SERMON: DUE DILIGENCE

2 November 2014

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Hebrews 6:9-12

Hebrews 6:9-12 (NIV)

9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation.

10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

            -- when I woke up this morning, my thumb hurt, just like it's been hurting off and on for the last several weeks -- and the pain in my thumb that lingers from my alligator bite one month ago reminded me of something I had shared with you in the past -- complacency kills

            -- when my boss asked me what was the cause of my accident, I gave him one word -- complacency -- that feeling of over-confidence in handling an issue -- of overlooking dangers in life because you've done something so many times before and not had a problem

            -- my alligator bite was caused by nothing more than complacency -- in my case, I was blessed it was only my thumb -- but complacency literally kills people each and every day

            -- and this should not be unfamiliar to you -- we've talked about this before -- but there is a concept in theology called "closing the homiletic circle" -- it refers to making sure you complete your message -- you've all heard sermons, probably some from me, that just needed more

            -- they talked about a subject or went into great details about sin or a problem in the church, but they never got around to answering the question what to do about it -- it's kind of like all those talk show hosts you hear on the radio -- they're all good at telling you the problems with our country, but they never have any answers

            -- so the concept of "closing the homiletic -- the preaching -- circle" means you've got to be careful to always give the rest of the story -- to not just talk about the why of an issue but also the how -- answering the question, "yes, this is a problem, but how should I respond?" -- and I realized in my message on complacency I had clearly pointed out complacency leads to death -- but I did not close the homiletic circle and show you a better way -- I didn't point out what leads to life

            -- I was reading some management and productivity articles this week and happened on an article that did just that in regards to longevity -- in our country, the life expectancy for a woman is 82.2 years and for a man is 77.4 years -- but there are some people in our country who live well past that age and the authors of this article wanted to know why -- what was it about them that made them so long-lived? -- was it just genetics? -- was it healthier living? -- or was it something else -- something that all of us could apply to our own lives and extend, not only the days of our lives, but the quality of those days?

            -- and what they found in their research was surprising -- yes, genetics played a big part, but even having those genes did not mean you would live to be 122 years old like Jeanne Clement, the person with the longest confirmed life span

            -- the greater determinant in life expectancy really just came down to three things:  1) relationships -- have meaningful and lasting relationships with others; 2) be a good person -- to quote the authors of the study: "the clearest benefit of social relationships came from helping others. Those who helped their friends and neighbors, advising and caring for others, tended to live to old age"; and, 3) get your act together -- the term the authors used was conscientiousness -- this was "the best predictor of longevity when measured in childhood -- [and it] also turned out to be the best personality predictor of long life when measured in adulthood"¹

            -- Conscientiousness is defined as "the personality trait of being thorough, careful, or vigilant -- it implies a desire to do a task well -- Conscientious people are efficient and organized as opposed to easy-going and disorderly"² -- in other words, conscientious people are not complacent

            -- now I want you to get what I just said -- can you think of a group of people that are supposed to be characterized by those three traits:  relationships, being good people, and being conscientious? -- Oh, I don't know -- Christians?

            -- yeah, that's us -- or to put it a better way, that's supposed to be us -- as Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life -- abundant life -- life to its fullest" -- so this morning let's close the homiletic circle on complacency and let's talk about how we can live life to its fullest by being who God has called us to be

II.  Scripture Lesson on Conscientiousness (Hebrews 6:9-12)

            -- if you would, look back with me at Hebrews 6 and we'll go through these verses together to see what we can learn about relationships, about being good people, but mostly about being conscientious

            -- verse 9

Hebrews 6:9 (NIV)

9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case--things that accompany salvation.

