Preached August 27,1989, evening service New Winchester Missionary Baptist Church Danville, Indiana
Dr. Arthur G. Ferry, Jr., Pastor
John Claypool, in one of his sermons, tells a parable
about a young man who was applying for a job. As a
part of the application process, the young man had to
take an aptitude test. He arrived at the appointed
time, was given instructions about the test, and then
was ushered into the testing room.
Immediately, though, the young man became enamored
with the utensils at his disposal: he straightened
the paper on the desk, sharpened his pencils and
shined his chair. In fact, he became so engrossed in
the material around him he never got around to taking
the test! When time was up and the tests were
collected, he had nothing to show for his efforts but
a neat desk, finely sharpened pencils and an
immaculate chair.
Needless to say, he didn't get the job.
Nowadays people in business talk about "working
smart." That is, it is not how hard you work, but how
effectively, how efficiently. Many executives who
spend long hours at the office are not necessarily
more dedicated than their peers who leave early.
Those who burn the midnight oil oftentimes have not
learned how to use their time wisely.
In fact a recent brain study by psychologist Richard
Haier of the University of California at Irvine
confirmed that smart thinkers are not necessarily
working hard even at their thinking. Haier injected
subjects with mildly radioactive glucose and then had
them take a test involving abstract reasoning. He
then watched the level of glucose that each brain
burned.
Surprisingly, the men who received low scores were
burning more glucose to get a few wrong answers than
other men were burning to get most of the answers
right. There really does seem to be something to the
idea of working smarter, not harder. As Robert M.
Hutchins has said, "It is not so important to be
serious as it is to be serious about important
things."
THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS STRESS TIME AND TIME AGAIN THE
IMPORTANCE OF LIVING SMART.
Jesus himself compared
them to a man "building his house on a rock." He
talked about "counting the cost" before we begin to
build. "Sit at the lowest place at the table," he
said, "then when your host comes he may say to
you,`Friend go up higher'; then you will be honored
in the presence of all..." Time and time again he
stressed that his teachings were not about "pie in
the sky bye-and-bye" but about practical living here
and now. It is not enough just to live, but to live
smart.
John Madden, now a sportscaster for CBS, was for many
years coach of the perennially successful Oakland
Raiders football team. During those championship
seasons, Oakland had an All-Pro receiver by the name
of Fred Bilentnikoff.
Madden once said about Bilentnikoff, "If he had
played up to his capabilities he would never have
been in the NFL. He was slow, he wasn't very big, and
he was even a little bit clumsy. I used to scream at
him from the sidelines, `Don't fall down, Fred! Don't
fall down!' All he could ever do was catch passes and
score touchdowns."
Fred Bilentnikoff was effective. He knew how the game
was played, understood teamwork, and had figured out
moves that would take him where the defense wasn't.
He was a star at his position.
Bilentnikoff played smart. He might not have been
able to do everything an NFL receiver needs to do,
but he did those things that mattered most. That's
also the key to living smart. Make sure you do those
things that really matter.
When Dwight Eisenhower became President he tried to
arrange his administration so that only urgent and
important matters were called to his attention. Every
thing else was to be delegated to lower echelons.
However, he discovered that urgency and importance
seldom appear together.
You and I may feel that we are tossed and turned in
every direction by those things that are urgent,
while many important things are left undone. It's
time we caught our breath and begin living smart.
LIVING SMART BEGINS WITH DECIDING WHAT REALLY IS
IMPORTANT IN LIFE.
That makes sense, doesn't it?
There is a story about a man who was preparing his
favorite breakfast of hot oatmeal when his daughter
came rushing in with his little grandson.
"The baby-sitter has been delayed," she explained,
"and I've got to go to work. Will you keep Bobby for
a few hours?"
Granddad said sure and his daughter left. Then
Granddad scooped up two bowls of oatmeal. "Do you
like sugar?" he asked.
When Bobby nodded he asked, "How about some butter,
too?"
When his grandson nodded again he asked, "How about
milk?"
"Sure," the boy said.
But when the grandfather placed the steaming bowl of
oatmeal in front of Bobby, the boy made a face and
pushed it away.
"But when I asked you, you said you liked sugar,
butter and milk," grandfather protested.
"Yeah," Bobby answered, "but you didn't ask me if I
like oatmeal."
Ganddad forgot to ask the most elemental question.
Sometimes we forget to do that, too. We never set
priorities. We never list in our own minds what those
things are that matter most. We allow life to buffet
us here and there and we never center in on those
things that really matter.
