40 DAYS OF PURPOSE
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
DR. JIM DIXON
1 JOHN 2:14-16
SEPTEMBER 11, 2005
On July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway went down into the basement of his Idaho home and he took hold of his favorite custom-made .22 gauge shotgun and he brought it upstairs into the foyer of his home. He took a deep breath and he put the cold metal of the double barrels into his mouth and he pulled the trigger. Ernest Hemingway committed suicide. He took his own life. Hemingway had often called death “that old whore.” He said, “When it’s time for me to take her upstairs, that’s no one’s business but my own.”
Of course, his legacy is more than the flesh and bone, teeth and hair that his wife found embedded in the foyer walls. Ernest Hemingway’s legacy is literary. In 1954 he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Many of you have read Hemingway’s books. You’ve read his novels. You’re read “A Farewell to Arms.” You’ve read “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” You’ve read “The Old Man and the Sea.” You’ve read “The Sun Also Rises.” Maybe you’ve read some of his short stories like “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” You know that Hemingway’s heroes were strong and courageous. They laughed at life and death. Hemingway called them “god substitutes” because Ernest Hemingway did not believe in God.
Hemingway lived an active life. He served as a war correspondent. He was a big game hunter. He lived for a time in Spain, lived for a time in France, lived for a time in Italy, lived for a time in Cuba. His favorite place was his home in Idaho near the Sawtooth Mountains. He lived a full life. Hemingway loved Spanish bullfights. He loved midnight feasts. He loved to party with his friends. He loved to drink. He loved wine. He loved women. He loved to hunt. He was married four times. By his own testimony he had countless affairs. The truth is he viewed women as part of the hunt. Of course, when he was 60 years old he was bloated and fat. He was riddled with disease and he had high blood pressure and diabetes. His liver was corroded and damaged by years of alcohol abuse. He could no longer function as a man. Hemingway said, “What does a man want but to be healthy and to work hard, to eat and drink with his friends and enjoy his time in bed?” Hemingway said, “I can no longer do any of those things,” and so he took death upstairs. He took that old whore upstairs. It was no one’s business but his own. Hemingway took his own life.
You wonder, did he ever ask the question, “What on earth am I here for?” Did he ever ask that question? Of course, Hemingway was a brilliant man. Surely he asked that question many times, “What on earth am I here for?” Maybe he listened to the wrong voices. Maybe he believed the wrong answers. The Bible tells us that this earth is deceived by demonic powers. The Bible says this is a world of deception. That is why the Bible, in our passage of scripture for today, says, “Do not love the world. Do not love this world of deception.”
In our passage of scripture for today, the Bible tells us that the world has three supreme deceptive philosophies. If you buy into any of these three deceptive philosophies, you’ll come up with the wrong answer to the question, “What on earth am I here for?”
The first deceptive philosophy mentioned in our scripture passage for today is the philosophy of hedonism. In our passage of scripture, it’s called “the lust of the flesh.” In 2 Timothy, chapter 3, the Bible says as this earth moves towards its consummation, people’s lives will be characterized by the word “philedone,” the “love of pleasure.” Of course, the word hedonism comes from the Greek word “hedone,” which means, “pleasure.” Pleasure is from God. God has given you a capacity for pleasure. In the sight of God, pleasure is a gift meant to be used in accordance with His will. But of course, we were never meant to live our lives primarily in the pursuit of pleasure.
I think there are very few people in this world (surely very few people in this room) who would identify themselves as philosophical hedonists. I don’t think any of you would say, “Well, my primary purpose in life is to pleasure myself.” You don’t live primarily for drink. You don’t live primarily for food. You don’t live primarily for sex. Ernest Hemingway surely did, and he had decided that’s all there is—eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” Surely most of you are not philosophical hedonists.
I remember when I was growing up my family loved to eat. My family still loves to eat but we used to eat a lot. My mother was a great cook, and my mother is here at this service. She’s 92 years old and still a very good cook. My dad loved to go out to restaurants where we could eat a lot so my father would often take us to cafeterias. The word cafeteria means, “coffee shop.” I don’t know why, because there’s a whole lot more than coffee in a cafeteria. We ate a lot of food. My dad would take us to a lot of smorgasbords. Smorgasbord is a word referring to the hors d’oeuvres at a Scandinavian dinner, but practically speaking most smorgasbords that I remember just had a variety of food spread out over tables and lots of eating. What my dad really loved was “all you can eat buffets.” My brother and I loved them too. My dad would laugh when my brothers and I would go to the table for seconds and for thirds and maybe fourths. My dad would laugh. He would say to my mom, “Look at them, Nina. They have hollow legs,” and he liked that. Of course, we can’t eat like that today.