            -- we don't know who wrote the Book of Hebrews, so we're just going to call him "the writer"

            -- as the writer opens up these verses, he uses the phrase, "even though we speak like this" -- he's actually referring back to the teachings he had just covered in Hebrews 5:11-6:8 -- we've talked about these verses in here before -- in them, the writer has been harshly rebuking his readers for not maturing in their faith -- he says they are still drinking the milk of Christianity and had not matured yet to the point where they were eating solid food

            -- so you sense a level of frustration on his part as he is still having to answer the basic questions of the faith rather than being able to lead them on to maturity in Christ -- the writer got very frank with them in the previous section -- he wasn't mincing words -- he was getting in their face, such as it were, and saying, "you need to do better"

            -- he tells them in Hebrews 6:1 it was time to leave these elementary teachings and press on to the more mature teachings of faith

            -- but then he softens what he's saying -- remember: we're told in Scripture to speak the truth in love, and that's what we see the writer do here -- he calls them "dear friends" -- some translations say "beloved" -- it is the only time this term is used in the entire book of Hebrews -- in essence, what he's saying is "even though we speak harshly to you like this, we do so because we love you and we're worried about you and we don't want you to fall away in your faith and service to God"

            -- he goes on to tell them here, "we're confident you're going to do better -- we're confident you're going to move forward in your faith, just as we've been saying -- we're in your camp -- we're here for you -- we're going to help you -- but you've got to do this if you are going to make your faith complete"

            -- is it just me, or does this not sound like a football coach in a halftime locker-room? -- "you've been playing poorly -- you haven't been giving it your all -- but I know you can do better, so get out there in the second half and show me what you can do"

            -- the "better things" the writer says he knows the Hebrew Christians are going to do are the "things that accompany salvation" -- don't misunderstand what the writer is saying here to the Hebrew Christians -- these better things -- these works don't save us -- but works accompany salvation and prove our faith

            -- the writer is referring to those evidences of our faith that follow salvation and lead us to maturity in Christ -- he's talking about relationships -- active growth and participation in Christian community -- he's talking about being good people -- Christian love and service -- ministry to others -- and he's talking about being conscientious -- about discipleship and paying attention to the things of faith

            -- these are the things that should accompany salvation -- these are the solid food of Christianity that the writer encourages his readers to start eating instead of the milk of elementary teachings

            -- verse 10

Hebrews 6:10 (NIV)

10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

            -- as the writer opens verse 10, he is obviously countering a potential argument from his readers -- why is God being unjust? -- why doesn't God remember the things we have done for Him?

            -- I like what David Guzik wrote on this subject -- "When we are discouraged, we often think God has forgotten all we have done for Him and His people -- But God would cease to be God -- He would be unjust -- if He forgot such things -- God sees and remembers -- How many lose sight of the fact that God sees their service? -- How many serve for the applause and attention of man, and are discouraged because it doesn’t come?"

            -- God sees what we do -- He remembers what we have done -- it is written in the book of our life -- God has not forgotten -- but the writer is going to go on in this verse and the rest of our passage today to make the point that having served God in the past doesn't mean our work is finished

            -- notice that almost everything else in verse 10 is past tense -- "the love you have shown Him" -- you "have helped His people" -- the readers of this epistle were living in the past -- like a lot of Christians and a lot of churches they were standing on past accomplishments, past ministries, and past actions -- they were not moving forward and doing new and greater things for Jesus

            -- the point the writer is trying to get across to his readers is that it's not about what you've done -- it's about what you're doing -- it's like God is saying, "What have you done for Me lately?"

            -- I remember when I was at Morven UMC, we had a couple of missionaries who were serving in Brazil come by and spend a couple of weeks with the church, preaching and sharing about their ministry -- one of the missionaries was riding with the pastor one day and asked her, "What has God been doing in your life?" -- and the pastor began telling the missionary about how she was brought to the Lord and called into the ministry and all that had happened to her -- and the missionary interrupted her and said, "I didn't ask you what God had done in your life -- I asked you what He was doing right now"

            -- that was eye-opening to the pastor and it was eye-opening to us in the church when she shared it -- we had all been living on the past, just like these Hebrew Christians -- we were resting on our laurels, and not moving on to the next act of service God was calling us to -- something for us to think about today -- what is God doing in your life right now? -- and what are you doing for God right now?

