Stewardship and Balance in Health

We're starting a new sermon topic: "Healthy Me". After learning about 'stewardship', this week we're starting a new sermon series titled 'Healthy Me' for the next few weeks. One of the things we learned from stewardship is the tagline: "We are owners of nothing, but the stewards of everything." We are just stewards of the things that God has entrusted and allowed us to manage. We are stewards of everything, including our own selves, our lives, our health, not only of our talent, time, work, family, marriage, and children that God has entrusted to manage, but also our own selves, which means that our lives and our health also belong to God. In the Old Testament, in Jeremiah 10:23, the prophet Jeremiah acknowledges that his life isn't his own, and that man doesn't even the power to plan his own life, or direct his own steps. In the New Living Translation it says, ]23] I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. Of course, God directs the steps of the righteous, but we are also given the responsibility to take those steps. Because we are not robots that don't have any choice in our lives. God establishes our lives. He wants us to enjoy life and experience abundance— but we also have the responsibility to live our lives well. So, because our lives are not our own and we are only the stewards, then each of us is accountable for our own health. Getting healthy is an act of stewardship. In the weekly verse that we read earlier, Jeremiah 33:6, Jeremiah also wrote that it was God's will for us. [6] ‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; [6] I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. Jeremiah wrote that it is God's will for us be healthy, it is God's will to heal us. It is God's will for us to enjoy life in abundant peace and security. Long story short: God wants us to live in good health. God doesn't want us to be ill. He doesn't want us to suffer. God wants abundance in our lives. So, the sermon title today is "Healthy and Whole." Not only healthy, but also whole. What does 'whole' mean? In 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, expressing God's will for us to be whole and healthy. [23] May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. [23] May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless [23] at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says that God doesn't only want parts of us to be healthy— not only the body, not only the soul, not only the spirit. But God wants our entire being to be whole, healthy and be kept blameless when He comes back. So being healthy isn't the only target for us as disciples of Christ, but we also need to be whole, not only healthy — to be balanced physically, balanced mentally, balanced spiritually. So it's not just one part that needs to be healthy, but all three need to be balanced and healthy. There's an interesting survey done by Northwestern University that shows 20% of Americans are obese. Obesity is the condition of being extremely overweight. What's interesting is that if this data was taken from only Christians or church-goers, church volunteers, the leaders, including the pastors— what do you think is the statistics in the U.S.? Is the percentage of obese Christians higher or lower? Take a guess. What's shocking is that percentage of obesity within the church is twice as high as outside of it. I don't know the obesity level of Christians in Indonesia, or Indonesians in general. I don't have any data. It's interesting that in America, that the level of obesity among Christians is twice than that of the general population. The question is: Why? Now this is my guess: maybe for so long in America the churches have been more focused on the spiritual aspects, and they haven't really addressed the physical aspect. Just as long as you get to heaven! The gates of heaven are wide and a person's weight doesn't determine whether someone can enter heaven or not. That's just my guess. Or maybe it was because all this time the church only focused on the mental aspects. Learning about self-control. Learning to be patient. Learning not to be prideful. Maybe even learning to control sexual desires. However, maybe they rarely talked about how to control our daily appetite. In our 25th Anniversary service, Pastor Jeffrey preached on becoming 'typos'— becoming an example. 'Typos' is like the impression made by a typewriter. A typewriter makes a 'hit' and leaves an impression on the paper. So should our lives be as Christians. We should be an example or 'typos', leaving an impression on our surroundings, so that our surroundings can see the example. If that's our responsibility as believers, then it would be impossible for us to be an example or 'typos' if we ourselves don't live a life that's healthy and whole, right? It's impossible to be an example if we're not balanced physically, mentally, and spiritually. But it's often argued that "Well, the church is full of imperfect people." "Didn't Jesus Himself said that only sick people need God? The church is like a hospital." "All of us are still not perfect." Well, it's true that the church is full of imperfect people. However, in my opinion there's a vastly significant difference between imperfect people, those who are still learning to be His disciples in order to become better individuals, versus a person whose life, conducts, character and lifestyle is simply isn't healthy. Those are two different things. For example: because we are imperfect humans, it's normal if we experience friction against each other— at the workplace, within the family, between parents and children, among siblings— we often experience friction, tension and disagreement. Even in a marriage of two people who love each other deeply, that doesn't make them free from disagreement and tension. So, even in a marriage of two loving individuals, there will be tension and disagreement. That's completely normal, because the couple who got married are two living, breathing individuals with their own perception, perspective and will. Therefore, friction is normal, because these are two imperfect persons – each with his/her own shortcomings. However, if the friction, disagreement or tension is never resolved, it could escalate to abuse. It could be verbal abuse — harsh words that destroy the self-worth of the spouse, or other family members. Or, it could be more fatal: physical abuse. So, what was once simply an imperfection of human nature, it could become something extremely unhealthy. So there's a significance distinction between those of us who are still 'work in progress', versus those whose behavior and lifestyle are unhealthy — which aren't supposed to be ignored. That's only one example. So, getting healthy is an act of stewardship. Getting healthy is an expression of our accountability because we understand that God has entrusted us to live this life. So, if you find areas in your life that are unhealthy, don't hide behind "we're just humans, nobody's perfect" and continue to ignore those areas. Because each of us is responsible for our own health— physically, mentally, spiritually. In addition to 'getting healthy is act of stewardship,' 'getting healthy is an act of worship.' 