The Secret Of Effective Living
Sermon
INTO THE WHIRLWIND
Sermons for Pentecost [First Third]
Jack was a big man who always seemed to have a smile on his face. In fact, joy and happiness seemed to bubble in his life. His happiness was so genuine that others discovered that joy and happiness increased in their lives when they were around him.
But, why shouldn't he be happy? He had a good family. He had a lovely wife and two college-age daughters. He had a large home in the country. He was active in his church. He was the vice-president of a large defense-oriented company and it paid him a six-figure salary. He seemed to have it made.
One day, without warning, he was called into the boss' office and fired. He was devastated. He had invested his life in the company. He had worked his tail off. He had helped the company grow and now, they were letting him go.
Financially, he was set for life. But he was devastated that his company would let him go in the prime of life. For weeks he was lost and didn't know what to do.
His self-confidence was replaced with frustration. His friendly attitude changed to one of bitterness. The anger and emptiness he felt even made him consider suicide.
After weeks of feeling helpless and not knowing what to do, Jack began to take an inventory of his life. His wife, who had been his high-school sweetheart, still loved him. His children were in college and their grades were excellent. He was still a respected member of the community. His only real problem had been that he had allowed the anger and bitterness and rejection to wage a war within his soul.
Once he stopped dwelling on what was wrong in his life and started looking at what was right, once he understood that his only real problem centered on the way he looked at himself, once he stopped waging war within himself, Jack was wise enough to realize that he was on his way to living an effective life.
And what is the secret of effective living? The writer of Proverbs paints a beautiful panoramic view of wisdom being the secret of effective living. Wisdom is depicted as being the first thing God created and an essential characteristic for every man or woman if they are going to experience any joy in living. The writer of Proverbs expressed this very clearly when he wrote:
Happy is the man who listens to me (wisdom) watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favors from the Lord.
(Proverbs 8:34-35)
This tantalizing glimpse at wisdom is clearly portrayed as an appeal for men and women to discover her secrets. Wisdom offers a high reward to those who follow her way and the reward is not just in money and wealth. The reward of wisdom is the secret of effective living.
I.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Discovering The Truth.
Wisdom is characterized by truth and the truth is portrayed as the secret of effective living. However, the truth is a difficult commodity to discover. Diogenes went searching so that he might discover the truth. Our court systems are involved in the pursuit of discovering the truth. Pilate, in his moment of judgment over Jesus, looked at Jesus with a questioning mind and asked: "What is truth?"
We are a people who have been involved in the search to discover the truth. But, truth is not simply an abstract idea which we try to comprehend. Truth is not a scientific idea which we can isolate in a laboratory. Truth is not simply a matter of never telling a little white lie. The truth can only be discovered in a person -- Jesus Christ. We will discover the real truth about life when we open ourselves up to the presence of Jesus Christ in life.
There is an old story about the theologian, Karl Barth, who was on a speaking tour of the United States. On college campuses all across this country, he was drawing huge crowds to hear his very complex answers to the questions of life.
When he was speaking at Princeton University, the great hall was packed with faculty, students, and visitors who came to hear Karl Barth speak. During the question and answer period, one student asked, "Dr. Barth, may I ask you a personal question?"
Dr. Barth smiled and said, "Yes, you may ask anything."
The student then asked, "Dr. Barth, you are a very learned man. What is the greatest truth you have ever learned?"
Dr. Barth bowed his head, thinking for a moment about how he would respond. Then, he raised his head and looked out at the student who asked the question and he said, "The greatest truth I ever learned was at my mother's knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.' "
The secret of effective living is to discover the truth about Jesus Christ. When we focus on him, we have discovered that truth is a caring love, truth is the Word becoming flesh. Truth is experiencing his life-giving power. Truth is discovering his love with arms outstretched to embrace us. When we grasp this truth, we have discovered the secret to effective living.
II.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Moral Integrity.
Wisdom is characterized by righteousness or moral integrity. It is only when we maintain a sense of integrity that we discover any real meaning in life.
In 1882, Charles Spurgeon wrote to William Gladstone and said: "You do not know how those of us regard you, who feel it is a joy to live when a premier believes in righteousness. We believe in no man's infallibility, but it is restful to be sure of one man's integrity."
