Rev. David Holwick ZE "Setting Boundaries" series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 28, 2003
Matthew 14:8-23
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I. Lumberjack secrets.
A. Hard work with a dull axe gets you nowhere.
Once there was a group of men -- a young hot-blooded guy named
Joe and a number of older men -- clearing a jungle.
Joe was very hard-working.
He even worked through his break time.
He complained that the older men were wasting time, taking so
many breaks to drink and chat.
As time went by, Joe noticed that even though he worked through
break time and hardly took a rest, he was accomplishing no
more than the older men did.
It was as if they worked through their break time, too.
So he decided to work harder.
Unfortunately, the results were even worse.
One day, one of the older men invited Joe for a drink during
their break time.
Joe refused and said he had no time for idleness.
Then the old man smiled to him and said, "You're wasting time
chopping trees without sharpening your axe.
Sooner or later you will give up from exhaustion."
Suddenly Joe realized that during break times while the older
men were having a chat, they were also sharpening axes!
That's how they could chop faster than he could while spending
less time.
In Stephen Covey's THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
a whole chapter is devoted to "sharpening the axe."
We need to work, to rest, to worship and to play to function at
our best in all situations.
#25041
B. What dulls our axe. (giving more than you receive)
1) Too many needy people.
2) Too many tasks.
3) Life can overwhelm you if you let it.
a) Like a bank account: too many withdrawals, not enough
deposits.
b) How do we balance our own needs with the needs of
people around us?
II. Jesus had personal needs.
A. We often view him as an automaton, a robot.
1) No real emotions.
2) Unlimited powers.
3) The reality was far different.
B. His crisis.
1) His cousin, John the Baptist, is put to death.
a) Many saw them as rivals.
b) They saw themselves as complimentary, a team.
2) Jesus had to sort through this big change.
a) He had to deal with his grief.
b) He had to meditate on what would happen in his ministry.
3) Jesus decided he needed time alone.
a) He headed for a desolate area with few Jews.
C. His solitude is interrupted by vast crowds.
1) They had followed him for ten miles around Lake Galilee.
2) Dilemma: run away or bury yourself in their needs?
3) Jesus did neither.
a) He grasped their need and felt sympathy for them.
1> He didn't resent them.
b) Then he empowered his followers to solve the need.
1> He tells them - you feed them.
A> He has them divide up the crowd.
B> Then he has them divide up the loaves.
2> This miracle was so remarkable it is only one
mentioned in all four gospels.
c) Then he found time to be alone without interruptions.
4) Jesus held everything in balance.
a) He met the needs of others.
b) He looked after his own needs.
III. Jesus also found refuge in his friends.
A. Sometimes he sought solitude, at other times he sought friends.
B. Town of Bethany was a refuge to Jesus.
1) Contrast with dangerous Jerusalem.
2) He retreated here during his last week on earth.
C. Mary, Martha, Lazarus: they gave and also received.
1) Honest and caring relationship.
IV. We are no different than Jesus.
A. We need solitude.
1) Quietness and rest, away from the pressure.
When he was a young pastor in Minnesota, Richard Axmann
received some wise advice from a retired minister.
The old preacher noticed how the young man poured himself
into his job and tried to meet every human need that
came his way.
He said to Richard, "Go home."
"You have to quit everyday because you will never be
finished with your job.
More will always be expected of you, no matter how much
you give.
You have to decide how important you want to be, and many
of us preacher types consider ourselves more capable
than God."
He went on to say, "You'll get your vacation sooner or
later, one way or another.
You can choose your destination, accommodations, sleep with
your family, eat when and what you want, enjoy life and
come and go...
Or at some point be taken to the most expensive room and
bed in town, be alone, be constantly interrupted, eat
what's put in front of you, be poked, tested again
and again, suffer embarrassments,
have no privacy and be told to rest ...
by a doctor and in a hospital ...
But you will get time away from your life's work and family
stresses.
You will get your rest!!"
#18865
2) Devotion to God.
a) Prayer
1> (Night of prayer this evening)
2> Jesus undergirded every major turning point with
prayer.
b) Bible reading.
1> Quietly meditate on God's dealings with his people.
B. We need friends.
1) The kind who encourage us, build us up, bear our burdens.
a) Find friends who give you more and make few demands.
