DEVELOPING A LIFE OF DEVOTION / PART 1 PSALM 131 / 6 AUGUST 2006 2ND STREET COMMUNITY CHURCH GREGG LAMM, LEAD PASTOR-TEACHER

.PPT 1 …

This morning is the first of four Sunday morning teachings on the topic of Developing A Life Of Devotion … And we’re going to look at PSALM 131 as God’s blueprint for our perspective, for our focus, for how God wants our hearts to be shaped and molded so that we can begin to become the people He wants for us to become.

Let’s take a moment and be reminded and be reconnected with our Mission Statement here at 2nd Street …

.PPT 2 … COOPERATING WITH GOD TO DEVELOP SPIRITUAL SEEKERS INTO COMMITTED DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST.

And then over the next three Sunday mornings we’ll look at how to pursue and maintain a life-of-devotion with God. What does it mean to “study” the Bible? What does it mean to pursue a prayer life? What does it mean to be intentional and consistent in our “with-God-life”?

The author and poet T.S. Elliott asked the question, “Can a lifetime portray a single motive?” Philosopher Frederick Nietzsche put it another way when he wrote that what followers-of-Christ need to do in order to make a difference in this word, is to have “a long obedience in the same direction.” So “can a lifetime portray a single motive? Can you and I have a long obedience in the same direction?”

If it's about us, "no" we can’t live life portraying a single motive. Ego never produces godly fruit. But if it's about somebody other than us, "yes" we can. If our passion is Christ and not our own renown, then yes, our lives can portray a single motive.

There are competing forces within each of us vying for our attention and our allegiance. Questions like “Whose world is this? Is this my kingdom? What’s the single motivation I should have for my life?” And new beginnings like the one we’re having at 2nd Street right now, beg us to review, and to check back in with ourselves.

Are we driven by sanity or insanity, by accident or by destiny? When I look back on the past 6-months, 12-months, 18-months, what about what I went through revolved around me … and what take steps did I take toward understanding and living out the reality that God is in control of my life?

Don Henley, the drummer and lead singer for The Eagles, wrote a song called The Heart Of The Matter for his solo album entitled The End of The Innocence. I heard Henley sing this song at a concert at The Rose Garden a couple years ago. And right before he sang it he said, “This song took 43 years and a lot of therapy to write, and it takes 4 ½ minutes to sing.” Here are some of Henley’s lyrics … .PPT 3-4 …

The more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I knew, I’m learning again I’ve been tryin’ to get down … to the heart of the matter But my will gets weak … and my thoughts seem to scatter But I think it’s about forgiveness … forgiveness … Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore. These times are so uncertain … there’s a yearning undefined … And people filled with rage.

We all need a little tenderness How can love survive … in such a graceless age? The trust and self-assurance that lead to happiness They’re the very things we kill the best Our pride and competition cannot fill these empty arms And the work that’s put between us, you know it cannot keep us warm. And the more I know, the less I understand All the things I thought I’d figured out … I have to learn again I’ve been trying to get down … to the heart of the matter But everything changes … and my friends seem to scatter But I think it’s about forgiveness, forgiveness. Even if, even if, you don’t love me anymore.

Henley nails it. We’re all looking for something to help make sense of our lives. He says it’s “forgiveness” … and to a degree he’s right. How our relationships with other people are working – or not working makes a difference in our perspective. But finding our purpose in life is ultimately about the forgiveness that can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus is the “heart of the matter.”

And developing a relationship with Jesus Christ one choice at a time … taking time to get to get to know the character of Jesus Christ so that we begin to live out the will of God … intentionally becoming the men and the women God is calling us to become … this is where the journey of “growing up before we grow old” must begin and find it’s singularity of purpose, where it must find it’s long obedience in the same direction.

I don’t have to talk you into believing me when I say that “we live in a stress-filled world.” I heard on the news the other day that teeth-grinding is at an all-time high! There’s so much tension, even in our sleep, that it’s almost epidemic. Tense jaws. Tense people. Tense relationships. And medical doctors continue seeing an increase in diseases related to stress. Even telling us that certain kinds of cancers are more prone to show up in the bodies of people whose lives are stressed out and maxed out.

And in the little chapter of PSALM 131, King shares three amazing truths with us … and the more I read and study this Psalm, the more centered, the more single- minded, the more single-hearted, and the more purposeful I see my life becoming.

