The theme of this three-part lesson series is Carpe Diem - Latin for "seize the day". (If you want a good description of the term, watch the beginning moments of the film Dead Poet's Society.)
I have become convinced over the past few years that each person - no matter how Christian or how atheistic - carries with him or her a set of presuppositions - a fundamental set of assumptions about life and existence. And it is from these assumptions that every decision and action grows. You here terms life world-view, epistemology, ideology, philosophy. etc. But what we're really talking about is how a person views life. What is it? What am I? Why am I here?
But beyond this great philosophical questions, there are the everyday implications of such issues. How do we decide what career to choose? Who to marry? How do we live everyday life so that our lives will really matter?
It is toward these questions that I want to steer our discussion this weekend. We're going to cover the three pillars of building a life that matters: perspective, priorities and passion. We will begin with the study of the perspective of a life that matters, follow with the priorities of a life that matters and conclude with the passion of a life that matters.
Have you noticed the common worldview around us today? Have you listened to the lyrics of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins or Marilyn Manson? Have you noticed the bleak vision we moderns have of the future? Look at Terminator, 12 Monkeys, and almost all modern fiction.
Then compare this with the outlook of Plato, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, Thomas More. Aldous Huxley, B. F. Skinner and other visionaries of the past. They were decidedly humanistic. We are decidedly nihilistic. But both views are dead-ends - it's just that people have tried humanism for 200 years and mankind has gotten worse, if anything!
But when a person's outlook is limited to the human viewpoint, there are really only a few options. So as we begin to talk about building a life that matters, let's look at the avenues of man's viewpoint.
There are basically four different ways non-theist can view life (we're not going to discuss each one in detail, but here's a simple overview) -
Nihilism - There simply isn't any meaning to anything - we are random, chance occurrences of matter - there is no point or purpose or objectivity to life - it is meaningless - despair is the only option (cf., Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Albert Camus, J. P. Sartre, Bertrand Russell).
Humanism - There is no ultimate meaning to human existence - it is just a random evolutionary occurrence, but we can create meaning by dedicating ourselves to the betterment of our species by following the scientific method (cf., H. G. Wells, Carl Sagan, et al.).
Hedonism - There's no purpose or meaning so we should simply seek as much pleasure as possible - give ourselves whatever we want - live for the here-and-now since there is nothing else (cf., Hugh Hefner, et al.).
Ignorance - Many people, subscribing to man's view of life - just ignore the consequences altogether.
"Being unable to cure death, wretchedness and ignorance, men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things."
- Blaise Pascal
These are the world-views you can have if you place man at the center of things. But let's look a little further at the consequences of all of these viewpoints. I want you to note not only the possibilities of man's view, but the penalties of man's view.
It is important to note that Christians lift up life as a gift from God - but we do not venerate it - it is not the be all end all - there are things worth dying for - things worth giving our lives to - and there are even times when taking life is an appropriate action.
The Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes is dedicated to describing the meaninglessness of life apart from God - there can be no meaning "under the sun". Everything we do - if it is done for the here and now - will amount to nothing.
But look around our society today - from medicine to recreation to art and entertainment - we focus all our energy on prolonging the enjoyable span of our lives. Even euthanasia proponents are really just espousing the belief that this life is all there is - by using terms like "quality of life" - we turn life into a commodity to be packaged and sold. We become slaves to living - giving our energy to the shaping and preserving of our bodies; spending fortunes on travel and entertainment and recreation instead of on helping our fellow man; working longer hours - dedicated to climbing the career ladder - to improve our standard of living. Life becomes something we cling to - fearful it will be taken away - it becomes the sole commodity worth dealing in - it becomes God.
But along with this deification of human life comes meaninglessness, too; if this life is all there is, then nothing we do is of any value at all - it is pointless, purposeless, material action that has no worth to anyone - even myself - life ceases to be filled with wonder and beauty and awe and joy - and simply becomes a contest to achieve maximal sensory stimulation.
