This summer, fans of the University of Colorado football were anxiously waiting to see whether Jeremy Bloom would cash in his fame and fortune as a world-class skier or play football.  NCAA rules prevented him from doing both, and so he had to make a choice.  CU fans were thrilled when the talented Bloom announced he'd sacrifice a fortune in endorsements to play for the Buffs.  It made for good press for a few weeks, at least until the Buffs tripped over their feet and dropped out of contention.  Instead of asking, "What's in it for me?" Jeremy Bloom chose to help a struggling team.  I wonder if he's wishing now he'd have taken the money.

          "What's in it for me?" is a question that has a familiar ring in this day and age.  People want to know how they will benefit from most everything, from getting married to taking a new job, from taking out an insurance policy to joining a church.  Though few ask that question when they join a church, they will certainly ask it in the course of their membership.  It's my fervent prayer that all who join Epiphany will realize the eternal consequences of being at a place that promotes a strong relationship with Jesus Christ.  What's in it for you in a church can't be calculated, for it involves God's unending blessings.  Therefore I ask that each of you consider the importance of meeting the Lord and His people regularly for worship, fellowship and service.

          "What's in it for me?"  Youth ask this question of everything and everyone, usually without realizing it.  Partly it's because of our natural self-centeredness and partly because we need to weed out some of the many choices we must make.  An insurance agent asked me Friday if I was interested in nursing home insurance.  He said he'd just taken out a policy on his 46 year-old wife.  I politely said I'd think about it, and I am.

          St. Paul was nearing the end of his life when he asked himself an interesting question, "Do I want to live or do I want to die?"  He wrote, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.  Yet what shall I choose?  I do not know!  I am torn between the two:  I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better." (Philippians 1:21-23)

          In essence, he was asking, "What's in it for me," a question seemingly out of place from someone so humble before the Lord as Paul.  But it's not a sin to ask this question if it will drive us closer to Christ and make clearer the urgency of our being faithful.  When I speak of faithfulness to Christ, it's not a quantity measured by good deeds, church offerings or coming church-sponsored events.

          Faithfulness means having faith, being full of faith for the One who loves you and gave Himself for you.  That faith will measure itself in how you respond to worship or service.  When Paul says "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain," he means it's a win-win situation.  You can't go wrong with faith in Christ.  Whether you live or die, you have His blessings, for he also wrote, "If we live, we live to the Lord;  and if we die, we die to the Lord.  So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." (Romans 14:8)

          Never underestimate the power of being faithful to God.  Seventy-eight years ago, a remarkable man did a remarkable thing.  Eric Liddell of Scotland refused to run a heat in the 100 yard dash at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris because the race was scheduled on a Sunday, which his faith taught him would violate the Sabbath.  As we know from the film, "Chariots of Fire,'' Liddell managed to negotiate an unheard-of switch from the 100 yard dash he had been scheduled to run to the 400 yard race, for which he had not trained, later in the week.  On July 11, 1924, Liddell won that race and was showered with Olympic glory.  But instead of cashing in, Liddell turned his back on fame and fortune and followed in his parents' footsteps, becoming a missionary in China, where he made his most powerful contributions to God and to his fellow people.  He died in China twenty years later at the close of WWII.

          In our day of "me-first" mentality and uncertainty of belief, Eric Liddell's example continues to stand out.  A fanatic might have demanded that others not run on Sunday, either, and perhaps have organized a group to enact legislation to conform society to his point of view.  Not Liddell.  He just said he wouldn't run.  Some newspapers denounced him as a traitor to country and king.  How quickly they changed their tune, though, when he won a gold medal!  Had he yielded to temptation and compromised his beliefs, we might never have heard of him again.  Instead he's been an inspiration to generations of people of Scotland, of Great Britain and of the world.

          "What's in it for me?" can also be a negative question.  Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard shows that.  We believe a worker should get a fair wage, and that the one who works longer should get more pay.  But Jesus is hiring the workers, so He makes the rules.  Those who were hired at the beginning of the day felt a denarius was a fair wage.  Those who came later should, by rights, get paid less.  But this is a parable about the Kingdom, and in the kingdom God turns things around.  No matter when you come into the kingdom, you get the whole thing, not half or quarter of the kingdom, but the whole thing.  No matter when you enter it, you get all its blessings.

          Some of us may feel this unfairness, and yet we can't fault God for giving what He alone can give.  Fact is, the longer you work for the Lord, the more you realize your unworthiness.  Today our choir will soon sing "Lord Make Us Worthy," something we all should pray.  We're not made worthy by coming to a meeting, or singing in a choir, or cleaning road ditches, or teaching Sunday School.  We're not made worthy by coming to church an hour or two a week.  We're made worthy by God's mercy.  He loves us in Jesus and declares us worthy.  Whether we work all day in the kingdom or only give Him our last hour, we get the whole thing.  He makes us worthy because of His sacrifice and forgiveness.  In Christ, God makes us a silk purse of a sow's ear.

          So then, why do the work?  Why make the effort?  If it doesn't matter for eternity, why do anything?  Because it matters now.  There are so many hopeless hurting ones, so many struggling saints, so many who feel unloved, that we must bring them the hope and love of God.  We must share Good News amid all the bad news.  We cannot sit by and keep it to ourselves.  The love of God is to be shared.  Christ has shown us the way.  He could have stayed in heaven, but rather came to earth because we need Him.  That's why John would say, "We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

          We bless because we have been blessed.  We serve because we have been served.  And therein lies what's in it for us.  When we show love, we also are loved.  When we help, we are being helped.  When we serve, the service comes back to us.  There's a world of gladness and pleasure and satisfaction when we share the love of God, even if others don't acknowledge it.

          We may also bless because we've been taught to bless.  In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table.  The waitress put a glass of water in front of him.  "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.  "Fifty cents," replied the waitress.  The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a number of coins in it.  "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired.  The waitress was getting impatient because people were waiting for a table.  "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.  The boy again counted his coins.  "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.  The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and hurried away to other customers, acting as if she wished he'd disappear.  The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and departed.  When the waitress came back to wipe the table, she swallowed hard at what she saw.  There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies - her tip, despite her attitude.

          What's in it for me?  There's love returned when we help someone in need, joy in leaving an anonymous gift on a doorstep and peace from our forgiving our offender.  There's patience in assisting an elder, kindness returned from the tender word, and goodness from being good.  And there's faithfulness from being faithful, gentleness from being gentle, and self-control when we hold our tongue.

          We must take care to realize what's really in it for us.  Sometimes we are mistaken, like All-Star baseball player Nate Colbert.  During his rookie season in 1969 with the San Diego Padres, Colbert hit a huge home run during the first inning against the Atlanta Braves.  The next time he stood up at bat, there came a huge ovation from the crowd that brought tears to his eyes.  To compose himself, he walked to the on-deck circle where his teammate Cito Gaston was waiting to bat.  "Cito, can you believe how great those fans are, cheering and clapping for me like that?  I feel so proud," Colbert said.  Gaston shook his head and said, "Man, look up at the scoreboard."  Colbert looked up.  In five-foot-high letters the scoreboard read:  "MAN HAS JUST WALKED ON THE MOON."  Walking sheepishly back to the plate, he heard his teammate say, "I sure hope you can hit as big as your head!"

          What's in it for us?  Everything!  He loves no matter what.  Praise the Lord!  Amen

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.