One of the biggest promises of the Bible is that your life has meaning. In a world where employers try to get your labor for the cheapest price possible, it’s a promise that most people stop believing in. One of the dreams that I have after my work as a pastor among you is that I have motivated someone here to reach for the task that God has called you to do. In my series on the 7 stories of the gospel, I called this ‘sacred labor.
I believe so strongly that God has created each person here with great complexity and finding out how you are made and what God has created you to do is one of life’s chief tasks. When you find that task and live it out, you have found your sacred labor.
Perhaps you have seen the name of Randy Pausch this week. Randy Pausch is 47 years old, a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University. His own work is so important that they added a building just for his programs. Each year, Carnegie Mellon invites one of its famous faculty to deliver ‘The Last Lecture.’ Its not their last lecture, but simply a lecture on what really motivates them in their own personal lives. The Last Lecture never received much attention until 2007 when Randy Pausch gave it last November, knowing that he had terminal pancreatic cancer. Amazingly, in May 2008, the disease had not claimed his life, so Carnegie Mellon invited him to graduation exercises to give the traditional Charge to Graduates.
We are going to look at an Old Testament passage today in Ecclesiastes. We all know that there are only two things in life which are certain, death and taxes. The writer of Ecclesiastes says that having a longer life is not the question, the question God will ask is how well you lived your life. My prayer for anyone today who feels like you are wandering in life, is that you will find your Sacred Labor
There are so many health ideas that are extending our lives. I have largely stopped eating supper because I can gain a pound just thinking about it. I have had oatmeal about half the time this week and I’ve recently added cinnamon to it because its one of the 11 essential foods you should add to your diet. We are living in the generation of life extension.
The problem with all this life extension is that it doesn’t tell you what to do with all this extra time. Someone said to me two years ago that he exercises two hours a day and can eat anything he wants. Well, I’m glad to have that little formula, and in the next life where I have two extra hours a day, I may try that system.
So how can you have a life with meaning? The Bible looks on life on earth as a classroom time that equips you for life in heaven. I want to offer three ideas from Ecclesiastes: accept your lot, find satisfaction, and seize your gladness.
Accept your lot. A lot of us feel inferior. We wish we had been born somewhere else, gotten a better education, had different parents, raised with less brothers and sisters, had been offered better jobs, etc. There needs to be a day when we take all of these things up here to the altar and just give them back to the Lord. Lord, I wish that I had 10 million dollars and I don’t. Lord I even wasted the 100 dollars that I had. Let me give you these feelings God so that I can get up and simply live for you without regret.
Let’s face it. A lot of us strive in unhealthy ways. It’s not bad to strive, unless you are striving for things that don’t count. Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
I am surprised at the harshness of Ecclesiastes about saving up much money. At first, I was thinking that he doesn’t live in this day and age. But as I thought about it more, I decided that there is an issue of faith for all of us. If we release our money in giving, we bless others and invite God to bless us. Our attempts to save it all for ourselves simply remove us from the protection God offers.
Find satisfaction. Friends you need to invest in yourselves. People can get basic feedback on your working style and gifts with cheap online tools now. I now have spent almost 30 years with this kind of work, using personnel tools to help people find their gift. I was looking at one of the profiles about myself just this week. One of the statements is really one of my life aspirations. I could not have told you this last week, but as soon as I read it, I knew it was my passion. The statement about me - Ability to reduce barriers to performance that others place around themselves, and lead them to success. I really hope that I have helped someone here to reduce the barriers so that you found success. I really think that if I can accomplish that then I don’t need to have the three homes I was hoping for here, in San Diego, and in Phnom Penh. I don’t have to be President of the United States even though I have better ideas than Obama and I'm better at everything than McCain. I’m going to keep eating oatmeal and cinnamon, but I don’t even have to live to be 100. I have eternal life for that.
You know, I can accept my lot, if I can realize my satisfaction. You can accept your lot, if you realize your satisfaction. “to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God”
Lastly, seize your gladness. Randy Pausch mentioned in his last lecture that the Grim Reaper comes for all. There’s no question that everyone in this room will cross Jordan before we reach the eternal city. We think of it as the fate of the eldest here, but it is the fate of the youngest infant here. The only question is how you spend your moments before angels call. Randy Pausch met this reality Thursday morning. We pray for his acceptance in the heavenlies. But the question this morning is whether you have seized your gladness. Friends, we have peace with God for our sins. If you have taken drugs or wrecked your body or cheated at work or supported the war, God can forgive you. This is why Christ died. And now I'm going out on a limb, because I really don’t know that answer to this with certainty. But it seems to me that if you just sit around waiting for life to happen, and don’t do anything, its not really a sin. Its just a lost opportunity, no stars in your crown. You get to Heaven and Newton is ahead of you and asks God’s forgiveness for slavery and God says, yes, the penalty Christ paid is there. And a banker admits that he stole from his relatives and the penalty Christ paid is there. And a teenager cheated on an exam, and someone else shoplifted from a store, and a soldier tortured someone in battle, and a leader had people killed and they all ask forgiveness and God pardons everything requested because Christ paid the penalty. And then you come, and God asks what you did wrong, and you say nothing. And God asks what you did, and you say nothing. Is there forgiveness for a life not lived? In verse 20, He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.
Accept your lot, realize your satisfaction, and seize your gladness.
