Do You Have a Lion in Your Street?

The title of my sermon, I don't really know when to bring it up, so I'm just going to tell you as I begin, because I don't want to forget. The title of the sermon is, Do You Have a Lion in Your Street? Do you have a lion in your street? Now, we are a very busy group of people, and that's a very good thing, I guess. Sometimes we may feel we're too busy. And we're busy. We're busy in our personal lives, in our families every week. We have jobs in school, and if we're in retirement age, life doesn't get any slower, I'm told. It becomes busier. There may be appointments, errands to run, things to track down. Of course, we must make sure we all carve out time to pray and study God's Word. It takes diligent effort in our part to maintain our relationships, family and friends. Of course, I do know we're busy lending a hand to those in need and practicing being good neighbors. That's very important, too. It takes time and keeps us busy. We also make time to support and serve in the congregation. For that, I am so very grateful to all of you. I can look out, and once every one of you that I know is very busy serving here in the congregation. On behalf of all of us here, I do thank you for your service. I do recognize what you do, and a lot of it we may not even know of. But I know God is, and I know he's pleased with your service with all of our service. We do serve the congregation. Maybe not here, but maybe as we're able, with our prayers. We encourage each other. We say, please and thank you. That's a way of showing appreciation and serving. There are often unseeing acts of love that go on, and we need to keep doing that. There are others of all ages who are able and willing to help maintain this beautiful building we're blessed with. We have people each week that come in and help maintain the building.

We have others that do the landscaping. Probably not so much mowing right now, but I know that happens throughout the summer and warm weather months. There are others that have teams that come in and clean, from windows to doors, floor to ceilings, restrooms to kitchen. These things are done, and we're grateful for that.

Then each Sabbath, as I'm sure you're aware, we have volunteers that greet us as we come in the doors and make us feel so welcome when we come in. We have others that handle the sound booth. Although a lot of them are gone right now, and thank you, Mr. Crane, for stepping in. It's amazing what we miss when certain people are gone. That's one of the reasons we do not have cybercasts today. All the people that knew how to do that have left. But we're hanging in there. We're going on. I appreciate that help. Special music, of course. People fight snacks, they wipe down tables, they take out the trash, they turn out the lights, and then they lock the doors behind us, and we're all done. All that happens, and sometimes we may not even be aware of that, a lot of us. We don't realize all the service that is necessary, and that takes place. For all these reasons, I believe we have a very wonderful, service-minded, and serving congregation. I really do believe that. I really do. Like I say, we are a busy people. We are busy. But I think one would be hard-pressed to call us lazy, wouldn't you? I don't know people. I don't like the word lazy, by the way. I grew up, and that was a bad word in our family. And I still kind of take it that way. But I recognize it is a word that appears in the Bible. Maybe you've read it. That thought occurred to me a little more clearly while I was reading the book of Proverbs, this idea of lazy and laziness. For some reason, those Proverbs—and we're going to look at them here, so you can go ahead and be turning with me to Proverbs— As I was reading through Proverbs, my mind, for some reason, was drawn to the Proverbs that talk about people who are lazy. And like I said, that was a bad thing in my family. But I found it interesting to see what God's word has to say about it. Let's read a few Proverbs regarding who or what lazy means. Let's start with Proverbs 13.4.

In here is one of a number—not going to read all of them—but just a few to get a taste of flavor here.

In Proverbs 13.4, we read, The soul of a lazy man—the Hebrew word nephesh, it just means life—the life of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul or life of the diligent shall be made rich. Well, now, what does this mean? It says what it says, but what's something we can draw from this?

The soul of a lazy man desires and has nothing, but the soul of a diligent—diligent people typically are hard-working—well, they shall be made rich. Well, the simple contrast here is that we find the lazy man, he wants a lot of things. He wants some great things. But that's all he does. He just desires it. He doesn't actually apply himself, as we might say. He doesn't work to attain them, as does the diligent man.

Now let's look to the other page, perhaps in your Bible, Proverbs 12-27. Maybe in the next column, Proverbs 12-27, here's another one. This one's kind of interesting. The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, but diligence is man's precious possession. So again, we get another interesting contrast. In this case, the lazy man goes on a hunt, so he has enough energy to go hunting, but he never cooks what he finds. He only half-accomplishes what he really needs to be doing, doesn't he?

So the lesson we find here is that, unlike the diligent man who sees his task to completion, the lazy man never completes a project he starts. Now, before all the wives start nudging husbands, or vice versa, I got a few of those in my house. It's not because we're lazy. It's because we get busy. We get distracted. And I think all of us could humbly admit, yes, that's probably what it is. It's not that we're lazy a lot of times when we get these projects.

