I think it was around 2004 that the famous atheist Richard Dawkins released his book,
The God Delusion.
It was a book that was designed to argue that there was no logical possibility that a God
of any form existed.
His premise was that anyone who believed in God was deluded or stupid or any other list
of names that he proceeded to call Christians and the like.
It was a fairly uninspiring book and since then a whole bunch of prominent atheists have
kind of distanced themselves from it because it turns out that really his book was more
anti-Christian propaganda than any kind of logical discussion.
And so more thinking atheists have kind of separated themselves from him and his attack.
But what struck me about this book when it came out and about its content was the irony
of the title.
So Richard Dawkins was eager to prove basically that there was nothing and no one other than
himself that he was accountable to.
So essentially what he was arguing was that he was his own God.
Now those aren't his words but the possibility of there being a God was held up against his
personal logic or his personal experience or his personal understanding and his philosophies
of right and wrong and then rejected because it didn't fit his perception.
It could be argued that Dawkins has his own God delusion of sorts.
He's made himself God and perhaps that delusion is more dangerous than the one that he was seeking
to mock and argue against.
But the scary thing about this particular delusion is that it's one that you and I share with him.
The idea that the world revolves around me, the idea that I'm the final arbiter of truth,
that I decide what's right and wrong, even though we don't articulate it like that,
is evident in so many of our lives.
And the problem with this delusion is that it's not just arrogant but it's ignorant as well.
I mean firstly it distorts our perception of reality.
We love to use language like the world is your oyster, you can do whatever you want,
you can do whatever you set your mind to.
But that's just not true, is it?
Have a look at verse 13.
Now listen, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city,
spend a year there, carry on business and make money,
well you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.
What is your life?
You're a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
You can make plans all you want but you actually have no idea what's going to happen.
You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone next week or next month or next year.
There will always be external forces or factors that affect the things that happen in our life.
There's always going to be things that are beyond our control.
Four weeks ago I came back from a few days away of planning with the senior staff here at St. Paul's.
It was a good couple of days, we've got some exciting things in store for next year.
And I was about to head home and pack for a trip
because me and Sal were heading away for her cousin's wedding.
And I was sitting there in my head thinking about how am I going to dodge the traffic,
how am I going to pack in the five or ten minutes that I'll have when I get home before we leave.
You know, I was looking at restaurants on my phone about where I could take Sal
and you know, my head was completely in the things that we were going to be doing.
And about an hour later I was in hospital with two broken legs
and the prospect of six weeks of rehab for me, let alone the stress on Sal.
Now I had no idea what was about to happen.
I had no control over what was about to happen.
I had no control over when it was going to happen and neither do we.
And yet, so often in ignorance we live and talk and plan as if we're in control.
As if we can absolutely influence everything in our life.
Like the ultimate defining factor is what I want and when I want it.
The delusion that we're in control is arrogant because it presumes power that we just don't have.
And it's ignorant because God's rule is not dependent on us acknowledging or recognising it.
One of the great parenting challenges in our house at the moment
is trying to teach an increasingly competent and coherent three-year-old about who's in charge.
So now if I ask Bailey to do something that he doesn't want to do,
he can respond with, no, I don't want to do that.
In fact, it's the only time that he responds politely and says, no thanks, I don't want to do that.
Maybe hoping that that might win the argument.
And if I insist, he responds with phrases that are scarily familiar.
Like, daddy, I said no.
Or, daddy, you're not the boss.
Now of course, when this happens, I respond with gentleness and grace.
No, that's not true.
I react.
Because my authority is being challenged in that moment.
My rightful authority as his dad is being challenged.
And there's this understanding for him, even at three years old,
that he wants to be the master of his own destiny.
He wants to be his own decision maker.
He wants to be his own king.
And of course, the problem comes when you have two masters or two kings in the same domain.
Two kings, two self-proclaimed kings in the one house.
Because whenever there are two people competing for authority,
two people claiming authority, one of them has to be rejected.
See, when we think or speak or act or plan like we're the ones in control,
like we know everything that's going to happen,
in effect, we are arrogantly saying to God,
I'm king, not you.
