Live Life to the Fullest

We are in the second week of our sermon series, that is all about life. We will be allowing the Old Testament scriptures to speak to us about the good and bad of life and offer us insights on how to live our lives.

We started last week looking at how “Life can be Rough” but through lament and a willingness to cry out to God we can find a sense of peace on the other side. This week our focus turns to “Living our Lives to the Fullest.”

Our scripture comes from Jeremiah 29 beginning in verse one and then going to verses 4-7. The words will be on the screen.

29 This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

Please pray with me…

Here is a question for you to get things started. Have you ever been told that you are “full of it.” I am guessing if you have, they weren’t talking about life. They weren’t saying that you are full of life, even if you are. Jeremiah is believed to be the author of last week’s text from Lamentations.

He is believed to have experienced firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem. He spent the book of Lamentations crying out to God. We have him in today’s text telling those that he is writing to that it is true that sometimes “Life is Rough.”

But he is now telling them that it is time for them to do what they can to begin living life to the fullest. He is speaking to an exiled people. A people who went from living in the holy city of their faith to now living in a strange land called Babylon. They are lost in more ways than one.

Jeremiah is trying to help them understand that their situation isn’t changing any time soon, but that they can change how they live, in the situation that they are in. He is saying to them that living life to the fullest isn’t about lying to yourself in the situation that you are in.

(Transition)

The highest-ranking U.S. POW in Vietnam was Admiral James Stockdale. It is said that he demonstrated during that time what many called “extraordinary resilience.” Through his explanation of how he survived as a POW for seven years, physiologists have formed what is known as the “Stockdale paradox.”

The Stockdale paradox states that a person is more likely to overcome a tough situation by “confronting the brutal facts of their current reality while simultaneously maintaining unwavering faith that they will ultimately prevail.”

This concept advocates accepting challenging circumstances without denial or sugarcoating what is going on around you. But it also includes that a person needs to hold a powerful belief in future success and a willingness to take action to make that success a reality.

Stockdale was asked “Who didn’t make it out?” He said, “Oh, that’s easy—the optimists.” The interviewer was surprised. Stockdale went on to explain that the optimists always expected to be released by Christmas, or by Easter, or by Thanksgiving. But when those dates came and went, their hope collapsed, and eventually they died of a broken heart.”

Stockdale said survival required a paradox: the ability to face the brutal reality of your situation, but at the same time never lose faith that you would prevail in the end.

(Transition)

This should point out to us that living life to the fullest also isn’t about just thinking positive or managing to paste on a smile on your face and when you are asked “How are you doing?” offering a thumbs up and saying, “Life is great.” Living life to the fullest is about living the best life you can under the circumstances that you are in.

It may mean putting one foot in front of the other for a while. It may mean opening the door to your house and walking outside when you just want to lock yourself away from the rest of the world.

I have spoken before about a quote from Leadership psychologist and author Brene Brown about how we would be better off in society if we went through life assuming everyone is doing the best that they can.

That is what Jeremiah wants for the people that he writes too to do. He is saying to them that “It is time for you to stop the pity party for yourself. You need to begin doing the best that you can under the circumstances that you find yourself in.”

(Transition)

It is in the chapter before our scripture reading that we discover why he is saying these things. There was a man who was stating that this time of exile will only last for two years. This man had the people believing that they just needed to wait it out and eventually things would return to normal.

Jeremiah was receiving a different message from God. He has God saying in our scripture “I have put you into exile and you aren’t getting out any time soon, so you need to begin living your best life now.”

I am sure that this is not the message that the people wanted to hear. But haven’t we also at times lived our lives in similar ways. Waiting and expecting our situation to change quickly when it seems to just keep going, and going, and going.

(Transition)

These steps and our topic for today leads us to another question, what does it mean for us to be living the life that God desires for me to live today. We can look towards our first scripture reading to find insights into our relationship with those around us and with God.

It lists five ways that we should choose to interact with those around us: Be at peace among yourselves, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Do not repay evil for evil and always seek to do good to one another.

· Be at peace with those around you.

· We have been living lives in turmoil.

· We have seen disagreement after disagreement leading to people taking sides instead of choosing to accept people as they are.

· Believers in Jesus are called to be peacemakers.

· We are supposed to choose the way of unity instead of division.

· We are supposed to decide we are going to love instead of hate.

· Unfortunately, many Christians have allowed the ways of society to invade their psyche.

· We are supposed to live in the world but not of the world.

· We are to live among society and let the love of Jesus enter into it instead of letting the ways of society enter into us.

· We are supposed to lead the way towards peace instead of towards division.

Our whole section of scripture from Jeremiah speaks of this unity. He is basically saying to those in exile to do what they had done during their time in Jerusalem. Continue to be at peace with one another.

· We are to encourage the fainthearted.

· The word fainthearted can also mean discouraged.

· We should encourage the discouraged.

· People maybe heartbroken or lost because of what they have gone through or are going through.

· They may want to give up on trying to live their life to the fullest.

· We should help them find meaning in their life

· Assist them in finding the good that there still is in the world.

· This maybe a chance to tell them about Jesus.