It's not talking about that. It's really talking about somebody who has no intent or willpower to even try. Let's also look now at Proverbs 20, verse 4. Proverbs 20, verse 4 gives us another aspect of the lazy man. Proverbs 24, The lazy man will not plow because of winter. He will beg during harvest and have nothing. Now, this may sound a little confusing. You might be thinking, what person is going to plow, meaning plant fields in the wintertime?

We're not talking about Wisconsin. Wisconsin would be a bad idea. Your plow is just going to bounce on the frozen ground. This is a different climate. And it goes like this. The lazy man doesn't plow or plant at the right time of the year. Wintertime was the right time of the year to plow and plant. It's the rainy season. See? It was the rainy season. So he's not plowing or planting at the right time of the year, the rainy season, because that rainy season in the Middle East, in the Holy Land, it's also a time when it's cold and it's wet, and it's really miserable and unpleasant to be out there working the fields.

It's not to the lazy man's liking, you see. Therefore, the meaning seems to be, instead, the lazy man plants when it's convenient to him, when it's comfortable for him. And because the lazy man plants when it's convenient to him, he will have no harvest.

He will have no harvest. And so, the point here is that the lazy man expects an excellent harvest, but without putting forth the right and timely effort. So there is a time to be getting things taken care of. Now, another one of Proverbs, probably just a few lines up, Proverbs 19.24. This proverb paints a rather humorous or comical picture of this poor fellow, this poor lazy man.

I mean, this man... how lazy is he? This man is so lazy! Here, let's read. Proverbs 19.24. A lazy man buries his hand in the bowl, but will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. Yeah, that is funny. I agree. He buries his hand in his dish of food, but that's where it stays. He doesn't even have the energy to bring it back to his mouth to feed himself.

Now, that's lazy. That's lazy. And it's really pathetic. How could anyone be that lazy? Now, these scriptures... let me be quick to say this. These scriptures are not addressing those people who are incapable of doing certain things due to age or disability. That's not what it's talking about here. The lazy man, these descriptions tell us, is fully capable. He's fully capable of working or doing whatever it needs he needs to do. He's fully capable of doing it. He can do what needs to get done, but he lacks the will to do so. He just doesn't want to do it. And he doesn't.

So, this is what we learn here a little bit about the lazy man. And this is mainly addressing on the surface. On the surface, it seems to be stressing more or less the physical aspects of life. But God's Word also warns us about a more serious type of laziness, a spiritual laziness called sluggishness at times, or it could be called dullness or slothfulness.

Yeah. Sluggishness. Doesn't sound like a good thing. We find reference to this type of laziness, the spiritual laziness. Let's turn back to Hebrews 5, verses 9-12. In Hebrews 5, verses 9-12, and here's what we read about a rather dangerous kind of laziness.

Hebrews 5, verse 9, breaking into the thought, "...and having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him," speaking of Jesus Christ, "...called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have much to say and hard to explain." And why is it hard to understand and to explain? It says, "...since some of you have become dull." Now, one Bible version says, lazy. And another says, sluggish. Lazy, dull, sluggish of hearing. "...for though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food." So here we find a warning to people who knew better spiritually, but it sounds like they've regressed, they've forgotten some things. They're not hearing and attending to spiritual matters like they should have been. The point seems to be that we can take from this is that unless one remains close to God, continuing to grow in faith, that is, in belief and obedience to God, it is possible to become lazy spiritually, to become a little dull. One, I wonder, one might become like the lazy man who expects an excellent harvest.

We can equate that with salvation, but doesn't put forth the effort to receive it. Or perhaps we could say it's like that funny lazy man who puts his hand in the bowl before a meal but doesn't take it in need of it. Could that be like someone who doesn't pay attention and has the Bible in their laps, but doesn't read it and doesn't study it, and kind of starves himself that way? I think that's an application of what we can find here. Let's also look at Hebrews 6, verses 9 through 12. Hebrews 6, verses 9 through 12. We find more about this dole of hearing.

We are confident of better things concerning you. Yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this matter. Again, dropping into the thought.

Again, it means lazy.

Here again we find that word diligence. We get this contrast between those who are diligent, who are staying faithful to God, who are persevering to the end, versus those who could be becoming dull and a little bit lazy in their spiritual life.

And so we're warned not to become sluggish. Instead, we're exhorted to be diligent, keep obeying God, keep caring for our brethren. Our relationship with God and our brethren needs constant attention. We can't just ignore it and walk away from it to not pay attention. And so we must not fool ourselves becoming like the lazy man. We cannot receive salvation by merely wanting it.

