Loyalty, Allegiance, Dedication

MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(Powerpoints used with this message are available at no charge. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #440.)

Scriptures: Ephesians 4:11-14; Hosea 4:6; Romans 13:11,14; Psalms 37:1-6; Luke 9:57-62, Acts 2:42

Long ago, the prophet Hosea cried out, “my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

As Christians, or as Americans even, have you been disturbed by the demonstrations that have swept across our country during the past few weeks?

Despite your own private feelings, how have you reacted to the chants & signs “From the River to the Sea” & “Hitler was Right!”?

Yes, some in the crowds were Muslims, but many more were not, & the majority seemed to be college & university age, along with instructors & faculty members. But some were those who are often seen whenever there is a protest going on.

It seems to be a diverse group, yet they are all united in their chants of “From the River to the Sea” & “Hitler was Right.”

Do they mean what they are chanting? Do they know what “From the River to the Sea” or “Hitler was Right”

means? And do they really believe it? Are they committed to what they are chanting? May God help us if they do!

Did you see the TV reporter mingling with the demonstrators ask a girl, holding a sign declaring “Hitler was Right!”, if Jewish babies & children should really be put into gas ovens? Her answer was “No, of course not!”

Then why was she holding up that sign? Well, that was what somebody had handed her to hold up.

Then he asked another one holding the sign “From the River to the Sea” if every Jew should be killed, & she refused to give any answer. But since then I have heard some saying, “Yes, all Jews, everywhere!”

Further investigation revealed that some of the demonstrators were familiar faces. In earlier demonstrations they had carried signs saying “Black Lives Matter” or ”Defund the Police”, & had been seen trashing & setting fires.

I believe this kind of thinking is what the apostle Paul was talking about when he told the Ephesian Christians (Eph. 4:11-14) that God “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, and some to be pastors & teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service…

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

What the apostle Paul is concerned about is exactly what is happening in our country today.

A lack of knowledge, a lack of loyalty runs rampant in our world today. Many truly do not stand for anything or are even committed to anything. They are blown around like fall leaves in a windstorm, swirling around, going this way & that.

ILL. Poet G. S. Kennedy tells of an explorer who brought back a chameleon which his household named Billy the Lizard. The explorer left Billy in the charge of his butler, who showed him to many of his friends. When the explorer returned, he asked how Billy was.

"Well, sir," said the butler, "it was like this. We put Billy on the green rug & he turned green as Ireland. We put him on the red rug & he turned as red as Russia. Then some fool put him on a patchwork quilt, & poor Billy burst into a million pieces." (Chameleon Commitment By Neal Gracey Copied from Sermon Central)

What do the words “loyalty” or “commitment” mean? They are defined as “the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause or activity.” They can also be translated as “Allegiance, or Faithfulness.” And we need whatever you call them.

So ask yourself, “To what am I loyal today?” If we want to get our world back on track, we need to commit our lives & ways to God!

ILL. There was a Danish philosopher named Kierkegaard (keer - ku - guard) whose writings are deep & complex. But that deep thinker told a simple parable that describes how easy it is to slide into complacency.

Listen to his parable, ”One Spring, a duck was flying north with a flock. In the Danish countryside that particular duck spotted a barnyard where tame ducks lived. The duck dropped down & discovered these ducks had wonderful corn to eat.

So he stayed for an hour....then for the day....a week went by & a month. And because the corn & the safe barnyard were so fine, our duck ended up staying the whole summer at that farm.

Then one crisp fall day, some wild ducks flew overhead, quacking as they winged their way south. He looked up & heard them - & he was stirred with a strange sense of joy & delight. Then, with all his might he began flapping his wings & rose into the air, planning to join his comrades for the trip south.