"Be Alive Today!"

October 8, 2000

Ephesians 2:1-10

Matthew 6: 25-34

Before the passage:  This is from Jesus’ most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount.

In it he spends quite of bit of time on what we might call today "Stress Management."

Jesus however called it faith.

Please read the passage.

 Let me ask you a question:  Where do you live? Where are you living today? I don’t

mean your street address. I mean the place where your heart & soul reside. When you

drift off a little bit and day dream, where do you go?

 Many times we go to the past. We live all too often in the past  -- the glorious past,

the regretful past,  or  the "what might have been" past. Either way . . . .  we’re living

in the past.

 Other times we live in the future -- either with the big, big plans we’re making for

when our ship comes in, or the tedious to do lists that we make to get us ready

for tomorrow, or we live in fear & anxiousness for what the future might hold.

Sometimes we live as if tomorrow had already come. We live

it a day early -- its worries, its stress, its sadness over what might happen.

 If you’re like me, it’s easy to live in the past.

 And it’s comes naturally to live in tomorrow as if it were already here.

 But living in the moment today . . . . that is the hardest thing of all!

 According to the Bible, living today, being alive today is very important.

Just listen to a few verses:

"This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"  Ps. 118:24

"Choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me & my house we will serve

the Lord."    Joshua 24

"If today you hear God’s voice, do not harden your hearts."   Heb. 3:8

"Unto you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:11

"Give us this day our daily bread."  Matt. 6:11

"Today you will be with me in paradise."  Luke 23:43

 In Psalm 2, God says, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father."

In other words, "I want to be your God -- not yesterday (that’s past), not even

tomorrow (we’ll worry about that tomorrow) -- but I want to be your God today."

 Be Alive Today! Be Alive in Christ today! The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

"God has made you alive! "You were once spiritually dead. But you have been

raised up. You have been made alive with Christ." Be Alive in Christ today!

 You know that bedtime prayer: "If I should die before I wake." I sometimes think

we should change it to, "If I should actually wake before I die," Because so often

we go through our daily lives not fully awake, not fully alive! Yesterday’s regrets

make us foggy & groggy. And tomorrow worries take care of wiping out whatever

present consciousness we have left. "Help me, dear God, to wake up & be fully alive

before I die!"

 I want to urge you this morning to practice living in the moment.

 Many of us are skilled at living in the past.

 Ex. Beth once said to me one Sunday after church, "How do you remember things

that happen to you years & years ago."  (I had mentioned something in the sermon

from my childhood.) I said, "It’s easy. I live in the past! It’s a very familiar

neighborhood for me!"

 But living in the past can poison our present.

 Ex. I remember making a visit many years ago. I asked this man to tell me about

himself. He said, "Well, I was divorced in 1972. For the next 2 years after the divorce

I lived in Lansdale, PA. Then after that I lived in Sellersville until about 5 years after

the divorce"  Everything about his life was related to the divorce. He shared with me

that he felt that the divorce was all his fault, and he deeply regretted it. I said, "It's hard

for you to forgive yourself, isn’t it?" "It seems impossible," he said. And so the past

poisons his present. He’s captive to his past, and it won’t let him live free in the present.

 Ex. We had some visitors come through town last year and we all went out to lunch

together. The four of us had all been part of the same church many years ago.

We went to one of the great restaurants on the water here in the area. We spent the

first half of the lunch talking about our previous church experience and particularly a

certain situation that we had all been involved with that was very frustrating and

painful and sad. And we rehashed it.  And we re-felt it.  We relived it. We weren’t

living in the present! Then Beth said, "How’s your lobster? This is a great place, isn’t it?

Look at the water." We had been residing in the past.  We weren’t living in the present

and it sapped our joy.

 Joy is found in the present. If you think about most of your present moments, they’re

mostly pretty good! I mean, you’re here this morning. There’s a warm feel in this

place, nice people surround you, the music was great, and the preacher is not stuck

in Leviticus. This moment pretty good! Just like that lunch I just mentioned -- we

were eating lobster by the ocean. It was an incredible moment, once we became alive to it!

 Be alive today!

 Jesus made this same point in Matthew 6:  "Do not be anxious about tomorrow.

Live tomorrow’s anxiousness tomorrow. Just focus on today. Let each day’s trouble be

 sufficient for that day. Why add to it by bringing the next day’s troubles into it?"

Besides, much of what we spend our time worrying about today doesn’t even ever

happen! Jesus said, "Your Heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek the Kingdom today."

 So often we poison the present by worrying about the future. Just one quick illustration.

 Ex. I once heard a couple discussing why they don’t like to fly together. The wife said,

"He gets all stressed out about losing his luggage. He had it happen to him twice, and so

the whole plane ride he just sits there & worries about losing his luggage, and rehearses

what to do to try & recover the missing luggage (which isn’t missing yet!).

And he gets in a really bad mood about it.  And so his wife doesn’t enjoy flying with him.

Anxiousness about what might happen poisons the present moment. He’s living in a

future moment that may or may not happen!

 So sometimes the past steals out joy and sometimes the future steals our joy through

anxiousness of what might

1 happen. I hear Jesus saying, "Live today with faith. God knows what you need.

Seek the Kingdom."

 Let me again tell you why this is so important.    It’s because . . .

 Joy is found in the present!

 Gratitude & Contentment are found in the present moment!  (Phil. 4:8ff)

 Love is found and shared and celebrated in the present moment!

 Intimacy is in the present!

 Praise is a present tense activity!  "If ever I love You, Lord Jesus it is now."

 Worship is found in the present!

 God is found in the present -- here & now!

 The Holy Spirit is among us and within us in the present!

 Christ is among us and within us this very moment!

 We are alive in Him . . . . here and now!

 Ex. Dr. Vos.   I’ll leave you with the words that my favorite college professor

used to end the last day of class with. His name was Dr.

 Nelvin Vos & he taught English. He is an extremely bright, vibrant, Christian man.

On the last of class, after his final lecture, Dr. Vos would always send us forth with

this benediction:

   "May you be alive every day of your life."

And I’ll just add this -- start today -- Be Alive Today!

Let’s close in prayer:

 Eternal God, You are the same, yesterday, today & forever. It’s today that we need You.

It’s today that we love You. It’s today that we want to be fully alive to You and to one

another. Forgive us for allowing mistakes, regrets, & anxieties to rule our lives.

Instead, give us faith to seek You and your Kingdom, trusting that You will then give us

 all that we need. Make us alive to moments of grace, joy, & love. Make us alive to You.

In Christ’s Name we pray. Amen.

Rich Knight