First, please allow me to thank the church, spiritual life committee, and Pastor Ray for allowing me to preach this last Sunday. The kind words, handshakes, and hugs that many of you shared with me after services were very much appreciated. FCC-Shawnee has had a great influence on my life throughout the past 12 years. Without God and this church in my life, I simply do not know where I’d be. You have all given so much and I personally thank each of you for that.
“I had tried to drive certain long brass-headed nails into a wall but had never succeeded except in turning up their points, and rendering them useless. When a tradesman came who understood his work, I noticed that he filed off all the points of the nails, the very points on whose sharpness I had relied, and when he had quite blunted them, he drove them in as far as he pleased. With some consciences our fine points in preaching are worse than useless. Our keen distinctions and nice discriminations are thrown away on many; they need to be encountered with sheer force and blunt honesty. The truth must be hammered into them by main strength, and we know from whom to seek the needed power” (The Quotable Spurgeon Copyright 1990 by Harold Shaw Publishers).
Oh, how true the aforementioned analogy is! Far too often we are too politically correct and afraid of hurting feelings or stepping on toes when we should really be blunt and to the point. The image of Christ that I have in mind is not of a limp-wristed, feminine, soft spoken male that many artists have portrayed over the centuries; no, the image I have in mind is of a brute, real man’s man, who was both physically and mentally strong. I picture the incarnate as a man who didn’t shy away from confrontation or honest-to-goodness bluntness.
Many times in Christian teaching we try to use the subtle approach of sharpen brass nails – a feel good way of teaching the good news – when maybe we should be more like the tradesman and use a blunt straight-forward approach, just as Christ did. For instance, Christ didn’t shy away from confronting the Pharisee’s about their heresies, nor should we shy away from teaching His straight-forward message. However, I do feel like I need to add a disclaimer here: Don’t use this as an excuse to seek out confrontations! Choose your battles wisely, my brothers and sisters, but when the time calls, be ready to go to bat with the sword of the spirit.
Another caution though: watch out for man’s rules on God’s words. Many Christians and denominations have suffered from using the blunt approach of teaching inerrancies of God’s holy word. Don’t let your own personal afflictions get in the way of God’s truth. This can be difficult, especially as a member in the Disciples of Christ church, where we are all called to seek and understand the scriptures according to our own understanding through the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Ultimately what I am stressing here is simple: speak truthfully, honestly, earnestly, and openly about Christ as the Savior of the world. Don’t back down from the world when the world wants to teach differently. Be strong in your faith.
“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. Acts 4:29-31
Josh
Sunday, August 29, 2010
20100829 -- Influence Sermon
Today’s verse comes the gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, beginning with verse five and concluding with verse twelve.
In this passage Christ is warning his disciples about the influence of the Sadducees and Pharisees.
In life, we are all subject to influence – some good, some bad, but always present. The world often becomes a point of strong influence for many of us; which leads many of us to do as our sinful heart’s desire. As Christians, we are instructed by Christ to live according the scripture, to follow His example, and teach others about the Good News.
Please read with me now the words of Christ as he instructs the disciples:
5When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
7They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
May God bless this, the reading of His word, and give us all an open heart to hear the message of Christ, our Lord. May the word of God convict our hearts so that we may become people of good influence.
In the account from Matthew’s gospel that we just read, we find the disciples on the boat worried about bread. I imagine their stomachs were growling and they were probably blaming one another forgetting to bring bread with them. As they continued in their grumblings, Jesus warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Though Christ’s warning was meant in a spiritual fashion, the disciples were still thinking about physical bread. They didn’t understand the context of what Jesus was saying about yeast. Who knows, maybe they were planning to purchase bread on the other side of the sea, and they thought Jesus was cautioning them not to buy unclean bread which Jews could not eat.
According to Mark’s account of this situation, found in Chapter 8 verse 14, we are informed that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread with them but they did have one loaf on the boat. With this in mind, Christ’s chastising of them seems very fitting. If they had remembered how Jesus had multiplied bread on two occasions, they certainly would not have worried. Their “little faith” kept them from understanding His teaching and depending on His power to meet their needs.
