Perfect Balance

On February 24, 1584, Pope Gregory VIII (1105-1187) signed a papal decree that the Christian world would accept the new Gregorian calendar. The motivation behind the Gregorian calendar was the Julian calendar, which assumes that the earth takes 365.25 days to circle around the sun. The days are divided into twelve months and an extra day is added every four years. According to the Gregorian calendar the new year begins on the first day of January.

Today, the new year is celebrated around the world. Can you name any other holiday that the world, in its entirety, embraces more than New Years? Did you know Sydney, Australia celebrates the New Year by exploding 80,000 fireworks for an estimated crowd of 1.5 million at the stroke of midnight? In Valparaiso, Chile two million come to see fireworks explode. In England, everyone gathers at the London Eye to watch fireworks as Big Ben strikes midnight. In New York City, a crystal ball is dropped in a one-minute countdown in Times Square. Edinburgh, Scotland hosts the world’s largest Hogmanay events to celebrate the New Year. The event lasts four days. In Rio de Janeiro two million people gather on the famous Copacabana Beach to watch a fifteen-minute fireworks display. Finally, in Central America New Year’s events are scheduled throughout the entire month of January.

Can I ask you a simple question? Why do so many people get excited about New Years? The world does not celebrate any other day on the calendar like New Year’s Day. Why January 1? Just think about it. There is nothing special about March 1. We barely notice it. No one cares about August 1. The world does not notice the coming of November 1. December 1 is lost in the Christmas season. What makes January 1 so special? Why do so many people get excited about a New Year? If you surveyed the worldwide crowds, then you would discover there are several reasons why people celebrate the New Year.

Some celebrate the New Year because they will celebrate anything. This group is always ready to party. Are you in this group? They are the same people who pretend to be Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day. They are the same people who pretend to have Mexican roots on Cinco De Mayo. For this group any reason is a good reason to party, so why not celebrate New Year’s Day?

Some celebrate the New Year because they are glad to see the old year go. Maybe you are glad to see 2023 go. For many, it was a difficult year. I have had years I am glad to see end. You will always remember 2023 as the year you did not have a job. You will remember 2023 as the year you lost a loved one. Or you may remember 2023 as the year you discovered that you had cancer or some other health issue. Every year is not a happy year. I remember 2020 as the year of the pandemic. It frustrated our good lives. Some years are a mix of the very best and the very worst. 2021 was the year my daughter got married and the year I had major surgery. How will you remember 2023?

Some celebrate the New Year because it symbolizes a brand-new start. Do you need a brand-new start? I use an electronic calendar, but my wife still uses a paper calendar. I will admit it, there is something about a brand-new paper calendar. Your old calendar is faded and worn but your new calendar is clear and crisp. Each day is empty and filled with possibilities. What do you want to do better in 2024? What area of your life do you want to improve? That is why people make New Year’s resolutions. Have you ever made a resolution to mend a broken relationship? Have you ever made a resolution to watch less television and read more? Have you ever made a resolution to eat less or exercise more? Now is the time to improve yourself! There is no better time to improve yourself than right now.Let us look at our scripture lesson.

We are instructed today from the first nine verses in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes. These words were written by King Solomon. He will always be remembered as a man of wisdom. Some have questioned that because he had 700 wives. (One is enough for me!) Our scripture reminds us that life should be lived in balance. There is no way you could miss the pattern of these verses. There is a time for this and a time for that. If you look at the text, you discover that the this’s and the that’s are linked. Nothing should be done all the time. Nothing should be eliminated all the time. Life is meant to be lived in a certain balance. For example, no one should work 24/7. On the other hand, no one should vacation 24/7. The wise one, Solomon, tells us life must be lived in balance. Are you living your life in balance?

