Preaching

‘Dying To Self’

1Co 2:1 – 5
My brothers and sisters, when I came to proclaim to you God’s secret purpose, I did not come equipped with any brilliance of speech or intellect. You may as well know now that it was my determination to concentrate entirely on Jesus Christ himself and the fact of his death upon the cross. As a matter of fact, in myself I was feeling far from strong; I was nervous and rather shaky. What I said and preached had none of the attractiveness of the clever mind, but it was a demonstration of the power of the Spirit! Plainly God’s secret purpose was that your faith should rest not upon anybodies cleverness but upon the power of God.

In our reading; Paul concentrated upon Jesus Christ Himself. He focuses strongly on who Jesus was. He mentions only one thing He did: die on the cross. And he talks about ‘Gods secret purpose’, the purpose that Paul’s faith, and the faith of all who know Jesus, should rest totally and exclusively upon ‘the power of God’.

I often thought the power of God was for example creation or opening the Red Sea, in other words something dramatic. My personal experience of God’s power is that it has been as gentle as silence. I can identify with Paul in not relying on brilliant speech or intellect, I don’t feel I have either, so that’s easy enough. But does my faith rest totally on the power of God like Paul’s did?.

Question, how much does each of us trust God?…

Paul focuses on Jesus’ death upon the cross, His crucifixion. Then Paul writes about himself in Ga 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. Paul’s previous life before he met Jesus, life as Paul knew it was dead, Paul like Jesus came to the point of letting go of all his own abilities to please God and rest totally on God’s power to work in his life, to keep bringing him closer to God.

If we want more of God, more of His presence in our lives, to live more closely in step with what He designs for our lives, it involves letting go of the stuff we hold onto that gets in the way. We are creatures of contradictions so we can all desire more of God, yet hold tightly to our stuff that gets in the way at the same time, often without realising it. But when that desire for God is genuine, God will work in our lives to help us let go, to free up more of us to know Him in a deeper way.

We are all works in progress. I’ll tell you something that happened to me. Most of you know I used to own a company that employed 160 staff. I made shed loads of money. Drove a big car and lived in a posh penthouse overlooking the sea at St Annes. Then the company went bankrupt which meant loosing everything; big money, big car, big penthouse. We were desperate for somewhere to live, with very little on offer to rent Nina and I ended up renting one room from a guy from church whose house was in need of renovation, it was a mess.

To move I borrowed a wagon from the company I once owned, it came with two men I once employed. The stuff we could take to the one room in the house which were moving into was loaded into the wagon so we could move to our humble abode. But once we got there I didn’t want the men to see the inside of where I would be living. I got the men to drop our furniture and belongings in the front garden. I wouldn’t let the men into the house. It meant that I had to carry everything up a dog leg staircase to our room. What the men thought as they left goodness knows.

I was knackered as I lugged the last item up the stairs. The last item was my big £400 quid office chair. Boy did I struggle getting it round the sharp bend of the dog leg in the stairs. I stopped for yet another breather. ‘Lord’, I said under my breath, ‘I’m getting too old for this’, I then heard His quiet inner voice ‘I know’ He replied, ‘That’s why I sent 2 men.’ It was like a resounding bell inside me, ‘PRIDE’! I was gobsmacked. Oh how the mighty had fallen! I knew I couldn’t let the men help because of my PRIDE. Everything I’d once held dear was gone, except for an office chair! But there was more to come.

Six weeks later I was feeling miserable and feeling very down, I was slowly slipping into depression. Nina had never seen me in such a state and was very worried. Then I got a phone call from Derek my old business partner. He said ‘The Lord woke me up in the middle of the night gave me a word for you, Jonah.’ and put the phone down. That was typical of Derek I tried to work out what on earth that was about and after two days I rang Derek back. I said ‘I don’t get it, Tell me what God meant about Jonah?’ I asked. Derek replied, ‘Jonah didn’t want to be where God took him, neither do you.’ There wasn’t a resounding bell moment, but the words went deep, I knew it was true. And in that moment I also knew I was exactly where God wanted me.

Nothing had gone wrong, I hadn’t taken a wrong turning. God wanted me right here in this falling apart house right now. I knew God well enough to know that if this was where he wanted me, this was the best possible place I could be. I didn’t realise it at the time but all my wanting things to be different and fighting against my situation disappeared. Was I really fighting against God? From deep down a joy began to bubble up and my mood lifted, a gladness filled me knowing I was exactly where God wanted me to be.

His power, not mine, enabled me to let go of that pride that I hadn’t even realised was there. From then on I was able to accept our new home, be grateful for it and live there without worrying about it for the next 3 and a half years. I still feel that gladness to this very day some 18 years later. I still know I’m exactly where God wants me to be.

It takes way any indecision, fretting about should I be doing something else, I am left with a great contentment and appreciation of where I am and what I have. Contentment is more valuable than a big house and a lot of money, its deep and strong. Derek once said to me, ‘If you have contentment you have everything’. And there was only room for contentment when God just saying, ‘I sent two men’ dealt with my pride and I let of my ego and accepted His will for me in my life.

In lots of ways the Jim Parker I was, has died, ‘but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave Himself for me.’ I died, so that I might live for God. And as life goes on there are likely to be other things I need to let go of as God takes me deeper into knowing Him. Nothing is worth more than knowing the Lord. So I hope I will struggle less when the old me wants to hold on to the things that get in the way with God, I want my faith not to rest on my cleverness but upon the power of God.

We are going to take up an offering. The reason we don’t normally have an offering is because if we did, some would not put anything in. Some would would put a pound in, or the loose change in their pocket or purse, some would put in a fiver, a tenner, maybe even a twenty. But for the first time, I’ve put a bucket out for an offering. But this bucket is different, this is God’s bucket and God doesn’t want a pound or even twenty. No, God wants all your money, all your possessions, all your life. Everything.

God wants all your money, because God wants all of you you. Are you willing to give God everything. Even every part of your life to Him?

Let’s bow our heads in prayer.

I want us to quietly ask God right now ‘Is there something in me that I’m holding onto, anything that’s stopping me living more fully for you and in step with you? If there is, show me and help me to release it to you.

Lets give the Holy Spirit a minute or so to help show us all, the answer to that question.

God’s bucket is not just for our money. For into this bucket is a chance for us to put anything in, all of our money yes, but also our pride, our ego’s, our very selves. When we want real fulness of life in Jesus the stuff we hang onto that gets in the way needs to die. We have to die to whatever we hold on to.

Just imagine now what He asks you to put into that bucket and ask Him to make his power available to help you to do so. Lord help us to see the things that get in our way with you and hold us back from living more in step with you. Help us to see them and by your power be able to let them go.