For This Cause - Charles Nieman
Sermon (adapted for reading) by Charles Nieman – Pastor, Abundant Living Faith Centre, El Paso, Texas
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When I wake up every morning, I don’t wonder what I should do with my life. Even as a child, I knew that I was called to be a leader in the church. To do something for the kingdom of God that would make a difference. Of course as a child and as a young man, I had no idea what it would cost. Nor could I understand the challenges or opportunities that would come my way. But throughout this walk that is my life, this desire to do something for the kingdom of God has burned in my heart.
Maybe, your experience is or has been different from mine. Maybe in your life today, you wonder why you are alive. You question - What is life about? And you ask, what is your part in life?
Maybe in searching for meaning, you went after things. Maybe in searching for meaning, you were in some bad relationships. Maybe you went down the path of alcohol and/or drugs to find meaning in life. Only to realize that when you were in those relationships or when you had those things like drugs and alcohol, there must be more to life.
You are right. There is more to life. In fact, God has marked you for His purpose and His plan. In truth, you were born for a cause. Your life is not the result of some twisted thing of fate. In fact, your life is a part of God’s predetermined purpose. And your happiness in your life is affected by how you understand the cause of God and His kingdom and your special place in it.
“Teach us to number our days so that we may apply wisdom to our lives.” - Psalm 90:12
I think if given a choice, all of us would choose to live life with wisdom. There is no premium in living in the land of dumb.
The Psalmist says that one of the characteristic of wisdom is that we learn to number our days. In other words, it says to give us understanding that life is a gift and that this day and every day is not something to be sloughed off. It’s not something to be wasted. There are people who woke up yesterday morning that did not wake up this morning. But you did.
In that, what will we do with the days and the weeks and the months and the years and the seconds and minutes and the hours that God has given to us?
What cause, if any, will define your life?
How will you be remembered?
What will be your legacy?
The answer to all 3 questions lies in you.
There are many causes in this earth. Some positive, some negative. And all of them are pulling on our commitment, our passion, money and time. There are family causes, work causes, social issues... And the list goes on and on. All of them, or many of them are good. But I believe there is one cause that is greater than all other cause. And I believe that this cause is greater than all other causes. Because this cause, when lived, will impact every area of our lives. This cause when lived, gives meaning, purpose and direction to every day.
There are some causes that we are involved in will give meaning to a week. Or a month. Or a day. Or a couple of hours. But there is a cause that when embraced and lived, gives meaning, purpose and direction to every day. It is a cause that when embraced and lived will also influence our choices and decisions. Your choices and your decisions influence your life. And this cause, when embraced and understood, will set your children on the path to success. It will positively affect the lives of others. And that cause is the cause of Jesus Christ in your life and for your life.
2000 years ago, Jesus, an innocent man, went through a mockery of a trial. During this trial, Jesus never defended himself. He eventually ended up - after having been brought by the religious leaders and was lied about and made false accusations about - was brought before the governor of Rome, Pontius Pilate. And being questioned by Pilate, Jesus said nothing. Until Jesus made a statement that was so powerful, and declares a truth that is so absolute, that it shut everyone up who listened to it.
It speaks to us today.
Pilate therefore said unto him, “Are you then a king?” Jesus said “You said that I am a king. To this was I born. And for this cause, came I into the world.” - John 18:37
What power. For this cause.
Isn’t it incredible that Jesus knew, with certainty and conviction and said “I was born for this cause”. His cause was so right, He was willing to die for it. The 3 words: FOR THIS CAUSE – expressed his entire life. His entire life was summarized by that statement.
Do you have such surety and boldness when answering life’s “big questions”? Everyone who born dies, but not every who dies, truly lives. God does not want you and I to die full of potential. He wants you to enjoy living for something worth dying for. When His cause sustains your life, your life will never be the same again.
Maybe your birth wasn’t ideal. Maybe you didn’t get good parents. Maybe you were raised in a family of crazy people on the best day. And because of that, it’s understandable to think “What is this about? Why am I here? What chance do I have?”
We sing a song here in our church called “With Everything” and there’s a line in that song that I absolutely love that says “Let hope arise and darkness tremble.”
Let hope arise and the darkness in your life will begin to tremble. Because, although your birth wasn’t ideal, though maybe you didn’t have a good family, though maybe you were raised in a horrible atmosphere, you need to know today that you were born for a cause greater than your self.
There is, in every one of our lives, what I call a because factor in our lives. You were born because your Father has a plan for you on the earth. His purpose is greater than your flaky family, your bad upbringing and all of the mistakes you’ve ever made. His purpose is greater than it all.
I don’t know where you started or where you began, and its not important that I know. But I can show you one thing of certainty no matter where you may have come from:
The word of the Lord came unto me saying “Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you.” - Jeremiah 1:5
Wrap your brain around this:
Before your mother and father got together.
Before sperm met egg.
GOD KNEW YOU. He knew everything about you. Good, bad, ugly and everything in-between.
And before you came out of the womb, I set you apart unto myself.
God didn’t call you after you were born. God called you to himself before you were conceived! You were born because your Father has a plan for you on His earth. You were born for the cause of the King and His kingdom.
You may think that in your life, your birth was this and your upbringing was not too good. Or maybe in your life you’ve been betrayed and rejected. All these things happened to Jesus. We’ve made the Christmas nativity scene a lovely, beautiful moment. But stables stink. It’s filthy with rats, cockroaches and lice. And into that, Jesus was born.
Remember also for his entire upbringing, there was a cloud of wonderment over his life. By Jewish tradition, the oldest son was always named after the father. Jesus was not named ben-Yosef, he was named Jesus so there was always this cloud of suspicion, no matter what school he went to or what neighbourhood they lived in, people always wondered why he wasn’t named after his father. So the suspicion was that he was an illegitimate child. And Miriam (Mary) and Yosef (Joseph) couldn’t tell anyone. So Jesus lived with that.
When he got into his ministry and wandered about doing good, he was betrayed, rejected and lied about. But he did not allow any of this to hold him back. He had lots of reasons to fail, but he never lived his life from a place of insecurity or rejection. Because he had a cause.
This cause puts everything, especially the hard times, in proper perspective. Jesus knew what was coming. He knew the scourge, the beating and the cross was coming. Jesus knew he was going to be made sin and he was to be separated from his Father for the first time in history. He knew he was going to pay this horrible price. He knew all of that.
But because he had a cause, it put everything in perspective.
Once you understand the power of Christ’s cause in your life, everything else falls into its proper place. Your career, your family, why you work , who you have relationships with, the choices you make, the decisions you make, the way you raise your kids, what you do with your money, what you do with your time, how you approach things – everything else falls into place.
And because you have His cause in your life, you can and you will move forward.
If you had known me 4 years ago, you would have never guessed that I would be where I am today. And during those years, Rochelle and I have had great challenges, even greater opportunities. All of us have things that buffet us. But for this cause, it gives you the strength, the power, the courage, the proper perspective, helps you make the right choices and right decisions, helps you to set your children on the right paths to success. It enables you to bless others.
When you know you were born for this cause, your life will go forward. You are here for a purpose bigger than yourself. Jesus said “Seek ye first the King and His kingdom, and His righteousness (which is a gift to you) and everything else will fall into place.”
Everything else is a spectacular when you live for the King and His kingdom, and for His cause.
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