Sermons
Little Is Much
LITTLE IS MUCH
Sermon Outline By Terry Siverd
Cortland Church of Christ / October 15, 2017
If we tried to describe mankind’s original sin we could say that simply put, it was man’s desire for autonomy.
By autonomy we mean “self-governance”.
In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation to be “like God” (Gen.3:5).
Because Adam & Eve fell prey to a desire to displace or replace God, God banished them from the garden (Gen.3:22-24).
This yearning for autonomy continues to be not only mankind’s great weakness, but if left unchecked, his downfall.
It was never God’s intention to have creatures who would long to supplant their Creator.
On a personal level, there is something deep within us that fights for independence.
My aunt Barb, who is now eighty, expressed to me recently how she dreads the thought of losing her independence.
Our brother in Christ and dear friend, Jack Simpson, was bent on being “on his own” right up to the end of his life.
He wanted to drive his car. He insisted on living by himself in his own house.
This innate desire for freedom is not sinful in most respects. It’s not wrong to not want to be a burden to others.
It’s not evil to want to manage on your own - - to be self-sufficient so as to clothe oneself and eat and bathe, etc.
We’d think it strange to hear an aging parent say, “I can’t wait until my children have to wait on me hand and foot.”
Yet, in the spiritual realm, this inordinate desire for autonomy can indeed be sinful.
Let us pray that we never reach the point where we declare, “I don’t need God anymore.”
If we arrive to such it will not be a high-water mark for us, but rather a low point signaling our downfall.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God gives some much-needed assurance to the nation of Israel.
They had been slaves in Egypt over a span of four-hundred years, and God was leading them to the promised land.
In Deut.20:1 & 4, God tells them - -
When you go out to battle against the enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you,
do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt is with you...
For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.
From Israel’s beginning, God impressed upon them the importance of His Presence with them.
In Lev.16:8, God pledges to them - - You will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword;
Five of you will drive out 100 & 100 of you will put to flight 10,000, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.
What God promised, He delivered. Josh.11:4 & 6 depicts this scene:
(Israel’s enemies) came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore,
with very many horses and chariots…Then the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow at this time I will deliver all of them slain before Israel; you shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.’
What God did in the early days of Israel, he continued in the days of King David.
Ps.33:16 records, The king is not saved by a mighty army; a warrior is not delivered by great strength.
For most of his life David understood this. Listen to the words he wrote is Ps.27:1 & 3 - -
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread?…
Though a host encamp against me (a “host” speaks of ten thousands – cf. Ps.3:6), my heart will not fear.
Though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident (i.e., display trust in the Lord).
There was an occasion near the end of David’s reign when he seemed to forget this great truth. 2Sam.24:1ff tells
of David’s directive to “number” his soldiers. Initially Joab resisted, but he ended up taking almost ten months to
do exactly what David ordered. The census revealed 800,000 valiant men in Israel and another 500,000 in Judah.
To David’s credit he quickly rued the day and confessed his sin to God, but there was nevertheless a high price to pay.
The arithmetic of God is quite different from the standard manuals of mathematics.
Our world is hung up on BIG THINGS. If an objective outsider was to try to capture the mores of our present
American culture, more likely than not, they’d describe us as a people who have a fastidious fascination with MORE.
They would likely characterize us as a nation that appears to be fixated on quantity (over quality).
It has become engrained in us that more is always bigger and better.
We take pride in the tallest building with the most floors.
A best-seller book is judged by how many thousands of copies are sold.
A six-figure income would be far better than a five-figure income.
But quantity has never been God’s criterion for judging a person’s success (or faithfulness).
Quite often MORE is often nothing more than a euphemism for GREED.
Jesus warns us to be on guard against every form of greed (Lk.12:15).
He illustrated exactly what He meant with a parable (Lk.12:16f).
The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself saying,
‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down
my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all of my grain and my goods.’ And I will say to my soul,
‘Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take you ease, eat, drink and be merry.’
But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own
what you have prepared?’ So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
More is not always better.
