"Season Your Goal Setting"

Sermon Transcript for December 31, 2000

By Rev. Mike Beck

Scripture Reading: Philippians 3:13-14 and 4:2-13

 

Our theme for this Christmas season at Grace Church has been "Seasoning the Season". Let me ask you if you have made progress in "seasoning your greetings". Are you sensitive to people that cross your path that you may not know in the way in which you greet them? Have you been a little kinder in the greeting of your family members? Have you made progress in "seasoning your giving"? I’m not talking about the monetary gifts. The non-monetary ways in which we can give to others--the unexpected card or visit mean so much to another person. And then last week we talked about "seasoning your getting". And I hope you picked up from that sermon that if someone gives you the gift of a compliment you don’t discount it and in effect tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about. But that you receive it graciously. And I hope at your Christmas gatherings if you listened to what we shared last week, you did not say to someone, "Oh, you shouldn’t have." But you received graciously the gift that they felt you worthy to receive.

On this final Sunday of the year 2000 we want to think together about "seasoning our goal-setting". And to set the stage for today’s message, I want us to tune in to a local radio station as callers are invited to guess the New Year’s resolution for which clues are being given.

 

MINI-DRAMA -"THE RESOLUTION GAME"

Janey Jingles: OK, ladies and gents. I hope you enjoyed that rendition of "An Alien Saves Christmas", sung by Andy Williams. Whoa, that Andy is getting hip these days. This is Janey Jingles, your favorite Christmas DJ winding down your holiday season with a final night of your all-time favorite Christmas tunes. And tonight, to start the new year off right, Janey Jingles is also bringing you The Resolution Game! This is the way we play. I’ll take the first caller and give them a few clues to a New Year’s resolution. If you can guess it with the clues you get, you win. And all these resolutions are taken from a survey of top resolutions people are expected to make this year. It’s easy to win with Janey Jingles! OK, the phone lines are open. Hello, You’re our first caller for the Resolution Game!

Sally: Uh, hello?

Janey Jingles: Yes, hello, you’re on the air.

Sally: Really? You mean, like, I’m the first caller?

Janey Jingles: Yes, indeed. And who am I talking to?

Sally: Uh, my name is Clarissa but everyone calls me Sally.

Janey Jingles: Ok, Sally. You’re our first contestant on The Resolution Game!

Sally: Oh, wow, great!

Janey Jingles: It’s an easy game. I give you a few clues, and you tell me what New Year’s resolution I’m thinking about. Are you ready?

Sally: Sure.

Janey Jingles: All right. This resolution is something you would want to do every day. And it will help to improve all areas of your life, and you should have more energy and a better outlook on life if you stick with it. What is that New Year’s resolution?

Sally: Uh, pray every day?

Janey Jingles: Pray every day? Oh, no, I’m sorry, Sally. That’s incorrect. The correct answer was exercise daily, especially at Aerobics for You, the Aerobics center where your fitness is our concern. Join them at 3400 Washington Street for classes at any time of the day or night. Aerobics for You. Call them today. 545-4YOU. Sorry, Sally. Better luck next time. What was with her? Pray? I told you we need a call screener. OK, let’s take another call. Hello, you’re on the air with Janey Jingles.

Annie: Uh, hello, am I on the radio?

Janie Jingles: Yes, you are, and you’re the next contestant on The Resolution Game!

Annie: Really? Wow, cool. I never got to be a contestant before. This is, like, so cool, you know.

Janey Jingles: Uh, sure, I know. And who is this?

Annie: Like, I’m Annie.

Janey Jingles: Annie. So, you know how to play, I give you some clues to a popular New Year’s resolution. You give me the resolution. You win. Are you ready?

Annie: Oh, sure, like, totally ready.

Janey Jingles: Yes, Annie. Now. This resolution is one that involves turning pages. And it will help you become a better person. And, if you stick to it, at the end of the year you will have read many, many books.