It must have grieved Jesus that His handpicked helpers were so spiritually obtuse. The fact that He had multiplied bread on two occasions and fed over 10,000 people had apparently made little impression on them! Why worry and argue over one loaf of bread when you have Jesus in the boat with you? Their minds were dull, their hearts were hard (see Mark 6:52), their eyes were blind, and their ears were deaf (see Mark 4:11-12).
Just like the disciples, we too have a tendency to forget God’s blessings (Ps. 103:1-2). He meets our needs, but then when the next problem arises, we complain or become frightened. As long as we are with Him, we can be sure He will care for us. It would do us all good to pause occasionally and remind ourselves of His goodness and faithfulness.
But that teaching is just a side note on the actual lesson of this message. The main lesson here deals with yeast, not with bread or being taken cared for. In the Bible, yeast, or leaven, is consistently a symbol of evil. Each Passover season, the Jews had to remove all yeast from their dwellings (Ex. 12:18-20), and yeast was not allowed with the offerings (Ex. 23:18; 34:25; Lev. 2:11; 6:17). Evil, like yeast, is small and hidden, but it spreads and soon infects the whole (Gal. 5:9).
But what is it about yeast that makes it the appropriate word to describe what false doctrine and false teachings can do to God’s children? Yeast does two things that make it the perfect choice to describe how false teaching operates. First, yeast works insidiously. Its influence on the lump of dough is subtle. It works quietly as it penetrates the whole loaf. Second, yeast’s nature is to grow and spread. Once it is introduced into the lump of dough, if left alone, it will change the character of the whole lump. These aspects of yeast as descriptions of how false doctrine operates are true in individuals as well as corporate bodies such as individual churches or denominations.
Christ’s warning to the disciples was directly against the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees’ doctrine was dangerous because they founded their authority upon oral law or human traditions and as a result were legalistic, self-righteous and formalistic. The Pharisees believed that in addition to the written law there was also an authoritative oral law passed down through history by various leaders, prophets and rabbis. While they formally accepted the authority of the Old Testament, their traditions in practice were more important than the Bible because they interpreted the Scriptures. As a result they held to a number of heresies.
Like the Pharisees, the Sadducees doctrine was also dangerous because of their willingness to subject the Bible to finite reason, practicality and skepticism. While the Pharisees added to God’s word, the Sadducees detracted from it. They were the modernists of their day. The Sadducees did not place the Old Testament historical and prophetic books on the same level with the five books of Moses. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body, in the existence of angelic beings, or even that man had a soul or spirit (Ac. 23:8). The Sadducees attempted to sway people to their own position by using clever arguments that made a mockery of the Scriptures.
This warning was made because if this false teaching got into the hearts and minds of the disciples, it would infect them and pollute the truth Jesus had given them to proclaim about Himself and His kingdom. Christ didn’t say “beware!” very often, but when He did, it was of upmost importance.
While Christ’s warning about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees was most likely primarily concerning doctrine, I like to also think about it as a warning to all of us about yeast as influences. Jesus was teaching that just as only a small amount of yeast was needed to make a batch of bread rise, so the evil teachings and hypocrisy of the religious and political leaders could permeate and contaminate the entire society. Jesus used yeast as an example of how a small amount of evil could affect a large group of people. The wrong teachings of the Pharisees were leading the entire nation astray. Jesus warned his disciples to constantly be on guard against the contaminating evil of the religious leaders (see also 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 5:9).
Jesus instructed the disciples to be on guard. What does it take to be on guard, in terms of faith?
• A strong and sure center. We must keep Jesus at the center of our Christian faith.
• A developing sense of “what makes sense.” That comes through a lifelong process of learning the Bible, understanding the life of the church, and being open to the Holy Spirit.
• A core of Christian friends. A single sentry does not protect a castle. Find friends who will keep you growing. Relate yourself with people and a church where Jesus is the center, the Bible is seriously studied, and people are “on the move.”
We must be on guard at all times.
However, I believe that somewhere over the past recent history, people have generally let their guard down. As a society, we have become self-righteous hypocrites, mostly looking out for ourselves at whatever cost. We have been overcome by the yeast of worldliness through the media, Hollywood, politics, and money. The media has infiltrated our minds with all these grand ideas of money, sex, and self-serving attitudes. Furthermore, I imagine that on a daily basis, a vast portion of society knows more about the characters in their shows and the people in Hollywood than they do their own friends and families.
