"Drawing The Line"
Al NeufeldJuly 10/11, 2004
When I was a kid, I loved playing hockey. The only problem was that I wasn't particularly good at it. As a result, I was relegated to the nether regions of tier-three hockey. Now at that time, because tier three was for those less skilled players, they had a "no body contact" rule. Now, for someone like myself that was big, even when little, this proved to be a severe disadvantage. I'm not a dirty player, and I liked to play a good clean, hard game. But when you are 4-5 inches taller and 20-30lbs heavier than anyone else on the ice, it became apparent that my destiny did not lie on the score sheet, but more often than not in the penalty box. There were times that the refs just looked at me, shook their heads and said " get in the box." "But I didn't do anything!" "It doesn't matter, you will eventually."
At age 13, I played on a team called the Flames. Any relation to that team and current version of the Calgary Flames is purely accidental. We did not have a great deal of skill, but we sure had a lot of fun together, and we were a tight group. I played defense and as a defenseman, you develop a natural bond with the goalie, and would do anything to help him out.
Our most hated rivals were the Barons. When we played them, it was always a hard fought, rough and sometimes very nasty game. The rivalry even spilled over to the parents. My Dad still tells me stories of how nasty the comments got during the games that at one point the arena staff had to send the crowds to opposite ends of the rink to avoid fights. I always loved playing those games, because it was one of the few times where I could actually use my size to my advantage - when I wasn't in the penalty box.
There was one game however, that stands out from all the rest. We had lost the latest game against the dreaded Barons, and the game was lost on a really easy shot that our goalie just couldn't get a handle on. The parents of our players were really upset and started jeering and throwing insults at the Barons' players as they left the ice. It was so bad that the Baron coach took exception and started a confrontation with one of our parents by our dressing room.
After the fight died down, the parent that was yelling came into our dressing room, and started to yell and scream at our goalie, about how it was his fault that we lost, that the shot was so easy he could have stopped it with his teeth, and how much of a disgrace the goalie was to our team.
If you have ever played team sports, you know that above all things, the team comes first, and that even if someone makes a mistake, you stand by your teammate and support him. I watched what was happening, and I did something that I never did before. I got up and stood up to a parent.
To this day, I look back on that and reflect on what was going though my mind as I stood up and demanded that he get out of the dressing room, and apologize to our goalie. My first thought was "he is going to kill me." But also, it was this; "You have crossed a line, and I will not allow you to tear down MY goalie, my teammate like this."
It was time to draw the line.
The movie "Remember the Titans" which our movie clip was from, is the true story of a high school football team in the city of Alexandria, Virginia in 1971. At that time, race relations between blacks and whites were very tense and volatile. The high school where the Titans came from was actually 3 high schools, 2 black and 1 white, that were forced to integrate by the state of Virginia. Coach Bill Yoast was the white head football coach of one of those High Schools. Coach Yoast was a successful coach in the community, having had 15 straight winning seasons, and many league and city championships. However, Coach Yoast was not only concerned for only how his teams performed, he was primarily concerned with his players as people, and their development as men. He preached discipline, hard work, fairness and teamwork to all his players. In fact, he stated that he wanted to be a preacher when he graduated from college. However, he felt that he would have a greater impact on youth if he worked with them more than just on Sundays, and so he entered coaching. He had served in the community for many years, worked with countless young men and in 1971, had reached his dream of being nominated to the Hall of Fame.
Unfortunately, because of the forced integration, Coach Yoast's job was given to a black head coach named Herman Boone, and Coach Yoast was forced to coach under Boone's leadership. This angered many in the white community in Virginia, and there was no shortage of people willing to do whatever it took to get rid of Coach Boone, and give Coach Yoast his job back. Even Coach Yoast was willing to consider any option to get Boone out, and get his coveted job back. He had a choice to make, and had to consider taking a stand.
