C130 3/16/58
© Project Winsome International, 2000

"THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE ONE-TRACK MIND"
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Mt. 6:22-24

It is one of the simple realities of life that diamonds cannot be purchased for the price of marbles. To possess a diamond, you must pay a diamond's price. And, before you can enjoy the serenity and satisfaction of a radiant, overcoming life -- the kind of life about which we have been talking about in recent weeks -- you must be willing to pay the going price. The peace of Christ cannot be had at bargain rates.

In the comic strip "POGO," the duck comes up one day to talk with Pogo as he fishes by the riverside.
"Howdy, Pogo!" he says. "Has you see'd my cousin?"
"Yo cousin?" asks Pogo.
"Yep," says the duck. "He's migratin' no'th by kiddy kar."
"Duck migratin' no'th by kiddy kar?"
"Yep, he's 'feard of flyin' hi. 'Feard he might fall off."
"Why doesn't he swim then?"
"Cuz when he goes swimmin' he always get seasick."

It is then that Pogo passes judgment on the duck's strange cousin:
"When he decided to be a duck, he picked the wrong business."

I think that pretty well describes the problem perplexing a lot of Christians today. When they decided to follow Christ, they picked the wrong business! They wanted the joy and satisfaction, the serenity and assurance Jesus offers. But they failed to reckon with the fact that the road to such radiant living lies straight across a hill called Calvary.

You see, there is no easy way. Diamonds cannot be purchased for the price of marbles. And, you cannot get around the fact that great living always comes at a great price.
"If you want to find your life," said Jesus, "you have to lose your life in me."
"If you want to follow me," he said, "you have to take up your cross, too."
There is no middle ground.

In our text, Matthew 6:22-24, Jesus put it this way:
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

And then to illustrate this point, he told the parable of the eye.
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body will be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness" (Matthew 6:23).

He was drawing an analogy between a healthy eye and a healthy person. A single eye -- that is, a healthy eye -- sees things clearly, he said. As a result, the whole body is full of light. The world is in proper perspective. The mind is freed from the irritating confusion of a double image.

In exactly the same way, the person who lives with a singleness of purpose, who has as his or her great dominating passion in life to know and love God, will live in a world with focus, perspective, and direction.
His sense of direction will be straight. He will be full of light. He will know where he is going and how he expects to get there.

But even as a diseased eye distorts the world, and the mind is subjected to the enervating irritation of blurred vision and doubled images, so too, the person who suffers from "spiritual astigmatism" -- who tries to serve two masters, who seeks to live by dual standards, who attempts to compartmentalize life so he can block God out of certain areas -- that person sets up terrific conflicts within himself and life becomes a seething cauldron of confusion.

He is tense. Tired. Quick-tempered. Constantly on the go, either running toward some phantom goal that promises a measure of relief, or running from some real or imagined danger.

He is in darkness! And as Jesus put it,
"If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."

The simple fact, Jesus said, is that "no one can serve two masters." You may serve God or you may serve mammon. But you cannot serve both God and mammon. And the person who tries to do so will eventually wind up in a deep, dark, dank pit of emotional and spiritual darkness.

Well, what's the answer? I think Jesus is placing two demands upon us and they are expressed in the words: Elimination and Concentration.

Elimination
Look for a moment at the first word: elimination. You must make a choice, he says. You must choose between God and mammon. You cannot serve them both. Therefore, you must eliminate one. You cannot be neutral.

The real reason many Christians find so little help from their faith is that they never really commit themselves to it, completely! They make a half-hearted commitment and get a half-hearted result. And what more could they expect?

You cannot boil eggs with tepid, lukewarm water. And, you cannot know the transforming, invigorating, enlightening power of Christ's peace in your life through a nonchalant, half-hearted, lukewarm commitment to Christ.

As a matter of fact, there is a devastating and destructive power about neutrality. The ancient Greeks knew this, so they provided that:
"If a revolution began, those who started it should be banished. Those who stopped it should be rewarded. Those who only watched and did not take sides, should be killed as enemies of the state."

Dante describes this "destructive power of neutrality" in a scene from his "Inferno." He tells how he saw a group of people in terrible torment suspended between heaven and earth. "Who are these?" He asked. His guide answered,
"Speak not of them. They are those who gave their lives to nothing. Now, heaven cannot receive them and hell will not have them!"