There is an old story about a recipe for rabbit pie
that begins with the instruction to "first catch a
rabbit." And that's great advice! What are those
things that really matter in your life? Are you
making certain that those priorities are being met?
One more football story. When Vince Lombardi took
over the Green Bay Packers, they were on the bottom.
In 1958, they lost 10 out of 12 games, tied 1 and won
1. When they came to camp in June of 1959 Vince
Lombardi said, "Gentlemen, we are going to have a
football team. We are going to win some games. Get
that!"
Now how were they going to do that?
"You are going to learn to block, run and tackle," he
said. "You are going to outplay all the teams that
come up against you."
Then he threw in the clincher!
"You are to have confidence in me and enthusiasm for
my system," he ordered. "Hereafter, I want you to
think of only three things: your home, your
religion, and the Green Bay Packers." We would
quarrel with the order but not the spirit of
Lombardi's challenge. He had narrowed his priorities
to those simple things that he considered important.
We could learn from that. For we too must decide what
is really important in our lives.
There is a second secret to living smart.
LIVING
SMART SAYS, "DON'T LET LITTLE THINGS DISTRACT YOU."
Somewhere I read about an English home owner who
declared war against the mole that had been burrowing
unsightly tunnels throughout his property. Moles are
nocturnal animals, so he drove his Jaguar onto the
lawn to hunt the mole down with the aid of its
headlights. The car stalled. When he got it started
again, it lurched into gear and out of control.
Onward it rolled until it crashed into his house.
The car's fuel tank ruptured and burst into flames,
which quickly reached the house and burned it to the
ground.
He couldn't even phone for help--the telphone cable
was burned through before he could call the fire
department. "I still want to see that mole dead," he
said.
We can appreciate his frustration, but his is an
example of truly making mountains out of molehills.
He had lost his perspective. Somehow his priorities
were out of whack.
One of the most impressive things about former
astronaut and senator John Glenn is his willingness
to stick to his priorities. It was he who refused to
go to the door and receive the president of the
United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Why? Glenn's
wife was quite ill in bed and needed his
attentiveness. John Glenn's relationship with his
wife was more important than having an audience with
the president.
In our Scripture lesson for the morning Martha was
busy with many things. She was trying to be a
gracious hostess. Who could fault her for that? It's
hard work. I am certain Jesus understood and
appreciated that. But at that particular moment it
wasn't the most fruitful way to be spending her time.
The Master was in her home. True, she could bake him
bread, but He could offer to her the bread of life.
She could set the bevereges on the table, but he
could treat her to living water. She could make sure
he felt at home, but he could offer her an eternal
home. It wasn't that Martha wasn't working hard. It
was that she wasn't living smart. She let little
distractions get in the way of what was really
important. But there is one thing more to be said.
LIVING SMART BEGINS WITH A COMMITMENT TO JESUS
CHRIST. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his
righteousness," said Jesus, "And everything else will
be added to you..." The smartest thing that Martha
could have done at that particular moment was to
emulate her sister Mary and sit for a few moments at
the feet of Jesus.
In a Scandinavian country there is a statue of
Christ. A tourist standing in front of it appeared
dismayed. A local resident asked what his problem
was. He replied, "I cannot see His face." The
resident then explained, "If you desire to see His
face, you must kneel at His feet."
There are some of us whose greatest need right now is
to spend some time kneeling or sitting at the feet of
Jesus. Our lives are out of kilter. Our values are
out of focus. Our priorities are hopelessly skewed.
Like the poor man who destroyed his house and his
car, our molehills have become mountains. We need to
stop where we are and to pray, "Lord, help me to know
what those thing are that really need to matter in my
life and help me always to put you first."
There was once a man who was trying to read the
evening newspaper after he had come home from a rough
day at the office. As he attempted to read the paper,
he was constantly being interrupted by his children.
One child came and asked for money for an ice cream
cone, and his father gently reached into his pocket
and gave him the necessary coin. Another child
arrived in tears. Her leg was hurt and she wanted
her daddy to kiss the hurt away. An older son came
with an algebra problem, and they eventually arrived
at the right answer. Finally, the last and youngest
of them all burst into the room looking for good old
dad. The father said cynically, "What do you want?"
The little youngster said, "Oh, daddy, I don't want
anything. I just want to sit on your lap."
Who among those childen chose the wisest thing? I
believe the father appreciated the one most who
simply wanted to spend a few moments in his lap.
Center in on what really matters in your life. Try as
best you are able to put away deadly distractions.
Begin with your commitment to Jesus Christ and let
the rest of your life flow from there. That's the
difference between simply living and living smart.
