THE FAILURE OF SUCCESS

Scripture: I Chronicles 4:10; Luke 12:13-21

INTRODUCTION

Two years ago, Dr. Bruce Wilkinson, the founder of Walk Through the Bible Ministries which is headquartered here in Atlanta, wrote a book entitled “The Prayer of Jabez.” To tell you the truth, I had not been aware of that prayer, recorded in I Chronicles, Chapter 4, until the book was published. But after many months on the New York Times bestseller list, generating national and international recognition, both this ancient prayer from the Old Testament and the book by Dr. Wilkinson have caught our attention.

We know very little about Jabez, except what the few verses in I Chronicles tell us – that he was a descendent from the tribe of Judah (I Chronicles 4:1-8); that his mother named him Jabez, which in Hebrew means “I bore him in pain” (verse 9) indicating a difficult childbirth; that he was, for some reason, favored above all of his brothers (verse 9) and that he offered a simple and profound prayer to God:

Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my boundaries, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil (verse 10). And the final word about Jabez and his prayer is that God granted him what he asked (verse 9). Never again is Jabez mentioned in scripture, and the author of I Chronicles does not give us any details about how the prayer was answered.

However, the book by Bruce Wilkinson has brought the prayer of Jabez out of Biblical obscurity, transporting those words from the 6^th century B.C. to modern day life in the 21^st century A.D., saying that (1) when we pray, it is up to God to decide what our blessing will be, that (2) as we pray, God can and will enlarge our boundaries and strengthen us in ministry, that (3) through our prayers, God will grant us His spiritual power and presence and that (4) in the midst of our prayers, God will watch over us and guide us and provide us with what we need.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ spoke about those same things in the Sermon on the Mount when He said Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…for if you know how to give good gifts to your children…then how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:7,11).

Now, so far, we are on solid theological ground, because seeking God’s blessings and sensing His presence through the practice of prayer is firmly ingrained in both the Jewish and Christian traditions of faith. And that is why I commend this book, “The Prayer of Jabez,” to all of you, with the hope that it will help draw you closer to the Lord, strengthen your spiritual life and lead you into a deeper dimension of prayer than you have ever experienced before.

And yet, with all of that said, I think we need to be careful with this prayer of Jabez, lest we turn it into a sure-fire formula for good health, great wealth and a glorified prescription for success. Bruce Wilkinson underscores that danger himself, saying that “Without doubt, success brings with it greater opportunities for failure…For as someone once said, ‘Blessedness is the greatest of perils, because it tends to dull our keen sense of dependence on God and makes us prone to presumption’” (pages 63-64).

And the presumption is this: if we expect that through our prayers and as a reward for our good deeds, God will give us everything that we want, which is not necessarily what we need, then we may be setting ourselves up for disappointment, disillusionment and potential despair.

Why? Because far too many people have sadly discovered that after climbing the ladder in the pursuit of success, prominence and the accumulation of this world’s goods, they have not found the satisfaction or contentment they were looking for. The late Southern author Walker Percy once put it this way: “It is possible to get all A’s and still flunk life.” (“The Second Coming, by Walker Percy) I call it “The Failure of Success.”

Of all the stories Jesus told, surely one of the saddest is the parable of the rich fool. It was triggered by a question someone asked Him, saying Teacher, bid my brother to divide the inheritance with me (Luke 12:13). Perceiving that the motivation for that question was self-serving, Jesus replied, Take heed and beware, for life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. And then He told all of them this story:

The land of a rich man brought forth a great harvest, and he thought to himself “What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?” So he said, “I will do this. I will pull down my barns and build larger ones and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Now you have plenty of everything, laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.’” But God said to Him “You fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” And Jesus concluded: So are those who lay up treasure for themselves and are not rich toward God (Luke 12:16-21)

Notice please, that Jesus did not criticize that man for being wealthy, neither did He find fault with his work ethic. The problem instead was that he tried to keep all that he had accumulated for himself, showed zero gratitude to God and refused to share anything with anyone else. You see, that man was a success, according to the standards of the world. However his life was a failure in the sight of the Lord. And at the end of the day, said Jesus, it was too late for that man to change his ways.