Looking at current politics, we can see that yeast of worldliness has spread throughout our elected leaders. They are generally more concerned about get elected for their own self-righteousness than they are for serving the people who elected them. Regardless if they’re democrats, republicans, or independents, nearly all of them are guilty of looking out for their own interests over the ideals and directions of the majority of Americans.
Money has been called the “root of all evil.” Thinking about, I don’t think this is fair statement. Money is simply an object incapable of being either good or evil; however, when the yeast has infected the holder of money, it becomes a great force. Money attracts people. Wealthy people often have the greatest influence on a society. Now I’m not saying wealth is a bad thing, no, not at all, just stating that if the yeast of worldliness spreads through the wealthy, that is a problem.
Many times the poor and less fortunate are looked down upon because their social status. That is the yeast of worldliness at work. Thinking that we must have the best and newest everything and placing these desires before God and love for one another is the yeast of worldliness.
The yeast of worldliness is what I am considering style. Christ is substance. As Christians, we must be steadfast in placing substance over style.
Jesus' earthly messianic ministry was mainly healing the sick and preaching the kingdom of God, and as time permitted he trained his disciples, mostly through common life together. He did not train his disciples by giving special lectures in a gorgeous lecture hall. It was discipleship training through his common life together with his disciples. In short, his discipleship training was through his influence itself.
The substance of Christ, His influence, is what instructed the disciples. Because of this influence, the disciples were sent out to make disciples of nations; they founded the Christian churches. They taught what they knew, and that wasn’t a message formed for their own benefit! No, nearly all the disciples died horrible deaths because they were influencing others with the substance of Christ.
Had the disciples been contaminated by the yeast of the Pharisees, we would not be gathered in this house of worship today. Had the disciples fallen to worldly desires and self-righteousness, we wouldn’t be in the Lord’s house today. Think about how different your life would be if the yeast Pharisees and Sadducees had won over the hearts and minds of the disciples. Let us remember the teaching of Christ, so that we as society do not become the Pharisees of today.
Let prepare to go to the Lord in prayer. All eyes closed and heads bowed.
With your eyes closed and heads bowed, recall the message from this morning. Think about how you are influencing others. Search in yourself to gain an understanding to whether you are seeking style, the yeast of the world, or are truly seeking the substance of Christ?
Let us pray.
In this passage Christ is warning his disciples about the influence of the Sadducees and Pharisees.
In life, we are all subject to influence – some good, some bad, but always present. The world often becomes a point of strong influence for many of us; which leads many of us to do as our sinful heart’s desire. As Christians, we are instructed by Christ to live according the scripture, to follow His example, and teach others about the Good News.
Please read with me now the words of Christ as he instructs the disciples:
5When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
7They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How is it you don't understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 12Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
May God bless this, the reading of His word, and give us all an open heart to hear the message of Christ, our Lord. May the word of God convict our hearts so that we may become people of good influence.
In the account from Matthew’s gospel that we just read, we find the disciples on the boat worried about bread. I imagine their stomachs were growling and they were probably blaming one another forgetting to bring bread with them. As they continued in their grumblings, Jesus warns the disciples about the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Though Christ’s warning was meant in a spiritual fashion, the disciples were still thinking about physical bread. They didn’t understand the context of what Jesus was saying about yeast. Who knows, maybe they were planning to purchase bread on the other side of the sea, and they thought Jesus was cautioning them not to buy unclean bread which Jews could not eat.
According to Mark’s account of this situation, found in Chapter 8 verse 14, we are informed that the disciples had forgotten to bring bread with them but they did have one loaf on the boat. With this in mind, Christ’s chastising of them seems very fitting. If they had remembered how Jesus had multiplied bread on two occasions, they certainly would not have worried. Their “little faith” kept them from understanding His teaching and depending on His power to meet their needs.
It must have grieved Jesus that His handpicked helpers were so spiritually obtuse. The fact that He had multiplied bread on two occasions and fed over 10,000 people had apparently made little impression on them! Why worry and argue over one loaf of bread when you have Jesus in the boat with you? Their minds were dull, their hearts were hard (see Mark 6:52), their eyes were blind, and their ears were deaf (see Mark 4:11-12).