When you're left with these choices, it suddenly becomes hard to see any point in "seizing the day". After all, life is ultimately meaningless anyway - nothing you do will ever have any real objective meaning - because real, objective meaning doesn't exist.
But now let's turn our attention to the world-view that changes all that - the world-view that is based on what those around us would call "foolishness". I would have you note not only the avenues and angst of man's view; but I would have you note the anchor of objective truth.
In fact, I recently heard a question and answer session with Jack Kevorkian. He was asked, "What is your philosophy of life?" He replied, "I believe everyone should have the right to say or do whatever they want to as long as they don't harm another person."
Now, to me, this statement immediately is self-contradictory. If a person should be able to do whatever they want, why should a limitation be imposed at all? What lies at the heart of these kind of statements are two absolute truths about our universe: (1) we all know that there really is a right and a wrong; (2) humanity will do whatever it can to avoid submitting ourselves to God's rule. Kevorkian knows (and shows it in his statement) that there really are things that are wrong and evil. But instead of being reasonable and consistent and believing that there must be some power that has defined right and wrong, he just makes self-contradictory statements in an authoritative and holier-than-thou tone - and modern men applaud him.
Any philosophy built on the independence and autonomy of man is dedicated at its core to self-deception. Everything in us cries out for God. Every atheist that has ever breathed has had to overcome his own tendency to believe - his own inborn inclination to find God. We all recognize beauty and truth and love as real things - not psychological deceptions, but concrete realities. But in a godless, chance-governed universe, these noble ideals are the result random bouncing of atoms inside the skull of a bipedal primate.
But as Christians, you and I are among those who recognize in themselves that we know right and wrong - and that there must logically be something that created the universe with right and wrong knitted into it's fabric. We know that truth and love and beauty exist and that we have a part in such things. And we have peace because we know that real truth exists.
But beyond objective truth, God tells us much more about our lives. Note not only the anchor of objective truth, but the assurance of eternal life.
One of the truths expressed throughout Scripture - especially in the Old Testament is the brevity of human life - and its frailty. God agrees with our worldly perspective in saying that life is short. There is no denying that, as James puts it, "our life is but a vapor that appears for awhile and then is gone."
While none of us may be able to capture the Jewish mindset completely, reading the Book of Ecclesiastes and the Book of Job will provide a lot of insight into the Hebraic way of looking at life. It's as though the Jew says, "Oy! Life is hard and difficult; but God is God and I am not that is the way it is." There is a resignation to trust God in spite of the apparent injustice, evil and cruelty in life. The Jew in the Old Testament was constantly aware of how fleeting this life is. Yet this did not sway their obedience to God. In fact, the Preacher says that even though this life is hard, it is the whole duty of man to obey God and keep his commands.
But often overlooked in the Hebraic mind and in the OT is the belief that God will redeem his people - that he will right wrongs - punishing the wicked and rewarding the righteous.
You see, God's description of human life doesn't end with it's limitations - he tells us about eternal life. He describes for us a life that has no end. C. S. Lewis once talked about the desire inside of each human being that cannot be met by anything in this world. He argues that every natural desire of man can be met by something - for thirst, there exists water; for hunger there exists food; etc. But for the desire for meaning and purpose and eternity, we find no satisfaction under the sun. The Preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes says that "God has placed eternity in the hearts of men". The conclusion, says Lewis, is that we were not made for this world - we are made for eternity.
But Lewis goes on to say, beyond being made for eternity - and not for this world, that we, like school children who would rather make mud pies because we can't imagine what a day at the beach would be like, seek to satisfy our desires with earthly things.
"Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us... We are far too easily pleased."