Jewish Rabbis tell us that this chapter is linked with an event that happened late in David’s life when he said, “God, I want to build You a Temple in Jerusalem. You deserve it and I’m going to build it.” But God’s reply was, “David, I appreciate the 2 gesture, but I want you son, Solomon to build the Temple for me. Not you David.” And so Nathan, the prophet God often used in David’s life said, “David, God said ‘no way Jose’. But remember David, when God closes a door He often opens a window. And while God doesn’t want you to build Him a Temple, God wants you to know that He’s going to build you a house … not a physical structure, but a lineage, a legacy, and from your house, the Messiah will come!”

And when David heard the news he did the unexpected! He was excited and he said, “I can't do what I wanted to do, what I desired to do, but God is going to do something even greater! My son will build God’s Temple, but the Messiah that we’ve all been waiting for is going to come through my family line.” David embraced God’s plans for him with humility, with trust, and with hope. And it's in light of that event that he wrote PSALM 131. Please turn with me in your Bibles to PSALM 131.

.PPT 5 … PSALM 131:1-3 …

v. 1 / Focusing on Humility & Confidence v. 2 / Focusing on Contentment & Trust v. 3 / Focusing on Hope & Vision

.PPT 6 … PSALM 131:1 … HUMILITY & CONFIDENCE CONFIDENCE IS THE FRUIT OF HUMILITY

PSALM 131 is the 12th of 15 (PSALM 120-134) called “The Psalms of Ascent” or “The Pilgrim Psalms” …

Just as arrogance is the fruit of pride, so confidence is the fruit of humility. It’s been said that either we choose to walk the pathway of humility, or else life will force us to walk the pathway of humiliation. And gang, it’s true every time!

In MATTHEW 11:28-30 Jesus said, “Learn of me. I am meek and lowly … follow in this way and rest will come!” (NASB). I love these verses in THE MESSAGE …

.PPT 7 … MATTHEW 11:28-30 …

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.”

And so this morning I invite all of us to come to Jesus and learn from Jesus. Watch how He does it. Watch what He does. And then let’s do it. Let’s imitate Him.

In v. 29 Jesus says, “I am gentle and humble in heart" … the KJV says, “I am meek and lowly.” This is one of only a few autobiographical statements from Jesus about Himself … and we need to pay attention to what He’s calling us to … and He says that as we pursue this kind of life that “rest will come to our souls” …

In LUKE 2 there’s a story about Jesus being in this position of humility and 3 submission. Jesus is twelve years old and He goes with his folks Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the … which was an annual feast that commemorated God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. You know Moses, the burning bush, Pharoah, plagues, the Red Sea Parting … “So let it be written, so let it be done!” Yule Brenner and all that.

And when Joseph and Mary are getting ready to head back to Nazareth they realize that Jesus isn’t with them and when they head back to look for Him. Man, I thought I was a slacker for loosing my son Ryan at the mall when he was three! Imagine losing God when He was twelve! But three days later they find Him in the Temple, teaching, listening and engaging the hearts and the minds of all the Rabbis.

.PPT 8-9 … LUKE 2:46-52 …

“I must be about my Father's business. My Father, He has a plan. I'm just submitting to it.” And when Jesus submitted to God the Father’s plans, the fruit of that was that He continued “increasing in wisdom and statue, and in favor with God and men.” So Jesus is the model for the kind of humility David is calling us to.

.PPT 10 … HUMILITY IS THE POSTURE OF A LIFE OF DEVOTION.

Even in the Garden of Gethsemane, right before the Crucifixion … in LUKE 22:41 Jesus says, “Abba, Father, if it’s possible, let this cup pass away from Me. But not My will be done, but Yours!”

We’re stressed out! “Can't my husband see what's going on! Doesn't my wife get it! I can't believe my supervisor! How in the world could my son or daughter do that?” And our stress builds up, and our teeth grind, and our stomachs churn … and we have trouble being humble because choosing to walk the pathway of humility is about letting go, it’s about admitting that there is a God and that we’re not Him.

How easily we put our noses where they don’t belong, and worry about things that God wants us to turn over to Him. And God says, “Relax and follow Me.”

.PPT 11 … THE “TO DO LIST” AND THE “PRAYER LIST”

Which brings us to PSALM 131:2 … and the reality that God doesn't owe us explanations about everything He's up to. Gang, if God let us in on everything we wanted to know about we'd be in a world of hurt. God doesn’t owe us “full coverage.” But God deserves our “full trust.”