What a vivid picture of the folly of neutrality. It produces a brand of people not even good enough for hell! Oh, my friend, you cannot be neutral about Jesus Christ without paying a terrible price in the end. The major reason so many Christians experience so little of the peace Jesus proffers is that they are trying to carry water on both shoulders. They are trying to do what cannot be done. They are trying to remain in a world that demands the elimination of either God or mammon. Good or evil. Heaven or hell. For "no man can serve two masters." You must choose! Jesus said. Your very nature demands it.

You cannot go in two directions at the same time. If you are going this way, you cannot be going that way. If you were doing one thing, you cannot be doing another thing. If you are reading this book, you cannot be reading that book. If you are mastered by God, you cannot be mastered by mammon. Your very nature demands that you achieve a unity, a oneness within yourself.

You must choose! And believe it or not, the choice is not nearly so complicated as it is made to seem. Actually, there are just two alternatives as Jesus made clear again and again. Sheep or goats. Figs or thistles. Right or wrong. The "world" or the "Father." The broad way or the narrow way. Time or eternity. God or mammon.

Jesus didn't mean life is all black or all white. Quite obviously, it runs through a thousand shades of grey. But what he did mean is that "the choice finally narrows and, at any moment, you have a dominant direction." You are either for God with all that means in terms of self-denial, self-restraint, and self-realization. Or you are for mammon with all that means in terms of self-indulgence, self-deceit, and self-destruction.

If you want the peace of Christ -- if you want the serenity and satisfaction he alone can give -- you must pay the price. Diamonds cannot be purchased for the price of marbles.

You must eliminate any thought of self-indulgence or self-rule.
You must eliminate any act of obeisance before the altar of gold and success and possessions.
You must eliminate any thought of taking the middle road or settling for the temporary satisfaction of tepid mediocrity.
You must sell out to Christ completely.

You say, but if I do that I will lose my freedom. I will be Christ's slave. Exactly! But then what is freedom?

Is freedom doing as you please? No, for that is slavery to your desires and sets off a thousand self-wills.
Is freedom doing as you ought? No, for that, however noble, spells coercion.

Freedom is the right -- the ability -- the opportunity to fulfill your true nature. A bird is made for the air, and in the air it is free. A fish is made for the sea, and in the sea it is free. But transpose the two and they die. They are out of their proper elements. And, in God's scheme of things, you were made for him. The Bible puts it this way:
"In him (you) live and move and have (your) being."
And when you remain in him you are free! You are in your proper element But when you runfrom him you die! You have left your proper element.

And, while it is true that if you commit yourself wholeheartedly to Christ you will become his slave, it is also true that as his slave you are truly free. He put you in your proper element. He relates you to God. He enables you to fulfill your true nature. And thus it is not a hollow boast when Jesus says:
"If the son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

As George Buttrick points out,
"There are only two roads by which people find freedom. One is that of the tuning up process before a symphony concert. At that time, every musician is so free he can play any tune or no tune as he may choose. The result is deadening. The other way is when the musician becomes a slave to some great conductor who wields the baton."

Buttrick goes on to say,
"I suppose, on the surface, it would seem the musician has lost his freedom. He is a slave indeed. He can do nothing but the will of the conductor. He can play nothing but that which is written on the score. But do you not see that becoming a slave he has become free indeed. Free to fulfill his true nature as a musician. Free to bring harmony out of chaos. Free to bring beauty out of bedlam. In his 'slavery' there is freedom and in his freedom there is peace because all the strident discords have been eliminated."

"No man can serve two masters" "You cannot serve both God and mammon" "Choose ye this day whom you will serve."

If you want peace, you must eliminate the source of conflict and confusion. You must concentrate wholeheartedly upon knowing and loving God. You must align yourself with insight and wisdom of the apostle Paul who said:
"This one thing I do, forgetting that which is behind and reaching out for those things which are before, I press on toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:13-14).

Which brings us to our second word:

Concentration
"This one thing I do," said Paul. No division of interest. No conflict of concerns. No double mindedness. Paul had joined "The Fellowship of The One-Track Mind." He was concentratingcompletely upon knowing and doing the will of God.

