Life in the fast lane: Giving it all to God

23^rd Sunday after Pentecost, October 19, 2008

We’re concluding our series on Life in the fast lane today.  If you remember when we started this series, one of the things I said on the first Sunday was that I have been looking forward to this series for a long time, and part of the reason for that was my own personal life in the fast lane.

Over the past few weeks we’ve covered a range of topics as we examined how the fast lane affects us.  We started with the results from the inserts in our bulletins I asked you to fill out, as we looked at what men wish women knew about men.  When we looked at that we saw the permeating theme was that men need the women in their lives to know that they are not women, and how important it is for men to feel they are respected.  Our verse was Ephesians 5:25, specifically, “Wives, respect your husbands” – ladies, respect the men in your lives.  We talked about how men are wired as do-ers and not necessarily emoters, or talkers.  And to make the point we asked the question, if your toilet’s overflowing, do you really want the men in your lives to say, “I really need to talk about how that makes me feel”, or do you want them to just go and fix it? 

The next week we looked at the responses from the ladies here in church, focusing on Genesis 2 and when Adam saw Eve for the first time.  The permeating theme that Sunday was that the ladies gathered here today need the men in their lives to know that the ladies in their lives are their complete-ments.  We also looked at 1^st Peter 3 and saw how men are to be considerate of the ladies in their lives, and talk about how in the original Greek that means to ‘know well.’ And to make that point, we asked the question, “If you went to a restaurant after church today and the ladies in your life asked you to order for them, men, could you do it?”  The point was that the ladies made it clear they need know they are special to you above every other person.

After that we looked at the relationship we have with Jesus, and we went back to 1^st Peter, only this time looked at chapter 2 and saw that because of Jesus, we who are believers in Him, have been called out to be different from the rest of the world. We read – Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  We are to be aliens and strangers in the world.  One of the ways we recognized we can do that is to live counter to the fast lane.  The question we asked was, “What if, when people asked us, “Did you watch that movie or TV show, or listen to that latest song?” we answered, “No, because it’s not something I want to expose myself to since I am no longer a part of this world”?  What if we answered, “I’m abstaining from sin desires and things that pull me away from Jesus, because they war against my soul, and my soul has been saved by Jesus”? 

Finally last week we took a look at the nation of Israel just before they were overrun by the Babylonian empire.  The prophet Isaiah was sent to them with a blatant message: Stop living apart from God in the fast lane.  We used the example of the golf balls and the rice in a glass jar, and we saw when the rice – representing the fast lane – is poured into a glass jar first, there is no room for the things of God.  But when the things of God are put in the glass jar first – represented by the golf balls – the things of this life swirl in around the balls.  The point is when God is at the center of our lives, the fast lane doesn’t dominate.  We even made the point that the fast lane affects us only as much as we let it, and we asked the question if whether or not we’re going to continue in pride of stubbornness of heart until we find ourselves alone and broken.  We even heard some very blunt and straightforward words from God regarding proud, stubborn hearts from Proverbs 16 and James 4: “I will detest and oppose you.”

So what are we left with at the end of this series?  For that, we’re turning to our Gospel reading today, Matthew 22:15-22, so I invite you to take out your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew 22.  Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, written by the Disciple…Levi!  Levi was his good Jewish name, Matthew his good Greek name. 

To put  this reading in context, the opposition against Jesus has been growing and growing as Jesus has leveled the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law over and over and over again.  He’s been point blank with them: you are leading the people astray and will be going to hell.  The Pharisees decided to try and trap Jesus by asking him a trick question: should we pay taxes to Caesar or not?

If Jesus answers, “Yes”, it will look as though He’s siding with the Roman Empire who is occupying Israel and forcing the Jews to support the Roman government through excessive taxes – He’ll lose the respect and following of the people.  If Jesus answers, “No”, given His popularity, it will be interpreted as treason against the Roman Government, and Rome has ways of taking care of those kind of people – death through crucifixion.  Let’s look at Jesus’ answer starting in verse 20: He asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”  “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then He said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”  When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left Him and went away.”  They went away, but like a bad denarius they would come back later to try and trap Him again.

Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s.  At the risk of putting words into Jesus’ mouth, He’s acknowledging that we live in the real world, with real hurts, real demands, real pressures, real things we have to deal with.  In other words, we can’t escape entirely from the fast lane; we will live our lives to some extent in it.  Give to the world what is due the world.  In the context of our reading today this refers specifically to paying taxes.  There are very few ways of getting around paying taxes, and as Christians we should not be trying to manipulate the circumstances to get out of paying them, either.   You can write the scripture reference Romans 13:6-7 next to these verse in Matthew: This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.  Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

But this message today is not about paying taxes.  This message today is about the second half of what Jesus said, “Give to God what is God’s.”  The image of Caesar on the coin showed the people Caesar was in charge, and there were things due him.  What about us as a Christian people in the fast lane?  Does this idea of having an image stamped on something mean anything to us?

