Nothing

By John Stallings

Unless you've been away to another galaxy for the last fifteen years you are aware of comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

 I always liked his stand-up comedy & even enjoyed watching his T.V shows which you probably remember he called “a show about nothing.”

I think I see more re-runs of the show than I ever saw the show on prime-time but some of them are so hilarious I can watch over & over. One of my favorites is “The big salad” which displays the emotional ineptness & immaturity of George Costanza.

I got the idea from The Seinfeld Show to try to write a blog about NOTHING so here goes.

This first point isn't very spiritual but indulge me for a moment while I tell you that some people see retired people as folk who do NOTHING. Now doing nothing is very tricky; to do absolutely NOTHING. I’ve tried it & I know. The reason you have to be so careful doing NOTHING is because ANYTHING can come along & if you do ANYTHING, you’re no longer doing NOTHING. If you do ANYTHING, now you’re doing SOMETHING & your NOTHING is ruined. So you basically have to stop EVERYTHING. If hope I made that clear, because I have NOTHING else on that subject. Moving right along.

The Bible makes it plain that in the beginning the earth was without form & void. Genesis 1:1. So God had NOTHING to work with. Out of chaos He created cosmos. This is awesome because man could never create something from NOTHING. Women make some things from scratch (I’m not sure what scratch is, unless it’s related to itch) but I’m sure scratch is SOMETHING.

God spoke everything into existence but man & to create man He stooped down & made him out of the dust of the earth.

Philippians 4:6 exhorts us to, - Be anxious for NOTHING. If depression was the big disease of the latter part of the 20th Century, then anxiety is the disease of the 21st century. Do you remember a few years back when we America was gripped by fear about what would happen when we entered the new Millennium? The concern was so great that it was even captioned, Y2K. I remember reading one article where an “expert” said, “Please know that I’m an optimist. But I am convinced that there is no reason to believe we wont see the collapse of civilization. Anyone who thinks differently hasn’t got a good sense of history or current events.” During this time I can’t remember hearing one clarion voice stating that everything was going to be just fine.

So I challenge you today especially if you’re worried & anxious about ANYTHING to put EVERYTHING in your life in God’s capable hands & know that NOTHING is going to harm you.

In John 15:5 Jesus told His disciples, -Without me you can do NOTHING.

NOTHING pleases & exalts the Lord more than to see our self-reliance collapse & hear us call out to Him. Apart from Him, all our scurrying about, frantic preparation & study amounts to nothing. It’s a revelation when finally realize how much NOTHING we spend time on.

Christ is the Vine & we are the branches. When we’re truly drawing our sustenance & strength from the Vine we’ll bring forth the fruit Paul talks about in Galatians 5. Trying to manifest that fruit without being connected to Christ would be like attempting to tie imitation fruit onto a vine.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that all we try to accomplish in our own flesh without love amounts to NOTHING. One of the most difficult things for us to actualize is that there will be people at the Judgment seat of Christ who’ll stand representing a lifetime of work for God & when their works are tried by fire, they will burn. God will take His Holy Ghost blow-torch & hit our pile of works with it & if they weren’t done with the right motivation, if they were done to glorify self, they’ll be considered zero---NOTHING!

This is just imaginary but an angel might walk over to God & say, “Listen God, this man is a preacher. He built a number of churches & traveled worldwide preaching the gospel. Surely you aren’t going to give this man zero are you?” God will simply answer, “Yes he did all these things, but I see the heart & what he did was done for the applause of people. Now he got the applause & of men while on earth & he was handsomely paid for it but he gets a “thimble crown” because he didn’t do his work that my name might be glorified.” After the man’s works have been submitted to the fire & have been burned up, the man himself will be saved, “yet so as by fire.1 Cor.3:15. Sadly many will be “saved but singed.”

In Matthew 5:13 Jesus calls Christians “the salt of the earth…but if the salt has lost its savour, it’s good for NOTHING but to be cast out & trodden foot of men.

Exactly what was Jesus saying when he compared Christians to salt? A small boy was asked what is salt. He said, “Salt is what ruins potatoes if you don’t have it.” Salt is prevalent in most all our foods but it’s so subtle that we don’t really miss it until the doctor puts us on a salt-free diet. Let’s see some facts about salt;

1. Salt is useless until applied.

If the salt stays in the shaker it doesn’t change anything but when it’s added to a food it changes things dramatically. Christians can’t sit within the four walls of a church & expect to change our world, we must go where the people are & be applied to the needy areas.

2. Salt holds back decay.

Salt is a preservative. This world has no clue to the value of Christians in society but if the Christians were taken out they’d know. Though we don’t set or enforce laws, our preserving power is the only thing holding society together. If Christians were taken out of this world, then the very best of the world would be gone. This isn’t an overblown egotistical notion, it’s just a fact. The presence that’s difficult for the ungodly to perceive is just like the salt in food, it’s very subtle.

3. Salt adds flavor.

If you’ve ever tried to eat an egg or grits without salt, you know they’re not worth eating. Christians add flavor but Jesus said, if the salt has lost it savour, it’s “tastiness” it’s ability to make a difference in a bland tasteless world, it’s good for NOTHING but to be cast aside. If Christians no longer stand for anything, if they’re going to blend into a world system & have no distinction, their usefulness is nil.

4. Salt makes people thirsty.

What happens if you put something salty in your mouth? You reach for a drink, right? That’s another function of salty Christians. We should be living in such a way that when people are around us, they get thirsty for Christ. Sometimes all we need to do to be “salty” is to live consistent lives. To me it’s amazing that all you have to do in this world to stand out is just go out there & be consistent. Go out & live your day to day life & be steady, don’t waver, be the same all the time, & see how you stand out in an “up & down, wishy-washy” society. People will start asking what’s wrong with you & how you can be so stable. This kind of life will make others thirsty for something they don’t possess which of course is Jesus Christ.

In Colossians 4:6 Paul tell us our words should be -Seasoned with salt. This means our speech should be gentle & graceful & stand out from the kind of talk people are used to hearing.

If I were preaching this as a sermon on NOTHING, we’d need a song to go along with it. I can think of no more appropriate song for the occasion than the grand old hymn;

What can wash away my sin, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus?
What can make me whole again, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus?
O, precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow,
No other fount I know,
NOTHING but the blood of Jesus.

Blessings,

John