Now, actually, no life can ever be very great or very happy or very useful without the element of concentration. Many people fail in life, not from lack of ability, but from lack of concentration. From lack of real application. From lack of tackling the one job before them with a singleness of purpose.

To the person who says "This one thing I do" the words "failure" and "impossible" simply do not exist. We hear it said that if someone really wants a million dollars he can have it. That's true! If he puts his mind to it. If he concentrates every bit of his energy and ability and aptitude toward making a million dollars, he will make it. He simply needs to say: "This one thing I do."

We hear it said that a woman can rise above her heredity and environment, and conquer in spite of handicaps. And that, also, is true. Witness Babe Deidrickson, the world's foremost female golfer. That's what she was determined to be, and that's what she is!

The greatest orator of all time was Demosthenes. And yet, he was born with a serious speech defect. He was determined to correct it and he did, by speaking with a mouth full of pebbles against the roar of the ocean. He said, "This one thing I do" and he did it!

Concentration is the key to realization. You get out of life exactly what you put into it. Whether it be your marriage, your business, or your faith you will get out of it exactly what you put into it. I said that to a young fellow not to long ago and he answered:
"You know, I think you're right. If I put as much effort and interest into my Christian faith as I do my business, I would be a different person."

That's what I had in mind when I made out the spiritual prescription for this week. It's based on Matthew 6:22 which says,
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
The daily prayer reminder for this week is as follows:
"God will not really mean anything to me until he means everything to me. I cannot serve both God and mammon. Help me, Father, to eliminate every other consideration and to concentrate completely on knowing and loving thee."

God will not really mean anything to you until he means everything to you. You must commit yourself to him completely. So, if you want peace, then --
With an unsophisticated singleness of purpose, pursue him and his will for your life.
With a singleness of eye, set out to know him and to love him.
With the concentration of the apostle Paul say: "This one thing I do."
And, when you do that, you will have the answer to the deepest hunger of your secret heart.

I don't know your particular need this morning. I only know it's real. Perhaps you are filled with doubts. You may be oppressed by difficulties. Perhaps you are weighed down with despair. You may be at the end of your tether emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Whatever your need, if you will give yourself to Christ completely, if you fasten your gaze upon him without reserve and concentrate upon him with all your heart, you will find the power and the peace and the poise and the help and the hope and the healing you desire.

Listen to the Bible as it nails down the need for concentration:
"In the day when thou seekest me with thy whole heart I will be found of thee."
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

This morning, I do not plead with you, for Christ is his own plea, and he stands before you now to say: If you want to be my disciple, if you want to know my peace, then I must come first. I must be Lord of all or I cannot be Lord at all.

"If thine eyes are single (disciplined . . . concentrated . . . unwaveringly fastened upon me as the object of your affection) if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
Yes! Concentration is key to the result spelled out in a third word --

Realization
Last May I told this story, but with your permission, I'd like to repeat it this morning because it says so well what I am trying to say.

A man came to Buddha one day asking the way of salvation. Buddha led him down to a river. It was bathing time and the seeker assumed he was to undergo a ritual of purification. When they were some distance out in the stream, Buddha suddenly grabbed the man and held his head under water. Finally, with a last gasp, the fellow wrenched himself loose and his head came above the water. Quietly Buddha asked him,
"When you thought you were drowning, what did you desire most?"
The man gasped, "Air!"
Back came Buddha's reply,
"When you want salvation as much as you wanted air, you will get it."

I'd like to paraphrase that this morning. When you want peace of mind and serenity of soul -- when you want the satisfaction and joy Jesus alone can give, as much as you want food and clothing, home and family, success and security and possessions -- when you want peace thatmuch, you shall have it.
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

This morning I invite you to join "The Fellowship of the One Track Mind." I invite you to theelimination every other concern, and complete concentration on knowing and loving God. If you do there will come the wonderful Realization that, "You Can Have Peace."

The following was printed and distributed to worshipers along with the Order of Worship.
Spiritual Prescription For Today
"If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light" (Mt. 6:22).
Directions: To be "taken" each morning with the following daily reminder.
God will not mean anything to me until he means everything to me. I cannot
serve both God and mammon. Help me, Father, to eliminate every other
consideration and to concentrate completely on knowing and loving thee.
Dr. John Allan Lavender
Morgan Park Baptist Church
11345 So. Bell, Chicago, Ill.