Sermon for Thursday October 2, 2008 From Darkness to Light ~ the Trip to Righteousness
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Today's sermon was caught in the midst of Internet gremlins again causing all music not to be able to be played. The little devils even caught hold of my media player on my computer, as well as all internet function. This script is what I would normally have done, I did the words, but the music, well, you can figure out what happened there.
~Opening Song -Amy Grant ~ Thy Word ~Dear Lord, we thank you for bringing us together here in this place. We thank you for bringing us such interesting ways to learn from You. We thank you for giving us paths that we follow in Your footsteps. We ask that you watch over those of us who have been ill, including Rev. Teresa, Nanetta, John Main from Midway Baptist, Mom Stallins, Mama Newman, Donna Angeloff, Debra, Debbi, Melanie and Will, Javon and Jacarein both with terminal illness, Joshua and Christyn and Kay and Lucy and Judi, a good friend’s mother who is in the hospital with a broken hip. We know Dear Lord, that the Holy Spirit is with these hurting people and we know that through our intercessions we will help in the spreading of the Holy Spirit amongst them and help ourselves as well. We are blessed by the light and the life of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen and so it shall be. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
Romans 2:13 RSV
It is not the Hearers of the law, in this second chapter of Romans, Paul says, it is not the Hearers of the law who are righteous before God. If you hear the rules in the classroom as a student, do you obey them? You do if you don’t want more trouble than it’s worth. Doers of the law will be justified. What does that mean? It means those who walk within the lines of law and order, God’s law, this means, then they will be justified in their walk, in their work toward righteousness.
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As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:9,10 NASB
This is Jesus speaking. He says as God loved Him, so He has loved those who listened to Him. Continue loving Him by keeping the commandments. Why does Jesus say that? Keep the commandments and you are continuing to love Him. When I was a girl, I loved to go to my Great Grandmother’s house and visit. Why did I love this place? Three reasons exist for that. One, I could ask thousands of questions and my Great Grandmother or my Grandmother would answer. Two, I could sleep in the single most awesome room in the whole world. Three, like my Great Grandmother and my Grandmother, I could greet God by walking out the door at dawn because it was so awesome there at Rocky Ridge Ranch in St. Genevieve, Missouri. One thing my grandmothers taught me, God shows love in amazing ways and hears us in good or bad times, happy or sad times. Learning how to listen to God is like learning to listen to our kids. Sometimes we neglect those skills, children of God, you realize, no matter our age, we are children of God, and He loves us, unconditionally. Here, Jesus is telling us that we should love God unconditionally, not turn our backs on the laws, or on His love and guidance. That’s one thing we often forget with the gift of free will, that without His love, we would fail to be whole beings.~ Song ~ Tell It All Brother ~ Kenny Rogers
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But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-25 ESV You hear what is being said here in the book of James in the New Testament? Be a doer, because by only listening we deceive ourselves. Now, the comparison in the verse of the man who looks intently at his own face in the mirror, think about this. This sounds suspiciously like the story of Narcissus and his reflection. Now, Narcissus was a Greek man with the perfect face. He had no flaws in his face, his body, or anywhere, and because of this, he spent much of his time preening and showing off. Well, one day he professed that he was prettier than the gods could be and one god in particular took offense and said that the next time Narcissus saw his reflection, he would never leave that spot. And so, as Narcissus walked along the bend of the river one day, he happened to turn and see his reflection in the water. When he did, he was rooted to the spot, literally. This is why we have the flower, the narcissus, which grows by the water, or, at least that’s what the Greeks say. Narcissus could listen and hear, but he couldn’t do what he needed to do to obey the law of the gods in Greek mythology. If we cannot listen and hear and then follow through, we are just as Narcissus, rooted to the spot, wanting salvation but failing to achieve it. This verse of James certainly epitomizes the story of Narcissus, especially in the second half of it, where it says he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. This reflects the hearer, not the hearer and doer. The next sentence shows us that we have to be one who looks into the perfect law. God’s law is a law of liberty and we have to walk within that law, live that law, think it, feel it, express it, and believe it, only then will we be living in the footsteps of God, as Jesus shows us how to do in this little book and through the gospels. It is a blessing, a truthful blessing, that God provides us these messages, these truths hidden in the words. In a book I read and listened to a while ago, it was said that the Bible is much more than writing, it is the feeling, the meaning, behind the words that were written so long ago that we must learn about. In these words we see that God doesn’t just want us to sit in church pews and listen to a short set of verses and a message about them. He wants us to get up and show others what those verses and the message behind them mean to each individual, because it is that expression that leads us in the path of God. Now, you think about that. The path of God is more than just coming to church to study a few verses, to listen to a preacher preaching, listen to a choir sing, and then turn around and just do what you always do during the week. God wants us to do more than listen to His words, His glorious message. He wants us to carry that message with us. How do we do that? I bet you are sitting there saying, “But Rainbow Minister, Rev. Laura, how in the world do I take this out to others?”