Annie: Oh, I know, I know. Read the Bible through in one year. That’s, like, totally awesome.

Janey Jingles: Oh, sorry, Annie. That is wrong. The correct answer was read a novel a month, which you could get at Borderline Bookstore, the bookstore that gives you the best books at the best prices. Remember, if Borderline Bookstore can’t get it, no one can. Sorry, Annie. What is with these people! Please, get me a call screener! OK, let’s take one more call. Yello! You’re on the air with Janey Jingles, and you’re set to play The Resolution Game!

 

Don: Hello? Am I on the radio? Hello? Hello?

Janey Jingles: Yes, you’re on the radio. You’re our next contestant. And what’s your name?

 

Don: Don. Oh, wow, I’m a contestant. I’ll have to tell all my friends.

Janey Jingles: Sure, Don, but not quite yet. Now, you know the rules. I give the clues. You give the answer. OK? Now, this resolution is one that involves a group of people. It will help you in your personal life as you help others, and, you will feel better, too.

Don: Well, the only thing I can think of is to join a small group Bible study, you know, like a group of people you can get to know and encourage...

Janey Jingle: No, no, no. That’s wrong, Don. I’m sorry. The correct answer is be a volunteer at your local YMCA. Yes, volunteer at the Y and get 50 percent off your membership. The YMCA, the trusted name for exercise, whether it’s swimming, basketball, volleyball, or exercise classes, join the YMCA, convenient for the whole family.

 

Don: So, did I win?

Janey Jingle: Uh, no, bye, Don. I told you this was a bad idea! What’s going on here? Why do all the religious freaks have to call in on my show? They were supposed to guess popular resolutions! Pray? Bible study groups? OK, let’s take a break from this game for a while. And let’s....uh, join Janey Jingles for the news. Our top story, in a recent survey, 84 percent of all Americans believe the world is heading in the wrong direction and have a sense of hopelessness.

What are your New Year’s resolutions for the coming year? When it comes to setting goals or making New Year’s resolutions, people usually err in one of two extremes. They either set goals that are unattainable and therefore set themselves up for failure or they set no goals at all and just drift through life without any sense of accomplishment or purpose.

Let’s think together this morning about establishing some goals that bring honor to God. And to do that we turn to the Book of Philippians. In Chapter 3, Verses 13-14, the Apostle Paul gives us some wonderful advice as we stand at the end of one year and at the threshold of another. Read these words, if you will, that are on the screen with me. Let’s read them together. "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

There are three important parts of that. And for many of you the first is the most important. When we are told, "forgetting what is behind..." Some of you aren’t going to make any progress towards the future because you are still held captive by the past. The last I checked, anything we said or did in the past we can’t do a darn thing to undue it. And what God calls us to do is to learn from it, but first of all to forget what is behind. Then Paul, secondly, says "straining toward what is ahead...", which implies that we are going to put some honest effort into some God-centered goals. And then, thirdly, in that verse it says, "I press on toward the goal". And I want to say there, whatever goals you set for the new year, you’re going to fall short. The question is like riding a bicycle. When you fall off the bicycle are you going to give up or are you going to get back on and continue to press on toward the goal? I hope that’s your attitude as we stand at the threshold of a new year.

I invite you now to turn with me to the fourth chapter of Philippians, found in your pew Bibles on page 249 of the New Testament. We didn’t take time to read the scripture before hand because I want to look at it as we work through the message. Page 249 there in the New Testament. In versus 2-13 of chapter four, the aging Apostle Paul challenges the believers at the church of Philippi with a punch list of spiritual goals. And the goals that he desires for them are goals that we would do well to consider as we approach the year ahead and seek to articulate a clear vision for our church and for our individual lives.