At some point in life, there will be times when we all are faced with situations that call for us to take a stand. Unfortunately, some will be far more serious, and have far more reaching consequences than the self-esteem of a hockey goalie, or public recognition:
. A teenager is asked to try " a little something" that will make you feel so good. If he doesn't go along, he faces ridicule and bullying for many months;
. A friend asks you to invest a great deal of money in a "sure thing", that nothing could go wrong, it will be a "sure thing";
. A man sits at his computer in an empty house, and a pop-up ad for a very enticing porn web site comes up;
. At a conference out of town, a very attractive co-worker, who attended the same conference as you, invites you up to his room for a nightcap. Your husband is expecting your call tonight, but this co-worker is sooooo cute and funny, he seems like a nice guy, it can't hurt.
. Or, as you saw on the screen regarding coach Bill Yoast, you get a chance to get what you always wanted for so long, but it could come at the expense of what you hold most dear, and the values that you have spent a lifetime upholding are put to the test.
When it comes to making a stand for what you believe in, to draw that line, Christians often approach things in 2 extremes.
. Too passive - we stand back and allow anything to happen, because we are afraid to stand up for our beliefs or feel that God's judgment will take care of the person or situation; or
. Too rigid - We are so afraid of offending God, that we work against everything, and don't care about harming people, or breaking relationships in order to meet "the letter of the law."
There are many hot button issues in our lives today that cause many Christians to ponder; "what do we do?" What is our reaction? How far do we allow this to go? When do we draw the line?
Jesus faced these same dilemmas in his day. At the time of Jesus, religious law was governed by the Pharisees, which looked after the development and enforcement of the laws that would allow the Israelites to keep God's commands. The unfortunate part was, that the focus of the Pharisees & the people was on obeying the over 600 rules for religious purity, that they forgot that God was to be the focus of their lives, not just obeying the rules. Many times, the religious leaders of the time tried to test Jesus, and I believe it was try and get Him to reinforce "the rules." But Jesus would have none of that.
His focus was on God the Father. And Jesus encouraged us to keep that focus at all times, and it would help us to figure out what to do and how to live as Christ followers.
Luke 10:25-28
25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: "Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?"
26 Jesus replied, "What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?"
27 The man answered, " `You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.' " [ 1 ]
28 "Right!" Jesus told him. "Do this and you will live!"
The answer to drawing the line is love. Love is the way. This was Jesus' message at all times, and he showed this always, but in this passage in particular. In this verse, Jesus gives us 4 areas that we must examine in order to decide what the line is, and how we can keep from dancing with it.
These 4 areas are:
Mind - or rather, intelligence
Heart - or passions and desires; Priorities
Soul - Prayer and spiritual strength
Strength - or as The Message translation says muscle - I call it courage.
These 4 areas are the basis on which we follow and love Christ. Love is the answer, but to love God, you must love through these 4 areas. This is what we are called to do, and every one of God's commands comes from this. Even Jesus said that the 2 greatest commandments are these; to love the Lord with all your mind, heart. Soul and strength, and love your neighbor, or rather those around you, as you love yourself. We could spend a great deal of time on looking at what it means to love your neighbor, but lets look at that first command, and take a look at how that is applied to our daily lives.
MIND
Firstly, Jesus tells us to love God with our Mind, our intelligence. If you look at the passage closely, Jesus is talking with an expert in religious law, and Jesus asks him, "What does the Law of Moses say? How do you read it?" In other words, what did you learn, do you understand what is written? Did you study? Did you get instruction?
We are bombarded constantly by our culture's messages, many of which are in direct contradiction to God's word. We are given messages about pleasure, about sexuality, about morality, about greed and upholding our rights and privileges. God's messages are often mixed up with what we hear and see, that we have trouble figuring out and discerning where the line is, and what really the issue is when we are faced with tough situations.
One of the things that I see is that we are to study God's word, and do it often and regularly. Jesus asked the expert "you should have learned this. What do you know? What have you learned?" It provides the knowledge that leads to wisdom and clarity in how we are to think about how to draw the line. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12, " 2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is."
