Date:  December 18th, 2011

Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title:  Making Room

Advent #4 - Taking Action

 

Introduction

 

Last Week we showed a couple of clips from the movie: “The Blind Side”.

The movie story line is this:

Big Mike is homeless, family-less, discarded by society as just another poor, black kid going nowhere. When he is given a seat at the Wingate Christian School, almost everyone expects him to fail. But no one counted on the Tuohy's. Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy take an interest in Big Mike. A Christian family committed to doing the right thing, they bring Mike into their home, give him a bed, a meal, and a family. The transformation that follows is breathtaking. The Blind Side shows how acts of love change both the giver and the receiver. It is the true story of how Big Mike became Michael Oher -- first round draft pick at left tackle for the Baltimore Ravens.

Today, I want to show you one more clip about when Big Mike gets a room.

 

In the Old Testament we find a parallel story.

It is the story of Elisha and a Shunamite woman.

 

It reads like this:

2 Kings 4: 8 – 10

8 One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. 9 She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”

 

This woman and her husband made a room for this prophet of God for when he visited him.  It was a room built for him so he would be no inconvenience.  He could come and go at any time.

 

Transition

If we are going to truly make room this Christmas we need to literally carve out some space, and time, and resources. 

• You see, it is at this point that good intentions become reality.
• It is at this point that we move from being hearers of the word to doers as James commands us.
• It is at this point that we make behavioral change.

 

The key question is:

• How are you going to make room for Christ this Christmas?
• How are you going to make room for others or the possibility of Jesus coming you in disguise.

 

You see, hospitality starts in the heart.  It starts as an act of worship. It grows from a recognition of God’s grace and generosity.  If our hearts have not been touched with God’s grace,  then our “actions” will come across begrudgingly.  Without that hospitality/making room will be just a task or a duty, but it is first a response of love and gratitude for God’s love and welcome of us.

Our making room both reflects and participates in God’s hospitality.

 

One of the ancient church fathers , Chrysostom wrote it this way:

“If you have a hospitable disposition, you own the entire treasure chest of hospitality, even if you possess only a single coin.  But if you are a hater of humanity and a hater of strangers, even if you are vested with every material possession, the house for you is cramped by the presence of guests.”

 

Our making room to be valued at all must be permeated with a sense of celebration and disposition of gratitude.

 

i.e. Think of it this way

Tuehy’s – if she would have made Big Mike feel like an imposition…given begrudgingly …how would he have felt? 

 

i.e

Think of yourself as a guest this morning…a stranger to East Side.  Imagine the place is mostly full.  There is a seat in the middle of the aisle. 

Graphic: row of people with one empty chair in middle

Contrast 2 responses:

• You tap outside person on shoulder  and point to the seat and they give you a dirty look.  Take their time to pick up their stuff.  Make a deep sigh and  then  finally let you by to get to the seat.  How do you feel?

• Contrast you are walking down aisle looking for seat.  And person on outside taps you on the shoulder points to their seat and then they themselves move to the new seat.

How do you feel?

 

One person contrasted the feelings well.  She said I didn’t feel like an “interruption” but “as though they had been waiting for her.”

 

Now apply that to “making room”

Making room in our homes….our schedules….our wallets…

 

Scripture says “God loves a cheerful giver” 

So, the issue is “How can we make room cheerfully?”

How can we express the welcoming arms of God , not as a duty or a task to do, but with generosity and joy and a living portrayal of who God is?

 

To truly live out this theme we must do as the Shunamite woman.  Literally carve out space and time.  We must do as the Tuehy’s literally carve out space and time.

  

The issue  is, in many of our lives,  we live on the edge. 

• Our calendars are full. 
• Our expenses leave us no cheque at the end of the month.
• Our homes are filled.

And so when I come along and say “Make Room” , our 1st inclination is to think : ”Oh yeah, the preacher wants me to add 1 more thing.”

It lands on you as a task….one more thing to do.

 

If it lands that way, we won’t do it very long…because it’s a task…a duty. 

 

No, the deeper need  is a “re-invention” of yourself. 

• You need to stop at the manger and in these moments of worship step out of the rat-race and re-consider your life patterns. 
• You need to step outside how culture is shaping you and allow God to re-shape you.

 

i.e.

Movie: last Sunday night – Christmas magic – story about a woman who has a near-death experience  that wakes her up to people and love and value of family instead of her career.  The angel says to her at one point:

“Most people don’t get the privilege of a near death experience to get a new perspective and think of others not just themselves.   For the last 2000 years God has been for the most part using Christmas”

She asks: “How’s that working for him?”

Angel shrugs and says, “Well, maybe not terrific but we do have some pretty amazing stories.”

 

Challenge to you this Christmas  is to let God speak to you and reorient your life.  Let him expand your heart to think of others and to change your behaviors. To become one of those stories.

 

“Making room” is so foundational to the Gospel that we have to make room for it.

 

“A habit of hospitality is fundamental to our identity as Christians.  Our primary call is to live out the gospel; a lifestyle of hospitality is part of that call.  For some of us, there will be a call to a more deliberate and focused expression of hospitality, but for all of us hospitality is central to who we are as followers of Jesus…the response we give to an unexpected guest is connected to how that person experiences God’s love and welcome.” (Christine Puhl, Making Room)

 

 How can you make room in your wallet….your schedule…and your house ?

 

Think of it like margins on a book page.

Most of our lives and finances are like a book with no margins anymore.  They have become so filled that one more thing either gets crammed in or it falls off the page.

When that is the case:

• An extreme call like what Tuohy’s experienced is dismissed cuz have no room….no space…no money…no time
• A request like the CBO offering or even regular church offering is met with resistance & begrudgingly cuz have no room in the budget…spent all on us and family
• An opportunity to offer a meal gets dismissed because I have “nothing to make”

 

You need to create, 1st of all, a margin in your life.

