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CrossPointe Community Church
P O Box 126
Chippewa Lake, OH 44215
MORNING PRAYER
Alan Robbins
Dear Heavenly Father, as we think about the words from today’s prayer song, “A place where there all is joy and peace, Near to the heart of God.” I often pray for those that very ill and are on their journey to God. How joyful they might be to have that opportunity to see God and ease the pain and sorrow they may be experiencing while on earth. This is what helps to motivate me to pray for those that are ill, those that are grieving or those that are hurting in any way.
We pray for God’s strength and God’s heart and God’s Peace to those families and leaders in Ukraine, neighboring countries, or any area of our world as they fight the evils that surround them.
Let us take a few moments to silently pray for those in need and those on the Church’s prayer list (pause to pray).
Thank you, Lord, as we give God’s Glory ….and Grace…… and Joy….and Refuge…… and Strength….. and Love ….and Peace ….and the Holy Spirit to our community and the world in which we live.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen
SCRIPTURE
What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7
SERMON
Seeking Significance
Randy K’Meyer
My earliest recollection of seeking significance was when I tried out to play little league baseball. I figured that if I could just make the team I would have more significance than those who did not and all those who didn’t even try. And if I could somehow find a way to be a starter, so much the better. But that eluded me for the first two years as the coach made me a right-field sub. You know you’re not very high on the little league totem pole if you are a right-field sub. And the few times the coach put me in, usually in the 8th or 9th inning, if I happened to get up to bat, I struck out.
But everything changed the first at-bat in my third year. We were playing the Giants; my old nemesis Chip Thompson was their pitcher. When I came up to bat, he just grinned and expected to dispose of me quickly with his fastball like every other time I faced him the previous two years. He wound up and threw the first pitch; I swung and missed; Chip laughed. But on his 2nd pitch, something wonderful happened. I felt something I had never felt before, wood making contact with the ball. In fact, the ball sailed out into deep center field. In a dream world, it would have been a home run, but the center fielder chased it down and caught the ball on the run. Even so, Coach Raddish was all smiles as I trotted back to the dugout. That was the first time that I recall ever feeling that I was somebody; somebody significant, someone important, somebody who mattered.
All of us crave significance; that is, we want to be important, to feel special, to know that our life counts for something, and ultimately, that our life matters.
I don’t have the expertise to discuss where our need for significance originates. I’m sure that in some sense, it is related to human pride. But for the purposes of this talk, let’s just admit that all of us have a need for it.
And consequently, one of our deepest fears is that we do not matter, that our lives have little significance. I say this because when we dare to venture down to the end of this road, we fear that in the end, our life will not have mattered; that we will have come and gone and no one will have cared, and that 25 years after we are gone, no one will even remember us.
And so, we have learned to derive significance from many sources. Many people add importance to their lives by associating with important people. I may not be important, but if others can see that I hang out with some important political figure, sports star, or actor, then in a lesser way, I will be important too. We’ll even settle for knowing an important person or even being able to say we saw them once. That’s why we have this propensity to drop names.
Perhaps, this is why we love to associate ourselves with winning sports teams.
Last night, I wonder how many Buckeye fans who have never stepped on the turf at The Shoe to play the game exclaimed to someone else, “We won!” Because even to be associated with a winner puts stock in our significance account.
And then, of course, the biggie. Many, if not most Americans, derive their significance from the amount of money they have and/or the things that money will buy. Could it be true that finding significance is why ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friend?’ Or why many males of the species spend big bucks on a big pick-em-up truck, or a Corvette or Porsche?
Others derive their significance kicks by wearing certain labels on their clothing, others by adding silicone to their physique. Americans spend millions every year on maintaining our youthful appearance because we are convinced that looking young increases our value.
Many gain their significance from what they do for a living. When we are introduced to someone, the first question, “How are you doing?” is quickly followed by, “What do you do for a living?” We value people primarily by what they do. We say, “He’s a brain surgeon you know,” and then wait for the sharp intake of breathe, indicating how impressed our listeners are. “He’s a janitor,” doesn’t quite get the same response.
People who derive their significance primarily from their work, whatever it may be, often find themselves driven to ‘succeed’ in order to feel significant. And when we measure our success against the success of others, we will almost always feel less significant because believe you me there is always, always, always someone more successful than we are!
My friends, I’m not saying playing little league, or knowing important people, or having a favorite sports team or a successful job is wrong!
I am reminding us that the greatest source of significance we have available to us can be found in the love of God through Christ the Lord. And that you and I as Christians should endeavor to focus on that source of significance above all others. I mean, talk about drawing significance from having a relationship with an important personage!
God loves us unconditionally. He doesn’t love us for any successes we have in life or withdraw His love when we fail. Our significance in His eyes is far more important than any significance we receive from other people.
