First let me say there is nothing wrong with money. It is just a tool. There is nothing wrong with having lots of money. Nothing wrong with having a little bit of money. Where we get into trouble is in our attitude towards money and giving money more power over our lives than is healthy or even necessary.

Remember that Jesus said the LOVE of money is what gets us into trouble, not the money itself.

So the practice of frugality is: We abstain from using money or goods at our disposal, in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury.

(Say that Again)

Frugality means we stay within the bounds of what general good judgment would designate as necessary for the kind of life to which God leads us.

As Christians, we always need to be asking, “What is God calling me to? What does He want me to do with my life.” Never, “What is God doing in someone else’s life?” We have this really bad habit of comparing ourselves to others and trying to emulate the life they are living and that will never lead to success or freedom but instead will lead to bondage and shipwreck.

I see this in the lives of young pastors who look to these so-called famous pastors who are leading megachurches or who have become wildly popular on youtube, and they begin striving to emulate those guys instead of striving to emulate Jesus.

Ministry and life as a disciple of Jesus Christ is not about status, glamour OR luxury. In fact, I am not convinced that God ever intended anyone to live in that much luxury and enjoy that much status in the eyes of men through ministry.

So the practice of frugality can help with the temptation to strive for that kind of life. The truth is, how ever much money and resources God has blessed you with, you could benefit from practicing frugality. It keeps you humble and it frees you from the bondage that comes with frivolous consumption, which can absolutely move your life away from trust in God and service to Him and worship of Him.

Frugality frees you from concern with, and involvement in a multitude of desires that would make it impossible for you to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

Frugality helps us get free of this idea that one day, more will be enough. The truth is, we live in a culture that has convinced us that if we just had a little more we would be satisfied. More money, more luxury, more security, more clothes, more possessions, one day you will feel you have enough. But the problem is there is this chasm that exists between “more”, and “enough” that will never be bridged.

To illustrate this, I would ask, who is more content? The man with a million dollars or the man with 12 children? It is the man with 12 children because he doesn’t want any more!

Ecc 5:10 ESV - 10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

That is a truth from the word of God.

In Matthew 6: 27 Jesus asks a very important question.

Mat 6:27 ESV - 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

The truth is, anxiety shortens our life. It never prolongs. And what is it that we are often most anxious about? Issues surrounding money and the so-called security it brings. So Jesus spends the lions share of Matthew 26 instructing us not to worry. Not to be anxious.

Matthew 6:28 ESV - 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

What is the solution to all this worry about the things we need? Verse 33.

Mat 6:33 ESV - 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

And, as we have said many times in this series, the way we seek the Kingdom and experience what life in the Kingdom is like, is by becoming apprentices, disciples of Jesus. Spending time with him, becoming like Him, and doing the things He did. And one of the things Jesus definitely did was live a life of frugality.

And so what happens with frugality is that we discover that we can be free from wanting more and more and more and living my life on that treadmill that never ends.

So how do we practice frugality in the day and age in which we live? Well one thing I would say is when it comes to your finances, distance yourself from “vague”.

Don’t be vague about your finanaces. A lot of people go through their life and they're just not clear on what they are spending and what they are giving and what's happening to them financially. This is where debt becomes a primary source of enslavement that frugality can help with.

Another thing you can do is to decide how much is enough ahead of time and draw a line in the sand so to speak.

What happens with most people is when their income increases, then their lifestyle increases and then they gotta have that new car or new gadgets. Instead, decide what will be enough and when the income increases, give it away! I know that is a crazy idea.

And here is the thing about giving it away. Don’t wait until you are feeling generous. Just make a habit of giving.

Jesus taught us not to store up for ourselves treasures on Earth where moth and rust corrode and thieves break in and steal. But that we should lay up treasure in heaven. And we do that as we give. We do that as we're generous to other people. He said where your treasure is there your heart will be.

We often approach it the other way around. Someday I'm going to feel really generous and have a lot of money and then I'm going to really give. But here is the thing. If you begin to put your treasure someplace right now, your heart will follow along with it.

Practicing frugality can start with little steps but a lot of those strung together has a way of changing your mindset. Next time you stop for a coffee, get the next size smaller than you usually get. When you go out to eat, order something less expensive than you normally do. Another way to engage this practice is to take a look at the stuff you have and start to give away the things you no longer need or use. That’s right, I said give it away, not list it for sale on market place.

