Most everyone knows something about Abbot and Costello.  Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were a wonderfully funny comedy team.  In the 1940's they popularized a humorous baseball routine that became an instant classic.  Here's how it starts out:

          Bud:  You know, strange as it may seem, they give their baseball players peculiar names nowadays.  On the St. Louis team Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know is on Third.  Lou:  That's what I want to find out.  I want you to tell me the names of the fellows on the St. Louis team.  Bud:  I'm telling you, Who's on first, What's on second, and I Don't Know is on Third.  Lou:  You know, the fellows' names?  Bud:  Yes.  Lou:  Well, then who's playin' first?  Bud:  Yes.  Lou:  I mean the fellow's name on first base.  Bud:  Who.  Lou:   The fellow's name on first base for St. Louis.  Bud:  Who.  Lou:  The guy on first base.  Bud:  Who.  Lou:  Well what are you asking me for?  Bud:  I'm not asking you, I'm telling you.  Who is on first.  Lou:  And I'm asking you, who is on first?  Bud:  That's the man's name.  Lou:  That's whose name?  Bud:  Yes.  Lou:  Well, go ahead and tell me!

          It goes on that way for about 10 minutes.  Finally in total confusion, Lou says, "I don't care!" to which Bud says, "Oh, he's their shortstop."  I've heard that routine a dozen times and always find it funny.  It shows us just how confused things can get if we don't quite know the point of the conversation.  In life if you start out wrong, it can all go wrong.  When that happens, life might seem funny, at least for awhile.  But if we put the wrong person on first, life is no fun at all.

          Jesus said in Matt. 10:39, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  I wonder how far would that idea go on Wall Street or even Park Meadows?  In our money-driven, consumer-powered society, we're told no one can do it but us.  "If you don't hang on to your life," they say, "someone will lose it for you.  You don't have to become a Christian to lose your life," they say.  "An angry driver on I-25 can take it from you in a second, so you'd better grab all you can get."  Remember the slogan:  "Life's Short - Play Hard"?  I saw a T-Shirt that said, "Life's Short - Pray Hard!"  Sounds like a different priority at work there.

          There's a lot of fear around us, fear of losing a job, fear of failure, fear of harm coming to loved ones, even fear of losing our toys.  But we won't overcome fear by buying a gun or an alarm system or making more money.  Bumper stickers say a lot.  One said, "He who dies with the most toys wins."  Another is better:  "He who dies with the most toys, is, nonetheless, still dead."

          Since last Wednesday I've been thinking a lot about Simon Gonzales, that man who took the life of his three young daughters, and his own life as well.  There must have been a lot of fear in that man's life.  His fears must have overcome him, and drove him over the edge.  Without faith, fear can do that.

          Much fear in life comes because we seek security in the wrong things, things that can be taken from us.  Fear can be lessened, even overcome, if we get our priorities right, if we let God be the center of our life.  In your life, right now, "Who's On First?"

          Someone or something always be first in our life.  It can be God or it can be money.  It can be Jesus or it can be pleasure.  More often than not, it's our Self.  Our Lord Jesus wants to be at the center of our life.  Letting God be the center, sitting on the throne of our life, if you will, is more important than anything else we can do.  Imagine that chair is the throne of your life.  Whatever is on it is most important to us.  If Self sits there, you're #1.  If Jesus sits there, He's #1.

          You and I - all of us - have a "throne" in the center our lives.  It's where we place what's most important to us.  It's the center of our being, what we revere.  If SELF is on that throne, we may feel good for awhile, but it won't last.  If we put Jesus Christ on that throne, life will come into focus and begin to make sense.  Having Jesus on our throne won't make our life instantly wonderful, but it will bring us a peace the world can't give.  If in faith we ask Jesus to live on our throne, in our heart, He will come.  If you ask Him, He will come.  He'll come the moment you ask, because that's where He wants to be.

          For us, it's either God-centered living or Self-centered living.  Self-centered living is when we want everyone else to bow to us, to our wishes.  It's when we're the center of our universe.  Pride does that to us.  It drives us away from God and separates us from each other.  Pride makes our desires all-important and pushes God aside.