Is your spiritual life in balance? In Matthew 4:4, Jesus quotes, Deuteronomy 8:3. It says, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Our world has a surplus of people who are living spiritually out of balance. There is a time to do the temporary things of this world and a time to do the eternal things of God. How much time do you spend doing temporary secular things? (Working, paying bills, cleaning the house) How much time do you spend doing eternal things with God? (Worship, devotion, prayer) Solomon believed mankind is basically blind to God’s meaning for man’s existence. We spend our days chasing after things that really don’t matter. How many meaningless things are going to fill your calendar in 2024? How much time are you going to give God in 2024?

This is the good news for today – now is the time! There is no better time to improve yourself than right now. Now is the time to break your old secular patterns and draw near to God. My goal is to help you live more balanced lives, spiritually. I am going to do that by reminding you of one thing and then challenge you to do something else. There is a time for the things of this world and there is a time for God.

First, if you want to live a balanced spiritual life then I want to remind you that you are a child of God. That is easy to forget in our world. We are so busy running around; we are so busy dealing with life’s problems and challenges. Never forget, you belong to God. The Westminster Confession of Faith says, “The purpose of life is to glorify God.” In Romans 14:8 Paul says, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” Never forget that you are a child of God. Is the way that you live bringing glory to God?

On September 3, 1967, the old television game show What’s My Line? went off the air. It had been a staple on CBS for seventeen years, airing 867 episodes. Do you remember What’ s My Line? If you do, then you have been watching television for over fifty-five years! Do you remember how the game was played? What’s My Line was a guessing game. The three-person panel would ask the guest ten yes and no questions. They were trying to discover their vocation. At the end the panelists would guess what the guest did for a living. In seventeen years, the country discovered there were many odd vocations and many people who did not stereotypically look like their vocation. So let me ask you the question:

What is your line? You can earn money in many ways. You may be a teacher, preacher, librarian, engineer, secretary, or a person of business. Those are ways to earn money, but they are not your primary purpose in life. Your job is just a part that you play in this world. It is how you pay the bills. However, what you really are is a child of God. If you are going to live a balanced life, both secularly and spiritually, then never forget your true purpose, to glorify God. Does your life bring glory to God? Or do you have some work to do?

Second, if you want to live a balanced spiritual life then I challenge you to develop a plan to help you grow spiritually. In other words, I want you to schedule God into your life. I hope you make God a real priority in your life. There should be a time for service and a time for spiritual disciplines. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) once said, “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” Now is the time. What is your plan to grow spiritually in 2024?

Years ago, I preached a sermon series on the Old Testament book of Nehemiah. Do you remember his story? He went back to the city of Jerusalem. The city at that point in history lay in ruins. Nehemiah dreamed of building a wall around the city so he could rebuild it. Along the way we learned that he was both a visionary and a leader. We learned he was detail oriented. Do you remember? He had a plan. He knew the length of the completed wall. He knew the height of the completed wall. He knew the thickness of the completed wall. Based on those facts he knew what he needed to complete the wall. Having a plan doesn’t mean you don’t trust God, having a plan simply means you going to do your best for God.

What is your plan to grow spiritually in 2024? Maybe one of the reasons you aren’t growing in faith is that you don’t have a plan? Now is the time to plan. How much time are you planning on giving God this year? Are you going to read the Bible more? Are you going to pray more? Are you going to mediate more? Have you scheduled God into your life, or doesn’t God fit into your plans for this year? What is your plan to grow spiritually in 2024? Let me end with the random facts.

Did you know the first electric light was so dim that a candle was needed to see its socket? Did you know the first steamboat took 32 hours to chug its way from New York City to Albany, 150 miles? Did you know Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first airplane flight lasted only 12 seconds? Did you know the first automobiles traveled 2 to 4 miles per hour and broke down often? Carriages would pass them with their passengers shouting, “Get a horse!” What do those stories teach us? How you begin really doesn’t matter. What matters more is how you end.

How are going to end 2024? Are you going to be closer to God then you are at this moment? The great wise one, Solomon, said mankind is basically blind to God’s meaning for man’s existence. We spend our days chasing after things that really don’t matter. Life is meant to be lived in perfect balance! Is your life in perfect balance between the temporary things of this world and the eternal things of God? Or do you have some work to do. Now is the time to begin.

