Running on Fumes

The United Church of God presents Peter Eddington with the sermon titled, Running on Fumes. It was recorded in Cincinnati, East Ohio. In 1980, I bought a high-mileage 1969 Ford LTD 390 V8. That's almost a 6.5-liter engine. It's about 9 miles to the gallon. I was a college student in Pasadena at the time, and I bought the car from another broke student for $50. The liability insurance for six months cost $40. It was quite a unique car. The engine was worn out, the transmission had problems, the tires had little tread left on them, but as a poor student, it was invaluable. For the Feast of Tabernacles in 1981, I drove it all the way from Pasadena to Wisconsin-Dalzenbach with four other students.

A very, very good friend of mine at the time was along for the ride. Her name was Terry. The car made the trip without a hiccup, except for a flat tire early on a Sunday morning in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Oklahoma. And how he got that flat tire fixed is actually an amazing story in itself, but it's a story for another day. The car had an interesting problem. The main flywheel at the rear of the engine, where the starter motor engaged to spin the engine over, had teeth missing.

So if the engine was turned off and the flywheel stopped next to the starter motor at a point where there were no teeth, the starter motor would spin endlessly, never engaging the flywheel to start the engine. This happened about 50% of the time, because lots of teeth were missing and in different places around the flywheel. So I went to Pet Boys and I purchased a large wrench that I kept with me in the car. And each time the car wouldn't start, I'd climb under the front, put my wrench on the main crankshaft bolt, and manually turn the engine 20 or 30 degrees to a point where I hoped there would now be teeth so that it would engage the starter motor.

And many a time, while in my suit or on a date with Terry, I'd lay a rag on the ground, climb under the front of the car, turn the engine around a bit, climb back into the driver's seat and try the ignition. If I did it right, the starter would engage the flywheel and the car would start right up. But if I turned the engine to another point where there were no teeth, the starter would not engage, it'd have to climb back out, get under the car and start all over again. But this is not actually the main point I want to make about this wonderful beast of an automobile, but it does illustrate the life of a student with very little money rather well.

Here's the point. Being a student working for about $1.75 an hour and only allowed to work 20 hours a week on my international student visa meant that cash was rather limited. So whenever I put petrol in this car, I would usually only put in $1.00 worth. Gas was about 59 cents a gallon, so I got about 1.5 gallons of gas.

And afterwards, the fuel gauge would still show empty. But I knew I could go about 12 to 15 miles on that dollar. How do you think that worked? I could take Terri out to get a hamburger, even some pie at Marie Calendars, but after about two round trips, I knew I'd be out of gas.

A few times the engine misfired as a gasp for gasoline, but by shaking the steering wheel, pumping the brakes, I could get the gasoline to find the bottom of the tank, and a few more ounces of fuel would be pumped into the carburetor as we, you know, coasted to the nearest gas station to put in another dollar. And Terri and I dated like this with this old Ford LTD for three years, and she patiently watched in nervous anticipation year after year as I manually cranked the engine around with my wrench several times a week as I put one dollar of gas into the tank on an as-needed basis.

But guess what? The inevitable happened. I miscalculated my mileage, and I ran out of gas twice in those three years. Actually, I'm rather proud of the fact that it was only twice in three years. I was literally running that car on petrol fumes. The carburetor must have been almost dry many a time. So such is the life of a college student thousands of miles from home on a strict limited budget. So what's the real point here today? What are we going to discover about ourselves in this sermon? Because, of course, there has to be a spiritual analogy and tie-in here today, right?

Here's the title of the message, Running on Fumes. It's one thing to run a car on fumes. But what about in our spiritual life? Can we afford to just put in one dollar of gas at a time? Can we really go day to day just running on fumes? How serious are we about developing our relationship with God? Are we just putting in a few cents at a time? Or do we fill our tank? Are there any scriptures that come to mind in this regard? Any parables that jog your memory? Is there an example in the scriptures of gas tanks running on empty?

I believe you know where I'm going. I've divided this message into four main sections. And the first one I've called Your Lamp. Your Lamp. Let's turn to Matthew 25. Read the first 13 verses.

Matthew 25. Let's begin in verse 1, where we read the words of Jesus Christ. Where He says, Matthew 25. The kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were foolish, sorry, five were wise and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight, this is verse 6, a cry was heard. Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go out to meet Him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, No, lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourself. Verse 10, While they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, But shortly I say to you, I do not know you.

Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. The lesson for us today, the warning for us today, is don't let your lamp run out of fuel.

Don't run the risk of running on fumes and having your lamp burn out altogether.

And as you know, this applies to us not being filled with petrol, but being filled with the Holy Spirit. And it applies to everything that we fill our minds with throughout the day.

Many of you have heard of the media empire started by Glenn Beck. He has his own daily radio show in the United States, and now he has his own television channel that runs 24 hours a day. It is a mix of news, commentary, analysis, and for many people he has become a beacon of hope and a positive religious example. On Wednesday, May 28, on his radio program, Glenn shared some very frank advice that he recently received. A friend told him, Glenn, you are out of gas. And as you may know, Glenn is on the forefront of exposing the dangers of your society, drifting further and further from biblical values and drifting further and further from a belief in God.

Let me quote from a part of the transcript of Mr. Beck's radio program that day. You can find it on glennbeck.com if you wanted to read the whole thing. But it's called, You're Out of Gas. Glenn shares the frank advice he recently received. I'll put you a few lines. He says, now let me give you the piece of advice you are probably not going to like, that somebody gave me just this last weekend that is absolutely correct.

And the reason why he gave me this advice is because he knew I would know it's right. The question is whether I'd do it or not. He said, Glenn, you are running on fumes, brother. And I said, I know I am. I'm trying to change my life a bit.

And his friend says, no, I'm talking about spiritual fumes. You've put poison into your body for so long. Into your mind, you have put this hate. You've put all of the news stories, all this anger. And I said, I'm not reading hate. I'm reading things about hate. I'm reading things to try to understand it. I'm reading the news. And then Glenn continues, we've talked about it before. I feel, and I know you do too, you feel like you're watching your kid being slowly strangled. Our country is being strangled to death. Our way of life being strangled to death. Our faith is being strangled to death. And we're watching it. A violent scene each day. And we talk about those things every single day. And then his friend said, how many hours a day are you focused on the things that are wrong in the world? I said, my whole day. And he said, how many hours are you reading your scriptures? And Glenn said, I don't know. I try to do half an hour, maybe an hour.

And his friend said, you've got to drop everything else. You're out of gas. There's no way anyone can talk about love. There's no way anyone can focus on doing the right thing if you're not putting more in of that than the other. Especially since you've depleted everything. So that's the end of my quote. So is your tank depleted? I know that mine has run close to empty before. But we have to refill it regularly. We have to top off our spiritual tanks. And that comes from daily prayer and Bible study. Don't run on fumes. Otherwise, you're in danger of your engine stopping.

And you'll be turning to someone else and asking them to fill your tank. And they'll say, sorry.

No. Lest there should not be enough for us and you. But go rather to those who sell and buy for yourselves. And then the bridegroom will come. The wedding door will shut before you have time to get back with your petrol, with your oil, with your full measure of God's Spirit. So the question is, how full is your oil lamp? Is it close to empty? Let's look at this from another angle. Number two, your food. Your food.

Best-selling author and Oprah columnist Karen Selmondson has a motivational postcard you can buy on a website at notselmond.com that says, what's on your mind becomes what's in your life. So think the thoughts you want to see. I'll repeat it. What's on your mind becomes what's in your life. So think the thoughts you want to see. It's the same for us in our spiritual lives.

What you fill your mind with eventually becomes your life.

So if you fill your life with God, with His Word, and with His Spirit, that becomes your life. But if you don't, your other priorities then become your life.

Basically, we are spiritually what we eat. What are you eating every day?

Many, as we know, are eating garbage. Many are eating fast food, junk food, fast spiritual meals. Fast food seems easy because preparing a balanced spiritual diet takes time. Takes time out of your day. It can be difficult. So we say, it's too hard.

I'm tired. I don't know where to start. What book to read? How to make it make sense. So here's what we have to do. We have to prioritize our lives. We have to feed ourselves a proper diet.

We have to start feeding ourselves good spiritual food, not junk food.

We all know that eating at McDonald's is not good. But we eat it when we're in a hurry. There's no other choice, right? When you're on a road trip or something and you stop for a hamburger.

But when I plan my budget and pay the bills, I don't have a column for junk food.

When I plan an anniversary dinner with Terry, I don't suggest we go to Burger King or to KFC.

Otherwise, I would be in big trouble, wouldn't I? I don't say to her, hey, I've been saving up. Let's go to Taco Bell.

