THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS...
There are so many things to do… and so little time. In a country that presents its inhabitants with so many different opportunities to be involved in so many different things, in a culture that caters to extracurricular activities and big events and personal hobbies and extensive travel and frequent vacations and all of the toys that go along with them, at a time when your schedule and the schedule of your family members can be filled with as many things as you can possibly squeeze in, you’ve got to pick and choose. You can’t possibly do everything there is to do or see everything there is to see or experience everything there is to experience. And so you have to make some tough decisions about what things are the most important, what things are worth doing and seeing and experiencing… and what things aren’t.
Our lives are filled with those kinds of choices every day. Do I have time to go to this particular gathering? Do we have the money to take this vacation? Do we have the opportunity to retire early? Do I have the patience and the stamina to get involved with this activity? Would this be a good thing for my family? Would this be the best option for my health? Do I want to try this thing or that thing? Would I like this better or that better? Do we need this more or that more? There is only so much time in a day, only so much money in the bank, only so much gas in the tank - and so what are the most important things in your life that you’re going to focus on?
That Most-Important-Things list is different for each one of us. All of us have made decisions that have steered our lives in certain directions, and we continue to make those kinds of decisions today - usually based on what we want or what we like or what is fun or what is enjoyable or what seems best for our future and the futures of our family. And as Christians, in the setting that we are in this morning, knowing what you know and believing what you believe, I would guess that if I asked you right now to jot down the number one Most Important Thing for you in this life - I would suspect that most of you would probably write down: the Lord or your faith or Jesus Christ on the cross. And that would be a good answer! That should be the Most Important Thing on your list. But that answer is too easy to give while you’re sitting in here! That answer is too automatic when you are here in church on a Sunday morning hearing the Word of God among your fellows Christians! That answer isn’t as easy out there, outside these windows, out in the middle of a regular week when you’re not surrounded by the Word of God, when you’re not in the Lord’s house, when you’re not being reminded about the importance of Christ’s sacrifice and your faith in him. Out there it’s different. Out there there are plenty of distractions and temptations and even blessings that occupy our time and our energy. And our Most Important Things list shifts a little bit from Sunday morning to Monday morning, doesn’t it? Suddenly “faith in Jesus” drops from the number one spot down a few notches. And in its place slides family or your job or your relaxation or your chores or your reputation or your enjoyment of life.
And just to illustrate that point, what would your answer be if I asked you this question: what is the most important thing to you this coming week? If you had to rank what you were going to be involved with, what is the most important thing to you in just these next seven days? To make sure your kids get dropped off and picked up from school every day? Is that the most important thing to you this week? Or is it to get to your job on time every morning? To watch that one tv show that you really like? To finish that book you started? To spend time with your family? To meet up with your friends? To call your grandkids? To clean the house that hasn’t been cleaned in a while? To mow the lawn that really needs it? To fix that one item in the house that’s been broken for months? What is it? What is the most important thing for you to accomplish or do or see or experience this coming week? Now all of those goals and jobs and plans that I just mentioned are all normal things; they are all regular God-pleasing things. But are they really the Most Important Things? Should they be at the very top of your priority list? Should they take the number one spot?
Sometimes we get so engrossed in the nitty gritty details of this life that we forget about the big things that have to do with the life to come. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what needs to be done now or what things can be had right now that we completely ignore what has already been done for us and what we already have. Sometimes our Most Important Things aren’t the most important things.
Have you ever wondered what God’s Most-Important-Things list looks like? Out of all the things that he has to take care of, out of all the things that are on his plate, what do you suppose is at the very top of his list? It’s not the organization and logistics of running a place like heaven. It’s not the orchestration of the sun and the moon and the planets and the stars in their orbits. It’s not even the preservation and direction of this world. It’s you. You are at the top of his list. Your forgiveness and your salvation and your eternal life is God’s number one priority. Because listen to what he promises you in his Word: “God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” That one thing takes precedence over the sun shining in the sky or the rain falling from the clouds or the earth spinning on its axis as far as the Lord is concerned. There is nothing more important to your God than the salvation of your soul.
