Welcome to church this week on Sunday for a worship service at 11 am, and on Tuesday 5-7 pm to open the food pantry.
Call to Worship; Psalm 19: 1-6
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Invitation, Prayer Concerns, and Praises; Father in Heaven, today we humbly ask you to heal our hearts from the sickness that permeates our society. We pray for our isolated and weak, and hope for their best interests which is you God! Lord we continue to pray that you will grow us and mature us for your working day.
Amen!
Message Reading: 1 Corinthians 2:18-25
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Message: “Stuff I know & Things I Don’t”
You know, some days, most days, my life is a mess. Just when I think that I am getting the hang of things, I don’t. Just when I am starting to get the sense of how things are, God has this incredible way of enlightening the way I perceive the things around meand Walla, back to the drawing board. In other words, my perception and ability to understand the things around me are continually in flux and changing, as I grow, mature, and also laps backward with setbacks.
Frances Bacon the great English; scientist, philosopher, and thinker of the 15-1600s, once said “Knowledge is Power”. On the surface of that comment, I think he is right. To know things is to have enhanced access to more stuff in our world. But there is knowledge and then there is knowledge, some of it good, some useful, some harmful.
Today’s message comes with questions. So, what kind of knowledge is important to you? What kind of information / knowledge is available to you, that is harmful? And, what knowledge-understanding / information / wisdom is needful for you? These are not questions you need to answer to me or anyone else but for you to reflect over between you and the Lord.
So, here are the inquiries again;
- Knowledge / understanding that is important to me
- Knowledge / understanding, and information that is harmful
- Knowledge / understanding, information, and wisdom we need
As I think of these investigations – off the top of my head, the first seems the easiest to me. It’s also the most flexible, volatile, and changeable because it reflects what I think is important right now at this point in my life. I hope my answer, my ideas and insights will change as I grow and mature, if not, I’ll be static and not alive in my walk.
- Knowledge / understanding that is important to me;
Again, this is personalized, and for each of us to decide for ourselves. For me, without a doubt, knowing who God is (kind of) and who we are not, and that God wants us (all of us), as a part of His family, regardless of our past or where we come from. This is key for me, because it reminds me that I can always repent and try again.
Knowing that I am supposed to work on loving God with all of my being, and my neighbor as myself, constantly. That God chooses my neighbors not me, for my benefit, is the beginning and ending of a journey called a faithwalk.
To understand that in this vast beautiful existence that we have been blessed with, the real workings of the Lord in many cases lie just beyond most of our immediate access to knowledge. Case in point, today’s “Call to Worship” gives us a glimpse of the majesty that is God’s handiwork, which I hope my understanding will improve with maturity, growth, and time; Psalm 19:1-6
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.
I read and think I understand this passage from David, but do I stop to reflect and really comprehend its meaning in my life? I hear the words, but does the intent of God’s majesty resonate within me?And God sends these messages out across the heavens consistently without fail, just below many of our radar, but recorded in scripture.
My ability to understand scripture deeper is intertwined with my relationship with God and other people. This too is knowledge and understanding that is important to me, what I would like to achieve… Being in better step, and harmony with what God is saying to His creation.
- Knowledge / understanding, and information that is harmful
It’s all that stuff the world thinks has value but blatantly disregards any concept of consideration, grace and sincere (agape) care for others. The world’s idea of knowledge is to know more in order to gain advantage over others in the competition for sparse resources.
Again, I will share my thought, you have the heavy burden of praying, studying, and thinking for yourselves. My thought is; any knowledge that is sought, used, or enhanced to replace God’s law, plan, and edification, is idolatry. Things that seem innocent are many times gateways into deeper “God replacement actions” that lead to deeper agitation with God and ultimately descend into more profound rebellion with your Lord.
Ever see a movie or show, and then think about how horrible you feel after you and the movie have departed each other? Except the movie still hangs on your mind and you feel tainted, altered, and hideous. Well that easy, but what about the activity that seems innocent and is considered fun, but slowly leads to inappropriate thoughts, language, or behavior? Thinking afterward that you can’t take that one (whatever it was) back. What’s sad, it seems like we are all in a process of being desensitized by our surroundings, and we can become used to junk!
Yes knowledge is power, but not all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom is powerful or edifying for me! There are things and subjects that are better left up there on that tree of knowledge, unpicked by you and me. And even if you can’t re-graph the junk you have picked off that tree in the past, you don’t have to keep picking!
