This Week's Light Service Sermon

Light Service Sermons for the Month
Maximize Your Life
March to a Mission
DATE: February 4, 2001
TEXT: Jeremiah 29:11

A man was driving through the Black Hills near Mount Rushmore when he ran into a severe snowstorm and lost all sense of direction. As he strained to see the road in front of him he noticed a snowplow up ahead clearing the road. He decided that the best thing he could do was to follow that snowplow hopefully to the next town or at least a nearby motel. But even that proved difficult as the snow made it almost impossible to see the plow.
After awhile the snowplow stopped and the operator stepped out of the truck and approached the car. He asked the driver, "Mister, where are you headed?" The driver said, "I'm actually on my way to Montana." To which the plow operator replied, "Well, you'll never get there following me. I'm plowing out this parking lot."
When he was 80 years old, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was on a train. When the conductor came by Justice Holmes reached for his ticket but couldn't find it. The more he looked the more frustrated he became. The conductor finally said to him, "Don't worry about it, sir. I know who you are. I trust you." But Justice Holmes was still upset. "My dear man, my problem is not, 'Where is my ticket?' The problem is, 'Where am I going?"
Over the last several weeks we have been looking at some Biblical principles for maximizing our lives. So far we've talked about how to:
Make things happen Achieve Personal Significance X out the Negatives Internalize the Right Principles
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Each of those principles taken by themselves will make a huge difference in the way we experience life. When mixed together, however, we'll find ourselves firmly on the road to a maximized, dynamic life.
But once on the road, we need to know where we're headed--what our purpose in life is. For as one person put it: "Those who have no central purpose in life fall easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pitying, all of which lead to failure, unhappiness, and loss." In other words, with no direction in life we can never really experience our potential. Many of us know that first hand.
We're like the man stuck behind the snowplow. We keep going in circles. Or like Justice Holmes, we're moving, but we have no idea where we're going. We simply float through life aimlessly watching life pass by. And that sense of lostness keeps us from maximizing our lives.
On the other hand, those who have a strong sense of purpose, who know what they want and why, who know why they exist, are those who know contentment and fulfillment in life. They're able to take advantage of all life has to offer because they have a road map for their lives that leads them to significance.
The good news is that God created you for a purpose. He made you unique. And that uniqueness offers insights into his mission for you.
Today as we continue our series on Maximizing our lives we're going to look at how we can achieve significance by marching to our God-given mission.
Make things happen Achieve Personal Significance X out the Negatives Internalize the Right Principles March to a Mission
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But before we talk about it, let's pray together.

