Another Sermon Out of Retirement...

The following is a sermon given at the Warrens Baptist Church in March of 2003. There are a couple of things that I would like to point out.

As we discussed earlier, I use different versions of the Bible for different things. For my personal use I prefer the New American Standard or the New King James versions, but for the day of this sermon I used the New International Version for the comfort of my listeners.

For the purpose of this website though, I have substituted the New Living Version for clarity and ease of understanding.

Also I mention my Dog, Two Cats, Fish, Turtle, and Hermit crabs. In the last 3 years my dog “Bear” is no longer with us due to an ailment the Veterinarians still don’t recognize, he has not been replaced.

One of the two cats left us (natural causes) and was replaced later.

The last of the hermit crabs died long after we were told they would live. The turtle was released back into it’s natural habitat were he was picked up to begin with.

Out of 5, we have one fish left…barely. The cat’s have been “eyeing” him lately…

03-23-03

If you would please turn in your Bibles to the Book of Isaiah chapter 58 verse one. Isaiah 58 verse one. In the Old Testament it’s Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and then Isaiah and Jeremiah.

While your looking for Isaiah chapter 58. I have tried for a very long time to keep my life simple. The motto I repeat to myself most is the K.I.S.S. motto: “Keep it Simple Stupid”

There is a certain amount of freedom in simplicity. I like to do things right the first time. If I don’t believe I will be able to it all and do it right the very first time, I will wait until I can. You would call that Procrastinating. I call it being a Perfectionist.

I am also admittedly very lazy, which will explain why I want to do it right the first time, and being lazy, I want to accomplish my goals with as little effort and in as little time as I possibly can. In my opinion, that makes me an efficiency expert! I suppose some of you might disagree with that.

What this all comes down to is I don’t like chores. I don’t want there to be anything I HAVE to do everyday.

I have gone to great lengths to try to avoid it. In the end avoiding chores became too much of a chore in itself and now I have several.

I do not and did not want any kind of animals as a pet or otherwise because I do not like chores. One of the reasons that I like cars and trucks and motorcycles and tractors is that “routine” maintenance is not an every day thing.

You get gas depending on how far you drive. Oil changes are more or less every three months. You get the idea.

Animals however you have to feed and water everyday and sometimes several times a day. I now own a dog, two cats, a turtle and two hermit crabs. I told you eventually avoiding chores became too much of a chore.

Of course along with the chores I have a dog that adores me and is always and I do mean always happy to see me. Two cats who have very different personalities who play with and entertain my family. A turtle who despite tradition has proved to be pretty quick, at least at getting bigger; and two hermit crabs that have provided a wonderful education for me and my family.

Ok let’s read Isaiah chapter 58 verse one.

¹“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Tell my people Israel^£ of their sins! ²Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to hear my laws. You would almost think this was a righteous nation that would never abandon its God. They love to make a show of coming to me and asking me to take action on their behalf. ³‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have done much penance, and you don’t even notice it!’”

I will tell you why! It’s because you are living for yourselves even while you are fasting. You keep right on oppressing your workers. ⁴What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. ⁵You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like a blade of grass in the wind. You dress in sackcloth and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?

⁶“No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. ⁷I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸“If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. ⁹Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Stop oppressing the helpless and stop making false accusations and spreading vicious rumors! ¹⁰Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as day. ¹¹The LORD will guide you continually, watering your life when you are dry and keeping you healthy, too. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. ¹²Your children will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as the people who rebuild their walls and cities.

¹³“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’S holy day. Honor the LORD in everything you do, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. If you do this, ¹⁴the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and give you your full share of the inheritance I promised to Jacob, your ancestor. I, the LORD, have spoken!”

What we have here is a failure to communicate.

If you don’t know why God wants you to do – or not do- something then certainly you should just go ahead and do it; provided you are sure it’s what God wants.

Wouldn’t it be a good idea though to find out why if you can?

The most wonderful thing about the modern church is that we’ve been given the most magnificent tool for finding out what God wants and why. This is a tool that many Christians have been tortured and died trying to get and give to others.