Moral integrity is needed by those who would discover the secret of effective living. We can never make this discovery as long as we allow ourselves to be blown to and fro by the prevailing winds of public opinion. There are some issues which are not at the mercy of popular vote. There are some issues upon which we must stand firm. There are some issues which demand that we do not waver if we are to maintain any sense of moral integrity.
Once I had an opportunity to sit down and visit with Sir George Thomas, former Speaker of the House of Commons in Great Britain. As we were talking, he told about being invited to speak in a Methodist Church in Georgia in 1960. On Saturday evening, his host took him by the church he was to speak in on Sunday morning. As they were talking about the church, the host made a comment which indicated that blacks were not allowed in the church. Sir Thomas asked his host, "Are you telling me that black people are not allowed to worship God in this house?"
His host replied, "…. you do not understand our problem. Of course no Negroes worship here. They have their own church."
With some trepidation, Sir Thomas said, "I do not pretend to understand your problems; I am only a visitor. My trouble is that you do not understand my problem. I cannot preach in a church where blacks are refused admission. I believe in the brotherhood of man."
Of course, during that period in our history, his refusal to speak created a mild furor in Georgia. Eventually, the Bishop of Georgia proposed a solution. He could speak at the white church in the morning and the black church in the evening. Sir Thomas said, "I jumped at this compromise because it would mean that everyone in the community would know I did not support segregation. And," he said, "I have never forgotten the reception I received at those churches. The majority of the people, even if they didn't agree, respected me for standing for what was right. When I went to the black church, the welcome was warm and sincere as the pastor introduced me by saying, ‘We are greatly honored tonight to welcome Sir George Thomas, a British member of Parliament, who is a Methodist like us. His face is white, but his heart is as black as ours.' "
I was talking with a friend of mine who is new at his church. He went as pastor of the church in June and he recently received an unsigned letter in the mail. In the letter was a $50 bill and a note which indicated the writer had once been active in the youth group. During that time, he had volunteered to take care of the youth treasury. During the course of the year, he dipped into the youth treasury for small amounts of money to buy soft drinks or ice cream. But, over the years, he had been unable to live with himself and he was sending the $50 to clear his conscience and to make things right.
I have no idea who that man is, but I believe that he discovered the secret of effective living. It is a wise person who knows that moral integrity is essential if we are going to live with any kind of happiness in life. There comes a point in life where we must stand for what is right, for what is just and for what is honorable. When we are willing to stand for something simply because it is a matter of personal integrity, we have discovered the secret to effective living.
III.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Learning To Rejoice.
The Scripture lesson for today from Proverbs speaks of wisdom's main priority as rejoicing. This magnificent passage concludes by saying:
… and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the sons of men.
This passage is affirming that wisdom does not speak as a tired cynic, but as one that has learned to rejoice. It is so easy for us to become cynics because there are so many problems in this world. There are hungry children in the Sudan. There are wars which rage and have claimed 145 million lives since the end of World War II. There are tragic events which come our way in life and leave us numb and hurting.
We could allow these problems to make us into cynics. But, the wise person learns to overcome the problems and difficulties of life by learning to look for the silver lining and find something for which they can rejoice and be thankful.
Recently, I was reading a biography of Thomas Edison, the great American inventor. When he was 67 years old, his laboratory caught fire and burned to the ground. Thomas Edison lost $2 million of property and a lot of work on various projects in that fire.
His son, Charles Edison, said, "My heart ached for Dad as we stood watching the fire. He was no longer a young man and everything he had worked for in his life was going up in flames."
However, something beautiful happened the next morning as they were walking through the charred embers. Thomas Edison said to his wife and son, "There can be great value in disaster. All of our mistakes have burned up and we can rejoice and thank God that we can start anew."
This, I believe, is the secret of effective living. Instead of giving in to despair, instead of becoming a cynic in the face of adversity, instead of arriving at the false conclusion that there is nothing more after encountering something tragic, we need to be wise enough to look beyond the problems of the moment and rejoice that there are opportunities still before us.