Frugality practiced will set you free.

Next is Chastity. Kind of an old fashioned word but very much an issue in the culture in which we live and certainly one that if practiced, can bring about freedom. Freedom from being controlled by our sexual desires.

Chastity is a topic we don’t talk about much in church but we should because a lack thereof is wreaking havoc in churches all across the country.

First of all, what is it? How do we practice being chaste?

Well one definition of chaste is to abstain from extramarital, or from ALL sexual activity. Not surprisingly, when you google chastity, most of the content that comes up is written from a Catholic perspective because Catholic clergy are called to be chaste.

But there is certainly application that can be made for all of us and again, if this is an area you struggle with, then chastity would be a good practice for you to engage in.

If you have no issues whatsoever with issues around sexuality, then you can just tune this part out.

Now we really don’t have any real good terminology that deals specifically with the sexual drive that is within all of us. So we are using the word Chastity.

The thing is, that word refers more to the result of a discipline under grace rather than the discipline itself. So how do we practice this?

For our purposes we will define the practice like this:

In exercising the spiritual discipline of Chastity, we purposefully turn away from dwelling on, or engaging in, the sexual dimension of our relationships to others, even our husbands or our wives.

Why is this an issue? Because in our society, one of the most powerful and subtle forces in the human nature, and the percentage of human suffering that has a direct connection to our sexuality, is staggering.

The human abuse stemming from sex, both outside and in marriage, makes it very important that we learn how to posses ourselves in sanctification and honor.

And an important part of this learning comes by way of the practice of abstaining from sex and from indulging in sexual feelings and thoughts, and learn not to be governed by them.

Today, we have normalized sex and references to it are in every direction we look. If we are not careful, addiction to sexual activity and thought can absolutely take control of us.

In 1 Cor we are instructed to steer clear of sexual immorality and reminded that when we don’t, we not only run the risk of abusing others, we certainly are abusing ourselves.

1Co 6:18-20 ESV - 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Sex is a good and wonderful gift given to us by God to be enjoyed within the covenant of marriage and certainly for the purpose of procreation. But when it is abused, then pain and suffering will ensue. It is true outside the context of marriage but also within a marriage. Jesus in His usual M.O. of raising God’s standard for holiness said in...

Mat 5:27-28 ESV - 27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

So clearly, in the eyes of God, adultery is committed even if no physical contact actually takes place.

Gentlemen, I am going to point this at you but it applies to ladies as well. The lame argument that no harm is done by looking at pornography pretty much falls apart in this one passage. According to the passage we just read, every time you look at porn you are committing the sin of adultery and if you are married, you are in fact, cheating on your wife. Your spouse cannot compete with pornography. Especially when you carry those images into the sanctity of your marriage bed. I know this is a bit raw, but will tell you this. If you continue, the attraction you once had to your wife will leave you, because it will have been exchanged for some random women you have never, and will never meet. Sound like a smart trade to you?

The power of the sexual desires that are within you are more than you can control if left unchecked. Paul even recommended sexual abstention within marriage as an aid to fasting and praying.

1Co 7:5, 8-9 ESV - 5 Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ...

Contrary to most modern thinking, even within the context of marriage, it is absolutely vital to the health of your marriage that sexual gratification not be placed at the center.

The practice of voluntary abstention from sex in the marriage helps us appreciate and love our mate as a whole person of which their sexuality is just one part. And it confirms with us the practice of being very close to people without sexual entanglements.

Sexuality cannot be allowed to permeate our lives if we are to live as children of god and brothers and sisters in Jesus.

Doesn’t mean we are to shun it. We couldn’t do that anyway. It simply means that we need to practice relegating it to its proper place in our overall living and relationships with others.

And I will tell you that the idea of just knuckling down and trying harder not to look at that pretty girl with less than God honoring thoughts, will never get the job done.

Dallas Willard talks about a level of spiritual maturity to where the thoughts no longer occur to us. That only comes by way of practicing these disciplines.

Okay.

The next practice is Secrecy

And by that I don’t mean the keeping of secrets. This practice is about abstaining from causing our good deeds and qualities to be known. It may even mean taking steps to prevent them from being known, as long as it does not involve outright deceit. Now this one, like all of the others will require the help of grace because we sure do like to make much of ourselves and to put our good deeds on display for others. Jesus had much to say about this.