Barb tells me the portion of meat or chicken or fish is supposed to be about the size of the palm of my hand, so I’m working hard to make my palms larger. But I think for a lot of people, this is life. Life is a buffet. As far as they can tell, that’s all it’s about. Find out what you like most, what tastes best, and just satiate yourself, gorge yourself. Life is a buffet. There are people out there who just drink until they’re drunk trying to pleasure themselves. They just wait for the weekends when they can do that (or maybe they don’t wait). Of course, there are people out there who just eat to the point of gluttony, people who are promiscuous sexually, people just living for pleasure, just using their body and abusing their body for the sake of pleasure. As far as they can tell, that’s all life is about. But it’s a false answer. It’s deception. It’s ultimately vacuous. Don’t build your life around pleasure.
There’s another false philosophy mentioned in our passage of scripture for today and this next false philosophy is called materialism. In our passage of scripture for today, it’s called, “the lust of the eyes.” In 2 Timothy, chapter 3, again, the Bible tells us that as this earth approaches its consummation, a lot of people’s lives will be characterized by “philarguros.” This Greek word means, “love of money.” It describes the materialist people who just live for money and for the accumulation of possessions. Of course, God created the material world. God said, “It is good.” God’s not against material things. He created things but He wants us to use them in accordance with His will and not to live in the primary pursuit of money and possession. Of course, many people in the world have lived for materialism.
I remember growing up my family would often, particularly on rainy days, play games. One of the games we would play when it was a long rainy day and we were all home was the game of Monopoly. I’m sure many of you played Monopoly, and maybe you still do. I would usually choose—if you remember the different objects you could choose to represent you in the game of Monopoly—the race car. I don’t know why because I’ve really never been into race cars. But I would always pick that. My brother Greg would always pick the little dog. Greg would always pick that and that doesn’t make any sense to me because Greg never liked dogs. My brother Gary would always pick the cannon. My mom and dad were always nice and they would take what was left over.
We would begin to play Monopoly. We played it so you could only build one house at a time, so you had to build your empire incrementally and the game took a loooooong time. We kind of wanted to get the blue set and the green set, the Park and Broadway set, and the Pennsylvania Avenue set. Of course, at the end, whoever has the most stuff wins.
I think there are a lot of people who just view life like that. As far as they can figure out, that’s all it’s about. Life is just a game of Monopoly and at the end whoever has the most stuff wins. What a tragic view of life. Of course, as many people have said, “In a game of Monopoly, when it’s all done, it all goes back in the box.” God wants you to understand how stupid it is to live your life in the pursuit of stuff.
Many of us live in Douglas County. If you’ve noticed, the last National Census reports that Douglas County is one of the top ten counties in the United States of America in terms of affluence. Unbelievable. There have to be a lot of people in this room who are living for stuff and the pursuit of money more and more. I’m sure you would never identify yourself philosophically as a materialist. I’m sure you would never say, “My supreme purpose in life is to live for stuff.” I’m sure you would never say that but behavior proves that in the sight of God. God knows.
And so, Jesus said, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully. He thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to store my wealth, my grain, my goods. I will do this. I will tear down my barns and I will build larger barns and there I will store my wealth. There I will store my grains and my goods and I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Take your ease. Eat, drink and be merry.’ God will say to him, ‘You fool. This very day your soul is required of you. And the things which you have accumulated, whose shall it be?’” Jesus said, “So shall it be for all who are rich towards themselves and not rich towards God.” Jesus said, “Do not lay-up treasure on earth where rust and moth consume, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where no rust or moth consume and no thief breaks in and steals. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” “You cannot serve,” Jesus said, “God and money. You will either hate the one and love the other, be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” It is a false philosophy, materialism.
Well, there’s this third false, deceptive philosophy mentioned in our passage of scripture for today. This third false deceptive philosophy is called ascensionism. A lot of people in the world have decided that’s what it’s about. It’s about winning. It’s about power. It’s about promotion. Of course, it was the devil, the Bible says, in the dawn of time who said to himself, “I shall ascend above the stars of God. I shall set my throne on high. I shall make myself like the most high God.” Ascensionism. In our scripture for today it is called, “the pride of life.”
Again, in 2 Timothy, chapter 3, the Bible says that as this earth moves towards its consummation, many people’s lives will be characterized by “philautos,” which means, “the love of self,” “the promotion of self,” “the advancement of self.” Of course, this has been true of the world in all generations. It will be particularly true as we approach the consummation. People will be living for hedonism, materialism, and ascensionism.
Of course, all of you have heard of the Bonaparte family. The Bonaparte family is famous historically. They got all the deceptive philosophies of the world. You remember, of course, Napoleon Bonaparte. He was called, “The Little Corporal.” He was called that in 1796, and at the time he really was not a corporal. He was a general. He wasn’t little. He was only 5’2” and that sounds kind of little but, you see, in 1796 the average height of a Frenchman was 5’2”. So Napoleon was just average. It is true many military leaders were taller. Maybe Napoleon was trying to prove something.
