SermonStudio

... I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:26

We are too busy. A recent CNN Poll found out that 59% of the people felt overcommitted, overbusy, overstressed. In the past ten years, we have somehow lost eight-and-a-half hours a week of free time. I know that's true for me. I know I like a full plate. I like a busy schedule. Therefore, it is difficult for me to talk about slowing down. I needed help putting this message together. So I called several people this past week who are busy people and asked them, "How do you know that you are too busy? What are some of the red flags?" Here they are. This is a self-test. Just check the ones that apply to you.
1. I am home on a Tuesday night and nothing is on the calendar -- and I get anxious.
2. I take business reading material with me -- to the bathroom.
3. I'm just not fun to be with. I get selfish and demanding. I turn into a task driver. I don't feel well, my head aches, my neck hurts, and I'm tired.
4. I drink coffee all day and switch to wine at 5 p.m. (Some of you are thinking, "Is that bad?")
5. I use my day off to catch up on my work.
6. I have to get sick to take a day off -- and I still feel guilty.
7. When I check out at the grocery store, I first calculate which lane will go fastest by factoring in the number of carts, number of items and the competency of the clerk. Then I keep track of the lane I didn't choose.
8. The family calendar has replaced the family Bible for nightly reading. "Okay, children, open up your calendars to April 29 and let's read together."
9. Everything seems shallow -- family, relationships, God. I'm not in the moment. I'm just going through the motions until the next activity.
10. I finally convince myself that something has to give. And you know what? That something usually is the wrong thing. It's my marriage, the kids, church, God, or my health.

It's not that we are doing the bad things. We are busy with church and school activities, community service, music lessons, and academics. All good things in themselves, but when combined together with a family of four or five members, it's crazy. Something has to give.

What is the answer? I don't think the answer is that we all move to the country, grow vegetables, raise goats, start a compost pile, and sell hemp necklaces at the county fair. There has to be something in between going 100 mph and Green Acres. But what?

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul uses a sport imagery to talk about being busy with a purpose.

Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air.
-- 1 Corinthians 9:24, 26

There is a purpose to Paul's busyness.

There is an African proverb that says that each morning at dawn in the Serengeti, the gazelle must wake up running because he must run faster than the fastest lion in order to survive. On the same morning in the same Serengeti, the lion must wake up at dawn running in order to catch the slowest gazelle in order to survive. Both are running, both are very busy, but they know why they run. Do you?

Paul is not saying that running is the problem nor is it being too busy. It is running aimlessly that is the problem. I bet as we scurry from activity to commitment to tournaments, much of our running is aimless.

A couple of years ago, Quaker Oats ran a commercial for their new instant cinnamon cereal. The television shot showed a mother in the kitchen near the microwave talking about how breakfast had really become a chore. She wanted her son to have a healthy breakfast but it would take a long time to make the cereal and then she would have to sit down with little Johnny, talk with him, and coax him to eat. And then the bell of the microwave went off. Now, she said, with this new instant, great tasting breakfast cereal, he gobbles down the cereal in five minutes and we are out the door, not wasting time. And I thought, sitting down to have breakfast with your son is not wasted time. If you think it is, you are running, all right, you are busy, to be sure. But it is aimless.

The key word in 1 Corinthians 9 is "aimlessly." Paul wants to stop us in our calendar tracks, forcing us to reevaluate our schedules, and determine what activities are worthwhile and what is simply aimless. To determine which is which requires some intentional quiet time.

I remember hearing about an interview that Matt Lauer of the Today show did with Mother Teresa. He asked her about a typical day. Mother Teresa told Matt that she gets up early and usually spends two hours in prayer and meditation. "Two hours," he said. "What do you do for two hours?" She said, "I listen to God." "And what does God say to you?" Mother Teresa said, "He doesn't speak. He is listening to me." And with that, this world-class interviewer was speechless -- not sure if it was awe or confusion. So he broke for a commercial.

The psalmist wrote, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10a). Certainly there is a time to make your request known to God with great details. Certainly there is a time to sing at the top of your lungs. Certainly, there is time to be busy, doing the work of the Lord, but there is also a time to be still. In Mark, the evangelist wrote, "In the morning, while it was still very dark, [Jesus] got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed" (Mark 1:35). Jesus was a very busy man but he was not running aimlessly. To keep centered, he needed to be still.

There is an off button to the phone, the computer, the palm pilot, the radio. Use it. We are a loud society. Be still in order to listen and to be heard so that you are not boxing by beating the air.

James Dobson of Focus on the Family was talking once about focusing our lives on what is truly important. He told a story about his college days when his whole life was consumed by tennis. He spent time training, practicing, and playing tennis until he won the championship and received a large trophy for first place, a trophy that was proudly displayed in the sports hall of fame at the school.

And then one day, several years later, he received a package in the mail from his alma mater. Inside was his trophy and a handwritten note. "I found this in the trash at school as they were cleaning out the trophy cases. I thought you might like this."

All those accomplishments that we think are so important will one day be forgotten. Trophies that define us and plaques that identify us will crumble like dust. Paul makes it clear that he doesn't want that to happen to his life. He wants his life to count. He longs for meaning and purpose, not running aimlessly or beating the air.

Jesus asked, "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36). Let's change that a bit and ask, "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world, win the entire tournament, close the biggest deal, have the busiest calendar, and forfeit his marriage, his children, his health, and his God?"

I don't think the answer to our jammed calendars is doing nothing but something has to give, right? What will that something be -- marriage, children, health, or God? Or will it be something else?

Obviously, this cannot be fixed with one sermon, but we can take a step in the right direction. What is one thing in your life right now that has to give?

Something that is taking up so much time that you feel as if you cannot be still.

Something that feels like busy work, makes you run aimlessly and beating the air.

Something that you've turned to instead of God for a sense of worth, value, and importance.

Being busy is not the problem. Running at full steam is not the problem. Running without a purpose is. Decide right now what's gotta give before the wrong thing gives. Amen.