Mat 6:1-18 ESV - 1 "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 "Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 7 "And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. …teaches the Lord’s prayer and then goes on to say in verse 16...

16 "And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

This practice will help us to learn to love being unknown and even to accept misunderstanding without losing our peace and joy and purpose. In fact, I would agree that few things are more important when it comes to stabilizing our walk of faith than this particular practice.

Because when we keep our good deeds a secret, we experience a continued relationship with God that is independent of the opinions of others. Do you see the freedom in that?

Thomas a Kempis talks about the great tranquility of heart that comes to those who rise above “praises and blamings”

One of the greatest fallacies of our faith, and one of the greatest acts of unbelief we can commit, is thinking our spiritual acts need to be advertised in order to be known. Striving to make your deeds known is actually a stunning realization of a person’s lack of spiritual substance and faith.

Practicing secrecy in the right way means placing our public relations departments squarely into the hands of God and it teaches us love and humility before God.

The final practice I want o look at this morning is that of sacrifice.

In order to practice this one we need to be clear that this is not merely enduring a little discomfort. For example. You are not practicing sacrifice by sitting here listening to me for 40 minutes. I know you think it is but it is not.

This practice is about abstaining from possession or enjoyment of what is necessary for living. The discipline of sacrifice is one in which we forsake the security of meeting our own needs with what is in our hands. It is literally allowing God to take care of us. It is total abandonment to God, stepping into the darkened abyss of faith and trust that God will bear us up.

This practice takes me right to what I consider one of the most frightening stories in scripture. One that makes me fear that one day God could ask me to do something this hard. It is of course the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Abraham knew about this stepping into total abandonment to God’s care when he became prepared to sacrifice his own son Isaac. In Hebrews we are told that Abraham was actually counting on God to bring Isaac back to life after He killed him.

Heb 11:17-19 ESV - 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Abraham was actually trusting that God would somehow give Isaac back to him in order to fulfill the promise of lineage he had made concerning Isaac.

Could you trust God that implicitly? Could I?

Another story that illustrates this practice of sacrifice is that of the poor widow Jesus observed recorded in the book of Luke.

Luk 21:1-4 ESV - 1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

Jesus observation of this poor widow was that she gave more with her two copper coins than any of us writing our large, tax-deductible checks.

So sacrifice may seem more like an act of service, it is actually a discipline that can be practiced. It is about intentionally and willfully putting yourself in a situation where you MUST depend on God for the outcome. No manipulating. No pre-planning. Without first performing some kind of calculated risk assessment. Just completely throwing yourself on the mercies of God and his promise to care for you.

How might we do this in practical ways? Well this is really about the central tenants of our faith, which is Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. So I am going to tell you to let God lead you in how you might do this.

But I want to read you a little story and we will close.

It’s called called Babette's Feast. This is a summary of it and it comes from Philip Yancy’s book, “Whats so amazing about Grace?”

It is the story of a strict austere, joyless, religious sect in the far north of Europe led by a very strict old Pastor who has two young lovely radiant daughters. These daughters feel unable to plunge into lives of Joy because of their sense of obligation to their father and to this joyless little community. Eventually he dies and they're now middle aged spinsters and they have to carry on the mission. Here's How The Story Goes.

Without his stern leadership the sect badly splintered. One brother bore a grudge against another concerning some business matter. Rumors about an old affair involving two members spread. A pair of old ladies had not spoken to each other for a decade. They still met on the Sabbath and sang the old hymns but only a handful bothered to attend and the music had lost its old luster.

There was no life there.

One night, on a night too rainy for anybody to venture on the muddy streets, the sisters heard a heavy thump on the door. A young woman had collapsed on the threshold. Her name was Babette. She'd had to escape from a war in France because her family was in danger. She had been directed to this little sect. Babette happened to be a cook.

The sisters had no money to pay Babette and felt dubious about employing a maid in the first place. They distrusted her cooking because they had heard the French eat horses and frogs. But because they didn’t speak her language, through gestures and pleading, Babette softened their hearts. She would do any chores in exchange for room and board.

For the next 12 years, Babette worked for the Sisters. The first time Martine showed her how to split a Cod and cook the gruel, Babette's eyebrows shot upward and her nose wrinkled a little, but she never questioned her assignments.

She fed the poor people of the Town. Took over all the housekeeping chores and she even helped with Sabbath services. Everyone had to agree Babette somehow brought New Life to that stagnant community.