          Self-Centered living means Self is all important, and it ends in Self-Satisfaction, Self-Esteem, Self-Fulfillment, and Self-Gratification.  It all centers around Self and leads, of course, to Self-Ishness.  There are a lot of people who live this way and don't know it.  They believe they're only doing what they have a right to do.  They're blinded by Materialism and Secularism.  Materialism is thinking happiness is found in money or possessions.  Secularism is thinking happiness is found in human wisdom.  Either one tell us Self-Centered living is the right way.  But Jesus says it's wrong.  Making Self the center of all will destroy us.  In our attempt to find SELF, we will lose our LIFE.

          "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."  God-Centered living is having Christ on first, and honoring Him above all.  God-Centered living does not mean Self is destroyed, but Self knows its place.  Self is no longer God, but a servant to God.  Christ is on the throne, and Self honors Him in what it does.

          Self-centered living is what the world expects of us.  Denying yourself is alien to human nature.  Denying yourself is more than not getting what you want.  Denying yourself means putting God on first, and affirming His truth.  When His Word conflicts with our personal opinion, it means we believe Him, not Self.  The world wants us to affirm Self, and affirm our human worth.  It wants us to find our value apart from God.  But the cold truth is that apart from Him we have no value.  Our value comes from being His child, not a child of the universe.

          Every day we're bombarded with self-centered living by Madison Avenue.  How does a godly man or a woman avoid worshipping at the altar of Lord and Taylor?  How does a faithful teenager dodge the arrows of Nike, god of the swoosh?  How can we put God on first?

          By a simple exercise I call R-T-P: daily Repentance, Trust and Prayer.  (1) Repent - turn away - stop going against God.  Repentance means change.  You can't repent by doing business as usual.  (2) Trust Jesus, believe He is your Savior and then live like it.  You can't do it by yourself, but He can do it for you.  And, (3) Pray - constantly for strength to put Christ first in life.  Pray to overcome Self.  R-T-P: Repentance -- Trust -- Prayer.  R-T-P must be done every day, perhaps several times.  Martin Luther said repentance is a daily act, a process of faith.  But know this -- when God is on first, Satan will attack.  He wants to be there.  But he'll never win.  He's already defeated.

          Earlier in Matthew Jesus said, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  God is not against our enjoying things in this world.  He's not even against getting things we want but don't need.  But seek Him first, then the other things.  Seek Him and let Him supply all the rest.  God wants our love and faith.  He wants our worship and our honor.  He knows that if we don't give it to Him, we'll give it to Satan and Satan will destroy us.  Satan tempts us to think we don't need God, we just need more things and more fun.  But His promises are hollow.  Satan wants our death, but Jesus wants to give us life in all its abundance.

          A small child and his father were arguing in a bicycle shop.  The father said, "No, you can't have a new bike because Daddy knows best."  The child shouted, "Then I want a new Daddy!"  Sometimes that's us.  We want it so bad we're ready to give it all up to get it.  Jesus once said, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?"  A bumper sticker says:  "If you had everything, where would you keep it?"  If Self is on our throne, one day we'll be separated from God, like the rich man in hell who wanted Lazarus to bring water to cool his pain.  Looking back, he'd have done things differently, but he had no more chances.  We do.  Let's not waste our chance.

          Simon Gonzales destroyed himself and his daughters.  What a waste.  What could have been so bad to do that?  That shows how quickly life can be taken from us.  It also shows us how Satan will rattle our minds with fear and panic.  We must lean on our Heavenly Father.

          In the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 Derrick Redmonds of Great Britain was sure to win the 400 m. dash.  Coming around the last corner in the semi-finals, at the peak of fitness, his hamstring tore and he pulled up in agony.  Determined to finish, he was barely able to walk as the hushed crowd watched his terrible pain.  Then out of the crowd came a burly man in a T-shirt who ran past the guards to his side.  "Are you sure you want to finish the race?" the man asked.  "Yes," said Redmonds.  And he did finish, in great pain, yet amid thunderous applause, leaning on the shoulder of his father.

          Our Father wants us to lean on Him.  He's by our side bearing our pain.  There is nothing He can't heal or forgive.  There is no life He can't make better.  Let Him be on first.  Amen!

Copyright © 1999 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.