.PPT 12 … PSALM 131:2 … CONTENTMENT & TRUST … CONTENMENT IS THE FRUIT OF TRUST

The phrase “weaned child” here in v. 2 is an idiom that in the context of Hebrew culture was a symbol for contentment and peace. While children are at the stage where they’re being breast fed, they’re demanding … babies demand that their mother is there when they want her to be there!

ILLUSTRATION … DR. JOHN WILSON / “MAYBE YOUR BABY ISN’T HUNGRY … BABIES TEND TO EAT WHEN THEY’RE HUNGRY!” 4 But after a child is weaned, they begin to outgrow their immature demanding ways … I mean, until they’re teenagers … but that’s a whole ‘nother story! But as they begin to mature and grow up, children no longer tell their parents what to do, but now they tell their parents that they're available to them, to help them.

Once a child is weaned, the parent isn’t supposed to be on the child’s schedule, rather, the child is to be on the parent’s schedule. They swap roles, and now the parent determines when the child eats and sleeps. So the phrase "like a weaned child" is an idiom, or word-picture of contentment, trust and maturity.

ILLUSTRATION / 2ND HEART DRAMA MINISTRY / “QUIET MOMENTS”

Is this an idea you can relate to? Is your life stress-filled or stressful? Or are you learning to know more about being content, trustful and what it means to be quiet and at peace? And what will it take for us to get us this place where we stop trying to get God to be on our schedule, but where it’s the desire of our hearts to be on God’s schedule? Not us demanding when, where, and how we eat, but us depending on God, waiting on God, and trusting in God's timing, content with His will.

Do you see how having this posture will only begin to change everything? Do you see how this attitude will help us grow up before we grow old? Do you see how asking God to do this work in us will make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ? Do you see how this is absolutely foundational to learning what it means to live a life of devotion?

.PPT 13 …

Paul talked often about this idea of contentment and trust and their relationship to one another. Just as confidence is the fruit of humility, so too, trust will be the fruit of contentedness.

.PPT 14-15-16 …

SECOND CORINTHIANS 12:10 … I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

PHILIPPIANS 4:12 … I know what it is to be in need and what it is to have more than enough. I have learned this secret, so that anywhere, at any time, I am content, whether I am full or hungry, whether I have too much or too little. (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

FIRST TIMOTHY 6:8 … So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

Do you see how this is the posture God has the right to expect from the people who say they are following His Son, Jesus Christ … from you and from me?

Which brings us to v. 3, and the third lesson David learned when God told him “no” about something his heart really desired, and then opened up another path for him to walk on. And this is the lesson God wanted to teach David and you and me about hope and vision … where it comes from and how we hang onto it. 5 .PPT 17 … PSALM 131:3 … HOPE & VISION … VISION IS THE FRUIT OF HOPE

Who is our hope in? Who are we looking to for our futures? Who are we turning to for strength for next month, for next week, for tomorrow, for today? Are we learning how to be meek and lowly, humble and submitted? Are we putting our hope in God … and in God's plans … and in God's timing?

Humility and confidence, contentment and trust and hope and vision aren’t just about “agreeing” with the plans of God! “God got it right! I got it right! We're both right! Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh!” Sometimes humility, contentment and hope are more authentic, more real, and more genuine when we're in disagreement with God or in kind of a rub with Him.

Because when God asks us to do something that causes us some discomfort, that challenges us … or when God asks us to sacrifice something … it can be during those times that we begin to really latch onto the kind of hope that only God can deliver, and when we can begin to live into the kind of vision that only God can impart.

If we read v. 1 without understanding the story behind it, or the humility that it took to write it, it would be easy to conclude that David was apathetic. But nothing could be further from the truth! David wasn’t apathetic! There’s no hope in apathy! But it’s the power of understanding and living into the realities of vv. 1-2, that puts our hearts in the place where we can live out the reality of v. 3. Because seriously, if we’re not broken, humble and contented, there’s no way that our hope will be put in the One who is in charge, Who knows what's going on, Who has always taken care of us in the past, and Who will take care of us today and in the days ahead!

The word “Israel” here in v. 3 literally means "governed by God." So who are we “governed by”? God wants us who are “governed by Him” … to put our “hope in Him.” Who are we submitted to? God is on the throne, God is in charge, God is the living God and He has the right to expect that His sons and His daughters put their hope in Him. Hope is “an absolute expectation of coming good.” And David challenges us to “hope now and in the days ahead.”