He was a brilliant military strategist and he was a gifted statesman but he had a great greed for power and a huge ambition. It all reached its zenith on September 2, 1804. That’s when Napoleon and his wife Josephine went into the Cathedral of Notre Dame on that little island in the Seine and there, with Pope Pius VII and a portion of the College of Cardinals, Napoleon Bonaparte took the crown and he placed it on his own head and declared himself Emperor. He put a crown on his wife’s head and declared her Empress. He was the most powerful man on the earth but it didn’t last. Just ten years later, in 1814, he was exiled to Elba. Of course, there would come the hundred days and he would enter Paris once again and attain power once again but that was brief and there came Waterloo and he was defeated and he was exiled to St. Helena. There he died of a stomach ulcer that was probably cancerous. The rumors were that he was poisoned, but most historians today doubt that. His life was brief and he lived for ascension. He practiced the philosophy of ascensionism.
His sister Pauline practiced the philosophy of hedonism. When she was 16 years old, she had slept with most of the generals of France. This is not historical speculation. It is historical fact. Her promiscuity was known all over Europe. She lived to pleasure herself. As far as Pauline could tell, that was all it was about. She grew older and it was said that when she would look in the mirror, she would just cry as her beauty began to fade. At the age of 45, she was tragically riddled with disease and died.
Then there was Napoleon’s sister Caroline, and she bought into the deceptive philosophy of materialism and she lived her whole life for the accumulation of wealth and possessions. She had estates everywhere. She just tried to get richer and richer; Her life too ended in tragedy. But these are the ways of the world. Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. “If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. The world passes away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Well, I’m not stupid. I don’t live for hedonism. I don’t live for materialism. I don’t live for ascensionism. I don’t even live for a combination of the three. I’m smarter than all of that.” You probably think, “I have higher values.” Maybe you think, “What’s most important to me is having children and raising a family.” Maybe that’s what life is about for you: Having kids, raising a family. But you see, God wants you to understand that’s good but that’s not what life is all about either. If that’s what life is all about then single people could never find life’s purpose. If that’s what life is all about, married couples who are childless could never find God’s highest purpose. If that’s what life is all about, then moms and dads who have lost their children to disease or in war would be stripped of life’s purpose.
Jesus said, “He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Jesus said, “He who loved mom or dad more than Me is not worthy of Me.” He was not putting down the family. He created it. He just wants us to understand that is not what on earth we are here for.
We want to understand what we’re here on earth for, so we’re going to need to look to God. The answer is not the love of pleasure. It’s not the love of money. It’s not the love of self. It’s not even “philostorgos.” It’s not the “love of family.” The answer is the love of God—not so much our love for God, but His love for us. If we’re going to find out what everything is about, we’re going to have to look at God. He’s the Creator. He created you. He created me. He set the whole deal up, and so as we move forward in the 40 Days of Purpose, we’re going to look at God, the one who “loved the world so much He gave His only begotten Son,” and we’re going to seek to find out what God’s purposes for us are and how God set the whole thing up.
You have 25,550 days in your life if you’re average. The average person lives 25,550 days. Are you willing to give 40 days to let God do something special? Are you willing to do that? That’s what we’re asking, a commitment for 40 days. We believe this is ordained of God. God’s going to do something awesome, and you don’t want to miss out.
You can look at the Bible and you can see how God oftentimes does amazing things in 40 days. And many people have pointed this out. Noah was transformed by 40 days of rain. Moses was transformed by 40 days on the Holy Mountain, 40 days on Mt. Sinai, sometimes called Mt. Horeb. The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised land, the land of Canaan. David was transformed when Goliath challenged Israel for 40 days. Of course, Elijah was transformed when he received 40 days of sustenance from a single meal. Nineveh was transformed when it was given 40 days to change, 40 days to repent. The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after His death and resurrection. Jesus Himself spent 40 days alone in the wilderness with God.
Are you willing to spend 40 days? Just a portion of each day? Are you willing to commit to the next six weeks? That’s what we’re asking. If you would commit to the next six weeks, leading up to the sixth week when we’re all going together down to the Pepsi Center. We’re going to have one service at 10:00 and we’ll be joined by our four inner city churches that are also going through the 40 Days of Purpose with us.
We know that some of you may have emergencies. We know that some of you may have made plans long ago. But as much as you’re able, will you make this commitment for the next 40 days to be a church and to join a book group? As Mark said, 4,000 of you have already joined a book group but we’d like 8,000. If you’re not in a book group, you should go today to the tent and sign up. We have a book group for you. If you’re not in a book group, let this be the day. Make the commitment. That book group will meet once a week. It’s not a huge chunk of time but it could have eternal significance. Then also commit to reading Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” and using that devotional each day.
If you look on page 3 of your program, at the bottom of page 3 you see a statement there that we ask you to sign. Would you just, in this next moment, pray about that, that you would sign this statement, that you want to give God these next 40 days? What an important decision it is. Your life will never be the same. If you don’t know your purpose, life seems tiresome. If you don’t know your purpose, life is unfulfilling. If you don’t know your purpose, life seems out of control. Solomon tells us all of these things in Ecclesiastes, chapter 1. If you Do know your purpose, as the apostle writes in Philippians, chapter 3, your life has focus. And if you know your purpose your life has beautiful simplicity. If you know your purpose, Paul says, life will transform you. If you know your purpose, life will be a time of preparation for heaven itself. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. Mark’s going to come up in a moment and close us this morning.