· We are to help the weak. We should be there for the vulnerable

We should assist the poor

· The divide between the wealthy and the poor has grown.

· We need to continue to step up and help those that are unable to help themselves.

· We should help the powerless.

· Those without a voice need us to speak for them in order to help them be able to live their life to the fullest.

· We should do our best to be patient with everyone. Did you notice I said do our best.

· This goes back to choosing to believe that everyone is doing the best they can. It is us saying I am here for you as you are.

· Do not repay evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another.

· There are people still hurting and hurt people tend to try to hurt people.

· We should again choose to believe they are doing the best they can.

· We should attempt to do all that we can to help them find peace in their pain.

· We need to choose to not fight back but to engage with them in such a way that reflects the love of Christ.

(Transition)

This is why this can be an important lesson also for us. We should be focusing on doing the best we can at living the best life for God that we can. That leads to the question, “How do you think I should go about living the best life that I can?

As one of my former pastors used to say, “I am glad you asked.” This may take a little time if you feel you are doing your best right now but there may be some that need to hear this. I will go through it as quick as possible.

I believe tha we begin by asking questions. It is through asking these questions now and on a regular basis that I think allows us to better understand if we are doing the best we can and if not ways for us to motivate ourselves to do better.

(Transition)

The first question may be the most important one to ask but may be difficult for us to answer, the question goes something like this “under the current circumstances am I doing the best I can?” This allows us to take a realistic look at our lives.

We are putting into context not only our own willingness to do better but also the understanding that we might be at a place in our lives where we can’t add anything else to our plate. We are doing the best that we can.

But we also know that we are good at lying to ourselves. Therefore, we should also ask those around us if they believe that we are doing the best that we can. We may discover that others have more faith in our resilience than we do.

They also may let us know that they believe we are close to sinking and it may be in our best interest not to move forward. We may discover something about ourselves we didn’t recognize through getting information from someone else.

The difficulty can arise if what you believe is different than what you are hearing from other voices. At that point it is important for you to attempt to discern whose opinion is closest to the truth.

That is where you can add God to the conversation. We have a God that wants to help us. Be willing to ask him what he believes that you should or shouldn’t do. But also take the time to listen in order to discern what your next steps should be.

(Transition)

Let’s say that we have now reached a place in which we believe we need to do something in order to lead us into living life to the fullest. The first step would be to go to God. This may be a part of the first conversation but we should ask God to help us on this journey.

We should begin by asking God if there is something that we need to heal from before we can become the person that God desires for us to be. We may have something in our life currently or in the past that will hinder us from being able to live life to the fullest.

This leads us back to last week where we focused on lamenting and finding ways for us to deal with our hurts. We can begin where we are, but we may discover that through attempting to deal with our hurts from our past we can become closer to who God desires for us to be.

This may mean that we use lament, that we talk out our pain and/or grief with a trusted friend. You may decide that you do need professional help and decide to reach out to a counselor to help you deal with your past.

(Transition)

Once you begin that process towards healing, you can begin to make goals or small steps that offer you a way to begin. This may also involve asking ourselves a couple questions such as  “What can I do that would feel safe but still is out of my comfort zone?” Do I have people that can help me become more comfortable?

This is where hopefully the church can help. It is our desire at The Church of the Good Shepherd to be a place of healing. A safe place where we can worship God and communicate with God to help us to grow in our faith in order to allow us to be the person that God desires for us to be.

I hope that you can believe that these are not just words. We want to be a place that shows the love of God to all people no matter where they may be in their relationship with God and their struggles in living their lives.

The next step may be the hardest, begin to take those steps towards living life to the fullest. This will often mean being out of your comfort zone. But it is through trusting God and believing that with his help we can grow in our faith and in our belief in ourselves that can allow us to become closer to being the person God desires for us to be.

(Transition)

The last step is for a person to continue to reevaluate where they are in living life to the fullest. Continue to ask yourself periodically the question we started with ““Am I living my life to the fullest under the circumstances that I am in.”

You hopefully will recognize over time that you are growing closer to God. You may need to change your goals and continue on the journey of becoming the person that God desires for you to be.

(Transition)

We have for the most part have focused on the individual. What does living life to the fullest mean for us as a church. How do we become the church that God desires for us to be? I believe we need to focus on these four areas. We need to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, thank God for everything, and rely on the Holy Spirit.

How do we get to this place of living out the ideals of our first reading?

· Rejoice always.

· Worship God

· Pray without ceasing.

· Trust that God will answer your prayers.

· Thank God for everything.

· Humble yourself and give God credit for all he has done.

· Rely on the Holy Spirit.

· Listen and respond to God.

(Transition)

We know that a person can only truly live their life to the fullest when they recognize Jesus as their Lord and Savior and begin living their life for him. There are many people out there who believe they are doing the best they can that are missing the grace of God.

We should desire to do what we can to let them know if they are struggling that life is tough but there is someone that wants to help them through the pain.

We should also let those that believe they are living life to the fullest that God can help them even do better. They can follow the one desires to show them the way, the truth, and the life. A life of hope, love and peace. A life of following God through Jesus.

A life of living life to the fullest not only for ourselves but also for those around us.

Let us pray…