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James 4:13-17
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A Christ-Driven Calendar James 4:13-17
Proverbs 29:18 says, Where there is no vision, the people perish. Many have interpreted this verse to mean that if leaders do not provide a vision then the people lose direction and hope and eventually perish. In the last two decades the business world seems to have picked up on this theme of a vision. It seems that every company, big or small, has a vision statement. Let me show you several of these and see if you can guess which company they belong to.
'Our people make the difference' Walmart
Our vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and relaters services General Motors
To be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance. Chevron/Texaco
Our mission, and our ultimate goal, is to help more families achieve homeownership. Fannie Mae
We dedicate ourselves to humanity's quest for longer, healthier, happier lives through innovation in pharmaceutical, consumer, and animal health products. Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
We want to satisfy all of our customers financial needs, help them succeed financially and be the premier provider of financial services Wells Fargo
To enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. Microsoft
It is our mission to proactively foster resource-leveling benefits as well as to competently promote progressive data to stay competitive in tomorrow's world Dilbert’s Mission Statement Generator
Spreading a passion for the supremacy of GOD in all things, for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ Bethlehem Baptist Church, Dr. John Piper
Moving beyond religion to multiplying followers of Christ
Everyone has a vision statement these days, because without a vision the people perish. But is this really what this verse in Proverbs means? If we don’t have a compelling vision statement for our church that the people in the church will perish? I am in favor of mission and vision statements, but this is NOT what this verse means. The NIV reads like this—Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint. The KJV translates the word as “vision” when it actually means “revelation from God”. So this verse does not mean that unless a church has vision statements or a good plan they will perish. If you know me then you know that I am always in favor of a good plan. I believe planning is a thoroughly Biblical concept. But I also know that a good plan can take the place of dependency on God. The prevailing thought is “what do I need God for? I’ve got everything worked out already.” Our passage this morning gets at the heart of this issue and warns all of us to make sure our calendars are Christ-centered. 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17 Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. Look at the details of this plan.
Doesn’t it sound as if James was writing to some high-powered businessmen? Even though the majority of Christians were eking out a mere survival and were far from wealthy, we do know that there were some Christians who had a good trade and successful businesses. What James sets forth here is a classic business plan—the timing, location, duration and detailed plans for financial success.
What do you think they were selling? Maybe they were leather workers and made high quality leather sandals. Had they written a first century mission statement it might have sounded like this: We are dedicated to serving our customers by providing only the best leather sandals throughout the Mediterranean? Most of us may not have a detailed business plan for making money, but we do make detailed plans and have calendars that are filled to the brim with meetings, concerts, school, work, sporting events, church activities, Bible studies, vacations, weekend getaways, doctors appointments, home projects, shopping, cooking, baking and yes, occasionally even sleeping. Our calendars are full of plans and more plans. As westerners we pride ourselves on good organization. We want to make sure we don’t miss appointments, that we are on time, and above all—we must be efficient! Like it or not, we are driven by our calendars, but how many of us have planning calendars that are thoroughly Christ-driven?
This is the point James was making in v. 14, Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. We like to think we are in control of our future. If we can accurately predict the future then we have some hope of controlling our future. We have meteorologists predicting the weather for the next week. We have political pundits predicting who will be the next president of the US. We have sports bookies and armchair quarterbacks predicting how many games the packers will win this season. If we can predict the future then we can control the future. It is the height of arrogance.
But James speaks into this arrogance and need for control by reminding us that life is short and you really don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Death can strike suddenly. Illness, accidents and tragedies come without warning. Our lives are like the early morning fog that slips away in the heat of the sun. There is no room for arrogance in this kind of thinking. Can you imagine a morning fog expressing arrogance? After all, a heavy fog is a powerful thing. It can reduce your visibility to almost nothing. A heavy fog can stop traffic and block out the sun for several hours. For that brief time the fog is in control and can boast of great things. But then the temperature warms and the sun begins to break through the mist and soon it is no more. No more mist—no more arrogance—no more control. Our lives are like a mist.
So what is the answer to this fleeting life. Many would agree with false philosophy that Paul quotes in 1 Cor. 15:32—Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die. If there is as good a chance as any that I will die tomorrow, or in the near future, then why make any plans at all? Live for the moment—go for the gusto—squeeze all of the fun and pleasure you can out of life because we are all living on borrowed time. This kind of life philosophy would certainly be the direct opposite of a well-planned life, wouldn’t it? But this is not what James is suggesting that we do. Don’t presume upon the future and try to control it and don’t swing to the other extreme by merely living for the moment with no thought of tomorrow. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” Is planning a good thing or a bad thing? James says that planning is a good thing, as long as you fully submit your plans to the sovereign will of God.
It all gets back to control. Am I in control of my life or is God in control? If God is in control then all plans will be bathed in an attitude of “if the Lord wills”. It’s OK to plan, in fact James criticized the detailed business plan, not because it was too detailed or because the people were too greedy, but because it was a God-less plan. God was not in the picture.
Let’s take a look at that plan again. “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” By itself it is a good but Godless plan, but let’s modify according to James instruction. If the Lord wills, today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Who is in control in the first plan? The planner is in control. We could substitute any of our own plans for this business plan and the point is the same—we are in control—or at least we think we are in control. But the second plan begins by stating—if the Lord wills—we will carry out this plan. Now we are submitting our plan to the sovereign will of God.
Of course I hope you realize that it is not enough to simply mouth the words “if the Lord wills”. It used to be more common to hear Christians says, Lord willing, I plan to do such and such. This is a phrase I use fairly often and I try to be very intentional when I say it. You want to develop a habit of saying “if the Lord wills” or “Lord willing”, but you don’t want it to merely be a habit. Do you know what I mean? If you cultivate an attitude of submission and surrender to the sovereign will of God then it is a good habit to say “Lord willing”, but if you say it out of habit with little or no recognition of God’s sovereignty then it is a bad habit.