Just like the disciples, we too have a tendency to forget God’s blessings (Ps. 103:1-2). He meets our needs, but then when the next problem arises, we complain or become frightened. As long as we are with Him, we can be sure He will care for us. It would do us all good to pause occasionally and remind ourselves of His goodness and faithfulness.
But that teaching is just a side note on the actual lesson of this message. The main lesson here deals with yeast, not with bread or being taken cared for. In the Bible, yeast, or leaven, is consistently a symbol of evil. Each Passover season, the Jews had to remove all yeast from their dwellings (Ex. 12:18-20), and yeast was not allowed with the offerings (Ex. 23:18; 34:25; Lev. 2:11; 6:17). Evil, like yeast, is small and hidden, but it spreads and soon infects the whole (Gal. 5:9).
But what is it about yeast that makes it the appropriate word to describe what false doctrine and false teachings can do to God’s children? Yeast does two things that make it the perfect choice to describe how false teaching operates. First, yeast works insidiously. Its influence on the lump of dough is subtle. It works quietly as it penetrates the whole loaf. Second, yeast’s nature is to grow and spread. Once it is introduced into the lump of dough, if left alone, it will change the character of the whole lump. These aspects of yeast as descriptions of how false doctrine operates are true in individuals as well as corporate bodies such as individual churches or denominations.
Christ’s warning to the disciples was directly against the Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees’ doctrine was dangerous because they founded their authority upon oral law or human traditions and as a result were legalistic, self-righteous and formalistic. The Pharisees believed that in addition to the written law there was also an authoritative oral law passed down through history by various leaders, prophets and rabbis. While they formally accepted the authority of the Old Testament, their traditions in practice were more important than the Bible because they interpreted the Scriptures. As a result they held to a number of heresies.
Like the Pharisees, the Sadducees doctrine was also dangerous because of their willingness to subject the Bible to finite reason, practicality and skepticism. While the Pharisees added to God’s word, the Sadducees detracted from it. They were the modernists of their day. The Sadducees did not place the Old Testament historical and prophetic books on the same level with the five books of Moses. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body, in the existence of angelic beings, or even that man had a soul or spirit (Ac. 23:8). The Sadducees attempted to sway people to their own position by using clever arguments that made a mockery of the Scriptures.
This warning was made because if this false teaching got into the hearts and minds of the disciples, it would infect them and pollute the truth Jesus had given them to proclaim about Himself and His kingdom. Christ didn’t say “beware!” very often, but when He did, it was of upmost importance.
While Christ’s warning about the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees was most likely primarily concerning doctrine, I like to also think about it as a warning to all of us about yeast as influences. Jesus was teaching that just as only a small amount of yeast was needed to make a batch of bread rise, so the evil teachings and hypocrisy of the religious and political leaders could permeate and contaminate the entire society. Jesus used yeast as an example of how a small amount of evil could affect a large group of people. The wrong teachings of the Pharisees were leading the entire nation astray. Jesus warned his disciples to constantly be on guard against the contaminating evil of the religious leaders (see also 2 Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 5:9).
Jesus instructed the disciples to be on guard. What does it take to be on guard, in terms of faith?
• A strong and sure center. We must keep Jesus at the center of our Christian faith.
• A developing sense of “what makes sense.” That comes through a lifelong process of learning the Bible, understanding the life of the church, and being open to the Holy Spirit.
• A core of Christian friends. A single sentry does not protect a castle. Find friends who will keep you growing. Relate yourself with people and a church where Jesus is the center, the Bible is seriously studied, and people are “on the move.”
We must be on guard at all times.
However, I believe that somewhere over the past recent history, people have generally let their guard down. As a society, we have become self-righteous hypocrites, mostly looking out for ourselves at whatever cost. We have been overcome by the yeast of worldliness through the media, Hollywood, politics, and money. The media has infiltrated our minds with all these grand ideas of money, sex, and self-serving attitudes. Furthermore, I imagine that on a daily basis, a vast portion of society knows more about the characters in their shows and the people in Hollywood than they do their own friends and families.
Looking at current politics, we can see that yeast of worldliness has spread throughout our elected leaders. They are generally more concerned about get elected for their own self-righteousness than they are for serving the people who elected them. Regardless if they’re democrats, republicans, or independents, nearly all of them are guilty of looking out for their own interests over the ideals and directions of the majority of Americans.
Money has been called the “root of all evil.” Thinking about, I don’t think this is fair statement. Money is simply an object incapable of being either good or evil; however, when the yeast has infected the holder of money, it becomes a great force. Money attracts people. Wealthy people often have the greatest influence on a society. Now I’m not saying wealth is a bad thing, no, not at all, just stating that if the yeast of worldliness spreads through the wealthy, that is a problem.
Many times the poor and less fortunate are looked down upon because their social status. That is the yeast of worldliness at work. Thinking that we must have the best and newest everything and placing these desires before God and love for one another is the yeast of worldliness.
The yeast of worldliness is what I am considering style. Christ is substance. As Christians, we must be steadfast in placing substance over style.
Jesus' earthly messianic ministry was mainly healing the sick and preaching the kingdom of God, and as time permitted he trained his disciples, mostly through common life together. He did not train his disciples by giving special lectures in a gorgeous lecture hall. It was discipleship training through his common life together with his disciples. In short, his discipleship training was through his influence itself.
The substance of Christ, His influence, is what instructed the disciples. Because of this influence, the disciples were sent out to make disciples of nations; they founded the Christian churches. They taught what they knew, and that wasn’t a message formed for their own benefit! No, nearly all the disciples died horrible deaths because they were influencing others with the substance of Christ.
Had the disciples been contaminated by the yeast of the Pharisees, we would not be gathered in this house of worship today. Had the disciples fallen to worldly desires and self-righteousness, we wouldn’t be in the Lord’s house today. Think about how different your life would be if the yeast Pharisees and Sadducees had won over the hearts and minds of the disciples. Let us remember the teaching of Christ, so that we as society do not become the Pharisees of today.
Let prepare to go to the Lord in prayer. All eyes closed and heads bowed.
With your eyes closed and heads bowed, recall the message from this morning. Think about how you are influencing others. Search in yourself to gain an understanding to whether you are seeking style, the yeast of the world, or are truly seeking the substance of Christ?
Let us pray.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
2010-08-22 -- Influence
Influence is ever-present in our daily lives; sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always present. For instance, the media, colleagues, school mates, pastors, bosses, spouses, parents, and kids are all sources of influence. For some, outside influence directly dictates a person’s actions, e.g. politicians. As Christians, we should all be aware of the external influences in our lives and respond appropriately to each.
In Matthew 5:5-12, Christ warns the disciples to, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” In this warning Christ was not referring to the physical yeast that is used in dough to make leaven bread as the disciples first thought He was, rather He was speaking about the influence that the Pharisees and Sadducees had on the community.
Christ made this warning because the Pharisees’ doctrine was dangerous for the reason that they founded their authority upon oral law or human traditions and as a result were legalistic, self-righteous and formalistic. The Pharisees believed that in addition to the written law there was also an authoritative oral law passed down through history by various leaders, prophets and rabbis. While they formally accepted the authority of the Old Testament, their traditions in practice were more important than the Bible because they were used to interpret the Scriptures. As a result they held to a number of heresies.
Furthermore, Christ warned the disciples about the Sadducees since their doctrine was also dangerous because of their willingness to subject the Bible to finite reason, pragmatism and skepticism. While the Pharisees added to God’s word, the Sadducees detracted from it. They were the modernists of their day. The Sadducees did not place the Old Testament historical and prophetic books on the same level with the five books of Moses. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body, in the existence of angelic beings, or even that man had a soul or spirit.
But why did Christ reference the yeast? What is it about yeast that makes it the appropriate word to describe what false doctrines can do to a person, a church, or a community? Yeast does two things that make it the perfect choice to describe how false teaching operates. First, yeast works insidiously. Its influence on the lump of dough is subtle. It works quietly as it penetrates the whole loaf. Second, yeast’s nature is to grow and spread. Once it is introduced into the lump of dough, if left alone, it will change the character of the whole lump. These aspects of yeast as descriptions of how false doctrine operates are true in individuals and especially in corporate bodies such as individual churches or denominations.