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, [19] Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, That the Creator of heaven and earth lives in us— [19] whom you have received from God? You are not your own; [20] you were bought at a price. Therefore— why? because we are not our own, we have been bought with a price— [20] Therefore honor God with your bodies. We have the responsibility of honoring God with our bodies, with our lives— which have been bought by God at a price. So we also love and glorify God with our health. We glorify God not only by lifting up our hands during worship at church, but also through our daily life, how we take care of ourselves, how we guard ourselves and guard our lives. That is also our worship. Mark 12:30 says this, [30] Love the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your SOUL [30] and with all your MIND and with all your STRENGTH.’ There are many key words there. It says that we shall love God with ALL, not only partially— all your heart, all your soul, not just half of your soul. With all your mind, with all our conscience. And with all our strength. It would be impossible to love and glorify God with all our strength if our body is not healthy. And how can we love and glorify God with all our soul and all our mind if our soul and mind are not healthy. It would be impossible for us to love God with all our heart if our heart is still wounded and unhealthy. The health of our body, soul, and spirit is related and interconnected with one another. The physical, mental and spiritual cannot be separated from one another. If just one of them is not healthy, it will affect the health of the whole being. People usually have three perspectives on this. For example: a person who just prioritizes the body. If he is depressed and only focused on the body, then he would just take medicine, because it's physical. Find a psychiatrist or a doctor, ask for medicine, because it's just biology. Take the medicine, then the symptoms would go away. The question is: does depression only have a physical cause? That's if you only look at it from the physical aspect. Or, some would say, the priority is the mental aspect. If you are depressed, then you need to speak and share what you're going through with someone, find a counselor or therapist. If necessary, writing a journal afterward can also help you. Don't keep it inside. Let go. That may be true. However, is it just a physical issue? Is it just a mental issue? In my opinion, those two can't be separated from each other. Or maybe some would say, it's a spiritual matter if you are depressed. Maybe you didn't pray enough, maybe you weren't fasting enough. Have you asked for God's forgiveness? Is there any generational curse that needs to be broken? Is there any force of darkness that needs to be cast out? And what's worse is when someone needs the help of a psychiatrist or medicine, others would condemn it, saying "If you're depending on drugs, then you don't believe in God, You lack faith!" Personally, I don't agree with that opinion. The spirit, soul, and body cannot be separated from one another. Whatever the root of our problem is, it affects our whole being. Once I prayed for someone who had a severe skin problem. After some examination, it was found that it wasn't a biological issue. Instead, it was a mental issue. This person had a deep inner wound caused by his relationship with his parents. When that was resolved, his body transformed. I wonder if a person's hypertension is caused only by sodium level? I wonder if a person's fluctuating glucose levels are caused only by carbohydrate and sugar? You cannot separate the body, soul, and spirit. I wonder if you have problem sleeping, is it only because you have a lot on your mind? Or it may be caused by lack of exercise? Because I read that sweat can get rid off of cortisol and other stress hormones. I'm talking about sweating from physical movements. We cannot live our life simply from one aspect. The churches in America may think that getting to heaven is the most important thing, other issues may not be as important. However, I do hope that in Indonesia, in JPCC, there are God's servants, people, leaders, who are healthy in body, soul, and spirit. Why do I say that we cannot just focus on one aspect alone? We need to pay attention to the entirety: healthy and whole. Because many times, the solution being applied for healing becomes ineffective and inaccurate if we separate one aspect from another. If you only focus on one aspect, you can't come up with an effective solution to become healthy and whole. Another example: when it comes to marriage, many say, "Pastor, in my marriage there might be the spirit of cheating, the spirit of unfaithfulness, and even a generational curse." Because the father did that, the grandfather also did it, the great-grandfather was also like that. Well, we'll pray for that, of course. However, it's not enough simply to pray about it, because if it's not accompanied by a change of mindset, the renewal of the mind, and the understanding that in marriage we need to keep a clear boundary especially from a person of the opposite sex who is not our spouse, if we don't keep a clear boundary, if we continue with the old lifestyle, while simply praying for the 'spirits' to be broken and cast out, that's like letting a time bomb continue to