Buffet or Buffet?

Buffet (BUFF-et) or Buffet (buff-A)?

How do you pronounce this word in this old translation of the bible?

1 Cor. 9:26-27 (ASV)

26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.

BUFF-et, like Jimmy or Warren?

Or, buff-A, like Mother’s Day Buffet?

B/C, how you pronounce, define, this word will change dramatically how you live you life.

How do you prepare yourself for hard times? Where do you go to get in shape to face the challenges you have? How do you deal w/ stress?

The buffet line at a restaurant?

The gym?

Most of you probably are reading an NIV translation of the bible and let me show you how this verse reads in it:

1 Corinthians 9:26–27 NIV

Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Paul is using an athletic metaphor here. Competing to win. Singular in purpose. Better than those around him.

There is is a finish line and competitors.

Putting in the hard work in training so that when the competition starts you’re ready to be competitive and win a difficult race.

So, in training for athletic competition, should we go to the buffet line at a restaurant, and I’m not referring to a carb load of pasta before a marathon, or do we head to the gym?

In the NIV, it says Paul strikes a blow to his body. He hurts himself in order to help himself prepare for the inevitable challenges he is about to face.

That is an uncomfortable truth.

This is my latest object of self-torture:

I bought a Peloton Bike.

W/ the pandemic, gyms closed, we go to them, so many of us bought equipment for our homes.

I ordered mine at Christmas. B/C of the demand, it took 10 weeks to get it delivered. Then, that bike didn’t work. And, it took 3 more weeks to get a replacement. 13 weeks. 3 months.

Now, I’m getting after it. The instructors are challenging me to pick up the pace, increase the resistance, and otherwise torture me to the point my mind screams quit about 10 minutes in but my body has to keep pedaling.

I’ve told you before. I have to do this for my cholesterol, my BP, my weight, and stress management.

This is the way God designed me and all of us.

This is an uncomfortable truth.

Think for a moment outside the box.

God could have designed the whole process in an entirely different way. He could have put us together in a way that chocolate ice cream sheds weight, not add weight.

Smoking cigarettes could have cleaned out our lungs.

But, He didn’t. That is an uncomfortable truth.

B/C, we may want a big bowl of ice cream every night after a smoke out on the deck. These are things we may enjoy.

However you choose to buffet or buffet your body is your business. But, if you are not hurting yourself in the right ways, you’re not helping yourself.

If you’re hurting yourself in the wrong ways, you’re just hurting yourself.

If you’re not denying yourself the wrong things, then you’re doing things to yourself that will cost you later.

There is a piper who will need to be paid.

I exercise b/c I want to die healthy.

If I could keel over w/ a heart attack just before I hurt myself one more time on that bike I will accomplish my goal.

I don’t want to have a heart attack after I exercise b/c I will have just spent the last 45 min of my life being miserable.

Too often we get hung up on the “Thou shalt not’s” in the bible. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. We all get tired of being told what we shouldn’t do.

But, what may get lost is the other side of these statements, the positive side. If we do what compliments the functions basic of our bodies and relationships, the way God designed us, life just works better.

Not perfect. Better.

Better health, better marriage, better family, better church, and better community life.

God designed us, put us together. Adam and Eve broke us. So, now the objective is to get to the next life, which will not be broken.

But, in the mean time, we need to figure this broken life out.

Today, we need t/b willing to receive uncomfortable truths from God, not what we want to hear, because it’s not what we want to do, and apply them so that we maximize the potential good and minimize the possible trouble we bring into our own lives.

A great example of this comes from 1 Kings 22 where a king wanted to hear what he wanted to hear. But a prophet told him the uncomfortable truth that he needed to hear but didn’t want to hear so he ignored it. It hurt him, bad.

Seems Right

1 Kings 22:1–5 NIV

For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. But in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to see the king of Israel. The king of Israel had said to his officials, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us and yet we are doing nothing to retake it from the king of Aram?” So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the Lord.”

They were 3 years after Ahab’s humbling. In that moment, I talked about this last week, Ahab acknowledged his mistakes and humbled himself under God’s authority.

But, that was then. This is now.

It seems to make sense b/c this city they are talking about is in the PL, near the palace, influential, but controlled by the Arameans.

God wants him to occupy the PL, Right? They should go and get it.

Why would God have a problem w/ that?

Of course, Ahab wasn’t thinking about what God may or may not want him to do. He wasn’t on speaking terms w/ God.

There is truth that God wanted Israel to occupy the PL. But, they didn’t b/c God has limited their occupation b/c of their disob.

They couldn’t just go take it unless God wanted them them to take it.

That’s Jehoshaphat’s point. He’s the king of the southern kingdom, Judah. He is perfectly willing to partner w/ Ahab and Israel as long as this is God’s plan, not just Ahab’s.

Sometimes we get the idea b/c other Christians are doing things we should, too. But those things may not be things God wants us t/b doing.

