Keion Henderson - The Owners Manual

God told me to preach on this subject. You won’t shout about it, but it will make sense. God told me to call this the owner’s manual. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Yes, sir, I must warn you, this introduction is going to be disturbing. I read a story about a young man who was a foreign exchange student and went to India to study. When he got to India, he was excited about a marketplace he saw that was selling all kinds of goods. When he reached a particular spot, he saw a man who had a bunch of washing machines lined up. The washing machines were on, the lids were up, and they were in the midst of their cycles. He approached the man, thinking that he was selling washing machines. He looked into one of the washing machines and saw what he described as dark-colored water. Then the man asked him, «Would you like to try it?» The man replied, «Wait a minute, no, I don’t want to try it.» The man said, «You don’t want any of what’s in the washing machine?» He replied, «No, I don’t drink dirty water.» The man said, «This isn’t dirty water; this is tea.» He was using the washing machine to make tea, but the man refused to drink it because here in America, we don’t use washing machines to make tea; we use them to wash clothes. Therefore, in our minds, the inside of a washing machine is associated with washing clothes. The Lord showed me that it is very difficult for us to accept something from a source that wasn’t designed to deliver it. Nothing was wrong with the tea; nothing was wrong with the machine. What was wrong was that he was being asked to accept something from a source that wasn’t designed to deliver it. Are you with me so far? So, of course, he declined. How many of you would have declined? Yes, I would have declined because I don’t get my tea out of washing machines. Are you listening so far? Naturally, he declined, and it only makes sense because the moral of the story is that it’s hard to accept something from a source that wasn’t designed to deliver it.

Now, to go a step further, if I’m thinking with an owner’s manual warranty mindset, what the man with the washing machine has just done is actually forfeited the warranty on the product. The manufacturer is under no obligation to support something that was used for a purpose other than what it was created for. The owner’s manual somewhere in there says that this machine is designed to wash clothes. If you’re going to use it for tea, that’s your business, but you can’t come back to me to fix it when you’ve used it for a purpose other than what it was designed for. Do you agree or disagree? It’s like having an iPhone. If something happens to your iPhone and you take it back to Apple or AT&T or wherever to get it fixed, it’s under warranty. Now, if you take that phone and get it altered in some fixit.com place in the strip mall and then try to take it back to the manufacturer, it’s yours. Because anytime you allow someone unauthorized to access your internal mechanisms, you have forfeited your right to go back to the originator to seek recompense. I think some of you already know where I’m going. I’m just trying to set this up so you can hear what I’m saying.

Now I use this as a way of introducing a new concept to some, and really just having a conversation with those who are accustomed, as well as reminding the rest of us that God is the original manufacturer. Before there was an Apple, before there was a Sears, before there was a Walmart, before there was a Target, before there was a Samsung, there was a God who was manufacturing things. God is a master brander because, just like Apple and everyone else, He also puts His image on everything He creates: «Let us create man in our own image,» «After our own logo, ” „In our own image and likeness,“ so that when people see the creation, they automatically associate the creation with the Creator. Do I have a church in here today? The primary purpose of God as the manufacturer of man was that men would praise Him. Yes, sir, God’s original design for man was worship.

Now, you can put tea in it if you want to. Come on, talk to me. You can decide that your purpose is to be a mother; you can decide that your purpose is to be a CEO; you can decide that your purpose is to be an athlete. You can decide all of that, but when you choose to do something else with yourself, you cannot come back to the manufacturer and ask Him to warranty a job He never gave you. You were not born to be a father; you were born to be a worshiper. You were not born to be a millionaire; you were born to be a worshiper. You were not born to be an athlete; you were born to be a worshiper. And God’s plan is that if He gives you athletic ability, when they put that microphone in your face, you’ll start off worshiping Him for the abilities He gave you. Am I making sense to anybody? You were created to worship. In fact, the sermon could be over now. Come on, the sermon could be over now. Pastor, I didn’t shout, but you learned something.