“The Undiscovered Country”
Part 2 of 3
Scripture Reading: Luke 12:13-21
Sermon Transcript for June 25, 2006
By Reverend Dan Sinkhorn
It is Part Two of “The Undiscovered Country”. Part Three to be heard next week in Sullivan! You might remember that I got the name “Undiscovered Country” from a work called Hamlet by William Shakespeare. And it is an interesting and well-known piece that line comes from. That line that many people know and maybe don’t even know where they heard it where Hamlet says, “To be or not to be, that is the question”. Now what is interesting is that Hamlet is talking about the death of the body. He’s talking about being dead. And he is asking whether it is worth going through all of the trouble of life and all the difficulties. Is it even worth trying to make it better? Or would it be better if you just died? Well, that’s a morbid topic, but if you recall what we decided that we could glean from this wonderful piece of literature was the truth in it that to die for self is the answer to Hamlet’s question whether “to be or not to be”. Because the truth is when we pursue only what the earth has to offer, as no doubt Hamlet was thinking, there really isn’t much that we can get excited about. That’s why it was easy for him to say that in death there might be the stuff of dreams of things that may come. That’s why he called death the “undiscovered country”. And it dawned on me as I thought about those words that if you thought of the death of the self, if you really did as the Apostle Paul said and died for yourself, you really would have what Hamlet was talking about. You really would discover the stuff of dreams. You really would discover the undiscovered countries.
But we had to remember last week that to die to self is to give up this vain notion that somehow I can save myself by keeping the law, by heartless worship and false piety. To die to myself is to surrender my will completely and totally and then to rest on what Jesus has done and on His gracious nature. That’s what it means to die to self. And when we do that we make the same confessions that these two young ladies made today. We confess that Jesus is Lord, that it is His will that rules over mine, that His leadership is absolute. And when we do that we have begun our eternal life. Now hear that very carefully. Listen to that and think about that for a minute. So many times we are tempted to think that our eternity begins after our bodies die. But the truth is, eternity begins when we enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, when we become new creations born again as in receiving the Holy Spirit. We have begun our eternal life; there is no reason to wait.
Knowing that, let us listen then to this Scripture teaching. This comes from the Gospel of Luke. You can remain seated, but listen reverently as some people are questioning our Lord Jesus. “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry!’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
I have found over the years of Bible study that it can be very interesting to take a word that you read in English and then run it backwards through various resources to see if you can find some deeper, richer meaning in the word. And I really wondered what Jesus meant when he called this man a fool. So I looked up the word “fool” in all of my various texts and this is what I found out. Fool in the way that Jesus said it means this: “unintelligent or thoughtless, somebody who is regarded lacking good sense or judgment.” Sounds like He meant exactly what He said! No secret meaning in that. This man was a fool. He was a fool because he could only think of himself and his own. His only desire was to take care of me and mine. He’s called a fool and then by implication Jesus is saying because he gave nothing to the Lord, because he had nothing to give to the Lord, he was all for himself. And that very night the Lord called his soul home.
I have had the honor and unique experience of presiding at dozens of funerals. I have seen funerals where the caskets were not as well built as my first car; and I have seen caskets that were beautiful, ornate works of art. I have seen flowery funerals with lots of music and speeches; and I have seen simple funerals. But there is one thing that they all have in common at the end of the day—one person remains dead in body and only alive in memories of those people with whom they shared their living. What will they remember about us? Will they remember our new barns full of stuff? Will they remember our collections, our gadgets, our junk? I’ve seen a few people grumble about all of that junk when they’ve had to figure out how to dispose of it all after the loved one has passed away.
Jesus has made it clear to us that “things” aren’t very important, that “stuff” really isn’t what we are here for. I’ve noticed that people sometimes interpret Scripture to say that the “stuff” is a sign of blessing, that if they have good things, it is a way that they know that God has blessed them. Well, I certainly agree that we should all try to heighten our awareness of God’s blessing, but I think that Christians often fall into the trap of thinking that they need this stuff in order to be convinced of their blessing. You know the greatest blessing that you can have is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart and mind and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Learning to love yourself is the greatest blessing of all. And it doesn’t mean self-love where you try to buy yourself off with trinkets. It means that you really are okay with who you are because you know that God is okay with who you are. If your creator “don’t make no junk”, then you don’t need to treat yourself like junk. And so it could be that the greatest blessing that you could receive is not a big paycheck, not a lot of stuff, not a lot of rewards, not a lot of recognition, but to simply be able to lay your head on your pillow at night and know that you have given all that you have to give for God’s glory.
I was asked this morning about my reflections as I was about to leave. And someone gave me an opportunity to use an analogy that works really well for me. I had a pitcher full of grape juice that I was emptying into these cups and I said, “You know, whether anybody remembers the grape juice or not, I have an empty vessel to show for it.” Beloved, I hope I leave you an empty vessel. I hope I leave here having emptied myself for His sake. That’s all I need. And on my best days that makes me a really fine person because I know that I have emptied myself for His sake. And I don’t need anybody’s recognition; I don’t need anybody’s thanks. I can be content with an emptiness. This is what Jesus means when He says the man is a fool because the stuff didn’t say a thing about who he was. What if he had barns full of stuff that he gave away to the poor, the needy? Then maybe his empty barns would be a sign of his true nature.