A couple of months ago, I drove down to Raleigh, North Carolina to visit with my youngest daughter’s family. She has two little girls Kate 7, and Sydney who had just turned 4. When I arrived and knocked on the door I could hear them coming. And when the door opened they both flew out and jumped in my arms.
Those two didn’t base their decision to love me on any successes I may have had, because obviously, they are not aware of such. They just love me for who I am; their grandpa.
On the other hand, God is aware of everything I am, everything I do, and even everything I think. He is fully aware of any success and all my failures; yet He chooses to love me for who I am, one of His children.
I may not be a professional sports star, a doctor, a lawyer, or a rock star, but I am nevertheless, a child of the King! We may not drive a new Corvette or even own a car, or a house, or even a pair of Levis, but we know that God is our Father and He loves us very much.
How do we know? Because the Bible tells me so.
What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.
Luke 12:6-7
William Barclay, in his commentary, writes,
two sparrows were sold for one penny. But if the purchaser was prepared to spend two pennies, he got, not four sparrows, but five. The extra one was thrown into the bargain as having no value at all. God cares even for the sparrow which is thrown into the bargain, and which on man’s counting has no value at all. Even the forgotten sparrow is dear to God.
But that’s not all; he continues,
the word fall makes us naturally think of death; but in all probability the Greek is a translation of an Aramaic word which means to light upon the ground. It is not that God marks the sparrow when the sparrow falls dead; it is far more; it is that God marks the sparrow every time it lights and hops upon the ground. So it is Jesus’ argument that, if God cares like that for sparrows, much more will he care for men.” 1
In my disciple Bible Study Class last Monday, we gleaned two truths from the creation story in Genesis 1 and 2: (1) God is the Creator; and (2) God created human beings as the apex, the crown, the pinnacle of His creation.
Thursday evening, as we were reading through James, we came across 1:18: “He (God) chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.”
Why? Because the scriptures tell us that we alone apart from all other creatures, have the ability to accept His love and in appreciation for it, participate with Him in bringing His kingdom to earth as it is in heaven! Can there be any more important work on planet earth than exposing people to the love of God through our words and deeds?
So I say again, the greatest source of significance we have available to us can be found in the love of God through Christ our Lord. And that you and I as Christians should endeavor to do all we can (primarily by engaging the scriptures) to focus on that source of significance above all others. I say by engaging the scriptures because people who encounter the Bible on a regular basis are more psychologically, emotionally, and of course, spiritually, healthy than those who do not.
Why? Because they draw their significance from God.
You know eventually, we are going to be forced to come around. If I don’t die suddenly in an accident or have a heart fatal heart attack, I will reach a stage in my life where I won’t be able to derive any more significance from my youthful appearance (actually passed that point long ago) my skin will be wrinkled, my head will likely be entirely bald, or the kind of car I drive, because I won’t be able to drive. I will no longer be able to derive any significance from what I do for a living, for I won’t be doing anything. Any toys that I may have accumulated along the way will probably be given away or sold in a garage sale or maybe in an auction.
And if we haven’t got it by then, we’ll begin to understand that all those extraneous activities and things count for naught when it comes to whether or not we really matter.
And then we will be ready to turn to the Lord and what He says about who we really are. In the end, all the money in the world won’t matter; what we own, where we live, what we do; none of it will matter. The only thing that will matter is that we are known and loved by God.
But my question is, ‘Why wait until that day comes upon us?
I heard about a dear saintly old woman who was gradually losing her memory. Details began to blur, and once familiar names began to elude her, even well-loved faces began to slip from recognition. Throughout her life; however, she had cherished the Bible, committing to memory many verses from her well-worn Bible. Her favorite verse had always been II Timothy 1:12; “I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have committed to Him until the day of His return.”
She was finally confined to a bed in a nursing home. Her family knew she would never leave that place. In those cases, I suppose it is always sadly true that some might look at her and think to themselves, “What a shame, she really can’t do anything for herself, her life has no meaning, no significance.”
But she was convinced her life did have meaning. She knew her life is hidden with Christ, in Him her life has depth and meaning and purpose and value.
As her family visited she would continue to quote various meaningful scriptures and always end with II Timothy 1:12: “I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have committed to Him until the day of His return.”
But with the passing of time, even parts of her favorite verse began to slip away. “I know the one in whom I trust,” she would say, “and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have committed to Him.” As her voice grew weaker, so did her memory until all she could recall was, “What I have committed to Him.”
And eventually, she could remember only one word; but what a word, “Him.” She whispered it over and over again as she lingered on the threshold of heaven.
“Him, Him, Him, Him.”
It was all she had left, but it was all that she needed. It’s my prayer that you will re-discover the significance that has been yours all along through the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.
John 1:12
1 William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series; the Gospel of Matthew,
[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Westminster Press, © 1975]. Page 389.