We cannot be hearers of God's word only, but we must be doers. That should remind us of James 1-22. Be not just hearers of the word, deceiving yourselves, but be ye doers. And so we must put forth sincere and diligent effort in repenting of sin so we can love God and our neighbor better and better as our time and life God gives us continues on, and we can just keep improving spiritually.

And so we should understand that we could very well become like the lazy man described in the book of Proverbs. Even though we're busy with their daily lives and even serving so faithfully, so humbly in the congregation, we could still be found lazy spiritually speaking. And that is in the eyes of God, and of course that's whose eyes matter most.

There's one more proverb I'd like to turn to. Proverbs 26-13. Proverbs 26-13. You see, what sometimes happens with the lazy man is that he makes excuses. And it's something we could do, too.

And I say that because I've done it. Not always to my credit. And we also see people doing it in Scripture. Let's look at something that sometimes the lazy man has said. Proverbs 26-13. This last proverb I want to look at about the lazy man. The lazy man says, there is a lion in the road. A fierce lion is in the streets.

Hence the title of my sermon. Well, why would the lazy man say something like that? Is there really a lion in the street? Is there really a lion in the road? That could be. I doubt it, though. What it really is, is the lazy man is making a lame and rather ridiculous excuse for not doing what he knows he needs to be doing. And therein is a warning for us. We need to be careful that we do not make a claim such as, well, there's a lion in the street. I can't do this or that. We're fond of talking about an ox in the ditch, I've noticed in our congregations, you know, a burden that needs to be taken care of. But have we often thought of something else? Be careful of having a lion in the street. A lion in the street excuse for not doing what we really know we need to be doing. Now, we would not be the first ones to make that sort of excuse. The Bible records a number of people have done something similar, making excuses for not serving God or for showing a lack of faith in serving God. Let's look at a few examples. As we are reminded today of our need to be diligent in serving God and serving one another. For example, let's turn back to the book of Exodus chapter 3. You know, God called upon Moses to go to Pharaoh and to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. And he is a great person, a very righteous man. You find reference to Moses throughout Scripture. It's incredible what God was able to do through Moses. But do we remember that Moses at first resisted the opportunity to serve God? He put up a little excuse when God asked him to serve. His first excuse, we're going to look at Exodus 3 verse 10. And his first excuse to God was that he was a nobody. He was a nobody. Let's look at Exodus 3 verses 10 through 12. Exodus 3 verses 10 through 12. God speaking, Now come now, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? So he said, God said, I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you, when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. Now God was quite confident that Moses would accomplish this. Moses wasn't sure of it at all. Who am I, he says. But it's interesting, maybe Moses didn't want to count as anything. The fact that his life had been somewhat rare, and somewhat of an exception. He had an exceptional life. He was a somebody, you might say, although he felt like a nobody. We can remember that he was found and reared by Pharaoh's daughter. All the other babies his age were to be executed, but his mother made a basket, put him in it, and Pharaoh's daughter found him, and reared him up later in her household. He had the education of a prince of Egypt. He had a very special calling, you might say, from birth, it seems. God had saved his life, and as a baby, that is, and then he trained him and kept training him for all his life. But Moses, it seems, was not easily swayed to accept God's call.

Exodus 4, verses 10-15. Exodus 4, 10-15. Moses had another excuse he wanted to beg. He wanted to beg off this opportunity to serve.

He claims this time that he was not a good speaker. Exodus 4, verse 10-15. Then Moses said to the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent.

Some translation says, I stutter. I am not eloquent, neither before or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of slow tongue. And so the Lord said to him, Well, who made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seen, or the blind? I can take care of this, Moses. Have not I the Lord? I have made these, I make you. Now therefore go, and I will be your mouth and teach you what you shall say. Moses said, O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else you may send. Please don't send me. Please don't make me do this.

But thankfully God is most merciful and compassionate. And as a father to his child, here's what God told him. Verse 14, The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, he wasn't pleased. But then he said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he can speak well. And look, he is also coming to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do.

Have we ever applied to God with excuses like Moses did?

Have we ever said something like this to God? I'm going to throw myself in here. Please, God, I can't give a speech. I can't do a seminar. Some of you men know where I'm going with this. I can't give a sermonette.

I can't do a sermon. I can't, and the rest of you can fill in the blank. Right? We think we're nobody. But if God has allowed us that opportunity, you know maybe God knows something about us we don't know or don't believe yet. And there's also something else to remember when we're asked to serve.

