Post Sunday June 21 2009

2 Samuel 24:24 “Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing."

All men are created equal goes the saying. They may all be created equal, but the results are vastly different. The results are heavily tied into how we give ourselves to God. In the above verse the king, King David could not fathom in his heart giving something to God that was of his excess or convenient for him. What he would give would cost him something.

Yesterday we spoke of disturbing the universe (thank you T.S. Eliot for that phrase!). Do we honestly think that the universe will be disturbed by allowing our lives to be perfectly controlled and regulated and only breaking from that perfectly controlled and regulated life when it becomes convenient for us? It would have been convenient for the 2004 Red Sox to pack it in when they were down 3 games to none to the Yankees and their convenience would have cost them a championship. It would have been convenient for Martin Luther King Jr. to pack it in and only proclaim his message for equality for all races in places that were safe and his convenience would have cost him his belief.

Your relationship with God will cost you something and one of the prices you and I pay is our need for convenience. There is not a convenient time to serve God. There is not a convenient time to worship God. There is not a convenient time to love God. Loving, worshipping and serving God is a full time position and due to the nature of that it will cost you and I something.

Yesterday we read the following:

Deuteronomy 16:16-17 "Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed. Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.”

When God summons us and He will. We are to respond. We are to come forth with an offering. What are we to offer back to Him? What has He given you? How has He blessed you? Talent, abilities, patience, finances, family, smarts, organizational skills, etc. If He has blessed you with any of these than bring them and begin to use them, not only when it is convenient for you, but when He needs them, in moments when the universe will be disturbed. Do not concern yourself with not being able to give this or that or questioning why God didn’t give you this or that, but give what you have been given.

When your friend needs you, he/she probably won’t call at a convenient time, remember that pay the price of inconvenience, disturb the universe and lead your friend during an inconvenient time.

Your most teachable moment with your child probably won’t be during a convenient time. Disturb the universe and lead your child during an inconvenient time.

Your best work at school or at work will probably come when a demand is placed upon you that inconveniences you and in that inconvenience disturb the universe and be a leader at school or work.

Your moments of greatest spiritual growth will occur when you are man enough to lay down your need for convenience and in your inconvenience the universe will be disturbed and you will begin to see and experience God in ways you never thought possible.

These statements are motivational statements and excite the heart, but each one of them is going to cost you something. Are you willing to pay the price?

Questions to Ask Yourself:

1. Can you recall a time recently in which you were asked to do something that if you said yes it would be an inconvenience to you? Did you say yes? What happened?

2. How many inconveniences are too many and how can you tell the difference between God’s calls of inconvenience (disturbing the universe moments, establishing character and legacy moments) to the world’s call for inconveniences (wasting time, making zero impact, leaving behind zero to negative legacy).

pastor e