Poured or Piddled?

September 20, 2015 (052911)

Poured or Piddled?

2Timothy 4:6-8                                                   Notes Not Edited

SIS: We cannot expect God to “pour out” his blessing upon us if we “piddle out” our service to Him.

Biblical preaching is not designed to make us “feel good,” but “be good and do good.”  Some topics are lighter than others.  Some sermons soothe and comfort.  Some sermons sting and correct.  Some sermons encourage.  Some sermons exhort.  Some sermons simply call down hellfire and brimstone.  I never quite know how a sermon will strike and particular person.  My goal is to love people enough to allow God to do as He pleases with a sermon.  Keep this in mind as you listen to God’s Spirit this morning.

I’d like to ask you a question:  which would you rather experience, Niagra Falls or a dripping faucet? Both involve falling water.

As you can see from the picture the Niagara Falls are a spectacular natural phenomenon.  The sounds and sights of the Falls will literally take your breath away.  When we think of what it means to “pour something out,” the Falls give the ultimate physical expression of a spiritual truth.

The Falls are actually three Falls, the American Falls and Horseshoe Falls being the largest of the three and the most famous.  On the American River over the Horseshoe Falls, 750,000 gallons PER SECOND pour over the 160 to 170 foot drop.  That’s “per second.”  The average family of four uses 400 gallons per day. If I have done my math correctly (and I am offering no guarantees) this means that in one second the Falls could provide all the water for 162,000,000 households each day – or roughly half of America.

Whether I did my math correctly or not, just looking at the picture of these great Falls one must be impressed with how much water pours over them each day.  So, I’ll ask my question again: Would you rather stand at the edge and watch Niagara Pour hundreds of thousands of gallon over a cliff, or sit and watch the kitchen faucet drip?

That’s the difference between, “Pouring and Piddling” and is the subject of Paul’s teaching through the Holy Spirit in 2Timothy 2:6-8.

Let’s read that advice together as we find it in 2Timothy 2:6-8:

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

The problem we face is that so often we want God’s blessings “poured out” on us, but we are only willing to “piddle out” our service to him.  Let’s begin with some definitions.

“To pour” means “to send forth or produce as if in a flood.”

Now, in contrast, “to piddle” means “to use foolishly or to squander.”  When someone does not use his talent or abilities in life to move forward into success we might say, “He is piddling his life away.”  To piddle is to do or to accomplish very little.  To piddle is to put very little effort into your life.  That is how many people live their lives – they piddle.

That is also how many people practice their so-called Christian faith.  They piddle.  They put very little effort into developing the kind of faith and life that is pleasing to God.  And, these piddlers are the first to complain and complain the most egregiously when God does not “pour out His blessings on them.”

Now, if we turn to the original language, which was Greek, Paul’s meaning becomes quite clear.  The phrase, “I am already being poured out” comes from just one word in the original: spendomai.  It was word that had its origin in the Olympic Games.  It gives us the picture of an athlete that is completely “spent” from an agonizing contest such as wrestling or a marathon.  With muscles cramped and hurting and with sweat running down into his eyes the athlete would literally fall across the finish line – COMPLETELY SPENT. 

By N.T. times, and in Jewish use before, it had almost a completely religious reference to “pouring out a substance in honor to a deity.”  The idea was that “nothing is left in the container.”  A liquid offering.

To pour oneself out means to completely exhaust oneself in the pursuit of the victor’s crown.  Paul is at the end of his ministry.  He has completely expended himself in service to God.  His departure is at hand.  Paul had poured out the contents of his earthly life completely.  He had held nothing back.

Are you “pouring yourself into God’s service or are you just piddling around with your Christianity?  Let’s take a test . This may hurt a little.  Keep score in your head.  Don’t take your shoes off to count.  You can use you fingers.

If you hardly ever miss a Sunday morning:                                   1 pt.

If you are in Sunday School almost every week:                         1 pt.

If you attend almost every special church event:                         1 pt.

If you regularly attend Wednesday prayer meeting:                    1 pt.

If you read your Bible every day last week:                                  1 pt.

If you pray at least twice a day (not counting saying grace):     1 pt.

If you gave a full tithe last year:                                                      1 pt.

If you regularly volunteer 2 hrs/week to church:                          1 pt.

If you give above your tithe to a special offering:                        1 pt.

If you know where to find the “Ten Commandments”                  1 pt.

If you shared the gospel with one person last year:                      1 pt.

If you can quote at least 5 verses word for word and give the reference (chapter and verse):     1 pt.