I'm in charge, not you.
I'm in control, not you.
It is arrogant and ignorant to say to the creator of everything,
I'm more powerful than you.
Or to somehow assume that his power is dependent on my willingness to submit to it.
The Bible describes Jesus as the creator of all things,
the sustainer of all things.
Without him, nothing exists.
The New Testament tells us that there will come a point where every knee will bow,
where every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, is King.
Either by force or by choice,
everyone will one day acknowledge that Jesus is King.
And yet we, as Christians,
as people who claim to willingly choose Jesus as our King,
shamefully remove him from his place
and act like we're in control.
Plus, the delusion of control for us foolishly ignores eternity.
When we think we're in control,
we start to live life like this,
here and now is all that there is.
And so suddenly we are consumed by the desire to accumulate stuff,
to get things,
to gather pleasure,
as much as we possibly can.
And if you're a Christian,
and remember that this letter in James is written to the church,
it's written to people who claim to be following Jesus,
who as far as we know are following Jesus.
If you're a Christian,
and you've forgotten about the eternity that your life is a part of,
then your life is pitiful.
1 Corinthians 15 says that if you only have hope for this life,
then you are to be pitied above all men.
Because the Christian life,
the Christian hope recognizes that we are made for more than just a bit between our birth and our death.
The Christian hope yearns for something that is more satisfying than the fickle treasures and pleasures
that we do enjoy in this life.
Our lives in the scheme of eternity are a mist that appears
and is gone.
And it is arrogance to assume
that what we could accumulate in our short breath of a life
can even vaguely compare
to the eternity of goodness
that God has prepared
for those who love him.
And yet,
we pour out our lives
in a vain attempt
to satisfy ourselves,
to gather pleasure,
to gather things,
to make ourselves happy.
This passage isn't saying that our lives have no value.
What it means,
what it's talking about
when it says that your life is a mist
is it's giving you the context
in which your life can flourish.
It's giving you the purpose,
the environment in which you can get the most
out of the mist,
the breath that God has given you.
And that context
is eternity.
To quote Russell Crowe,
the modern day prophet
from the movie Gladiator,
what we do in this life
echoes in eternity.
The way we live,
the choices we make,
the things we pursue,
the things we dream about,
need to reflect our understanding
that God has indescribable goodness for us
beyond this life.
And that he has already purchased that for us
by sending Jesus.
The way we use our time
and our energy
and our money
must reflect our awareness
that everything we have
in this life
comes from God
and is entrusted to us
for his purpose.
Have a look at verse 1 of chapter 5.
Now listen,
you rich people,
weep and wail
because of the misery
that is coming upon you.
Your wealth has rotted
and moths have eaten your clothes.
Your gold and silver
are corroded.
Their corrosion
will testify against you
and eat your flesh
like fire.
You have hoarded wealth
in the last days.
Look,
the wages you failed
to pay the workmen
who mowed your fields
are crying out against you.
The cries of the harvesters
have reached the ears
of the Lord Almighty.
You have lived on earth
in luxury
and self-indulgence.
You have fattened yourselves
in the day of slaughter.
You have condemned
and murdered innocent men
who are not opposing you.
The issue here
is not with the fact
that these people are rich.
The problem
for these rich people
and remember
we've been reminded
that we fall under
the category of rich people.
The issue
is how they got rich.
The issue
is what they've done
with their wealth.
The issue
is most importantly
where their hearts are.
See,
their unbridled commitment
to hoarding wealth
for themselves
at the expense of others,
even in the oppression
of others,
by not paying wages,
reflects an ignorance
that their life
that they live now
and everything
that they gather now
is but a mist
in the context
of eternity.
They have forgotten
that there is something
bigger
that God
has prepared.
Their wealth
is corroding
and even
condemning them
because it
testifies
to their desire
to be in control.
They hoard wealth
to look after
themselves,
to protect themselves,
to create the illusion
of safety.
It testifies
that they have
rejected
God
as king.
They have rejected
his purposes
in their life
and we need
to be warned
because we are
the rich.
