January 17, 2021 Text: 1 Corinthians 7:29-32a
Dear Friends in Christ,
We have some city slickers in our congregation but when I look at the cherubs in the sanctuary and those worshipping at home most of us are familiar with the farm. We grew up on one, worked on one or lived near one. So when I use this opening illustration and talk about silos/grain bins you will understand.
You don’t see as many silos as you use to. Today you see more grain bins. Chopped up corn known as silage would be put in a silo to feed the cows. Hay would be put in the loft of the barn and straw in a different part of the barn. Grain would be in a grain bin. Corn in one, soybeans in another. Everything was kept separate from the other.
We live lives that look like silos. There is a family life silo and a work silo. We have a church silo and a recreation silo. Here is one for our role as citizens and another for our friends. They are separate from one another. The people we know at work are usually not the same people we know at church. What we do at home is different than what we do at school or at our job. How we use our money recreationally is different than the offering we leave at church. Do you see how this works? We live in silos.
The problem with silo living is that Jesus is often kept out of parts of our lives. We go to work and Jesus recedes. We pull out our credit card quite easily but does our tithe come first. We get caught up in fun that we neglect worship. Politics and church do not mix. We relegate Jesus to a church silo. He is not guiding all areas of our lives and this is no good.
We need a better way to conduct our day-to-day living. The Bible as always has the answer, let’s take a look at . . .
“LIFE AS A WHEEL WITH JESUS AS THE HUB”
The Apostle Paul writes in our text, “The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they have no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealing with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties.”
Paul is encouraging that we live every day for Jesus. Why? Because the time we have left is “short.”
Paul isn’t trying to predict when Jesus will return, but one day He will. What a glorious day! Tears and sickness gone. Evil in hell forever. No more bullying. No more cancel culture. Jesus will rise from the grave and a new creation will come forth. Our bodies will be whole and healthy and we will be in perfect peace and safety. I can’t wait for that day. How about you? Come, Lord Jesus.
We live with that hope because Jesus has already risen from the dead. On the cross He took on our death and hell. He took all the evil and buried it in a tomb. Then on Easter He burst forth in glory and life. Be free from anxiety because you know what awaits. There will be groaning pains as we are experiencing but hang on to the hope that will not disappoint.
Yes, the world will pass away. Before that the Lord calls on us to live in this critical time with Jesus in every area of our lives.
Instead of living in silos, we live as if life were a wheel. The hub is Jesus. The cross is empty. Jesus is present now in our lives. With Jesus at the center everything revolves around Him.
The spokes coming out of the wheel are the various areas of life we live every day. Work is connected to Jesus. Honesty and integrity. Our money and stuff are not our own. It is all a gift of Jesus. Money decisions are made after the Lord receives what is due Him. We respect our governing authorities because again He has placed them there. Our recreational decisions include Him. We vacation or travel with our children to an event and we ask – where will we worship? Do you see how it works? Live life as the wheel with Jesus as the hub. Eternity is our hope and so every spoke is lived with Jesus and for Him.
Time is moving on. Shoveling on Sunday morning two weeks ago reminded me of that. I’m in-between. Two months ago a kid asked if I wanted the senior discount. He got a not so nice look. Ten days ago I told a man at the funeral I had been a Pastor here at Good Shepherd for 21 years. He looked at me and said, “What, did you start in the ministry at age 16!” No matter what age we are or feel the end could come at any time. I guess as you age these thoughts creep into the mind more and more.
Jesus could come back tomorrow, wouldn’t that be nice? Or it could be 125 years. I could have a lot more years or very few. You as well. That is not the key question. The key question is this? How do we live when life is so short? Not as silos but as a wheel. The hub is Jesus risen from the dead and the end is glorious. The time now is critical and what an opportune time God is giving us to live with Jesus and for Him. Amen.