How Successful Are You?

We find ourselves today in the twenty-first chapter of John. According to the text, the disciples are on the Sea of Tiberias. The locals called it the Sea of Galilee. Seven of the eleven remaining disciples are present. Judas Iscariot’s vacancy has not yet been filled. According to verse four, it was early in the morning. The workday was over for the disciples. Ancient fishermen normally fished at night. It must have been a long night, because not a single fish had been caught. To rub salt in their wounds, someone calls out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” They respond with a single word answer, “No.” Feeling like failures, they almost missed the significance of the moment. The one who had inquired about their labors was Jesus himself. He stood on the shore, unidentified by the disciples. The Master encourages them to try again. This time on the opposite side of the boat, the right side. Exasperated, yet showing restraint, the disciples cast their net one more time. They were glad they did because they had the catch of their lives. Their net, which moments earlier had been empty, was filled with fish. It is only then that “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, John, identifies Jesus. The story ends by telling us there were 153 fish in the net. Miraculously, the net never tore, and a fortune was made. On that day, at that moment, the disciples must have felt like successes. Money has a way of making us feel successful; money also has a way of making us feel like a failure. This is the question for today: How successful are you?

If you ask the internet highway the question, who are the most successful people in America, it will automatically take you to the richest people in America. According to Money, in a January 16, 2018 article, these are ten richest and, I guess, the most successful people in America. Let me give them to you in reverse order.

Rob Walton ($47.9 billion)

Charles and David Koch ($48.6 billion) ((Since that time David has died.)

Sergey Brin ($53.3 billion)

Larry Ellison ($54.7 billion)

Larry Page ($54.9 billion)

Mark Zuckerberg ($77.5 billion)

Warren Buffet ($87.2 billion)

Bill Gates ($93.3 billion)

Jeff Bezos ($109.9 billion) (Now, he is worth $138.5 billion

By the way, the same article tells us Bezos is the richest person in history, so that makes him the most successful in history. You may want to check with his ex-wife.

If you consider these people to be the most successful people in America, then you must consider the approximately 600,000 Americans who filed for bankruptcy protection last year the biggest failures. Do you know anyone who has filed for bankruptcy protection? Have you ever filed for bankruptcy protection? Many believe that label of failure is unfair, because the number one reason people file for bankruptcy protection in America is due to medical expenses. So, let me ask you the question again, how successful are you? That is a complex question, because there is more to being successful than having money. If you do not believe me, just ask Bill Cosby.

The other day it was announced Bill Cosby (born 1937) would not be released from prison due to the pandemic because he was considered a sexual predator. Everyone agrees, Bill Cosby is not considered successful. However, for many years we did consider him successful. At one point in his life, Bill Cosby had a net worth of approximately $450 million. You know his story. He has lived his life in front of a crowd. He started as a stand-up comedian in San Francisco in the early 1960’s. Then, he landed a starring role on a television show called I Spy. I remember watching Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. He knew success. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1977. Later, his sitcom, The Cosby Show, was a hit in the 1980’s. At one time, he was the most trusted face in America. He was the spokesman for Jello, then he became the spokesman for the Ford Motor Company. By any worldly definition, Bill Cosby was a success. He even earned his Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts. Then, the stories started to come out. To date, more than fifty women have accused Cosby of various forms of sexual misconduct. Cosby denied everything, but now is a convicted sexual offender. His story is hard to believe. At one time, Bill Cosby was a success! Do you consider Bill Cosby a success today? There is more to success than money. However, our Bible story is not about financial success. It is a story about spiritual success. How successful are you spiritually?