But that is not the case for you and for me. We, all of us, have the opportunity to do our best, and if we are blessed with success, we can thank God for everything we have received and then share it with those who are in need.

My friends, that is happening right here and right now in this church. We are coming down the home stretch of our Annual Giving Campaign and your generosity will make a major difference in the ministry and mission of this church for the coming year. Moreover, last Sunday’s Mission Conference offering was the largest we have ever received, and as the rest of the gifts come in, those resources will be used to support our partnerships in Haiti, Kenya and Brazil.

And as you already know, there is more to giving than making our pledges and sharing God’s blessings with others. So, on this Volunteer Sunday, I hope that all of you will go to the Volunteer Fair in Fifield Hall and find out there how you can become more involved here in the worship and work and witness of this congregation. Last Sunday, during the Mission Conference, we had a live goat in Fifield Hall to encourage folks to contribute to the goat project in Haiti, and let me tell you, that goat stirred up a lot of excitement!

Well, the goat is gone but the excitement is still there! And if you are looking for a way to serve God, if you are searching for an opportunity to reach out and help others, if you have been praying about how to use your gifts and talents to make a difference in this church and city and world, then what better time than now, what better place than here to make your commitment clear to Jesus Christ, who said I am among you as one who serves and who has called all of us to do the same.

II.

Albert Schweitzer heard that call, and it changed his life. He was born on the 14^th of January 1875, into a privileged family and was educated in France and Germany. At the age of 21, sensing God’s presence and direction, Schweitzer decided to spend the next nine years in science, music and the study of theology and then to devote the rest of his days in the service of humanity.

Before he was 30, he had won international acclaim and success as an organist, a theologian and an author, and was appointed Principal of St. Thomas Theological College at the University of Strasbourg.

But true to his promise as a younger man, and not enamored with his own success, Albert Schweitzer enrolled in medical school. And after studying for eight more years to become a doctor, and raising thousands of dollars from his Christian friends and through organ concerts which he gave for the Paris Bach Society, Dr. Schweitzer in 1913 went to French Equatorial Africa (now Gabon) where he began serving in the hospital at Lambarene.

His first consulting room in that primitive place was a transformed chicken coop, and over the years, he helped to build a large hospital and medical station, including a leper colony which he established and paid for with the $33,000 he had received for the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1955, Queen Elizabeth II conferred on him Great Britain’s highest civilian award, the Order of Merit, for his humanitarian service in Africa.

Albert Schweitzer was an exceptional man with many talents and according to the “Prayer of Jabez,” “God blessed him in an extraordinary way, enlarged his boundaries from Europe to Africa and across the entire world, granted him spiritual presence and power for his ministry and mission and watched over him throughout the 90 years of his life.”

But it was not success, according to this world’s standards, that Schweitzer sought after. It was rather service to God and a ministry of care and compassion to others which called and compelled him to do what he did. Early on, as Schweitzer began his work at the hospital in Lambarene, a news reporter came from Canada to interview him. The reporter noticed on his first day around the compound that because there were fewer volunteers than they needed, Dr. Schweitzer was pushing a wheelbarrow filled with dirt outside of the medical center. The reporter said, “How is it, sir, that you, such an important person, are pushing this wheelbarrow?” Without stopping, Albert Schweitzer answered, “With my two hands.” And just before he died, this is what he wrote: “One thing I know. The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”

CONCLUSION

Albert Schweitzer has left a great legacy, and like Mother Teresa, he has set an example for each and every one of us. We may not be called to go to Africa or Calcutta, India, but we, all of us in this community of grace in Atlanta, Georgia, have been called to serve God and to reach out to others in the name of Jesus Christ. Because when all is said and done, the bottom line for a Christian is not to be successful but rather to be faithful when the Lord’s call comes.

And if we listen ever so carefully, I believe we can still hear Him calling all of us today, saying, “Come, follow me!”

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The sermon distribution fund has been established by the Session of First Presbyterian Church to enable friends and groups to make contributions for the printing of the Sunday sermons. Sermon leaflets will be printed from time to time, as they are requested and as funds are available. Please designate your gift for Sermon Distribution Fund. Thank you for your support.