The God that we know in Jesus Christ does not allow a problem to be the last word. There is something more beyond the problem and the secret of effective living is learning to look for and rejoice that there is still more.
Prayer: O God, open our eyes to see your love for us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
But, why shouldn't he be happy? He had a good family. He had a lovely wife and two college-age daughters. He had a large home in the country. He was active in his church. He was the vice-president of a large defense-oriented company and it paid him a six-figure salary. He seemed to have it made.
One day, without warning, he was called into the boss' office and fired. He was devastated. He had invested his life in the company. He had worked his tail off. He had helped the company grow and now, they were letting him go.
Financially, he was set for life. But he was devastated that his company would let him go in the prime of life. For weeks he was lost and didn't know what to do.
His self-confidence was replaced with frustration. His friendly attitude changed to one of bitterness. The anger and emptiness he felt even made him consider suicide.
After weeks of feeling helpless and not knowing what to do, Jack began to take an inventory of his life. His wife, who had been his high-school sweetheart, still loved him. His children were in college and their grades were excellent. He was still a respected member of the community. His only real problem had been that he had allowed the anger and bitterness and rejection to wage a war within his soul.
Once he stopped dwelling on what was wrong in his life and started looking at what was right, once he understood that his only real problem centered on the way he looked at himself, once he stopped waging war within himself, Jack was wise enough to realize that he was on his way to living an effective life.
And what is the secret of effective living? The writer of Proverbs paints a beautiful panoramic view of wisdom being the secret of effective living. Wisdom is depicted as being the first thing God created and an essential characteristic for every man or woman if they are going to experience any joy in living. The writer of Proverbs expressed this very clearly when he wrote:
Happy is the man who listens to me (wisdom) watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favors from the Lord.
(Proverbs 8:34-35)
This tantalizing glimpse at wisdom is clearly portrayed as an appeal for men and women to discover her secrets. Wisdom offers a high reward to those who follow her way and the reward is not just in money and wealth. The reward of wisdom is the secret of effective living.
I.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Discovering The Truth.
Wisdom is characterized by truth and the truth is portrayed as the secret of effective living. However, the truth is a difficult commodity to discover. Diogenes went searching so that he might discover the truth. Our court systems are involved in the pursuit of discovering the truth. Pilate, in his moment of judgment over Jesus, looked at Jesus with a questioning mind and asked: "What is truth?"
We are a people who have been involved in the search to discover the truth. But, truth is not simply an abstract idea which we try to comprehend. Truth is not a scientific idea which we can isolate in a laboratory. Truth is not simply a matter of never telling a little white lie. The truth can only be discovered in a person -- Jesus Christ. We will discover the real truth about life when we open ourselves up to the presence of Jesus Christ in life.
There is an old story about the theologian, Karl Barth, who was on a speaking tour of the United States. On college campuses all across this country, he was drawing huge crowds to hear his very complex answers to the questions of life.
When he was speaking at Princeton University, the great hall was packed with faculty, students, and visitors who came to hear Karl Barth speak. During the question and answer period, one student asked, "Dr. Barth, may I ask you a personal question?"
Dr. Barth smiled and said, "Yes, you may ask anything."
The student then asked, "Dr. Barth, you are a very learned man. What is the greatest truth you have ever learned?"
Dr. Barth bowed his head, thinking for a moment about how he would respond. Then, he raised his head and looked out at the student who asked the question and he said, "The greatest truth I ever learned was at my mother's knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.' "
The secret of effective living is to discover the truth about Jesus Christ. When we focus on him, we have discovered that truth is a caring love, truth is the Word becoming flesh. Truth is experiencing his life-giving power. Truth is discovering his love with arms outstretched to embrace us. When we grasp this truth, we have discovered the secret to effective living.
II.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Moral Integrity.
Wisdom is characterized by righteousness or moral integrity. It is only when we maintain a sense of integrity that we discover any real meaning in life.
In 1882, Charles Spurgeon wrote to William Gladstone and said: "You do not know how those of us regard you, who feel it is a joy to live when a premier believes in righteousness. We believe in no man's infallibility, but it is restful to be sure of one man's integrity."