Let me put it this way. Like a lot of people, I put a lot of stock in common sense. Things like:
. Don't lick a flagpole in the middle of winter;
. Don't go golfing in a lightning storm;
. Don't wash the reds with whites; or better yet, don't let Al do the laundry.
At many times in your life, these sayings come back to you at appropriate moments. It is the same with God's word.
Let God's word fill your mind. Study it daily and it will give you the knowledge to filter out what society wants, and let you understand what God wants.
HEART
Secondly, we need to understand what our passions, or rather our priorities are. Dean gave a message on Father's Day that spoke to Guarding your Heart. The passions and desires in our lives are placed there by God. In fact, there are many times in the Bible where God tells us that he will give us what we desire. Phillipians 2:13 states, "It is God who produces the desires and actions that please Him." Psalm 37:4 says Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. The key here is that God comes first into your heart, and then your passions, desires and priorities line up with Him.
The heart is also where our values lie. It is where what we value most is formed and shaped. Most often, those values show in how we live our lives, and how we affect others as we interact with each other.
However, more often than not, there are competing priorities, and many times we have to choose. Sometimes, its not a hard choice; Do I eat the slice of cheesecake, or go for a walk? Okay, maybe there are easier choices than that.
The point is, we need to know what our desires and our passions are, and allow God to put them in the proper order. It can be seen in many aspects of our lives:
. Do I work late, or go home and spend time with the kids?
. Do I buy that sports car that I have dreamed of owning, or put that money towards paying off the mortgage?
. Do I volunteer for the community group, or do I use that time to spend with my family?
Many times we will face situations that will conflict with what we value and desire the most. Our hearts are powerful things, and God will give us what we need to establish what order those values are in. Unless we allow God to get those priorities straight, we may never make the right choice when the pressure is on.
If you recall, from "Remember the Titans," Coach Yoast had many priorities. His job was one, and being in the Hall of Fame was another. But as I stated before, his career was based in building the character of his players, and instilling values such as fairness. Let's have a look at what Coach Yoast faced. (SHOW CLIP)
Coach Yoast has a choice to make. His life long dream was to make it to the Hall of Fame. By losing that game, it would have assured him of his place in the Hall. But what got him there was the dedication he had to his players' development as people. Yes he wants his team back, but what they are doing is not fair, not right, and will cheat the players he values so highly out of something they earned. You see how those conflicting priorities can shape someone?
Fortunately, he knows the situation, and he understands his passions, his desires. What he needs to do now is make a choice, which takes us to.
STRENGTH
Now comes crunch time. We have learned what we need to know by studying God's Word, building up the mind, and learning how to apply scripture in our lives. God tells us what is most important by helping us understand our heart. Now what do we need to be able to make the right choice?
Here's where the rubber meets the road. As with my encounter with the angry parent, or Coach Yoast's choice, it takes courage, that internal muscle, to step up and choose to do the right thing. There are many choices one could make, and at times the choices can be easy. But many times, its not for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, taking a stand is never easy, especially when there are those who are arguing their position as loudly as you could argue yours. The challenge is to still be able to stand fast and not back down, especially when it is grounded in truth.
Secondly, part of the challenge is that there is a price for taking that stand. Sometimes, we may be exposed to public ridicule, or worse, exclusion. Often, it means that we have to choose between what we desperately want, and what is right. The question you have to ask yourself, am I willing to give up what I want, in order to do what is right?
(SHOW CLIP)
Even when we allow God to get our minds and our hearts straight, God will also give us the courage to do the right thing. Phillipians 4:13 states that, "I can do all thing through Christ who gives me strength." But there is one more things we need to consider, which leads us lastly to your.
SOUL
At times, when we do draw the line and take a stand, it can feel very lonely. Many times, those that take a stand are the lone voice, and the feelings of isolation and loneliness grow and take root. It's at these times that fear, insecurity, and doubt creep in, take hold, and make us question our stand.
The truth is, we are not alone. If we allow God to influence OUR minds, and OUR hearts and OUR strength, he will also nourish our souls, and this happens through prayer. Even Jesus needed that time alone with God to recharge his soul. Many times in the Bible, it states Jesus went off by himself to pray, to converse with His Father.