- C. S. Lewis
When we see the world as God sees it, suddenly our values and priorities radically changed. As Tony Campolo puts it, God comes in and "switches the price tags". From God's perspective, life is certainly brief and fragile. But because this life is only the beginning, we are not trapped in it - we are not fearful of losing it - we are freed from the slavery to life. The people around us are slaves to this life - slaves to sculpting their bodies; slaves to accruing wealth and possessions - because these things are the only things of value in the world's view. But in God's view, the things of this life are baubles and trinkets compared to the glories and riches in the world to come.
God anchors us to reality with objective truth and he encourages us with the assurance of eternal life. It is only from this perspective that we can face each day with confidence and joy and freedom. It is only in God's view that we can seize the day.
We are only a breath away from eternity. Listen how Cardinal Newman describes our precipitous position in time:
"But when once the Christ had come, as the Son over His own house, and with His perfect Gospel, nothing remained but to gather in His saints. No higher priest could come, no truer doctrine. The Light and Life of men had appeared, and had suffered, and risen again; and nothing more was left to do. Earth had had its most solemn event, and seen its most august sight; and therefore it was the last time. And hence, though time intervenes between Christ's first and second coming, it is not recognized (as one may say) in the Gospel scheme, but is as it were, an accident. For so it was, that up to Christ's coming in the flesh, the course of things ran straight towards that end, nearing it by every step; but now, under the Gospel, that course has (if I may so speak) altered its direction, as regards His second coming, and runs, not towards the end, but along it, and on the brink of it; and is at all times equally near that great event, which, did it run towards, it would at once run into. Christ, then, is ever at our doors; as near eighteen hundred years ago as now, and not nearer now than then; and not nearer when He comes than now. When He says that He will come soon, "soon"; is not a word of time, but of natural order. This present state of things, "the present distress" as St. Paul calls it, is ever close upon the next world, and resolves itself into it. As when a man is given over, he may die any moment, yet lingers; as an implement of way may any moment explode, and must at some time; as we listen for a clock to strike, and at length it surprises us; as a crumbling arch hangs, we know not how, and is not safe to pass under; so creeps on this feeble weary world, and one day, before we know where we are, it will end."
- Cardinal Newman
The first test we must put our priorities to is the Test of Eternity. This test can be summed up with the simple question, "will it make a difference in eternity?" We talked about perspective last night - and the way that our perspective shapes how we make decisions. But we can be convinced that God's way is the right way and not be conscious of making decisions that are of no value in eternity.
In Matthew Jesus tells us that we are not to be preoccupied with what we eat, what wear or the other exterior things that pagans are concerned with. Why? He says that we can't really change the outcome of this life through our worry - and that we should trust in God to provide the temporal things we need.
It's interesting to note how many people - Christians - believe the "health and wealth" doctrine that teaches God wills us to be happy, healthy and wealthy while in this life - that if you're unhealthy or financial struggling, you must have a faith problem. I say this is interesting because of one fact: the percentage of "health-and-wealth" believers that die is exactly the same as those poor, unhealthy, unhappy souls they criticize for lack of faith. We all die - and we must make decisions based on their impact in eternity, not in this limited life.
As Christians, we are to be watchful for Christ's return. And if it's hard for you to live as if Christ may return at any moment, I assure you that you can live as if you may die at any moment. We are always very close to the next world, so the decision we make and the goals we strive for should pass the test of eternity.
But we need to be careful about how we regard this statement. James' message is that this life is short and the things in this life are really worthless. But life isn't short. In fact, listen to how C. S. Lewis describes how we should regard our next door neighbor:
"It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations... There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations-these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."
- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
The bottom line is that people last forever. The only thing in this world that will survive this world are the souls of men and women (and maybe animals, but that's a whole other study!). So the second test we must put to our decisions is the test of humanity. Does what we are doing serve other people? Will our actions and words lead to the betterment of others? If you're going to do something that matters for eternity, you're going to have to do something for other people.
The ultimate test for our goals and priorities is this: Does it make me conform to Christ? Will my words or actions make me more like Jesus?
