Message
by: Robert A. Schuller
Yeah, we’ve
been going through a series of messages entitled, “Walking
in Your Own Shoes” because November 1st this book
comes out. This is the actual copy, it is the first one.
It’s not in bookstores yet. It’s at the distribution
center currently and its being shipped to the different
book stores across the nation. It’s entitled “Walking
in Your Own Shoes,” and the subtitle is what I really
want to point to today is “Discover God’s
direction for your life.” That’s the subtitle.
And a lot of books, I would say maybe most books you can
really get the true message of the title when you look
at the subtitles. Because walking in our own shoes is
an important thing for us to do. In fact its so important
that not only are we talking about this intangibility,
this concept, this philosophy of walking in our own shoes,
we’re also putting some meat on those bones into
creating a tangible message and the tangible things we
are doing is we are collecting shoes for children.
I know last
week many people brought shoes; in fact we collected two
thousand, two hundred pair of shoes last week alone. Isn’t
that spectacular? So we’re going to continue to
collect shoes, new shoes, and we’re giving them
to children. So whatever you can do to help us collect
shoes, that is spectacular and if you don’t have
the means to buy a pair of shoes and give them and you
wish us to do that, you can send us a contribution and
we’ll do that for you because it’s our hope
to fill this truck. You’ve seen the truck out there
with shoes for kids. If you look inside, there’s
two thousand, as of yesterday, I should say, there was
two thousand two hundred pair of shoes in there. I don’t
know how many people brought shoes this morning but we’re
going to fill that truck. So if you have a membership
with a service club like Rotary or Kiwanis or Soroptimist
or something of that nature, maybe you can encourage them
to help us fill this truck with shoes because it’s
a lot of shoes. So again, thank you for bringing shoes
and helping us put shoes on children’s feet. That’s
really important for us.
Talking about shoes, do you know what I did? I was looking
at my closet and I found the oldest pair of shoes in my
closet. This happens to be the oldest pair of shoes I
own. These are literally my shoes. If you notice, the
soles are pretty good. That’s because I haven’t
walked very much in these shoes. I have had these shoes
for 35 years. Can you believe it? These are not walking
shoes. Does anyone recognize what kind of a shoe this
is? Does anyone know what kind of a shoe this is? If you
know, say so. What is it? Boxing, yeah, they are boxing
shoes but also wrestling shoes. I bought them originally
for wrestling because I was a wrestler in high school,
and I bought these for wrestling and that’s why
the soles are in perfect shape, because you walk on a
pad, you never walk on asphalt or anywhere else, you’re
just walking on the wrestling mats. And as a result, those
soles stay really good in spite of the fact that I would
jump rope incessantly. It’s what you do when you
box and you wrestle. I could jump rope oh really, really
good. In fact to this day, I can jump rope as good as
I ever could. I can jump rope, I’ll bet you a thousand
times without missing a single beat. I can go the triples,
I can do the crosses, I can do it all and I never miss
a beat. I’ll bet I can do it for a half hour, 45
minutes, and never miss a beat as long as I don’t
have a rope in my hands. You know?
And in many
ways, that’s kind of the way our life can be. The
passage I want to give you to remember today is this.
The very first verse in Psalm 127, it says this: “If
the Lord does not build the house, the builder’s
labor in vain.” Isn’t that a powerful verse?
“If the Lord does not build the house, the builder’s
labor in vain.” Its vanity, it’s for nothing.
It’s jumping rope without a rope. You’re not
jumping rope at all. You’re pretending to jump rope.
If you’re building your life without God, you’re
not living; you’re merely existing. That’s
why the subtitle of the book is discovering God’s
direction for your life. Putting God into the handiwork
of whatever you’re doing so that all of your labor
is not in vain, its not for vanity, its not just lost,
its not just disappeared in the air in your labor. But
it has value, it has meaning, it has substance, it has
reality.
In 1848 the
President of the United States James Polk started a project.
It was a monument to the very first president of the United
States. And the project began and 25 years later, it was
completed. It’s an obelisk. It rises five hundred
and fifty five feet in the air. That is five thousand,
one hundred and twenty five inches. It is and remains
and will be unless there is act of congress, the highest
structure to ever be built in Washington DC. We know it
as the Washington Monument. It overshadows the entire
city.
I remember
the first time I went up there, my father and I went to
Washington DC and we stood in line, and we waited a long
time to get on the elevator and we took that elevator
up to the very top and from there you can look around
and you can see for miles and miles and miles. That’s
the Washington Monument. When those laborers completed
that project of building this incredible architectural
landmark, they put an aluminum cap on the very top and
on that cap is inscribed seven letters. The letters spell
these words: Laus Deo. L-a-u-s D-e-o. They’re Latin.
And those seven letters and those words is this: Praise
be to God! And those words shadow under the highest structures
in the capital of this country. I don’t know about
you, but that makes me very proud. It does, it makes me
very proud. That our forefathers, from the beginning have
built this country and this nation, founded upon God.
That’s important. It’s important for us to
realize that what’s taking place in this country
is a country that truly witnesses and realizes the hand
of God and the need for God.
In II Chronicles
we read, “If My people who are called by My name
will humble themselves and pray, says the Lord, then I
will hear their prayers, I will forgive their sins and
I will heal their land.” Here’s the question
I have for you: here’s the question. Is your labor
done in the hand and the will of God? So that what you
do is not there for yourself but for the kingdom of God.
Are we kingdom builders, or are we individual builders.
Can we look beyond ourselves and discover God’s
direction for our life so that we become part of the greater
whole, or are we simply looking out for ourselves, looking
inwardly and making sure that whatever we do is going
to make me better.