God does want us to become more like Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to serve and not be served, and God wants us to learn to serve, to take those opportunities. But more about that in a little bit. Let's also talk about Saul. Not the New Testament Saul, but the Old Testament Saul. Let's turn to 1 Samuel 15. In 1 Samuel 15, we have excuses mentioned several times, recorded several times, that the first king of Israel, King Saul, gave to God. His excuse, to summarize it, was that the people, so he claimed, made him disobey God. It's their fault that I don't do what you told me to do, God, through Samuel the prophet. That's pretty much a summary there. Let's read 1 Samuel 15 verses 1 through 3. 1 Samuel 15 verses 1 through 3. And we're going to... Well, that helps if I get in the right book. Excuse me just a moment. 1 Samuel 15 verses 1 through 3. Samuel also said to Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint you, king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore heed the voice of the words of the LORD. Pay attention. Thus said the LORD of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go... Here's the command. Here's what Saul was told to do. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. Very clear directions. Very clear, specific directions. Let's see what happened. Let's look at verse 7 then. Verses 7 through 9. And Saul attacked Amalekites from Havela all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag, king of the... I want to say that wrong. Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. I think we see what they were doing. They were cherry-picking the best and keeping it, not doing what they were told. Saul clearly didn't do as God commanded. Well, why not? Well, let's continue. Verses 14. Verses 14 through 23. Samuel comes back on the scene afterwards.

Verses 14, same chapter. But Samuel said then, later on, What then is this bleeding of sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear? Saul said, I did what God said. Happy day. I obeyed God. And Saul said, well, they have brought them from the Amalekites. Unless he says, they? For the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God. And the rest we have utterly destroyed. And then Samuel said to Saul, be quiet. Maybe he said something a little more stern. Hush up. Don't give me that. And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night. And he said to him, speak on. So what did he say? Samuel said, when you, Saul, were little in your own eyes, were you not the head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? And now the Lord sent you on a mission and said, go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord? And again, Saul states why. It's really an excuse. Verse 20. And Saul said to Samuel, but I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I imagine his eyes kind of blinked like a little child does sometimes when they get corrected, right? He probably blinked his eyes, but I have obeyed the Lord. And gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek, have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people, the people took the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice the Lord your God in Gilgal. See, the people had a better idea than God's. It's really what he's saying.

So Samuel said, Has the Lord his great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed to listen to do what you're told than the fad of rams. For rebellion, disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. Too many excuses, too much disobedience.

Now, when I read this, I find myself squirming a little bit at times, because I look back in my life and think about excuses I've made, too. So let me ask you, have we ever made excuses for disobeying God? Have we ever made excuses for not doing what he clearly instructs us to do? There's a word called justification. Sometimes we might justify our actions just as we see Saul doing here. Perhaps we have blamed others for our action or inaction.

Or what about this point? Have we ever excused our disobedience to God because we don't really think his command applies to us? That somehow we think we know better what God means. And so we really don't think we need to do that.

See, that's not a good place for me or for you, any of us, to be in.

Sometimes we don't think what God says applies to us. Or maybe sometimes we don't think God really means what he says. I wouldn't want to argue with God. And yet, when I make lame excuses, there's a lion in the street. Maybe that's what I'm doing. That reveals, I think, part of that lazy man way of thinking that we have to be careful of. One more individual I'd like for us to look at and consider is Jonah.

If you haven't read Jonah lately, it's a short read and a very interesting one.

And of course, it's a narrative. It reads like a story. It's very interesting.

Let's consider Jonah. And I'm not going to read the whole story of Jonah, but let's turn to Jonah 4. Now, Jonah, as we are probably quite familiar with the story, did not want to do what God commanded him to do.

Jonah's excuse seems to be the fact that he knew that God would forgive the Ninevites. He knew God would be forgiving because God is forgiving. If people repent, God will forgive. It's that simple. Even though it's hard to repent that God is that simple to forgive. Jonah didn't want God forgiving the Ninevites because Jonah hated them.

Jonah apparently knew that Nineveh would one day destroy Israel.

And so instead of obeying God, Jonah rather foolishly tried to run away from God. And by running away from God, going in the opposite direction, east, instead of north and west, he thought he could thwart God's plans. He thought that would keep him from delivering God's message of repentance to the Ninevites. That way they would never repent. They would be destroyed because of their sin. And he would help his nation Israel.

So in Jonah verses 4, 1-4, we find this is after God has gotten Jonah back on track.

