Sermon Notes: What Does It Mean to Be Successful?
What Does It Mean to Be
Successful? “Faithful Presence”.[1]
June 24, 2012
Texts: Deuteronomy
6.4-19; Psalm 139.23-24; 1 Peter 5.6-11; Luke 22.39-46
Introduction
1.
The United
States is founded on the idea that anyone, no matter what our place in society
may be, no matter where may be from, if we work hard enough and take advantage
of the opportunities before us, we can be a success. This belief, over time,
has been converted into a virtue: success has become a virtue, perhaps the
virtue of our time. In our culture, it is expected, even honorable, to pursue
our personal and professional dreams at all costs. And we teach our kids to do
the same. In fact, implicitly we teach our kids that life is a series of
achievement hoops that we must jumped through.
2.
What does a
successful life look like? How can we know if our life was lived well? One way
that we can know what our true thoughts are about this is to reflect upon high
school reunions!
a.
What do you
need to be, do, have in order to appear to be successful when you show up to
that reunion? What is it that you do not have or do that makes you insecure at
that reunion? These are good indications of what you consider to be necessary
for a successful life!
b.
For some
success is measured in
i.
Efficiency
and production: how much can I get done in my limited time?
ii.
Effectiveness,
influence and power: what changes have I been able to accomplish in the world?
Was I effective in what I did?
iii.
Material possessions:
how many houses do I have? What kind of car do I drive? What degrees have I
obtained? Etc.
iv.
Relationships/status
in society: how many friends do I have? Who are my friends? Are my friends
important?
v.
Moralism
vi.
Living for a
cause
vii.
Detachment
3.
Thesis: Our
texts this morning remind us that a successful life, a meaningful life, a life
well-lived is a life of “faithful presence”. In other words, God defines our
success, not in terms of efficiency and production, not in terms of what we
have acquired, not in terms of who we have influenced or whether we have been
effective in our responsibilities, not in terms of who we hang out with, not
even in terms of weather we have lived a good, moral life or given ourselves to
a meaningful cause—instead, He defines success in terms of faithfulness-- to
His will. Have we been faithful to what
God has asked us to do—here, in this place, at this time, under these
circumstances?
Analysis
of the Texts
1. Our OT
reading directs us to the very core of the purpose of our existence:
a. we are
called to love God with all we have; to be faithful to Him wherever we are, and
to teach our children that it is more important to be faithful to God than to
be “successful” in life.
b. We are
called to do this corporately!
i.
The story of the OT is Israel’s inability to keep faithfulness to
God as their primary aim.
ii.
The prophetic critique of the OT is not—you were not successful,
but rather, you have not been faithful to the One True God.
2. In our
Gospel reading, Jesus is the embodiment of all that Israel was called to be. He
abandons his own ambitions, in order to faithfully serve the Father.
a. Jesus learned
obedience in a particular place (Hebrews 5.8)
b. His act of
obedience was not seen as a successful move!
c. His
faithfulness was our blessing.
d. He is a
patter for our lives. (1 Peter 2.20-25)
3. The reading
from 1 Peter orients us to our own call—to humble ourselves wherever God has us, to live
faithfully under His care, to be watchful—both for the enemy and his work, as
well as for the ways in which God may call us to serve him. Our part is to
humbly submit to His will—God’s part is to exalt us in due course—this is the
paradigm learned from Jesus (1 Peter 2.20-25)
4. The Psalm
reading reminds us that one of our primary tasks in prayer is to ask God to
equip us to be faithful: “God is there anything in my life that does not align
with your will?” This is what David is asking in this Psalm! “Equip me to be
more faithful to you!”
Exhortation
1. Above all
else seek to be faithful where you are, where God has you. Think of success in
terms of faithful presence!
a. Everything
is against you doing this!
i.
Hunter quote about being elsewhere: our culture fosters
fragmentation and being everywhere and nowhere!
ii.
Unmaking of community: Mobility keeps us from being faithfully
present.
b. An example
from Gilead (pg. 124)
2. Cultivate a
way of life in which fosters your ability to discern God’s will.
a. It starts
with prayer:
i.
Psalm 139:23-24
ii.
The Lord’s Prayer: Your will be done
b. It is shaped
by community: Romans 12.-12
3. What our
city, and our region need more than anything else is our faithful presence!
a. Cultural
change requires a sustained commitment to faithful presence in a particular
time and place.
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