            -- verse 11

Hebrews 6:11 (NIV)

11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.

            -- the writer says we want each of you to show this same diligence -- some translations say "we desire each of you" -- the Greek word the writer uses here is the same word that is translated in other places in the Bible as lust -- it is an intense longing -- a great and overwhelming desire -- the writer wants this more than anything else for the Hebrew Christians -- he is saying we greatly wish this for you with all that we are -- because this is what you need to be mature in Christ -- this is what you need to live

            -- he reminds them that each of them have to do this -- Christianity is a personal faith -- although we are part of the church -- although we are in a relationship with a Christian community -- there is still an individual calling on our lives -- each of us have to live out our own faith with fear and trembling -- each of us has to strive to be mature in our own lives

            -- I see this tendency to just get by on other's accomplishments at work and in the church -- there's a whole lot of people that do exactly what the writer is saying don't do -- they do as little work as possible -- they just ride in the bus and take credit for what others do while they themselves do nothing

            -- we all need to take account for our own actions and our own faith -- we all need to make sure we are progressing towards holiness -- this is where accountability comes in -- as the church we are to look to others to help us in our journey -- and we are to turn to others to help them in their journey -- honest criticism to make us better

            -- the writer urges his readers to "show this same type of diligence" -- to display -- to demonstrate -- to prove by their actions they are diligent Christians

            -- diligence is the same thing as being conscientious -- diligence means eagerness -- earnestness -- willingness -- or zeal -- it means to do something with intense effort or movement -- it means pressing forward and doing your best -- having a plan and accomplishing your goals

            -- diligence means we work to the very end -- we don't give up -- we keep striving forward towards the goal -- what the writer is saying her is it doesn't matter what you've done before -- it doesn't matter how you start -- what matters is how you finish

            -- just ask Georgia -- scoring on the first drive of the Georgia-Florida game with a 39 yard touchdown run is awesome -- having a running back get 100 yards in the first quarter is outstanding -- but doing nothing else for the rest of the game makes this meaningless -- a lot of Christians start well, but try to slide into the end based on earlier efforts -- we must show diligence to the very end -- we must display conscientiousness

            -- the writer says to do this in order to make your hope secure -- I have had Christians who have been saved for a long time come to me doubting their salvation -- I have had to give them a baby bottle -- I had to walk them through the milk stage of their life with Christ because they were insecure in their salvation -- they were worried they had failed

            -- insecurity comes not so much from a lack of faith as a lack of conscientiousness -- they know they have strayed from what they used to do -- they know they have not been diligent and have gotten complacent in their faith -- and the conviction from the Holy Spirit is causing them concern

            -- but instead of seeing this as a call to persevere and be diligent in their faith and service and love, they are seeing this as a salvation issue

            -- there's a warning here for us -- we all need to check ourselves and make sure we have not become complacent -- we need to make sure we're not just living on past accomplishments and coasting towards the finish line

            -- the writer says be diligent in your faith so you can make your hope secure -- if you're running the race wide open -- if you're doing what you did at first -- if you're active in your faith and growing in Christ, insecurity in regards to salvation is not going to be an issue -- the message here is that assurance comes from diligence

            -- verse 12

Hebrews 6:12 (NIV)

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

            -- here we see again the warning against complacency -- the writer says we don't want you to become lazy -- we don't want you to become spiritual sluggards -- we want you to be conscientious about your faith

            -- the writer advises his readers to imitate those who show this quality of conscientiousness in their faith -- this is "a call to reproduce in our own way of life those godly qualities that result from salvation and that we see in others."³ -- as Richards wrote, "The idea is intimately linked with the thought that teachers and leaders ought to be clear, living examples of the practical implications of commitment to Jesus."³         

            -- as Christians, we are first and foremost called to imitate Christ -- to do so, we have to be in constant exposure to Him -- I've said it before, I'll say it again -- prayer, Bible study, church, action -- these are the ways God expresses Himself to us and these the means of grace that expose us to His presence and His life

            -- but the writer also urges us to imitate others who know to be diligent in their Christian faith and action -- there is great value in learning about the lives of great Christians and imitating their life and their witness of faith

            -- Jim Elliot, who gave his life while trying to reach the Auca Indians, was largely shaped through the reading of Christian biography.

