How to Have a Life Worth Living - Easter Message

His name was Ernest Miller Hemingway.

He was born July 21, 1899. He was an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I, where he was seriously wounded, and as a result became a national hero. His first major novel, The Sun Also Rises, published in 1926, was an immediate critical and commercial success, earning him public notoriety, professional acclaim, and a lot of money. He wrote a number of famous novels, including For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, A Farewell to Arms. He was friends with Mata Hari, Picasso, Marlene Dietrich, Spencer Tracy, James Joyce, just to name a few. He vacationed with bullfighters in Spain. He took multiple safaris to Africa. He had homes in Key West, Toronto, Paris, San Francisco, and Cuba. In 1953, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel, The Old Man in the Sea, and the very next year, 1954, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. You say, wow, what a charmed life this guy lived.

Well, not exactly. Ernest Hemingway was married and divorced four times. He had a lifelong habit of getting into fierce quarrels with his friends, after which he would sever all contacts with them and never speak to them again. He had a horrible drinking problem that crippled his health and eventually ended his literary career. In spite of his success, he was enormously insecure. He struggled his entire life with depression and paranoia. He spent a number of years in prison.

He failed himself. Now, here's our question for the morning. If career success and a lot of money and personal notoriety and exotic vacations and famous friends and homes all over the world and a Pulitzer Prize and a Nobel Prize, if all of this doesn't make life worth living, then what does? You know, when we look in the Bible, we find God telling us there are four things we all need. To live a life that's worth living. Interestingly, these are four things that only a relationship with Jesus Christ can supply. And we want to talk about those today, and I hope as we do, you'll tag along, take a look at your own life as we work our way through this.

We'll see where we come out at the end. Number one, in order to live a life that's really worth living, number one, we all need genuine meaning and purpose in life. You know, in Shakespeare's play, Macbeth, Macbeth is a great play. Macbeth and his wife, Lady Macbeth, they lie, they cheat, they scheme, they connive, and they murder their way to the throne of Scotland. But in the end, after Lady Macbeth dies from unremitting guilt, and Macbeth himself suddenly finds that the throne of Scotland has not brought him the satisfaction he thought it would, Macbeth observing the futility and the emptiness of life all around him, he exclaims in despair these words. Life is a tale, he says, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, but signifying meaning nothing. Now friends, life is tough no matter how you slice it.

But when, like Macbeth, you feel that life itself has no meaning, when, like Macbeth, you don't even know why you're here, when it seems like you're just groping in the darkness without any idea what your destination is, then with Macbeth and with Ernest Hemingway, life becomes downright depressing. You know, that's where I was 32 years ago as a college student, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I remember I'd sit around with my fraternity brothers and I'd say, you know, we need to talk about this. You know, where are we going, and what's the purpose of life, and what are we all really doing here, and what's our meaning?

And my fraternity brothers would say, would you just shut up? I mean, why don't you just get a job, grow old, have children, and die like every other normal person? Why have you got to ask all these kind of questions? Well, I had to, because it seemed to me that to do that for 40 years made no sense if I didn't even know what I was doing here, if I didn't even know what my purpose of living was. In fact, in those days, I began to actually wonder if anybody had answers to the questions I was asking.

Ah, but then I ran into an incredible piece of information. Jesus said, John 8 12, I am the light of the world, he said. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And when I gave my heart to Jesus Christ, he provided me with all the answers I needed about the meaning and the purpose of my life. He gave me a reason for being alive that stretches beyond this life, that stretches beyond the grave, that stretches all the way into eternity.

I'm not living the same old, same old anymore. But I wake up every morning with an eternal reason to get out of bed. I wake up every morning with eternal meaning to my life. Now, I maintain that in order to live a life that's worth living, every human being alive needs this kind of eternal meaning in their life. They need this kind of transcendent purpose to their life.

But where in the world are we going to go get something like this? Well, the only place I found it was in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Second of all, in order to live a life that's worth living, we all need number two, power over our passions. You know, we mentioned Shakespeare earlier and you know, Shakespeare was an astute observer of human nature. As a matter of fact, in play after play of his, the dramatic plot, if you will, was this struggle of men and women against their own passions. We already mentioned Macbeth who struggled against his obsession for power. Then there was Shylock who struggled against his greed in the Merchant of Venice. There was Othello who struggled against his jealous rage. In Romeo and Juliet, it was the Montagues and the Capulets struggling against hatred and bitterness. And then of course Hamlet struggling against his desire for revenge. But in every one of these pieces of literature, the constant message was the inability of people to master these self-destructive passions that live right inside of them.