He had him toss out a ship and storm, and he got gulped by a large fish. And then later on, spewed out, three days and three nights later, spewed on the shore near to Nineveh. And I'm sure that gave him time to think, and all this happened. But now in chapter 4, verses 1-4, here we find Jonah's response. After Nineveh had listened to what Jonah said, and indeed they had turned from evil. And yes, God had relented from destroying them. And here we find Jonah's excuse to God. Verse 1, but it displeased Jonah exceedingly. He was not happy. How the Ninevites repented, and God relented from destroying them. And he became very angry. And so he prayed to the Lord. It's good he can still go to God. So he prayed to the Lord and said, Ah, Lord, was this not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore, that's why, therefore I fled previously to Tarshish. For I know that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, an abundant and loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm. So what's his excuse? Why did he run away? Because you are God and you love. He's making God his excuse, in a sense. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me. Just kill me. For it is better for me to die than to live. And the Lord said, and I suspect maybe in a firm but quiet voice, Is it right for you to be angry? Do you really have the right to be angry? And then, of course, he explains to him, God explains to him all the people he saved, even their animals and all this. He should be glad for that. And he continues, verses 9 through 11. Then God also said to Jonah, Is it right for you to be angry about the plant? See, God had created this plant, remember, to shade him. And then God later on let a bug come in and eat the plant a little bit, damage it, and the sun came up the next day, took away Jonah's nice cool shade. Is it right for you to even be angry about this plant? And he said, It is right for me to be angry, even to death. He still hasn't gotten over this. But the Lord said, You have had pity on a plant, for which you have not labored. You did not make it grow, and it came up in the night, and perished in the night. And so he says, Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and much livestock? In other words, it seems to be suggesting that there are a bunch of ignorant children. They didn't know until you told them. And then they listened. Why would I not have mercy on them? And you're angry about a plant? Well, now what happened to Jonah after this? I don't know. We don't know. Nothing more is said. I would like to think Jonah humbled himself and got right with God.

But I don't know. He seems pretty angry. Jonah seems to have been among the most belligerent of God's servants in this situation. Previously, he seems he was obeying God and doing fine. But in this case, he was a little more filled with excuses. Part of his reasoning, when you look between the lines, it seems to be that for Jonah, he had a little greater loyalty at this time, what we might call patriotism today, to his nation Israel than he did to God in this situation. He got his loyalties misplaced. And that seems to become his excuse for disobeying God. A lesson I think we could take from Jonah's example is that we should be careful not to have any excuses for disobeying God's clear will and commands.

And that's true. And we shouldn't be misplacing our loyalties, perhaps to our nation, our group. And of course, Christ tells us about being overly loyal to our own families, to our own parents. We have to put God first and foremost. We must do as God commands, even when it's inconvenient and very unpleasant, and contrary to what we want to do, just as Jonah had to learn.

You know, when you think about all these excuses that occurred to me, excuses don't affect God's... excuses don't affect God. They don't... our excuses don't hurt God. Our excuses hurt whom? Me and you. It hurts ourselves. God is not going to be stopped by our excuses, by our digging in of heels. So when I'm trying to learn, I need to stop making excuses to God. And of course, I think we could all agree with that.

So we've read excuses from these different servants of God, and when I read these and think about it, those excuses sound pretty familiar to me. I know I've used some of them. Maybe to get out of work at my job, maybe to avoid an unpleasant chore at home, or to do something I'm just not comfortable with, even related to serving in the congregation. I suspect we might all do that. And there are probably other excuses people never hear us say.

They're in our hearts, and there's secret there, but I think God knows what's in our hearts, and He hears what we are thinking or saying. Now, I want to be honest with you. If it feels like I'm putting all of us on the spot, making a squirm a little bit, it's because I am. I am. And I'm sitting right there with you. Okay, I'm speaking to myself as well. I've often been in this spot squirming, and I still find myself in that spot.

But I'm drawing our attention to our need to obey and serve God, because I also know I'm speaking to those God has called to be members of His eternal family. I'm speaking to those whom God wants to serve Him loyally, not just in this lifetime we have, this physical experience we have, but also on into eternity. We have those beautiful, glorious bodies we heard about in the sermonette today.

God has called us to be His servants. Servants of the actual word in the New Testament is really slaves, but that has a bad connotation in the Western world. So oftentimes it's translated in our Bibles as servants, but it really means slaves. We are called to be God's servants or slaves, and servants are to serve God as God instructs, and always in places and in ways, quite possibly, that we would not choose for ourselves. Moses never asked to speak to Pharaoh.

He never wanted of his own volition to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Saul never wanted to be king. That was placed upon him. And Jonah certainly did not want to preach repentance to Nineveh. And some of us might say some other things about our lives. I never wanted to do fill in the blank, and yet here we are.