Moral integrity is needed by those who would discover the secret of effective living. We can never make this discovery as long as we allow ourselves to be blown to and fro by the prevailing winds of public opinion. There are some issues which are not at the mercy of popular vote. There are some issues upon which we must stand firm. There are some issues which demand that we do not waver if we are to maintain any sense of moral integrity.
Once I had an opportunity to sit down and visit with Sir George Thomas, former Speaker of the House of Commons in Great Britain. As we were talking, he told about being invited to speak in a Methodist Church in Georgia in 1960. On Saturday evening, his host took him by the church he was to speak in on Sunday morning. As they were talking about the church, the host made a comment which indicated that blacks were not allowed in the church. Sir Thomas asked his host, "Are you telling me that black people are not allowed to worship God in this house?"
His host replied, "…. you do not understand our problem. Of course no Negroes worship here. They have their own church."
With some trepidation, Sir Thomas said, "I do not pretend to understand your problems; I am only a visitor. My trouble is that you do not understand my problem. I cannot preach in a church where blacks are refused admission. I believe in the brotherhood of man."
Of course, during that period in our history, his refusal to speak created a mild furor in Georgia. Eventually, the Bishop of Georgia proposed a solution. He could speak at the white church in the morning and the black church in the evening. Sir Thomas said, "I jumped at this compromise because it would mean that everyone in the community would know I did not support segregation. And," he said, "I have never forgotten the reception I received at those churches. The majority of the people, even if they didn't agree, respected me for standing for what was right. When I went to the black church, the welcome was warm and sincere as the pastor introduced me by saying, ‘We are greatly honored tonight to welcome Sir George Thomas, a British member of Parliament, who is a Methodist like us. His face is white, but his heart is as black as ours.' "
I was talking with a friend of mine who is new at his church. He went as pastor of the church in June and he recently received an unsigned letter in the mail. In the letter was a $50 bill and a note which indicated the writer had once been active in the youth group. During that time, he had volunteered to take care of the youth treasury. During the course of the year, he dipped into the youth treasury for small amounts of money to buy soft drinks or ice cream. But, over the years, he had been unable to live with himself and he was sending the $50 to clear his conscience and to make things right.
I have no idea who that man is, but I believe that he discovered the secret of effective living. It is a wise person who knows that moral integrity is essential if we are going to live with any kind of happiness in life. There comes a point in life where we must stand for what is right, for what is just and for what is honorable. When we are willing to stand for something simply because it is a matter of personal integrity, we have discovered the secret to effective living.
III.
The Secret Of Effective Living Is Learning To Rejoice.
The Scripture lesson for today from Proverbs speaks of wisdom's main priority as rejoicing. This magnificent passage concludes by saying:
… and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the sons of men.
This passage is affirming that wisdom does not speak as a tired cynic, but as one that has learned to rejoice. It is so easy for us to become cynics because there are so many problems in this world. There are hungry children in the Sudan. There are wars which rage and have claimed 145 million lives since the end of World War II. There are tragic events which come our way in life and leave us numb and hurting.
We could allow these problems to make us into cynics. But, the wise person learns to overcome the problems and difficulties of life by learning to look for the silver lining and find something for which they can rejoice and be thankful.
Recently, I was reading a biography of Thomas Edison, the great American inventor. When he was 67 years old, his laboratory caught fire and burned to the ground. Thomas Edison lost $2 million of property and a lot of work on various projects in that fire.
His son, Charles Edison, said, "My heart ached for Dad as we stood watching the fire. He was no longer a young man and everything he had worked for in his life was going up in flames."
However, something beautiful happened the next morning as they were walking through the charred embers. Thomas Edison said to his wife and son, "There can be great value in disaster. All of our mistakes have burned up and we can rejoice and thank God that we can start anew."
This, I believe, is the secret of effective living. Instead of giving in to despair, instead of becoming a cynic in the face of adversity, instead of arriving at the false conclusion that there is nothing more after encountering something tragic, we need to be wise enough to look beyond the problems of the moment and rejoice that there are opportunities still before us.
The God that we know in Jesus Christ does not allow a problem to be the last word. There is something more beyond the problem and the secret of effective living is learning to look for and rejoice that there is still more.
Prayer: O God, open our eyes to see your love for us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