2) Move beyond superficiality. Share your heart with them.
C. We need to serve.
1) Danger of this kind of sermon - sanctified selfishness.
a) Missionary in POW camp.
During World War II many missionaries and other
civilians ended up in Japanese prison camps.
In these concentration camps the civilians were not
tortured or killed.
But they never knew what was going to happen to them.
Living space, food and security were all in short
supply.
As more people were crammed into the camp, families were
asked to give up some rooms in their living quarters.
In this way the others would have a place to live.
Nobody disagreed with this - as long as their rooms
weren't taken away.
One missionary offered this excuse: He said the other
missionaries often asked him to preach in the camp's
church services.
Then he said, "It is for their sakes, and for that of
the camp as a whole, that my family needs a little
extra space.
This way I can have quiet to think out these sermons."
This sounds very religious.
But actually, he's just being selfish.
The non-Christians were equally selfish, but believers
had an advantage - they could wrap their selfishness
in God's will. #2191
2) Our needs do not negate the needs of others.
a) Some people need to receive more from us than they can
give in return.
b) Remember what Bible says - we are put here to share one
another's burdens.
3) Aerobic loving.
Ever feel overwhelmed by the Bible's command to love
unconditionally?
Roger Thompson says when people ask him how they can start
to love people the way they should, he gives the same
answer he gives those who ask how they can start
jogging:
Start slow, and then get slower!
For the first week, the goal is just to keep moving.
Too many people buy new shoes and a fancy running suit and
sprint out the door, eagerly chugging as hard as they
can for about three blocks.
Then their stomachs begin to ache, their muscles cramp, and
their lungs burn.
They wind up hitchhiking home exhausted, and gasp,
"I will never do that again."
That's called anaerobic (without oxygen) running.
It's caused by a body using up more oxygen than it takes in.
Many people try to run that way, and many people try to
love that way.
They love with great fervor and self-sacrifice, giving 100
percent but without the resources to continue for a
lifetime.
Down the road they find themselves in pain, gasping and
cramped, saying, "I will never do that again."
Love, like running, must be aerobic.
Our output must be matched by our intake.
Running requires oxygen.
An enduring love requires oxygen.
An enduring love requires God's Word, his consolation, his
presence.
As we love aerobically, we'll build up our capacity to do
more and more.
And pretty soon we won't be huffing and puffing for a half
a mile; we'll be running marathons.
#2112
4) Remember the loaves!
a) Our resources are not limited to what we can draw up
from within us.
b) God can provide more than we ask or imagine.
V. What will you do with your axe?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
Key ideas in this sermon (and the series) are from "The Road Toward
Wholeness" by Mary Tuomi Hammond, Judson Press, 1998.
# 2112 "Aerobic Loving," by Roger Thompson, Leadership Journal,
Winter 1983, page 82.
# 2191 "Sanctified Selfishness," from older sermon by Rev. David
Holwick; March 30, 1986. Original source unknown.
#18865 "One Way Or Another, You Will Get Your Rest," Richard Axmann,
pastor at Clearfield Community Church; Clearfield, Utah;
from Minister: Journal of the American Baptist Ministers
Council, Fall 2000, page 6.
#25041 "Sharpening Your Ax," no author given; Dynamic Preaching weekly
email, www.sermons.com; June 15, 2003.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Mary Tuomi Hammond, "The Road Toward Wholeness." Judson Press, p. 53.
I. We need space for our own needs.
A. You can't wait for breaks in your schedule.
B. Frustration at giving more than you receive.
C. Learn to openly share your needs without discounting them.
II. Jesus met his own needs.
A. Jesus tried to balance others' needs with his own.
1) After John the Baptist's death, Jesus went to be alone.
2) Crowds followed; rather than sending the crowd away,
Jesus empowered his followers to solve the problem.
3) He then sought solitude and prayer again.
B. He also found refuge in his friends.
1) Town of Bethany was a refuge to Jesus.
a) Contrast with dangerous Jerusalem.
2) Mary, Martha, Lazarus: they gave and also received.
a) Honest and caring relationship.
III. We need the same resources.
IV. Some people will deplete you.
A. That's not a sin - we are on this earth to help
one another with our burdens.
B. But these people need to be balanced.
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