Get Busy Living
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Consider the pure joy that comes from serving others.
"Well, life comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying."
- Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
I can do all things through Christ, the one who gives me strength.
- Philippians 4:13
Food for Thought
One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it! In the film, Red and Andy are prisoners who become good friends. Andy is sentenced to two consecutive life terms for a double murder he did not commit. He experiences the brutality of prison life and works for a cruel, disturbed warden. He longs to be free from prison, so he begins to plan his escape without telling a soul.
There is a great scene when Andy and Red are sitting against a wall in the prison yard. Andy keeps talking and daydreaming about what life would be like if he were free. He says he would go to Mexico and live on the Pacific. He would run a hotel, buy an old boat, and go fishing. Red, unaware of Andy's plan to escape, tries to talk him back to reality: "Why are you wasting time with these pipe dreams? All that stuff is out there, and you are in here." Andy replies, "Well, life comes down to a simple choice. Get busy living or get busy dying."
Andy, I believe, could have related to the plight and perseverance of Paul. While sitting in a Roman prison, awaiting imminent death, Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians, in which he says “I can do all things through Christ, the one who gives me strength”.
This verse has become a favorite for many of us, and I think it is because it expresses a sincere hope and desire to find strength - a hope which we can all understand. We yearn for it. We long for it, but many of us don't experience it. We search desperately for it to no avail - and yet, Paul seems to have found the secret. So what does Paul know that we don’t?
Well, the truth is, Paul isn’t trying to hide it. It’s right there for us in the middle of this verse. Whenever we read this verse, I think we often focus most on the word "strength". And while it is a crucial word, it is not the central one. The most significant word in this verse is "do". I can DO all things through Christ, the one who gives me strength.
Paul's secret to strength and contentment lay in learning to focus on what he was supposed to "do", not what he felt he should "have". Paul didn't say "I can have all things..." He said, "I can do all things through Christ, the one who gives me strength". This is how Paul was able to sit, destitute and imprisoned, and still proclaim the glory of God. It was not money, things, power, or prestige that empowered him; it was his relationship with Christ and what Christ had called him to DO.
Paul detached himself from the non-essentials of life and focused on what mattered. In doing so, he found all the strength needed. Here’s what I think Paul is saying to us: Let go of what you think you should HAVE and grab hold of what you should DO.
You will HAVE when you DO. You want fulfillment? Help feed hungry children. You want joy and meaning? Talk to another person about how God accepts and loves everyone. You want purpose? Tell God you are open and available, and watch your life transform. You will be afforded so many opportunities - including the opportunity to be enlivened in spirit - that you won't care anymore about having what you want. You will have found the secret to contentment.
I have discovered that I can find rest when I have worked on what I know to be essential. I can find strength when I am doing for others. I can find joy when I am serving. The more I give, the more I am given, and I am not talking about money. That's how it works: I can DO all things through Christ, the one who give me strength.
When I read Phil 4:13, I hear a challenge: "Get busy living out loud for God, or get busy dying in pursuit of trivial things". Let go of what you think you should HAVE, and grab hold of what you should DO.
Look for the ways that God might be prompting you to DO! Maybe it’s an opportunity to chat about God’s love for everyone, maybe it’s volunteering with a local organization that works to solve the hunger issues in your community.
Make a list of what you believe are essentials - take time to consider each one. What on your list might be more of a “have” than an essential? Is there anything that could allow you more freedom if you could detach yourself from it?
Blessing
God of vibrant life,
Help us to let go of the things we think we should have
and prompt us each day to grab hold of what we should do.
Give us strength to live out loud for you -
to shine your love boldly and brightly in the world around us.
A little Table Talk for your table...
Talk together about what strength looks like to you, and discuss different types of strength (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.).
Share some of the common distractions that keep us from living more fulfilled lives. What are some of the things we need to let go of so that we can focus more on doing for others?
What might it look like to be stronger together? Discuss how doing for others is its own strength.
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
Talk with your kiddos about what strength looks like, and discuss different types of strength (physical, mental, spiritual, etc.).
Make a list together, writing down all the things that “having strength” allows you to do.
What does it mean to be stronger together? Discuss how doing for others is its own strength.
Meet Our Welcoming Voice!
Michael Usey has been the lead pastor at College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC since 1994. The child of a school teacher and a Navy aviator, he is a complex mixture of both parents. Raised in San Diego, he remains part of the Friar Faithful and a Padres fan, favoring their Taco Bell brown uniforms. He has degrees from Baylor, Southern Seminary, Emory, and BTS in Richmond. Most of the time, Michael loves being a pastor, and spends most days reading gonzo books and listening to all kinds of people, who are, after all, the living human documents.
To hear more from Michael throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
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