I believe this same analogy works well for the influences that we often face in our daily lives. If we do not continuously fight off the negative, anti-God influences, like the yeast taking over the bread, we a doomed to be taken over by the influence; we must continually be on our guard.
The aforementioned scripture and topic will be the subject of this week’s sermon. I am much honored to have the opportunity to bring the message to both services. Furthermore, I am thankful and honored to have a good friend and mentor, Sherrie Randall, assisting me in fulfilling the pastoral roles in worship this coming week.
Josh
In Matthew 5:5-12, Christ warns the disciples to, “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” In this warning Christ was not referring to the physical yeast that is used in dough to make leaven bread as the disciples first thought He was, rather He was speaking about the influence that the Pharisees and Sadducees had on the community.
Christ made this warning because the Pharisees’ doctrine was dangerous for the reason that they founded their authority upon oral law or human traditions and as a result were legalistic, self-righteous and formalistic. The Pharisees believed that in addition to the written law there was also an authoritative oral law passed down through history by various leaders, prophets and rabbis. While they formally accepted the authority of the Old Testament, their traditions in practice were more important than the Bible because they were used to interpret the Scriptures. As a result they held to a number of heresies.
Furthermore, Christ warned the disciples about the Sadducees since their doctrine was also dangerous because of their willingness to subject the Bible to finite reason, pragmatism and skepticism. While the Pharisees added to God’s word, the Sadducees detracted from it. They were the modernists of their day. The Sadducees did not place the Old Testament historical and prophetic books on the same level with the five books of Moses. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body, in the existence of angelic beings, or even that man had a soul or spirit.
But why did Christ reference the yeast? What is it about yeast that makes it the appropriate word to describe what false doctrines can do to a person, a church, or a community? Yeast does two things that make it the perfect choice to describe how false teaching operates. First, yeast works insidiously. Its influence on the lump of dough is subtle. It works quietly as it penetrates the whole loaf. Second, yeast’s nature is to grow and spread. Once it is introduced into the lump of dough, if left alone, it will change the character of the whole lump. These aspects of yeast as descriptions of how false doctrine operates are true in individuals and especially in corporate bodies such as individual churches or denominations.
I believe this same analogy works well for the influences that we often face in our daily lives. If we do not continuously fight off the negative, anti-God influences, like the yeast taking over the bread, we a doomed to be taken over by the influence; we must continually be on our guard.
The aforementioned scripture and topic will be the subject of this week’s sermon. I am much honored to have the opportunity to bring the message to both services. Furthermore, I am thankful and honored to have a good friend and mentor, Sherrie Randall, assisting me in fulfilling the pastoral roles in worship this coming week.
Josh
Sunday, August 1, 2010
2010-08-01 -- Acceptance
Acceptance can be hard. What the object of acceptance is remains solely to the individual; but depending on the circumstances, the action of accepting may be difficult, but it can be very rewarding. For instance, I know many people, including myself, that struggle with accepting lifestyles or viewpoints of others that do not correlate with our own. Now I’m not saying that we need to just accept everything that everybody does, rather I am stating that we should accept everyone for who they are and who they can be.
A struggle for me throughout most of my life, for example, has been accepting others’ lifestyles, more specifically, the wealthy and the poor. Being middle class my entire life, I relate well with those whom live as I have. I have often had a hard time accepting the wealthy and their life of luxuries, nice houses, and fancy cars for the people that they are without the money being a factor. Additionally, I have found it difficult to accept the poor and their lack of worldly possessions as the people that that they are without their circumstances coming into play.
But over that past couple of years I have been working on this issue of acceptance and judgment. “Don't judge any man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.” With this quote, I remind myself that I do not know all, and there is more to the story than the cover of the book I am seeing. Regardless of others’ worldly position, I try to accept that person for who they are, not what they have. For all I know, even though their life isn’t equal to mine, maybe they are comfortable and content. We all have our own struggles, worries, and faults – some of which we can change and some of which we accept – but as for others, who are we to judge? Shouldn’t we just accept them and love them for who they are, just as God has accepts and loves us?
You are not accepted by God because you deserve to be, or because you have worked hard for him; but because Jesus died for you (Colin Urquhart, 1940– ).
Josh
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