Look with me first of all at versus 2 & 3. He writes, "Euodias and Syntyche...". And ladies, aren’t you glad your mother didn’t name you that? "...please I beg you try and agree as sisters in the Lord. And you too, my faithful partner, I want you to help these women for they have worked hard with me and Clement and with all the other fellow workers whose names are in God’s book of the living." Paul, here, identifies a broken relationship within the church. Euodia and Syntyche have it in for each other. These two women in the congregation are good souls. They have been faithful servants in the cause of Christ. They have been an asset in Paul’s ministry. But something has occurred that has tethered their joy and effectiveness and their ability to reach out to each other in love. And Paul says, first of all, the time has come for this misunderstanding to be healed.

 

GOD-CENTERED GOALS

Let go of hurt feelings: As we stand at the beginning of a new year, I have to wonder if God isn’t calling some persons hearing my voice now to let go of some hurt feelings. The church is to be the body of Christ to a lost and broken world. But the church is made up of very flawed and fallible persons. We genuinely love God and we sincerely want to love one another, but there are times in which we have genuine differences of opinion. We make honest mistakes. We sometimes overlook things in our busyness and let persons fall through the cracks. And at times, all of us say things we wish we hadn’t said. But do you know what’s sadder than all that reality is this. The saddest thing is how long in our self-will we choose to hang on to those things. Some of you are hanging on to things that were done or said 35 years ago. And they become such heavy weights that keep us as a church and keep us as individuals from moving forward. Wouldn’t it be a worthy goal at the beginning of a new millennium for each one of us to let go of those hurtful feelings and misunderstandings?

 

Be joyful: And then Paul moves from the relational to the attitudinal in his suggested resolution in Verse 4. Look at it with me. He says, "May you always be joyful in your union with the Lord. I say it again, rejoice!" And let us not forget from where he is writing those words, friends. If you are a student of the Bible, you know he’s writing this challenge for us to be joyful from prison in Rome. He’s not out enjoying the good life. Paul is in prison and he says to the Church of Philippi, "Be joyful". Rather than pitching his tent and camping out in a canyon of complaining and grumbling, Paul is determined to seek out the summit of perspective. And he knows that if he climbs high enough and far enough in his mind, that he will eventually reach a place where, by God’s grace, he can see the grandeur of gratitude. How about you? Is increased joy and gratitude a goal that should be on your list?

 

Gentleness: Then go with me to Verse 5. He writes, "Show a gentle attitude toward everyone." The goal of gentleness. Remember, gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that’s listed in Galatians 5. But I think we often misunderstand gentleness. The quality of gentleness should not be equated with weakness. Gentleness and weakness are not the same thing. But gentleness has to do with how we relate to other people. Do we come across as a "bull in a china shop"? Or do we come across to people as thoughtful and sensitive, as tender and gracious? With God’s help, resolve to be more gentle. Those of you who live at the United Methodist Community, to be more gentle to the lady or gentleman down the hall that is just awfully hard to get along with. To be more gentle towards your spouse. To be more gentle toward your children. But maybe most of all, to be more gentle toward yourself. Some of you walk into the sanctuary each week figuratively covered with scars and blood oozing out from wounds you have inflicted on yourself because you are kind and gracious and gentle to everybody else, but you’re not gentle to yourself. The God-centered goal of gentleness.

 

Not to worry: And then Paul moves to a hard resolution in Verse 6 when he tells us not to worry. Could I see a show of hands of people who struggle with that one! Come on, be honest most of us do. We could easily do a whole series of sermons on this one topic. But Paul says here in Verse 6, "Don’t worry about anything but in all of your prayers ask God for what you need. Always asking Him with a thankful heart." And then we have a promise there, "And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus." I would simply say this on this matter of trying to worry less. I won’t say not worrying; I’ll say trying to worry less. Realize that all of us have only a limited amount of energy. Why waste that energy and rob ourselves also of the joy that is also a part of life, by worrying about things that may never come about or worrying about things over which we have no control. Because if you’ll think about it, 98% of the things you worry about never happen. And many times we worry about things over which we don’t have a bit of control

