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Secrets of Abundant Living

THE SECR= ET OF ONE

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Ephesians 4:1-6

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The “Rule of One” keeps our prioriti= es straight.

A sermon preached by

Rev. William O. (Bud) = Reeves

First United Methodist Church

Hot= Springs, Arkansas

September 30, 2007

In his book, Actions Speak Louder Than Words, H= erb Miller tells about two Kentuc= ky farmers who raised race horses. They were rivals and both very competitive. One spring, they= each entered a horse in a local steeplechase—the kind of race where the ho= rses jump over barriers. One of the farmers decided he would hire a professional jockey to ride his horse and defeat his rival. Sure enough= , the two farmers’ horses were neck and neck at the last fence, far ahead of the rest of the pack, but when both horses tried to jump the fence at the s= ame time, they collided and fell, unseating their riders.

The professional jockey jumped up, remounted, and rode quickly to finish the race. Returning to the winner’s ci= rcle, he was surprised to find the farmer that had hired him fuming with rage. “You idiot!” he screamed. “What do you = think you’re doing?”

“What’s the matter?” the jockey asked. “I won, didn’t I?”<= /o:p>

“Oh yeah, you wo= n all right,” the farmer roared. “But you crossed the finish line on the wrong horse!”

In his hurry to remount after the fall, the jockey had climbed on his competitor’s horse and = rode it to victory![1]

As we run the race of = life, there are many horses we can ride, aren’t there? We can try to win on the horse of = power, fame, wealth, or any other thing the world values. We can ride some of these horses to success, but there is only one horse that we can ride to victory. All the others will fade down the stretch.

One of my favorite mov= ies, City Slickers, tells the story of a group of successful New York<= /st1:place> businessmen who go out west for a cattle drive. They are trying to restore their s= ense of purpose in life, to do something out of the ordinary, to feel like real = men again, and they figure a cattle drive will do it. The old cowboy who leads the cattl= e drive is a grizzled, gruff guy named Curly. Early on the trail ride, one of the businessmen, Mitch, asks Curly, “What is the meaning of life?”= (I’m sure cowboys get asked that question all the time.) =

Curly holds up one fin= ger and says, “That’s the meaning of life.”=

Mitch says, “Your finger?”

“Just one thing,” Curly says. “That’s the meaning of life. Just one thing.”<= /span>

“What one thing?” Mitch asks.

Curly grins at the city slicker and says, “That’s what you have to figure out for yourself.”[2]

That’s exactly w= hat we want to figure out this morning. What is the one thing that will bring meaning and purpose and victor= y to your life? What is our priority? What is the secret = of abundant living?

Bill Hybels, senior pa= stor at Willow= Creek Community Church, has a frien= d who nearly lost his life in a flying accident a few years ago. Bill had breakfast with him some t= ime after his accident, and he asked the man how the accident and his lingering physical problems had affected him. He said, “Bill, I see life so much more clearly now. My relationship with Jesus Christ = is now of supreme importance.” (It hadn’t been before.) “Now whe= n I hold my wife and when I kiss my children, I realize what a treasure they ar= e.”= = [3]

One of the sad things = about the human condition is that it often takes a tragedy or a crisis to make pe= ople see life more clearly. At some point we have to take a long, hard look at our lives and begin the process = of prioritizing. What is important? What do I believe in? Which horse am I going to= ride with my life? What’s th= e one thing?

If you’re lookin= g for answers to those deep questions of life today, I want to share with you a secret. It’s a secret t= hat will help you live abundantly and effectively and productively for the rest= of your life. It’s a secre= t that will give you strength to face whatever crises and tragedies come your way. It’s a secret we f= ind in our Scripture text today: “Th= ere is one Body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, wh= o is above all and through all and in all.”[4]

The secret is what I c= all the “Rule of One.” There is one God who rules the world. There is one King on the throne. I= f you let God be the One who rules your life, then you will live abundantly. You have to figure this one out on= your own. You decide, and that dec= ision determines everything else. <= o:p>

This is not a new rule= . It goes back long before Jesus to = the Ten Commandments that Moses brought to the people of God. The very first commandment forms t= he foundation for all the rest. “You shall have no oth= er gods before me.”[5] No God but God—thatR= 17;s the rule of One. Anything els= e that becomes a god for us is an idol, and some very good things can become idols that keep us away from the one true God.&n= bsp; Wealth, career, power, sex, sports, leisure—all these things a= re good gifts from God as long as they don’t take priority over him. Even our families can become such a priority that our relationship with our loved ones can keep us from the One= who loves us most. Religion itsel= f can become idolatrous if it focuses on knowing the forms of worship without rea= lly worshipping the One who formed us. None of these things are evil in themselves—far from it. All these things are good if they = are not god, but without God, none of it is any good at all.<= /p>

Bill McCartney is the = former football coach of the Uni= versity of Colorado Buffaloes. He also founded the Promisekeepers ministry a few years ago. Lis= ten to what he says about priorities:

“When I took the job as head football coach at the Uni= versity of Colorado in 1982= , I made a solemn promise; I told everybody that with me, God was first, family second, and football third.

“But I didn̵= 7;t keep that promise for long. T= he thrill and the challenge of resurrecting a football program in disarray sim= ply took too much time and attention. As my teams kept winning year after year, I kept losing focus on my priorities.