My favorite preaching story comes from a United Presbyterian minister by the name of Tom Tewell. Years ago, he was the Preacher of the Week at Lakeside. He influenced my preaching greatly. I was there when he told this story. I have never forgotten it. You may remember it too. I have told it to you several times. It haunts me because it makes me think. When Tom Tewell was graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary, he was being interviewed for ordination. He sat in an empty church in the middle of the week, being questioned by his superiors. As the day rolled on, he felt good about his answers. He handled all the details of Calvinistic theology. His interviewers seemed satisfied with his answers too, and announced they only had one more question for him. It came from the oldest man on the interview team. (I think he was sixty-two.) It was the first, and only question, he asked the entire day. He looked at Tom Tewell and asked, “Tom, do you think you are making any progress in the Christian faith?” Tom said, he opened his mouth to respond, but not a single word came out. He did not know how to answer the question. How do you answer the question, are you making any progress in the Christian faith? I have asked myself that question, are you making any progress in the Christian faith, countless times. It is a difficult question to answer, but this question is even harder:

How successful are you spiritually? In the Christian faith, success is not a monetary issue. Just think about it for a moment. The scriptures never tell us Jesus owned anything of earthly value, yet we consider him to be the greatest life that ever lived. Through the eyes of God, success is not achieved by money. Success is being like Jesus, who loved and forgave everyone. He had a perfect relationship with God. Through the eyes of God, we become more successful, the more we become like Jesus. We consider the disciples to be spiritually successful because they became more like Jesus. If we want to be spiritually successful, then we must do what the disciples did. So, what did they do? What is it we must do to become spiritually successful? The disciples’ model for us how to become spiritually successful. So, what did the disciples do?

First, the disciples listened to Jesus. Look at the text with me. They fished all night, but they caught absolutely nothing. They must have been discouraged, but, in the end, they were successful because they listened to Jesus. This is the question you must answer:

When was the last time you positioned yourself to listen to Jesus? That is why the spiritual disciplines are so important. There are eight: prayer, meditation, fasting, Bible study, simplicity, submission, solitude, and service. Each one of them, and a combination of them, puts you in the best possible position to listen to God and to listen to Jesus. When was the last time you positioned yourself to listen to Jesus?

Second, the disciples obeyed Jesus. Look at the text with me again. The disciples listened to Jesus, but they also obeyed Jesus. Verse six says, “He (Jesus) said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” Here is the key: They did not just listen to Jesus. They obeyed Jesus and reaped the benefits. The disciples obeyed Jesus.

Do you obey Jesus? How many people do you know who listen to Jesus, but they do not obey Jesus? Or, they only obey selectively. Do you know of anyone who knows what the faith teaches, but they do not follow the teachings? Let me give you a few examples. We know we are to love unconditionally, but we love selectively. We know we are not supposed to judge, but we judge regularly. We know we are supposed to give sacrificially, of our time, our talents, and financial resources, but we give sparingly, out of our surplus. There is a world of difference between knowing and doing. Look at it this way. How much influence does Jesus have on your daily life? Do you obey Jesus?

Third, the disciples never gave up. Look at the text with me one more time. Consider this with me: The disciples fished all night. They were tired. It would have been easy to call it a day, but Jesus tells them to try one more time. They do, and they hit the jackpot. The Christian faith is not a one-hundred-yard dash, it is a marathon. The disciples spent the rest of their lives serving Jesus. How many people do you know who have walked away from Jesus, because their life got hard? You must never give up!

Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) had a wonderful life. He was a theoretical physicist. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Oxford and his graduate work at the University of Cambridge. For thirty years, he taught at Cambridge, influencing young minds and advances his field of research. He was a genius, and no one can question his brilliance. In 1963, he was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, but that never seems to slow him down. When Stephen Hawking spoke through his electronic device the world listened. His net worth at his death was $20 million. However, what was more impressive than his net worth is the location of his grave. He was laid to rest in Westminster Abby, along slide the other greats of British history. No one can question the fact that Stephen Hawking was a success. He only failed in one area, his spiritually. With everything Stephen Hawking knew, there was one thing Stephen Hawking did not know, Jesus. I hope my research is wrong. I am told Stephen Hawking died an atheist. I find that to be very sad. Francis Chan (born 1967) is an American author and teacher. He once said, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” Through the eyes of God, how successful are you?