A Balanced Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Open with testimony/ impact that camp made on my life.
Now when I was here the camp was called Circle Square Ranch, and there was a Bible verse that was the camp’s “theme verse,” found in
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.
That’s actually why the camp was “Circle Square” because the symbol of the camp was a circle with four even parts representing Wisdom, Stature, Favor with God, and Favor with Man, with a square in the centre representing Jesus. The poins was teaching the need to live balanced lives with Jesus as the centre. So I thought I would share with you guys an old school message based on what the Bible says about these four areas of life that we need to balance.
Wisdom
Wisdom
Illustration: Learning wisdom from my sibling’s mistakes, the gift of being youngest.
Yet the wisdom that the Bible is talking about in Luke 2:52 is not just knowing how to avoid the wrath of your parents, though that is an important skill. It’s knowing God and how to live righteously for Him. So how do we attain this wisdom? Certainly just like any kind of wisdom we can learn from our experiences and from the experiences of others, but we have a greater resource at our disposal: God Himself. What’s more is that in the Bible God actually makes a promise to give wisdom to anyone who asks. We find this in:
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
How’s that for a promise? This is what we call a “conditional statement.” That means it gives us a condition that is true in a particular circumstance. If the “if” statement is thrue, than the “than” is also true. So if it’s true that you have asked God for wisdom, than it’s true that He will give it. Generously.
So then what does a wise person look like? Well James doesn’t leave that up to our imagination but instead provides a picture of what a wise believer looks like in
Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
So how does one become wise like Jesus did in Luke 2:52? Well we’ve learned that wisdom comes from God, and Wisdom produces righteous behavior and humble demeanor. But wisdom is not the only aspect of a balanced life that Jesus demonstrated for us. He also demonstrated:
Stature
Stature
Illustration: Out of necessity I was a lot more physically fit when I was a camp counselor.
Have you ever heard a pastor give a sermon on the need to be physically fit? To be honest there’s not really a lot about that in the Bible. At least not many passages telling you straighforwardly to eat right and exercise. Probably in part because of the context of when the Bible was written, when people had to work hard every single day to stay alive. There weren’t many overweight people at the time.
Yet the Bible isn’t completely silent about this. Our passage says that Jesus grew in stature, and as a carpenter’s son who was Himself a carpenter for quite a while He was probably pretty fit.
This isn’t the only verse that talks about the need to take care of our bodies though. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church he explains the concept that our bodies are “God’s temple.” Paul isn’t try to make a point about physical fitness directly, but what he writes certainly applies to that area. Let’s read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17,
Think about that for a second. God is going to take vengeance on someone if they destroy your body. What do you think His attitude would be about our destroying our own bodies? And again in chapter 6 Paul says,
Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
Have you ever had someone borrow something and tell you they’ll “treat it like it’s their own.” I don’t say that. Because honestly I treat the stuff I borrow with more care and gentleness than I do stuff that I own. Well your body doesn’t belong to you. Jesus literally died to save you, so treating His temple poorly is an offence to Him.
Favor With God
Favor With God
Illustration: How would you go about trying to impress God? Not really very possible is it, I mean God literally created all things and sustained all things, what could we do to “gain His favor?”
Yet Jesus demonstrated in His earthly life a man who grew in the favor of God according to Luke 2:52. Now of course the Bible has a lot more to say about this than about physical fitness. In fact the entire Bible is about mankind being made in the image of God then losing favor with God and the long journey to get favor back. So how does the Bible say we can gain favor with God?
My hand made all these things,
and so they all came into being.
This is the Lord’s declaration.
I will look favorably on this kind of person:
one who is humble, submissive in spirit,
and trembles at my word.
So a person who does not think to highly of himself but intead submits himself to God’s word and does what it says. That’s the kind of person that is looked on favorably by God. The problem? No one has been good enough at this to actually please God, except for Jesus Himself. As the author of Hebrews says,
Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
So then we cannot earn our way to favor with God. Instead Jesus made the way for us on the cross to be reconciled to Him and restored to right relationship with Him. As Paul says,
For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.
So how do we gain favor with God? By giving our lives to Jesus. He freely gives us His righteousness so that we can become those who are favored by God by His grace.
Favor With People
Favor With People
Illustration: I’ve never been a popular gregarious guy. I thrive in small groups of people that I’m close to. Some are the extroverts that like to be in crowds but that’s just not me.
What if I told you that although the Bible doesn’t tell us to be popular, it does tell us to have a good reputation? I’d wager that at your age you’ve probably heard a good many messages from youth pastors and leaders telling you not to care what people think, but the Bible actually says we should care. Not that we should worry about them thinking we’re lame or whatever, but whether they think of us as good, respectable and honest people. Solomon says in
A good name is to be chosen over great wealth;
favor is better than silver and gold.
Showing the value that a good reputation can have for you. More particular for our interests however is this passage in Romans where Paul talks about the need to get along with one another and with strangers:
Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good. Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another. Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Why is this important? Why can’t we just hyper focus on our own spiritual lives and not worry at all about our reputations? Because we have a mission we need to accomplish, and that mission is affected by our reputation in the community. Jesus says to the disciples in
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
So when we are going about witnessing to the whole world, it matters whether they think we are honest people trying our best or just religious hypocrites who are judging people. How many people have you heard of that rejected the church because “they’re a bunch of hypocrites.” While sometimes what people think about us is out of our control what other people think about what we do, we should do our best to ensure that our actions are contributing to making the gospel appealing to those who are lost.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So we’ve talked about the four areas of life that Jesus modeled as keeping in balance. Wisdom, stature, and favor with God and with people.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.
But remember that the old Circle Square symbol also has that square in the middle. This is the larger point of this whole message. All of these things should be done in the name of and by the power of Jesus. If we try on our own to just work harder and do better than we will just end up frustrated and tired. But if we turn to Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, than we can truly grow just as Jesus did.
So then, staff of Snider Mountain Ranch, what then should you do in response to God’s word this evening? I would challenge you to make Jesus the centre of everything you do. Don’t make the mistake that I did for a while of living for Jesus only during the summer, but in all things, in your mental, physical, spiritual and social pursuits do everything to the glory of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s pray.