When we take a stand, when we draw that line, we may be alone in our earthly community, but Jesus is always with us. God tells us many times in the bible, that he is always with us, and that He will never leave us.
All we need to do is ask Him for help and guidance. Ask him for wisdom, clarity and courage to make the right choice. Deuteronomy 31:6 says "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified ., for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." But over all of this, is God's love for us. He loves us so much, that he gave everything for us, including his own Son.
Coach Yoast gave up what he wanted for those he dedicated his life to. He loses the Hall of Fame, but the team wins the championship. His choice to put his players first cost what was most dear to him personally, but the result was a greater glory. Jesus did the same thing. He put his life on the line for us, and gave up everything to break sin's hold on us, including humbling himself to be human, and dying to save us from sin.
Now, many of you are probably going, "okay, nice speech, but now what?"
We humans and especially us Christians, often look for the hard and fast rule. We take bible verses out of context and club people to death with them. We use scripture as a weapon. We view Jesus' words as the rules, and refuse to look behind the words and find the true meaning. The result is that we are labeled by society as "extremists', right-wing, intolerant. On the other hand, we refuse to make a choice and take a stand. We become paralyzed with fear, refuse to acknowledge and share the truth of God's word, and are labeled as passive and weak.
However, when you Love God with all your mind, heart, soul and strength, the line becomes clearer, but its not where you think. At one time I knew all the rules. Do these things, don't do those things, and you will earn God's approval. It was the same in Jesus' day as the Pharisees imposed their "rules" and the expectation was perfection. I fell way short of that and I think we can all say the same thing. It results in a very unloving atmosphere. That's not the line. As I mentioned before, the line is love.
What does that look like? We are asked to base our decisions in love at all times. The apostle Paul gave a great way to look at it in 1 Corinthians 13. He gave a great description of what love looks like. He stated that we can have all things, but if we don't have love "we have nothing." We could make all the right choices, but if we don't love others, it means nothing. It means that we must not be self serving, but looking out for others. I'm sure many of you have heard these words before. It means that we must be patient, kind, not bear grudges and not give in to jealousy. It means that we must endure all things with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Where is the line? That line is right through the Cross. Do you see it? Its where Jesus' hands are nailed. Jesus died to show us that the line begins and ends with love. God's love for us. He drew the line. All he asks is that we cross His line, and love Him. He gave up what was most dear to Him, His only son. For something more. For us. He could have drawn the line in many places in history. Repeatedly, the bible records many times when man turned from God. He could have drawn the line and let us go. When Israel worshiped other gods and idols, when they trusted themselves and not God, God could have drawn the line there and let us be swallowed by sin. Even today, when we worship money, power and prestige, rather than Him and His word, He could have drawn the line and we would be lost and separated from Him forever. But He didn't. He drew the line at the Cross to break sin's hold on us, and to save all of us. That is the truth of His love. Everything He does for us is out of love. Christ calls us repeatedly to love others as He has loved us. It's that love that shows us where we need to take a stand. THAT IS THE LINE!
Let's pray:
Father, thank you for your sacrifice of your Son, for drawing Your line and breaking sin's hold on us for eternity. We honor you by loving you with all our minds and hearts, and souls and strength. Give us the wisdom, courage and clarity to know where and when to stand up for righteousness. And we honor you with our worship and praise, in your name, we pray, Amen
The guys are going to come out to sing a song for you. It's not a usual song that you would hear at church, but I ask you to open your hearts, and listen to what the song says, and how it relates to Jesus' sacrifice for us. As you listen, we will take the offering, then I will come up and say a few last words.
Before you go, I just want to give you a quick reminder about the capital campaign. If you haven't got your pledge cards in, help us out and get them in ASAP. We have received 178 cards, but there are still over 300 cards still out in people's hands. You can either put them in the collection plate or leave them at the front desk in the lobby.
Benediction
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He smile down upon you. And may He show you His kindness, grant you His mercy and give you His peace. Amen.