I am a fan of many theologians. Among them is a fellow by the name of A.W. Tozer. He died in 1963, but listen to these hard words that he said before he died and you’ll think that he wrote them yesterday. He said:
“Today more than ever we Christians need to learn how to sanctify the ordinary. This is a blasé generation. People have been over stimulated to the place where their nerves are jaded and their tastes corrupted. Natural things have been rejected to make room for things artificial. The sacred has been secularized, the holy vulgarized and worship converted into a form of entertainment. A dopey, blear-eyed generation seeks constantly for some new excitement powerful enough to bring a thrill to its worn-out and benumbed sensibilities. So many wonders have been discovered or invented that nothing on earth is any longer wonderful. Everything is common and almost everything boring.” (Banner of Truth, May 2006, pg. 21)
Ouch! Boy when he says that it really hits us between the eyes, doesn’t it? Listen to the rest of what he says:
“The answer is near thee, even in they mouth. Vacate the throne room of your heart and enthrone Jesus there. Set Him in the focus of your heart’s attention and stop wanting to be a hero. Make Him your all in all and try yourself to become less and less. Dedicate your entire life to His honour alone and shift the motives of your life from self to God. Let the reason back of your daily conduct be Christ and His glory, not yourself, nor your family, nor your country, nor your church. In all things let Him have the preeminence.” (Banner of Truth, May 2005, pg. 22)
The undiscovered country you can only find by dying for yourself ironically is the greater love for yourself. You find enough total worth in yourself that you can empty all of it and know that it serves a purpose in God’s economy. Know that not one person in this room has less worth than another. And God can use each of you—each person who will empty themselves for His namesake and in that we bring Him glory and we find peace that goes way beyond even understanding.
Tozer said that we should learn to sanctify the ordinary. I know what that means. I’ll tell you how I know because I found it because it became a part of my job. And if you don’t become a pastor, it may be harder for you to find it but I hope you will go looking for it. If you could sanctify the ordinary, it might be this way for you too. I have had the experience of being invited into the sacred home of some people’s lives. I see here a couple that I stood with right here a week ago and shared their marriage covenant with them. I see babies I’ve had the opportunity to greet within hours of their birth. I see people with whom I have shared the last moments of a loved ones life. I see people that I have had ordinary meals with, ordinary meals of grace with, and ordinary visits on the back patio with. I see sacred moments with so many of you. And if we haven’t had that experience together, we’re having it now because we are sharing an ordinary sermon, an ordinary worship service, and God is doing something extra ordinary.
Do you know the secret to finding sacredness in the ordinary is?—to be here and not about what you are going to do when you get home from church! To be here and not about what you need to get done before you move on Wednesday! To be here and not about anything else but simply to be present with the sacred person of worth because God is present with you both!
A favorite musician of mine is Michael Card and he gives these words in a song I particularly love. And it is called “The Distressing Disguise”:
He is in the pain, He is in the need
He is in the poor, we are told to feed
Though He was rich, for us He became poor
How could He give so much, what was it for?
In His distressing disguise
He waits for us to surmise
That we rob our brothers by all that we own
And that’s not the way He was shown
Every time a faithful servant serves
A brother that’s in need
What happens at that moment is a miracle indeed
As they look to one another in an instant it is clear
Only Jesus is visible for they’ve both disappeared
He is in the hand that reaches out to give
He is in the touch that causes men to live
So speak with your life now as well as your tongue
Shelter the homeless, take care of the young
In His distressing disguise
He hopes that we’ll realize
That when we take care of the poorest of them
We’ve really done it to Him
You can sanctify the ordinary by simply being completely present to Him and listening and attending to the present. We are going to do that right now. We are going to do something Jesus did. He took an ordinary meal and turned it in to something extraordinary. And now we are going to do the same. Laura has baked bread for you; even some gluten-free bread for you, John. It’s right there. And do you know what? I had to say that because I have watched so many times as my wife has kneaded the dough and molded it and shaped it. I’ve watched so many times as she has sanctified something that ordinary and turned it into an act of worship. And with love for you in each turn of the dough. And now you can come and receive this bread with us one more time. It will be an opportunity to say goodbye really because we are not going to go out in the lobby afterwards and try and greet everyone again. It’s been so hard to say goodbye so often anyway. But we do hope at the close of the service if someone really hasn’t had that opportunity, you will come and see us. So let this be a goodbye in so many ways; but not a goodbye forever, just simply a change. The one body in Christ unites us no matter where we are. And so I want to invite you now to take this ordinary meal and turn it into a sanctified, extraordinary moment as you share with my family. They are coming forward now. They are going to help me serve you. Just come down the center aisle in two rows and we’ll hand you a piece of bread. And you dip it into the cup and then eat it and go back to your seat by the side aisles. Let’s have a sacred moment together now.
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