If God doesn't want us to spend our time here worrying about what we will wear or what we will eat or where we will go, then what does he want us spending our time doing? Obviously, if we are to ignore the things that the pagans around us live their entire lives pursuing, God must have something in mind for us to do. And he does.
God desires that we become one with him. Did you hear about the man whose doctor told him he only had an hour to live? He asked the doctor to get his lawyer. The doctor rushed out of the room to call the attorney - thinking that it must be urgent if the patient requested him in the last hour of his life. When the lawyer arrived, the man had the doctor stand on one side of the bed and the attorney on the other. He said, "Both of you know I've always tried to live my life like Jesus," he paused. "So now I want to die like him, too. Between two thieves." Look at John 17. Jesus, in his last hours in this life, prays that we may be one and that we may be one with him as he is with the Father. The entire story of the Bible is the story of how we left God and how he has pursued us and sought after us and hounded us to have us turn again to him - to join with him. Paul sums up what we are to be like in Philippians 2:
"Your mind should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself to death - even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
We have discussed the way in which our perspective in life shapes us and how we can test our priorities to determine if we are living a meaningful life. But now we move into the final lesson. It's well and good to know what God's perspective is; it's also a vital thing to know how to set priorities. But ultimately, we all need to know what it is that will give us the motivation and desire to live according to what we know. The philosopher/poet Goethe once said
To think is easy. To act is hard. But the hardest thing in the world is to act in accordance with your thinking.
What is it that inspires us to live in opposition to the world? What is it that gives us passion and zeal for life and comfort and strength can we draw on to overcome our doubts and our fears? I want you to note three things that give us passion. First I would have you note that Christians are passionate because we are motivated by grace.
Paul discusses this in Romans 6. In fact, throughout the letter to the Romans, Paul keeps pounding home the fact that they are saved by grace - that no one is righteous; that we cannot save ourselves; that Christ died for us while we were still in our sins; and on and on he goes. But Paul even goes on to explain how this should affect us.
He first clears us any confusion about the grace we have received giving us license to live in sin. To Paul, this idea is preposterous. It would be unthinkable to live in sin having received this grace. Paul then points out that the grace we have received should inspire us to live for Christ. It is because we are saved by grace that we seek to live in obedience to God.
You and I muddle this so often and so quickly. We want so much to say that God has done His part and we must do ours. But there is no part left for you to do! And if there was, you could not do it! I realize that we as a fellowship are not comfortable with this. We are afraid that saying God does it all will promote people to live in sin. But if the truth made Paul worry about this enough to address it, shouldn't we expect that the truth would make us nervous, too? But Paul never backtracks or compromises the statement that God alone saves us. He just points out that anyone who understands she has been saved will find it impossible to continue to live in sin - it would just not make sense!
When you wake up every morning, tell yourself that you are saved because God has saved you. Tell yourself that nothing you do today will make you any more saved than you are at that moment. Tell yourself that the Creator of all the universe is your Father - that there is no weapon, no tactic, no enemy that can remove you from His hand. You are utterly, completely, totally saved. Now if you can say those things and believe them, I promise you that you will not be seeking out sin the rest of the day. It is simply false that real grace produces sin. It is antithetical to Scripture and to reason. Grace produces gratitude and love - not resentment and hatred.
And when you and I can accurately picture our position before God prior to Christ's saving work - then recognize our standing before God after Christ's saving work, we will be so utterly staggered by the depth and the breadth and height of God's love that we will be convicted and inspired and grateful and passionate about seeking to be in the center of His will.
[Story of runner from Bruce]
C. S. Lewis noted that throughout the NT, the Christian is promised "glory" as a part of his/her reward after this life. Lewis admitted that he had some difficulty with this - that this "glory" seemed to him to be very egotistical and contrary to the idea of humility portrayed by Christ, but after reading from the likes of Milton and Dante, he came to a different understanding of what the Christian's glory will really be:
"I suddenly remembered that no one can enter heaven except as a child; and nothing is so obvious in a child-not in a conceited child, but in a good child-as its great and undisguised pleasure in being praised. Not only in a child, either, but even in a dog or a horse. Apparently what I had mistaken for humility had, all these years, prevented me from understanding what is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures-nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure of a beast before men, a child before its father, a pupil before his teacher, a creature before its Creator."The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God... to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness... to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son -it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain."