(PRAYER)
A little boy came home all excited from his first day in school. He couldn't stop talking about how great it was. And best of all, he had an assignment. The teacher had asked the students to bring copies of their birth certificates so the school could be sure of accurate records. But certificate was a big word for this little boy to handle, although he understood the concept. So as he explained the assignment to his mom he said, "Mom, tomorrow I have to take my excuse for being born."
What's your excuse for being born? Why are you here? What's the purpose for your life? There are few questions more difficult, yet more important than those are. And the answers will either lead to a life of contentment, joy, and fulfillment, or to a life of disillusionment, discouragement, and emptiness.
In the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin is at school listening to a lecture. Near the end of the talk the teacher says, "If there are no questions, we'll move on to the next chapter."
Calvin's hand shoots up. "I have a question."
"Certainly, Calvin, what is it?"
"What's the point of human existence?"
"I meant questions about the subject at hand."
"Oh," says Calvin. "Frankly, I'd like to have that issue resolved before I expend any more energy on this."
Answering the question, "Why am I here?" is the most important question we face in life. For the answer will determine the quality of our life, the choices we make, and ultimately our legacy.
And yet the truth is, as I mentioned earlier, that many of us, quite honestly, couldn't state in two or three sentences what our purpose in life is. We really don't know. Many of us have never even thought about it before. And yet deep down we know we're not quite hitting our stride, we're not quite living up to our potential. And because we're not sure exactly what our purpose is, we find ourselves carried along by the whims of others or our circumstances.
Ronald Reagan once told the story of a shoemaker who was making a pair of shoes for him when he was a boy. The cobbler asked if he wanted a round or square toe. But the young Ronald wasn't sure, so he told the cobbler he'd let him know in a few days. A few days later the shoemaker saw Ronald on the street and again asked what kind of toes he wanted in the shoe. Again he was undecided. The cobbler then told him the shoes would be done the next day. So when he went to pick up the shoes one had a round toe and one had square toes. Ronald Reagan said years later, "Looking at those shoes taught me a lesson. If you don't make your own decisions, somebody else makes them for you."
Or to put it another way, if you don't know where you're headed in life, if you don't know what your purpose is, events and the desires of others will set the direction for you.
As I mentioned a moment ago, God created you with a special mission in life, a mission that helps you set the agenda for your life rather than relying on others. In our Bible reading for today God says, "I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope."
God created you for something good. His plans for you are designed with your best in mind, plans that energize you with hope and fulfillment. By discovering his purpose for your life you'll be able to maximize your life and enjoy the significance in life God has for you, whether that purpose is to raise the best kids you can, service your customers in ways that ennoble them, build homes for the homeless, find a cure for cancer, empower students to be their best, make bathrooms sparkle, and so on. By discovering your purpose in life you will discover the key to maximum living.
Now the question is, how do I discover that purpose? How do I know what my mission in life is?
God created you with several clues--several signposts that can help you discover your direction in life.
1) The first of those clues is your personality. All of us have personality traits that make us unique. Those personality traits shape the way we see life, react to life, and shape life. For example, some of us have peacekeeper personalities. We have a way of bring people together and bringing resolution to a situation. That, in part, may be a clue to your purpose in life. Others of us have personalities that tend to shake things up. When we walk into the room the status quo dies as we challenge the way it's been done before. Doing something new and fresh is more important than keeping the peace. That trait may give an insight into your mission in life. The point is, as you better understand your God-given personality, the better you'll be able to plug into your unique mission in life.
2) Another clue to discovering your mission in life is to look at your strengths. My strengths, for example, include speaking, teaching and administration. As some of you know I have very little mechanical skills at all. So my strengths and weaknesses have helped guide me as I've sought my purpose in life. They've shown me what I can and can't do. Your gifts and strengths will do the same.
3) A third guidepost to discovering your mission is the fire that burns in your belly. What is the one thing you would rather do than eat or sleep? What is it in life that always energizes you no matter how much energy it extracts from you? That passion, that fire, that all consuming desire is a gift God has given to you to help you discover your mission in life.
4) Closely related to passion is joy. What gives you the greatest joy in life? Holding babies? Caring for sick people? Listening to the hurts of people? Listening with people? Keeping an immaculate looking house? Writing stories?
Laurie Beth Jones, author of Jesus, CEO, says that you've discovered God's will for you life when your greatest joy intersects with the world's greatest need. What is your greatest joy?
5) A fifth key for discovering your purpose in life is what the Bible calls, "The desires of your heart." What is it you really want to do in life? What have you always dreamed of doing? What opportunity in life captures your imagination? The Bible says that God gives us the desires of our hearts, which I interpret to mean that God plants his desires in our hearts, he give us those desires, and those desires help guide us to our life's mission.
6) A sixth key or clue for discovering your mission in life is the encouragement of others. As I journeyed down the road to becoming a pastor I found the encouragement of theirs to be of great help. As others saw potential, gifts, and passion in me and told me they saw it, it reaffirmed my sense of purpose, and reminded me that I was on the right track. What is it about you that others always lift up and compliment? What gifts do they see in you? Those are God's signs to you of his mission for your life.
You see, God created you for something special. And as you discover that special purpose, you'll discover the key to a maximized life.
And while God has created you with many different clues as to what that purpose may be, the most important key to unlocking your purpose to get back to our starting point, and that's to know your creator personally. Since God created you, it stands to reason that he, better than anyone, knows what your excuse for living is--why it is he put you here. And as you get to know him, he'll reveal to you what your purpose is.
And because God so deeply values a relationship with you, and your purpose, he sent Jesus to remove all the barriers that keep us from a relationship with God--barriers like sin, confusion over who God is, our inability to connect with God, and so on. Jesus makes it possible for us to know God personally. For Jesus is God. He is the personal expression of God. And as you welcome him into your life, you'll not only discover the joy of reconnecting with your creator, you'll also discover the power of knowing your purpose in life--a purpose that God promises will bring out the best in you.
So I encourage you to discover you mission in life by welcoming Jesus to come and take charge of who you are. And as you get to know him better you'll get to know yourself better and in the process discover your purpose in life.
AMEN