Rev. David Holwick A
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 6, 2002
1 Corinthians 7:17-24
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I. Have you ever been trapped?
A. Look out for manholes.
Kevin Funchess, a 41-year-old school teacher in Houston, was
walking to a nearby fried chicken outlet when he fell into
a manhole.
His body wedged in just 3 feet below the surface, but he could
not get out or move enough to reach the cell phone that was
stuck beneath him in his backpack.
His shouts for help went unheard and he was unable to answer
the phone, which rang repeatedly as anxious family members
tried to call him.
Funchess said he slept and prayed while hoping help would come.
On Saturday, after three days without food and water, he was
able to maneuver enough to reach the phone and call 911.
Rescuers who pulled him outa said he was dehydrated and sore,
but in good condition.
Funchess said the bizarre experience left him a changed man.
"It makes me look at certain things a lot differently now,"
he said.
His chief regret? "I never did get that chicken."
#20573
B. Where we get trapped.
1) In job.
2) In circumstances of life.
3) In relationships or marriage.
II. The Great Escape.
A. World War II story.
American and British POWs in a German stalag.
Fifty of them escape.
My dad knew the Steve McQueen character.
This man found a motorcycle and tore off across Germany.
He made it as far as the Swiss border, but was caught.
B. How people escape.
1) Change jobs.
2) Move to new state.
3) Dump spouse.
C. Usually doesn't solve problem.
1) Issue is inside us, not our circumstances.
2) Bible understands this, as 1 Corinthians 7 shows.
3) Change person and circumstances seem different.
III. God has you where he wants you. 7:17
A. Is it God's will for me to be in this mess?
1) In Bible, struggle is usually portrayed as a normal part
of life.
2) What we view as problems are often the vehicles God uses
to teach us lessons we otherwise might never learn.
3) God can use you where you are right now. #3826
B. Stay where you are.
1) Does Paul/Bible favors subjugation of certain groups? No.
a) In past, this teaching was used to keep blacks and
women "in their place."
1> Thursday editorial in newspaper mentioned slavery
in Bible.
b) Paul says we all have a new place - in Christ.
c) But we must be careful not to overthrow society.
2) Paul's teachings were often abused:
a) Christians are equal (Gal 3:28), so slaves were
mouthing off to masters and running away.
b) Christians are free, (1 Cor 7) so believers were
abandoning their families.
c) Jesus is coming, so believers were quitting their jobs
and loafing (1&2 Thess).
C. Our social status isn't important in God's eyes.
1) Jew or Gentile is not an issue.
2) What really matters is keeping God's commands. 7:19
a) Jesus teaches the same thing.
IV. Is all change wrong?
A. Nothing great about being a slave.
1) Freedom is preferential, so seek it if you can.
2) But even as a slave, your life is different in Christ.
a) Slaves are free.
b) Freemen become slaves.
3) If you have an opportunity to better yourself, and it
doesn't violate God's commands, you are free to change.
a) Just keep in mind what really matters in life.
B. Don't be anxious about your social standing.
1) Your status is forever changed in Christ.
2) You were bought at a great price, so don't be slaves of
attitudes and other people.
V. Changes in you are more important than changes outside you.
A. Make the best of your circumstances.
1) Control your desires.
2) Bring your expectations in line with God's.
3) Choose to have a good attitude wherever you are.
If you have ever gone through a toll booth, you know that
your relationship to the person in the booth is not the
most intimate you'll ever have.
It is one of life's frequent nonencounters: You hand over
some money; you might get change; you drive off.
Late one morning in 1984, Dr. Charles Garfield was headed
for lunch in San Francisco.
He drove toward a toll booth.
He heard loud music. It sounded like a party.
He looked around.
No other cars with their windows open.
No sound trucks.
He looked at the toll booth.
Inside it, the man was dancing.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm having a party," the collector said.
"What about the rest of the people?"
Garfield looked at the other toll booths.
The collector said, "What do those look like to you?"
He pointed down the row of toll booths.
"They look like... toll booths.
What do they look like to you?"
He said, "Vertical coffins.
At 8:30 every morning, live people get in.
Then they die for eight hours.
At 4:30, like Lazarus from the dead, they reemerge and go
home.
For eight hours, their brain is on hold, dead on the job.
Going through the motions."
Dr. Garfield was amazed.
This guy had developed a philosophy about his job.
Sixteen people dead on the job, and the seventeenth, in
precisely the same situation, figures out a way to live.
He could not help asking the next question:
"Why is it different for you?
You're having a good time."
He looked at the doctor.
"I knew you were going to ask that.
I don't understand why anybody would think my job is
boring.
I have a corner office, glass on all sides.
I can see the Golden Gate, San Francisco, and the Berkeley
hills.
Half the Western world vacations here... and I just stroll
in every day and practice dancing."
#4627
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher:
"God asks no man whether he will accept life.
That is not the choice - you must take it.
The only choice is HOW."
#21918
B. Do your best in every area of life.
1) At work, do the best job you can do.
2) Be the best spouse you can be.
a) Cynical definitions:
Bigamy: having one spouse too many.
Monogamy: the same thing. #19261
b) As the oldy-goldy song says, "love the one you're with."
c) What you can change about your relationships.
1> Be example of Christ to them.
2> Share Christ with them.
3> Relationships that focus on making everyone happy
will one day end up very sad.
C. Anything is tolerable if God is on your side.
1) Does God define YOUR life?
2) You can put him at the center today...
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 4627 "A Place To Stand," by Dr. Charles Garfield, Internet: Chicken
Soup of the Day; July 6, 1999; from Condensed Chicken Soup for
the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
& Patty Hansen.
#19261 "Cynical Definition of Marriage," email from unknown source;
June 13, 2001.
#20513 "Texas Man Crosses Road for Chicken, Falls in Hole," from
Reuters, http://www.yahoo.com; September 11, 2001. In Don
Johnson collection of illustrations.
#21918 "Choose How You Will Take Life," by Rev. Henry Ward Beecher,
collected by Rev. Brett Blair's Illustrations By Email,
http://www.sermonillustrations.com; December 2, 2001.
These and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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