We need
to have our
hearts
and our eyes
fixed
on eternity.
We need
to see
everything
that we have
and enjoy now,
the transient
treasures,
the good things
that God
has entrusted
to us
as just that,
things
entrusted
to us
for his
purpose.
Nothing
we have
is ours.
Every good
thing we have
comes from God,
James 1 tells us
that,
but nothing
we have
is ours
or
for our
discretion.
Everything
we have
is from him
and for him.
In
a couple
of weeks'
time,
we will be
in our
commitment series
and something
that we do
as part of
our commitment
series is we
pledge
financially
to the
work of
ministry
for the
coming 12
months.
It's
something
that we've
been doing
for several
years
and many
of you
are in
the habit
of doing.
But I
wonder in
reflection on
what God
is challenging
us here
tonight,
given that
we have
to recognise
that at
points in
our lives
and in
areas of
our lives
we live
like God
is not
king,
like we
are king,
what would
it look
like as
you reflect
on the
resources that
God has
entrusted to
you,
financial and
otherwise,
as you
dream about
how to
give them
to the
work of
ministry,
what difference
would it make
if your
starting point
was everything
that I have
in my
hand,
every dollar,
every resource,
every ounce of
energy is not
mine,
but is God's,
entrusted to me
for his purpose.
purpose,
how might that
change what
you commit
to doing,
what you
commit to
giving?
See,
when we
place ourselves
at the
centre,
when we
delude
ourselves
into thinking
that we
are in
control,
we take
the good
things that
God gives
us and
elevate them
above the
one who
gave them
in the
first place
and that
is sin
at its
heart.
You can
almost hear
the defence
of the
people who
are reading
this passage
for the
first time.
It might
be the
defence that
you're
rehearsing in
your mind
even now
as I
speak.
What's
wrong with
planning or
working hard?
I still go
to church,
I still pray,
I still do
good things?
But this is
where this
God delusion
becomes really
dangerous.
when you're
the centre
of your
world,
when what
you want
matters most,
you actually
lose the
ability to
even understand
what sin
is.
Sin becomes
just a list
of things
that I'm not
supposed to
do.
Or maybe a
list of
things that I
am supposed
to do.
Hence the
defence,
I'm not so
bad, I'm
ticking the
boxes.
But only
when Jesus
is in
his rightful
place at
the centre,
can you
begin to
see the
impact of
not just
the specific
actions that
you do or
don't do,
but the
impact of
your allegiance,
of your
affection.
creation.
Because if
you're loving
something else,
something other
than Jesus,
who loved you
and gave
himself for
you and
sits on the
throne as
the rightful
ruler over
all creation,
if you are
loving anything
more than
Jesus, that
is sin,
that is
serious,
that matters.
And so
verse 17
tells us,
anyone then
who knows
the good
he ought to
do and
doesn't do
it,
sins.
The good
that you
ought to
do, the
good that
you know
about as
someone who
follows
Jesus, is
that the
world and
your life and
everything in
them belong
to Jesus,
belong under
his rule.
The good you
ought to do is
to love him
with all your
heart, soul,
mind and
strength.
the good
that you
ought to
do is
to offer
your life
and everything
in it for
his purpose
and not
your own.
But when
you live
with a
God delusion,
when you
live with
yourself at
the center
like the
world is
your oyster
to do
with as
you please,
you float
along in
ignorance,
oblivious
even to
the good
design that
God has
for your
life.
You become
unwilling to
submit to
his direction
because you're
convinced that
your life
will go
better if
you stay
in the
driver's
seat.
The
command here
in verse
15,
the alternative
to having
a God
delusion,
instead,
you ought to
say,
if it is
the Lord's
will,
we will
live and
do this
or that.
The
alternative is
to submit
to the
Lord's
will,
to ask
that
question
before
every
decision
and
action,
if it
is the
Lord's
will.
That's a
really
significant
phrase.
We need
to pause
and just
reflect on
that for a
second.
It's a
sentence that's
maybe been
emptied of
its gravity,
of its meaning,
because it's the
sort of thing we
throw into
prayers to make
ourselves sound
godly.