God's servants must yield to God. God's servants cannot allow the lazy man within us to rule over our lives. We can't allow it. The Father has called us, and he calls whomever he chooses. And when we accept the Father's call, repent, commit ourselves to the remainder of our living lives, our physical lives, and obedient service to God, that means we agreed to humbly submit ourselves to his will always, and to make the most of life's opportunities to learn and to mature spiritually.

And we do this so that we will become more like God, more like his Son, Jesus Christ, and be worthy of receiving salvation and doing all those wonderful things, the hope we have, the promises of God that we read about in Scripture. Now, of course, it would be wrong for me to say that every possible opportunity that comes our way in life is one that we should take. It's an opportunity God wants us to take. It's not quite that simple. We have to study the opportunities that come our way. We must use wisdom and prayer and careful study and making especially those big choices in life. For example, we might have the opportunity to become brain surgeons. Yeah, I could go to school and declare my major and start at it, and any of you could, too. But I don't think all of us, at least, should want to take on that opportunity, although it might be in front of us. We have to think it through. That's my point. We have to think through the opportunities that do come our way. So how are we to serve God, then? How are we to serve our neighbor? What should be our attitude and approach? We've seen some things that didn't work so well at the first with these three men in the Old Testament. What should our approach be? Well, of course, Jesus Christ set the example, and He gives us lots of instruction in the New Testament. Let's turn to John 13 and remind ourselves some very crucial things as part of our calling and part of our responsibility and part of what we're supposed to be learning to be better at. Of course, we're going to turn to John 13 because we must neglect the example Christ set for us on the night before His crucifixion. Let's look at John 13, verses 12-17. It's something that I find when I remember this, it makes it easier for me to serve. It reminds me why I serve and why I must serve. John 13, verse 12. So when He had washed their feet and taken His garment and set down, Jesus said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You have called Me, Teacher and Lord, and you say, Well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. And yes, we know these scriptures very well. I'm sure we do. We read them a lot during the year, not just during the Passover service. We've read them for years. But do we remember them when we're called upon to serve in ways that we really don't want to serve? And that's where we have to dig deep and find a little more humility and the willingness to do. I find for myself it's much easier to serve and do things maybe I'm not comfortable with when I remember Christ's words here from John 13. Let's also turn to Mark 10. In Mark 10, Christ gave some more directions about serving.

Mark 10, verse 35 through 45. Mark 10, verse 35 through 45. And here we find two of his disciples, James and John. They come to Christ and they have a question. They want him just to do what they ask. Don't think about it. Just say yes. Verse 35. Then James and John came to him saying, Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask. Oh, that's a pretty big request. Guys, what do you want me to do? And he said to them, What do you want me to do for you? It's interesting. He says, How can I serve you? Pretty much what he's saying. And they said to him, Grant that we may sit, one in your right hand and the other on your left hand, in your glory.

But Jesus said to them, You don't know what you're asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? Well, they said to him, as best as they knew, Yeah, yes, we are evil.

So Jesus said to them, Well, you will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized, you will be baptized. Of course, at that time, I really doubt they fully understood what that meant. But to sit on my right hand and on my left, that is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.

And when the ten heard about it, the other ten disciples, when the other ten heard it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John. This is not a nice, peaceful group of disciples. They had a lot to learn as servants as well, didn't they, at that time? But Jesus called them to Himself and said, You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lorded over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.

And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Of course, it's about self-sacrifice. True leading and serving is about self-sacrifice. So Christ made very clear here to them and to us that lording it over others or making demands like some kind of tyrant upon other people's time and other people's resources, let's say, with the mentality of, I deserve this, so just do what I say.

That's neither the attitude nor the approach that God's servants are to have. That is not how we are to treat one another. That is not the way we are to be treated by one another. Such an approach does not align with God's way of loving service and self-sacrifice. And that's happened to us. And that's where we need to recognize it.

And if it does happen and we do it, we need to stop and repent. Could we have an entitlement mentality? That's what we call this. I do deserve this and that. You need to do what I say. Do we have times I wonder behave like tyrants towards our spouse? Maybe towards our children? Maybe we act that way toward our parents, sometimes, as young people. I certainly did, I'm ashamed to say. I've repented of that part, anyway. I'm still working on the rest.

Do we act like tyrants to our friends? Do we act that way, sometimes, to our brethren? And might we ever make excuses justifying behaving that way? I've caught myself doing that at times. And I hope nobody else does that. But we're all human. We probably do at times. But, and here's the nice thing, if and when we do things like that, act like a tyrant bossing people around, well, then we need to repent. That's the solution. We repent. We seek reconciliation with those we've offended. And we ask God humbly for His forgiveness, just as we ask those we've offended for their forgiveness, if they will give it to us.