A margin for God and others.  You have to clear the margins from selfish and self-centered stuff and free up space and room for God and others.

(Sometimes when lives get full first thing to go is God & others…that’s revealing of our priorities.)

 

Practical

Here’s a practical idea of how you can live this out and make it a lifestyle. (one idea) 

A. Money – Make room in your finances

Set aside a specific amount of money every month that will be “God’s money” – not talking the money you give already.

• This amount could be $2, $5, $20, $100, $250 month depending on your income.
• Set it aside in a jar  and designate it as “God’s”
• Then pray that God would send your way a need that you could meet with that money.  And then you wait and watch.

i.e.

At Scott’s Dad funeral we heard how Sieg did this.  Pastor Shane was the recipient of one of those times and he shared the story.

Sieg put aside some money in a different part of his wallet.  He had set aside by the time of this incident $300.

Something happened to Shane’s stove and cost $200 to fix but wasn’t worth it but didn’t have enough to buy new….dilemma.  Sieg asked how much it was: Shane said “$300”

Sieg pulled out the $300 and gave it to him.

Pastor Shane began to protest but Sieg then told him the story.  He sets this aside  just for special needs that come his way or opportunity to bless someone.  And he had just been praying for God to send something because it had been awhile.

 

Can you see how that would come across?  Sieg gave cheerfully because it was the exact amount, he had been praying, and in his mind he had already given it… He wasn’t thrust in the dilemma of “Do I give it or pay a bill? “

It wasn’t an interruption or inconvenience,  but  rather like “he had been waiting for the person.”

 

It is  life that needs present themselves at unexpected times…

• They often  come at inconvenient times. 
• They never come when you have money

But  how much fun would it be to already give it in the jar, and then wait and anticipate the need God brings?

 

This is one action you can do to “carve out a space” in your finances for God and others  – whether teenager or on a pension…

• It creates a margin. 
• It’s an action that puts feet to your intentions.
• It enables you to give with joy.
• It’s an antidote to filling margins with more and more of “me”

 

B. SPACE  – Make Room at Table & House

In the same way,  if hospitality/welcoming people is going to change from a good intention to an action, you need to carve out space in your life.

 

1.Table - Hospitality 

Idea

What if you created a meal and put all the ingredients aside for that meal and just kept there to be ready….so you would always have something?

i.e.

YPK – spaghetti & salad.  Very good at it.

 

Wouldn’t it be easier when God brings that unexpected opportunity, that new person across your path,  to invite them for a meal if you already had set aside what you would give them.

 

i.e.

Share how someone has blessed me and created room for me.

Tim’s card – refillable –anonymous

 Don’t know how many times it has enabled me to bless someone or meet with someone beyond what my budget allows because I had it.

 

• Maybe for you it is getting a refillable Tim’s card and putting $20 a month on it and using it to invite and connect with people. 

• Maybe it is setting aside 1 night or time a month for hospitality…to have someone new or someone from church over.

i.e.

Lady in former church 

Her goal was to have every new person  who came and stayed at the church over for a meal….many of the new people didn’t know very many people but they all knew Nellie & Alex.

 

2. Lodging - Hospitality

• This Shunamite woman literally built a room for guests.
• The early church fathers encouraged Christians to have a “Christ room”. 
• Viewing our spare beds or guest rooms as belonging to Christ might prompt us to open them more.

 

You see, in the past the church and the community basically filled the social welfare system.  It wasn’t a government duty.

Today, I understand the need for foster homes is extreme.  In our city there is a need for a place for temporary housing for teens in conflict at home.

 

Perhaps  God would put it on your heart to be a foster parent…

  

3. Time – Make Room in Schedule

 “How do you carve out time?”

It’s tough.

We pride ourselves in our multi-tasking, in our busyness. 

A Benedictine monk observed, “In a fast food culture, you have to remind yourself that some things cannot be done quickly.  Hospitality takes time.”

So does worship.

 

Problem we have carving out time for worship is - it’s “useless.”  Mean: It’s an end not a goal.

True worship is not something we use to achieve something else.  It’s a goal in and of itself.

 

Thus, when we get caught up in a marginless schedule , the things we often drop are the things that aren’t productive – don’t show results… worship, hospitality, taking time to listen.

• Can’t go to worship because got this thing to do, and that to do….list of “useful, productive, achievable things” is long….”Could use that time for something else…productive.

 

In our quest to be productive we lose something valuable….connection – with God and with each other.

 

i.e.

Tim Kimmel tells a parable in his book “Little House on the Freeway”

- rushing to get to the city of Hiroshima in WW2 – to market

- grandpa took time – visited on the way

-decided to stay the night

- when going to arrive was now 1 ½ days later than he had scheduled

- when reach city discover it totally obliterated by the atomic bomb the day before.

Asks: What was more important? What do we lose in our drivenness  and fast-tracking to our  destination? 

 

What will you do this Christmas to carve out more time in your life for worship, for hospitality? 

The things that,  Jesus told Mary, “is the more important thing.”

 

CONCLUSION

 

Question: 

• What will you do this Christmas to carve out room in your life for others?
• What will you do to make room…
• in your wallet?
• In your schedule?
• Your home?

 

What will you do to make room for Christ and others this year? 

• “God” Jar – set aside money
• Carving out time in calendar for hospitality?
• Having a meal on hand for unexpected?
• Prioritizing worship & hospitality & relationships as priorities

Exercise

Take a moment:

Reflect & write down one thing you will do.

Spouse or friend – tell them what you thought of

 

Prayer

- strength and courage and divine enablement to be doer of word, and to tangibly make room like the widow.

 

 

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The New International Version. 2011 (2 Ki 4:8–10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.