Now, we go through a fast food drive-through because it's convenient, because it's fast. We don't go there because we need nutrition. We go there because we need some basic sustenance as we head up the road. So spiritually, are you just going the fast food route for basic sustenance? Or are you planning a proper meal filled with nutrition and godly vitamins and protein? Instead of going the fast food route, we must take the time, spend the time, and do it right. Here's another, perhaps, very modern way of thinking about this. Instead of the example of fast food, how about social media? Do you spend more time on Facebook each day than you do on spiritual matters? If so, you may be high on social media fuel, but running on spiritual petrol fumes. So think about your spiritual food. Here's the third way of looking at it, the third angle, and that is your roof. Your roof. So you've got your lamp, your food, now your roof. When do we usually find out that we have a problem with the roof on our home?

When do we realize it needs some maintenance? On a nice sunny day? During nice spring or summer weather? At a July 4th picnic? No. We realize our roof has problems when the rain comes pouring down. We see a wet spot on the ceiling. We see a drip next to the fireplace or the chimney. We see water on the windowsill. Roofs don't leak when the weather is dry. We look up and the roof's not leaking because it's not raining.

And because it's not leaking right then, there's no need to repair the roof, right?

Now that really makes sense. At least that's how it looks to the casual observer. No. On the other hand, the best and perhaps only time to properly repair a roof is when it's not raining. You repair your roof when the sun is shining. So we find ourselves in a dilemma.

The rains come and then we think, boy, I should have repaired my roof yesterday. At home, Terri and I have had problems with our chimney for about 16 years, ever since we moved into our house, actually.

We'd be sitting around the fireplace in the winter with snow outside, and then we'd look up and see a small brown patch on the ceiling next to the chimney. And I'd say, you know, one of these days, we need to fix that leak around the chimney. I didn't think of it when the sun was out.

It always seemed to be on a rainy day that we noticed it, not during the middle of a hot summer, because when the rains come, the integrity of our roof is tested.

I do have some good news. We had our chimney rebuilt last month, so all should be fine now. But all too often, we put off for tomorrow that which we do not need to do today. There's something very human about that pattern. We do first things first, set our priorities on a nice sunny day, and we move the roof repair down the list, because it's not essential right at that moment. But then, when the rains come, we wish we'd fixed the roof. So here's the point for today, and I'm going to turn to Matthew 7.

Our spiritual roof must never be allowed to leak. So rain or shine. Be sure the roof is in good repair. The damage, the weak spot, the broken tile is not so apparent until the rains come. Matthew 7, verse 21. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. So here in verse 21, this sounds a bit like the shocked five virgins who returned with their oil to find the door to the kingdom locked. And the Lord said, I don't know you. Verse 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name? And then I will declare to them, quote, I never knew you, depart from me you who practice lawlessness. And then he explains it further, verse 24. Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But, verse 26, everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall. And so it was when Jesus had ended these sayings that the people were astonished that he is teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, not as a scribe.

When the rains come, the strength of the dwelling becomes obvious. To a casual observer, the home in this parable looked fine. You couldn't see what was underneath. You couldn't see what it was built on. You couldn't see the foundation. It looked fine. Until the rains came, and its integrity was tested, just like the roof on your house. And of course, we're thinking now about a spiritual house, right? A spiritual roof. Why don't we build our homes? Why don't we build our lives on a more solid foundation at times? Why do we put off the spiritual roof repair?