Since she never referred to her past life in France, it came as a great surprise to the sisters when one day after 12 years she received her first letter.

She read it and looked up to see the sisters staring at her and announced matter of factly that a wonderful thing had happened. Every year a friend in Paris had renewed Babette's number in the French Lottery. This year her ticket had won! Ten thousand Francs!

The sisters congratulated her but inwardly their hearts sank because they knew this meant she would go back to France. As it happened, her winning the lottery coincided with the celebration that the sisters were going to have to honor the 100th anniversary of their father's birth.

Babette came to them with a request. For 12 years I've served you for nothing she said. Now I have a request. I would like to prepare the meal for the anniversary service. I would like to cook you a real French dinner.

What the sisters did not know was that back in the day, Babette had been the head chef at the Premier Luxury restaurant in France.

Although the sisters had great misgivings about this plan, Babette was certainly right. She'd asked no favor in 12 years. What choice did they have but to agree.

When the money arrived from France, Babette went away to make arrangements for the dinner. Over the next few weeks the residents were treated to one amazing site after another as boats docked to unload provisions for her kitchen. They pushed wheelbarrows loaded with crates of small birds, cases of champagne and wine soon followed. The entire head of a cow, fresh vegetables, truffles, pheasants, ham, strange creatures that lived in the sea, a huge tortoise still alive and moving his snake-like head from side to side.

All these ended up in the sister's kitchen now firmly ruled by Babette.

Martine and Philippa, alarmed at this apparent Witches brew, explained their predicament to the members of the sect, now old and gray and only 11 in number. Everyone clucked in sympathy.

After some discussion, they agreed to eat the French meal withholding comment about it lest Babette get the wrong idea. Tongues were meant for praise and thanksgiving not indulging exotic tastes. Although no one {other than one character spoke} of the food or drink, gradually the banquet worked a magical effect on the churlish villagers. Their blood warmed. Their tongues loosened.

They spoke of the old days when the dean was alive and of Christmas the year the bay froze. The brother who had cheated another on a business deal, finally confessed. And the two women who had feuded found themselves conversing. A woman burped and the brother next to her said without thinking...Hallelujah!

They were healed. They were changed.

Babette's Feast ends with two scenes.

Outside the old-timers joined hands around the fountain and lustily sing the old songs of faith. It is a communion scene. Babette's Feast opened the gate and grace stole in.

They felt as if they had indeed had their sins washed white as wool.

The final scene he says, takes place inside in the wreck of the kitchen piled high with unwashed dishes, greasy pots, shells, gristly bones. Broken crates, vegetable trimmings, and empty bottles.

Babette sits amidst the feast looking as wasted as the night she arrived 12 years before. Suddenly the sisters realized that in accordance with their vow, no one has spoken to Babette of the dinner.

“It was quite a nice dinner Babette,” one of them says tentatively. She seems far away. After a while she says, “ I was once a cook at the cafe Anglais. We will all remember this evening when you have gone back to Paris Babette,”

Babette tells them she will not be going back to Paris. All her friends and relatives there have been killed or imprisoned, and of course it would be expensive to return to Paris.

“But what about the ten thousand francs?” the sisters ask. Then Babette drops the bombshell. She has spent her winnings, every last Frank of the ten thousand she won on the feast they have just devoured.

Don't be shocked she tells them. That is what a proper dinner for 12 costs at the cafe Anglais. That is the power of sacrifice.

Grace came to them in the form of a feast, Babette’s feast. A meal of a lifetime lavished on those who had in no way earned it.

There is something in the gift of sacrifice. A power and a healing and a forgiving and a transformation, that changes everything.

If you are willing to lean into Him, God will lead you in whatever way you need to be led, to this remarkable holy abandoning gift of sacrifice.

So…frugality, chastity, Secrecy and sacrifice. Give those some thought this week.

You CAN live at home in the Fellowship of the Father. Whatever's going on in your life, as you and I learn the secret of the easy yoke of Jesus. How to effortlessly do what he would do if he were in our place. And we do this by doing one thing. By arranging Our Lives around those activities that Jesus himself practiced to be constantly at home with, and receiving power from his father. You may be surprised at what happens to you and your connection with Jesus as you strive to be His disciple through these practices that He Himself practiced and exhibited during His earthly ministry.

Let’s pray.