And then we ask God to help us, to give us more strength of His Spirit, because we are too weak on our own. We ask God for His help to become less like the worldly examples that dominate our society and rub off on us, rub off on us, sometimes, and to become much more like Jesus Christ, the one who laid down His life so we could live. Now, I want to continue on here in chapter 10, though, because there's the rest of the story here as well. Oftentimes, we stop there and move on.

But let's continue reading, because what we find next is that Jesus, again, shows us how we're supposed to be living with His own personal example. He tells us how to live, and then He continues in different places, shows us. What He shows us in the next verses is that servant-minded attitude and approach. Let's continue on in verse 46 or 52 of Mark 10.

And now they came to Jericho. They're walking on the road to Jericho. And as they get to Jericho, and as they went out to Jericho with His disciples in a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging, blind man, begging for alms. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And then many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, you have good cheer.

Rise. He's calling you. Suddenly their attitude has changed toward this blind man. He is calling you. And throwing aside his garment, he rose up and he came to Jesus. I suspect he was very eager. Verse 51, Jesus answered and said to him, What do you want me to do for you?

Do you notice he had asked his disciples the very same question in verse 36? Yeah. The blind man said to him, Rabboni, that I may receive my sight. That's what I ask of you. Then Jesus said to him, Go your way. Your faith has made you well. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road. I like that story. It happened. It's real. In what a contrast, Christ's attitude and approach, when contrasted with the approach of some of those disciples, people following him, escorting him in this crowd, they had told Barna May as to hush up.

Just hush up. Maybe something a little more firm than that. In other words, they said, Don't bother us. Don't bother the master. But Jesus stopped and basically asked again, How can I help you? How can I serve you? And then Jesus did his man request, because the man believed that Jesus Christ, the son of David, would heal him. And he did. Now, there's something more we need to know. So we know we don't want to be like the lazy man.

And we know that we need to follow Christ's example. And we've read in the New Testament, we have to be careful being dull of hearing and being sluggish. There's a need there to be diligent. That's what we need to understand a little bit better. And that's we, me, you, we need to understand a little bit more. What the diligent man is like. I've heard a lot about the lazy man. What about the diligent man? God expects us to serve with diligence. That's the point. God expects us to serve with diligence.

Now, we might think we know what diligence means. I'm sure we all carry that definition on mind. But let's turn to Scripture to understand what serving with diligence more fully means. Let's turn to Romans 12. We usually equate diligence with working hard and being very conscientious to make sure we do our task, whatever it is. We do it very well. Employers love to have diligent employees. We love it when our children are diligent to get their chores and homework done.

That is diligence. But the original Greek word does bear a shade of meaning that goes beyond hardworking and being conscientious. The Greek word is spode. And I'll spell it for you just so you know. S-P-O-U-D-E. Spode. It's often translated as diligent. But it also bears this other shade of meaning that our simpler definition of diligence doesn't quite carry. That other shade of meaning that's so very important for us to understand is that it also means earnest care or heartfelt attention. So when we read the word diligence or diligent in the New Testament, we should also add to our understanding of working hard, putting up good effort, being conscientious, meticulous.

We should also add to that meaning earnest care, heartfelt attention. You see, that's a spiritual component. That's something spiritual. We don't often equate with diligence. But the original Greek word spode does. It seems with God's word, what it's telling us, we need to be both physically and spiritually diligent. In that fuller sense of the word. Let's look at Romans 12, verse 8, for example. Here we find in Romans 12, 8, Paul tells us that those who have the gift of leadership must lead with diligence. They must lead with earnest care or heartfelt attention to those they serve.

So we read...actually, let's begin reading in Romans 12. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. Use what you're given. If prophecy, then let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.

Our ministry, well, let us use it in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, and he who leads with diligence, and he who shows mercy with cheerfulness.

And so those who serve as leaders, we are told, must lead with earnest care. In telling what we read earlier about Hebrews, that would suggest we must not be sluggish or lazy about it. And serving with this earnest care is not limited to those in leadership roles. No, that's something we all have to be doing. Let's continue on reading verses 9 through 13.

Romans 12 verse 9. Paul continues, Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, as brethren, in honor giving preference to one another. That's that idea of service, washing the feet. Verse 11, here it is, Not lagging in diligence, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

Now that list is not just for the leaders. That's for everybody. That's for all of us. True diligence in our loving and obedient service to God and to brethren is a virtue we need, all of us, need to be developing. And we can do that. It's not too hard for us. Because God says, Come to me, ask for the help of my Holy Spirit, and I will give it to you.