Well, maybe we think the rains are delayed. Maybe we think it's not going to rain today or tomorrow. Thinking the rain is delayed can make a person hesitate. We think tomorrow will be sunny also. But pop-up thunderstorms can surprise us. And there's a giant pop-up thunderstorm brewing in the world right now, especially in the Middle East. Just to give you some perspective on where that region is headed, let me quote from a very insightful article published on June 23. Because it does give us reason to pause and have concern. It's called Choosing Sides for World War IV by Herbert London. As I said from June 23, you can read it at FamilySecurityMatters.org. Herbert London is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and President Emeritus of Hudson Institute. Here's what he said in his piece, Choosing Sides for World War IV. With the fall of Mosul to ISIS terrorists, the goal of a new state incorporating territory in northern Iraq and Syria may be a reality. As I see it, this is more than a Sunni-Shia conflict within the confines of one region. It has the potential to be the catalyst of World War IV. He says, a Cold War being World War III. All of the geographic suppositions of the past have been challenged. The lines defining Syria are decimated. Syria will be dismantled along with Iraq. A Kurdish state is a distinct possibility even though Turkey will be vigorously opposed to it. Jordan's future is now in peril, forcing Israel to protect its eastern front. Iran will join its Shia allies in Iraq to realize as much of the country as possible and to oppose the Sunni ISIS. Waiting in the wings are the Sunni nations of Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Saudi Arabia that fear Shia imperialistic impulses more than the ISIS. And complicating matters is a nuclear weapons issue. In every escalation scenario, the possibility of nuclear exchange is the termination point. But with Iran on the cusp of development and Saudi Arabia consummating a deal for weapons acquisition with Pakistan The Saudi Arabia is getting nuclear weapons now. The genie is out of the bottle and the region is a powder keg. And he continues, the events, as they are unfolding in the Middle East, offer a scenario for a worldwide convulsion. While the Caliphate project is unrealistic, at the moment it inspires radical aspirations leading to a recipe for conflict, terrorism and world war. And he says, it's time to engage in less texting, golf playing and TV, and more strategic thinking. This is the challenge now facing Americans in the emergence of a potential world war.

So, this section of the sermon is your roof, or maybe you could call it your foundation, from what we read a moment ago. Let's turn to Matthew 24, which is part of an end-time prophecy that Jesus Christ left for us to read. Matthew 24, verses 48-51.

Matthew 24, verse 48.

If that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming, you know, if we put off the roof repair, verse 49, and begins to beat his fellow servants into eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and in an hour that he is not aware of. Verse 51, we'll cut him in two, appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, and they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. You see, we can't think that our master is delaying his coming. We cannot be running on fumes. We cannot be eating spiritual junk food. We must have a strong foundation when the rains come. We cannot have a damaged roof when the storms bring their torrents of rain, because thunderstorms may pop up when we least expect them. Now, for you and I, tomorrow, it may not necessarily be World War III or World War IV, but keep in mind, each of us do not know what the next day will bring in our lives.

The return of the master, as far as we are concerned, could be the next day, our next waking moment. When do we repair our spiritual roof? Well, if it's damaged, the answer is right now, while the sun is shining, before the thunderstorms come, before the master returns. We do not want that door shut in our face, do we? And finally, here's another way of looking at this subject, number four. Your hull. H-U-L-L. Your hull.

What kind of an image do you project?

What do people see on your surface?

Usually, it's not your foundation that is immediately recognized by a new friend or a new acquaintance. No, they see your outward appearance first. You know, hi, Aunt Peter, what's your name? And they just see the outward appearance at first. For ships, the rule is that the part that's under the surface should weigh more than what's above the surface. Otherwise, the ship will be top-heavy and capsize in a storm.

Our spiritual strength is like that. What's under your surface has to be greater than that which is in plain sight.

A deeply converted Christian can be counted on to do the right thing even if nobody's looking. But those with less strength, those not so close in their relationship with God, may only do the right thing while other people are looking. But whatever is expedient when others are not seeing their actions. The invisible part of our lives, our hull and rudder, must be strong and heavy.

They must give us stability when the storms of life arise.

And that will prevent us from capsizing. Otherwise, we won't be able to stand when the storms of life shake us.

Our keel and our rudder must give positive direction lest we go off course.

The question is, will my hull or will your hull be able to withstand rough seas? Because for all of us, rough seas are ahead, as God tests us and tries us so that He knows that we will follow Him. A quote from The Economist from June 14th. The Economist ran an article titled, Charlemagne, a promise barely noticed, Europe struggles to be heard among its Middle Eastern neighbors. Here's the quote from this article from June 14. America's retreat from the woes of the world is worrying its friends in the Middle East. Jihadists are surging through Iraq, Syria uses chemical weapons without retribution, and the latest American attempt to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has failed. Is it time for Europe to help fill the vacuum? When even secular news sources are calling for a united Europe to take on a more active military role in the world, we know that we're drawing ever closer to the culmination of end-time events. As we read in Daniel, the king of the South, the Arab world, is pushing right now at the king of the North, modern Europe, and at some point things will snap. Someone's going to hit an iceberg.

Will our ship stay right-side up when the political waves surge to disastrous heights? That's our question. That's for us today. Mark 13. Let's turn over to Mark 13 for a moment. Mark 13, verse 33.

Mark 13 and verse 33. Let's read this here. Take heed, watch, and pray, for you do not know when the time is. You don't know when the storm clouds will be upon you, when your roof will be tested, when your hull will be tested.