Oh, and the only person I have in mind right now is me. Been there done that. What counts is applying lessoned learned to our future actions and continue to live life robustly! Nothing changes, you are just more selective at the salad bar of life! Remembering that life is a learning process and if you made no mistakes, with no lessons learned (and no, living in a Monastery or being a Hermit for the vast majority is not the answer) because you probably are not really living, learning and growing.
To find a day to day application in knowing what unhealthy or bad information, understanding, and knowledge is, I am lead to today’s “Message Reading” from Paul’s letter to the Church in Corinth that explains that what we believe as Christians is considered out of the normal in the world. 1 Corinthians 2:18-25;
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Here scripture speaks clearly that the miracles and joy we are finding daily in our faithwalk are not understood by the outside world. That the wisdom of the world has indoctrinated most of us to think of ourselves as outsiders in terms of our faith. Remember, the norms of our culture right now, are so volatile that what is considered bad today is good tomorrow, and vice versa. The very passage I just read from Paul’s letter in fact, is explaining our separation from the rest of the world due to where and who we rely on for, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.
And it is so easy to rant about the defects I see in the world, that I could easily get carried away and be here all day, all week, no, the rest of my life I could be complaining about the state of the world and what’s wrong with it. Starting with me!
So instead of attacking what is wrong with the defective wisdom, knowledge, understanding, reasoning, and priorities that are prevalent in our world that we live in, I would like to now talk about what is so great in the Faithwalk we are on, in this Church, by briefly talking about lastly:
- Knowledge / understanding, information, and wisdom we need;
It may sound weird to talk about things I need in terms of joy, but to come to terms with who God is and what we are not, liberates us into knowing what we truly need to be happy in this life and beyond.
And if you have gotten to a point in this message that you are starting to think that you are a mess that you are blowing it in this walk of yours; you are not alone. The key to life is identifying what we could do better, and then going to the Lord for help. Here are some ideas of areas I must have direction from God’s Holy Spirit with:
- All knowledge, understanding, information, and wisdom must come from God, as it applies to loving God and my neighbor, His creation. This necessity applies directly to;
- Being in relationship with God
- Prayer
- Serving God and His creation
- Studying scripture
- Being a part of a Faith Family
- Serving others
Applying these tenants to my secular life enriches me, beyond me. Growth and maturity are outcomes from the above, and as I give more (whether it’s my relationship(s), with God and His family, service, prayer, Bible study, and fellowship), God provides more for me to give, and live. I now know where my Sheppard is leading me.
With these ideals (the knowledge/wisdom I need in life), let’s look at a passage in scripture where with God we receive even greater insight. From the Gospel of John 2: 13-22
13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
We have a case of righteous indignation on our Lord’s part due to what is and is not going on in the hearts of the people involved.
There was money being exchanged because you couldn’t use money with the image of people or animals in the House of the Lord. This created an exchange and exchange became big business that the Temple Priest received a piece of the action, you can see the angst on the part of God when they had turned God’s house into a market. What started as a service to better serve God is now tainted by greed. When all is said and done, doesn’t it all really depend on what is going on the hearts of the people in this passage?
Let’s apply this lesson to the here and now. Case in point, in our Church are we turning the House of the Lord into a market when we give out food in our food pantry? We are using our Fellowship Hall (Gym) for storage, processing, and distribution of food for the community. I think what keeps us in check, is the fact that we are serving others with no strings attached. The profit, the glory goes to God and His purposes, not ours. When it becomes about us, it will be worldly and it will all fray and wither apart accordingly. Again, what is happening, on the inside, in our hearts is key! Just as we can make almost anything good bad, God can make good again and again.
One final point, of things I know, and I know because scripture teaches us this. God loves those who God disciplines! If the Lord didn’t love those in the Temple, or us, He could have pulled a Sodom and Gomorrah type of removal of those people. He would not have gone to the trouble of disciplining those involved, and then having it recorded the way it reads in scripture. Just as the author of Hebrews instructs us by quoting Proverbs 3, by teaching in Hebrews 12:5-6:
5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
That is bedrock to build upon today. May God always love us enough to discipline our actions to accord with His plan and will, in order to; take us from the stuff we think we know, through the things we do not, but are willing to learn, grow, and live robustly in Him. Amen!
Benediction: Numbers 6:24-26