tick, while praying for that bomb not to explode in our life. Becoming one in marriage is not simply two people moving in together under one roof. Neither is it about two bodies becoming one. Instead, it's two minds, two feelings, two wills that need to become one, which the Bible calls as being in agreement. When two minds, two emotions and two wills become one and agree, the Bible says that whatever they ask, heaven will grant it. Because the Spirit of God who unites them lives in them. So, keeping your thoughts aligned, or exchanging ideas, sharing your feelings, and never ceasing to allow God's word and truth to guide, heal, and bind all the tensions and disagreements that could happen in a marriage. If we don't do that, then the health and wholeness of a marriage cannot be accomplished simply by prayers. Another example: someone said that they might have a generational curse concerning their health. "I need to be prayed for, I need the curse to be broken." There's nothing wrong praying for that. However, I also remember that the Bible says that we are a new creation when we are redeemed by Christ. But how can we have a new life if we don't change our lifestyle, our eating habit, and our exercise routine? We need to be prayed for, the curse needs to be broken, but I believe that the cross has redeemed us and we are a new creation. We often say to couples who are getting married, that if you want to raise children with good habits, make sure you have good habits, so those habits can be passed down to your children. So, what's the conclusion? It's not just one thing, but the entirety: BODY, SOUL, and SPIRIT. There's an example in the Old Testament of how God dealt with Elijah that illustrates how God deals with the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects. Elijah was also God's creation, just like you and I. First, let me give you the context from 1 Kings chapters 17 to 19 — what happened between God and Elijah. Elijah was a prophet that was used amazingly by God. He was a mighty servant of God. How amazing? He lived in a period where Israel was split in two. In the north it was the kingdom of Israel. In the south it was the kingdom of Judah. In the north, Israel was led by a king named Ahab. His wife was named Jezebel. Because Ahab and Jezebel made the Israelites worship the gods of Baal, as he was commanded by God, Elijah prayed to stop the rain. And it didn't rain for three years. This was a powerful servant of God. Then there was the encounter with the widow at Zarephath where Elijah came to the widow's house and asked for something to eat, and she said that she only had a handful of flour and a little bit of oil— and that would be her last meal. And the Bible recorded that Elijah asked it from her. If that happened today, it would become viral. "A pastor heartlessly took the last meal of a widow." It would cause a stir. Elijah said, "If you give that to me, your flour and oil will not run out." And that miracle happened. Again, this servant of God was so powerful. Some time later this widow's son died, Elijah prayed and he breathed again. In my opinion, if in Jakarta there's a pastor who could multiply flour and raise the dead, his church would be very full. Or maybe not, because if people brought the dead, others would be scared to come. So, this was the image of this mighty prophet. Then there was Mount Carmel where he battled with the prophets of Baal. Hundreds of those false prophets died by Elijah's sword. And this is where I'd like to start the account in 1 Kings 19 — I'll read it from the beginning. You can read it again at home at a slower pace. I'm sure you'll get a lot from this passage. [1] Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. [2] So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, [2] “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, [2] if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.” Jezebel threatened him. "You'd be dead by this time tomorrow!" [3] Elijah was afraid ... Imagine this mighty prophet who stopped the rain for three years, who raised the widow's dead son, who multiplied the flour and oil, and called down the fire to defeat Baal. He was scared by the threat. The threat was made by a queen who had power. However, the fact is he forgot about God's power that was working in his life. There must be something interesting that happened in his life. [3] Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. [3] When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, [4] while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. My suspicion is he didn't want to leave any trace, so they wouldn't be able to find him. [4] He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. [4] “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life—" Can you imagine what happened to this mighty man? [4] "— I am no better than my ancestors.” So, even though Elijah was a mighty prophet, and he just performed an amazing miracle, let's find the reason why he got depressed and was very afraid after that threat. Let's see how Elijah dealt with God, and how God dealt with Elijah. [5] Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. [5] All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” [6] He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. [6] He ate and drank and then lay down again. It's interesting to note God's solution for his fear. It's not something that most Christians would offer. "Why are you afraid? Don't you know that El Shaddai is with you?" There was no sermon. God sent food. God also had to remind him to eat. God knew he was a human being who needed to eat and drink. And what's even more amazing: God also provided the food. Many of us when we're facing some problems, we may get some advice in three points. "Maybe you need to rest more." God didn't say, "You spent too much time in ministry—" "You didn't have enough rest and not enough sleep. It's unbalanced. You need to do A, B, C..." God didn't give him pointers. God sent him some food. Elijah just needed to eat it. After he ate, he drank and he slept. [7] The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, [7] “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” [8] So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights [8] until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. God