Dear God,
please make
me feel
better,
if it's
your will.
It's become
something that's
a bit of a
cliche or
maybe a
lip service
to God.
But the
problem in
this passage
and in our
lives is not
that we have
rejected God,
it's that
we've reduced
God,
we've diluted
him,
we've tried to
tame him,
we haven't sent
him away,
we've just
reduced his
authority and
his power over
us to the
point where
he's still
king,
but just not
over everything,
he gets a
little bit.
He's kind of
a vice king
to my
ultimate
kingship.
And so I
will follow
wherever God
leads, as long
as it fits in
with where I was
going anyway.
I'll go to
church, I'll
read my Bible,
I'll do my
best to be
moral, but I'm
going to decide
what I do with
my money.
I'll submit to
your rule,
Jesus, but I
decide where I
live.
I decide what
job I have.
Because we've
shrunk God
down so much,
we become
ignorant to
what his
will even
is, to the
point where
we've begun to
make his will
our will.
And so when
I've talked to
people about
areas of their
life that don't
reflect God's
will, that don't
reflect the Bible,
that don't reflect
a love for Jesus
above all
else, and if
I'm honest, I've
heard these
phrases in myself
as well, the
phrases that
sometimes come
out when we've
twisted God's
will to be our
will is, I
can't imagine a
God who
wouldn't want me
to be happy.
I can't imagine a
God who would
care which
suburb I live
in.
I can't imagine a
God who would
bother interfering
with my love
life, or my
work.
When we
reduce God, we
just make him
like us, so
it's easier.
And so we
think that
following God's
will will only
be good, because
that's our plan
for us.
We can't imagine
a scenario where
God would actually
put something
difficult in our
lives for our
sake and for
his glory.
And yet when
Jesus prayed,
your will be
done and not
mine, he said
it in tears as
he prepared to
go to the
cross.
Following
Jesus is an
all-consuming
reality.
It
redefines your
whole life.
It replaces
every ambition
and every
treasure.
It demands
that we lay
down the
things that
we had
hoped for
ourselves and
come empty
handed, ready
to go wherever
we are sent,
ready to do
whatever is
asked, ready
to serve in
whatever way he
requires.
It demands that
we let go of
the treasures
that we
previously held
so that we
can grab hold
of the better
treasure that
is Jesus, that
is forgiveness,
that is hope.
Submitting to
God is better,
God is
will.
But when we
delude ourselves
into thinking the
world is about
God's will is.
Jesus is the
ultimate picture of
what it looks like
to submit to his
father's will.
Through his whole
life he gives
himself to
everything that is
asked of him,
even his death.
Taking the
penalty for our
sins is in
obedience to his
father's will.
Listen to
Philippians chapter
2.
It says,
Jesus who being
in very nature
God did not
consider equality
with God something
to be grasped,
but made himself
nothing, taking the
very nature of a
servant, being made
in human likeness,
and being found in
appearance as a
man, he humbled
himself and became
obedient to death,
even death on a
cross.
The path that he
chose in life was
the path of
obedience to his
father.
And what
happened?
God exalted
him to the
highest place and
gave him the
name that is above
every name, that
at the name of
Jesus every knee
should bow, in
heaven and on
earth and under
the earth, and
every tongue
confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God
the Father.
Jesus always did
his father's will,
for our sake.
He always did what
was asked of him,
and his father
lifted him up.
He was not left
forsaken.
Jesus models what
it is to give
yourself fully to
God.
And James is
calling us as
Christians to
imitate that
wholesale
commitment, that
uncompromising,
undiluted, every
minute of everyday
commitment to our
father's call.
He calls us to
have as the
starting point to
every decision in
life, to every day
that we wake,
God, here I am.
With everything
that you have
given me, what
would you have me
do?
Not, God, I've
got this stuff
planned, is there
anything you want
me to do while I'm
getting it done?
But to start
every decision
about what job
we'd have, about
what house we'd
live in, about
what ministry
we'd be involved
in, about what
money we would
give, what money
we would save,
about everything
that we would
do, with the
heart position of
your will be done
because you are
king.