Greek mythology takes a look at, and understands this
and many of you are familiar with the understanding of
narcissists, from which we get the word narcissistic.
Those of you who plant gardens, you know that narcissists
very well because it’s a beautiful flower. It’s
probably one of the most beautiful flowers you can plant
in your gardens. But narcissism comes from the word narcissists,
which is the name of one of the Greek gods who fell in
love with himself and his image, and as a result of that,
couldn’t get beyond it and it killed him. Not until
we can get beyond narcissism to understanding that there
is more to life than ourselves, can we possibly understand
the direction that God has for our lives.
Because our
text this morning is one that we need to remember, take
to heart and take with us on a daily basis so that everything
we do is done for the glory of God. “If the Lord
does not build His house, the laborers labor in vain.”
Maybe a better way to or another way to present this question
is to ask it this way. When you go to work tomorrow morning,
are you going to work or are you fulfilling God’s
destiny for your life? Now what we might realize is that
its one in the same thing as far as the physical labor
is concerned, its one in the same thing. The difference
is strictly a perception in our minds and in our hearts.
If you’re going to work and doing a job, you’re
going to work and doing a job. On the other hand, you
can wake up in the morning and you can say I’m not
going to go to work and do a job; I’m going to go
to my destiny and fulfill my calling. And then you get
out of bed and you do the exact same things but with a
different frame of mind and a different concept and a
different reality. And you’re living for God with
Him being the laborer and allowing Him to give you the
direction and the guidance and fulfillment that you wish
to desire for your life. It’s walking in your own
shoes.
The very first
book of the Bible is a book that most people are familiar
with, in fact I think it is probably the most commonly
read book in the Bible because many people have the good
intentions of reading the Bible and never get past the
first chapter. Therefore, I think it is the number one
read chapter in the Bible: Genesis. I see a bunch of people
laughing. Is that a confession? And what’s interesting
about the book of Genesis is that the last 13 chapters,
about 15% of the very first book in the Bible deals with
one man by the name of Joseph. Joseph was one of 12 sons
of Jacob, who we also know as Israel. If somebody says
who is Jacob, he is Israel, who is Israel, he’s
Jacob, they’re both the same guy. He’s got
two names.
Joseph was
the most favored of Israel, of Jacob. Jacob loved him
more than the others, the Bible says. As a result of that,
his 11 older brothers didn’t care for that very
much. Maybe some of you can realize that. I mean we all,
I think just about everybody thinks that mom and dad loves
everyone else better than they love me. Right? That’s
the way it was with Joseph and his brothers tolerated
it to a certain extent until his father goes and buys
him this beautiful jacket. Now clothing in the time of
the Bible wasn’t what it is today. If you buy a
piece of clothing, you have that the rest of your life
and your entire lifetime you may have only a few pieces
of clothing. I know some people are getting really depressed
with that thought; I can see it in your eyes. That’s
the way it was. Clothing was something that was extremely
difficult to come by.
And his father
gave his son this gorgeous, gorgeous jacket with long
sleeves, it says in the Bible. At the same time Joseph
is receiving these visions where he sees his brothers
and his father and everybody around him bowing down to
him. And he wasn’t too smart. He went and he shared
what his vision was with his brothers. Well that got them
mad enough where they decided that they were going to
get rid of him and they sold him to some slave traders
that were coming by. They take his jacket, they shred
it up, they throw some blood on it and then they take
it back to their father and say this is what we found
of Joseph, the lions and the bears must have gotten him.
And they thought him dead.
Well the rest
of the Bible goes through Joseph’s journey from
slavery to imprisonment to death row, to excess, to nothing,
back to success again, and concludes with him actually
becoming the second most powerful man in the entire world,
second only to Pharaoh. Meanwhile there is a famine and
his brothers come up to Egypt for food, and guess what
they land up doing: they land up bowing before Joseph
just as his vision was. And they come and they ask for
forgiveness from Joseph for selling him into slavery.
And here are the words I want you to hear for this, is
powerful words: “And Joseph said to them, do not
be afraid. Am I in the place of God? In other words can
I judge you? You intended to harm me. But God intended
it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving
of many lives. What others have intended for harm, God
intends for good.”
And as we discover
the reality of God’s promises and His goodness,
that when we put God in the center of everything we do,
and when we allow God to build His house, this house,
our bodies, our souls, our minds, our lives, the work
we do is no longer in vain. Regardless of what you do
tomorrow morning, regardless of what your labor is, when
you put God in that labor, and you no longer decide to
go to work and do a job, your labor has tremendous significance
in ways you cannot possibly imagine. Because tomorrow
morning, you’re going to wake up and you’re
not going to go to work and do a job. You’re going
to go to your destiny and you’re going to fulfill
your calling and when God calls, you’re going to
go. And if people are intending things for harm and they’re
causing problems in your life and you come here today
because you don’t know what’s going on, maybe
you received news this week that you have cancer. Maybe
your children have disappeared and you don’t know
where they are. Maybe you’re struggling with your
parents and they’re having difficulties. They’re
in a nursing home. You may have buried one of them this
week. Wherever God’s course takes you, remember
that what others intend for harm God intends for good
and He’s going to lead you and direct you and give
you the desires of your heart in ways that you cannot
possibly imagine because you are not doing the labor,
God is.
You know there
are tremendous words in this book, the Bible. And these
words have tremendous power for us. And as we hold onto
them, and as we realize their beauty for us, we will continue
to know God in more beautiful ways. Love people in more
unique circumstances and serve the world diligently.
Let us pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for what You’re
doing today, tomorrow and always, Amen.