Are You Intentional

Things do not just happen. Ask Al Gore and George W Bush. These two men made history in the last election. They both received many votes, which came from hard work, spending money, and using their energy to get the message across. (Pause) Yet these were just one of two types of people. The other type just ‘put their names on the ballot.’ As a matter of fact, they worked so hard, you’ve probably never heard of them. For example, there is Monica Moorehead of the Workers World Party (4,304 votes), Denny Lane of the Grass Roots Party (879 votes), Earl F. Dodge of the Prohibition Party (205 votes), and my favorite … Jim Wright (23 votes) … his family and friends voted for him. (Pause) Get the picture? … You don’t hear of these people because they are ‘too small.’ They were never intentional about getting organized and noticed.

As Christian’s we act the same way. There are some of us who are like Al and George who work each day to share God’s word. And then there is everyone else, just ‘putting their name down, being one of the crowd,’ yet not truly spreading God’s word. A pastor named John Tung once said, “It is people who are intentional, who make things happen. If we don’t put in the effort, not much good things will happen.”¹ This is true of our physical lives, this is true of our spiritual lives! It is with that fact in mind that we look at today’s scripture. (Read Scripture Lesson)

Scripture Lesson: Luke 6: 46-49

46 "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?

47 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

49 "But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

These are familiar words from the Sermon on the Mount. We have all heard the children’s song about the wise man who built his house upon the sand/rock, but often overlook the point of the message. Jesus is not talking to everyone in this message, He is talking to His followers … His disciples. In teaching them about being Christian, He begins by hitting one of the hardest concepts to understand in v. 20, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” He then continues with the list you have all heard before. As a disciple, He tells us that we have to take care of some real spiritual issues in our own lives, before we can witness to others. He wanted His followers to know that none of us are perfect, but we are to grow in our faith. He wanted us to know that a disciple is not someone who just made a one-time commitment to Jesus, disciples carry out a life-long process of applying that commitment.

When Christ told the story of these ‘two men,’ He did so for a reason. In our lives, we often forget what we said the day we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. Many in the Church today have vowed to make Christ their Lord, only to later show that they love material things, money, status, image, instead. (Pause) I do not believe that the reason for this is that people are bad or lying from the start. I believe that the reason is because these people have simply forgotten how to love Christ intentionally. They are like the builder who paid no attention to the foundation. However, Christ wanted us to be like the other man … the one who paid attention and built his house on solid ground.

What is the foundation?

The foundation is the substructure found in each of our lives. It is the support base for our visible daily life. It is that invisible part that makes each of us who we are. It is also the part that provides strength for our visible life.

(Pause) Foundations are important. I once helped a friend put in some wood flooring to replace the original. When the top we removed, we found that the sub floor had at some point become damp and warped. Instead of replacing this foundation, my friend tried to save time and sand it smooth (patch it up with no real change). After the sanding, which still did not smooth it totally out, we put the new floor on top. About two month later, it cracked under the stress and several tiles had to be replaced. Our lives are the same. If we have a bad foundation/the wrong foundation, we will eventually crack. If we should ever build our selves or our church up on finances, popularity, image, trying to simply impress with our worldly items, we too will one day crack. The foundation for all Christians must be one thing … obedience to Jesus Christ.

How do we build this foundation?

Really, there are only three things one must do.

Dig down deep … put real work into it. Don’t’ take the short path and cut corners, but dive deeply into God’s word and Christ’s teachings.

Find the rock … don’t worry about money/appearance, size, just look to Jesus Christ and trust fully in Him. Like the second man who kept digging for the rocks, dig until you find Christ … either for the 1st time or once again.

Finally, lay down a foundation. After you have that solid rock/foundation, add to it. Place smaller rocks on top of it and fill in the hole.

There is nothing accidental about this process. The man in the parable did these things. He deliberately dug down and continued even when tired and then filled it up. (Pause) This is also the picture of a man who builds up his spiritual life. It is not something aimless or hopeless, he is deliberate … constantly working on it.

In modern terms, it is what we call obedience. Obedience is taking the commands of Christ and carrying them out. It is obedience to pray, especially when we don’t feel like praying. Obedience to studying God’s word, not saying we have been around long enough to already know. It is in obedience to serving God by serving those in need … never complaining about being too old, having done our share, or worrying about who you are helping … it is simply doing it!

If we intentionally do these things, we will grow in our obedience to God … in our discipleship. This week I want you all to sit down, pray, and truthfully answer these questions:

Do I truly pray? How often, how deep?

Do I read God’s word? How much, how often?

Do I worship? How sincere? How deeply?

Do I serve? When? Where? Do I do it simply out of

love or do I just want to ‘improve my own image?’

How deep do you want to go in your spiritual life?

Do you want to remain on the surface, slide along, and just be one who wanted to join the club? Or do you want to truly dig down. It is no one’s choice but your own. But I will leave you with this truth. (Pause) If you choose to stay on the surface, and not serve and grow, you will encounter a trail in your life at some point. We all do. It could be having the financial strain of having a child. It could be getting a promotion at work. It could be a sudden illness. It could be a marriage. But it will be a trial. Trials are not a bad/good things, just a time in your life. It is through Spiritual discipline that one survives these times. Having a strong foundation enables us to weather the storm.

The way we will handle any crisis is determined by what we do before the crisis comes. As for anyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, we should not just cry out “Lord, Lord,” when the times are rough, but we should always follow what Christ has commanded … a life of humble service to all. (Pause) As you go out this week, meditate on one thing that Christ is telling you to do. Start with that and keep at it. If you do, then you will begin digging for a stronger foundation in your life.

^{1John Tung, “How Intentional Are You?” Sermon Central, web, 2000.}