How different the outcome would have been had “the rich man” learned to live on less.
How sad it was that in grabbing for more, he invariably marginalized his need for God.
So, as Christians, we must learn a new math, a new means of calculating: little can be much.
Ninety-nine sheep were safely in the fold, but the Good Shepherd leaves the 99 to save one lost sheep (Lk.15:3f).
A poor widow placed in the offering basket two small copper coins.
Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them (Lk.21:3).
The story of the widow is not given to justify giving to God from our “scrapage” - - our thoughtless leftovers.
In fact, it is just the contrary - - others gave out of their surplus, but she gave out of her poverty.
Let us not forget that Jesus also taught: to whom much is given, much shall be required (Lk.12:48b).
Quite often how much we give is a litmus test of our willingness to depend on God
If we are clinging to our wallets, it might well be an indication that we are not willing to trust the future to God.
The format of “a weekly offering” serves as a weekly test for how we are entrusting our well-being to God.
Letting go of our greenbacks is a way of measuring out dependence upon God.
If we are having trouble “letting go” it may well be that we’re having trouble “letting God”.
This new mathematics of our Master can be challenging, but it can also be freeing.
This is part of the mystery of life in the kingdom of heaven.
Values that often seem upside down to our very human nature, God has turned right-side up.
Have you ever given things away only to feel liberated in doing so?
The bumper sticker that declares, “He who dies with the most toys wins” is simply not true.
It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).
To be “more blessed” is to find greater contentment.
One of the most vivid stories of how little is much is found in the marshalling of Gideon’s army.
Judg.7:2 reads - - And the Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are too many for Me
to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, ‘My own power had delivered me.’
God directed Gideon to shrink his army, which initially number some 32,000 soldiers.
Note that Judg.7:12 records: now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were as
numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return (home). Twenty-two thousand left, leaving only 10,000 soldiers.
Then the Lord said to Gideon (vs.4):
‘The people are still too many, bring them down to the water and I will test them there for you.’
God had Gideon lead them a place to drink water.
A very large majority of the soldier kneeled to drink. They were dismissed.
Only a mere 300 lapped the water from their hands (a sign of vigilance). These were retained.
What God accomplished with Gideon’s small army of 300 was quite amazing.
You can read Judges 7-8 for the details their heroic exploits.
Judg.8:28 records this postscript - - So Midian was subdued before the sons of Israel, and they did
not lift up their heads anymore. And the land was undisturbed for forty years in the days of Gideon.
There’s a formula here that we must not miss.
There is much in little when God is in it. One plus God equals a majority.
Richard Halverson, a former chaplain in the U.S. Senate has written:
“If a thing is right, 10,000 saying it does not make it more right. And if a thing is wrong, 10,000 saying it is right will not make it so!”
We must resist the tendency to be overly impressed with numbers.
Only eight souls were saved by God via Noah’s ark (Gen.7)
Only two of the 12 spies had faith that Israel could conquer the promised land (Num.13).
One single prophet of Israel named Elijah (+ God) took down 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah (1Kgs.18)
Jesus appointed only 12 apostles but they spread the gospel throughout the Roman Empire in just 40 years (Col.1:23).
Jesus fed 5,000 with just five loaves and two fish and afterwards they had twelve baskets of leftovers (Mt.14:17).
Sometimes I long for a big thriving church. Hopefully you are praying and yearning for the same.
While I don’t think our aspirations are evil, Scripture does remind us:
Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of you. / Mt.18:20
Reading such Bible verses should not make us complacent about church growth.
But they do eradicate the notion that God is only concerned with headcounts.
In the struggles of daily living we often feel outnumbered and this “feeling” may indeed be a reality.
Let us take heart as we search the sacred writings - -remembering that even one with God is a potent combination.
Dear Heavenly Father,
May these words spoken today serve to remind us all that YOU are our strength.
Help us to learn to live out this important truth - - little is much when YOU are with us.
Through Christ, who leaned on YOU rather than calling for ten-thousand angels, we pray. Amen
