Uncle Jim and Aunt Barb were in town hosting a gaggle of
family at dinner to celebrate the sale of Jim’s business. He and a couple friends started a business
from scratch and, in time, their hard work paid off. At a Mexican restaurant, Jim’s simple drink
order almost turned into an international incident. Between Jim’s southern Missouri English and
the waiter’s green card Spanish, it was hard to understand exactly what Jim
wanted. “Make a regular margarita on the
rocks, but before you bring it to me, strain the drink off the rocks into a
second glass, no ice, with salt, and bring me that glass.” The rest of the family was cracking up at
Jim’s meticulously engineered drink order.
This scene reminded of an old Meineke television ad. A limo drives up to the Meineke store for
service. An attentive young mechanic
steps out and says, “Gee Mr. Big, a man like you could afford to get your car
serviced anywhere. Why come to
Meineke?” Mr. Big looks up with the smug
confidence you’d expect and responds, “How
do you think a man like me got to be a man like me?”
It dawned on me, the same meticulous thought that Jim put
into his drink order could also be found in his work efforts. Jim wasn’t sloppy in one area of his life and
all put-together in another. That’s a
lesson we all should contemplate.
Last week I talked about the high cost of sin and what it
cost to erase that sin from our spiritual slate. I suggested that we “count the cost” before
we sin. Today, I’m going to think a
little bit more about that.
Some followers of Jesus think they never sin. That’s ok.
I know them better than they know themselves – they sin! So do I.
I’m not bragging, I’m ashamed of it.
I can also tell you I earnestly desire to follow Jesus away from a life
marked by sin. My sins tend to happen
when I’m not focused on following Jesus.
When I get caught up in the busyness and distraction of this world, I
find it easy to act worldly. When I’m
meticulous about my spiritual life, I find temptations easier to avoid. Let me be specific.
On Mt. Sinai, Moses was given 10 Commandments. One was “do not commit adultery”. Pretty straightforward. But Jesus came along and tweaked that one:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)
Ah snap, you know that “girl at the gas station” I mentioned
last week. I just might have busted a
commandment on that one …not sure. If
so, it was just for a split second. I
promise.
Moses also delivered the law “do not murder”. No prob, right? I’ve never killed anybody. Another Word from our Sponsor begs to differ:
“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22)
Look, I’m going to be honest with you, my brother is a
pin-head when it comes to his concern for our mother. He’s not mean or disrespectful, just
care-less. It upsets me severely. But I’m cautious – very cautious – not to
“damn” him. I’m supposed to live my life
as a faithful follower of Jesus and I’ve got to let God deal with all the other
pin-heads out there… (and God, I have a list for You if You don’t know who to
check on).
I’m leery of how most Sunday sermons are indiscernible from
a Dr. Phil pep talk. Seems like a lot of
Christian talk has dipped into a whole lot of pop psychology. But I’m going to give this some slack on the matter, Jesus told us
the our main problem is between our ears.
You can go all your life without killing or adultering someone and still
have just as much that needs forgiveness as the worst person you want to point
to. (So maybe you should stop pointing.)
Let’s go right back to the verse I mentioned last week:
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus knows that there are things on earth that appeal to us
– most of them were put here to meet our needs in some way. But followers of Jesus, “a man like Jesus”,
seeks His Righteousness first and trusts that our earthly needs will be met –
without sinning.
I’ll close with another, very personal story. My first grade teacher, Ethyl Peasgood, was
also a dear personal friend of mine throughout my life. She was
THE most decent, kind, and
righteous person I’ve ever known. I
stood beside her hospital bedside in Alaska weeks before she passed away at 102
years old. In her weak voice, she told
us the story of committing her life to Jesus.
“I was in the barn on the family farm.
I prayed, ‘God, make me a better girl.’
I’ve said that prayer every day since.”
How does “a man like me get to be a man like me”? By daily committing to follow Jesus. By daily committing to not follow the folly
of the world into immediate gratification, short cuts, and shoddy work. By daily counting the cost of every decision
you make and every action you take.
Uncle Jim’s peculiar drink order wasn’t a silly one-off moment
at a restaurant. It was one of thousands
of moments where he thought carefully about the results he expected – and did
the things that got those results.
That’s how a man becomes the man he wants to be.
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