But it’s not just a wish. It’s not just a passing hope God has without doing anything about it. “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” Whoa. Does that not make your skin tingle? Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all people! Jesus cared about you so much, Jesus wanted you to be saved so badly that he actually gave up his life as a ransom price to make sure it happened! Yes, I know you’ve heard that before. Yes, it’s been repeated from this pulpit every week. Most of you grew up on this gospel promise. But isn’t it breath-taking!?! Isn’t it almost beyond belief? God, the Almighty, powerful, everlasting, glorious, and perfect God looked down on this sinful earth filled with sinful human beings and he actually said, “I want them to be saved. I want them to enjoy the perfections of heaven that I’m enjoying right now. I want them to have what they gave up. And to do that, I’m going to go down there myself. I’m going to live like one of them - in their place. I’m going to open myself up to be tempted by the devil. I’m going to allow myself to be beaten and abused and tortured by those I want to save. I’m even going to go as far as suffering crucifixion and the torments of hell for their sake. Because I don’t want them to have to experience that punishment of eternal damnation. I’ll take it. I don’t want them to get what their sins deserve. I’ll carry it. I don’t want them to have to feel that pain. I’ll endure it.”
Have you ever wanted anything that badly? Have you ever considered something so important that, if you actually had to, you would be willing to give up your own life to make sure it happened? And this is the Lord God we’re talking about. This is someone who doesn’t owe anyone anything. Someone who existed long before he ever created us. Someone who was perfectly happy when we weren’t even around. And then when we did come around we sinned! And we sinned some more! And we still sin now! We disobey what he tells us in his Word; we don’t listen to his instructions; we do whatever we feel like doing without any regard for what he wants. But for some reason he still considers you his Most Important Thing! That should surprise you a little bit! That should humble you a lot!
It was certainly a humbling thing to be here this morning and watch as two of God’s children were baptized, wasn’t it? What an amazing act of God’s grace! The promise of real and true and full forgiveness given to little children! The promise of faith in Jesus given to little children! The promise of adoption into God’s family given to little children! The promise of being wrapped up in Christ like he is a spiritual robe or sorts given to little children! What more important thing could parents do than bring their children to receive the incredible free blessings of God himself in a simple but spectacular way? What more important thing is there to our Lord than to take a sinful child and wash those sins away in the water and the Holy Spirit through the Word? Baptism connects a sinner with the cross. Baptism is a way that the Lord takes the forgiveness he died for on a cross 2000 years ago and gives it to a sinner who needs it. And you can guarantee that there is rejoicing in heaven right now by God and his angels and the believers that are already there because of what happened at this baptismal font this morning. There is nothing better than when forgiveness is given. There is nothing better than when Jesus’ sacrifice is believed. There is nothing better than when God’s Word is heard.
I’m glad that you are hearing that Word right now. And I would hope that the Most Important Thing in your life this week would be hearing more of that Word, digging deeper into that Word, reading farther into that Word. Because that Word of God contains your salvation! It speaks about your Savior and everything he has done and is doing and will do. I pray that whatever happens in these next seven days, whatever you get done, whatever you accomplish, whatever you experience, you also come in contact with the Word of God on a regular basis so that your faith is fed, so that your heart is comforted, so that your soul is secure.
That’s my Most Important Thing for you: that your faith is fed with the truth as often as possible. That is what I pray for, that is what I work for, that is what I strive for every day. I’m always looking to feed you with the right words of God at the right time in the right way. Getting into our own church building some day? Important, but not The Most Important Thing. Opening up a preschool in the near future? Important - especially because it will allow us to spread that Word to others - but not The Most Important Thing. A growing, thriving, vibrant congregation? A marriage that is enjoyable and pleasant? Children who are happy and healthy and safe? A life that is productive and satisfying. All important things, but not The Most Important Thing. And I hope you feel the same way. I look forward to continuing to grow in that Word together in the coming weeks and months and years until we meet together in heaven - where the Most Important Thing will finally be the Only Thing.
Amen.
“You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” - 1 Cor. 6:11
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