 

Fill your minds with those things that are good and deserve praise: Well, are you resolutioned out? Don’t put your pen down yet. Paul has two more to add. The first one of these has to do with our thought life. Look at Verse 8. He says here, "Fill your minds with those things that are good and deserve praise; things that are true, things that are noble, things that are right, things that are pure, and lovely, and honorable." Think about those things. And again, we could develop that principle extensively but let me simplify it this way. Many of you have computers with this computer axiom--"Garbage in, garbage out". That is true for our lives. If we put garbage into our minds, that’s what’s going to end up coming out. And I’ll make it even more relevant for the day in which we live by saying that God is calling Christians to exercise self-control in the following practical ways:

1. With our TV remote control. One of my resolutions for the coming year is to quit wasting time channel surfing.

2. Exercise more self-control with our selection of movies when we go to the Video Store.

3. To use more self-control in the choice of magazines and books that we choose to read.

4. And, finally, in the music we choose to listen to.

Paul says, your thought life is so important. If you throw garbage in, you’re going to have garbage coming out. Throw in the things that are good and noble and honorable.

Contentment: And then, finally, in Verse 11, Paul urges us to seek after the God-centered goal of contentment. Now look with me first of all at Verse 12. Paul tells us in Verse 12, he says, "I know what it is to be in need." But then I want you to note what he says then, "...but also I know what it is to have more than enough." In other words, there’s nothing wrong with our having plenty. There’s not anything wrong with trying to improve our current situation. I hope all of you, I hope we as a church are striving to improve in the coming year. That is okay provided we have the attitude that Paul displays in Verse 11. If you’ll go back and look at that with me, when he says, "But I have learned to be satisfied with what I have". I’ve learned. He doesn’t say it’s easy. But he says learn to be content if I’ve got a lot; but if I go through hard times and I’m struggling and I don’t have a lot, I can be content in that situation also. And, friends, that’s not an easy goal to obtain in a materialistic society where advertising bombards us on every side with you ought to have more. And if you don’t believe in the effect of advertising, how many scooters were underneath Christmas trees this year? Almost unheard of 12 months ago. And I also would like to have had stock in George Foreman grills. Why did we go out and buy those things? Because of what advertising does. Someone went to a store and asked what the difference was between the George Foreman grill and the Hamilton Beach grill. To which the salesperson said, "The name, nothing else". I would share with you again this marvelous equation from God’s word in I Timothy 6:6. We’ve used it before. "Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain!" Godliness, don’t forget that, plus contentment equals great gain.

In closing, some of you are thinking, "There is no way, Reverend Mike, I can achieve all of those things." And God’s reply is to say to us, "I know you can’t. And I hope you won’t beat yourself up when you fall short of achieving the goals that you have set for yourself." For our life in Christ is to be one of grace, not earning our salvation through good works. But what God wants every single one of you hearing my voice today to do in the coming year, God wants you to position yourselves in a way where He can work "in you" to accomplish His good purpose. If we will take time...no, I need to rephrase that. If we will make time to live out the resolutions the three callers shared in the drama:

to pray...

to spend time in the Word of God...

and to be a part of some small group in the life of the church...

We will discover the key to living a Godly life that is found in Verse 13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Read those words with me. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Now notice, the last part’s the important part. You can’t do all things in your own strength. If you’re trying to live out these goals in your strength only, you are guaranteed failure. But if you position yourself where God can work in you, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Let’s pray: "Oh Lord, as we set goals for the new year, help them to be obtainable. Help us to be kind to ourselves, realizing we will fall short. But to press on with you helping us. For some Lord, help them to forget what is behind. To realize to live in your grace and forgiveness. Help us when we come to December 31, 2001, if we are still here on this earth by your grace, that we would say, "Not in our own strength but through Christ who lives in me, we are living a little more Godly life than we are today. Be our helper, oh Lord, as you promised to do. In Christ’s name, Amen."