Verse 34. It's like a man going to a far country who left his house and gave authority to his servants. Of course, this is talking about Jesus Christ, right? Gave to each his work and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Christ says, watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming. It could be in the evening, it could be at midnight, it could be in the morning at the crowing of the rooster. They're in the morning. Verse 36. Less coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all, watch. Last week I was in Chicago with my son Mark. We had to visit the Australian Consulate there. While in Chicago we visited the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. They have on display there a huge submarine that you can tour. On June 4, 1944, a German submarine known as U-505 was prowling off the coast of West Africa on a hunt for American and Allied ships when depth charges from the USS Chatelaine blasted the dreaded U-boat out of hiding. It was the end of a violent run for U-505, which had terrorized the Atlantic Ocean as part of a massive U-boat campaign that almost altered the outcome of World War II. And at the museum you can step inside the real U-505. They've actually built the museum around it. It was captured in the Atlantic and then later sailed down the St. Lawrence Seaway up in Canada into the Great Lakes and towed all the way to Chicago where it is now. It's hard to imagine being able to water all the way from Chicago to the Atlantic. But at the museum you can step inside the real U-505, the only German submarine in the United States. And now it's a National Memorial to the 55,000 American sailors who gave their lives on the high seas in World Wars I and II. But it leads us to think, what is lurking under my sea? Is it dangerous? Can it destroy me? What is hiding in your life? What are you concealing beneath the surface? What does your foundation look like? Are you building your life on sand or on the rock of Jesus Christ?

Not only must our hull be strong and heavy, we must make sure it's not in danger of a hidden threat, a hidden enemy below the surface, a submarine of spiritual destruction. When you were ships were hit by German submarine torpedoes, there was no warning. It was sudden destruction. It came out of the depths. Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. This is the final passage I want to read today from the Scriptures. 1 Thessalonians 5. Starting in verse 1. 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 1. But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, Paul says to them, you have no need that I should write to you. You know this, he says. Verse 2. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. Those are Jesus Christ's words that he's repeating. For when they say peace and safety, when you think you're sailing along just fine, then sudden destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they shall not escape. Verse 6. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Verse 8. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the hope of salvation. So how do we develop faith, love and hope? Where do we find this breastplate and this helmet? From God's Word and through the power of His Holy Spirit. And so as we go back to thinking about our spiritual gas tank, how much do we read the book? How much do we read God's book? How strong is our hull? As I conclude, I'd like to read a few more lines from Glenn Beck's May 28 radio program. Here's what he said to his audience. He says, you know how long I pray? He says, I've prayed for the last three years. Will you please help me like your book? Because I don't like your book. It's boring. I know you're the author and it's not really the thing to say. It's the best-selling book of all time, but it's as boring as all get-out and I don't understand it. Could you please help me like it?

And Glenn Beck says, three years I prayed. And finally, like it. He says, I love it. I love it. Now the question is, will I make the time to spend two hours every day in that book? And he says, think about how much time you spend on whatever it is. He says, I'm telling you where the vitamins and minerals can be found. You will not be able to withstand the storm. Mark my words. I know this is true. You will not be able to stand the coming storm without this. You will not be able to stand with love and honor and decency. You will not stand unless you do this. You know, that's absolutely true, isn't it? For our foundation to be strong, for our hull to be heavy and thick, for us to be eating the right food, we have to follow such sound advice. Read the book. Love the book. If you don't understand it, ask God to help you understand it, to explain it to you. That's amazing. Someone with limited understanding, even of the truth. When they ask God for understanding, they start to appreciate it. It's very sound advice. We know where the vitamins and minerals of life can be found. We know how to have an impermeable hull, a helmet, and a breastplate of armor. We know how to fill our lamps with God, His Word, and His Spirit. We, of all people, know. We cannot run on fumes. Our lamps must be full of oil. We must feed on God's food, the bread of life, not junk food. Our roofs must be repaired and secure ahead of the storm, not when the master knocks at the door. Our hull must be strong and heavy, and we must be aware of hidden threats in our lives below the surface and address them.

In our church speak, our prayer to God and our study of His Word must go deep and be filling our lives. And it's a good reminder to us all as you and I step up to the challenges of life as we prepare to be actual sons and daughters in God's family, in His kingdom. That's why we were born. Don't run on spiritual fumes. Have a full tank.