Are You A Trader??

This was my final sermon to my former church Lees Chapel in Dunn, NC. It was Graduate Sunday and my final day with them. Read through it, watch the video when prompted by the link titled "Are You A Trader," and let me know what you think!!

PS....sorry if it is weird....blogs dont like it when you copy and paste from Word apparently!

There is a skit from the 90s from Saturday Night Live featuring deceased comedian Chris Farley. The skit is called “Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker.” Matt Foley is a motivational speaker to high school teenagers, or anyone that will listen to him, who lives in a van down by the river and lives on a steady diet of government cheese. In one scene, Matt Foley explains what these growing teenagers may be feeling and what they think their life might become:

Now I know youre thinking that youre gonna go out and
grab the world by the tail,
and pull it down,

and put it in your pocket

But im here to tell you that as you go out there

Youre gonna find out

That youre not gonna amount to
JACK SQUAT

Have you ever felt like that or been told that? That you will never amount to Jack Squat? Is there a chance that your story could be different? That your short time here on this earth could make an eternal difference?

Are You A Trader?

Since the video is about two minutes long, moves very quickly, and information sticks when you say things more than once…let me explain the challenge for you today and for the rest of your short time here on earth.

You have been tricked. You have been tricked into thinking that this life is all about me, me, me…the money money money and the blingy bling bling. The further you are up on the ladder of life, the better off you are for the rest of your life. But, like most ladders, the higher up you are, the further you fall.

This is an extremely distorted and confused version of the American Dream. At some point, this dream became all about building up the individual…and not the people that need it the most. What kind of world do we live in that promotes the big people getting bigger and bigger…and the poor man growing smaller….that instead of giving a hand up, we just give a hand out and be on our way? Is there not more to this life?

A group of people created an organization called rightnow.org in part inspired by the story from Jesus about the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37.

They have been inspired to be a group called Traders. Traders are a new type of missionary, not defined by geography, because it is really easy to go far away to people or lands you do not know, mainly because you may never see them again. Traders are more defined by the mission they are on, right where they are at, everyday, right now. We are called to live out our faith, not just talk about, sing about it, sit up and sit down about it. They really live it!

TRADERS have 4 motivations in their life:

1.) Traders choose daily to follow Jesus. It is no longer about me, it is about Jesus. Je-sus!! That leads us right back to the parable. The man chose to follow the way he knew was best, to stop and help. This way we now know is the way Jesus calls us to take, to go and do likewise. Thus, we sometimes must sacrifice the time it would take to take of a stranger, the money it could take to heal him, and share whatever skill it could take to bring life back to the broken.

2. Traders hate injustice and find ways to bring the hope of Jesus to the desperate. What is it in this life that you hate? It is extremely easy to pick what you hate in this life…what are the things that break your heart and makes your fist clinch…or makes you want to vomit. For the Samaritan man, it was seeing another person left behind, broken and scarred, hopeless and alone, being passed by the ones who should have been the first to help him. So what is it that makes you angry, fist clenched and breaks your heart…find specific ways to tackle these issues that show the hope and healing that is within the heart, life and spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Traders use work as worship; everything you do can be an opportunity to worship the God who created you. God is most glorified when we use our God given talents for good and life changing work.

4. Act swiftly, because the time is right now. It is not after college, it is not after your kids start going to church, it is not when your kids graduate…the time is right now, when we exit the doors.

As the video says, this movement can result in a generation of traders, who are making a difference with their time, money and passions, that are God-kingdom focused and not self focused, so that our short time here can make an eternal impact. And if generations after us follow us, just think of what this world has the potential of becoming…

So what do you say? Are you ready? Are you ready to be a trader? Are you ready to choose to walk with Jesus everyday, fighting injustice, all the while worshipping the God who created you, and doing that right now? That challenge not only goes out to you folks here, but all of us. We are a family. You graduates in front of me, you are not alone. You will always have this church as your family…and we will walk with you in your decision to be a trader in this lifetime. So what do you say? Middle school? High School? Graduates? Parents? Families? Church? What do you say?