            -- he wrote in his journal: "“I see the value of Christian biography tonight as I have been reading Brainerd’s Diary much today. It stirs me up much to pray and wonder at my nonchalance while I have not power from God -- I recall now the challenge of Goforth’s Life and By My Spirit, read in the summer of 1947, the encouragement of Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, and The Growth of a Soul. There are incidents which instruct me now from the reading of J. G. Paton’s biography, read last winter. And now this fresh Spirit-quickened history of Brainerd. O Lord, let me be granted grace to ‘imitate their faith.’"

III.  Closing

            -- let me close by sharing with you these prophetic words from Dr. J. Vernon McGee:

            -- "I wonder what God would say to us today as He sees all of our so-called Christian organizations in constant activity but with little action or movement -- The huge building program proclaiming astronomical figures in cost and “people reached” is indeed impressive -- The mushroom growth of both churches and organizations would seem to indicate a healthy condition -- The polls which give such a large percentage of evangelicals would appear to be a sign that we are marching to Zion.

            -- "But before we sing “Onward Christian Soldiers,” let’s find out how many are marching -- We are not even standing on the promises; we are sitting on the premises

            -- We are not stalwart soldiers of the faith -- We are paper dolls playing church in our bigger and better sanctuaries -- We are seeking entertainment, not instruction or inspiration in our smug complacency -- We do not have a vision or concern for a lost world out there that has not even heard the Word of God."

            -- although Dr. McGee did not use the word, I think the best term to sum up what he saw taking place in modern Christianity over 30 years ago is complacency

            -- what he described then has only gotten worse in the intervening years -- we see a church living in the past -- we see large sanctuaries empty on Sunday mornings -- we see Christians who vote more with their wallet than their convictions -- we see a tempest of sound and fury but no real accomplishment for the kingdom of Christ -- we have become complacent and blind to the danger around us

            -- there was a commercial several years ago that pointed out that our dreams and goals as kids never seem to match the reality of our lives -- the kids in the commercial would say, "when I grow up, I want to be..." and then they would speak out to a path that no one really wanted -- I remember a couple of them -- "when I grow up, I want to be a junkie strung out of drugs" -- and another one said, "when I grow up, I want to be a mid-level manager drowning in a sea of debt"

            -- when we responded to Christ's call for salvation and for new life with Him, none of us looked ahead and said, "When I grow up, I want to be a Christian who just comes to church on Sunday and doesn't do anything else" -- no, that wasn't our goal -- we just settled for being and doing less than what God wanted

            -- do you want to live a long and meaningful life -- not only physically but spiritually?      

            -- the writer of the Book of Hebrews tells us how as he calls us from our current place of complacency to a vibrant journey of maturity in faith through Christ -- listen to his voice from the passage we have been discussing -- he is calling us to express ourselves in our relationships in the church -- he is calling us to be good people -- to do the better things that accompany our salvation -- and he is calling us to be diligent and conscientious Christians -- Christians who don't just get by, but Christians who do great things for Christ

            -- do you want to be alive for Christ? -- then do this

            -- let us pray

1 "The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study" as cited in Barker, Eric, "How to live a long life, according to science," The Week Online, http://theweek.com/article/index/266851/how-to-live-a-long-life-according-to-science

2 https://www.google.com/search?q=define+conscientiousness&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb

3 (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency)