Introduction: Recently I watched a movie called "The Out of Towners" with Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin. Hawn and Martin play a married couple whose son has left them and now they struggle with their relationship being in a rut. While in New York on business the husband’s billfold is stolen in a mugging. The wife sees this not so much as a crisis but as a great adventure that has suddenly filled her with a passion for living. She tells her husband that she wants to get all out of life she can and "suck the marrow" out of it. Her husband responds, "I’m not much into marrow sucking but I do have some reading I’d like to catch up on."

That contrast of one person’s passion for life and another person’s boredom of life is portrayed more darkly in a new movie I read about called "American Beauty." In "American Beauty" another couple realize the life they are living is, for the most part, lifeless. The questions the movie raises are, according to one article, "Is this all my life is? How did I arrive at this unexpectedly empty place" At one point when the husband and wife are railing about their failed marriage he asks, "When did you become so joyless?" The husband begins a quest for something but doesn’t really know what it is. The director Sam Mendes says, "He just wants to feel alive again."

Realizing that life, especially your own life, is meaningless, wasted and futile is hard. It’s hard to see it in a movie. It’s harder to see it or recognize it in real life, your own real life. It happens not to just people in a movie, it happens to people, Christian, God-loving, church-attending, normal people. We get so occupied in being active we fail to ask what is the activity producing.

Believe it or not, those same questions are the ones we find in our message this morning. Jacob, Joseph’s father, looks back on his life and says, "My life’s been too short." There is in his words a cry of sorrow, regret and sadness. Today I want us to hear for ourselves these ancient words. However, I don’t want us to hear them with despair but in anticipation. Life is too short, so because it is so short I must choose to live it with meaning. Today I want you to decide that while you can’t change the quantity of your life, you can change the quality. Life is too short, so what are you going to do about it?

1. The sad story of a futile life.

After more then 22 years of being apart Joseph and his family are reunited. Jacob was not told of the truth that his son was alive until the brothers returned from Egypt with the wagon loads of food and as the narrator says, "the best things of Egypt" (Genesis 45:21-23). When Jacob sees all the things they have brought back and then is told that Joseph was not only alive but was the ruler over all Egypt "He was stunned, for he did not believe them" (Gen. 45:26). They persuade Jacob that it is true and after an encounter with God in the night (Gen. 46:1-7) Jacob agrees to go with them.

Jacob, all of his descendents (almost three generations), his livestock and all their earthly possessions are loaded up and they head for Egypt. When at last Joseph and his father Jacob meet, Joseph it says, "fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time" (Gen. 46:29). That moment had been twenty two years in coming. The love and favor between them had not died and is now released in a powerful picture of reunion. Jacob says what he has wanted to say for over two decades, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive. (Gen. 46:30).

Joseph does what any proud son would do and that is introduce his dad to his boss. His boss just happens to be the king of Egypt. The narrator recalls the meeting of Jacob and Pharaoh in Genesis 47:1-12. The contrast between this powerful individual and a lowly nomadic shepherd is astounding. What is even more dramatic is that conversation between the two of them.

As Jacob meets Pharaoh it says that "Jacob blessed Pharaoh." (Gen. 47:7). It means here more that J Jacob paid respects to him. Pharaoh responds with an intriguing question In the Hebrew the question is, "What are the days of the years of your life?" (Gen. 47:8). It’s not simply, "How old are you?" but "What kind of quality of life have you had?" Jacob’s response is almost pitiful. He tells Pharaoh three things: MY life’s been a journey—it’s temporary; my life’s been characterized by pain—it’s just hard; my life’s too short—I’ve not lived as long as others.

I almost imagine that sentence "hanging" in air it is so revealing and sad. Perhaps Jacob realized how pitiful his words were because what he does next is somewhat a recovery. It says in Genesis 47:10, "And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence." Now the word "blessed" is the same word from verse 7 but this time it carries the full meaning of extending the riches of God to someone else. Here is an individual broken by life, admitting his frustration with it and fully acknowledging that, looks out in that moment to connect this mighty king with a greater source of life this king knew nothing about. He touched him, connected him with God.

Why was Jacob’s life so futile and sad? Well, all of his life he’s been known as a deceiver—that’s what his name meant. He deceived his father Isaac and his brother Esau to get the blessing of his father. The rift that resulted caused him to leave home for years, fearing that his brother would kill him. His daughter, Dinah was a rape victim. His son Judah committed incest with his own daughter-in-law. His son Rueben had sexual relations with one of Jacob’s mistresses. His wife that he loved deeply had died in childbirth. His favored son Joseph had been killed by animals (he thought). His sons actually were living a lie, which was an indication of a deeper problem. All of that is summed up in the words "few and unpleasant have been the years of my life."

2. Things to remember

The encounter of Jacob with Pharaoh is one that ought to get our attention. For you see Jacob’s response could be any one of us, if we were asked, "What kind of life have you had?" Would you respond with, "Well, life is just too short"? One way, that is a statement about how quick life passes. It is also a statement that is a challenge: Since life is too short, what are you going to do about it? Let me help you with four suggestions that speak to me from this incident in Jacob’s life.

First, life is too short to not ask the hard questions. Jacob was asked the hared question about the quality of his life. There are occasions when every one of us needs to stop long enough to ask the hard questions about our life. Questions that are reflected in a poem I have had for many years:

We go and keep going until the object of the game seems to be to go and keep going.

We do and keep doing until we do without knowing, without feeling.

Is there no time to stop and reflect?

Is there no time to stop?

Is there no time?

If we stopped would we keep going?

If we reflected would we keep doing what we do?

For what we have done and where we have gone is dissolved into oblivion or striving on

The meaningless chair of half remembered this and that, If there is no reflection.

In all our doing have we done anything?

In all of our going have we been anywhere?

Hear those last questions again: "In all our doing have we done anything? In all our going have we been anywhere?"

The truth is life is too short to not ask the hard questions: What is the value of my life?

Another truth I fine here is this: Life is too short to not realize it is a journey to somewhere else. Jacob referred to his life as a sojourn or a pilgrimage. The word describes someone who is always on the move somewhere else. It’s not a frantic moving, but more a realization that whenever you are that’s not your ultimate destiny. The Psalmist says in Psalm 39:4-6, "Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered, and that my life is fleeing away. My life is no longer than the width of my hand. An entire lifetime is just a moment to you; human existence is but a breath." We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth for someone else to spend (Psalm 39:4-6). Paul would say in Philippians 3:20, "But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives." The New Testament is filled with the understanding that for a Christian this would is not our final destiny. We are on our way to heaven. That is our ultimate destiny. That direction shapes, or should shape, everything else in our life. The problem comes when we have made this place our ultimate destiny. Life is too short to not realize that which is this world is not my home. The more I think it is the more futile my life becomes.

A third reality that confronts us in this passage is that life is too short to not make good choices. Jacob said his days had been "few and difficult." Some of those bad days were the result of his own choices. Our lives are too brief to waste them on bad choices. Let me share with you some conclusions about this:

Life is too short to choose to abuse it chemically or physically.

Life is too short to choose to consume it selfishly.

Life is too short to exhaust it vainly.

Life is too short to choose to poison it mentally, emotionally or spiritually.

Life is too short to choose to deny it is eternal.

Life is too short to choose to cheapen it wastefully.

Life is too short to choose to risk it foolishly.

This is all you have and these are the only opportunities you and I have to make good choices. Life is too short to end them with making wrong ones.

There’s one last word that these statement of Jacob say to me. It’s this: Life is too short to not connect others with blessing. Jacob, even though realizing that the quality of his life was not what he wished it was, chose to connect this worldly ruler with the God of all heaven and earth and blessed him. What that means for us is that as a Christian we realize that our life is the doorway, the connection to all the spiritual blessings that are found in Jesus Christ. It doesn’t mean that we are perfect or without problems or pain. It means that you choose to live your life in full devotion and obedience to Jesus Christ. Then out of that relationship you are the pipeline, the modem, the cable that joins the Jesus in you to the emptiness in someone else’s life.

When you compare Jacob’s words to those of the Apostle Paul in II Timothy 4:6-8, you see the difference: "As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near. I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return." Life is too short for me to fail to live my life connecting others with the blessing of life found in Jesus Christ. All around us people are killing themselves to find a way to live and you know where they can find it: Jesus!

Conclusion: If you could live your life over how would you life it? Someone asked columnist Ann Landers that question. Here is what she said, "My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind. If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I’d have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

"I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had been teased and sprayed. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have eaten popcorn in the "good" living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.

"I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth. I would have burnt the pink candle sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.

"I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.

"I would have cried and laughed less while watching television *** and more while watching real life. I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.

"I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.

"I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.

"I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn’t show soil/guaranteed to last a lifetime.

"When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, ‘Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner.’

"There would have been more I love yous *** more I’m sorrys *** more I’m listenings *** but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it *** look at it and really see it *** try it on *** live it *** exhaust it *** and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it."

What if they asked you?

Life is too short to not stop and ask the hard questions. It’s too short to not realize how temporary it is. It’s too short to not make good choices while we can and it’s too short for you as a Christian to not be the connection for someone else with the blessing of God.

Life is too short to not decide to live all the rest of your days fully devoted as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Sunday, October 10, 1999

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org