We’ll stop there before someone has to take off his or her shoes.

We all should get a perfect score of 12.  If you got say, less than 10, you are “piddling out” your life to God, not “pouring it out.”  Now, of course there is no such test in the Bible.  Jesus simply said, “If you do not give everything you have you cannot be my disciple”  (Lk. 14:33).  I promise you that the exam you take when you stand before Jesus will make my little test seem silly. In fact, less than perfect service should never be acceptable to someone who has been “saved by grace and filled with the Spirit.”  I’d rather be dead than “satisfied” with substandard service to an Awesome Savior.

I do not suggest that this “test” is scientific, nor do I suggest that passing this test is any guarantee that you are a Christian and will go to heaven when you die, or that a high score will make God love you any more, or a low score that God will love you any less.  It is just a visual way to explore an invisible truth.

I could ask some more difficult questions:  did you share your faith with at least one person last week?  Have you surrendered to become a missionary to some foreign land?  Have you helped serve the poor in East L.A.? 

I think you get the point.  We cannot say we are “pouring out our life, or exhausting ourselves in service to God,” if we aren’t even breaking s sweat so to speak.

To state it in the Apostle Paul’s language: “if you claim to be a Christian and you are not being expended (poured out in the service of God) you are a liar.”  More than that, you are a “fool” for not realizing that the most important activity we can be involved in as human beings is to serve the Lord God our Creator with “all our heart, all our soul, and all our might.”

You see my friend, you cannot say with your mouth that Jesus Christ is the most important person in your life and not do those simple things He asks us to do.  Let’s get it out in the open right here, right now: if we are going to call ourselves Christian, let’s do those things that Christ did and love those things that Christ loved!  To say one thing and yet do another makes us a hypocrite and a liar and it should be no surprise that world has rejected the church.  I say, “Today, we start new.  Today, we stop piddling our lives away and start pouring out our lives on the altar of service to our Lord Jesus Christ!

Normally, I take a section of Scripture and draw life principles from the text.  This week, I am going to use other Scriptures to illustrate three areas in which we need to “pour ourselves out” on the altar of devotion. 

1.  First, we can pour our TIME into service to God

Almost every American house has a microwave oven. The microwave is a symbol of modern culture:  we want everything quick and easy.

Well, I’m not going to rant and rave about the pros and cons of “fast food,” but I do want to draw an analogy.  Americans not only like “fast food,” we want “fast religion.”  From the time some church people sit down the only thing on their minds is “when will this be over.”  Some people have the misguided notion that God ordained worship to begin at 11:00 and end at Noon.  That may be the world’s idea, but they did not get that from the Bible.  Let me read a passage from the Old Testament that describes the time it takes to worship . . . Neh 8:2-3

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Now, that’s a quarter of the day just for the sermon, and doesn’t even count the pot luck dinner following.  Church was an all day affair.

God said that we have “six days to labor for our needs, “and that the seventh DAY is to be set aside to honor Him.”

According to one survey, in a life-time of 70 years the average American will spend less than 1½ years in church.  Contrast that with fact that the average person spends ½ a year just tying his or her shoes!

If you want God to “pour out” his blessings, don’t “piddle” your time away in self-serving, flesh gratifying activities.  It takes time: regular, consistent, enthusiastic time in God’s presence to experience God’s anointing.  Too many people want “microwave religion.”

If you are going to serve God, it is going to take time.

2.  Second, we can pour our TALENTS into service to God.

It is not enough that we simply come to church and sit.

God saved us to serve, not to sit and soak up His blessing like a sponge.  A sponge is one of the simplest multi-celled organism on earth.  They are not one of the sharpest crayons in God’s creature box.  A sponge can soak in stuff all by itself, but that stuff stays in the sponge until someone or something squeezes it out.

Are you a Christian sponge?  Then, plan on getting squeezed. With God’s help I am going to try to squeeze some of the blessing out of some of you that have been sitting and soaking up God’s knowledge and blessing for years. And, some of you are not going to like being squeezed.

The Bible says that everyone God created and saved has unique giftedness (talents, spiritual ability) to be used to bless others.  Listen to what Paul says about these talents or gifts:

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  

1Cor 12:4-7

If I read that passage correctly – and I think I do – it says, “Nobody can do everything but everybody can do something.”  And, everyone SHOULD do something.  God has given us all “talents or abilities” we can use to contribute to the good of our church.  These talents include natural abilities as well as “special spiritual abilities” that enable everyone to contribute to the Kingdom’s growth.