Even today as we speak many Christians are endangering their lives to get and give this tool away. Of course I mean the Bible. In the times before Jesus the Israelites had to go to the synagogue for a reading of the scriptures. In the early days of the Christian church you had to depend on the priests of the church. Unfortunately as with Pharisees in Jesus’ day often the priests were unreliable. Now, we have only ourselves to blame.

In Isaiah 58 we have the People of the Lord who appear to be confused. They believe they are keeping the commandments of the Lord and cannot understand why He appears to not see or hear. They say, “we are doing what you told us” And God says “no you’re not”

The People of the Lord are going through the motions because that’s what they were told to do. They, apparently, don’t know why they’re supposed to do these things; but they believe they’re being faithful.

Now let’s see if I can confuse you some more. They are. That’s right they are doing what the Lord told them to do and God is rebuking them for it. How about that?

If God is rebuking them for it, how can it be the right thing? It is all a matter of heart. God is all about heart. If your heart is to do the right thing but you are doing the wrong thing, God will correct you with much love and mercy. This is proof that God is faithful even when we are not.

Now here is what they were doing wrong: They had the wrong heart.

Right about now you should be very confused. Their heart was right in that they were going through the motions because that was what they believed God wanted them to do. It was in the “how” they went through the motions that their heart was “wrong”.

They understood that fasting was a way of humbling yourself before God as if to say “You God are Greater than me.” They were correct but it wasn’t with the right heart. They were just doing their “chores”. Are we just doing our chores?

Fasting,

whether it is meals or habits or whatever we choose to “fast”, is about “bowing” before the Lord. It is about Humbling ourselves before God. It is also about reminding ourselves of our weaknesses; of how much we truly need the Lord. To remind us of how much we need His mercy.

We fast also as a way to discipline ourselves. To help us learn to control what is otherwise a sinful body that we are constantly at war with. I don’t just mean the kind of control that keeps us from eating too much but also the kind of control that keeps us from doing anything that we shouldn’t do, anything that might separate us from God.

Fasting is also a way of training ourselves to see the needs of others, to see the needs of our own families and the strangers on the street. Fasting is not for showing the world how we suffer for Christ or how pious and humble we are but something that is private; a personal time with the Lord.

Keeping the Sabbath, Jesus pointed out that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Some how we have changed that into meaning we no longer have to “Keep the Sabbath and keep it Holy”; or if we do, we do it as if it’s just another annoying “get in the way of what I want to do” chore. We either barely recognize that it exists or we have the wrong heart.

There are some people who are very faithful about how they tithe. They believe they should give their ten percent and they do so without fail.

Unfortunately that may be the only thing they give. If you believe in a strict ten percent to tithe of your money, how about giving ten percent of your time?

There are twenty-four hours in a day. Do you give 2.4 hours of your day to God?

If you believe that your relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in your life; if you believe that making Jesus the most important thing of your life is in fact, the best thing you could ever do, than how about spending two and a half hours everyday with the Person who has saved your life from eternal damnation?

Would that be too much to ask? Do you realize how much better your life would be if you did? How much would your life change if instead of doing chores for God, you set aside time everyday for reading that incredible “word” that he has given us?

How about doing just as Jesus did for the 33 some odd years He walked among us and go be “ALONE” with God! Seclude yourself so that there is no one else around, no radio, no TV, nothing else around just you and God getting to know one another?

We are supposed to pray without “ceasing” and I try, but often my eyes come off of God and come back to this world and to this flesh.

I know why. I haven’t been doing my “chores”.

If I can arrange my life so that I make sure that God has “first” priority in my life; If I can try to fit in the “rest of my life into the time I have with God instead of trying to fit my time with God into my life; I will receive blessings untold.

How could I not?

So what if at first my heart is wrong and I treat it as a chore? He will be faithful and eventually I will come to my senses and realize that it is no longer a chore but a blessed time that I will prize above all else.

Lets get our Priorities straightened out.

Let’s get our Hearts right with God.

Being a Christian isn’t a chore.

There shouldn’t be any part of it that is.

The disciples “rejoiced” that they were able to suffer in the name of Jesus. Does that sound like it was a chore? I don’t know about you but it to me it sounds like a relationship that is filled with the Holy Spirit. The kind that comes from truly making your life fit into your relationship with God and not from trying to make your relationship with Jesus fit into your life.