“When we won the national championship in 1990, many people said I had reached the pinnacle = of my profession. But for me, th= ere was an emptiness about it. I = had everything a man could want, and yet something was missing. I was so busy pursuing my career g= oals that I was missing out on the Spirit-filled life that God wanted me to have= . All because I had broken my promis= e to put God first and foremost in my life.”[6]

The secret to followin= g the Rule of One is also right there in our Scripture text. Paul says, “I therefore, a prisoner of the = Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”[7] Isn’t that a great description of the abundant life? Humility, gentleness, patience, peace—that’s the life wo= rthy of the calling, isn’t it? To adopt the Rule of One, lead the life. It’s that simple. It’s not that easy= .

It’s a process of growth—have you heard me say that before? Living under the Rule of One, lead= ing the life worthy of your calling, is a process of growing into Christ. We want to grow spiritually until = our lives resemble his life more and more. Growing into Christ is= a process of focusing our hearts on him, prioritizing our lives by the Rule of One, and in that process we will find that we are being transformed, change= d, renewed, glorified.

Have you ever heard it= said that people who are married for a long time start to look like each other?<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> After years and years of marriage,= spouses have lived together so closely for so long that they exhibit the same facial expressions, and some say they even begin to have the same physical characteristics. If that̵= 7;s true, Karen is in big trouble. In fact, most of you ladies are in big trouble. Men, there is hope for us yet! If you’re here with your spo= use today, turn to him or her, with kindness and love in your voice, and say, “If I’m going to look like you, you better shape up.” What may or may not be true about = human marriages is true about our relationship with Christ. The more we walk with Christ, the = closer we live in him, the longer we abide in our Lord, the more our life will look like his. And that’s go= od news!

Look how Jesus priorit= ized his life. If you think you ha= ve busy days, turn to Mark, chapter 1, and read about a typical day in the lif= e of Jesus. In verse 21, we find J= esus and his first four disciples in Capernaum, and Jesus was teaching in the synagogue.&n= bsp; While he was teaching, a man possessed by a demon interrupted the se= rvice, and Jesus rebuked the demon and cast him out, right there in the synagogue. After services, he= went to Simon Peter’s house, probably expecting to rest after all the excitement, but Peter’s mother-in-law was sick, so Jesus healed her.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> After supper, as they were getting= ready to wind down for the day, Peter opened the door, and there stood a long lin= e of people; every sick, crippled, demon-possessed person for miles around was at his door, wanting to see Jesus. He came out and took care of each of them, one by one.

Can you imagine the “to-do list” of Jesus? Think about it. 1. Hea= l the sick. 2. Raise the dead. 3. Teach the Way. 4. Instruct the disciples. 5. Spend time with children. 6. = Dinner with sinners. This was his ev= eryday routine! How did he handle it= ? If we try to be like him, how will= we handle the demands placed on our lives?

The secret is there in= verse 35: “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went ou= t to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”[8] Jesus exercised the Rule of O= ne in his life. No matter how much = he had to do in his day, no matter what demands were being heaped on his plate, no matter what crises were at hand, he always made it a priority to spend time with his Father. He made sure= his God was God; then he could handle anything.

In her book A Place of Quiet Rest Nancy L. De= Moss writes: “Jesus knew that any power or ability he had to minister to others was due to the fact that he was ‘one with the Father.’ He knew it was essential for him t= o stay connected to his Father, for that was his source of life, joy, power, peace, and fruitfulness. He knew he = had to walk in union and communion with his Father if he was to know and to do his Father’s will. He had no other purpose for being on this earth that to do the will of his Father. So he had no higher priority than = to abide in intimate, unbroken fellowship with his Father, so that he might fulfill his Father’s will.”

Then Nancy DeMoss clos= es with this thought: “Is it really possible for us to manifest the same spirit Jesus did when facing pressure?&nbs= p; That all depends on whether we are willing to make the same choice he made, to adopt his number one priority as the number one priority of our li= ves.”= = [9]

The secret of abundant living is simply this: Let God be God in your life. Have no other gods before him. There is one Lord, one faith, one = God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. The Rule of One: Make God your priority. And here’s th= e good news: When you submit yourself to the Rule of One, it’s amazing how e= verything else will fall into its proper place and perspective. Your career decisions will become clear. Your economic needs wi= ll line up with your ability to provide. Your family relationships will improve. You’ll get more out of church. You’ll get more= out of life. You will live abunda= ntly!

One of the most succes= sful novelists of our time is John Grisham.&nbs= p; Even with the huge success of his books and movies, Grisham has trie= d to keep things in perspective by focusing on his priorities, like coaching Lit= tle League baseball with his son, and keeping his faith in God. Grisham points to the remarkable a= dvice that a friend gave him while he was a law student many years ago.

This friend had attend= ed Mississippi State with John Grisham, and three= years later, he called John out of the blue to have lunch together. Over lunch, the friend revealed th= at at the age of 25, he was dying with cancer.&n= bsp; After John got over the shock of that announcement, he asked, “What do you do when you realize you are about to die?”

“It’s real simple,” the friend said. “You get things right with God, and you spend as much time as = you can with those you love. Then= you settle up with everybody else.”

Finally the friend sai= d one thing that John Grisham has never forgotten: “You know, you really ou= ght to live every day like you only have a few more days to live.”= [10]

Today is your chance to settle up with God. Today is = an opportunity to make some priority decisions. Today is a God-given window for sp= iritual transformation. Make it happen. Let One rule. And you will have the secret of ab= undant living. Amen!