didn't just remind him that he needed to eat, drink and rest. He needed balance. God provided. God didn't scold him. He simply provided for him. [9] There he went into a cave and spent the night. [9] And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” After he was given food, drink and rest twice, then God asked, "What are you doing here?" The following sentences in verse 10 were Elijah's words as he vented his feelings. [10] He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. [10] The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, [10] and put your prophets to death with the sword. [10] I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” Elijah was venting his heart out. There was no one left. He felt so alone. God didn't comfort him or pity him. [11] The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, [11] for the Lord is about to pass by.” [11] Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, [11] but the Lord was not in the wind. [11] After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. [12] After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. [12] And after the fire came a gentle whisper. Another translation for 'a gentle whisper' says "a still small voice." After God fed him, He then asked, "What happened to you?" And God was ready to listen to him. So there Elijah sat with the Great Therapist. And Elijah started to share his state of mind. God didn't shout in the wind. God didn't shake him in the earthquake. God didn't even purify him in the fire. Instead, God spoke in a still small voice, a gentle whisper— so that Elijah could become aware of his condition. God said, "Go out". God revealed Himself after God had fed him, after God had asked and was ready to listen to him, [13] When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face [13] and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. [13] Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” Elijah vented again. [14] He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. [14] The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, [14] and put your prophets to death with the sword. [14] I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” [15] The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came—" Go back to your calling. Go back to your life. The passage we just read illustrates how God deals with us human beings. God didn't deal only with Elijah's spiritual condition; He didn't immediately ask about his emotional and mental condition. Instead, God also dealt with his physical condition. God wants us to be whole: physically, mentally, spiritually. Even with someone who is spiritually amazing like Elijah, who can even perform miraculous works, if it's not balanced by being physically and mentally healthy, it can open a crack to go through what Elijah experienced. That could happen to all of us. We need to be balanced physically, mentally and spiritually. To close, what can you do to maintain your physical, mental, and spiritual health? There are three things:

Pay attention to your ROUTINE. Routines are not always negative or boring. Jesus taught us to pray "give us today our daily bread." Ask God to provide food enough for the day. Jesus didn't teach us to ask for our weekly bread, or monthly bread, or yearly bread. Instead, ask for our DAILY bread. Why? Because what needs to be done every day, then it has to be done every day. It cannot be changed to weekly, or monthly, or yearly. We need to realize that there are things in our life that need to be done routinely on a daily basis. You need to eat regularly every day. You need to convert the energy from what you eat every day into strength. You need to rest every day. You need to eliminate the food waste from your body every day. If what needs to happen every day doesn't happen, then problems start to arise. You can't say that for the sake of efficiency, "I'll just go to the toilet once a week." You'll start to have problems. So, what needs to happen routinely every day should happen routinely every day. Routines are not spectacular. MIke Murdock says, "The secret of your future is ihidden in your daily routine." Taking a daily walk is not spectacular. Breaking a sweat every day, exercising every day, eating regularly every day, going to the toilet every day, sleeping every day— those things are not spectacular — but they are the reasons behind the balance and wellness in our life. Darren Hardy says, "Small habit + consistency

repetition + time = Big difference" Unfortunately, many Christians love the spectacular. If a person had been constipated for five days, just pray— yes, it worked. What a spectacular miracle. But it didn't have to happen. Maintain your routines. 2. RESTRICTION — set some boundaries. Sin entered the world because Adam and Eve broke the boundaries. God had said that everything was permitted, except for this one thing. Since we got married, my wife and I have set some boundaries. I set a boundary with the opposite gender. I promised Hanna that I would not meet alone with the opposite gender — for whatever reason. Moreover if it's just the two of us inside an enclosed room. For whatever reason. I remember back in the early days of this church, I got a phone call at night. "Pastor, I need to talk to you tonight. If you don't come tonight, I'll kill myself." "You won't see me tomorrow." She put a guilt trip on me. I said, "If I go, I'm afraid it's my wife who would kill herself." I didn't say 'go ahead and kill yourself.' I told her to meet me at the office the next day, where my office was visible because of glass walls. "Come tomorrow and 'll pray for you then. But not tonight." Boundaries. If you don't set boundaries, your life will be out of balance. 3. REST — learn to stop striving, start surrendering. Learn to sow when it's daytime, then rest at night. I hope you learn to maintain your wholeness and health. Because that's how you worship God and to live accountably to God. JPCC, I hope you've learned something precious. I believe that throughout this series there will be more precious lessons about health, finances, marriage and parenting, so that you can be whole in your life. Amen.

Transcript for:Stewardship and Balance in Health

Transcript for:
Stewardship and Balance in Health