This is a scary
prospect.
This is a scary
demand.
What about the
things that you're
looking forward to?
What about the
things that you
really love?
What if you have
to give up
something that
you really enjoy?
I mean, if I
give up control,
if I stop trying
to be God and
entrust myself to
God, how is that
going to work out
for me?
That's the fear,
isn't it?
That's why we try
and hold the
wheel, isn't it?
Because we're
worried that
somehow we'll
lose if we let
go.
Jesus is more
than just a model
for us to
imitate.
Jesus is the
foundation that
gives us
confidence to
trust God,
confidence to
submit our lives
to His will
and know that
it will always
be good.
Listen to the
words of Romans
8.
Verse 28 says,
We know that in
all things God
works for the
good of those
who love Him.
How do we know?
Verse 32.
He who did not
spare His own
Son, but gave
Him up for us
all, how will
He not also,
along with Him,
graciously give us
all things.
The cross is the
proof that God's
will for you is
always good.
Sometimes difficult,
sometimes painful,
but always good.
Always given to you
out of love,
always given for
your benefit,
always given for
His glory.
The fear that our
lives won't be as
good, won't be as
satisfying, won't be
as fantastic, or
that we'll miss out
on something is
obliterated by the
cross, because at
the cross God
gives you the
thing that He
cares about most.
He pays the
highest price for
you.
And He proves
that He is in
control.
He proves that
His power and
His goodness
combine to give
us security when
we trust Him.
To know that He is
good and He is in
control, and He is
working for our
good.
And so I want to
ask you tonight to
reflect on your own
life.
Right now, is there
anything in your
life, is there any
part of your life
that you are holding
on to and trying to
control?
Are there dreams and
ambitions in your
life that you're
holding on to so
tightly that you
would not let go if
God asked you to?
Are there things that
you're sacrificing for,
that you're prioritizing,
that don't reflect the
one who bought you
with the blood of
His Son?
What is it that you're
pouring your energy
into?
What is it that you're
sacrificing to get?
What is it that you're
dreaming about in your
life?
Because God's will for
you is that the answer
to all those questions
would be Him.
That the thing you
dream about is Him.
The thing you sacrifice
for is Him.
The thing you pour your
energy into is Him and
His purpose and His
kingdom and His will.
His desire is that you
would be so satisfied in
Him that you would
joyfully empty your
hands of the temporary,
inferior joys that the
world is trying to sell
us.
God alone is God.
God alone belongs at the
center of your world.
He alone has mapped out the
best path for your life.
God alone has a life.
God alone has a life full of
good gifts entrusted to you
for His purpose.
Instead, you should say, if it
is the Lord's will.
Let's pray.
Father God, we want to
acknowledge and recognize
that we elevate ourselves,
we place trust in ourselves
that is misguided, that we
try and control things even
when we know we can't
logically.
We still refuse to throw
ourselves on you and your
goodness.
But God, we ask that you
would open our eyes to see
in the cross the guarantee
that your will is good, that
your will is unstoppable, and
that there is much joy and
much blessing in living the
life that you have designed
for us.
God, I pray that you would
open our eyes to see the
things or the areas of
the passions in our life
that we are keeping for
ourselves.
Things that we are elevating
above you.
God, I pray that tonight you
would shine brighter for us,
that we would recognize that
you are the true treasure,
that we would let go of
things that we might grab
hold of more of you and be
more satisfied in you.
God, we pray for us as a
church that as we begin to
give ourselves, give our whole
lives, give everything that we
are and have to you and your
cause, that you might use us
mightily, that you might draw
others to come and know the
hope and purpose that you have
ordained for your people.
We pray that people would see a
difference in us, see a
contentment, see a security that
cannot be found elsewhere.
We pray that in our difficult
times and in our prosperous
times that we would still hold
firmly to the truth that you are
king, that you rule, that you are
worthy.
Father, please open our hearts,
enable us to love you as you
deserve so that you might get the
glory.
Amen.