And God gives us all liberality. He will give us all the help we need to be better at serving, as He demands, even with this diligence, this earnestness of heart. We need to think about Christ's sacrifice for us whenever we're called upon to sacrifice just a little bit in comparison of our lives for others.

And that part is our reasonable service to God. Just as Paul states, still in chapter 12, but now chapter 12, verse 1. Romans 12, verse 1, Paul says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, that's us, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. It's totally logical, according to God's logic. For God's logic, it's reasonable for us to lay down our lives for others. And that's true whether we're young or old, and however capable we are, maybe we're limited by our abilities, but prayer is a more powerful way of serving than perhaps many of us fully realize.

But however we serve, God expects us to serve and to imitate Jesus Christ in our service. We must strive to repent of any lazy man ways that diligently and willingly give of ourselves in service to others without giving in to feelings of weariness. That's something we have to be careful of, don't we? That weariness. Sometimes we're weary of serving. We're tired and we want to take a break. Maybe sometimes we need to step away for a while, but we can't stop serving. That's not what Scripture says. It doesn't say we can take a time out or that we can retire from serving.

I don't see that. Galatians 6, verses 9-10. Turn with me there, please. It's getting warm up here. Is it warm down there? Okay, come on. Stir up the zeal. Stay awake. We're almost to the end. I won't let you fall asleep. I'm watching you. I'm a trained professional. Let's look at Galatians 6, verses 9-10. Paul exhorts us not to give in to weariness. Galatians 6-9, And let us not grow weary while doing good. Paul understood it gets tiring to serve, but we've got to keep at it.

Don't grow weary while doing good. For in due season, you see, we keep at it. When the time's right, we will reap if we do not lose heart. Don't become discouraged and give up because we're weary. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, and especially to those who are in the household of faith, especially to our brethren.

When we're weary, when we're weary, again, I'm learning, and I'll share this with you, when we feel like we're getting tired of serving, we need to go to God. Ask God for more help, more spiritual help and strength, because that weariness affects us all. So we must obey God's command to love and obey God to love our neighbor. We must take care not to reject opportunities to serve by making any sort of lying-in-the-street excuses.

That way of life, that excuse, is not for you, and it's not for me. And by the way, I know that serving is not always a lot of fun. Serving is not always—it really can be—but it's not always a lot of fun. Serving can be inconvenient. I can almost promise you it will be. It can be bothersome, frustrating.

It eats up your time. Serving can be unpleasant, boring, potentially embarrassing, downright humiliating at times. It can be very humbling. Serving God can be a lonely thing. It can be painful, and it can be a reason for much suffering. So it's not always a lot of fun to serve. In fact, my own lazy, self-centered, stupid old self sometimes really hates to serve. I don't know if you ever feel that way.

I won't look. Don't shake your head. But there's another part of me—Paul calls the new man—that loves serving. I love doing that. I can endure the not-so-pleasant parts. The new man in me loves it, and you have that new man, too. Don't you love confounding that lazy old self? How many times have you dreaded, Oh, I've got to go do this, I've got to do a serve here?

And you grump and groan about it. Maybe I'm—I forget the— What do we call that in psychology? Transference? Maybe I'm putting this on you, and I shouldn't. How many times have I gone to serve, I kind of grump and groan about it? But then once I get there and start doing it, what a pleasure, what a delight. What was I grumpin' about? Well, I think that's the old lazy man saying, No, I don't want you to pick your hand up to your mouth.

I don't want you to roast what you hunted. You know, I don't—I want you to just quit halfway and never attain that harvest you're working towards. And so serving, especially when we're serving God's way and serving our brethren, it is a very wonderful thing to do. And I encourage us and exhort us all to keep at it. That is called self-sacrifice. That is called loving God and loving neighbor. And that is earnestly caring from the heart. Now, perhaps you've concluded by now that I feel strongly about our need to be serving one another.

I hope I've made my point, because I do feel strongly about it. But I also would share with you some personal concerns I have. These are some things I pray about. I pray that our congregation, that as our congregation ages, I pray that as our congregation ages, the younger ones among us will step up to take their places and serve. And I pray that our willingness to serve won't waver and wane. Even though how we serve will change through time, we grow old. It's harder to do things like we used to. But I pray that our willingness to serve won't waver and wane.

I also pray that you and I will grow in the grace of God and His knowledge, and that we will serve God and brethren with that diligence we've read about, the diligence that is heartfelt and true. And finally, I pray that we continue to pray for one another, that we continue to encourage one another, that our serving will be a wonderful offering that glorifies God.

Service is an offering to God when we do it through our heart and attitude. So, I ask us, do you have a lion in your street? It's time to put away our excuses.