Which is why all these plays were called tragedies. Did you read the tragic story in the paper a couple weeks ago about Ruben Rivera? Ruben Rivera was signed this year to a $1 million a year contract to play outfield for the New York Yankees. But in spring training, March the 12th, he broke into the locker of teammate Derek Jeter and stole a glove and a bat out of Derek Jeter's locker and then turned him over and sold him to a memorabilia agent for $2,500. He was caught. He confessed. In fact, we even went and got the bat and the glove and returned it to Derek Jeter.

But it was too little, too late. The Yankees fired him. The players union refused to stand up for him. A million dollars a year gone just like that. In fact, Bernie Williams of the Yankees said, and I quote, he's one of the best talents I've ever seen. He can do it all. He had the potential to be the best.

But friends, he's not going to be the best now. He lost every bit of it. And what?

Because he couldn't control the passions that lived inside of him to steal something? Now friends, this is not just a struggle that other people have. This is not just a struggle Ruben Rivera has. Every single one of us here today has this very same struggle. Every single one of us here struggles every day to live right, to act right, to work right, to talk right.

To think right, to drive right, to eat right. In fact, I was watching an infomercial on television not too long ago about dieting and losing weight. And they were doing people on the street interviews.

And they interviewed this one seriously overweight lady and here's what she said. She said, I have lots of willpower when it comes to food. She said, it's just that currently I'm not using any of it. Well, all right. That indeed is our problem then. The problem is where are you and I going to go and get the power we need to be able to overcome these passions that live inside of us that threaten to wreck and destroy our lives? Well, here's what Jesus said. He said John chapter 8 verse 34, truly, truly I say to you, whoever obeys their sinful passions becomes a prisoner of those passions.

Well friends, we know that. To Jesus tell us something we don't know. Verse 36, but if the son, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Friends, the supernatural liberating power of Jesus Christ over our self-destructive passions is phenomenal. Jesus promised he would give this kind of power to every single one of his followers and he does. He said, well, how can you be so sure about that?

Well, because you're looking at a walking, living, breathing model of this principle in action. 32 years ago as a college student at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, I smoked dope five, six, seven times a day every day. I did LSD four, five, six times a week every week. I had a major drinking problem.

I had an unbelievable gambling addiction and I was running from the police who had a federal warrant for my arrest on drug smuggling and distribution charges. In fact, one friend of mine once said to me, Lon, I have never met anybody with a greater tendency to self-destruct than you and they're right. But when Jesus Christ entered my life, friends, all that changed. Did I become sinlessly perfect?

Oh, no. But I no longer am a prisoner of my passions. Jesus Christ has given me the power to change. He's given me the power to grow. He's given me the power to subdue those passions so that I could actually live a healthy, functional life. And for you to live a healthy, functional life, for you to live a life that's worth living, you need that same kind of power in your life. Now, where are you going to go to get it? I believe the only place to find that kind of power is from the resurrected Christ.

Number three, if you and I are going to live a life that's worth living, we need, third of all, peace of mind. I'm sure you saw in the paper the incredibly sad story of Brittany Cecil. Brittany Cecil, 13 years old, eighth grader, went to a hockey game with her parents and some friends to celebrate an early 14th birthday. Well, the puck was shot on the ice. It was deflected off a player. It flew over the glass. Hit the guy sitting next to her, bounced off of him, hit her in the temple, caused severe internal hemorrhaging and brain injury.

And two days later, little Brittany Cecil was dead. Now, an NHL official was quoted as saying that this is a one in a million situation. Well, okay, it probably is. But guess what?

It happened. And you know, our world is full of uncertainty. I mean, we think that our retirement fund is safe and then the NASDAQ crashes. We think that our career is secure and then we get downsized. We think that our health is great and then that lump appears. We think that our roots are deep and then our company relocates us.

We think our home life is stable and then our parents announce they're getting a divorce. I mean, this world has more uncertainty in it than Enron has paper shredders, if you understand what I'm saying. And the problem with this kind of uncertainty is that it robs us of peace of mind. It robs us of inner peace.