In our community for Christ we need fewer spectators and more participators.  If you are not directly involved in this church’s ministry on a regular basis you are cheating the church out of the talent that you have as a unique creation of God.  And you are cheating yourself out of the blessing that comes when we use our talents and gifts in the service of the Lord.

If you are a sponge – that is, you come to sit and soak up the blessings of God – but you do not intend to become involved in the ministry of the church, I predict you will become more and more uncomfortable as God puts the “squeeze of conviction” upon your lives in the coming days of this new age in the ministry of First Baptist.

At least, you won’t be able to say I didn’t warn you.

God gave you talents (giftedness) and He wants you to “pour your talents” into the ministry of His church.  I hope you will not rest until you have found some satisfying way to express your giftedness through this church in the coming year.

3.  A third way that we can pour ourselves out on the altar of service to God is to “pour out our treasures.”

Many people get nervous when the preacher starts speaking about “giving” or “money.”  Some people even get “angry.”  Some people even leave churches based upon their criticism:  “All he preaches about is money!”  The fact is, the Bible says a lot more about our relationship to money that nearly many other cherished topics.  It’s a “where-the-rubber-meets-the-road” kind of doctrine.  Great things happen when God’s people give generously.

I remember a preacher who would walk past the local horse racing facility on his way to the office.  Most days he would see a certain homeless man sitting near the gates leading up to ticket booths where people would place their bets on the horses.  The preacher could tell by the way the man looked that life had been hard on him.  One morning he handed the man a $10 bill inside an envelope.  On the outside of the envelope the preacher wrote an encouraging note to the man.  The note simply said, “Never Despair.”  The man’s eyes lit up as he received the money and the note.  The very next morning as the preacher was walking to his office, the man ran up to the preacher and handed him $30.  The preacher was shocked and said to the man, “What is this for?”  The man said, “That’s your half.  Never Despair won on 6 to 1 odds in the second race!” 

Well, I can’t guarantee that every time you give to God’s work you are going to get that kind of blessing in return.  I do know that God’s Word says, ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you” (Lk. 6:38).  God delights in blessing the generosity of His people.

The Bible has much to say about stewardship – that is how each of us uses the resources God has entrusted us.  One of the most notable characteristics of the early church was her generosity.  In The Book of Acts we read how the church exploded in growth.  One major factor was the early believers poured out their finances into the ministry.  Acts 2:42-47

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 5 gives us another illustration of just how serious God considers a believer’s responsibility to use his or her treasure in the service of the Lord.  Listen to this account of a couple who decided to keep some of the money they should have given to God.   Acts 5:1-6

5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.  3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." 5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

His wife came in later and tried the same thing and met the same fate.

A key component to the explosive growth of the early church was their generosity in giving to the ministry.

Let me state a simple truth: the more money you give the more people will be exposed to the gospel and the more people that will be saved and baptized.  It is that simple.  If we are going to build a great church we cannot do it by piddling out a few pennies here and there.  We need to “pour out” out ourselves financially. 

Well, to some of you that is the “bad news. . .”  The pastor wants us to be more, do more, and give more.  And more doesn’t even seem to be enough.

I confess . . . I do want more out of you (and myself) in this ministry.  But, I only want what the Bible says you should give: your time, your talents, and your treasures.  God doesn’t want a “piddling,” He wants a “pouring.”

If you decide to pour yourself into God’s work, God has promised to reward you with a crown of life.  Look again at 2Tim. 4:8

⁸ There is reserved for me in the future the crown  of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,  will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.

This is not a crown of royalty because of “who” you are, like the King or Queen of England.  The only thing they do to gain a crown is: be born.

This crown here is the stephanos.  This refers to a “crown of honor” bestowed upon someone who gained the favor of the king, or the crown of victory that was given to an athlete who successful who won his contest.

The more we pour ourselves out in service, the more room God has to pour blessings into our lives.  We need put it all on the line for the Lord.  I will add that “pouring your life out for God is a dangerous business.”  Devotion requires risk.  I talked a moment ago about the glorious splendor of Niagara Falls.  Here’s a little tidbit about Niagra Falls:  On October 24 1901 Annie Edson Taylor, at the age of 63 (she claimed to be 43), became the world's first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She walked away unscathed.

So, what will your service to God be like:  an annoying, wasteful, dripping faucet, or the powerful Niagra Falls full of glory, majesty and power?

Let’s all “pour our lives out in service to God.”  Let’s all get in the barrel and go over the falls!

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