It makes some sense. They’re doing it. But it doesn’t make enough sense. God does not alway make sense, at least from our perspective. Hindsight, it always makes sense.

But, at the time, why not?

Like getting married. Everyone else is. God doesn’t want to be intimate before we’re married. So, let’s just do it.

Except, that person may not be the best choice for you and God is telling exactly that but you want to anyway.

Buffeting, or buffeting?

So, Ahab, thinking it’s a complete waste of time, calls his prophets to get their input on the decision. But all he gets from them is exactly what he wants to hear.

But, was it from God?

What do You Want to Hear?

1 Kings 22:6–8 NIV

So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire of?” The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been shopped.

I get shopped the was car salesmen get shopped.

You call all the dealerships in town, speak to salesppl, and when you hear what want to hear from one of them you go and buy that car.

Right price. Right trim package. Right mileage. etc.

PPL will call me, come and visit me, ask me for advice for a situation they are dealing w/.

I’m not the wisest guy, or the best counselor, but I’ll tell them what I think. What I think is the best response to their situ.

Occasionally, if it’s not what they want to hear, they’ll call someone else; another pastor (Valley, Flag), or a counselor, or a good friend.

Finally, they hear what they want to hear and they tell everyone the finally got wise counsel and knew what to do.

So, Ahab calls his 400 prophets. Just b/c a guy had the title of prophet did not mean he spoke for God.

A powerful, charismatic personality, maybe he moved ppl when he spoke and they responded.

It was not a given that their word was from God.

These prophets, they knew who buttered their bread. The did not want to make Ahab mad. So they did their best t/b convincing that God affirmed what Ahab wanted to do.

Something about their message did not sit right w/ Jehoshaphat. So, he asked for another opinion. He was looking for a prophet that was known for hearing from God and sharing that info regardless of consequence.

Who hears from God, not afraid to share the uncomfortable truth the ppl do not want to hear?

Ahab had a plan and wanted God to bless it.

Jehoshaphat wanted to know what God’s plan was that He has already blessed.

B/C, Jehoshaphat did not want to go into a battle that God was not planning to fight for them.

Ahab did not want to hear what he did not want to hear.

Jehoshaphat was not afraid to hear a bad prognosis. He wanted the truth from God no matter how good or bad so he could deal w/ it the right way.

What do You Really Want to Hear?

1 Kings 22:13–16 NIV

The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As surely as the Lord lives, I can tell him only what the Lord tells me.” When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?” “Attack and be victorious,” he answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” The king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?”

We all appreciate a little inside info. You’re going on a job interview and it’s good to know if your interviewer is a D-Back’s fan or a Dodger’s fan.

Drop a name or 2. Talk stats. Anything to get the job.

So, the messenger who was sent to get Micaiah, says, just so you know, this is what all the other prophets are saying. Don’t want you to look bad. Don’t make the king mad.

Micaiah was un-phased. Whatever God tells me, I’ll tell them.

He gets there, they ask.

And, Micaiah says, “Sure. Go. Attack. You’ll win.”

Understand, this statement is dripping w/ sarcasm.

God had spoken to him, loud and clear. And, part of the msg was, don’t waste your breath. Ahab will not listen. Tell him what he wants hear, he’s already been warned many times about not listening to God. He’s going to do whatever he wants to do.

Ahab picked up on the sarcasm. How many times must I make you swear to tell me the truth?!

Obviously, there is more to this story. What is it? Ahab demanded to know.

The Rest of the Story

1 Kings 22:17–23 NIV

Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord said, ‘These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.’ ” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’ “ ‘By what means?’ the Lord asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’ “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

More to the story all right!

Right now the ppl are scattered b/c the king is a bad leader.

But, if they go to battle, the king will be killed and the ppl will be left, literally, leaderless.

Let them go home, don’t attack. The situ is bad enough w/out more bloodshed.

Ahab’s response: See, he never gives me good news.

Why doesn’t he?

Big bowls of chocolate ice cream every night and the doctor never gives me good news. I need a new doctor.

Ahab wanted God out of his life. He wanted God to leave him alone and let him do what he wanted to do.

Up to this point, God had provided some protection of Ahab from himself.

But at this moment, he stepped back, and let Ahab have what he had been asking for all along.

He’d been warned. Walk w/ God and he will provide and protect. Walk away, and you will get hurt.

God still protected the ppl, but exposed Ahab to his own foolishness.

Tell him what he wants to hear.

Don’t do it, you’ll get hurt. Don’t do it, you’ll get hurt. Don’t do it, you’ll get hurt...

Fine. Do it. See what happens.

Ahab does what he wanted to do all along. They went to battle.

Ahab, thinking he was smarter than God, came up w/ the idea to wear a disguise in battle while Jehoshaphat wore his kingly robes.

That way, if a king is attacked it will be the 1 who looks like a king.