I mean, just look at the people you see every day on the Metro, on the bus, on the streets of Washington, in the hallway at your office, in your neighborhood. I don't know about you, but I don't see a whole lot of people walking around full of inner peace where I look. But listen to what Jesus said. He said, John chapter 14, peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give you the kind of peace that the world gives. Jesus said, hey, folks, I just want to tell you the kind of peace I give, you can't find it anywhere else in this world because I give a kind of peace that transcends tragedy. I give a kind of peace that rises above pain. I give a kind of peace that flows triumphantly through any and every circumstance of life. I give a kind of peace, the Bible says, that passes all understanding because the kind of peace that I give is a peace that is based on God's unfailing promises in the Bible.

It's not based on the shifting sands of human circumstances. Now to live a life that's worth living, to be able to take everything that this life throws at us, and it throws at us some nasty stuff, but to be able to take that and have a peace where we can rise above it and be calm no matter what this world throws us. Friends, I believe every human being alive needs that kind of peace to be able to live a life that's worth living. You need it. I need it. Where are you going to get it from? Jesus said you won't find it in this world. It doesn't exist. It's my peace, Jesus said, but I'm willing to share it with you if you're willing to let me be a part of your life.

Number four, and finally, in order to live a life that's worth living, number four, we all need, number four, the assurance of immortality. Now, you know, I was reading in the paper, and so I know this is true because I actually saw it in the paper. This is a gravestone. Well, yeah, there's this gravestone. Yeah, it is. And here is the inscription that is on this gravestone.

It goes like this. Here lies an atheist, all dressed up and no place to go. Now, you know, that would actually be hysterical if it wasn't so tragic. Can you imagine facing death and having no idea what's going to happen to you?

You got no sense whatsoever of what comes next. You know, one of the people gripped by this very same tragedy was the actual person who coined the phrase or the word agnostic. Agnostic meaning God is unproven, heaven doesn't exist, there's nothing after the grave.

The man who coined this word was British intellectual Thomas Huxley. He was a friend of Darwin, but his own agnosticism scared him to death. Listen to what he wrote, and I quote. He said, when I think that within 50 years I will be as if I had never been, the thought terrifies me. I would rather exist even if it be in hell, end of quote.

Poor Huxley. It's too bad he didn't read and believe the very Bible that he spent his whole life trying to undo, discredit and destroy. Because the answer to his terror is right in the Bible, right in the words of Jesus. Jesus said, John 3 36, he who believes in me has eternal life. Jesus said, John chapter 11, I am the resurrection and the life. And the person who believes in me shall live even after they die here on this earth. And what proof does Jesus give to back up this offer of his? Well friends, he gives the proof of what we're doing here this weekend. He gives the proof of what Easter is all about.

He rose from the grave as a way of making sure we knew that he had the ability to back up these promises I was watching CNN talk back one day at the gym and somebody emailed in and said this. The problem with religion, he wrote, is that no one knows which one works until after you die. Well, wrong Kemosabe. That is wrong. Buddha never rose from the dead. Confucius never rose from the dead. Muhammad never rose from the dead.

Rabbi Schneerson never rose from the dead. They didn't even claim to rise from the dead. Jesus not only claimed it, he did it. And the reason Jesus did it is so you and I could know on this side of the grave. We could know before we die which way to God works. As we love to say around here, follow a dead savior and you'll end up just like him. But follow conversely the risen living Messiah and guess what? You'll end up just like him.

And that's good news. Dwight L. Moody, who was probably the greatest evangelist of the 19th century, summed up this assurance of immortality in a few words better than anyone I've ever heard. And so rather than trying to duplicate it, I think it'd probably be just as good if you heard it the way he said it. And I quote, Moody wrote, someday you will read in the papers that Dwight L. Moody of East Northfield, Massachusetts is dead.

Don't you believe a word of it, he writes. He said at that moment I shall be more alive than I am now. He said I shall have gone up higher. That's all out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal. A body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint. He said I was born of the flesh in 1837.

I was born by God's Spirit in 1855. That which is born of flesh may die, but that which is born of God's Spirit will never die. End of quote. Now how'd you like to face the grave with that kind of assurance? Now that's the way you want to look the grave right in the eyeballs and say I don't fear you.