~ Song – Open the Eyes of My Heart ~ Randy TravisThat’s the beauty of it. You have a huge group of people right here. We have 43 members here in this church. We can share this message, here in the forum on Blog Talk Radio or on the Church website, in email, on IM, or even with your friends and family members. Some may only be listeners, but just by bringing what you get out of this message to them, that makes you a doer. This week has been a tough one for many of us. Rev. Teresa has had to make an emergency trip to Texas and, as sick as she has been, left Midway yesterday evening. My prayers for her safety and her health went with her. I want to be a doer at every turn. It’s not easy, because doing things regardless of the outcome, whether it benefits or not, I am doing them because it is something I must do, to be generous, to be faithful, and to be courageous even. God brings us courage in many forms, to be a faithful follower of the light we know of as Jesus, in most cases, is a very brave thing. I bet some wonder why I say that. I say that being a faithful believer of Jesus and not just listening but speaking about that faith, reaching out to others in an act of pure faith, bringing them the gift of salvation that is the bread of life, the savior, Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.Now this verse coincides with the one in James. The Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. In the days after Jesus died on the cross, the Spirit of the Lord came down over the apostles of Jesus Christ as they grieved the loss of their Savior. The Spirit of the Lord came down and blessed them with one thing, HOPE. It is HOPE that we often lose because we become listeners, not hearers and doers. It is HOPE that we often cannot find even if it is right in front of us. John 13:17Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.Knowledge is a powerful thing. The gospels, and in fact the entire Bible has immense knowledge between its pages. It is learning how to release that knowledge and then live within that knowledge that many cannot seem to sit still long enough to manage. In a five minute sermon, a minister can only do so much. Rev. Teresa, as she continually lets us know, is hardly a traditional minister, because she can never finish her sermons in thirty minutes or less. Now I, knowing that it is hard to absorb as much as I want to give you in one sitting, have an easier time of keeping it under an hour, with music and prayer included. God must want us both to work within these parameters for unknown reasons. His Holy Spirit allows us to draw from each other in terms of what path to take for our sermons. In my case, it was a suggestion from Wayne that got me going in this direction. I’ll give you more on that come Sunday when I work on that sermon. For now, let’s get back to this sermon and see what your reaction would be.~ Song – All I Ever Have To Be ~ Amy Grant ~Another verse that coincides with the listening, hearing and doing, comes from the book of Psalms. You have to hear God’s voice and speak His thoughts, not the thoughts of evil. Listen and hear this verse. Psalms 34:13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.God knows that the voice of Satan can often mask its true aim, and that’s to have you listen and hear not the TRUTH, but the reverse of that, Satan’s LIES are a powder keg of danger and can be found in many forms and formulas in this world, human and otherwise. It is recognizing that everything we see is not always what we should be seeing, but more what others want us to see. God wants us to see TRUTH, hear TRUTH, and live within that RIGHTEOUS TRUTH, walking with Jesus is easy, as long as we pay attention to the path, listen, hear, and do as Jesus would do. This is the word and the light as brought to us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen and so it shall be. Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,Now, righteousness is never easy to remain within, we know this because we sometimes fall into the trap of self-righteousness, declaring ourselves to be more righteous than another. In this tiny book of the New Testament, we find truth in an interesting fashion relative to righteousness. Jesus, being the Son of God, sacrificed all of His righteousness, washing, regenerating, and so renewing the Holy Spirit within all who believed then and through all future generations. We simply must find our faith within that eternal promise. For all of us, this can be easy, or extremely difficult. It all depends on how well we stay within the laws of righteousness, how often we did more than listen and hear, how much we believed. We’re not perfect, by any means. We’d be God if we were. We’re human, and in our humanity, perfect in our righteousness following through with the steps of listening, hearing, and doing. My great grandmother and many other learned men and women have often said, “If you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk.” This is exactly what Jesus did, and when we ask ourselves What Would Jesus Do as the popular anagram we’ve seen everywhere, we know, He would walk the walk of the righteous man and talk the talk of a righteous man. Now there is one thing I haven’t touched upon, that is wrath. How does wrath fit in with a discussion of righteousness? I know you just asked that question as you sat listening to me. How does it fit? Well, let me show you.James 1:20 for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.James 3:18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.This tiny book of James in the New Testament shows us again how important it is to be careful with our anger and to realize how powerful our own individual peace can be. The wrath of man does NOT produce righteousness of God. The fruit we create out of righteousness, that is the acting out in righteousness that affects others creates peace in those who make peace their life, that is what righteousness of God is all about, making peace by speaking righteousness and faith. So, in an effort to make peace, may you all learn about the walk of righteousness with the path of Jesus leading the way, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen and so it shall be. ~ Closing Prayer ~ Thank you Lord for bringing us to this place today and giving us a reason to come and view Your wonderful words. We thank you for bringing those who are listening now and in the future, Lord, to hear these words that you have brought me for this forum. We feel we are blessed in the tiny miracles you create, including the miracle of young Cassey, Rev. Teresa’s granddaughter, and so many others that have occurred. We thank you for your comfort of those we love who are ill. We pray that you will keep those of us traveling far away safe as well. Keep the Holy Spirit surrounding each and every one of us as we go through this week. We ask this through Christ our Lord and Savior, Amen and so it shall be.~ Closing Song – Jesus Take The Wheel ~ Carrie Underwood.
I must extend my thanks to those of you who trudged it out with me there on BlogTalkRadio. I am blessed to have some at least who faithfully will endure the snafus that occur with my sermons. I praise God for the fact that there are reasons sometimes for me to have these things happen. Perhaps the message needed to be heard this way. I have uploaded the sermon into the media files, and if you go to my individual page here or at BlogTalkRadio, you can hear it there as well. I hope not to have the same sort of chaos for Sunday.
Be blessed in the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen and so it shall be.
Rev. Laura A. Neff
The Rainbow Minister |
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