1 Kings 22:34 NIV

But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.”

Mortally wounded. God is very accurate w/ his disciplinary strikes.

Ahab had been warned but he wanted the freedom to do what he wanted to do. And, he was not omnipotent, omniscient, nor omnipresent. IOW, He wasn’t the god he thought he was.

He ended up bringing so much trouble into his own life that it cost him his own life.

God says this about marriage.

Marry someone, and stay married until one of you dies.

Marriage is a picture of our relationship w/ God. W/ God it’s different, in that, he is perfect. But it’s the same, in that, He is in a rel w/ an imperfect person. He stays committed and faithful to us.

So, He wants us to treat ea other the way he treats us, graciously. We don’t deserve this.

Be forgiving. Be loving. Be kind. Those kinds of characteristics should describe your marriage.

He doesn’t kick us out of the rel so we shouldn’t kick ea other out of the relationship, either.

You need to marry someone who experiences the deep grace of God. A person can’t share what they don’t have.

In terms of being intimate, only be intimate w/ your spouse.

Intimacy creates such a strong emotional bond that it can cause a problem in an immature and underdeveloped relationship.

Conflicts don’t get resolved b/c the intimacy so “good”.

So, if you’re not married, don’t do it.

If you are married, but unhappy, don’t look for happiness in intimacy outside your marriage. This creates all kinds of trouble.

What drives someone to do this? Thinking they deserve better than they are getting at home.

Picture your rel w/ God. Would you stand up and tell God you deserve better than He’s giving you so you’re going to look for it from another god?

You wouldn’t do that. Don’t do it to your spouse.

When I was born in 1960 there were 2 STDs. Now there are too many to count.

This is a direct result of not applying the warning from God.

We could eradicate every STD in 1 generation if everyone would return to God’s instruction about marriage.

Is this b/c God doesn’t want to have any fun? No.

This is the way he designed us and put us together. Ice cream adds weight. Smoking hurts our lungs. And being unfaithful in marriage hurts us emotionally and physically.

You hear all the “thou shalt nots” in this. But do you also see the good in doing things the way God instructs us to do them.

This may be a very uncomfortable truth for some of us.

If you think this is just a teenager problem, then you’re not paying attention to your single neighbors.

Buddy Hackett, old comedian, was on w/ Johnny Carson one night and he told a funny story about his marriage. He was Jewish and his wife kept a kosher house.

Old kosher Jewish laws said don’t cut meat w/ your butter knife and don’t spread butter w/ your steak knife.

So at dinner one night he used his steak knife to slather butter on his dinner roll. His wife made him immediately go out and bury the knife in the back yard. Kosher law.

It was a funny story.

Old kosher laws kept Jews alive. The OT law was more than worship, gov’t, marriage laws. Prior to modern processes mixing meat and butter would make you sick and kill you.

Long before germs were discovered, God “thou shalt not cut thy steak w/ thy butter knife.”

None of us wants t/b told what we can’t do. But see the positive in the rule. Stay healthy. Don’t get sick.

So, when you’re stressed, do you buff-A your body, or BUFF-et it?

Do you go eat? Or, do you go to the gym?

It’s definitely an uncomfortable truth that we need to hurt ourselves in order to help ourselves deal w/ stress, BP, cholesterol, and weight.

But, when we understand the good it does and apply it, we maximize the good and minimize the trouble that we bring into our own life.

Applications

Thou Shall

When you read in the bible that you shouldn’t do something, or someone tells you that you shouldn’t. Stop and turn that into a positive.

Get beyond the negative and see the positive.

Thou shalt not murder. The positive is you’ll have much better friendships if you don’t kill ppl.

See the positive in the negative rules.

Character & Voice

Take time to get to know God’s character and voice better.

That way, you will know better what to expect of Him and what He sounds like when He’s talking to you.

Anybody can tell you what they think. I am the world’s foremost authority on my own opinion.

Few can tell you what God is thinking about what you are doing.

Study his character and learn his voice. BS and prayer.

Comfortable

Learn to be comfortable w/ the uncomfortable truth.

What do you really want to hear? Do you want to hear what you want to hear and feel good?

Or, do you want to hear what you need to hear that may make you feel uncomfortable?

Learn to be comfortable w/ being made to feel uncomfortable when God speaks to you.

So, when you’re stressed, do you buff-A your body, or BUFF-et it?

Do you go eat? Or, do you go to the gym?

It’s definitely an uncomfortable truth that we need to hurt ourselves in order to help ourselves deal w/ stress, BP, cholesterol, and weight.

But, when we understand the good it does and apply it, we maximize the good and minimize the trouble that we bring into our own life.

Today, we need t/b willing to receive uncomfortable truths from God, not what we want to hear, because it’s not what we want to do, and apply them so that we maximize the potential good and minimize the possible trouble we bring into our own lives.