- C. S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"
It is in Christ that you and I are finally, ultimately and completely accepted for who we are. God loves us with all our imperfections and warts and bad habits and sin. God accepts us and longs to embrace us. There is no promise to the Christian more vital, more inspiring and more present in the here-and-now than that promise of being received. God calls to us as His children, "good and faithful servant". He has placed His stamp of approval on us and has run to us and embraced us.
You and I have been accepted. And when a person has been accepted by God, what possibly can there be left to fear or desire? When we understand our position before God - as loved, accepted and welcomed children - we will be passionate about life; there is no greater release; no greater freedom than the freedom of a child who knows she is loved - and cannot be removed from that love. When we are accepted we are passionate.
Look around at the world today. Look at the music of Nirvana; the films by Quentin Tarrantino; books and magazines. All around us people are struggling to find purpose in life. We talked about the avenues of understanding that are available to men and women when God is omitted. Purposelessness is the reigning mindset of many today. People long to find something to commit their lives to. Many people believe that meaning is something that can be found within us.
Tony Campolo tells the story of a college sophomore who entered his office and plopped down in the chair. He said, "Doc, I've decided to drop out of college." Campolo leaned forward and said, "Why in the world do you want to drop out of college!?" A glassy veil dropped over the student's eyes as he looked longingly out the window of the office as he said, "I need to find myself, Doc, I need to peel away all the layers that have been laid on me; I need to peel away the layers of identity created by the church and by my parents and by my friends and by society; all the expectations and definitions created for me by others - I've got to peel them away and find the real me." (Have you noticed that when people go to find themselves, they always go to Arizona?)
Campolo just shook his head and asked, "What if, after you peel away all these socially prescribed layers; after you pull away all the layers created by the church and your family and your friends, you discover THAT YOU'RE AN ONION!!" The young man was stunned. Then Campolo continued, "Now that may sound crazy, but what do you get if you peel away all the layers of an onion? Nothing! The onion is nothing but the sum total of its layers - there is no center! And many people spend there whole lives trying to peel away all the layers of their identity only to discover at long-last that there is no "real me"!"
I believe that our identity - who we are - is not something we find; rather it is something that is created. It is not something within us; it is something created from the outside. Who we are is determined by what we are committed to - it is determined by what our purpose is.
Many people commit themselves to good things. But if the good things they commit to are limited to this life, then they are ultimately false - nothing under the sun is of any lasting value. But the purpose God gives to His children is not only good, it is real, and powerful, and everlasting. When you are committed to God and His service, you are working for things that will make an eternal difference. And while the world may not recognize the perspective and priorities of God, His people will be passionate about His work because it is the only work that matters at all.
When the pagans talk about seizing the day, they talk about living every moment with as much abandon and recklessness as possible - seeking to try and do as much as they can before this brief life is over. And while this lifestyle has been given a romantic appeal, I think when it is studied objectively, it really is quite sad.
When pagans seize the day, what they are really doing is scrambling in hopelessness to gain something from life before it's over. Their backs are against an immovable wall - and the crushing weight of their own pointless existence looms in front of them - threatening with every breath to crush them out of existence.
But when a person is gripped by God's vision of this life; when a person has open eyes about what is really important here; when a person is consumed by passion in this life because of God's divine action; seizing the day takes on a revolutionary meaning. It means we are neither slaves to pleasure nor afraid of danger; we are not pressured to succeed by the worlds standards - nor are we complacently waiting to die; we are free and joyful in a way the world will not understand. Seizing the day to the believer means living an abundant life - a life filled with eternal significance and everlasting joy.