On The Catwalk Series

OPEN: (We opened the sermon with about 30 seconds of a video showing a group of modestly dressed models walking down a catwalk at a fashion show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHPq4nMA2ZI)

(Then we switched to a youtube video of a veteran fashion model describing the purpose of the catwalk in the fashion world. We began at the 33 seconde mark of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQQjB7XNidw&feature=related and ended at approximately the 1:10 mark - before the speaker gets into difference between various kinds of fashion shows)

APPLY: A catwalk (also called a “runway”) is a narrow, flat platform that runs into out into an auditorium. Models walk on this platform into a crowd of media and potential buyers, wearing special clothing and accessories that are made by the fashion house they represent.

According to the expert we just showed few seconds ago, this type of modeling isn’t about the model. The models try very hard to be low-key in their walk down the catwalk so that they don’t distract from the major objective of their job.

That purpose? A fashion catwalk is a tool that fashion houses use to show off their best products to potential buyers. To the fashion houses, catwalk models are not the focus for the audience… it’s the clothing, handbags, footwear and other accessories.

Now, the Bible tells us that God has His own kind of Catwalk. And He uses that catwalk for an entirely different reason than fashion houses do. God has an entirely different mindset/ entirely different set of priorities.

So, what’s God’s catwalk like?

Paul wrote: “… thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ…”

2 Corinthians 2:14

We are walked down a catwalk. We are put on display as we’re led in a triumphal procession. God is not showing off our clothes, our handbags, nor our footwear. God is not showing of the outer garments of his models… He’s showing of the inner spirit of His people.

God is literally putting US on display.

WE are the product He wants to walk down the runway.

He is showing us off to the world.

And He does that because He wants the world to see what He’s done in our lives.

Throughout the Bible God displays the people that impress Him. He shows off to the world the kind of folks that are His finest products.

I. Since today is Mother’s Day, a good example of how God does this is found in Proverbs 31. Turn there with me!!!

Proverbs 31:10 starts out saying

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.”

This is a rare person.

This is someone God wants you to try to be like.

She is the kind of wife/mother that God holds in highest regard.

And so I want you to visualize this walking down the center aisle this morning. I want you see her in your mind’s eye as I read the description God gives us of this remarkable woman:

(READ Proverbs 31:10-31)

God is leading this woman before us in a triumphal procession.

And God tells us – not only is He impressed with her – so is her family.

(vs. 11) “Her husband has full confidence in her...”

(vs. 28) “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her”

This woman is not a pampered princess nor a welfare queen.

She’s woman who works with her hands.

(Vs 15) “She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family….”

(Vs 27) “She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

This is a woman who takes her family seriously. She is a woman who works at making sure her family is well taken care of. And it seems that she sets the tone of what takes place in the home.

You’ve heard that the man is the “head of the house” and that’s true. But this woman is the moral center of the family. She sets the example for her children in how to be busy and in how to be kind to others.

(vs 20) “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.”

She sets the moral tone for her children.

ILLUS: According to research published in “Psychological Science” (October 2004 issue), children who have the good fortune to interact with their mothers a lot develop healthier consciences.

These researchers conducts a couple of experiments where they encouraged toddlers to imitate their mothers in such simple activities as playing tea party or playing with a stuffed animal. As the researchers monitored this interaction, they classified the children based on their readiness to imitate what they observed in their mothers and then graded them on a sliding scale.