Think for a moment about your plans for the next several weeks. This is your plan. You are organized, efficient and in control. The conclusion is that you are the master of your own life. Few people are so arrogant as to actually admit such a thing. How many people make big plans, fill up their calendars with good things and busy projects and then turn and tell you—look—I am the all-powerful master of my own life. I am in control and I defy God to interfere with MY plan. Of course we would never say such a thing, but whether or not we ever say such a thing, it is the reality of a God-less plan for your life. You could die tomorrow or more likely your perfect plan falls apart because any number of unforeseen circumstances can and will alter your perfect plan. Now take that same plan and mentally run it through the grid of the sovereignty of God. If you are sincere about this step of full surrender, you now have stepped off of the throne of your life and again acknowledged that the Lord is the master of your life. Now does this change the fact that I could still die tomorrow and that my plan will unravel? Maybe yes and maybe no, but the point is that God is in control and he can do a much better job at managing my life than I can.
I’d like to tell you about a dream I had a few weeks ago. Now I wish I could tell you this was a prophetic dream where I saw a vision of God seated on the throne with thousands upon thousands of angels surrounding the Lord in unabandoned worship. I wish I could tell you that in my dream God gave me a direct revelation about the future of Grace Church. Instead of such a spiritual sounding dream, I had a very disturbing dream—probably not at all unlike what all of us have had.
In my dream I am a pastor of a church and I was very, very late for the Sunday morning service at which I was supposed to deliver the sermon. I didn’t have time to take a shower or even brush my teeth. I was also struggling with putting my contacts in because they were about a foot in diameter. So here I am standing in front of the mirror trying to put this enormous 12 inch contact into my eye while the precious minutes are ticking away. I finally give up on the contacts and decide to wear my glasses. Of course they were dirty and smudged so badly I could hardly see. I didn’t have time to get fully dressed, so I went to church in pants, a T-shirt, tie and sport coat. I arrive at church thinking the service had already started, but I was momentarily relieved to find out I was actually an hour early. This was good because I hadn’t had time to look over my sermon that week. But my relief was turned to grief when this church leader ushered me into my office where I was supposed to be a part of a pre-service prayer time. There are about twenty people in the room and I am supposed to be their pastor, but I can’t remember the name of a single person. Instead of praying, everyone goes around the circle and gave a long introduction about themselves. I am doing my best to listen and remember some of their names, but I am also worried sick about getting ready to preach. So I continue to sit there with a nervous smile on my face and nod my head in agreement at their long-winded stories. Remember that I did not have time to brush my teeth and I could not find any mints or gum on my way into church, so finally I had enough. My breath was so bad that right in the middle of this one woman’s introduction, I pull out my toothbrush and start brushing my teeth. Now you need to understand that several months ago Karen and I bought electric toothbrushes—so this woman continues to talk on the other side of the room while my toothbrush is whirling away. Then I realize I have no way to spit out the toothpaste so I decide to spit it into scrap piece of paper. So the woman is talking in this so-called prayer meeting, I am brushing my teeth with this buzzing toothbrush in on hand and in the other hand I am holding a paper with my spit. Finally I had enough of that juggling act so I decide to leave the prayer meeting and finish brushing my teeth in the bathroom. I finish brushing my teeth and rinsing my mouth and it hits me how rude it was to do what I just did—but at that moment I don’t even care—all I care about is the refreshing feeling I am having because my teeth are finally clean and my breath doesn’t smell. I naturally decide that there was no way I was going to go back into that prayer meeting so I decide to take the rest of the hour to look over my sermon. Then to my horror I realize that I left my Bible with my sermon notes in my office with all of the people. Finally the prayer meeting is over and I tell the worship leader that I am going to run home and get a dress shirt so I don’t look so goofy in a t-shirt, tie and sport coat. I tell him if I hurry I will just make it back in time for the sermon. As I am leaving and trying to figure out how I was going to drive home and look over my sermon at the same time, when I get detained again by someone who has a littler of very cute puppies, but these puppies also look like cats. Finally my alarm clock woke me up and rescued me from the rest of this horrid dream. Can you imagine what my sermon might have sounded like that day? Maybe I would have started shaving in the middle of the message!
What is the point of all of this? The reason such a dream is so frustrating—and we all have dreams like this—is because we are not in control. Ridiculous, impossible and frustrating things happen in dreams that show us we are not in control. But the same is true of our waking lives—ridiculous, impossible and frustrating things happen which clearly show us we are not in control. You know, it might be different if we had a choice between God being in control and we being in control. At least we would have the option of being in control. But in reality our two choices are: I think and act like I am in control when I am not OR I am not in control and submit to the perfect will of God.
If you don’t submit your calendars and your plans to the Lord, then several consequences will follow. You will be eternally frustrated, as v. 7 says, you will open yourself to the work of Satan and most importantly you will be playing God. God gives all of us the same option. He says to us—“are you tired of pretending to be me? Are you exhausted because you are trying to play God by controlling your life?” When I woke up from that crazy dream, even though I had slept for 7 ˝ hours, I was exhausted. Struggling to maintain control of your life is exhausting. Are you tired of playing God? Are you exhausted from being the master of your life? In v. 6 James wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Many of you are tired and worn out and in desperate need of grace, but pride stands in our way. Grace only comes through surrender. Quit trying to play God and submit to his perfect, sovereign will.
Rich Maurer August 29, 2004 |