That's real hope. And this is the place of hope, rest, vision, and dependence that God wants to bring us to as His people. To the place where we don’t worry about making the right decision, rather, we’re focused on becoming the right people.

.PPT 18 …

Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 10th Century (1033-1109), was born in France, but lived most of his life in England … Anselm wrote, “Lord, I seek not to understand so that I may obey. I obey so that I may understand.” And in Anselm’s words we see humility, trust and hope.

.PPT 19 …

The earliest Christian monks inhabited the desert land of the Middle East from the end of the 2nd Century AD onwards. Known as “The Desert Fathers", their teachings and traditions became the building blocks that the Benedictines and others used to 6 create the early monastic orders of the Church.

One of The Desert Fathers’ most prolific writers was a man named Abba Poemen, who wrote … “Do not give your heart to that which will not satisfy your heart.” Do you see it? Again, humility, trust and hope.

This posture of humility, trust and hope is what David is calling us to. It’s what characterized Jesus, and it’s what will characterizes us as we become men and women who live lives of devotion.

.PPT 20 … MATTHEW 23:11-12 ... v. 11 says “The greatest will be the least … and the least will be the greatest.” Servants in Jesus' day didn't question their master's business – because to do so would be to lose their life. But look at what v. 12 goes on to say …

v. 12 ... “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

How can we live this way Jesus is calling us to? As we're content, at peace, not stressed out, not frantic, not fried, not frazzled. Remember, humility and submission aren’t real just when we blindly agree with the direction God is taking us. Humility and submission are most real when we’re willing to follow God's plan no matter what, even it rubs us the wrong way or asks us to live a life of sacrifice.

.PPT 21 …

Three verses / fifteen seconds to read … and a lifetime to learn and live out …

v. 1 / HUMILITY & CONFIDENCE v. 2 / CONTENTMENT & TRUST v. 3 / HOPE & VISION

This is the posture God is calling us to … and let me assure you that the world has nothing to offer that will even come close to providing for us what we’ll receive from God as we seek to know, and live out these three priorities of humility, trust and hope in our daily lives.

Read the newspaper! Why is this all happening right now! Listen to NPR, or watch CNN, the evening news, or Yahoo news! It's a hard world out there! Huffing and puffing! And blowing houses down! Where’s the confidence? Where’s the contentment? Where’s the vision? These things are rare, because the ground out of which they grow is rare … because humility, trust and hope are rare.

God, help us to embrace David's words … This morning God is calling us to humble ourselves, to find contentment in Him, to find hope in Him, to be willing to be on His schedule and live life according to His plan. “God, I really need to grow up! I see why You brought me to this church. I see why I married him or her! I see why You have me in this job. You're trying to teach me humility, tranquility, confidence … contentment, trust … hope and vision. Thanks for Your patience with me.”

7 This past week I met with an old friend of mine who’s struggling with something and I said, “Listen, if you don't worry about it, if you don't feel like you have to manipulate it or massage it to get it to happen … then you’ve come to the place where you can really let God be God and let God do His work. God will always give His best to those who leave the choice with Him."

And who leaves the choice with Him? People who are choosing the perspective and the life David describes in PSALM 131 ...

What we're looking at during the next three Sundays …

.PPT 22 …

Reading through the Bible annually Devotional ideas Both printed and Internet resources Prayer resources

Until then, as 2nd Street Community Church, as the fellowship of followers of Jesus Christ who gather together on Morton Street every Sunday … let’s invite God to shape us into a people whose lives portray a single motive … let’s be a people whose lives have a long obedience in the same direction. Let’s be men and women who are learning from David and from God’s instruction.

.PPT 23 …

• Let’s invite God to humble us so that we’ll find our confidence in Him. • Let’s invite God to fashion us into people of contentment and trust. • And let’s invite God to govern our lives … let’s put our hope in Him both this morning and evermore (throughout the rest of this week) … so that our vision will come from Him and not from our egos, our own good ideas, or just empty tradition.

.PPT 24 … NEXT WEEK …

DEVELOPING A LIFE OF DEVOTION … PART 2 REVELATION 3:14-16; ACTS 6:1-15; MATTHEW 7:7; JEREMIAH 29:12-13; SECOND TIMOTHY 3:15-17

COME PRAYING AND EXPECTING!

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