Yes, it does.  You can write Genesis1:27 in the margin of your Bible, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”  The image of Caesar meant the coin and all that came with it belonged to him.  You and I are created in the image of God, and that means each and every one of us belong to God.  “Give to God what is God’s.”  What is God’s?  You and I are.  What Jesus is saying here is plain; we are to give whole-heartedly over to God, with nothing held back.  We are to give ourselves and all we have to God.

Give to God what is God’s – give Him the pain.  The fast lane demands everything we have and gives back very little.  So many people escape into and get caught up in the fast lane as a way of dealing with – or ignoring – their pain, their heart-ache, until it all ultimately explodes.  The fast lane will take it all, too, and hand us back more emptiness, more pain, more meaningless talk.  God takes the pain we give Him, and soothes the hurts.  He mends broken hearts and moves them to beat in time with His.  This doesn’t mean things are always going to be smooth sailing, but it does mean that God is the one who’s in charge of the boat, we just need to get out of the way and give it over to Him!

Give to God what is God’s – give Him the victories.  The fast lane takes the rewards and victories away from us, and reminds us there’s always someone out there quicker, smarter, faster, and richer than us.  God takes the victories, the rewards, the successes, and – to sound a little sappy, I’ll admit – puts them on His refrigerator for all of Heaven to see.  By that I mean not only does He brag about His children like He did in the first chapter of Job, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”, He pours out so much of His grace on us because of the ultimate victory we have in Jesus, that it says in 1^st Peter 1:12 that even the angels in Heaven long to look into and understand this.  He takes the victories and helps His children to not find their value and worth in those things, but rather helps them to rejoice because their names are written in the Book of Life.

Give to God what is God’s – give Him the portion of the income set aside each week for His work.  The fast lane takes our money and either gives nothing back, or gives back things that only wear out, break down, or cost more money to keep.  God asks only for a portion of the money He gives us to begin with, and makes us a promise in Malachi 3:10, Bring the whole tithe {10% of the income} into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  It’s the only place in the entire Bible where God actually invites us to put Him to the test – and it rests squarely with our wallets.  The fast lane just takes all our money with no promise of a good return.  God promises more blessing with just a portion of our money than we could ever get by keeping it or giving it to the fast lane.

Give to God what is God’s – give Him your family.  The fast lane destroys relationships because there’s no time for anyone else except ourselves.  The main focus in the fast lane is what is good for me, never mind anyone else.  The fast lane says ‘look out for number one!’  God says in Joshua 24:15, …choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  How do we give God our families?  We submit to God’s authority and leadership in our lives, and thank Him for the people He’s given us. We live in a relationship with them based on what God says in His word.  Now of course the only way we will know what God says in His word about how we are to live in relationship with our family is to actually read it.  It’s the fast lane that tells us we are in charge of our destiny and it’s up to us what way to go.  It’s God who lays it out in simple, clear form for us in His Word.

Give to God what is God’s – give Him your heart.  The First Commandment says it very clearly, “You shall have no other gods before me.”  I’m willing to bet none of you have little statues in your homes that you bow down to and worship.  I’m fairly certain that none of you burn sacrifices or incense on an altar to a little idol you have sitting on your mantle.  And I’m willing to bet your last bottom dollar that none of you pray to anyone except God the Father, Son and Spirit.  When we hear the First Commandment, what we usually think of are idols and statues and these other kinds of things.  But that’s not all having another god means.

The fast lane says whatever makes you feel good or whatever you like is what you need to latch onto and run with.  God says anything that gets in the way of your relationship to Him is another god.  Money, things, intimate relationships with others, TV, the Internet, education, our work, a cause, our ‘good’ name, our title, our spouse, our children… anything that captures our heart and takes it off our Triune God is a god.  The fast lane says that’s okay – give your heart to whatever captures your heart.  God says, “Give me your heart, and watch what I’ll do with it!”

Give to God what is God’s – give Him your love.  The fast lane says love is a temporal thing, and is usually focused on objects – or on people as not much more than objects.  It redefines love until we really don’t know what ‘love’ means anymore.  It focuses our affection on things we think will meet our needs until we get tired of them, and then tells us to move on to the next thing.  ‘Love’ in the fast lane never satisfies, and always leave us empty.  We are told in Mark 12:30 to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.   God says in 1^st Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.   It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.   It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” We give God our love by giving our heart first to Him, letting Him captivate us with His love for us, then giving our love to others the way He tells us love is supposed to be.

Give to God what is God’s.  Do you know what Jesus says about you and all believers in John 17:16?  He says, “They are not of the world, {just} as I am not of it.”  We’re different.  Not better, just different.  We are sinners who have been saved by the Grace of God.  We are lost sheep who have been found by our Shepherd.  We are children who ran away from our Heavenly Father and immersed ourselves fully into the fast lane, and when we came to our senses and returned to Him, found He’d been waiting on tiptoes the whole time, watching down the road for us to come back.

Saint and sinner; lost and found; children of the Heavenly Father firmly held in nailed scarred hands while we live life in the fast lane.

Amen.