Stubborn As a...Well, You Know

 

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Then he said, “Son of man, go to the people of Israel and give them my messages.  I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand.  No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech.  If I did, they would listen!  But the people of Israel won’t listen to you any more than they listen to me!  For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn.  But look, I have made you as obstinate and hard-hearted as they are.  I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock!  So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are rebels.”  Ezekiel 3:4-9

A dear friend of mine recently said to me right after Sunday’s sermon:  I’d like to say I enjoyed the sermon, but my toes are really sore.  My response was:  When I was preparing that sermon, God’s Word broke MY toes to pieces before it got here to you today.  I’ve had to say that quite a few times over the years.

God gave Ezekiel a message, and, as a throwaway line, the Lord told him He had made the prophet as obstinate and hard-hearted as the people to whom he would preach.  Hmmmm. 

There are two thoughts that always come to my mind when the topic of a congregation’s sore toes comes up:

1.    I’m not sure many in the congregation understand how much it costs a preacher to deliver such a sermon.

2.    I’m not sure many in the pulpit understand how much the thought of how the sermon will alienate them to the congregation causes them to soften the blow, to the point of God’s Word being unrecognizable in Heaven.

These are human factors, indicators of our fallen nature, unwilling and stubborn to hear the corrective of God’s will.  It is the evidence of our pride of life which keeps us alienated from God, instead of that hoped-for intimate communion.

One of the harshest messages I’ve ever read was Jonathan Edwards’ Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.  Here is an excerpt of what he preached in 1741 to the congregation filled with people he loved:

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God’s hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.[1]

For You Today

You may never have pictured your “just deserts” including being held over the flames of hell, roasted like a spider, dangling by a thread.  I’m certain there were those in the congregation that day who rather objected to the very idea.  Yet, historians hold that sermon was the kick-off incident that started the Great Awakening in America, a moral revival and turning to God we could certainly use today.  Words for a people as stubborn as a….well, you know.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] BlueLetterBible.org (Edwards’ sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Enfield, July 8, 1741)

SAFE

 

Friday, December 17, 2021

Listen to me, you fat cows living in Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who are always calling to your husbands, “Bring us another drink!”  The Sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness:
“The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses.  Every last one of you will be dragged away like a fish on a hook!  You will be led out through the ruins of the wall; you will be thrown from your fortresses,” says the Lord.  “Go ahead and offer sacrifices to the idols at Bethel.  Keep on disobeying at Gilgal.  Offer sacrifices each morning, and bring your tithes every three days.  Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving.  Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere!  This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do,” says the Sovereign Lord.  “I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most.  I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another.  Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away.  People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew.  Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I sent plagues on you like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.  I killed your young men in war and led all your horses away.  The stench of death filled the air!  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  Those of you who survived were like charred sticks pulled from a fire.  But still you would not return to me,” says the Lord.  “Therefore, I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.  Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!”  For the Lord is the one who shaped the mountains, stirs up the winds, and reveals his thoughts to mankind.  He turns the light of dawn into darkness and treads on the heights of the earth.  The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is his name!  Amos 4:1-13

There is an enormous difference between SAFE and Safe…when used as directed.  A few days ago I was using one of those sponges that is “safe,” meaning it won’t scratch your stove, sink, or refrigerator's polished finish…but only when used in strict adherence to the instructions on the wrapper.  The manufacturer takes no responsibility if you disregard the instructions.  That means you can use it any way you want…but that also means you will live with the consequences.  In my case, the lady of the house would see to the consequences if I leaned hard on the scratchy side of that sponge, and left a trail of scrapes on her black porcelain cooktop!  I suppose it also makes sense that you don’t use Ajax cleanser on a stainless-steel sink, unless you prefer dull stainless to shiny.  I’ve learned a lot of things in our nearly 55 years of marriage (mostly the hard way).

So, what does that have to do with Amos?  Well, I was just connecting the dots when it comes to ignoring instructions from the manufacturer.  Amos learned that 2,800 years ago when God gave him the message that Israel’s time was about up.  Their self-serving, self-absorbed ways had run God’s patience thin.  They were about to experience the consequences of ignoring their manufacturer’s warning label.  They’d disregarded God’s instructions, and all the emails, texts, calls, and final notice letters…housecleaning was about to take on a new look.

When it comes to God-blessed nations, Israel and America would certainly be on anyone’s list.  But with blessing comes responsibility.  If you fail to follow His instructions, you set yourself up to be on your own in dealing with the consequences.

For You Today

The people who belong to Jesus have a responsibility to speak plainly to our culture and this generation.  We cannot afford to depend on our reputation, history, or resources with the arrogant attitude that says we will never be judged.  None of us is exempt from the manufacturer’s instructions.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For other posts on this text see When God's Message Stings and Stubborn to the Bitter End

Presidential Legacy

[1]

Friday, January 22, 2016

VIDEO here

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.  This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning:  Don’t think you are better than you really are.  Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.    Romans 12:1-3^(NLT)

I have this political hang-up as a pastor; it goes back to the early days of my ministry.  I was warned by a number of well-meaning folks that politics and pulpits don’t mix.  When pushed I have a habit of wanting to push back.  (Imagine that!)

Well, those folks were right to the degree that, as a pastor, you can’t get all flag-waving behind a certain candidate.  I won’t do that in my role as pastor.  However, in my role as pastor, I do have a responsibility to speak truth to power, and encourage others to do the same.  That responsibility comes from the realization that the church is not the partner of government, nor the whipping boy of any nation; neither is the church to attempt to control government by gaining political favor or muscle. 

Rather the church is to be the conscience of those who govern, reminding them that it is God who sets up or removes leaders.  So, a pastor’s role is not to tell you for whom to cast your vote, but rather hold up to the light what God-pleasing government looks like.

I’m not exactly a CNN-junkie (well, not completely), but after watching some of the debates and the incessant news “coverage” of all the candidates, I can honestly say that I have not yet seen (from either side of the aisle) the kind of humility and integrity needed in the Oval Office. 

Paul the Apostle encouraged all believers (especially leaders) to submit themselves to God with humility, learning to think appropriately of our own abilities, and not be arrogantly self-absorbed.  I haven’t seen much of that in this current election cycle’s candidates!

Instead, I have heard a whole lot about “winning” – and that is what alarms me about the current state of candidacy for high office in this country.  The office of President of the United States is not all about winning; it’s about leading with compassion and integrity.

It is culturally acceptable today to keep religion out of the mainstream of political discourse (except, of course if it would help you in the polls), but I cannot imagine you can divorce yourself entirely from bringing your faith to the table when it’s time to make a decision that affects the lives of millions of people.

And that IS the crunch – I truly believe we need to elect a leader who, when it comes to crunch time, will make a decision of integrity, with compassion and humility – I’m praying for a leader who will make decisions truly seeking God’s will, not just another “win”.

For You Today

When you listen to what the candidates are saying, are you hearing compassion and integrity, with humility?

You chew on that out on that Rocky Road today…and have a joy-filled and blessed day!

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[1] Title image:  Lokal_Profil, via Wikimedia Commons