I've got nothing to fear. And where do you get this kind of assurance? You're going to get it from Buddha? You're going to get it from Muhammad?

They're still in the grave. I'll tell you where you get it. You get it from the one who rose from the grave and said I am the resurrection. I am the life. And if you want life after the grave, you can have it, but you only get it from me because I am the life and the resurrection. That's where you get that kind of assurance. And I believe in order to live a life that's worth living, to face life and death, we need this kind of assurance in our life.

Only Jesus Christ can give it to us. So let's summarize. What have we learned so far? We've talked about how we can have a life that is really worth living.

And we said what is it that will give us a life really worth living? Is it a Pulitzer Prize? A Nobel Prize?

Vacation homes all over the world? Being an incredible success at our career? Hanging out with famous people?

Going on exotic vacations? Is this what's going to give us a life worth living? Friends, don't you believe that Madison Avenue propaganda? Ernest Hemingway had every bit of that and was a miserable human being. You know what it takes to have a life that's worth living? Number one, it takes an eternal meaning and purpose in our life. Number two, it takes power over the self-destructive passions that live inside of us. Number three, it takes peace of mind that transcends the uncertainties of life.

And number four, it takes the assurance of immortality. And Jesus came to earth and died on the cross and rose from the grave so that you and I and every human being alive has access to these things if we want to. If you're here today and you've already trusted Jesus in a real and personal way, if you already know Christ, that's a wonderful thing. I hope you'll walk out of here simply having been reminded of all God has done in your life. Because, you know, sometimes we get so hunkered down in our problems that we forget what God's done for us. You got problems, I got problems, we all got problems.

Friends, but let me tell you something. If you and I have genuine meaning and purpose in life, if you and I have power over our passions, if you and I have peace of mind and the assurance of immortality, I'm here to tell you I don't care how many problems we have, life is still worth the living because Jesus is alive and with us. And so when you walk out of here today, I want you to walk out of here encouraged and lifted up that I don't care what kind of problems you got, man, your life is still worth getting up for in the morning if you got Jesus Christ as part of it. Now, if you're here and you've never trusted Christ in a real and personal way like that and you're tired of trying to get these four things by yourself, you just beat down and say, where do I really go next to find some real meaning and purpose and some real, some real, something really that's worth getting up for?

I got great news for you. All four of these things we've talked about, Jesus wants to give you, free. And all you got to do is open up your heart and life and invite Him in and let Him become part of your life. We're going to give you the chance to do that right now. Let's bow our heads, shall we?

And let's close our eyes. If you're ready to do this today, if you're ready to invite Jesus to become a part of your life, then you don't need to get up, you don't need to raise your hand, you don't need to go anywhere. You just need to sit right where you are and pray this simple little prayer that I'm going to lead you in right after me. I want you to pray it one phrase at a time, silently to yourself. And all we're going to tell Jesus is that there's some things you need and you want Him to bring them along with a bunch of other things and transform your life.

If you're ready to do that, here we go. Lord Jesus, I come to you today because I need some things to make my life worth living. I need a purpose for life that makes it worth getting up in the morning.

I need a power over my passions so that they don't wreck my life. I need an inner peace that can withstand the worst storms of life. And I need the assurance of immortality that only you can give me. And so I come to you today and I invite you to come into my life, to become my personal Savior, to forgive my wrongdoing, to wipe away my guilt, to grant me eternal life, to secure me a place in Heaven. Lord, come into my life today and begin transforming it from the inside out so that it becomes a life that's truly worth living.

In Jesus' name. And Father, I want to pray for the folks who prayed that prayer, that you would confirm in their hearts and minds, even as they sit here, that a great transaction has taken place, that they have passed, as the Bible says, from death into life, eternal life. And my prayer, Lord, is that you would take them up on their invitation, that you would come into their life now and begin transforming them from the inside out just as radically as you did me 32 years ago. Father, my prayer is that they would become a person they hardly even recognize in a few years and that that's a good thing. Thanks for all of us being here and for those of us who already know you, Lord, send us out of here with hope today that no matter what we're dealing with, as long as we've got these four things, life is still worth the living. And because you live, we're going to have these four things every day of our life. Thanks for rising from the dead so we've got no doubt that we're following the living way to God. We love you for doing this, Lord, and we love you for loving us, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.