Giving Your Life Away? (November 16, 2008)

I had the awesome privilege of giving the message at our 3 services yesterday. My topic was called “Giving Your Life Away?”. Here are some excerpts from the message in case you missed it. The entire audio of the message can be found on a link at the New Community Church website (right side of the home page)…..

Jack Palance said it well in the movie, “The City Slickers”. He asks Billy Crystal, “Do you know what the secret to life is? This (hold finger up)” BC: “Your finger?” JP: “One thing, just one thing” JP: “You stick to that and everything else doesn’t matter” BC: “That’s great, but what’s the one thing?” JP: “That’s what you’ve got to figure out”. Today I am going to share with you that secret…that “one thing”…

I struggled throughout my life “to give my life away” because I never really understood who owned my life. I thought I owned it and I struggled to give my life away, to live it for the good of others rather than myself. I tried – but it was a constant struggle. I could never really totally give my life away – to live it unselfishly serving others. And in many ways it still is a struggle.

Let me ask you a question: Can you give away what does not belong to you? No, of course not. Now let me ask you another, even more serious question: Can you take what does not belong to you? You bet you can. We call those people thieves.
Many people struggle with how they are to “give their life away”, to live a life unselfishly. It has even become much more popular today to work for non-profits and volunteer organizations. But what I want you to see today is that you’re asking yourself the wrong question. The title of my message is “Giving Your Life Away?” That’s not a typo. You see, it’s not about how you can give your life away a little better each day. It’s more about asking yourself, have I taken what does not belong to me.

The Bible says (in Genesis 1 and in Psalms 139) from the very beginning we are not our own, we are a creation of God. In Mark & In Ephesians we see the purpose for which we were created, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

In 1 Corinthians 6 we see that we don’t “own” our lives, we were “bought at a price”. Further, in Romans 12 we are told to daily offer our bodies as living sacrifices. OK – so God owns us. You may say, I don’t “feel” like God owns me or I don’t “act” like God owns me. Does that change the fact that He does? No – let me illustrate.

Have you ever loaned something to someone and been a little bit sorry you did? Think about it. Perhaps they did not return it on time. Perhaps they returned it in poor condition (a dirty lawnmower). Perhaps they returned it with lots of wear and tear. Perhaps even broken. And maybe they NEVER returned it! Did that change the fact that you owned it? NO. and what we do with our lives, and how well we live them, does not change one iota the fact that God owns our lives!

So if God owns our lives, what does that make us? One of 2 things – either a thief or a borrower. Have you been a thief? Have you taken what does not belong to you? You have if you are living your life for yourself, doing only what you want, what YOU enjoy rather than asking God what He wants you to do.

Or are you living your life on loan. To live your life on loan means to live it realizing that It All Belongs to God…and He has loaned it to us. He expects if to be used for His purposes, not ours. He expects us to take good care of it. He expects to get a good return on His investment. As a borrower of this life, you must ask yourself daily – God, what do you want me to do with your life today. What does this look like – how does it play out. Let’s look at a famous example in Luke chapter 10, the “Good Samaritan”.

In this chapter we see the Samaritan reached out with his time, talent, and resources. Samaritan’s were despised. They were oppressed and racially slurred by the Jews. They would generally have no compassion a race of people who had mistreated them for years. Do you think this Samaritan wanted to help his oppressor, a Jew? No – I don’t think it would have been his first choice. The Samaritan was on business, yet he took the time, used his skills (bandaged and nursed the man to being well enough to travel) and applied his resources (a donkey, bandages, and money) to help. We normally think of the Samaritan as a pretty good guy. But I am here to say that the cultural, racial, and social norms of the time should have made this the last thing this man would want to do. Most Samaritans would have rejoiced to see a Jew suffer and die in the gutter. But this man “lived his life on loan” from God.

So what is “that one thing” that is the secret to life, the secret to true happiness and lasting peace? It is trusting in God so much that we obediently, joyfully do His will, rather than our own, regardless of the consequences, because we know he will provide. He will not only provide, He will bless abundantly. We trust in Him, we have faith in Him, so we joyfully live our life on loan.

What are the evidences of a life on loan:
1. I seek to obey God with all my heart; desiring not to stray from His commands.
2. Trust in the LORD with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding;
3. I recognize that I am not my own; that I was bought with a price.
4. And daily I offer my life as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God to do his will
And what does God give us in return for a life on loan:
1. Greater faith as we see Him provide
2. Peace & happiness that God is in control
3. A lifetime of adventure. A life on loan is a life of adventure. It is a life of exciting anticipation of what God will do next.
4. The opportunity to participate with the almighty sovereign God in his plan of redemption for a lost world

Give your life away? Not a chance. It does not belong to you in the first place. Return it to God’s control and take care to invest well what he has loaned you? Now you’re talking.

Please post a comment below or email me at csonger@new-communitychurch.org.